Happy New Year! However your 2015 went, I hope you have wonderful things coming your way this new year. I encourage you to take the time to set a goal, big or small, for your financial goals this year. We certainly are setting some goals for our finances, but that’s a post for next week. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, let’s talk about the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week.
Use what we have. We hosted a small New Year’s Eve gathering. Rather than going out and buying more food for guests, I was able to use what we had on hand to serve some snacks and drinks without spending more money.
Homemade cake. Our son’s birthday is also on New Year’s Eve. We always tell him that the whole world celebrates his birthday with him! This year he wanted a spice cake shaped as BB8 (from the new Star Wars movie). Luckily I had plenty of ingredients on hand to make him a cake and decorate it using Christmas candies. It didn’t turn out perfectly, but good enough to make him happy. In my quest for simplicity, I wasn’t looking for a Pinterest worthy cake, anyway!
Besides, you can see from this picture that the cake was so delicious that “somebody” couldn’t wait to eat it. (Special thanks to our little 2 year old taste tester!)
Had patience. Our priest once joked that some people pray like this; “Lord, grant me patience, and give it to me right now!” Clearly that resonated with me for a reason! I struggle with using patience in most areas of life. But it’s such an important way to save money.
We were away at a birthday party that was an hour from home. We were going to be gone during supper time, and I knew the kids would be begging to stop for food. But I also knew that having supper waiting in the crock pot at home (while a bit inconvenient) would save a ton of money. So I packed a box of granola bars and some juice boxes. They didn’t go hungry, and we got home and had a nice hot meal waiting for us.
The habit of planning ahead for things like this is one that I really want to exercise in 2016.
[Tweet “This #newyear, celebrate saving money in simple ways.”]
Creative gift giving. This tip only works if you can get others to go along with the idea. But I think many people relish the idea of simplifying, especially at Christmas time. Our families have simplified gift giving by drawing names instead of buying for everyone in the family. People still get the enjoyment of gift giving (or receiving if that’s your love language!), but the expense is usually dramatically lowered.
Another idea we have used is a White Elephant/Yankee Swap/whatever you might call it. You can purchase a new gift to bring, or you can bring something from your home to gift to someone else. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. And with the right crowd, this can be a hilarious way to spend time during your gathering!
Power Outage. Is this really a way to save money? A storm ripped through our area the night before Christmas Eve, and a power line was dropped across our road. We fell asleep in the dark and woke up to no power (still) on Christmas Eve. I had a lot of baking and other jobs that I needed to get finished, but was unable to do those things with no power.
Due to our unusual water situation (which requires an electric pump) we had no running water, either. When you can’t use power or water and going outside isn’t super safe, it simplifies life quite a bit! I discovered that the things I thought were super important (cookies, foods, other traditions) were less important to my family than I realized. We read, we played games together, and had a quiet, simple Christmas Eve. It probably did save money in some ways, and it certainly saved my energy!
Looking for more ways to save? I’m always adding ideas to my Pinterest boards. Be sure to follow me to find tons of different money saving tips (and more!).
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Were you able to save money in small or big ways this past week? Let us know about your frugal accomplishments!
That cake is actually pretty impressive!! 🙂 I always bake homemade cakes for birthdays, because I enjoy baking. Now I can pat myself on the back for saving money too! 🙂
I wound up buying a few store bought cakes when I was pregnant and couldn’t handle standing in the kitchen to make it. Even the small cakes at the grocery store cost $15! Since learning that, I really enjoy the ability to make them myself and save a good bit of cash. 🙂
Ah, I remember living where we had an electric pump to have water. Power outages meant doing absolutely nothing besides sitting in front of the woodstove with a book or something, or a gameboy that ran on batteries…and hoping that we had saved enough water in pitchers and things to last as long as the power would be out (we’d get a few full if we knew a storm was coming, and were lucky that there would normally be enough already pumped that we could get some out of the tap once the power went, but not a lot!
And your cake is cute! And for a kid who has a mom that tried to make his day awesome, I’m sure it was more than well received! 😀
We try to keep some jugs of water on hand for those occasions. My neighbor always fills their bathtub in anticipation so they have water to use for various things.
And thanks! He seemed to enjoy his cake, baby brother antics notwithstanding. haha
That cake looks delicious!
I’m not even trying to take care of small children, but I find there are several times when I know I’ve got a perfectly good dinner set to go at home, but didn’t plan out my day well, am now starving and just want to pick something up. Probably keeping a box of granola bars in the car wouldn’t be the worst idea.
Yes, I’m thinking of keeping granola bars in the car for when I’m running errands myself. Plus a cooler with drinks in it handy for taking to the car with me so I’m not tempted to buy drinks while running around, too!
I’m sorry to hear you had to deal with a power outage, but you’re right is is a great way to save money for sure. My kids actually beg for me to make their cakes for their birthday’s too, and I feel so blessed with that one because it does truly save us a good bit of money. You’re cake turned out really well!
I think it’s hilarious how my kids will just casually ask me to make a cake in just about any shape or style as if it’s no big deal. (Mom can pull it off, right?) I usually don’t think they look that great, but my kids are happy and that’s all that really matters! 🙂
Your cake looks fabulous! What a special day to celebrate – I love that you tell him that the whole world celebrates with him. I’m going to try budgeting this year – my one and only new resolution for the year. I’ve tried in the past but failed. I’m determined to develop this habit in 2016. I’ll use you as inspiration and encouragement to save money!
That’s a great resolution! Sometimes software makes budgeting easier for me since it will toss my debit card transactions into the (mostly) correct area for me and I can see at a glance what’s going on with our finances.
That cake is fantastic! So cute! Thanks for sharing on the Small Victories Sunday Linkup!
I saved money over the Christmas break by just not leaving the house. It has also been easy for me to save money by leaving my debit card at home. Then the temptation is gone.
That’s a really good idea. Thanks for reading!
Great ideas, Jaime! The BB8 cake is so cute! Thanks so much for sharing with #SocialButterflySunday! I hope you will link up again this week 🙂
Well I personally think the cake was pinterest worthy! Nice job.
A Simple Christmas can be the best! I bet this will be the one you remember most!
Have a great day
You’re too sweet. haha! Happy New Year!
Nice job on the cake! Sorry about the power outage on Christmas Eve…I’m glad you were able to make the best of it. Happy New Year!
Thank you! Hope you have a great new year, too.
I love that cake! I think that we sometimes overlook the easiest ways to save money. Thank you for sharing this at the #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup!
Jamie that line about planning ahead in 2016 resonated with me. It’s something I want to do more of. I used it yesterday when my husband said we’d be out of the house today. I typically do a Shabat cleaning on Friday so the house is nice for the weekend, but if I was gone…Well I planned ahead and did it in increments yesterday afternoon and evening. I’m so glad I did because we were gone a lot longer than I’d thought we might be. Then this afternoon I had time to spare since the house was clean so I made dinner for tomorrow which leaves Shabat free for rest as it ought to be.
That’s so great! I’m happy that you were able to get all of that done. The payoffs from planning ahead are wonderful. 🙂
Your patience quote struck a cord with me! We pray for it and want it right away! 🙂 Very true… Thank you for sharing this list on the Art of Home-Making Mondays Jamie! I enjoyed these ideas…
JES @ Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth
It has certainly stuck with me since hearing it, too. Thanks for hosting!
You’ve shared some excellent tips, Jamie! I agree, planning ahead can make all the difference. I’m trying to do that more this year too. Stumbled and shared your post. Thank you for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Hop.
I always notice a huge difference in our home when I plan ahead. Thanks so much for sharing and for hosting the Hop.