web analytics

Medium Sized Family uses affiliate links. If you click a link, we could earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Read more.

Share or Save This

This week we are continuing our Friday series called 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week.  If you missed any posts, you can find them here!

[Tweet “Check out the 5 Ways I Saved Money This Week series.”]

So without further ado, here are the different ways we have saved this week.

Shop Craigslist

While I would prefer “saving money” to mean I didn’t spend any at all, sometimes a big purchase is necessary… or at least highly desirable.

As a former music teacher, I think music is very important and want it to be a big part of all of my childrens’ lives. So this year when our 11 year old finally had the opportunity to join band, there was no way we were skipping that!

Rather than buying new, I scoured Craigslist. When a good name brand trumpet (that looked like it was cared for well) was listed for under $200, I jumped at the chance to get it.  This saved me hundreds of dollars over buying new or renting!

Obviously if you shop Craigslist, you need to take precautions and only meet in a public area. And anytime you buy a used instrument, you should be careful to purchase a good brand name instrument (or you’ll spend more money in repairs in the long run).

Get more tips for not renting a school band instrument here!


5 Ways We've Saved Money This Week

Use a Clothesline 

This is a two fold savings!  We are saving the electric we would have used (and at over 15 loads of laundry per week, that’s a crazy savings).  We also are taking it easy on a dryer that is showing clear signs of wanting to give out.

Fix it  

<Read this next sentence in sarcasm font.>  The kids were practicing for their big Olympic try out by using the bar for our push mower.  The push mower bar didn’t withstand the treatment (for some odd reason).  With an unusual part broken on this specific mower, we could have thrown it out and looked for another one on a yard sale.

But with the magic of Google, we were able to find the replacement part for just a couple of dollars and the hubby snapped it on in just a few moments of time.  Now it works great!  (Although I doubt the mower or the kids are going to win a medal any time soon.)

Shop without a cart 

Sometimes when I go into a store that tends to make me want to shop a little too much, I make sure that I do not get a cart or a basket. That way I have to carry my intended purchases around with me.  As that becomes awkward, it gives me a nice reminder to not spend too much time or money in that store!

Figure out how to shop gluten free 

I’ve mentioned this a time or two, but we are trying our second born on a gluten free diet.  When I go grocery shopping, I feel guilty about the fact that he has to miss out on some of his favorite treats, and it makes me lean towards buying the pricey gluten free versions of those items.

But the truth is that he isn’t as bothered by the diet as I am.  When the rest of the family is eating birthday cake, he’s totally happy to have just ice cream and a couple spoons of icing.  The teachers asked me to send in treats he can have while the rest of the class is eating cookies.  I could have bought expensive GF cookies…instead I bought him a couple of chocolate bars.  Much cheaper, and he is just as happy.

Be sure to “like” Medium Sized Family on Facebook to keep up with all of my money saving tips!

How did you do this week?  Be sure to let us know in the comments.  If you blogged about it, leave the link so we can learn from you!