Frugal Friday 564

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last week, Annabeth came home from dance and announced that one of her classes was doing a "Secret Santa." I am excited that she's got a great group of girls to dance with BUT we were nearly done with our Christmas shopping. In the end, once we looked at her Secret Santa's wishlist, I saw that I could make her gift work from items in our gift tote. Over the year, when I find a great deal I stock up on little things and add them to gifts across the year. It's getting harder as the kids are older and their friends want more specific things but in this instance she is a Harry Potter fan and we easily made that work! I am thankful that Annabeth understood the monetary value of the gift we were giving without the need to spend money out of pocket now.

- Saturday morning the boys helped with an Eagle Scout project in Indianapolis. I am so proud of Owen for going along to each project, learning new skills, and being willing to put in a lot of work. 

- Friday and Saturday evenings Mark and Annabeth had little dates. They ate pizza, browsed some local shops, and enjoyed time together. I think alot of dads aren't sure what to do with tween/teen daughters and I am really thankful that Mark keeps learning about things that interest Annabeth (like Harry Potter, sewing, etc) so he can continue to relate to her and spend time with her in a meaningful way.

- Friday night Owen I had a dress rehearsal and then Saturday afternoon/evening we participated in Prince of Peace's Bethelehem Walk. My friend Bethany (who was my middle school/high school camper many moons ago) is the coordinator of the event and it was great fun to play "leather merchants." My favorite part of the night, other than sharing the Gospel with 900+ guests, was cleaning up with Bethany and her girls. Watching Owen and her girls work together was such a special thing!

Leather Merchants

We were both thrilled to see the live camel.

The farmer was from outside Owensboro so we talked Kentucky as well!

- Tuesday night the kids had their dance Christmas party. They took along their teacher gifts - little bags of chocolates. (Thank you to my mom for helping with that!) Annabeth won some "Elf" socks and Owen won a Target gift card. They were quite pleased.

- Wednesday evening Mark, Owen, and I spent 4 hours wrapping gifts at the police department Christmas Wrapping Party. The police department coordinated gifts for over 100 families this Christmas. We are thankful to be able to serve our community in this way.

- The kids have been taking some library classes. Annabeth enjoyed creating circuits to make light-up Christmas cards. She is planning to give these as gifts to friends. Owen has been taking some Lego STEAM classes. I am so thankful for our libraries and their amazing classes that are free to us! 

- Last night I enjoyed the final mom's event for our co-op for the semester. My friend Billie hosted a Hallmark Movie Night. We each brought snacks/treats to share. It was a wonderful evening out!

Small Frugal Fail: Last Friday, we enjoyed the day at the Indiana State Museum with friends. A friend planned it as a field trip so the kids were free and our group just had to pay for a certain number of adults. We spread that fee over all the adults and each paid $8.50. While it was a savings off regular price, we could have gone completely free with a library pass. 

Tomorrow, we invite you to join us at Grace UMC in Franklin for our Annual Potato Drop! These potatoes are free for the public and we welcome you coming to pick some up. Even if you are not in need, you are more than welcome to come pick up for homebound neighbors, single parents, elderly people, etc that you  may know who could be blessed by extra food this season.

Happy Savings to All!