Wow! What a week this has been. Yesterday I had a post featured at The Penny Hoarder. Be sure to read How a Hashtag is Helping This Family Pay Off $10,150 in Credit Card Debt and let me know what you think!
I got some exciting news (that came in at number one savings this week, so scroll down to read all about it).
Probably most surprising of all is that Hubby and I managed to go on a date during baseball season. Can you believe it?!
The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
I won $100 from a giveaway! Daily Momtivity and her tribe of bloggers were giving away a big cash gift in honor of Mother’s Day. I entered, of course, but I never dreamed that I’d actually win it! I’m still excited about this.
It just goes to show that entering giveaways really can pay off.
Mother’s Day. We have a habit of thinking that we have to spend a ton of money to prove that we love someone on their special day. That just isn’t the case! This year the family pared back their spending. Hubby confessed that it was going to be a #yearofno style Mother’s Day. I had no problem with it at all! They made me breakfast in bed and I felt like queen for a day. It was special and fun at a smaller price than normal.
I’m kind of hoping that becomes the new normal!
Ant killer. A sure sign of spring at our house is finding ants everywhere. Luckily I discovered a great (and frugal) solution to this problem last year.
Just take 3 parts of water and stir in 1 part sugar plus a teaspoon or so of Borax (add more Borax if you are making a larger batch, but that amount should do for half a cup of solution or so). Put it in a mason jar. Add in a few cotton balls.
Place your cotton balls on yogurt container lids, wax paper, or an extra mason jar lid and lay them wherever ants are found. Be sure to keep it away from kids and pets, though.
This works great! A small mason jar only half full should last you the entire ant season.
Invest in backpacks. After buying several “bargain” $9 backpacks only to discover that they couldn’t even hold up to one full school year, I finally came to my senses. I now only purchase backpacks from L.L. Bean or Jansport. They hold up incredibly well, and both have warranties. That means that when the zipper on someone’s backpack gets broken, we can send it off to be repaired.
It’s more cost up front, but the years of use we’ve gotten from these bags means they pay for themselves easily.
Look for the LL Bean bags to go on sale in the early summer. Order early to be sure you’ll get it in time for school to start in the fall! I also recommend you shop through eBates, both for coupon codes and an extra 2% back on your purchase.
The benefit of the Jansport is that they offer the same great quality and service, but you can find them more easily in a variety of stores.
[Tweet “Here are the latest ideas the #yearofno family is using to pay off #debt.”]
Ask for help. I had an issue with one of our goats. He’s totally fine! But rather than having to call a vet, I was able to ask for help from several goat experts. They were able to solve my problem with minimal effort.
Pardon the pun, but it pays to know people. Branch out, meet new people. If you want to start a hobby or activity, get to know people who are excellent at it. Many times they are willing to give you some advice and show you the ropes. Don’t expect them to hand you items for free, but just learning from their experience will often save you money that you’d have wasted on materials only to learn that they weren’t really needed after all.
Just 5 more ways our family has used to inch us closer to debt freedom!
Tell us all about the ways you’ve saved money this week in the comments section.
That’s awesome for the giveaway! I’m always surprised when I win because I never do!!
I agree that sometimes it’s worth investing a little more up front so that it lasts longer. “Cheap” doesn’t always mean you’ll save money.
I’ve learned that lesson the hard way again and again. I’m more careful with purchases now for sure!
The longevity of LL Bean backpacks is amazing! The longevity also extends to their toiletry bags. I bought one 18 years ago. We travel frequently since all our extended family live several states away. Other than needing to be washed, the bag is still going strong. We just bought our son one for his 17th birthday…..hopefully his will last that long!
The fact that it has withstood my second born son’s antics speaks highly of that brand, too! Glad to hear you got 18 years out of yours. Maybe his will last his entire public schooling!
Seriously considering getting my daughter a better backpack. This year it hasn’t had to carry much, but the mesh that holds her water bottle has torn. We’ll have to see how much stuff she has to lug around next year as she advances a grade.
