Frugal Friday 399

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- First of all, Mark was disappointed that I did not mention/share Owen's big catch of the week last week. Mark spends most evenings that he is off work, fishing. He'll often take one of the kids along for a date night and last week Owen caught over a dozen fish one night. They were both very happy with this BIG fish! 

- The kids and I helped paint and blow up 75+ balloons for VBS at our church. We had some scheduling conflicts so the kids couldn't go to ours but they still loved helping. We painted the glow-in-the-dark hallway which was really fun!

- One night while doing dishes, our garbage disposal stopped working. Thankfully Mark made a quick trip to Lowe's and fixed it himself. We were thankful to save the cost of a plumber ($75) or a completely new unit (100+)

- Mark and Annabeth also went fishing one night and had quite a bit of luck. Here's Annabeth with her big catch:

- Saturday Mark and Owen had a special day out at Monster Jam. Owen has always LOVED monster trucks and his favorite, Grave Digger, was there so he was in heaven! What a day!

- Annabeth and I enjoyed a girls' day. She chose to go to Chili's, the library, and then bowling. We had a coupon for a free kids meal and two free games of bowling so our whole day out was under $25.

- The kids spent mornings this week at Mt. Olive's VBS. They always do theirs in the morning so Annabeth has been going since she was little. This was Owen's first year to go. They both loved singing, crafting, and learning about Jesus with friends. 

- I spent my mornings working my book business. Our AMAZING new summer titles launched and we can't wait to get our box of brand new books! You can shop my website here. 

- I was able to enjoy Starbucks several times this week thanks to a giftcard from Mark. Thank you Love. 

- Both of the kids had their dance recitals this week and we enjoyed watching each of them do something that they love. We did treat Owen to ice cream after his and my parents took cookies for Annabeth. Thank you, especially, to all of the family that came to watch at the outdoor amphitheater. 

We are looking forward to a busy weekend and wish all of the fathers reading a Happy Father's Day!

We are so thankful for our fathers, grandfathers, and most importantly our Heavenly Father.

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 398

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Owen had his friend birthday party on Saturday. We had our best friends up from Charlestown and our homeschool group. We don't have "friend" parties until the kids are 5 and thanks to COVID this was Owen's first one. He chose a police theme with pizza and root beer floats. 

- I used a giftcard from my Ibotta earnings to buy a photo booth, balloons, police decor, and little police car candy boxes. Owen wanted many theme items and it was great to get them free!

We got this fun balloon garland kit from Hobby Lobby for under $5 with a coupon.

The kids helped me blow up the balloons so we also saved the cost of helium. 

Owen's police birthday shirt is from 

Behind That Badge on Etsy.

This is an Indiana LEO Family. 

- We served Chicago's pizza and bought six pizzas too many (a large family cancelled after we had already ordered the pizza). We were able to send pizza and breadsticks home with each family. We also donated two pizzas and root beer to the weekend shift at the police department.

- Annabeth spent the week at her dance studio's Fliptastic Camp. She enjoyed 7 hours of fun there each day. 

- Owen and I had the week together while Annabeth was at camp. We completed his mini 4H project for the fair, took walks, he rode his bike many hours, and we splurged on a $1 movie on Wednesday. I was looking to see if any theaters were doing the $5 kids movies and a Greenwood theater had a couple of days with slightly older movies at $1/person. He's only been to the theater 2 or 3 times so he really enjoyed that. We also grabbed Starbucks with a giftcard so free to us. 

- We visited multiple parks, creeks, and walked the greenway this week. Working on our #1000hoursoutside challenge

- I sold last year's Science books on Facebook. Made: $15

-  We got Annabeth's dance schedule for Nationals. Thankfully we were able to cancel three nights in the hotel and are saving $400+! 

We had a great, busy week and even with all of the rain logged tons of hours outside!

Happy Savings to All!

Frugal Friday 397

 Happy Frugal Friday!

Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money wisely:

- We had a great weekend with my parents. They took the kids to multiple parks, on miles of bike rides, and played a ton of games. They also treated us to Jockamo's Pizza and Piece of Cake cake for Owen's birthday with them.

