Five Frugal Things | post trip edition
This past week wasn't exactly a super frugal week between me being out of town and then coming home sick.
Now that I'm feeling more like myself, I'm hopeful that this week will be a little more like normal.
But there are a few frugal things to share.
1. I bought a set of marked-down hangers.
I use wooden hangers because they make me happy. So tidy! So sturdy!
And usually I have a hard and fast rule that I will not buy more. If I run out of hangers, it's time to get rid of some clothing.
But Joshua has recently bought more button-down shirts due to his coffee-shop work, and we were low on hangers.
So while Mr. FG and I were out on a date night the other night, we stopped into Bed, Bath, and Beyond for something else* and I happened to spy this set of marked-down hangers on the clearance rack.
They were marked down because the packaging was messed up, but of course I don't care about that.
*This is the type of behavior that earned us a sarcastic moniker from my brother over 20 years ago: The Fun Couple. We are obviously still within our rights to keep that badge. 😉
2. I placed an order on ThredUp.
I got an email saying I had a $30 credit so I browsed around and found a few items. Hopefully they'll all be winners, but luckily, ThredUp (referral link) does let you do returns.
So, I'll be good to go even if I woefully misjudged sizing/styles. 😉
3. I wore a thrifted dress to my grandpa's service.
This is pretty inadvertent, but I'm counting it anyway. 😉
I'd kind of thought maybe I'd need to go shopping, but before I did, I tried on some outfits I already had and with some texting help from my sister-in-law and my friends, I put together an outfit from my closet.
And the dress I wore happened to be something I'd picked up at Goodwill some years ago from their Target New Goods section.
I'd have been willing to go shop for a dress, but I really hate the kind of clothes shopping that involves looking for a specific item. So, I was happy I had something that worked!
4. I exchanged some bad earrings for a pair of nylons.
I'd bought a pair of earrings on serious clearance from Kohl's, only to discover that one of the clasps (not sure that's the right word?) didn't work.
So, I bought them back to Kohl's and took home a pair of nylons to wear with my dress.
(I pretty much neverrrr wear nylons, so I had none!)
(While we're on the topic, can we discuss how annoying nylons are? I hate they way they run if you so much as look at them too hard. It's a sweet mercy that they've largely fallen out of favor as legwear.)
(Further evidence of the Fun Couple thing: we stopped to get the nylons while we were out on a date.)
5. I....
ate homemade chicken noodle soup from the freezer, used two squash that had been sitting around to make butternut squash soup (soup is good for rehydration!) and pulled up a 20% off coupon on my phone when I bought saline solution at CVS.
Your turn!
Join in and list your own Five Frugal Things in the comments.
If you like each other, running errands is a date. Just sayin'. 😉
Exactly. That's why we don't necessarily need to do something that fits a traditional definition of "fun" in order to have fun together.
I don't know if my wife purchasing nylons would be a fun date activity. Her purchasing fishnet stockings on the other hand ... 😛
It's been rough in my household as well, frugality wise. My daughter has been sick, then we discovered she's allergic to something (poor thing swelled up and broke out all over) and I've had a nagging cold that will not go away. But we do try ...
1.) I've been picking up all the overtime I can. It's not a lot of time but every bit really helps toward the bottom line. Sometimes just working on an extra project and getting 3-5 hours a paycheck will give us a little more breathing room and money to put into savings.
2.) Eating mostly food out of the freezer. We have a fully stocked pantry and freezer so we've been trying to go through it.
3.) Wearing my hand mended jeans and not caring.
4.) Staying home and not going out is always frugal ... I guess
5.) Still doing the reusable items thing. Handkerchiefs, towels, cloth diapers etc. I can't wait until this kid is potty trained, though.
So that's about it. Spring needs to get here because I want to have an aired out house that isn't full of sickness and dust.
Aww, poor kiddo. I hope she's all better soon! And you too!
1. I too was down sick all last week with pneumonia. Thanks to meal planning and prepping some items before I got sick, we were able to eat at home all week rather than resorting to take out.
2. I used a coupon from the CVS kiosk for $1.50 off of laundry detergent and got a bottle of Xtra brand for free!
3. I sold some unused Vera Bradley bags on eBay.
4. I sifted through our basement to find an Easter basket for our 3 year old rather than buying new. Found the plastic eggs, too!
5. I meal planned and prepped for this week, submitted a freelance article, and drank coffee from work.
I hope you are 100% soon!
