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

disclosure

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

5 Ways We've Saved Money This Week 34

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!

Homemade frugal ant poison

Good thing ants can’t read…

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.