- While the kids played, Mark and I redid Owen's room for his birthday. He still had the wall color and most of the decor from his nursery. He decided on Fountain blue walls and dinosaur decor. Thankfully he wanted to keep about 80% of his old wall decor so we just swapped out three wall signs for dino decor. Two of those three items were gifted to him by friends who were switching out their kids' bedrooms. Thank you Rose and boys!

He chose the color but we surprised him with the finished results!

Thanks to Grandmama and Grandpa Kuhn who took the kids out so we could

get the surprise done. Mark did a great job painting and decorating!

The one sign that we purchased.

Owen chose that saying :) 

- Sunday we had nearly ALL of our out of town family in town for a cookout. We hosted both set of parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews except my sister. It was wonderful to have SO many people in our house - something we haven't done in over 18 months. Mark's parents provided the meat and buns and Mama and I did the sides and desserts. My sister-in-law's covered the allergen free desserts. We had the best afternoon!

- We ate cook-out leftovers all day Monday and Tuesday. This really helped our grocery budget! Even so, for last weekend's cook-out, Owen's special birthday food, and for his party this next weekend we spent just $125 at the grocery. We will be ordering pizza which will be $$$ but he opted for an at home vs renting a space party so that's just fine.

- Wednesday was Owen's 6th Birthday. We always give the kids 1 big gift, this year his was the room makeover, and so on their actual birthday they just open a few small gifts. We got him some scout shirts, art materials, and a game. 

- Each year for the kids birthday they choose the menu with the rule that they can only have one eat out meal. They also choose the activities for the day. Owen chose pop tarts for breakfast, sandwiches and Doritos for lunch, and Chicago's Pizza for dinner. That worked really well as we had a coupon for free breadsticks and a giftcard making his birthday meal just $6! 

- Owen chose his birthday activity to be bowling. I used a free game coupon and Owen, Annabeth, and I were able to have a nice day out for around $25. Owen had originally chosen a park/creek stomp as his activity but we had pouring rain and he chose to move our plans indoors.

- I have always allowed the kids to choose a special birthday dessert and most years they choose something homemade. Owen asked for a Triple Berry Parfait. We made it together and he loved making the #6 on top. 

Happy #6 Mr. O!

- We shopped for June Birthday gifts. We shopped local for one and purchased the June Kids' birthday gifts from my Usborne Books & More business. We prefer to shop local and shop small as much as possible. I am always thankful when people think to shop my small business when they need books. 

- I forgot to buy tape twice at the store. That worked as I ended up getting a 40% off coupon from CVS and had $2 in extra care bucks. I was able to get three mega rolls of tape for just $2. 

- Last night Annabeth and I went to her school friends' dance recital. She took time this week to write a bunch of tiny notes like "You shine!" and "I love your smile" and made little candy bags for them. If I teach her little else about being a woman, I hope to teach her to always cheer for others. I hope that she learns that she can do well, her friends can do well, strangers can do well, and that celebrating someone else doesn't take anything away from her accomplishments. 

We are looking forward to a fun-filled weekend with Owen's birthday with school friends as well as his birthday with Mark's parents. He specifically asked to have as many parties as possible and we're having fun with that! 

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 396

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Saturday was picture day at dance. While the photographers take great dance pictures, we always opt to take ours at home. We print for under $.10 a piece and give to the grandparents that way. 

- Saturday afternoon I volunteered at the Resources of Hope Foster/Kinship Picnic. I donated nearly $700 in books (a picture book for each child to take home and magic paint books to paint while we were there). I met so many incredible families and had some great conversations with kids while painting. Last June, I set a goal of donating $5,000 in books and cash to local groups and this weekend's donation finished out that big, scary goal!

- I had a couple dozen books leftover so I donated 17 of them to my friend Rebecca. She will be gifting them to her students as an end of year gift. 

- Sunday after church Mark and the kids enjoyed lunch at his parent's house. I went to a baby shower for a dear friend. I enjoyed connecting with many of my old coworkers from JCSO and had a great time celebrating T, Shane, and Baby. Tiara was my very first friend when we moved here and it's so exciting to think of her being a mama!

