We are winding down the last days of school. This is always such a crazy time of year and I can hardly keep up.
There may be a slow down on new blog posts for a few weeks while I juggle everything. I’d rather write when I can put my heart into it than slap up anything just to get a post out there. But never fear, I’ll still have one or two new posts every week! Keep visiting, my very favorite readers! 🙂
This week we celebrated a birthday, and (by some miracle) had all four of our ball players playing a game on the same night on our home fields! That will probably never happen again! Unfortunately, our daughter had a migraine and wasn’t able to play. But I did get to see 3 of my boys playing as I ran from field to field. It was so much fun!
Every Friday I like to reflect on my spending over the past week. I love these posts, because they help to keep me accountable while we pay off debt. If you like money saving tips, you can read through the other 76 posts in this series here.
The photos don’t have anything to do with the ways we saved, but they’re a peek into our week! 🙂
The 5 Ways We’ve Saved Money This Week
Saved $250 in 5 Minutes
My favorite way I’ve saved in weeks! I signed up for propane in July or August of last year to lock in the cheaper summer rate. I payed for several fills of propane at once, and agreed to automatic refills. I’m not normally a fan of auto refills, but since I’ve already paid for it, it wasn’t such a big deal.
We almost made it all the way through the winter on those gallons. But on the last fill, I ran out of money halfway through the tank. They left a bill on my door for the rest of the amount. It was significantly higher than my agreed upon locked in rate, and I wasn’t exactly thrilled.
So I got on the phone with the propane company and began to tell them that I wasn’t very excited about paying this high rate on half a tank of propane that I wouldn’t have ordered so late in the season anyway. I didn’t get far into my spiel when the lady told me it was no problem. They honor the agreed upon rate through the last fill up.
One conversation saved me $250. But the key is that they put a bill in my door and also sent me a bill at the higher rate. If I had just paid that bill without calling them first, I’d have given away $250 for no reason. How crazy is that?? It makes me wonder about other times in life I’ve automatically paid a bill without questioning it. How often have I left that kind of money sitting on the table?
Always call. You can’t make that kind of money in 5 minutes too often.
Wrapping Paper
There are a lot of ways to save on gift giving. We keep gift bags to reuse time after time. Our family does, too, so sometimes we’ll pass the same bag around for several birthdays before it’s too rough to reuse!
Then there are the things that won’t fit into a bag. And sometimes it’s more fun to rip paper than pull stuff from a bag. Luckily, I found a nice fat roll of pretty green paper. It’s a nice neutral shade. We’ve used it for Mother’s Day, birthdays, and other occasions for months. So much easier than keeping track of several rolls. And cheaper, too! I’ve got rolls of paper that is too specific (such as the wintertime Dora the Explorer paper that only a little girl with a winter birthday would enjoy).
Books
Our birthday boy loves to read! He’s the type of kid who will read the same book over and over as long as it’s a particularly good read. Luckily, I discovered that our local Goodwill has a fantastic book section. Most of these books are very gently used and are super cheap.
I found a copy of Mockingjay, but it was a hardback and cost $4. I was hoping to pay $2 for a used book, so I kept looking. Eventually I found another copy on a different shelf. This one was also a hardback, but it was missing the jacket. It only cost $2. Bingo! I grabbed it along with a paperback copy of The Hunger Games for just $2 each.
I promised him I’d keep an eye out for Catching Fire. They’re gently used, and he doesn’t care either way.
Gently Used
Birthday boy also asked for a video game that he could play with his buddies. It was an expensive game, but I was able to find it at Game Stop for a lot less. They offered me a $3 one year warranty…if the game breaks or becomes too scratched to work properly, they’ll replace it. Even if it gets snapped in half…everything except for loss is covered.
In a household of boys, that was a safe bet. Even with paying the extra $3, I saved a ton of money! I highly recommend Game Stop for your video game wants (’cause it’s not a need!). Most kids won’t care if the game is used or not as long as it works!
Xbox Live
Want to save even more on your video gaming wants? 😉 Xbox Live is a fun way for kids to be able to play video games with their buddies. But it can be expensive! We’ve been able to find deals on a full year of the service around Christmas time. But what about the rest of the year?
Sometimes you can find it in other increments at a much more affordable price. We were able to get a 3 month subscription for just $10. Though this deal is only one per customer, you can ask others to buy it as a gift, too.
Those are the 5 ways we saved money this week!
Off to more baseball games today! It’s crazy, but I love it.
I save money year after year by keeping up with this special tradition.
Did you save money this week? Tell us about it!
Used books, DVDs, games are awesome (says the person who sold them for 17 years.) Really, most of the time there’s no need to buy new ones other than some can be harder to find than others. People tend to hang on to nice kid’s picture books and Disney DVDs, but any bestseller (like Mockingjay or the Madden series of football games) will become pretty common used after they’ve been out for a while.
This is so true, and especially with video games and DVDs. Once they’re inside the machine (so long as they aren’t damaged) you can’t tell they were used anyway!
Jamie,
I feel certain that now a days young boys feel that video games are a need. However, I do think it is still possible to raise a boy with zero video games at least until he is a teen.
Video games are the number one reason kids do not play outside anymore. I feel sad for the child who does not know how to play outdoors with just his own brain and a few buddies.
I definitely think that video games can be overused very easily. My kids know the expectation in our home is to spend time outside. We place limits on the amount of time they are allowed to play video games. But it is fun for them and a way they connect with their friends, so we don’t completely eliminate them from our home.
I love reading these. (I don’t suppose that you do the how I get paid to blog do Ya?? ) I learn a lot from these websites. I have a blog myself. I have a hard time writing a post every week. Like you said I want it to come from the heart.
I haven’t put together a blog income post in a long time. If it’s something people would like to read, I could certainly add it! It’s tough to keep up with blogging, but the more I practice coming up with ideas the better I get at it. Except when my brain is fried from having too many irons in the fire! haha
I hear you there. Thank you for answering my question.
Our game stop stays very busy so it must be a great deal! I love your book idea-I just may have to do that (school here ends in June). Thanks for the idea!
I reuse gift bags too and actually I’m not above folding up a thick piece of nice wrapping paper to reuse too even though my entire family things that’s crazy. It mostly just seems so wasteful to just throw out if it’s not destroyed.
While I buy used DVDs as often as possible sometimes I can’t find particular ones, so I keep an eye out at my local Dollar General and Family Dollar. I have found a lot of the ‘off’ titles that I enjoy for anywhere from $1-$5.
I have few bills I need to check on this week. Thanks for the reminder. And you’ve inspired me to do a few other things that I won’t mention until I actually do it 🙂
Thanks for partying with us on #FridayFrivolity