Happy Friday!
Have you started thinking about Christmas yet? Not in the way that you’re ready to see decorations in the store or listen to Christmas music, necessarily. (Can we celebrate at least Halloween first, please??)
I’m talking about mapping out a plan…maybe even buying some gifts!
Frugal folks are planners, so it’s time to start that plan!
If you want some extra help (or motivation!) be sure to join my mini Christmas challenge! Sign up here to get the emails. (Even if you already get emails from Medium Sized Family, this is a brand new list. So if you want the challenge, you have to sign up!)
The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
Oh, boy. This week was a doozy.
Camping
Each fall we enjoy a weekend camping trip with my extended family. We share the menu by splitting up foods, so everyone brings a little something.
We also split the cost of the campsite which keeps it affordable.
This year it was a wet and chilly experience. But we managed to stay kind of dry under pop up canopies. It was still a good time!
Sickies
Once we got home from camping, our youngest started in on a bad stomach bug. By Wednesday, six of the seven of us were down and out. This isn’t your average 24 hour bug!
Not the way I want to save on groceries, but a steady diet of Gatorade, water, toast, and chicken noodle soup doesn’t cost much. I’m just glad I had plenty of soap and Clorox wipes on hand!
Video
With a house full of sickies, I stopped by the Redbox to see if I could grab something new for them to watch.
As I scrolled through the selection, I realized I could get many of those titles from my library right down the street. So I stopped in there instead. I was able to grab three different options for them to choose from and it was free!
(So long as I remember to return or renew them, that is!)
Admittedly, we’ve become a bit lazy on saving our $1 bills. But with big goals of buying a new (to us) car and expanding the house within the next few months, it’s time to save up as much cash as possible!
Having a sixth baby changes everything! 😉
Day Date
Ok, so this actually happened before all the germs hit the house. But it still counts!
With all of the upcoming craziness, Hubby took a day off work so we could drive a few vehicles to find out what we want. I’m admittedly nervous about driving something bigger than a minivan!
And my insistence on finding a vehicle that we can pay off within 6 months or so is adding another layer of difficulty.
But I find that if I’m patient and stick to my guns, I can usually make things like this work. 🙂
Anyway, while we were out, we decided to have lunch together. It was a lovely day date, and cost us less than $20 for a Red Robin lunch (ok, it was a little more than that after tip).
Car Repair
I hate it when the van starts making noises. That sound is usually expensive!
Luckily, it’s just brakes this time. Hubby found a coupon code for buying the parts online (he can pick up at our local store!). There’s also a rebate on the parts. So he should get this job done for a much smaller cost than we anticipated!
Those are the 5 ways we saved money this week!
In my whole life, I only had cable for about 6 months. (We cancelled it once I became pregnant with our first born so we could save up for a house.)
So I haven’t really written about the topic, because I just don’t have the experience.
Luckily, Katie is an expert! She offered to write a guest post for me this week, and I KNOW you’re gonna love it! Even if you don’t have cable, you’ll be amazed at all the streaming options that are out there!
Learn how you can save $1600 and not even miss out on your favorite shows by getting rid of cable!
How did you save this week?
1. My daughter would like to go to Homecoming. We are going to look at dresses a friend’s daughter wore before we start looking at the store.
2. We made homemade cider last night. Hubby used to work at his uncle’s cider mill for years. He built his own little cider press and it works like a charm. Out of one 20 gallon barrel of apples we got 2.5 gallons of cider……so far. We have 5 different sources of apples friends have offered us, so there will be more cider making in our future.
3. Supper last night was easy & very cheap. I bought a loaf of white bread & we had french toast and fried eggs. The eggs came from our chickens.
4. A friend gifted me free pumpkins & gourds from her garden to decorate with at my house.
5. I’ve been applying to colleges for oldest daughter during the early enrollment period, thus saving writing essays & taking advantage of the codes to waive application fees. So far saved over $150 with free codes!