- Sunday was also our 12th Wedding Anniversary. We splurged on a babysitter AND a dinner out! This is a rare, wonderful treat. We had a lovely dinner and drive afterwards. I am so grateful for a dozen married years.

- Monday we took a mental health day. We chose to step away from home and work to road-trip and play! We ended up at Marengo Cave and had a wonderful family day out. We did both the long and short tours and were very, very fortunate that we were the ONLY people on the 60 minute tour! It was a little eerie but very neat as I have only ever been on a cave tour, even while spelunking, in a group of 20+

- While the cave tickets were a bit pricey we did do a package deal on the two tours. We also ate breakfast before we left, packed in a snacky lunch, and refused many tearful pleas for fast food on the drive home. We were home by 4:15 and we cooked dinner - saving the cost of eating out. 

- Tuesday was Owen's last night of Lions. His pack had their annual Pinewood Derby Race. Owen's car made it through about half of the races before he had too many points and was out. He did win the Leader's Choice for best car design though. He was very proud of that.

Owen designed his car after the El Chromino from Demolition Ranch on YouTube.  

- We are hosting, for the first time in two years, a family cookout this weekend. When all of the kids were younger, we made due by having them sit at our children's size tables. Now with most of the kids ages 9+ we need big tables/chairs for everyone. Mark talked about buying/borrowing one but on Wednesday our neighbor messaged to see if we could use a 6 foot table they wanted to get rid of. Yes please! God is so awesome in the many ways he meets our needs!

- A homeschool mama friend had some items for sale on Facebook. I snagged a free Charlotte Mason book as well as three card sets and two geography games. She sold me all of that for just $15 which was amazing because the C.M. book alone would have been $20 used! What a score! We have already enjoyed Geography Bingo several times and already built the European Map Puzzle two times. 

Frugal Fail: I, once again, forgot to check our Hello Fresh and it delivered without us wanting it to. Thankfully we hadn't grocery shopped for the week yet so that became our dinners. I did go ahead and cancel our Hello Fresh subscription as this is quite the expensive mistake to make. Thankfully we were able to have three dinners and leftovers from the box this week.

We are looking forward to a fun, busy weekend with ALL of our out of town family in town! We are excited!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 395

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last weekend we hosted a garage sale. We always partner with our friends the Evans Family and this year my sister-in-laws added items as well. All together we made about $200 over the course of two days. We did Friday and Saturday from 8-1. Not super long days but we had decent foot traffic. I was VERY thankful to part with some furniture and a lot of the large items that we had.

- Sunday Mark and Owen went to Mark's parents for lunch. They enjoyed the afternoon over there and since none of the other cousins were there Owen really enjoyed having the grandparents to himself.

- Sunday Annabeth and I did the grocery shopping, took recycling, and then enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon at a friend's pool. Annabeth loved celebrating her friend's 8th birthday and really enjoyed the surprise of Ariel attending the party. It was a great afternoon with friends. 

- We started our library's summer reading program. The kids love the little prizes and filling out the coloring sheets so this is a GREAT way to keep reading and learning through the summer. 

- I sold two pieces of home decor on Facebook. Made: $15

- Owen had his last t-ball game. We successfully made it through the season without buying concessions. We did splurge to take him out for ice cream with my parents. We used a buy one, get one free coupon. We are so proud of his hard work this season. 

- My parents were in town Wednesday through today. We had a great time serving special dinners, the kids each chose one and helped prepare it. Dad took the kids out to the library, lunch, and to the western store to get new cowgirl/cowboy boots. Mama and I had lunch and a shopping day together - her Mother's Day gift from me.

We are looking forward to a busy, busy weekend!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 394

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- My parents were in town last Thursday and Friday to watch Owen play t-ball. We had a hot dog dinner before we went to the ballpark and they were GREAT sports about sitting out in the drizzle and cold. Friday we went to Nashville (Brown Co) and enjoyed a class at the magic shop, ate pizza, and I surprised the kids with a last-day-of-school surprise of gem mining. I am not sure who had more fun with that, the kids or the adults. We all loved it! 

