Well hello again!
I’m sorry to say that I haven’t blogged so inconsistently in the entire time I’ve written at Medium Sized Family as I have in 2020.
This year has stretched me in so many new ways. Some days I feel like I’m rocking the Little House On the Prairie life. Other days, I can’t even get a load of dishes clean (let alone anything else).
I have a feeling I’m not alone. 😉
This week, school started back for our kids. We’ve got some of them back in public school, and some of them I’ll be homeschooling. As in traditional homeschool…which is a lot of work!
But, I hope the new school year will give us a chance to get back to something resembling a routine. And maybe I can make more time for writing. (It’s my favorite part of blogging!)
On Fridays I like to look at our week and see what ways we were able to save money.
It helps me to feel like I’ve accomplished something, even on rough weeks. It also keeps me motivated to save more… and sometimes even inspires me about another way I can save next week!
If you love to save, definitely join the frugal living Facebook group. (Make sure you answer the questions when you join!) Lots of us like to share our 5 ways on Fridays, which will give you tons of ideas!
The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
Homeschool
Well, homeschooling isn’t cheap by any means, but I have found some ways to do it for less.
For one thing, we’ve been using the library like crazy. At one point this week, I had 100 items checked out. (I didn’t even know they’d let me get that many! Might be a corona thing?)
Plus, going to the library doubles as a homeschooling field trip. 😉
I also found education.com, which is full of free printable worksheets for kids.
This would also be a great way to add on if you aren’t sure your school’s virtual option is rigorous enough for your kids. (Something I’ve heard a lot of my friends worrying about.)
Day of Fun
With summer winding down, I wanted one last day of fun with the kids.
Amusing kids ages 16 down to 1 (with 4 in between those ages) is no easy task.
Most ideas I could come up with were darned pricey. Or they just wouldn’t appeal to everyone.
Finally, I decided on mini golf.
It was perfect!
The outdoor mini golf place was an hour away from home. (But to be fair, most things are 30 to 40 minutes from our house anyway.)
But it gave us the chance to picnic at a park we’d never been to before. It had so many fun things!
Then we hit the mini golf place. We hadn’t done that in a really long time. And it cost $5 or less per person.
The kids loved it so much, we did the course twice!
Golf
I got the Hubby a golf course membership for Christmas. I was relieved when they finally opened and he was able to use it.
A couple of times he has taken one of our kids for some one on one time. They love it. Even the 6 year old got a big kick out of being Daddy’s caddy!
Gift Card
I was at Sam’s Club when I remembered that my son had been invited to a birthday party.
When your kid is a teenager, birthday gifts are pretty much just gift cards.
Well, I noticed that they had a rack of gift cards and even had one for the Nintendo eshop.
And it was discounted!
Not a huge discount, really, but hey something is better than nothing. And some of the other gift cards they have are at a better discount than this one.
This is something I definitely want to remember for Christmastime.
Baking
My daughter is on a big baking kick this first week of homeschool.
It’s kinda nice, because she’s definitely learning as she goes. She’s old enough to clean up after herself.
And I had her make some of these yummy breakfast bars. So we had breakfast ready to go for the next day!
Making breakfast ahead of time is one of those things on my regular to do list that somehow I usually don’t make it to. So I love that she’s double dipping on her learning time and my to do list. 😉
That’s how we saved money this week!
Here’s hoping for a more regular schedule going forward. 😉
By the way, do NOT miss out on the 30 Day Money Saving Challenge. You can be a #brightsaver with less effort than you think.
[et_bloom_inline optin_id=optin_8]
How did you save this week?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
