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Even when you hold yourself accountable to saving money week after week, you’re going to have times when you fall off the wagon a bit.  Some weeks are going to cost more than others.  Sometimes life throws you curve balls.

And sometimes you don’t have a good reason for why you spent more than usual.

This would be one of those weeks.  After we came back from our last minute road trip, we had a busy week planned.  There were school fundraisers and events that I needed to take part in.  I’m helping to begin a PTO for our school district from the ground up, and I know how much need there is in our small community.  That increases my (perhaps self inflicted) obligation to take part in these fundraisers.

Finding a balance between giving and continuing our plan to pay off debt is going to be important in the coming months.  The reality is, if I can continue to throw as much money at debt as possible, I’ll be able to give so much more once we’re debt free.

All of that said, I did manage to find some positives to focus on this week.  We still saved!

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

Team Sponsor

We managed to find a team sponsor to cover the cost of new baseball uniforms.  It’s always fantastic when that happens!  Not only does it save us the cost of buying our son’s uniform, but (as coach of the team) it also means we don’t have to find a way to cover the cost of the entire uniform order and hope that everyone pays us back.

Most of our parents are terrific, but you occasionally come across someone who refuses to pay.  And juggling that big balance in the meantime is a hassle that I’m happy to avoid.

Digit

I’ve read about Digit in the past but never followed through on signing up.  I finally bit the bullet last week, and I’m really happy with it!

Digit is a free app that monitors your checking account.  It will occasionally pull out small bits of money (the amount you’d spend if you stopped for a treat at a convenience store).  That money goes into an FDIC insured savings account.  If you want the money back, you send a text and it’s deposited the next day.

My favorite part is getting a text each morning that gives me my balance.  I like the ease of monitoring how our money is doing.  Plus it stops me from those “Oh, we probably have a few hundred left in there” justifications.

I’d love it if you’d sign up Digit (it’s totally free!) using my referral link.  (Thanks so much for helping us #PressOn out of debt!)

Certificate Work

One way we’ve saved a fortune is by letting my Hubby’s job pay for classes.  He isn’t doing more work for diplomas, but he is earning certificates.  Getting certified in a variety of things can help you get better jobs and will often catch the eye of your boss.  That pays off…literally.

If you don’t know about certifications you could be working towards, ask.  And find out if your employer is willing to pay the fees for you to take classes or tests.  Sometimes those programs exist, but no one knows about them because workers haven’t taken advantage of them in a long time.

It never hurts to ask!  Worst case, you’ve let your boss know that you are interested in doing better work.

Reading

It’s funny that when I finally decide not to set a goal to read X number of books this year, I start finding time to read.  Maybe I needed less rules?

I read about this book on Vickie’s Kitchen and Garden blog and I just had to check it out!

It’s called Money Secrets of the Amish.  I’ve often thought of the Amish as resources for learning about simple living.  But when the economy took a nosedive a few years ago, the Amish are one of the few communities that road it out just fine.

I’m only a few chapters into this book, but I can already see that it’s going to be a great resource.  Not just for getting new tips for saving money, but also as a new source of motivation for driving that road to debt freedom!

Opening Day

Reds Opening Day is a holiday in the Cincinnati area.  My Hubby and I used to go to this game all the time.  Then we got to the point that we had too many babies to juggle and couldn’t swing it.

With our youngest being 3 years old, we could probably find a way to manage it this year.  But there’s just too much expense to justify this right now, even as a date.  So we’re #PressingOn without this baseball game again this year.

Those are the 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week!

It’s unfortunate that we also spent more than we should have this week.  But I’m committed to getting back on track for next week.  We’ve got a card to knock out this month!

Do you struggle to keep money in your savings account?  I collected a list of fun ways to save.  You’re sure to find one that works out just for you!

How did you save this week?