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Happy Friday!  Have you had a frugal week?

Last week was not a great one for us.  In fact, instead of doing my usual 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week post, I wrote one titled Why We Didn’t Save Money This Week.

But the truth is that whether we have a good money week or a bad money week, there’s something to be learned from the experience!  Sometimes you learn that you should be the ant whenever you can, because you never know when a grasshopper period is on the horizon.

Now let’s get down to it.

Here are the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week.

Taking our time

I mentioned in my weekly goals post that we are shopping for a bathroom sink.  Our bathroom is rather small, so we have to find a very small vanity and sink to put in there.  The current pedestal style sink we have now is causing a lot of problems, so it’s not a matter of redecorating for fun, unfortunately.

Even though the sink situation is frustrating, we are taking our time and looking for a good deal.  Our trip to the big box store gave us few options, and their cheap option would not last very long due to poor quality.

Being frugal doesn’t mean settling for the cheapest option!  We want our hard earned money to be spent on a sink that won’t need replaced any time soon, but doesn’t cost a fortune just because it fits the latest trend.

Go homemade

Our son had a project due for school and decided to make an animal cell from a round cake.  I decided to make the cake while he was at school so it would be cool and ready to decorate (the actual graded part of the project) when he got home.

I thought I had a box mix in the pantry, but after searching I was unable to find it.  I briefly considered going to the store for one, but instead I pulled out my recipe book.

I found a recipe for a yellow cake that only used seven simple ingredients.  It probably took me 2 minutes longer to make than pouring a box mix would have taken.

Plus, no trip to the store means that I didn’t buy the other 2 or 3 things I would have likely “needed” while I was there.  (Funny how that works!)

Reading

I love to read!  Yet I never seem to make it a priority.

Last week I spent a lot of time waiting on appointments to begin and managed to get in a lot of reading time.  I read Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America’s Cheapest Family.  Steve and Annette Economides gave a number of creative ideas for cutting your grocery bill, even if you don’t use coupons.

Parts of the book seemed like a lot of math, which isn’t my favorite subject ever.  But I definitely rethink the way I grocery shop now.

On top of their own suggestions, they also include suggestions from their readers.  And there are tips for beginners, intermediates, and experts at the end of each section.

I recommend this book, especially if you can check it out at your local library.

No mini shopping trips

I often find myself running to our local dollar store for things throughout the week.  While I have gotten better at spending only on needs rather than wants, there is still a tidy sum of money being spent this way from each paycheck.

Our February has been especially busy (even a bit crazy) which means that I haven’t had time to run to the store for these type of trips.  Somehow we are making do with the things we already have at home.

Now I am seriously reevaluating the need to make these small trips to town here and there.  When you’re crunched for time, you find that your needs are smaller than you think!

Frugal memories

One of our sons is reaching the end of his basketball season.  Their team had photos taken, and we had the option to buy trading cards, bookmarks, and a number of other items with his picture (in uniform).

I love collecting memories.  I also only have so much space to display things.  So we’re pretty happy with having one 8×10 which includes his photo on the top and his team picture on the bottom.

It costs a fraction of what most of the package prices run.  We save money and still enjoy the nicely done photo.

And, yes, I could just take my own picture for an even better savings.  But I enjoy the professionally done poses and don’t mind the small price tag.

Those are the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week!  If you missed any of the others posts in this series, you can find all 22 posts here.  (That’s 110 different ways!  Look at me doing math and stuff…)

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