I did Five Frugal Things on The Non-Consumer Advocate this week but I need some not- quite-spring motivation so I'll see if I can come up with another five.
1. I receive an invitation to a medication trial for osteoarthritis. I'll sign up and hope the medication is helpful. They pay is 75.00 a visit so that's a very good thing!
2. I keep receiving 20.00 off at Christopher and Banks and just got a 10.00 reward. Almost everything I own is thrifted but summer clothes are a bit harder to find. I'll stop tomorrow on my way to the grocery and see if I can find a pair of pants for summer.
3. I went to see a sneak preview of a very charming movie with a good friend last Thursday. Free passes and we didn't buy snacks so frugal indeed!
4. While at that shopping center, I stopped into Eddie Bauer where I had a 10.00 rewards card. Everything was 40% off but I didn't need anything since I had just used my Christopher and Banks coupon. I have gotten holes in many of my socks this winter so I picked up two pair. Price-85 cents total!
5. I got an email from Panera offering me a free bagel every day this month. One of my favorite treats so I'll stop whenever I pass one to pick one up. I may even splurge on a cup of coffee-using my Panera gift card from Christmas. A double good treat!
Your statement about nylons is so funny and spot on! Heck, I've even snagged nylons taking them out of the package! Ugh!
Let's see ~ Five Frugal Things:
1) My laptop hard drive died so I had it replaced rather than buying a new laptop. It wasn't cheap, but it was more economical than buying a whole new computer.
2) For a quick dinner before a meeting, I made pizza at home rather than picking one up.
3) I use reusable containers for my son's school lunch each day rather than tossing disposable baggies into the trash daily.
4) I used a coupon at Hobby Lobby via my phone app and checked for specific sales before going inside the store.
5) I filled up my gas tank at the Costco gas pumps last night as I was running errands rather making a special trip later in the week.
Have a great day everyone!
1. We put down our own mulch instead of hiring someone else to do it--we have just one more bed to go. And I even did the "fancy edging." It looks great, if I do say so myself. Ooooh...plus, we used mulch that my neighbor traveled to get...only $3 per bag for 3 cubic feet. 🙂
2. We paid $5 for something at my son's school, and when plans changed and we didn't need that purchase I took the time to ask for a refund--so I'll get a check back for $5.
3. My husband wanted enchiladas for dinner last . So, instead of doing takeout, he stopped at the store an got 2 cans of enchilada sauce and we made them. So it was $2 for sauce, and I had the other ingredients.
4. I packed lunch every day--do that every day always. Plus, I made my own coffee at home and put it in a travel mug instead of stopping at Starbucks--using coffee purchased at Aldi.
5. I got a $10 off $50 coupon from my neighbor when my husband spent $60 at the local grocery store--and I got him to go back and get the $10 credit.
That dress looks amazing on you! I wondered if it was thrifted.
Here are my five:
1) Most of the clothes I wore to my conference last weekend were thrifted. I liked my looks, was comfortable, and felt wonderful knowing how cheap everything was. It's like when you have a meal that is cheap, easy, delicious, and healthy--it is heavenly and, contrary to popular opinion, possible.
2) I bought salmon, diapers, and beef at Aldi yesterday, among the million other items we will eat and use this week, and the total was STILL $75. I love that store so much. Before we had Aldi I typically spent $100-$150/week at Kroger.
3) I am doing the legwork to find a new cleaning lady. I know a cleaning lady doesn't sound frugal. However, we rent our primary home on the weekends on airbnb. A cleaning lady saves me three hours of heavy cleaning per week, cleaning that would otherwise be done in the middle of when I could be getting other work done. In the long run it is a better investment. And the leg work to find a good person at a reasonable rate is worth it too. I have a great agency that we rely on occasionally, but not having to bring them in every week has saved up about $500 over the course of the last year.
4) I just submitted my application for summer funding from the university where I am a graduate student. It will come as a nice, big chunk of cash we will roll into savings. We'll end up pulling some of that money back out over the summer to cover the things my regular stipend would have paid for, which I don't get over the summer. But I think starting with it in savings will encourage us to spend less of it. I prefer to jump through hoops than take a dollar out of savings.
5) I am also submitting my receipts from the conference for partial reimbursement from my university. Travel is not nearly as cushy as it used to be in the corporate world, but I still make every penny count.
Thank you! It has some kind of Spanx-ish lining inside of it, which always makes me feel like I'm wearing a super tight dress. But of course, it's a rather flowy style in actuality. But underneath it all, you are VERY compressed in that dress.
