School’s out for summer in our home and I couldn’t be more relieved!
When our day doesn’t revolve around 4 to 8 trips to run everyone where they need to be each day, it gives me much more time to plan ahead.
(Yikes. No wonder I can never get anything done!)
We’re enjoying the slower pace, and have already enjoyed a simple trip to the park and the library. Even if we treat ourselves to 50 cent Frostys all summer (or however long they last!), that makes for a super cheap fun afternoon for our large family.
Aside from that yummy treat, I found plenty of ways to save money this week. So let’s talk about…
The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
Here we go…
Straight A Tickets
Our family is filled with baseball fans. So we totally love the Straight A Ticket program put on by our Cincinnati Reds.
When our high schooler earned all As for the semester, he was rewarded with a code for 2 free tickets to a Reds game.
And these weren’t nosebleed seats, either! They got to sit in the outfield and had the chance to catch homeruns. (Though if they caught a ball, they didn’t tell me about it…)
Zoo Field Trip
After homeschooling one of our children for the first semester, life changed to the point that I needed to enroll him in a public school online program by the second semester.
This was completely funded by tax dollars. And they even offered a field trip at the end of the year!
We got to go to our local zoo for free. They even gave us enough free tickets to take a younger brother! And they also covered our parking.
It was a nice day and we really enjoyed it.
Party Food
We finally had the time to get our baby baptized over the weekend.
Afterwards, we invited friends and family back to our home for a little party.
Life has been nuts, and I needed a simple way to feed everyone. Grilling was out, because our grill is too small to cook much food at once.
For a minute I considered buying prepackaged food or even ordering from a caterer. But that would have cost a fortune with so many guests!
Instead, I grabbed some bags of meatballs from Aldi. I also got some marinara sauce, parmesan, and shredded mozzerella.
I was happy to find some deli rolls while I was there, too!
To my pleasant surprise, everyone thought the meatball subs were delicious. And they were super affordable! In fact, we had leftovers to eat for days.
Just One Thing
(That milk jug photo had me cracking up! I guess I’m not the only Mom who gives that lecture…)
Needless to say, our large family often needs a random gallon of milk. And the small town we live near offers a few options for that kind of shopping, with different levels of convenience and price.
The new drive thru our local gas station offers is certainly convenient. And when I have a fussy baby that can’t handle one more stop, it’s the option I would choose.
But you definitely pay for that convenience!
A slightly cheaper option is to run into the gas station and grab a quick gallon jug. Sometimes the lines to check out are shorter here. But, again, it’s not a cheap option.
Then there’s our local Save-A-Lot store. The prices are surprisingly cheap for a small town grocery store!
It can be really hard to skip the more convenient options, especially when I have a lot of kids with me and don’t feel like hiking to the back of the store for one gallon of milk.
But it’s worth it to pay half the cost of the simple choices.
Camp
There are more and more summer camp options every year. It can be hard to sort through them to find good bargains that the kids will actually enjoy.
Our local vocational school offers a two day camp with options like learning survival skills or how to pilot drones.
They also gave the kids a nice lunch each day. All for $25!
It was a great price, and now my son is more confident about using his toy drone.
Those are the 5 ways we saved this week!
Next week, I’ve got a surprise challenge…so be sure to pop back in to check it out! (Members of the newsletter will get an email reminder!)
You might also be interested in these ideas for Frugal Grocery Shopping For People Who Don’t Have Extra Time.
How did you save this week?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
