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I love to read money saving tips.  Don’t you?  But I have to tell you, I sometimes get frustrated when the tips are all about how someone saved x amount of dollars when they bought something new.

I do think those tips can be really helpful.  (I’ve got a few tips like this in this very post!)  But the very best money saving tips are those that help you avoid spending in the first place.

Do you agree?  I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

But now let’s talk about the

5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week

5 Ways We've Saved Money This Week 67 Learn how to save money week after week from a family working hard to pay down debt.

Coupon

Right off the bat I’m going to tell you how I saved by spending.  But this has a funny story, so stick with me.

Some friends of ours like to go out to eat after church on Sunday.  We begged off of joining them for our entire #yearofno.  It just wasn’t an option for us, especially with the expense of buying meals for seven.

Those friends generously gave us gift cards for Christmas so we could join them, and this week we finally had time to fit it in!

I knew we’d be going to eat there soon, so when I saw a coupon in a local ad for this chili joint, I cut it out and stuck it in my purse.  I was excited to stack coupon savings with our gift card to stretch that money even further.  So I sent my Hubby up to pay the bill with my $3 coupon.

When he came back to the table, he asked me to look at the coupon.  Was it expired?  What had I done wrong?  Well, it turns out that I had tried to use a Skyline Chili coupon at Gold Star Chili restaurant.

Whoops!

That can be really embarrassing!  But they took the competitor’s coupon anyway.  At least it wasn’t me that tried to redeem it.  (wink, wink!)

Baseball fundraiserBaseball Bat

Our 11 and 13-year-old boys are growing like weeds.  They outgrew their baseball bats last year, but bats were another victim of our #yearofno.  Nice, but not a necessity.

Truth be told, they could have probably borrowed a bat from a teammate for practice and games again this year.  But Hubby found an awesome deal on Ebay and we decided to go for it.  The bat was worth $300, but we got it for 10% of that price (shipped!).  And, like always, I started at Ebates first so I’ll get a bit of that cash back.  (Use my referral link to sign up for Ebates and you’ll get $10 right off the bat!  Pardon the pun.)

Ratty Shoes

My gym shoes are not looking pretty.  I ordered them through a fantastic online deal several Christmases ago.  They really should be replaced.  But I hate to buy cheap shoes that won’t last long, and I don’t want to invest money in expensive gym shoes right now either.

Maybe I’m being too cheap.

But part of me wants these to make it through to flip flop weather.  I do have boots and other shoes to wear in the meantime.

Avoiding Extra Entertainment

Lately we’ve had icky weather and some rare free nights to hang out at home.  I’ve been tempted to grab a movie from the Redbox on several occasions.  But every time I look at it, I think about the piles of DVDs and Netflix and Amazon Prime that we have at home.  It might be less than $2, but why spend it when you have other options?

Shop Local

I love to shop local whenever possible.  That includes using local doctors.  We have an eye doctor that is wonderful.  On several occasions they have helped us repair glasses and find cheaper options.

They’ve even told me where to shop for better prices when they can’t beat the competition.

Aside from the money this has saved us, I love supporting people in our small community.  It’s great to build up others whenever you can.

Those are the 5 ways we’ve saved money this week!

Avoiding spending is always the best.  But if you’ve decided that the spending is worth it, get the best deal you can!

Also check out…

A Money Saving Chart That Will Save You An Extra $1,000 This Year.  I love money saving charts, but they don’t always fit my life.  So I created one that you can fit into your year no matter what life throws your way!

Finally...A Money Saving Chart Everyone Can Use

How did you save this week?