Any possibility you'd be willing to do a post about ThredUp and your experience using that site? I see ads for them a lot and have heard a little bit about them, but have never tried it. Always looking for a good new way to save money on clothes!
Dori, I have started using ThredUp, too, and so far, I'm pleased. I always look for things that are described as "like new" or "new with tags", and they have always been as described. Thrift store prices may be better, but the selection is better at ThredUp. I've bought little dresses for the granddaughters and some dresses and a lovely silk shirt for me. I would like to see a post by Kristen as well, relating her experiences with them.
I have used ThredUp a ton and absolutely love it. one of my favorite things is that it shows pics of the actual piece of clothing, and you can zoom in and check it out, and in the condition field it will tell you if there is fading, piling, etc so there aren't any surprises when your stuff arrives.
I wanted to comment on your lovely post yesterday about your trip back west, but our internet was acting up, so, a day late, it was really good.
Oh, and I still wear hose when wearing dresses or skirts, unless it's a sundress, and I've found the types like Sheer Energy, that offer some support, are usually harder wearing than the regular hose, which sure do run amazingly easily. But if you want to complain about hose, when I wore my first couple of pairs, we were still wearing garter belts or little girl-styled girdles to hold our hose up. Now that's something I am glad to see gone.
My five:
1. I found we had a lot of various leftovers in the refrigerator, so one night was smorgasbord night, and we ate much of it. I froze some and packed the rest in my lunch. Done.
2. A co-worker was giving away his stack of extra take-out paper napkins, so I took them. I don't buy paper towels or napkins, but if they are just going to get thrown away, I'll use them.
3. This isn't current, but we stopped at a church yard sale once and found nice wooden hangers, $5 for a pack of 10, from a store going out of business which had donated the hangers to the church's sale. We bought two packs of 10. This post reminded me of that. Since then, I check yard sales for nice hangers, and sometimes find them. The last ones I got were free in a box of odds and ends, stuffed in with the more common flimsy hangers.
4. I packed my lunch with leftovers, as always.
5. I found a little bucket at Goodwill with a logo from a business in my hometown, 700 miles away. Instead of buying a (probably non-water-tight) bucket I didn't need, I snapped a picture of it and sent it to my siblings to amuse them, which it did.
Sorry again to hear you're sick! That's the worst, ugh.
This week:
1. I got some great nail polish on a clearance rack for $1.
2. My sister-in-law gave me some really nice makeup that just wasn't her color.
3. I forgot to plan a dinner last night, so we ate leftovers instead of eating out.
4. I'm sewing a dress out of thrift store sheets and using a $2 sale pattern from Walmart to build it.
5. Over the weekend I cooked a few freezer meals, which will ensure we'll eat at home and not spend money at restaurants. 🙂
* Eating from freezer and pantry
* Using "old" (still good) inhalers to cure my persistent cough
* packing my lunch everyday for work
* Using city pool (12$/year)
* Exchanging PC points for free groceries.
Happy to have you back!
The purpose of Date Night is to enjoy spending time together without the kids tagging along. The activity itself isn't important, it's the companionship. So, hey, if finding hangers on clearance at BB&B makes you guys happy, go for it!
I agree!!
Nice hangers are a must for me as it makes the closet look nice and the clothes seem to hang better, lol! I like what I call "crystal hangers" instead of the cheap plastic ones. I would like to find some wooden hangers for the hub's suits.....On the cheap of course!
1) Breakfasts, lunches and dinners. All made at home.
2) Returned camp cot organizers. Refund went to camping eating utensils bought cheaply at Ross. Will make camp cot organizers with stuff I already have at home that will accommodate the things we need them to accommodate.
3) Instead of buying twin bed sheets and blankets for camp cots, I pulled out some old sheets and blankets and will cut and sew them to make camp cot bedding myself.
4) Used cherry tomatoes that were getting wrinkled to make spaghetti sauce.
5) Waited to buy a small trailer (to pull behind the truck for our camping trips) until it went on sale.....after having looked for quite a while for a used one and not finding one anywhere.
I find myself almost "wishing" that "today would be five frugal thing day" on your blog because I've found myself doing something extra frugal. Though now as I sit here and contemplate "what" are my five things, I'm sure I"ll forget something I had wanted to add earlier. So here goes:
1. My four year old son LOVES John Deere shirts and I had multiple for him this winter that had long sleeves and I was stressing where I was going to find enough short sleeve John Deere shirts for this summer. Something made me think to cut the long sleeve off and make them short sleeve. I was able to fashion 7 shirts from winter into summer wear! I'm so extra happy with this one!
