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School starts next week, but I’m not one of those Moms who loves back to school.  Summer has always been my favorite season!

Still, the routine will be good for all of us.  And that means more blogging time for me!

When we set our goals for 2018, we knew we wanted family time to be a priority for us.  We wanted to find affordable ways to make memories together.  And I’m happy that we’ve been pretty successful with this this summer!

Since starting this blog, I decided that Fridays would be dedicated to focusing on the ways we saved money that week.  That turned out to be one of my best ideas!  It was the catalyst that gave us momentum to pay off a ton of credit card debt.

You can read all about that in our crazy affordable book!

And now it’s time for a brand new edition!

The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week

Another 5 ways we've saved money this week post!  Time for lots of money saving tips!

Ohio State Fair

I don’t know about your area, but our county fair has gotten more and more expensive in recent years.  It’s hard to afford to take our medium sized family there without spending too much.

Our state fair, however, is much more affordable!  The kids got coupons at our library, and they had a deal that if you brought in a losing lottery ticket, you could get an adult ticket for just $4!

Once we got in, there was so much for us to do.  Nearly none of the things we wanted to see cost us extra money.  We did spend a little on some sweet tea and shared some fried food.  (Deep fried cheesecake…so delicious!  But definitely a small, once a year treat!)

Trampoline

We’ve wanted to get the kids a trampoline for a long time.  Alas, there were a few #yearsofno that made it impossible.

So when I saw one listed on FB Marketplace last week for just $70, I knew we needed it!  This trampoline has been gently used and was well worth the money.

This is a good time of year to look for clearance summer items in the stores.  But it can also be a great time to score a second hand deal on summer things!

Pig Roast

Our church has an annual Pig Roast fundraiser dinner, and every year the kids begged to go.  Another #yearofno story!  I always say, “Maybe next year.”  Well, next year finally came!

We got a huge dinner for less than $40 for our family of 7.  That’s hard to beat!  And I got to dig into a delicious ear of sweet corn dripping with butter.  It’s just not summer without it!

Gabes

I’m not sure if you have a Gabe’s near you, but if you haven’t shopped there, I suggest you start!  We needed a new rug for our bathroom, and the boys never seem to have enough sheets for their full sized bed.

I got a full set of sheets for $9 and a pretty rug for just $6!  The styles can be hit or miss, but it’s always worth a look.

Last Fling

I always feel like our family should do one last thing before summer break is over.  But do you know what the kids want to do?

Have a friend over.

Catch lightning bugs.

Sleep on the trampoline.  (They often last 20 minutes outside!  haha)

So that’s what we’ll do with our last rays of summer break.  Time trumps money so often!

Those are the 5 ways we saved money this week!

Good news!  I finally put together a goals check in.  I just love keeping our goals front and center like this.  It keeps me from blowing money when I see a cute project on Pinterest.  Check our progress here.

Examples of SMART goals for adults and how they can change your life.

How did you do this week?