Frugal Friday 565

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Friday evening into Saturday, Annabeth enjoyed her last Confirmation Retreat at church. We are so proud of the work Annabeth has been doing on her Confirmation workbook, field trips, and independent Bible study. Annabeth already serves in several areas at church and we are excited to see her faith continue to grow. She baked cookies and took them to share.

- Friday evening I enjoyed a Mom's Night with some ladies from our homeschool co-op. I took a long a cheeseball + crackers and gluten-free Oreos. We had a lovely time! 

- Saturday I tagged ALL of the items for the Kids' Sale. The sale has been moved up a few weeks this year so I needed to get organized sooner than usual. With my Express Tagger's items I had about 500 items to tag. We will use the money from this sale towards vacations this year.

- Saturday I did take a break for lunch out with the boys and again when my best friend popped in for a chat. We live 90 minutes away from each other and we treasure every moment we can snag together!

- Sunday after church we hosted Mark's mom for dinner. Owen helped make homemade stromboli and Annabeth made homemade cookies. We also had salad. I love love love how much the kids enjoy baking/cooking and that they love sharing that with others.

- This week Owen attended a FREE Lego Camp at a library. In all, he had 7 hours of class on Legos, coding, and some other math skills. As other camps in the area are quite pricey, I was so thankful for this free opportunity! The kids also enjoyed playing at the library, getting books, and I enjoyed fireside sits with several friends.

One of the newer additions to this library is this game table.

The kids loved the air hockey game!

- Mark's coworker gifted us another loaf of homemade sourdough. As she's perfected her recipe, she will now be selling in small batches. We will simply return her bread bag with our order/money and Mark's coworker will bring us back the bread. Her price is what we pay at the grocery store and the quality is MUCH better! While my own sourdough journey failed - I am thankful to support someone local!

The most perfect bread.

Look how cute her bread bags are!

- Owen worked many hours this week clearing part of the yard for a garden. We have tried bucket gardening in the past but failed due to critters eating all of our produce. As the kids have starts from 4H and free seeds from the library - we have agreed to try again. Thankfully, we still have all of the buckets from previous years so we will only need some soil. 

- I did some thrifting this week. I found Owen church shorts, a sweatshirt, and new t-shirt. I found Annabeth an extra lightweight jacket and new church dress. She is down to just two dresses and we've had a very hard time finding ones that meet her requirements. I was thankful to find one thrifting! 

- We are now 900+ items into our 2,025 clean-out. One of my goals this year was to sell more as I'm not in such a rush to just get stuff out. We've made $1100+ from selling items already. I am honestly amazed that we have had that many items leave our home already this year! Proof that while we made good progress last year, there's still work to be done! 

We are looking forward to a fun weekend! Happy Savings to All!

Frugal Friday 564

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Friday night we took chips, queso, guacamole, and gluten free Oreos over to Mark's mom's house for dinner. Over the course of the evening, ALL of us were there! It was such a treat to learn Friday morning that the IL Rileys would be in town for the weekend. We had a great taco/nacho dinner with everyone + the Hoffs. 

- Saturday the boys were scheduled to go on a bike ride with Owen's Cub Scout Pack. We had some servere storms come through overnight with Tornado Watch through the morning so it was cancelled. Instead, they spent the morning with our neighbor working in his garage. Ed loves telling stories, imparting wisdom, and sharing Biblical Truth so it's a great thing that Mark and O both love hearing stories! They had a great morning and I think they were all blessed by it.

- Saturday afternoon, we picked up the twins from Kristi's and brought them along with us to Annabeth's Youth Group and Saturday Evening Service. The rest of the family was out at a church dinner auction. Mark actually led youth group this week and Annabeth loved precious time with her cousins. 

- Since we went to Saturday evening church, we had Sunday free and open. Annabeth and I used the time to go swimsuit shopping. We had already been to a half-dozen places looking and finally after four more stops found one that worked! I insisted on getting it in both colors so we can just be done for a while. I was incredibly proud that her indecisviveness was not about the fit of the swimsuit or an "issue" with her body but rather she had established certain modesty standards that she insisted on following. It makes me so happy to see her grow and develop her faith in such meaninful ways! 

