Big, black spiders are a staple of any good set of Halloween decorations. And now I know why.
Every October our home becomes infested with black wolf spiders. It’s common for our area. But it’s not something any of us enjoy!
After killing or shooing away 4 or 5 spiders every day, I’ve had enough.
The plastic variety are all fun and games, but I’m done with these icky creatures! If you’ve got a great solution for spiders, let me know!
The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
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Gender Reveal
Exciting news in our home!
A little background first… You might know that we have a “medium sized family” of 5 kids. There are 4 boys and 1 girl. Our daughter has been praying for a little sister since she found out we were having a baby.
We usually don’t find out what we are having ahead of time, because we prefer to keep it a surprise. But this time, I was just ready to find out at the 20 week ultrasound.
As it turns out….it’s a girl!!
We are avid baseball fans, and we always thought that if we were ever to do a gender reveal, we would do the baseball explosion. You just get the right color baseball, hit it, and a cloud of pink or blue dust comes out.
Instead, we opted for a cheaper, easier idea. I grabbed some balloons from the Dollar Tree. While I was there, I asked if they had a big box I could take home. They were happy to get one for me!
For $7 we had a little fun while telling the kids about their new baby sister. 🙂
Root Beer Floats
Last week while we were out and about, my son asked for a root beer float from the concession stand. I told him I could make floats for the whole family for a little more than the price of one float at this place.
He agreed that we should just do it at home.
Sometimes kids say this and they forget, which makes it really cheap! (haha!) But this time, he remembered.
That was fine. For a few bucks, we all enjoyed a fun treat at home!
Bug Bomb
Some friends have assured me that the spider infestation can be helped by setting off bug bombs in the basement before we leave the house for the day.
Worth a try! I got a box of them from the store and we’ll see if this is effective.
It’s definitely more affordable than an exterminator. But if it doesn’t work, it won’t make for the frugal choice here!
Dishwasher Soap
I’ve been buying dishwasher soap from Amazon Subscribe and Save for a while. I found that the tabs clean much better. And running dishes through more than one cycle is expensive for us, given our strange water situation.
Unfortunately, the last couple of boxes of tablets haven’t been great. They’ve come broken up and don’t seem to work as well.
We cancelled our subscription and let the company know about the problem. They offered us a free box of a different type of tabs. So we’ll see how they work!
Tablecloth
I’ve had my eye on a new vinyl tablecloth for our dining room table. It’s not much of a splurge, but I like to consider all of my purchases!
At first I looked for a nice Halloween themed tablecloth. I was disappointed in the selection I found in store after store.
After a while, I decided to take that as a sign that I should just get a fall themed tablecloth, instead. I’ll be able to use it for a longer time. And it would give me more options at different stores.
I found one I was happy with at my local Meijer for under $5!
Is it a cheap move to put that much thought into a $5 purchase? I consider it the smart, frugal move. 😉
Those are the 5 ways we saved money this week!
If you are a truly frugal person, I’m sure you’ve already begun to think about how you’ll tackle Christmas! If you’re considering adding an element of the #yearofno to your holiday season, you won’t want to miss my new post.
Inexpensive Christmas Gifts That Will Help You Save Money (Many of these unique ideas are super cheap or even free!)
How did you save this week?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
We have had great success with oil as spider repellant. We mix orange oil (or peppermint) into warm water in a spray bottle. About a teaspoon of oil. Don’t go crazy and buy expensive stuff, just the cheapest brand is fine. We spray window tracks, doorways inside and foundation and such outside. Anywhere you think they are hiding out. These oils dissolve the spiders exoskeleton and they avoid it just by the smell. Reapply after it rains. Bonus is it’s safe for kids and pets and smells good. Best of luck!