Frugal Friday 547

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Friday morning I picked up groceries for the week. With everyone having been gone, and company over the weekend, I stocked back up on things and spent more than usual ($115) for the week BUT had only spent $50 the week before so we came out about even for the month. 

The boys had the BEST week at camp last week.

I was worried O might never come home.

They are already counting down to their next time in the woods. 

- Saturday evening with had one of Annabeth's best friends over for dinner. She moved away but we love getting the girls together anytime she's in town visiting family. We made chicken fajitas, mexican rice, and a Mexican corn salad for dinner.

- Sunday after church the kids had Day 2 of dance auditions. They were there at the same time so Mark and I snuck in a quick date. We browsed Madison Street Salvage and then got a few little candies next door at Hoosier Candy Cupboard. It was really raining so we skipped our plan to walk downtown and took a little country drive. Mark especially has always loved this and I love that we talk without interruptions. We did a lot of this even when the kids were little, they would fall asleep and we could talk without TV/phones/etc. 

- Sunday evening we had the Rileys over for dinner. Due to the rain we scratched our plan to smoke chicken and potatoes and just used the crockpot instead. We had chicken, mashed potatoes, two kinds of gravy, and green beans. Luke brought chips and dip and Kristi brought dessert so we had plenty for all! I so love time with the nieces and nephews - loving them is so much fun!

- Monday after school the kids and I sorted their grow-into-totes for fall/winter and pulled anything that wasn't going to fit. Some went right to a donate pile (old VBS shirts, sweats, etc) with nicer items held back for the fall kids' sale. 

- Monday night I had dinner out with camp friends. We hadn't all three been together for about 15 years. We met at Cheesecake Factory. I combined a giftcard with 1/2 off cheesecake coupon and paid just $10 OOP for dinner and tip. 

- Tuesday and Thursday the kids worked to get school done early so they could watch Olympics coverage. Gymnastics and swimming have been the big favorites here. Annabeth watched while wearing my Magnificent Seven shirt from 1996. I LOVED watching them win gold in Atlanta and that year for Christmas my parents took us to their show. I told my mama it was probably the longest lasting souvenier we own! 

Crafting while watching Suni and the Golden Girls

Is a shirt from 1996 now considered vintage?

- I worked on planning some free and low cost activities, classes, and field trips for first semester. We are looking forward to frugal fun while learning!

2,024 in 2024 Update:

This was by far our slowest month of getting rid of items. The kids were out of town two full weeks and inbetween we were plenty busy packing, unpacking, packing, and unpacking again. Also, I think when we are gone our stuff tends to be out-of-sight-out-of-mind. We did manage to part with over 100 items and our new total is: 1610 items gone in 2024! 

Happy Savings to All!