Ways We Saved Money Last Week!

It's my goal to save as much money as possible for my family.I try to save on small things so we can splurge on big things, like growing our homestead! 

Last week:

We decorated our tree and our home using things we already had.

I ordered our family ornament and only had to pay shipping thanks to a coupon I was sent.

I lucked up and found meat at Aldi on closeout! I got huge packs of chicken for under a dollar and ground beef for less than a dollar a pound.

My husband did  a side job and we'll be using the money to set up our gas fireplace (that we got in a trade) This will help us save money each month on heating and help us in our quest for a more off- grid life.

I cashed out for 10$ from Swagbucks.

I continued to work on homemade Christmas gifts.

More Simple Christmas

I love Christmas.

My children love Christmas.

I don't love the price tag or the consumerism of it all.

The Gifts!

This year the gifts (read: toys!) are being kept to a minimum. I also asked family members to cut back or to not send anything. We have too much stuff and too little space. 

That being said. I did brave Walmart on Black Friday for 30$ Lego and Duplo sets.  Blocks are the hot thing at my house. 1500 Legos and 200 Duplos for 30$ each?! I couldn't pass up the price. I also got a small character table as a combined gift for them to build on. This is to keep the Legos out of the living room as the baby is mobile now!

Those were their main gifts (from you know who.)The baby got two 5$ Fischer Price toys. The rest of their Christmas is either homemade or bought with Swagbucks or other deals.

All three are receiving a book (a yearly tradition.) One bought with Swagbucks, one bought on deal on Black Friday, one bought at a store closing for a quarter.

All three will receive a blanket. The oldest two were kits bought at Joanne's with a coupon and a gift card I won at their grand opening sale. The baby's is a large receiving blanket made from fleece bought on Black Friday for 1.49$ a yard.

Santa fills the stockings and its usually candy ( which has been the Friday Freebie at Kroger a lot *wink*) and other small items bought throughout the year on sale/clearance including .50 cent crayons and.25 cent paint sets.

For our (large) extended family the gifts are the combo of Swagbucks bought items, homemade gifts, or homemade treats.

The Decorations!

I buy all of the wrapping paper, bags, tissue paper, decorations, etc. on clearance the week after Christmas. I re use as much as possible. Hobby Lobby near us has a lot of stuff in the Christmas section including tape, tissues, scrapbook stickers, etc. that I use all year long and it's so cheap!

The children each get an ornament each year. This is a tradition. This year we will just be doing personalized monogramed ornaments. This is my mother-in-laws business so it will be very cheap.

I bought a Fischer Price Little People nativity set in January to help tell the Christmas story and is a hands on activity for the kids. We put it up yesterday and the children love it! and it's sturdy!

Our tree two years ago. My boy was so little!


Food!

We eat at various family member's home for the holiday and bring a dish to each. I keep costs down by shopping sales and stocking up when prices are at the lowest. Baking items go on sale in December!

I keep a stocked pantry so I'm able to make lots of items without additional shopping.







I was in no way compensated by any brand names/companies in this post. All opinions are my own.

Starting to Blog Again and Frugal Accomplishments!

Our newest addition, Wyatt!

I have not blogged in a lonnnnng time. I need to get better about accountability and keeping track of various things so I'm back!!

Last week was Thanksgiving so of course there was extra spending but I was able to do a few things to stay frugal and one was so exciting, it makes up for any additional spending I had to do!

• I ordered a free 8x10 photo from Walgreens. It was a group shot of my husband's entire family and a weekend beach trip in the summer.
• I received a Friday Freebie from Kroger and ended up with .20 cent of each gallon on gas. I will use those when my tank runs low and will get to fill up for around $1.50 a gallon.
• My husband did some side work and ended up trading for a gas fireplace. We've been wanting to purchase one and at around 350$ this was a huge blessing!!
• I used surprise points from Kmart to get my son a new pair of Wrangler jeans for only .82$ out of pocket and that's all I bought in the store.
• We ate leftovers for a few days.
• I got a few things on Black Friday (Legos for my son and Duplos for my daughter and flannel at Joanne's for less than $2 a yard)

Frugal Accomplishments

I've been a little absent but I plan on posting more regularly again..

We just celebrated Harper's first birthday!

These accomplishments may have been from the past few weeks.

We've been harvesting cucumbers and banana peppers from the garden.

I stocked up on toilet paper at .25 cent a roll, my stock up price. 

I've only been using about a 30$ a week grocery budget. 

I've began Christmas shopping/planning.

I have been utilizing the library every week.

I used a gift card to stock up on diapers.


What did you accomplish?

Hanging Rock State Park Photo Overload!

We had a mini family reunion a few weeks ago at a state park about an hour away from us. We hiked all the way to the top. My sister in law carried Harper on her back, she is a strong woman!  Bentley hiked by himself. He did good until we got almost back to the parking lot and he had a bit of a meltdown. But overall I think it went well. 

We celebrated my nephews birthdays while we were there. It was so nice to all be together for a day!

I don't know how he does that with his tongue!

Playing in the leaves!

Sitting quietly together for a few minutes!

Weston, my youngest brother in law, Megan my oldest sister in law, and my two babies!

Frugal Accomplishments and Weekly Goals

 My sister in law Alyssa, having fun with Harper on a hike two weeks ago!



Last Week Accomplishments:

I received another bag of hand me downs for Bentley and my wonderful sister in law gave me some clothes to look through for myself! :)

I finally got my garden in the ground! We ended up planting 12 tomato plants, 4 watermelon, 4 cucumber, 2 green bean, and 4 banana pepper plants.  Michael built me a raised garden bed and filled it with part dirt and a little dried cow manure. All the plants are looking well. 

I also received a barely used bread machine from the same wonderful sister in law. I'm so excited!

I used coupons to pick a few things at the store including detergent and pasta. 

I filled out a rebate form for ground beef purchased at Walmart. I will receive a refund check for about 5$

I signed up for two more online classes at the local community college. I wasn't aware I had any funds still available until the last day but I got registered for Spanish and US History online and had some money still left over. I used in to purchase a new jump drive and headphones. I should still receive a refund check of about 350$ in two months or so.

Goals

Things I need to accomplish this week:

Clean out my refrigerator

Paint my front door

(I already have the paint)

Do a few school assignments and reading

Make a trip to the library

This Week's Frugal Accomplishnents

This Week: 

my car was in the shop a few days so I stayed home most of the week.

I received a bag of hand-me-downs for my son which were greatly appreciated. He was in need of summer clothes.

I combined my errands on the same day as Harper's 9 month Well Child check up. Everything went great. She is very tall for her age.

Used printed coupons to buy a few groceries.

I used ECB's at CVS to get a pack of diapers for .52 $

I started seeds for the garden.



What did you do last week?