Frugal Thursday 569

 Happy Frugal Thursday!

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

- My mama kindly took us to Costco ahead of a weekend luncheon. This allowed us to buy in bulk and save from buying more smaller quanities from a regular grocery. Thank you to my parents for helping us with this huge grocery purchase! It made feeding everyone much easier for us. 

- We had a great weekend with my family in town. We took lots of walks, played hours of card games, went to several parks, and did eat out two times. My parents treated us to lunch and we took everyone out for ice cream and treats on evening. We ate the rest of the meals at home. 

- Sunday was Easter and Annabeth's Confirmation. We are so proud of her willingness to share her faith and to serve our church community. We welcome her to full membership in the UMC and look forward to helping her live and love like Jesus. 

Her life and Confirmation verse is John 16:33

thus the "Take Heart" cake 

- We, as always, did not give our kids any kind of Easter candy/baskets/gifts. My parents always have done an egg hunt for the kids with candy inside the eggs and Mark's mom does Easter baskets. That is more than enough for or our kids, especially as we don't feel it is a holiday about gifts other than the gift of Eternal Life through Christ Jesus. 

- Monday afternoon I received a Nielsen survey postcard. It took me less than 4 minutes and I received a $20 gift card for my time. 

- Mark took on his biggest bulk order with his Marked By Riley business. He worked several evenings to complete it. We are thankful for friends who choose to support our small businesses. Mark's Custom Sewing Business and my travel business. 

- I changed a hotel reservation for next month. When I booked it originally, it was cheaper on one site vs another. I looked again to be sure I still had the best deal and the price had dropped overall + a different site had it for even less. I cancelled our original one and rebooked. Saved: $70

- I cannot eat egg yolks due to an intolerance. I have eaten egg whites only for years but this week Just Egg had a deal on their Instagram that if you bought their plant based eggs they would refund your entire purchase. We were able to find them at Kroger to try. Saved: $8.49

- Sadly our air conditioner unit is beyond repair. It's original to the house, from 1998, and we have limped it along with some fixes over the years but it's time. Mark called several places, got several quotes and opinions, and found the best deal for us. I am so thankful this came in 70 degree April so we didn't feel rushed by a heatwave into this huge purchase. 

I am posting a day early because the kids and I are off for an Indiana Adventure today and tomorrow. We are most looking forward to visiting friends!!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 568

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Friday afternoon Annabeth and I got our nails done. While this may not seem frugal, and it wouldn't be if it was a regular habit, BUT it was my birthday gift from Mark and the kids. He kindly gifted me enough for both of us to go. I saved it until right before Easter/Annabeth's Confirmation so she could have the fun of beautiful nails for this special weekend. 

- On Saturday, the boys took a tour of the Statehouse with Owen's Cub Scout Pack. Mark had not been before and Owen didn't remember much from our previous tours. A leader in the group paid for lunch for everyone so the boys also enjoyed a pizza lunch down on the Circle. They had a great time out, learning together.

- Saturday wrapped up the Kids' Sale. I felt very happy with my sales and my Express people's sales. When I break it down by hour, I typically make $30/hour worked and feel like it's a fairly easy way to add to our travel income. 

- Sunday after church, I picked up all of our leftover sale items. I took them to the free table at our co-op yesterday as we had some great homeschool books, books, and clothing leftover. I hope others were thrilled with their finds. 

- We spent time at Mark's mom's house this weekend. We helped with some yard work, shared a meal, and spent lots of time enjoying spring together. Sunday was his parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary which meant everyone missed his dad a little extra.

- I did a declutter on my Instagram. I had realized that I was following a ton of accounts that I was just scrolling right past each day. Even though it isn't "stuff" clutter around the house it's still clutter in my mind. I unfollowed around 50 accounts and now see more of what I want to see*

- Tuesday the kids and I escaped to the woods. We've been running non-stop and I just wanted some peace. We hit a great trail near Lake Salomonie in Wabash County. While the forest floor was greening up, the trees were still pretty bare. I let the kids each move at their own pace (we always wear bright hats in the woods so we can track each other) and we all came away from our time in the woods with some real peace. We technically didn't have the time, at all, for it this week but it was so needed and truly the best use of an afternoon.