- Owen chose the menu this week which means we spent nearly a dozen hours cooking from scratch - lasagna, bolognese, biscuits + proteins, poblano quesadillas, and more. Honestly, I'm hoping for a simpler menu next week!

We are cooking through Tieghan Gerard's and Hope's Table Cookbooks.

So far we've not had a single recipe that wasn't great!

- Our neighbors have been cleaning out their garage. In the process, they've had several sets of weights left out for free on the curb. We've added them to our garage gym - for FREE!

- A friend who is improving her sourdough skills brought us a loaf of bread this week. It was perfect to go with pasta meals and for sandwiches. Thank you!

- Yesterday we picked up the leftover Free Table items from co-op. There were just two books so we took them to a Free Little Library on the way home.

- We hosted our best friends for lunch and play yesterday. Between our families we manage 15+ food allergies so it's always a kitchen challenge to make it work. We did GF pasta, two kinds of sauce, veggies, applesauce, salad, and Rosie made her famous cookie sandwiches. It was so lovely to have a few hours with them!

- When we meet up with the Eblings we try to swap with them. This time we had boots for her oldest to try and a police t-shirt for the younger ones. She brought us a bag of make-up, lotion, etc that she can no longer use due to an allergy. We each took the items that will work for us and we will donate the rest. 

- Disney deals dropped for the rest of the year! I was happy to work on lots of quotes this week. Traveling in 2025 or 2026 - let's do it together! a.riley@magcialvacationplanner.com

Frugal Fails:

- Owen's bed frame broke while moving his room around this week. The frame was a hand-me-down to us and was over 20 years old. We decided it had lived a good life and bought a new one for him.

- While moving his room around, we also were planning to put up his humidifier for the season. Even though we are careful with water and cleaning, it hadn't been run in a week or more and there was mold inside. We opted to just throw it away (a $35 loss) but I am very fearful of black mold and didn't want to chance it. 

We are looking forward to a busy weekend. Annabeth is working on the end of her Confirmation Class at church. We welcome your prayers for her, the class, and for the future of the church.

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 563

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Mark worked overtime. No matter how carefully he tries to plan his hours, something always comes up. We are hoping for a less busy weekend/week this coming week for him.

- Friday to Sunday we had my parents in town. We celebrated Mama's birthday on Friday night with deep dish pizza, cheese bread, salad, and two kinds of cookies. Annabeth made double chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and Owen made no-bakes. We gifted her a card game and some special game-night snacks. After dinner, we took out her new game and played it.

- Saturday and Sunday the kids competed at the Applause Regional. We were there 11-8 on Saturday and 12-5 on Sunday. The kids each danced really well and saw some success with their scores as well. We're so thankful for our SDA family! The kids loved having Grandmama and Grandpa there as it is the only time they are able to come up this year. 

- Monday I had an eye exam. I have been having continued issues with my eyes. The doctor suggested some new drops. Thankfully I had a discount and a credit on new eye drops making them free this month.

- Tuesday we enjoyed the 70+ degree weather in March and headed out to check off Clay and Vigo counties. In Vigo County we explored Riley, Indiana and in Clay County we enjoyed a 90 minute tour at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center. We all loved it - especially seeing the white tigers!

This is their current largest Tiger - weighing over 500 pounds!

He was rescued from a roadside zoo and has lived with them for many years.

A gorgeous white tiger!

They have several - all are from a Las Vegas magic show

- Wednesday after school, we had friends over to play. The kids spent over two hours outside with old friends! I had a great time catching up with my friend Kelley. I just love having friends that have known my kids nearly their whole lives. It's lovely to pray for each other from the baby stages to the getting married stages of our kids lives.

- Wednesday evening, I ended up not being needed at work. Owen and I headed downtown for ice cream, park play, and then he and Mark took a 3+ mile bike ride. 

- Yesterday afternoon, we met some co-op friends for duck-pin bowling. We have the cutest little bowling place here in town but it's quite pricey. I believe we've only been twice and the kids ask often to go. It was nice to say "yes" to this splurge for once so they could enjoy it with friends. So...not the best Frugal Friday entry as it was $18 for just one hour BUT I felt like it was better to spend it with friends than random afternoon. 