My hubby spent a bit on mother’s day, but if the deer are willing, it should pay off long term: he bought apple trees. (Deer are a real nuisance here, and they have already stripped most of the leaves off the trees and broke the tops off 4 of the 6). If we can keep the trees alive we should have a nice source of fruit in a few years.
I can’t believe how well these backpacks have held up. I really recommend both of those brands highly. Especially if she has many years of school left.
So exciting for you! I was thrilled when your name popped up as the winner!!
Not as thrilled as me! haha! Thanks so much for hosting that giveaway.
Breakfast in bed is one of those things I don’t think is valued highly enough. I mean, people love it, sure, and they enjoy it being given to them, but that’s a huge gift all on it’s own (I dunno about you, but I know if I were to wake up and smell food, I’d be getting right out of bed to make sure the kitchen was alright and nothing I needed for dinners was being used up!), but then that’s never “enough.” It’s totally enough – someone got up before you, cooked food, hoped you wouldn’t get up, brought you food (and will hopefully do the dishes, too!). Especially if the in-bed-er is the one who normally does all the cooking?! Oh it’s like magic! 😛
Totally agree! If someone just brought me coffee before I got out of bed every day, that would be amazing. I think that’s going on my “when I win the lotto” list. 😛
Years ago I happened to find Jansport backpacks on sale, and I bought one for each of my four sons not realizing what a gift I was giving myself. Son #3 used his for all 12 years of school (the older 2 were in 3rd and 5th grade for the original purchase), and son #4 needed his sent in for replacement just once because of the zipper after his sophomore year. Once the school years had passed the backpacks transitioned to camping or overnight needs. This was truly a great purchase for us.
I used mine for all of high school and all of college. I pulled it out last summer and discovered that it needed some repairs. The company sent a whole new backpack, which our kindergartner is now using. Their products are nearly as amazing as their customer service!
Winning a little extra money is always a great pick me up, congrats on your win. Also, it’s hard to convince my daughter to get that one good book bag now (she’ll be starting 1st grade in the fall). Luckily, her donut book bag from Children’s Place that we paid around $12 or $13 for has held up well this year. I’m probably sure it was due to them having to carry very little this year. I don’t want to buy book bags every year so I’m going to look into a Jansport book bag and hopefully, they will have the bright colored ones that she’ll like. Thanks for sharing your money saving wisdom with us all!
I bought a Frozen backpack for our kindergartner. It was falling apart by Christmas and was completely unusable by Valentine’s Day. So I pulled out the Jansport (which is boring blue) knowing she probably wasn’t going to be happy about it. She got over it fairly quickly. Especially because it has so many pockets for secret treasures! haha!
We just made our Borax ant poison this week & it worked 100%! Within a few days, no more ants!
Hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day 🙂
I tried it for the first time last year and I was amazed at how well it worked. Better than the expensive stuff from the store! And thank you!
I have a Columbia book bag, which seemed like a good idea to me. It cost the same as a Jansport and they make great tents, but it’s been a pretty major disappointment. Stick with the tried and true brands!
That’s a shame! I would have expected great things from a Columbia bag, too.
This is a great idea for a series – finding ongoing ways to save money. I’ll have to go back and look through some of the old ones. And great job winning that $100 giveaway! I know that always feels good.
Looking forward to seeing more of your blog.
Yay! So happy to have you as a reader. I enjoy doing the series, because it really stretches me to consider new ways to save.
Good for you Mrs. Jeffers! Well done!
I would take a breakfast in bed above many gifts! Thank you for sharing with us on the Art of Home-Making Mondays at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth! 🙂
Me, too. 🙂 Thanks for hosting!
Jamie, it’s always great to see how you are finding frugal ways to live with your family. Very encouraging! Thanks for sharing at #FFBH 🙂
I love reading your ideas, even the small ones, each time we save it adds up! We found the Jansport backpacks a few years ago. With Georgia in high school the other bags could stand up for a half year, they have so many books to carry. The Jansport has held up for 2 school years, it is definitely worth the initial outlay, this would have been at least 4 cheaper backpacks!