2. My dentist office is close to Costco (which our house is not) and though I was shelling out alot for a root canal, I was able to fill up our van with the cheaper gas at Costco.
3. I had to get our van's oil change and have a small noise looked at. After the mechanic talked about a $1000 bill (that included inspection repairs), I asked what "really" needed to be done right now. The bill dropped to $166 dollars. I will deal with the inspection repairs when it is time. I might even go to another mechanic for the actual inspection to see how his repairs compare in cost to the first mechanic.
4. I've been selling children's clothing and toys on a local mom's facebook page to help pay for our family's summer pool pass. I did have enough saved for the pool pass, but decided to use that money to pay for the unexpected cost of the van repair that I mentioned above. I'll have to sell some more items to earn the money back!! At least that charge didn't go on the credit card.
5. We moved from a more suburban area to a rural area this summer and have since learned that our new town offers free t-ball for younger children. This same activity would have costed about $100 in our old town.
Ha, well, you'll have to keep a running list so that if you're super frugal on a day when I'm posting about something else, you can tell us about your frugal exploits later!
Hmm lets see what I can come up with . . .
Right now I am eating mediocre leftovers for lunch from this week's new recipe. I don't love it, but its edible (sort of . . . haha) so I will carry on and look forward to tastier meals in the future. I am having the leftovers with strawberries that I cut the bad spots out of instead of tossing them.
I believe my lawn rake was stolen out of my backyard last summer but I am going to make one last look for it before I get a new one. I am famous for buying things that go missing and then having them turn up as soon as I purchase a replacement.
I planned to BBQ on my charcoal grill last weekend but when I got home, I discovered only had 8 briquettes left. I abandoned the plan and cooked inside instead of going off-budget to purchase briquettes.
I took advantage a friend's offer to sharpen my gardening tools for me.
1) It was spring break this week for the kids. We had a low key break. My hubby did take off Friday and we went to the Science Center in the big city. With our membership to our local museum we got in for FREE! The cost of our yearly membership is cheaper than one day at the science center. Please look at the ASTC (Association of Science Technology Centers) list for a great way to save some money and see some great museums.
2) Pulling weeds and wishing we could afford lawn care like a lot of the neighbors - yes their grass is a lot greener- literally. However, my labor is free so that is what we do.
3) Pork Loins were $1.49 a pound this week. Not too bad, chopped it up at home and now we have pork roasts and chops in the freezer for next month.
4) I drank the free coffee at the hospital waiting room while sitting with my mom vs going down the hall to the Starbucks coffee shop.
5) I bought snow boots next year. Winter Clearance, coupon in the mail and employee discount = $1.70 boots! I bought them in black so the pair will make it thru two kids of different genders.
1. Cooked from scratch using ingredients we have, using up veg in a soup. Stock made from a chicken carcess..
2. Batch cooked curry & chilli con carne and froze extra meals for days there is no time to cook
3. Borrowed books from library
4. Shopped in Aldi using a shopping list..
5. Adding beans & lentils to meals to bulk them up both nutritious and cheap..
6. Line dried clothes as weather has been so good
1.) I made a gallon of yogurt using your recipe. I use Icelandic yogurt as a starter and after trying some other brands, this is the one giving me the best results. I start with new starter every 3 or 4 batches. I have made yogurt 5 or 6 times now and wish I had started sooner- I know you say "you don't have to make yogurt" but I really enjoy it:)
2.) Getting my kids ready for spring activities with used and hand me down gear. My 6 year old will use shin guards purchased at Once Upon A Child and some hand me down cleats. My 9 year old needs swimming gear for the first time and I have managed to buy about half of it from my sister (my niece's old stuff). It is all in very good condition and it will save me at least $50. My sister most likely would have just given it to me, but as the youngest of our family with the youngest kids I receive a lot of great hand me downs and feel like it is fair to offer a little money as the gear is not cheap new.
3.) I have had a little food waste lately which is very unlike me. I've been really committed to low/no food waste in the past few years so I am trying to fix this before it becomes a bad habit. On that note, we are finishing up loose produce as snacks and side dishes and I am throwing my greens in the freezer to use in smoothies.
