It’s still cold outside, but it’s already time to start thinking about summer camp. The cost of some camps are outrageous! A teacher forwarded information on one to me the other day, and the price for one week is $1,000. For ONE kid!
Hey, I’m all for kids having new experiences. And I even think that overnight camp is important. It boosts confidence and gives them so many great memories. But I’m not going to tank our savings to make it work.
If you want to send your kids to summer camp, now is the time to look into your options. Sign them up for a more affordable option before they fill up. Or look for scholarship opportunities before the deadlines pass.
Every Friday, this blog helps me stick to my money goals. We have a running series of self accountability where our family shares the ways we saved money that week.
If you love money saving tips, then good news! I’ve compiled this frugal series into an easy to read book. Get your copy of 500 Ways to Save Money for less than $5!
Medium Sized Family uses affiliate links. If you click one of these links, we could earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!
The 5 Ways We Saved Money This Week
Parmesan Cheese Container
When I emptied the Parmesan cheese container, I thought twice before I tossed it. It’s pretty sturdy, and the easy pop up top makes it useful for a lot of things. I knew I’d find something to do with it!
Turns out you can fit an entire box of baking soda into the empty bottle! I’m looking forward to cleaning my stove without fighting the top of a cardboard box with wet hands. This is going to make my life so much easier…and it was free!
Job Shadow
Our eighth grader was assigned to job shadow a career he is interested. So off we went to the national weather service. He’s been interested in a job with weather for over a year.
It was fascinating! We learned a lot about how you get your weather forecast. And she even let him release the weather balloon! So much fun, such a great experience…and again, totally free.
Come As You Are Party
A few days ago, I sent out a text that said something like, “We have cabin fever. Come over to our semi clean house for whatever snacks I can pull from the pantry!”
People brought food to share, and we were able to have tons of fun without pouring a lot of money into it!
Propane
Last summer I created a contract with our propane provider. They would give us so many gallons of fuel at the summer lock in price. Now we’ve run out of those cheap gallons and the price has doubled.
When I heard the propane truck pull in our drive way this week, I ran out and asked the man how much propane was selling for today. When he told me it was $3.68, I told him we wanted to skip this fill up.
Lucky for us, the weather has been nice and we have half a tank of fuel left, anyway. But now we’re considering saving up to buy our own propane tank. This will allow us to call around and get competitive prices from local suppliers instead of living at the whim of one company.
Has anyone done this? What has been your experience?
Zaycon Fresh
Buying meat in bulk is one way to save a tidy sum of cash. If you can’t afford a side of beef or a hog for the freezer, I think you’ll love Zaycon Fresh as an affordable alternative.
New customers can get boneless skinless chicken breasts for just 99 cents per pound right now! I couldn’t pass up the offer, so I finally made our first purchase. I can’t wait to try it. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from people about Zaycon. My order will be ready in June, and I’ll share how it goes.
If you want to try the deal yourself, get chicken breast for just 99 cents when you enter code 99FRESH. Be sure to let us know how it goes for you, too! (This deal only runs until midnight 2/26/18!)
I love these types of savings, because they just keep rolling forward. I’ll be able to save up grocery money I would have spent on meat to store away to buy more bulk meat purchases!
Those are the 5 ways we saved this week!
Maybe someone should create a super cheap camp for people who like to save money. We could pow wow around a campfire! How much fun would that be?!
I really hope you’ll check out my new post for the week. I poured my heart into it, because I want you to know that you do NOT have to be a victim of your circumstances. You really can change your life, whether your dream is to be debt free, start your own business, or finally take that dream family vacation.
To the person who feels like giving up.
How did you save this week?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
Propane is $3.68?!?! I work for a propane company in Iowa and we are selling it for $1.31 a gallon. I would buy the tank and shop around. Usually I think renting is the way to go, but with those prices I would be shopping around too!
Wow! This makes me even more interested in buying a tank. I try to lock in prices in August, but it would be nice to be able to call at different times to find better prices.
I keep hearing about Zaycon Fresh… I told myself the next time this came across my radar I would check it out. Thanks for the nudge. 🙂