At the top of Kissing Falls. 

The creek was flowing enough for a waterfall but still shallow enough

for us to cross safely at the top.

Owen at Frog Falls

Kissing Falls.

The kids were thrilled with the flow here.

I honestly thought it was going to be so much more after

all of the rain lately but they were still excited.

- Tuesday evening I took a meal to a family in town. The mom works at our local library and has been such a blessing to us in our library years! The husband had heart surgery last week so when I saw the ask for meals, I signed right up. I took over pasta Alfredo, bread, salad, and Mark's cookies.

- Wednesday afternoon we stuffed the Easter bags for church. At our church, the children find empty eggs (the tomb was empty so our eggs are a reminder of that) and they exchange them for a goodie bag. In the bags we have candy and information about our children's ministry and family ministry events. 

- This week the kids' 4H club had t-shirt orders. Owen immediately wanted one which was fine with me as he's always just had Annabeth's hand-me-downs. Annabeth decided she didn't love the design and will choose to keep wearing her one from several years ago. I LOVE that our kids don't have to immediately have what everyone else has or what they think everyone else is getting. 

- I did the bulk of our homeschool curriculum shopping for next year thanks to some online sales. I was able to save $75 + shipping costs by shopping this week vs other weeks. I will say we are spending over $250 more than ever before but I am proud to have waited for sales and sourced things as affordably as I could. I honestly cannot believe next year I'll be teaching 5th and 9th grade - pretty wild for a family who said "We'll try it a year and see how it goes..." in 2013. I thank and praise the Lord for the gift of homeschooling our children. 

- Last night we had the kids Spring Review at our co-op. Owen's class shared facts about space and the 7 continents. Annabeth's class made yearbooks for the group and handed those out. We had a special night celebrating their accomplishments. They were so excited to have Grandmama, Grandpa, and Nana all there. I am SO thankful for the women who pour into our co-op by sharing their time and talents. 

We are looking forward to a very special Easter weekend and cannot wait to shout, "He is Risen!" 

Happy Savings to All! 

*One note about social media. I make it a habit to immediately unfollow anyone who agitates me, makes me want to lash out with a quickly typed response, or makes me feel inferior about my own life/income/home/etc. 9/10 these people aren't people in my real life but rather "influencers" and if they aren't influincing me to have good, positive thoughts then I don't need to follow them. 

Frugal Friday 567

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Friday, Oscar had his annual vet visit. He never does very well with his shots and his ears are infected, again. Poor buddy. We ended up cancelling a Saturday adventure day to stay home with him. We made pasta bake and had a Gilmore Girls marathon. 

- We had a great deal of rain over the weekend. Mark and Owen made many trips to his office to check on rising waters. Thankfully he didn't have any major water damage to his spaces. Owen very much enjoyed checking on the flood around town.

- Sunday after church, I dropped off our items for the Kids' Sale. I tagged everything a few weeks ago and it was GREAT to get everything dropped off! I use our school room to store everything and we always love clearing it out when it's drop off time. So far my Express people and myself have had great sales and I look forward to getting totals tomorrow night.

- Monday we did a huge schoolroom clean-out. During the months that I use my half of it as storage, the kids' section often gets crazy as well. This year we also had the treadmill so it's been just packed. We spent an hour sorting through arts and crafts supplies and figuring out what we can take to the free table at our co-op. We are now at 1,000+ items cleaned out for our 2,025 in 2025 challenge!

- We ate meals at home. This week, and next week will be too, has been crazy. Instead of trying to be fancy, we did some fast meals at home to save money without taking up heaps of time. It would have been easy to want to stop out to eat several days this week but by planning ahead with easy groceries we avoided that! 

