Frugal Friday 517

 Happy Frugal Friday!

Here's how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- My entire PaperPie website is 25% off this week and orders over $30 ship free! Enjoy some holiday shopping at a discount while supporting my small book business. 

- Over the past week, both of the kids have completely overhauled their rooms. We moved all of the furniture, dusted, vacuumed, mopped, and sorted. Each of the kids found a small tote of items that needed to leave their room. We try to do this once a quarter and this was our big pre-Christmas sort.

- Saturday morning we slept in a bit and then did a long town hike - 6 miles - since Mark was on call and we couldn't leave town for the woods. I am thankful for that sweet time together just the four of us.

- Saturday afternoon the kids enjoyed a Crafternoon at church. Pastor Susan arranged for some painting and jewelry making time and the kids both loved it.

- Saturday evening we had our first Christmas event of the season. We watched "Christmas with the Kranks" and ate a themed dinner - complete with ham just like in the movie. It was a great way to kick off the holiday season with a day of free fun. 

- Sunday morning we slept in and went to Sunday School and late church. Since we had a few extra minutes, we did a quick sort of our cup cabinet. We parted with 18 items and donated those in good shape to a Little Free Pantry on the way to church. 

- Monday morning our washer stopped working. It washed but stayed full of water. I pailed water out twice to try to get the drain to work but with no luck. Mark stopped by between day and night shift to fix it in less than 30 minutes. Bless him for serving us so well in the midst of a very busy work season where he is serving coworkers and community as well. 

- We continued cleaning out little spaces in our home and donating what we could. 

- We held off on our Christmas decorating until last night. The kids were ready before but Mark really wanted to wait until Thanksgiving and so we did. I love having the lights up and everything oh-so-merry! We will not buy any new decor this year. We have sometimes been gifted items but save for one homemade sign from a craft fair I have not purchased any holiday decor in more than five years. We like to keep it small, it all fits in one tote, and simple. 

- While I did some in person and online window shopping for Black Friday, I didn't find any deals that were too good to resist. We have done most of our Christmas shopping and so I didn't have anything I needed to get. While at the pharmacy this week, the kids found the perfect gift for Momaw so we did buy that. It wasn't on sale or a deal but the sheer joy they had at the thought of her opening it meant full price was just fine :)

- We ate our meals at home and took along freezer pizzas to Thanksgiving lunch at Mark's mom's house. I hope that you all had the best Thanksgiving possible and I'll leave you with this message that I also shared on Facebook alongside a picture of my freezer pizzas: 

Thanksgiving Lunch Prep ✓

I've always had an unpopular approach to Thanksgiving with kids. When mine were little, they hated most traditional fancy Thanksgiving food soo... we took Lunchables.

Now, they are only mildly interested in the fancy food, so we're making pizza instead.

We left early from lunches so they could nap, we arrived late for dinner to let them nap all the way, and we never over committed to too many events. It didn't always make me popular with grown-ups BUT the kids had lovely, slow holidays that they weren't miserable through and I have sweet, stress free memories.

Let this be your sign to do holidays your own way, set boundaries, say "yes" or "no" depending on how you want to spend your holidays, and do these things knowing it will help you savor precious time with people you love.

SAVOR PRECIOUS TIME. Love to you all Dear Readers, Thankful for you!

Frugal Friday 516

 Happy Frugal Friday!

Here's how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- We picked up our freezer beef last week. This year we split half a cow with two other families. We each got about 100 pounds of frozen grassfed beef. We always purchase from our friends at Burgett Family Farm. 

- Friday Mark was off work. He and the kids took a long hike in the morning. In the afternoon, we took the time to do some deep cleaning around the house. The fall has kept us very busy and away from the house quite a bit so we'd let some projects go. It was good to get them done.

- Saturday morning I volunteered alongside eight other ladies from our homeschool co-op at the Midwest Food Bank. This was my first time serving there and was quite fun. We packaged bread boxes, food pick up pallets, and completed several cleaning projects. I look forward to going back with the kids.

