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!