No matter how we cranked, the well wouldn’t pump anymore. That didn’t stop the goats from being thirsty, so our boys had to fill 5-gallon buckets with the hose and carry water from our house. Since we have to pay for hauled water due to our water circumstances, that isn’t cheap.
It was a relief when the skies finally opened and gave us a good rain. Well, maybe not great that we got a couple of week’s worth of rain in the span of a few hours, but at least we have water available again!
We try to fill all of our buckets with rain water and save them for a “not rainy day fund”. But sometimes the buckets run dry and we have to find creative ways to fill them.
You can see where I’m going with this metaphor, right? (Rainy day funds…saving up…)
Some day I’d love to send the drops of money we’re saving to our rainy day fund. But for now, we’re using it to dig out of debt. Every dollar counts, so I’m always on the look out for small and big ways to save money.
If you like saving money, you’ll want to look back through the archives of this series. You’ll find tons of money saving tips here.
Here’s the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
Put the weekend to work.
Beautiful fall weekends like the one we had last week are perfect for attending a festival or fun gathering.
Unfortunately for the kids, it’s also the perfect weather for doing outside work that’s been put off for far too long. We skipped the festival and cleaned up a tree in the backyard. We also did some work repairing the chicken coop. (I’m hoping to start up with chickens again in the spring.)
Even though we didn’t go out and spend money, we still had fun. We built a bonfire and had some quality time together as we worked. And the kids learned lessons in working hard, which (I hope) will serve them well.
Baking day.
I love to cook and bake. It’s tough to get to it sometimes, but this week I decided to dedicate some time to a baking day. Well, not really a baking day…more of a baking few hours. But it was well worth it.
I was able to upcycle some leftovers that no one wanted to eat. I made breakfast bars, yogurt drops, and some other things. I’m hoping to blog more on this soon, so stay tuned.
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Birthday Party Savings
The baby turned three this week, so we’ll be celebrating with a party at home. He wants a Rescue Bots themed party.
I love that Netflix gives us more options, but it’s tough to find party things that match a show that isn’t as popular as it used to be. I found a set of Transformers-themed plates and partyware on Amazon. I put it in my cart and pondered on it for a while.
A few hours later, I gave that online shopping cart a good hard look. Yes, the set would serve 16. But it cost nearly $16. I’ve paid more in the past, so this kind of seemed like a bargain. But was it the best I could do?
Of course not. None of the kids at a 3-year-old’s party are going to care what the plates look like. They’re all going to be too busy requesting different parts of the cake to care.
I got a pack of red and a pack of blue plates at the dollar store for (you guessed it) $2 and pocketed the savings.
Next week I’ll share more ways we saved on this birthday party.
Too hot! Too cold!
What a strange fall we’ve had! Hubby put our a/c window units away a few weeks ago. Since then, we’ve had an unseasonably warm October. The good news is that with no air conditioning, there’s no temptation to turn it on when the weather gets hot.
We’ve also resisted temptations to turn on the heat on cold mornings so far.
It might not be perfectly comfortable, but we’re making adjustments. I’m already happier with this month’s electric bill.
#Yearofno
This week, we decided to #yearofno our little town’s Homecoming football game. We went to the parade (some of us even participated in it!), but came home afterward. With our oldest joining marching band next year, we have years of football games ahead of us. In the meantime, we saved a lot of money by not going to this one.
If you enjoy reading about the #yearofno, be sure to check out this week’s post. I’m talking all about our hashtag motto, and how it’s made such a difference in our lives (for the better!).
Those are the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week!
The boys won’t be building up their muscles quite as much this week since we were able to catch a lot of rainwater at the barn. Now the trick is to make sure we don’t waste that water frivolously.
(That was still a metaphor.)
Have you signed up for the Identify and Destroy Your Budget Busters course yet? It comes with a support group! And best of all…it’s totally free! Learn more here.
Did you find any savings this week? If you got a great deal or decided to #yearofno something, tell us all about it!
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
I love that comment about the kids partyware – I’m constantly reigning myself back on spending on toddler stuff at the moment. It’s like, she’s not even 2, she doesn’t care less if it’s branded or not! #FridayFrivolity
I’m not sure it actually counts as savings, we still spent a bunch of money. But …we went to our state fair last weekend and saved quite a bit by buying admittance and ride tickets ahead of time.
I do love the dollar store for party supplies…so much cheaper for plates, napkins, balloons, streamers and gift bags/wrap.
Hey, if you’re going to go out for entertainment, you might as well save some money when you do it. 🙂
This fall really has had the strangest weather!! This week, we’ve had highs in the 80s, and highs in the 50’s!
My son wanted a Rescue Bots themed party a few years ago, and it was impossible to find themed items. We ended up buying plain colored plates, too. We used his Rescue Bots toys as the main decorations and saved lots of money.
I did this very thing all the time years ago when it was not possible to buy themed items.
You can add movie posters you get for free or just 8×10 picture frames with a photo printed off the internet now. I use to use any cereal box photo that came out with what they wanted and tape it here or there to add decor.
Make a plain sheet cake and add small toys to the top that go with the party and your done.
You can skip the gift bags as long as the party is fun that junk gets throw away anyway and it is just like throwing cash in the trash. If you really want to do gift bags start saving now for next year (free inside cereal) any item that comes with a happy meal any item that comes your way free or almost free that is small grocery treats that are free/ place in bags that are just lunch bags no one can see inside that they did not all get the same and hand them to the child right as they are walking out your door. That way no one complains that they did not all get the same. I have saved as many as 12 items in one day just by taking items from friends and family who hand me something saying what do I do with this?….
Wow, great tips! I need to start saving back some of those smaller items I come across for this purpose. I tend to try to get those things out of my house as quickly as possible. I just don’t have the time or patience for all the clutter.
It’s so easy to overlook the idea of just using the theme colors instead of going whole hog with the pictures drawn all over them – and that’s such an easy way to save money all the time! I never really thought about maybe splurging on one piece of decoration with the “theme” and then just picking up everything else at the Dollar Store in the same colors. So smart.
I remember my kids talking about other kid’s fancy parties they went too. We couldn’t do it for them but I figure one of two good things came out of that. They will work really hard in the future to have things they always wanted, or they will learn to be content without!
I had one birthday party in my childhood. People didn’t do that every year like they do now. But it’s good to celebrate in some way!
The weather is so weird this month, I have no idea what to expect when the next electric bill comes. Looking forward to hearing about the breakfast bars you made, always looking for new ideas there.
Great job! We’ve had weird weather, too. The trees aren’t turning like they usually do.
Here’s my frugal week.
http://harvestlanecottage.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-thrifty-week-at-harvest-lane-cottage_21.html
Not only did I enjoy this post but I click through to your water post and found it fascinating! I guess I never appreciated how easy it is for us to get our water but I do now. I love the way you’re able to adapt though! Thanks so much for linking up with us at Share The Wealth Sunday!
Our water situation is challenging, but it’s definitely eye opening! Love linking up at STW. <3
My kids are grown up now, but the parties we had at home were almost always the BEST and the most cost efficient too! Can’t beat that! I’m really enjoying your articles on saving money too!
Heidi
Thank you so much! We love a nice laid back party. 🙂
Fall weather is tough. We haven’t turned our heat on yet to save money. It’s kind of like a game now…how long can we go before we cave and turn it on!
I had no clue you could put window AC units away – I mean, obviously they could be removed to replace or something, but I kind of thought that once you put them in, they were kind of permanent. So happy to see you again at #FridayFrivolity!