Every Friday, I like to post about ways we have saved money this week. I try to share ideas that go beyond skipping Starbucks daily. (You can go ahead and assume I made my own coffee at home every day!) When you are raising 5 kids on one income, you have to look for deeper ways to be frugal.
Here are the ways we have saved money this week.
We Won!
I’m not sure that this one counts, but it is so exciting that I am sharing it anyway. My cousin was selling raffle tickets for the chance to win a quarter of beef for the freezer. I bought one ticket for $5 and WE WON! I am so excited!
You can bet I’ll be saving up the money I’d have spent on meat (since we also just bought half of a hog for the freezer) for future meat purchases.
Use a Shopping List
If I know one thing about myself, it’s that I tend to be lazy! If you want to indulge your lazy side, the best way to do that is to be organized.
So I created a grocery list template to make it super easy for me to plan out my grocery shopping. Now I can cross off items if I don’t happen to need them this week, and I can easily add to my list. Less chance of forgetting items I needed=less trips to the store.
Meal Planning
I know that meal planning can save money for a lot of reasons, but here’s one more. I was sick earlier this week and wound up going to bed the minute my hubby got home from work. I assumed he would just order pizza. Instead, he looked at my meal plan to figure out we had on hand that he could cook easily while watching all of the kids.
Turn off the air conditioner.
Keep in mind that we don’t have any crazy Texas heat here. While I need the a/c to sleep, during the day I can generally function just fine without it by using fans and open windows. So for the most part we don’t use air, but we do turn on our window unit at night.
Cheap birthday toys.
I was able to find some toys that will make great birthday gifts on the clearance rack at our local drugstore. They were only a little over $1 each. They will be given to kids who have birthdays soon (I don’t like storing things for a very long time!) or held for the next random birthday party invitation we get.
And for a bonus tip, I am joining The Peaceful Mom in her Fast Track Savings Missions. I pledged to save $200, which is definitely a BHAG for us! I will really have to stretch to reach that goal.
How have you done this week? Share the creative ways you have saved this week in the comments! (Feel free to share a link to a related blog post!)
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
Great tips! Fall seems to be a big one for us and birthdays – I need to start check the calendar then start looking at the clearance sections when I’m out and about.
Thanks for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty link party
Thanks for hosting the party! I like to try to keep up with the calendar in things like this. Too many times I have had to run out and frantically grab a last minute gift.
Thanks for bringing these good tips to Fridays Blog Booster Party #22. Congratulations on winning the meat what a huge savings that is.
Kathleen
I am super excited. 🙂 Thanks for hosting the link up!
we have done without a/c most the summer in attempt to save money and be ready for taxes, back to school and Christmas we are doing well so far
come visit us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
That’s a great way to save for those things. I should figure out how much I am saving and try to put it in a specific account like you do.
Congrats on winning the raffle! For a creative way we saved this week.. well, our dishwasher died and we decided to hold off on buying a new one and have started to look into seeing if it would be something that my husband could fix. The kids are not too happy about having to wash dishes lol. I think it will help us all appreciate the dishwasher when we have a working one again.
I went without a dishwasher for 7 years and most of 4 pregnancies. I have had one for 6 years now, and I still appreciate it every time I turn it on! And I think it’s a great lesson for the kids in terms of work ethic and gratitude for simple things. Good job being patient and frugal!
Woohoo!! Congrats on the raffle win!
Thanks! I am still so excited about it! You can probably tell. haha!
Stopped in from Prudent Homemaker. YES! Congratulations on the winning ticket for the meat. That is so awesome!
I’m still crazy excited about it!
The bargain/clearance racks are pretty much my most favorite place to shop ever! I am constantly amazed at the items I find there.
I need to do more meal planning! I tend to go to the grocery store blind.
Yep, I’ve definitely done it that way, too! I’m not very good at shopping that way, though. Thanks for the visit!
Congrats on winning the quarter of beef. That’s HUGE! I am planning on splitting a cow with 3 other families so I’m interested in exactly how much you got =) Great tips for shaving money for a family. Thanks for linking up to Welcome Home Wednesday!
I will let you know when we get it how much there is. It sounds like it’s going to be quite a bit, though! Thanks for hosting the party.
I menu planned, I shopped the specials and I picked up birthday cards on special to cover birthdays for the rest of the year.Thanks for linking up to Pin Worthy Wednesday, I have pinned your post to the Pin Worthy Wednesday Pinterest Board.
How wonderful to win the raffle! These are great tips, Jamie. Saving money can be hard but they will definitely help. Thank you for sharing them with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop.
Yes, winning the raffle is exciting stuff. Thanks for hosting!