Frugal Friday 532

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Friday we spent the day down in Charlestown with our best friends. We have a system that one family drives and picks up coffee for the moms and the other family hosts and serves lunch. I picked up Coffee Crossing and we took along popcorn for a snack. 6 hours never went by so fast! 

- Saturday and Sunday was the kids' second dance competition. It was in Zionsville, roughly an hour drive from the house. We debated a hotel but the hotel prices were very, very high for the weekend plus the cost of having a dog sitter. We drove back and forth each day, packed our meals and snacks, and didn't buy any souvenir dance items to have as low cost weekend as possible. 

Annabeth in her lyrical costume

Annabeth in her jazz duo costume 

- Sunday evening we came home just exhausted from the weekend and were thrilled to cash in some Papa Johns rewards and a gift card for almost free pizza. That made all the difference as I fell asleep right after dinner! What a weekend though. Each of the kids showed so much improvement from the last competition and had a great time.

- Monday afternoon my dad came into town. He stayed through Wednesday afternoon and the kids had the best time with him! He had fun watching a bit of each of their dance classes and took them out on an adventure day on Tuesday. They cashed in some Christmas gift cards, shopped for used books, visited the library, and went out for lunch. 

- While they were out on their adventure, I took the morning to organize and enter all of my Express person's items for the Spring HWGA Sale. The sale isn't until the end of April but it felt great to get this task done so early. I will organize and enter our family's items tomorrow.

- Mark did a custom job with his Etsy business and I was up early yesterday making Disney Dining Reservations for clients. 

- We spent just $36 at the grocery for the week. For dinners we had BBQ Ribs/Homemade Mac and Cheese/Green Beans, Ruben Pizza, Chicken Nuggets and Fries (a rare treat), and Black Bean Enchiladas. 

- We did not spend any money outside of groceries, gas, and the cost of two scheduled appointments. We did stop at Miller's Dry Goods while out on a field trip and picked up some low cost baking items ahead of Easter baking season. 

- Yesterday we enjoyed a field trip to the Levi and Catharine Coffin House. Our homeschool co-op organized the trip and we received free admission as a school group. After the house tour, we made our way down the street to the Quaker Meeting House for lunch. They kindly offer their facility to school groups for a suggested donation of $1/person and also give a short talk on their local historical involvement with the underground railroad. Quakers and Methodists overlap in many ways and I admire many of their practices and beliefs so it was neat to learn more. We saved $23 off admission prices. 

We are looking forward to a really fun afternoon with friends today and then the beginning of Holy Week on Sunday. We look forward to listening this week for that Still Small Voice. 

Happy Savings to All!