Frugal Friday 548

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Saturday-Monday the kids and I enjoyed our first group trip to Evansville/Owensboro since Derby! We were so glad to be home. We used some coupons for free books at a book sale, visited the library, visited Momaw, helped with some projects at her house, and just enjoyed being home!

- Saturday night the girls went to Trivia Night at church. Annabeth and I had ever played, my family LOVES it though, and we had so much fun! I didn't realize it involved door prizes and gift baskets (some of my favorite things). Annabeth won a $10 giftcard and a free hair appointment. I won a free pizza and breadsticks and also some beautiful cloth napkins. Our team WON and we all received $10 as our prize. 

- Monday Annabeth and I drove home. Owen stayed through the week to enjoy his special week with the grandparents. Annabeth pointed out that it is the first time since Owen was born that she had a week with just Mark and me. Mark planned a fun Monday dinner and dessert night out. We had a great time just the three of us. 

- My mama and sister have been helping a friend clear out her condo. She had many, many books and my sister had collected those she wanted to donate. The place she had hoped to donate them wouldn't take them so we brought them back to Franklin. We sorted a few to use for Indiana History this year at school, gave many to homeschool friends, and donated the rest to our local library's book sale. They were very happy to have them. 

- Tuesday Annabeth and I had a special afternoon after school. She got her haircut by our friend Christy Stearns who always makes hair magic happen! We went and spent $15 in Claire's coupons for some free items, used a $3 coupon and giftcard for free-to-us Starbucks, and then enjoyed a movie night at home. Annabeth declared it a "perfect" girls' day and we spent very little out-of-pocket!

Girls' Day with my Favorite Girl 

- Wednesday after school, Annabeth had a friend over to hang out. I try to give each of the kids a few "play-dates" each year with friends when the other is out of the house. It keeps everything more even keeled and I think everyone has more fun. The girls made chicken Ceasar salad for lunch.

- Wednesday evening I took care of my mending stack. I had been putting off for weeks and in the end it took around 10 minutes to mend everything. Take a moment today to finish a project you've been putting off - it might surprise you how quickly it is to get it ticked off your list.

- Annabeth and I organized our sale totes. I entered everything that I for sure wanted to take to the sale. I also listed a couple dozen items on Facebook and sold most of them within a few hours. I make more money this way and it saves me time/energy as I do sale prep later in the fall. 

- Mark worked a lot of overtime this week. He worked Saturday and Sunday on call outs, National Night Out, had bomb squad training, and taught a class at the library last night. Just last week he mentioned not having had over-time income for a while so here it came!

- Owen had a great week in Evasnville with the grandparents. They shopped at flea markets, went bowling, used coupons to do mini-golf and other activities at Walther's, spent the nights at the lake, and so much more. We pick him up later today and I can't wait to see him!

And lest you think I am always frugal, yesterday I splurged on manicures. This was my first manicure in nearly 10 years and I think Annabeth's first ever! Thank you to Liz at Onyx Studios for gorgeous nails and for reading labels to keep Annabeth safe. It was such a treat! 

We are looking forward to our first dance weekend of the year and kicking off youth group as well.

Happy Savings to All!