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Last week I got to attend my first ever blogging conference (Bloggy Con for the curious!).  It was fantastic!

If you’ve ever gone to any sort of conference, you know that you come away from it with this “high” for accomplishing great things.  I’m so excited to pour these ideas into the blog!

The reason I was able to attend this conference was because my family could come along, too.  It’s held at Cedar Point (which is an amazing amusement park…a must do for roller coaster enthusiasts!).  The hotel we stayed at was within easy walking distance of the park.  So for 3 days, the family got to ride rides while I learned about blogging.

So after more than 2 years of paying off debt, this year we’ve been able to treat our family to a trip to Indianapolis, a vacation in Washington DC, and a fall trip to Cedar Point.

This is why you fight to get out of debt!!  You want your money to be used for the things you love the most.  Who wants to keep treading water with bill companies??

Nobody, that’s who.

The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week

Ideas for saving money for your family

Homemade Card

Our daughter is very into art these days.  So when there’s a birthday or special occasion, she always wants to make a homemade card.  And I always want to let her!

She made one for my nephew’s baptism.  Everyone at the party loved the card!  It was special and much better than a $4 card from the store (in my opinion, anyway!).

Boy Scout Fundraising

Our oldest is enjoying Boy Scouts this year.  He bugged me to let him join until I finally caved and signed him up.

But he hasn’t disappointed us, that’s for sure!

He realizes that since he wants to participate in this, he needs to do the work.  So whenever they hold a fundraiser, he works it.  These fundraisers help him pay for mini weekend camp outs throughout the year.  And we’re hoping he’ll raise enough to help with the costs of summer camp next year!

Shoes

Taking a couple of teenagers shoe shopping is quite an experience.  Man sized shoes are never as cheap as their child sized counterparts were.

I know that, not just name brand, but specific high end shoes are very “in” at our local school.  But that’s just not practical for a family that’s trying to save for retirement, raise a bunch of kids, and reach the real goals we have.

We’ve managed to find a compromise.  I don’t mind buying good quality shoes, because they definitely last longer.  But paying more for something that has a silhouette on the side isn’t worth it.

kids at hotel

Blog Conference

No blog conference is cheap, but I managed to swing this conference in a few ways.

Location, Location, Location

This conference was within driving distance from our home.  We took our own car, so it just cost us the price of gas!

Early Bird

The early bird ticket for this conference is much cheaper than waiting.  Plus, the earlier you buy, the more perks you’ll get!

We got a $25 gift card to spend at the park.  This covered several drinks (once the water bottles ran out) and even a small bottle of sunblock (which I’d foolishly forgotten).

Discount Rates

The hotel offered a much discounted rate for staying two nights.  We needed lodging anyway.  And this saved us parking fees at the park as well as the hassle of travelling to and from the park each day.

Halloween Decor

One of the things I looked forward to in the #yearofno was being able to buy holiday decor again, some day.  You won’t catch me going over the top by any means!  But when I saw this cute lantern at Kroger for just $6, I couldn’t resist!

Those are the 5 ways we saved money this week!

Are you a fan of buying in bulk?  Or do you always wonder how to get the best deal on bulk?  Check out the brand new post up this week with 25 Things to Buy In Bulk!

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