My Hubby got the call we’ve been anticipating for months late last week. After that, our weekend became a whirlwind of activity as I tried to get all the kids ready to sleepover at their grandparents’ house. They’d leave for school from there, so that added another layer of preparation to my work.
Meanwhile, Hubby and I drove two states away to attend a funeral. We packed a lot of emotions into that overnight trip.
We also tried to keep the trip on the frugal side.
The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
Cheap Hotel with Breakfast
When we have the kids with us, I’m always careful to choose a hotel in a nicer part of town with a decent rating. Even though it sometimes costs more, I can get the rate down with coupons or negotiating.
This time we found a cheap hotel that was a little sketchy. I didn’t mind it as much since the kids were with us. We’re still alive, aren’t we? 😉 Since the cheap room came with breakfast, it saved us even more money.
Combined Date Night
Despite the fact that we are dedicating most of our “extra” money to paying off debt, we decided that having a monthly date night this year would be a priority. Although the reason for our trip wasn’t exactly romantic, it was nice to get away and have a quiet dinner and evening together.
We’ll consider this our date for the month. So some of the money we spent will come from that category.
Creative Clothing Storage
Another goal I set for the year is to give all of our bedrooms a deep clean. The kind where you touch everything in the room (or ideally pull it all out of the room!) and make sure it has earned a place in your home.
We share a dresser, which is becoming a burden. My stay at home mom wardrobe is pretty simple. But Hubby has clothes for every occasion.
For a minute, I thought I was going to have to buy a couple of dressers and finally deal with this messy situation. Then I reset myself. In the spirit of #PressOn, I knew I could find a free solution.
A combination of crates, the closet, the dresser, and a drawer I bought from Ikea years ago did the trick! It’s not pretty, but it will work until we have escaped the debt trap.
Careful Grocery Shopping
I’m not sure how your family works, but lately I’ve noticed that if I buy something we consider a treat at one shopping trip, the kids eat it up as fast as they can. But if I buy that same thing at the next trip, they don’t eat it. Like they’re tired of it or something.
I put more than one thing back on the shelf at the grocery store because of this. (Things like a certain type of chips or those donuts I found on clearance.)
National Park
Whenever we have the chance to stop at a state or national park, we try to do it. We were close to Cumberland Gap. I hadn’t been there since I was a kid!
So we stopped and took a little hike to stretch our legs. The view was beautiful. And there was no temptation to spend money.
Those are the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week.
It was nice to get away. It was nice to get back home to our family.
I shared a fun post earlier this week. It’s over 30 Crazy Things We’ve Done to Escape Being in Debt!
Were you able to find any savings this week?
Great post! I’m guilty of buying snacks that never get eaten. I could save a lot if I started putting them back like you’ve started doing. Thanks for linking up to #fridayfrivolity! Xx
I would buy one salty each week and one sweet each week. In addition we would make popcorn and cookies and that had to last until the next week.
We look for hotels with free breakfasts as well. Stayed in one last weekend to be close to a 4-H event that began early on Saturday morning. The hotel had a make-your-own omelet machine which we’ve never seen before plus a waffle maker. There were so many choices in addition to those two!
I would have loved that! It’s amazing the options some hotels have these days.
So sorry for your loss. Was KY warm? We are headed that way in the next month or so. We are talking about going to the Natural Bridge when we go.
I think us old people can still hike that trail. ha ha.
Thank you. It was actually pretty cold. I guess most of us are being hit by this odd March cold snap! My Hubby has been to the Natural Bridge, but if I have it was when I was young. I’m afraid to take my little ones there, but when they get older it would be a nice trip!
I’m glad that you were able to work a little pleasantness into what was otherwise a somber trip! #FridayFrivolity