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Fried.  My brain is fried.  It’s been a long week here!  This Mama is fully embracing the TGIF attitude today.

I try to stay ahead of the schedule of my blog, but I’m not too proud to admit that I’m sitting here on a Thursday night contemplating skipping this week’s episode of the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week.  But I’m powering through!

Grab a cup of coffee and let’s talk about some frugal ways to save money.  Go here to read older editions of this series.

Here are the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week.

5 Ways We've Saved Money This Week 51. Like money saving tips? This family has recorded the ways they've saved money as they work to pay off debt. Check out all of the ways to save money here!

DIY Bee Traps.  I know, I’m all for saving the bees, too.  But when you’re camping with 17 kids and the food table is absolutely swarmed with bees, you have to take drastic measures.  We looked up bee traps from the hardware store, and they had some for $5.  But then we realized that the bees were already super interested in the juice some kids had left behind.  Why not use that to our advantage?

We took a sandwich bag and rubber banded it around the cup.  Then we poked a hole in the top. The bees got in for the tasty treat, but they weren’t able to find the exit quite as easily.

Homemade Bee Trap: Part of the 5 ways we've saved money this week.

It wasn’t foolproof, but it worked surprisingly well.  We didn’t have any little fingers stung, and that was the goal!

Asked for a discount.  Hubby needed tires in the worst way.  He shopped around and found the best price.  Unfortunately, the store he chose didn’t have the tires in stock.  So he waited a day to save $100.

That was pretty great, but he also asked about any discounts at the checkout.  His final bill ended up being much lower than we’d anticipated because of some patience and unadvertised deals.

#yearofno.  Despite my desire to keep up with shopping and run a well stocked pantry (read why I don’t participate in pantry challenges here), I am skipping my grocery trip this pay period.  We have had a very expensive month that requires some replenishing of our savings.

We also have more than enough food on hand that skipping a big trip won’t empty any cupboards.

We did make a quick run, but I made sure to keep myself in check.  No matter how great the deal was, it was a bigger savings this time to say no.  No to sales, no to clearance, no to the yummy extras the family wanted this time.  (Yes to money in the bank.)

Scoured Pinterest.  Yes, I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest.  Sometimes it makes me green eyed and creates a longing to upgrade my home.  Other times, it’s the perfect place to find ways to get a great look without spending a lot of cash.

This time I was looking for ways to get some new Halloween decor around here without spending money.  (Our #yearofno motto means that we are trying to spend $0 whenever possible.)  I was able to find 13 different frugal ways to decorate!  Check them all out here.

13-cheap-halloween-decorations-title

Camping.  Our family actually enjoys camping, and it’s a great low-cost way to enjoy time together.  My entire family likes to go on a multi-family camp out each year.  We send around a list of all of the food we’ll need to feed the whole crew all weekend.  No sense in everyone bringing duplicates of things.

I chose to sign up for the items that I always have around anyway.  That meant fewer things to buy at the grocery store.  The weather was perfect, and it was fun to get everyone together for a couple of days.

Read more camping tips here.

Those are the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week!

Be sure to tune in next week for the big one!  Week number 52 means that I’ve accumulated a full year’s worth of 5 Ways posts on this blog.  That’s a milestone I’ve been aiming for since the beginning!  Don’t miss it.

If you like money saving tips, be sure to get on the mailing list so you don’t miss out on any of them.

Be sure to comment and let us know how you’ve saved lately!