- It has been a very busy work week for me. SO many vendors - including Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and several major cruiselines - have all launched incredible summer sales. Quotes are going out and I cannot wait to finalize bookings. Want my (FREE!) help with your vacation plans - just send a message! a.riley@magicalvacationplanner.com

- Yesterday the kids and I did an Indiana travels day. We stopped in Frankfort and then at Sycamore Row for our free stops. We also enjoyed a tour at Seiberling Mansion. We had all been really looking forward to this stop and I had planned ahead for the cost - $20 for the three of us. 

Sycamore Row.

This was Michigan Rd. which went from Michigan City to the Ohio River.

We loved walking where so many pioneers traveled. 

- We stopped in Tipton at the most darling little shop - Tinkerhouse. I had not planned to spend any money but it was even cuter in person than online and we HAD to shop small! The owner's mom was working and told me about taking her kids on Indiana county visits when they were kids. She loved being our Tipton County stop so much she gifted me a candy bar! Saved: $4

I am very thankful to be through this week. I now have my Kids' Sale work done until late summer and I also had my last meeting on our co-op board. I have served three years in leadership and I look forward to just having a classroom and committee next year. It has been an honor to serve our group in this way.

We are looking forward to the weekend and what will be our busiest, most exciting week of spring!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 566

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Friday after school and work we headed south for the weekend. My parents treated us to sushi dinner. On Saturday, we spent the day in Owensboro. Mama, Lu, and I stayed later than the rest visiting with Lance and Momaw and howling with laughter at old stories. It was the most perfect day!

Annabeth won't be confirmed until Easter but Momaw will not be 

traveling for the service so she gave her gift last weekend.

Fun fact: Momaw was my very first Methodist Sunday School teacher!

I still remember the joy of helping climbing on the chairs to open the big cabinet

and helping her lay out all of the booklets. 

- Sunday we opted to leave by 9:30 in the morning as there were huge storms projected. In the end, we had a mild thunderstorm late in the evening. I was disheartened as I felt like we should have just stayed longer but in the end we knew we had made the safest decision with the information we had.

- My sister sent us home with a bag of clothes to trade. I kept the ones that worked and took the extras along to our co-op's free table. We also took a long some books, CDs, and home decor to the table. As always, I picked up the extra items afterwards and took them to be donated to little free libraries around town. 

- We had a very rainy week here. Our treadmill got a LOT of use this week as we just didn't have enough sunshine to be out walking much. I am so thankful for the gift that piece of equipment for all of us to stay active even when the weather isn't ideal. 

- I have been very busy with work as many clients are on Spring Break and others are making plans to travel soon. Can I help plan your next adventure? Send me an e-mail a.riley@magicalvacationplanner.com 

- We did a small $53 grocery trip and have been using up foods that we already had on hand. Our dinners were: tacos + Mexican rice, chicken Alfredo, tomato soup + sandwiches, and pork loin + stuffing + veggies. Nothing fancy this week but it got the job done! Owen has already asked to pull out cookbooks to make the menu for next week.

- I cashed out some of my Ibotta Cash and used it to get pick-up pizza last night. I never want to cook on Thursdays when I am tired from the week so I love to treat myself once a month to not cooking. I also used a buy one, get one free deal + $6 Papa John's cash. Start saving with Ibotta Here. 

- I also cashed out some of our Fetch Rewards for an Amazon Giftcard. Mark used it to order Annabeth's facewash which isn't sold anywhere in town. Use my code to get 2,000 points when you join Fetch: YK4JN

As much of the state has endured big storms and flooding this week, we are very thankful to have had very little of it at home. We pray for those who have had water or wind damage. 

Also, shout-out to Mark who was the MVP this week! It was an emotional visit home, my first since January and I was so sad to have it cut so short. We're also in our last weeks of school, wrapping up middle school with Annabeth, looking ahead to next year, and I am in my final week on our co-op's board. I am tired, maybe even exhausted would be fair, and I am running on fumes. Last night, after working a 10 hour day and then going out to work a community event, Mark came home and surprised me with an ice cream. It had a candle in it. Without even asking, he somehow knew I just needed something special, extra. I am thankful that he loves me so well and so often sees my breaking point before I do. 

Happy Savings to All!