- We spent Saturday afternoon with Mark's mom. We treated her to lunch and enjoyed time spent together. On the way home, Mark scored a deal on bell peppers. We got 32 bell peppers for $10. We flash froze them and filled up the veggie part of the freezer. 

- Sunday after church we went to Mark's mom's house. The boys did some little fall projects around the house while the kids played. Kristi treated us to lunch and sent us home with many leftovers. Thank you!

- We had another, unusually warm, gorgeous week this week! I made sure to make lots of time for outdoor play, walks/bike rides, park play, and just extra time outdoors. Soon enough it will be cold and grey and this weather needed to be taken advantage of.

- A big box of PaperPie books arrived. I cashed out a party for rewards and was able to get gifts for 2 nephews, 2 nieces, Annabeth, and a special friend all for under $15 shipped! WOW! 

- I've finally gotten in the Christmas shopping mood. In addition to the above book deal, I found some deals at Marshalls stores in Greenwood and Franklin as well as an additional 25% off lowest price deal at the Dick's Sporting Goods Outlet. We have finished about 90% of our shopping and are doing well on our budget. 

- Mark did some more custom jobs through his Etsy Shop. 

- We ate our meals at home this week. We had lots of leftovers for many meals and only cooked "real" dinner two nights with a beef roast with veggies and homemade pizza being the main meals this week. I put in our grocery order for the next week + our Thanksgiving offerings and spent $115. 

- My hair had gotten very long and I was very much in need of a trim. As always, I decided on a whim to give myself a haircut (Christy, if you're reading this, don't abandon me as your client, I couldn't stop myself!) I cut 5-6 inches and saved $40. Oscar's groomer cancelled on us this week so we saved the cost of his groom as well. 

Not bad for an at home cut and curl :) 

- Yesterday after co-op we spent the whole afternoon at a sunny park with friends. It was GLORIOUS! The little ones were pulling their shoes off and running in the sunshine. 70 and sunny in November - yes please!

Overall this week, I am just so so thankful for the beautiful sunny weather! It's made for happy children and happy parents! Oh how we love the sunshine!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 515

 Happy Frugal Friday!

Here's how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- Mark did some small custom jobs through his Etsy Shop.

- Friday night we were tempted to order in pizza but had meat out thawing so we were good and cooked dinner. We had pork chops, stuffing, apples, and veggies. 

- Saturday we attended a free library event called the Pumpkin Drop. We were able to take our pumpkins from our porch and the library, along with the local fire department, dropped them from a tall ladder. Both kids absolutely loved this and it was a great way to "recycle" our pumpkins. 

- Sunday after church we picked up groceries for the week for $75. When I share our grocery totals, they also include items like soap, toiletries, laundry detergent, etc. This week we had dish soap and kitchen trash bags in the cart making it a bit more than last week. Dinners this week were: Chicken Alfredo, Italian Wedding Soup, Chickpea Tacos, Ham/Green Bean Casserole/Rolls, and Salmon with roasted veggies. 

- Sunday afternoon we did our final big fall yard clean up for the fall. We raked, mowed, and put up our buckets from our bucket garden. This was our first year bucket gardening and overall it was an expensive, basically fruitless, experiment. We brought in fewer than 10 veggies all summer with it. I don't have receipts but know that the actual plants were $15 plus the cost of soil and buckets. We are definitely at a loss on it. 

- Sunday evening we went to leave for Youth Group and the car wouldn't start. With Mark out of town, I opted to just stay home and wait for him to look at it during the week when he got home. Instead of Youth Group, the kids and I took a walk/bike ride and then came in and made some No-Melt Ice Cream from Annabeth's new Universal Cookbook. We had all the ingredients on hand and the kids love creating in the kitchen. The walk and activity were a good way to make up for missing Youth Group.

