Some days it feels like I have to constantly chant our motto: #yearofno, #yearofno, #yearofno. Other days it’s a relief to use #yearofno as an excuse to not make a decision. (The answer is no, obviously.)
It’s September, which means we’ve been at this for over 8 long months. The finish line is still in the distance, so it’s going to take a lot of motivation to keep going!
With my mantra at hand, I was able to find several ways to save money this week. And as usual on Fridays, I’m going to share 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week. If you’d like to read back episodes, you can find them here.
5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
Passed up a clearance rug. We have hardwood floors, but I bought a rug for the living room. That’s easier on little knees learning to crawl and kids’ bottoms when we’re watching a show on TV.
That rug has seen better days. So when I found a giant sale at my local Kroger, I was seriously tempted to grab a cute rug that was on sale for just $15! Luckily, I called the Hubby to talk it through and he talked me down. #yearofno.
Bought a clearance lunch box. At that same sale I found a nice lunchbox for just $3. I had already been wanting one for our daughter for weeks. Her lunchbox is too small for salads, and I like the idea of getting one that will hold up for several years. So I jumped at the chance to buy quality at a bargain.
Got bread from the $1 store. There is a Dollar Tree in our area, but it’s not exactly convenient to me. So when a new store opened in a much closer location, I decided to check it out.
I’d heard rumors that these stores carry Nature’s Own bread for just $1. I was excited to find out that it was true! I bought loaves of wheat bread for just $1. I can’t even find store bread for that price anymore.
Travel. Hubby doesn’t travel for work nearly as much as he used to. But there is still the occasional trip. Over time he’s learned some tricks of the trade so that we don’t have to foot any of the bill ourselves. For instance, he always takes the per diem offered rather than tracking receipts.
That means that we don’t have to worry about lost receipts or problems with paperwork. One company offered him $75 per day as a food allowance. That gave him more than enough to cover three meals.
Storytime. I try to attend the free storytime at our local library whenever I can. Last year our little guy was still too squirmy to enjoy it. There’s no sense in trying to force a newly 2-year-old to sit still for stories, so I gave it up.
This year, our big boy loves reading! So I knew he’d enjoy it.
Aside from some free entertainment, additional frugal benefits to storytime is that he gets to do a free craft (Mama isn’t a fan of crafts, so I love having someone else lead them!). Also, I have fewer overdue fines because we go weekly. Another score for this disorganized Mom!
Those are the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week.
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Be sure to share your frugal wins this week!
I loved the library story times when Little Bit was younger. It was a great way to get out, and they did lots of singing and dancing too.
We did the kids craft class at Michaels last weekend. It’s not free, but at $2 it’s cheaper than I could have put together a similar craft. I don’t even think the cost covered the materials.
And we’re slowly increasing the amount of stuff we’re getting from the dollar store. It’s amazing what you can pick up!
My Mister, when he has had to travel for work, gets the per diem thing. He has actual expenses that he has to take in reciepts for, but the food bits are just “here, this is your money, buy your food or whatever” and he always ends up in the positive. He doesn’t travel for work much, though (the last time was in Oct ’14), but then again, it’s usually up to Alaska, so he’s gone for about a week.
We are definitely in the market for some rugs, though. The house we’ve moved into is lovely, and has tile and wood floors, which we love (because dogs), but the floors are so hard and cold! But we had to buy curtains first, as this place had none, so we (accidentally, though!) took advantage of a home sale *and* a coupon at Fred Meyer (our Kroger) and got actually nicely patterned curtains for quite a decent price last weekend!
Great! Glad the rug worked out for you. I’m hoping for a similar sale next year (when we are hopefully past our #yearofno!).
Great job saying no to the rug! I get so excited when I pass up things like that too. It’s almost like the thrill of not buying trumps the thrill of actually buying.
I’m with you on story time. I need to check it out again. We stopped when I had to take a 2 year old and a baby. Now that the older one is in preschool, I might check it out with the baby again. Two kids in story time was way too much for me! And I have a bunch of over due fines right now too! Eek!
It’s always a good reminder to stop and think (or call your husband) before you buy, even when you feel like you really need something. It’s easy to make a good budget month a mess if you aren’t careful or just think it’s one sale item (but then it becomes two, or three).
Thanks for sharing ways on how to save money! That is awesome you found Nature’s Own bread for a $1! I can’t find the store brand bread by me for less than that either! Library time is so amazing, and the crafts is definitely a plus! Hope you have a wonderful weekend 🙂
You’re so good Jamie I would have bought that rug anyways!! I refuse to buy coffee at Tim Hortons for myself unless I have a gift card so I saved there, and instead of throwing out fruit that was getting over ripe, I made it into blueberry peach crisp to have for dessert! Are you keeping track of all of your #yearofno items so you’ll know just how much you saved at the end of the year?
I wish I had kept better track of all of those items! I definitely plan a big wrap up post on it. 🙂
I love using up fruit past its prime in recipes like that. We had cobbler this week.
I need to look up the story hour for our area. I’m like you I don’t know if grand daughter will set through it yet. We will see. ‘
Learning to say no is hard! Sounds like you and your husband are on the same page!
Ho jamie, I love your #yearofno idea, it must make you stop and think. Quite often we can make do with things rather than replace them, saving money for when we really need something. There is also a lot to be said for thrifty shopping and free activities for saving money too.
xx
That was an awesome sale on the lunchboxes! My daughter loves the storytime at our library too. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing at #FridayFrivolity!
I can’t believe you have kept up #yearofno for 8 months so far!! Amazing! Will there be a #yearofno2? Or will your family kill you? lol
I love free storytime at the library and I’m super lucky because the library is less than one mile from my house!