4.) Instead of a lunch out with my sister, we put my youngest in a stroller for a walk and then went back to her house and ate left overs as we usually do. I also took her a jar of salsa I bought that my husband and I thought was too spicy and a big bag of chicken nuggets from Costco that my kids won't eat, but I know hers really like.
5.) My sister and I have always shared back and forth for our kids, but lately I thought about how much. This year, I borrowed a kids lab coat for a dress up day at school. She borrowed a dress and accessories (my kids got the accessories as favors at a different dance)for a daddy/daughter dance with a beach theme. I sourced my kids daddy/daughter dance outfits entirely from hand me downs from a cousin and another niece. It feels good not to buy single use items and help others with similar ideas to do the same!
1. Found the exact jeans I wanted on clearance at Old Navy.
2. Brought lunch to work today. This sounds small, but my office is surrounded by food trucks and I'm working on not surrendering to their siren call more than once a week.
3. Drinking a free chai latte from my work coffee machine.
4. Shopped at Aldi.
5. Put books on hold at my local library.
I'm new to your blog and love all the frugal ideas from you and everyone who comments.
1. Made beef vegetable barley soup from things I had in the freezer and veggie bin.
2. Purchased only meat that was on sale at the supermarket.
3. Hung small loads of wet clothing - not using the dryer. as much.
4. Cooked all breakfasts - including coffee, lunches and dinners, except one night out for Sushi.
5. Used seven 20% off coupons at Harmon on seven items.
That was fun!
Welcome, welcome! So glad to have you here.
I have had some fails and some wins.
I made stock that was revolting.
I am shopping from home first and shopping alone when I can.
The cats are being given leftovers. Would you believe they turned their noses up at fillet steak?
Despite a large amount of rain and wind from a tropical storm I have managed to line dry our clothes.
Lots of handwork going on here as I prepare for my first grandchild.
In my neck of the woods, most women under 60 rarely, if ever, wear pantyhose. I like this product (and I'm VERY fair-skinned): http://www.target.com/p/sally-hansen-airbrush-leg-make-up-medium-4-oz/-/A-14404963?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Health+Beauty+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Health+Beauty&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9017498&gclid=CMzpo-P7i9MCFZI0aQodTScDOw&gclsrc=aw.ds
You looked lovely for the service and I'm glad you were able to attend and enjoy some happy memories.
Battra-fishnet stockings...lol
Kristen- So glad you went home and saw family. I know it wasn't due to the best of circumstances, but you did what was right on different levels. You looked lovely and it was a great photo.
Amy-Great deal on the boots!
Suzan- Congrats on the grandbaby! My cat would only eat steak if it had ketchup on it.
Janelle- Good idea about making the summer shirts. Smart thinking on the car issue. I've asked what really needed to be done on my car before and prioritized. Last time i took my car in, they said I needed back brakes. I was like, whhaaa. And something about wanting $1000. I had my husband drive my car and he said he didn't notice anything wrong nor does he hear any brakes squealing.....Every time i go to the dealer, they always want $1000 for stuff. Amazing.
My frugal things:
1) I got an email stating I had $11.10 in ebay bucks. It's some new program and I was able to get personalized labels for the church bake sale items that I'll be making. I was told to make more of your fluffy hamburger buns to sell....YAY
2)Speaking of this bake sale.....I had a $25 Target gift card and got baking supplies for it.
3)DS1 got a job at a raceway. Looks like we'll get discounted tickets (or free ones. Not sure yet) to go to their events. I've never been to a raceway before and plan to go on July 4th!
4)Have 3 free sandwiches at Starbucks from a promo. I'll freeze them for later.
5)Took a drive to DS1's college for a free tour of their fossil museum. It was beautiful. I had no idea they had real dinosaur fossils. It houses the largest collection of natural artifacts in the region! Two levels of cool stuff. And I got a pair of silver earrings for $8.50. You know, to support the museum.....
1. We have a drippy faucet (but because we're about to move we aren't going to fix it, the owner can fix it before the next renters move in), so instead I put a bucket under it and used the collected water to mop my floor this morning.
2. I water my plants with water leftover from washing vegetables and rinsing my laundry.
3. I'm giving away last year's teacher manuals to someone else wanting to homeschool.
4. I'm trying to get stronger, but I'm not spending money to do that. Sometimes I exercise with friends, sometimes it's just here at the house. I simply use what I have, my jump rope, 10 liter water bottles, and lots of body weight exercises that don't need any equipment.