- Last night, Annabeth picked up a few hours of subbing at the dance studio. She loves teaching and I love Style's willingness to help her improve her skills! 

We are looking forward to a busy weekend of Scouts, church, and hopefully some more lovely sunny days!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 562

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Friday night we joined the Indianapolis Hebrew Congergation for Shabbat Service. This was our first time sharing in this kind of worship. We all learned something new, enjoyed seeing the happiness in their welcoming their Sabbath, and we spent a great deal of time in prayer after the service.

- Saturday afternoon I spent a few hours entering my Express Taggers' items for the kids sale. It feels great to have everything in the system - now I just need time to print and tag. I'll do that closer to drop off as it gets harder to store nicely once things are on hangers. 

- Sunday after church we celebrated the February and March birthdays in the family. We all shared the cost of pizza, Kristi got salad and dessert, Luke made cute Pokemon cupcakes, and Cassidy had fun Pokemon decor and party favors. We were all happy to share the Pokemon theme as it was my nephew's choice. I cannot believe he is 6!  

- Monday was Mark's actual birthday. The city gives all city employees a day off in their birthday month. We felt SO thankful that Mark was able to take his actual birthday off AND that he truly got the day off! There was a minimal amount of work texts and zero call outs/phone calls. We gave him his presents in the morning, he chose to go to the Indiana Mad Ants game, and then we made homemade dinner. He chose meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, and green beans. Annabeth's gift to mark was a homemade chocolate cheesecake. 

Happy #37 to Mark! 

We LOVED the Mad Ants game! It's open seating so we snagged

third row seats right at center court. The kids loved being able to hear

everything the coaches and teams were saying. Tickets were super affordable, concessions

were limited so also pretty affordable, and parking was free!

- Yesterday we enjoyed a field trip with our homeschool co-op to the Central Library in downtown Indianapolis. The kids had a great time coding, working with robots, and journaling. Admission to the library and classes were free. Thanks to a glitch in their parking computer system - parking was free too!

- Last night was family movie night. I made pasta bake and the kids chose Unsung Hero. We watched in a bit ago, thanks to my friend Amanda for the recommendation, but Mark didn't see it with us the first time. We love the story of Rebecca St. James and her family. I especially love it as it is a love letter to their Mom, thanking her for her unwavering belief in God and their family.  

Thank you to people who have been reading my Budget Notes at the end of my blogs. It always means so much when people write in or mention in the following week! 

This week I want to share three areas I stopped shopping during our decluttering journey:

1. Cheapie discount stores like Dollar Tree and Big Lots. There was a time, early in our marriage, where we did some grocery and home goods shopping at each of those stores out of necessity. Now, 15+ years later, their prices have really increased but the quality has not. I found that many items I chose to declutter because they were worn out or broken were from stores like this. Now, instead of ever bringing them into the house, I just don't shop there at all. 

2. Target's Dollar Spot. Kind of like the discount places above, I used to find cute little items in the Dollar Spot for the kids, decor pieces, holiday items, etc. Over the years, I am sure I spent $100 in the Dollar Spot and after decluttering only one of those items still lives in my home. Just One. Meaning nothing else I bought was something I loved or needed. I am sorry that I wasted that money - just $1 at a time but it all added up. 

3. Holiday clearance aisles. When building up our home decor, I often shopped clearance sections after holidays at places like Walmart, Walgreens, etc. While we purposed early on, to be intentional with our Christmas decor, I was much less careful with our other holiday decor. Over the years I amassed two cabinets of plastic, glittery, cheapie decor that decorated our shelves a few weeks each year and then got put away and forgotten about. When we began decluttering I found the only ones I actually loved putting out were homemade, antique, or in some cases gifts. So, I let the rest of them go! In order to keep more out of our space, I now no longer shop these aisles at all. We have much less than we used to BUT we love what we have!

If you're on your own money saving and/or decluttering journey - what places do you avoid to keep the clutter away and the money in savings? 

Happy Savings to All!