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My middle schooler walked with me into the store and helped me lug bags of dog food this week.  I paid for everything with my debit card as usual, and we left.

On the way home, he asked why I was still using a credit card.  And I realized that we hadn’t talked about the difference between debit and credit in a while.

It reminded me of a talk I heard recently.  A mom was imploring other women to read real books.  When we read on our phones or a tablet, our kids always assume we are playing games.  (After all, that’s what they do on a tablet!)

But there’s no denying a physical book.

What appearance are we giving to our kids when we spend or save money?  Using cash is a better way to show them good money habits.  But in a society that is getting farther away from paper every year, it’s a good idea to explain the concept of a debit card to your kids.  And tell them why it’s different from borrowing money!

The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week

Part of the 5 Ways We've Saved Money This Week series!  Find new ideas for saving money week after week.  #savings #money

Fridays are fun here at Medium Sized Family, because each week I open up about the ways, big and small, that we discovered we could save money.  Because this is week number 119, you’re bound to find some tips you haven’t tried before in the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week Series!

If you don’t have time to read through 119 different posts to find new money saving tips, that’s ok.  I condensed many of these posts into a book called 500 Ways to Save Money: Build a Cash Jackpot for the Best Things In Life.

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Steps

Our front steps leading to the porch didn’t take the hard late winter weather very well.  Two of them needed to be replaced.

It’s a simple enough job, and only requires one board (they’re short steps!).  Hubby was concerned that the board wouldn’t fit inside our van.  But I reminded him that Home Depot will cut boards to the length you need!

The short boards fit easily into the van, and it saved Hubby the hassle of cutting.  I love that they do that for free!

Side Job

If you love sports, here’s a side hustle you might enjoy!

Our baseball organization is always in need of umpires.  Yes, it’s a thankless job.  Parents and coaches can be brutal (which is a sad commentary on our society…but I won’t stray to that topic today!).

But it’s decent money for a couple of hours of work.  Plus, you get to see a baseball game!

We used the money to go on a rare baseball season date.  I’m excited to add that check mark to our yearly goals list!

Volunteer

It might not look much like spring yet, but our community still needs a good clean up.  So part of our family participated in the spring cleanup days.

Volunteers got a t-shirt and a hot dog lunch!  It was nice to have lunch covered on a busy day.

Local Deal

Local grocery stores are not the first place people look for bargains.  But you might be missing out!

Our daughter is getting ready to celebrate her First Communion, and I plan to serve pulled pork at the reception.  So I had been on the lookout for a good price on pork tenderloin.

Then I saw the sign.

1 day sale pork loins $1.49 lb

Our local Save A Lot beat most of the big chain stores in price by selling it for just $1.49 per pound!  I stopped in to grab a giant tenderloin, which is waiting patiently in the freezer for our celebration.

School Pictures

I haven’t been buying school pictures for the past couple of years.  Even a small package costs a lot of money.  And there’s never a guarantee that the photos will turn out right.

Usually when they send home a package trying to entice me to buy, I ignore it.  But this time I decided to look it over.

They were selling just the 8×10 for $12.  Since the pictures looked good, I decided to go ahead and spring for them.  I’m not great about keeping up with the yearly pictures, and I know I’ll want them later!

Those are the ways we saved money this week!

For even more money saving tips, become a subscriber!  You’ll get a newsletter just once per week, packed with ideas for getting the most bang for your bucks.

How did you save money this week?