5. I sewed up a seam on one of my son's tank tops so he can wear it again and sewed up a hole in the seam of one of my favorite dresses too.
1. Got two bags of Easter M&Ms for free using coupons and CVS rewards.
2. Bought myself a big spring bouquet at the grocery store for $3 from the clearance bucket. I just had to pull off a few yellow or dried leaves for some cheerful color.
3. Bought two packages of family pack size chicken breasts from Aldi for just over $5. That will be four dinners and some lunch leftovers.
4. Made granola.
5. A hopeful frugal win, posted several things on Craigslist, eBay and local FB page. It would be lovely to sell them but even better to have them out of the house!
1. Saturday I went to Peebles to a BOGO sale. I picked up a few new tops and a couple pieces of jewelry for work. I save $104 on my purchase.
2. I remembered to scan my Walmart receipt into my savings catcher. I received $2.38 back in refunds.
3. We've been eating leftovers and items on hand to clear out frig and pantry.
4. I took the kids to see the new Beauty and the Beast movie. We went to a matinee for the cheaper prices. Of course, I used my senior discount.
5. I used a Subway gift card I had received from Christmas to get lunch a couple of times this week.
#1 Found 2 cents at a self-checkout register at Walmart.
#2 got a free quarter from a cart someone gave me at Aldi's. No one to give the cart to when I was done.
#3 Have been wanting an elliptical machine for everyone to use at home. Spotted one at the roadway & only had to put new batteries in it.
#4 Hubby smoked a turkey breast that he thought was boneless when he bought it, so before smoking it, he removed the bone & i made turkey stock from it. Hubby is learning some of my frugal ways so I was happy about that.
#5 Co-worker said they wouldn't use a 150 Ft. roll of freezer paper & asked if we could use it. I took that and also some food storage containers she was no longer using.
#6 Leftovers for lunch
My cost savings efforts:
I diluted my shampoo/conditioner with a little bit of water. It has lasted another week.
I reused shopping bags to hold trash and scraps from cooking dinner. This avoids trash/scraps from going in the kitchen trash. Take shopping bag outside every night. A box of trash bags last me forever this way.
I have been making effort to eat cleaner and consume less processed food. The result is less packaging, less trash. And healthier eating ïŠ
When washing dishes by hand (I never use the dishwasher except to store my Tupperware), I start off with just a small amount of hot water. I wash silverware first. Every time I rinse something, I rinse in the side of sink I am washing in. This avoids running hot water down the drain on the opposite side of the sink just to rinse dishes. I end up with a sink of hot soapy water needed to larger items.
I make breakfast at home every day. I bring my home brewed coffee to work with me everyday. I eat lunch from home everyday. I cook most every night. Any scraps are saved in container in fridge for our dog . Vegetable left overs are frozen for home made soup starters.
I repurpose the mesh bags from lemons to use as scrub pads on glass top stove.
Printed recipes for homemade bread and pizza dough. Will buy ingredients at Aldi’s this weekend so I can prepare at home. No more store bought bread and chemical preservatives.
Roasted medley of vegetables from refrigerator that was approaching expiration.
We also use the small grocery store bags every evening for food scraps. It keeps the nasty "trash" smell down.
I cannot think of 5 new things that I do but we have not eaten out going on our 5th week. This is huge for my family. I can't tell you how easy it is to eat out in our family. So the blog has help me stay on track.
It's spring break for us so, it's been a less frugal week but after seeing what lots of other families are doing on Facebook, I feel like our fun has been pretty frugal.
1. We drove to the big city in our decade + old, purchased used hybrid and took our kids to the zoo. We have a membership so entrance was free and gas was $20.
2. Since we were there any way we stopped at Trader Joe's and I picked up some artificial dye free Easter candy - ordering something similar online would have been much more expensive.
3. We had a fun family night playing soccer at the playground, and playing board games.
4. My husband is coaching our son's soccer team so we will be refunded the $75 player fee.
5. Being home for break has prompted me to do some spring cleaning so I have an almost full bag of clothes to go to ThredUp and a nice pile of books to sell to Powell's.
My five+ last week were:
-mended clothes by replacing buttons and mending seams
-cooked from week menu, planned meals from frozen/cupboard ingredients, as well
-brought lunches to work (this is an ingrained habit by now)
-combined errands, so lower transportation costs
-stuck to budget, still have a little to spare for future bulk purchases
-line dried all laundry
-discussed and agreed on budget and how to stick to it with husband. most important step of all!