Some weeks are just rough. Life decides to take you for a ride, and you have no choice but to follow along.
That’s been the last few weeks for us. We’ve dealt with a quickly scheduled surgery, a funeral a couple of states away, a birthday party, school functions, and the chaos of regular life.
There was a time when the fact that I couldn’t find ways to save money during the hustle and bustle of life would have added an extra layer of stress.
And to be sure, I don’t enjoy wasting money on things like fast food and other conveniences. But I’m so glad it’s an option available to us when life is tough!
Be sure you offer yourself grace when life gets hard. When you build your savings (and get rid of debt) in the slightly easier seasons of life, you’re setting yourself up for less stress (when you already have enough to stress about!).
The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
Clothes
Ugh, buying maternity clothes all the time is a little aggravating for a gal like me who is NOT into clothes shopping!
The weather has turned colder, and I had to find something a little warmer than the cotton shorts and t-shirts I’ve been living in for the past couple of months.
Rather than shop for a whole new wardrobe, I was able to find a couple of cardigans and a button up flannel shirt to wear over some of the things I already own. Since I can wear those things over several different shirts, it’s a nice frugal way to expand my wardrobe!
As usual, I found those things at Clothes Mentor for a fraction of mall prices. (And I feel like these clothes hold up better than what I’ve found at the mall lately, too!)
Stocked Up
Several years ago, my friends turned me on to Sambucol, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. Sambucol contains elderberry extract, which helps to keep germs away (or shorten their ability to reproduce, thus shortening your sick time!).
I found it on sale, so I stocked up on some extra boxes! Since we seem to be sick every single November, I’ll start the family on a dose of one disolvable pill per day.
We’re also going to start taking a small cup of grape juice each day to keep stomach bugs away.
It’s much cheaper than accommodating a house full of sickies!
Sambucol is still on sale for less than $10 as of this writing! That’s a great, stock up price!
Birthday Party
Our baby (well, he’s still the baby of the family until #6 arrives!) turned 5 recently!! He was excited to have a birthday party. The only thing he had his heart set on was a Paw Patrol Pinata.
So I found one on Walmart.com and had it shipped to my local Walmart to avoid shipping costs.
We did serve some Cincinnati style chili, but I was able to make that at home. (It can be really expensive!) We mostly kept it simple.
I did buy store bought cakes, which I never do. It cost quite a bit more than the from scratch cake I would normally make. But the chaos of the week had caught up to me, and I was actually super relieved to not have to make a cake. Not very #yearofno, but totally worth it!
Frozen Lasagna
Speaking of chaotic week things, I was going to grab frozen pizzas for the family one evening. Then I remembered that our 11 year old had recently requested lasagna.
Normally I make that from scratch, but….well, you know. Chaos. So I decided to see how much a frozen lasagna would cost.
Turns out I found a party size box for less than $10! I would have spent more than that on enough pizza to feed our family (teenage boys, you know!), so I grabbed it.
It was actually really good!
Costumes
This year, we kept our costumes simple! The kids mainly made them from scratch. A quick trip to the Dollar General finished up the last couple of things we needed.
A couple of kids wore masks we already had, one beat up a box of cereal to be a “cereal killer” (haha!), and our youngest wore a costume that has already gone through several boys in our home!
I love that they embraced this without a word.
(Helpful hint… a friend told her kids that if they could make a costume using things already in the house, she’d buy them a bag of candy. There’s a cheap way to convince begrudging kids to get on board!)
Those are the 5 ways we saved money this week!
Not enough money saving tips for you? Then check this out: 500 Ways to Save Money!
Us frugal minded folks have already started to think of ways to save this Christmas season. Be sure to check out my new 2018 Gift Guide! (It’s #yearofno approved with lots of practical, affordable ideas!)
How did you save this week?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