- Thankfully the issue with our car was just the car battery. We shopped around a half a dozen stores and found the best deal for the battery we needed at Walmart. We saved over $100 with their price + cashback from both Ibotta and Rakuten. 

- Tuesday was Orthodontist visit for both kids. Thankfully, they are still good to go for now with the appliances they already have. I love a doctor with a great track record of treating each patient as an individual and not rushing treatment. Thanks Dr. Lazin!

- Wednesday we met friends at the park because it was 81 degrees! We wore shorts and it was glorious! After the park, we sat out front with our neighbors and enjoyed the sunshine.

- Yesterday, Owen started a two week P.E. Class at Franklin College. Both kids have loved this free program and it's one of the huge benefits of living in a college town!

On a not so frugal, but very fun note, last weekend Mark and his brothers checked "Weekend at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival" off their Bucket Lists. They took the first flights out Saturday morning, enjoyed Epcot all day, spent the night at Pop Century, and then after church together they did Sunday at Epcot as well. Before leaving town Mark took his first monorail ride as they checked out the Polynesian. They took the last flights home. It was a great, quick weekend for all three of them! 

We're looking forward to a fun weekend of service to others.

Happy Savings to All!  

Frugal Friday 514

 Happy Frugal Friday!

Here's how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- I closed out my 2023 Fall Book Drive for the Riley Cheer Guild. We were able to donate a dozen of RCH's most requested books. Thank you to everyone who donated!

- Last weekend, we went west to Quincy, IL for our nieces' confirmation. We are their Baptismal Sponsors and as they are the oldest kids in the family they were the first to be confirmed. It was a very special church service to share together. As their house was quite full of out of town guests, we opted for a hotel stay. We were thankfully able to find a deal with points but in order to save as much money as possible we did drive over Saturday and right back Sunday so we had just one hotel night. Thank you to Matt and Jenn for your great hospitality in the form of a pizza party and pumpkin carving on Saturday night. 

- When we travel, we now also have to keep in mind the dog-sitting fee for Oscar. Usually for our long, fall or winter trip my parents are able to keep him but for weekends and shorter trips we hire a sitter. We are very thankful to have an incredible one but it does add to the cost of each trip. This was also part of the reason we did just Saturday and Sunday for this trip. 

- We packed out snacks for the 5 hour drive each day and did not eat until arriving at our destination. This helped us avoid the, very high at the moment, cost of fast food! 

- We did our grocery shopping for the week on Sunday. I didn't realize until we got home that I had accidentally left three items in the cart from last week's Frugal Friday post where I told you how much I saved by leaving them out. So this week I ended up with an extra ketchup, mustard, and bread. Oh well. We have some in reserve now. We spent $70 on groceries for the week as many items were on sale!

- Monday we had "Recycle Day Lunch." We do this every two weeks. I pull out any items that are already open and we make a lunch out of it. This week we had turkey, cheese, Chex Mix, apples, carrots, and graham crackers. This helps us ensure we don't have any food going to waste and I like having all of the packaging cleared out to go with recycling. 

- Halloween Night Annabeth took her usual dance classes with a Trunk-Or-Treat after class. Owen went to his Cub Scout Pack Halloween Party. They always do a HUGE event that is very fun for everyone.  Mark and Owen took along $40 in candy. We gave each of the kids one plastic container (I know some families share one container but with food allergies everyone needs their own) and anything that didn't fit had to be donated. The kids had MORE fun filling Halloween baggies for Free Little Pantries than they did sorting candy for themselves! I love their hearts for others. 

Mr. Oscar Chase as an octopus

Clearly he was thrilled

- We had another busy weeks of evenings out and about and lots of on the go learning for school. We remained committed to not eating out and consuming our food at home. This week's dinners: Mexican Lasagna, Chicken Penne Alfredo, Homemade Pizza, and St. Paul's Rice. 

We had a great week and are looking forward to a special birthday party this week. 

Happy Savings to All!