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It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.
You did want that song in your head, right? If you don’t know the song I’m referring to, do yourself a favor and don’t look it up.
But I have a feeling you’re really visiting to learn the 5 Ways We Saved Money This Week. And as always, you can find previous Friday specials right here.
The 5 Ways We’ve Saved This Week
Think outside the box. We wanted to get a Lego table as a Christmas gift for one of our sons. I looked all over stores and secondhand shops looking for a good deal with no luck. My kids want a table to dump Legos on for sorting and building. They aren’t interested in stationery Lego plates, but lips around the edges are important so they don’t slide off the table to the ground.
I finally found this table for a much better price than anything else I had seen. And over on Pinterest I found a Mom who had already used the table for Legos and not had problems with it. Sounds good to me!
Teacher gifts. Between my 4 school aged children, we have 10 different teachers to buy for. I wanted to show appreciation to them for their hard work without breaking the bank. I have often given bags of chocolate, but I know that this time of year there seems to already be an abundance of sweets everywhere. So I thought of getting each of them a Starbucks gift card with enough to cover a latte for each of them.
That’s right, I’m talking about paying for Starbucks on a money saving post. This is the real stuff, folks!
Well I had no luck finding gift cards in the correct denomination in my store. But while I was searching, I happened to find small potted Poinsettia plants for just $4 each! So I grabbed one for each teacher. Hopefully it will be a bit different from other gifts that they will receive, but nothing too big and awkward to carry home. Plus I saved money over what the gift cards would have cost.
Gift cards. My best gift card tips are actually in this post, so you’ll definitely want to check that out. Even after changing my mind on the Starbucks gift cards, I still had others to buy. I made sure I got them at a store where I would pick up fuel discounts. At my store, I am able to get a fantastic discount on my gas most months between regular purchases, gift cards, and short surveys!
Camel! I’ve recently learned about a site called camelcamelcamel.com. Have you heard of it? It’s a neat site that tracks the price of items on Amazon. You know that the price of items on Amazon can shift dramatically even in a very short period of time. By using camelcamelcamel, you can find out what the price of your item typically sells for, when it last went on sale and for how much, and when the price is too high. It’s a great resource for buyers and sellers!
Get home bag. I was able to put together a get home back for my hubby using items we already had on hand. If you’d like to learn more about this, check out this post.
I hope you are able to find ways to stay frugal at this busy time of year! Christmas is just one week away, which means no 5 Ways next Friday. But more importantly, it means I need to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas!
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Ah, the Kroger fuel survey xD I used to do those. Then quit for a while because they were having problems with their system (and I worked for the PDX call center for about a month, ha!) and now, we’re not driving enough to warrant doing it any more. Plus, I don’t like how my Fred Meyer is laid out and would have to always complain about it, and that’s time I don’t want to take!
I wish I would have had a LEGO table of some kind as a kid – adults always say “oh stepping on LEGO is so painful! The kids’ don’t know!” No, I knew, because I had linoleum on my floor and every time after having LEGO out, one would escape, and I’d end up stepping on it xD
I love reading this feature each week! Inspires me to be more thoughtful and intentional before spending my money. Hope your kids love the lego table!!
I love the idea of camel. Too late for this year, but I am making a note in my planner for next year!
Cool! I have never heard of camelcamelcamel.com. I will be checking it out!
Awesome, glad I could help! 🙂
What a great week you had. Thanks for the tip on CamelCamelCamel!
Poinsettias sound like a great gift. There are definitely a few too many sweets around during the holidays as it is. My mom works in the school system and always comes home with tons of chocolate and candy. It is a nice thought, but it’s really an awful lot of candy to get at once.
It is! We are swimming in sweets here, and I know many people are trying not to overindulge in those calories anyway.
The lego table looks good. My husband is just in the process of making one for our little girl – she wants a table that she can secure her lego friends houses to, so it’s going to have a painted lake, grass and roads etc! Made from a bit of plywood. The only thing is that it’s pretty big, so I have no idea where to put it! Thanks for the heads up about the camel website, that sounds very useful.
That’s great! I often wish I was more of a DIYer, but I just don’t have the patience for it.
It is so hard to find the right teacher gift–something they will really like, not have 30 of already and that doesn’t cost a fortune.