- Last Saturday we enjoyed a family day, the first one since February. The kids had classes in the morning, then we paid the $4 admission to an antique show at the fairgrounds, and enjoyed the afternoon at home with evening church. We did spend some money on a fun, homemade sign for our house. It's rare that Mark and I agree on something like that. Now, everytime I look at it I think back to picking it out, in the sunshine, as a family. 

- Sunday was Mother's day. The kids made me cute homemade cards, tipped me $.30 for my service, and gave me a coffee giftcard. Mark and Owen spent the day with his parents and Annabeth and I spent the day at dance. Annabeth and I packed our lunches and did not buy any dance shirts or souvenirs. 

- Mark was out of state for work this week. He had a long drive but hopefully good results will come from the work they did. 

- The kids and I enjoyed our first week of summer break. The first week is always a bit crazy as we readjust to the summer schedule. By Tuesday, Owen had pulled out his first grade books and began working on them. It's been unseasonably cold this week so I think it was a bit hard to feel like "Yay! Summer!" 

- Owen had two t-ball games this week. Our coach was out of town and with Mark out of town, the moms got to coach. We had a great time and it's been great to watch Owen have so much fun. We were really blessed this week as Mark's parents and our neighbors each came to a game. 

- With Mark out of town, I cooked typical dinners but with enough for leftovers. This worked really well as we had friends over for lunch on Wednesday who graciously ate leftovers with us.

- I ordered two pairs of leggings on a great deal. The size chart was off so they didn't fit. Since I had already paid shipping to get them to me, and would have to pay shipping on the return, I just passed them along to a friend. 

- Our sweet neighbors gifted Annabeth, and I suppose the rest of us, an outdoor swing chair. She loved reading on their porch while they were on vacation and made a point to tell them. They were parting with it and gave it to Annabeth. I expect she will spend a great deal of her summer swinging and reading there! 

- We did our last big cleanout of the season as we are garage sale-ing today and tomorrow! Come see us for books, school books, kids clothes, home decor, and more! We are teaming up with our friends the Evans Family and our neighbor so it will be HUGE! Annabeth has also been baking all week so come by for some peanut-tree-nut-free treats!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 393

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Friday, Annabeth and I headed to Evansville/Owensboro for the weekend. We celebrated the Kentucky Derby, Mother's Day, and my Momaw's 91st Birthday. Annabeth loved playing with her cousins and I enjoyed being able to celebrate this special day. I am so thankful for the gift of time!

Annabeth looking lovely in her Derby Hat in Momaw's front garden

- Mark had been away many weekends and needed to be home and on-call so he and Owen stayed back. They spent Saturday at a car show featuring Matt and the El Chromino from their favorite You Tube Channels. Owen was SO thrilled to see Matt, Mer, and the car in person. He's officially a car fanatic! 

With THE El Chromino

The boys did skip the insanely expensive car show food

($8/corn dog!) but did splurge on Demolitia sunglasses and a hat.

Mr. O was SO happy!

- Monday night after Owen's t-ball game we hung around the ballpark and watched some of the high school kids play. Owen enjoyed eating his post-game snack and watching the big kids really hit and steal bases. He's told us that he plans to play baseball "until I'm 20 and then I'l coach t-ball forever"

- I ordered new address labels through Zazzle. I have found over the years that if you create your item, put it in your cart, and then leave the site they will almost always send a coupon code or PayPal will. This time I was able to combine a 25% off site sale, plus $5 coupon from PayPal, plus 5% cash back from Rakuten to save over $15. 

- Owen's t-ball pictures came in this week. We hand delivered to local family/friends and only had to pay to mail six of them. 

- Annabeth won $13 at the Derby Party and made some extra money by picking up pinecones at Momaw's house. She earned $.05/pinecone. She chose to save most of her money but did spend $3 at the ball field this week on snacks to share with friends. 

- Mark worked a federal training a few weeks ago and was paid for it this week. I also received my payment for the Here We Grow Again Kids Sale. We are saving for vacation :) 

We are looking forward to a low-key Saturday tomorrow with ALL of us home for the first time in months! 

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers and daughters out there. I am SO thankful for my mama, my grandmothers, and all of the women who have invested in my life. I am also eternally grateful for the gift of two children who call me Mama.

Happy Savings to All!