Friday, February 5, 2016

Frugal Friday

    I have been wanting to write a frugal Friday post for quite a while now and just haven't gotten it done. It wouldn't have had to be a Friday post obviously but I think it is fun to share different ways that we have been frugal lately. I know that is probably one of the biggest ways blogging has impacted my life and that is through me reading about various frugal things that other people have done and getting the idea to try it for our family too. Something work for us and some don't but it doesn't hurt to try. By living frugally in many different ways it allows us to have more freedom of choice financially. We can spend a little more in some areas because we have saved in others. I like having a choice!

  So with hopes of have a post like this every week again we shall begin....
Here are some odds and ends of ways we have been frugal in the last few weeks:

 -Mara and I went to a free Violin Master Class (we were able to observe a college violin teacher teaching 6 different students - this was great for helping both of us - me as a teacher and both of us as violin players- learn too) and a Violin and Harpsichord concert at our local university.
 There was a break in between the Master Class and the concert so Mara and I had fun exploring the building where I used to take Violin lessons. We had fun checking out the practice rooms and found this Xylophone in one of them.

-I cut the boys hair.

-We used cloth napkins

-We didn't do any grocery shopping in January except for Milk and butter (because it was on sale and I had been waiting for a sale to stock up again as it has been so expensive lately. I was also very nearly out) and one bunch of bananas. I really think the challenge of using what we have food wise is pretty fun. I have gone shopping again now that February is here and the kids were pretty excited when I came home with fresh fruit.

-I patched a bunch of pairs of socks.
 -We went downhill skiing - now that in itself is not a money saving thing - in fact it is a kind of expensive sport but we did save money on it by going on Friday nights which is a much better deal than going on Saturday. The first time I also packed us a supper which saved us a considerable amount of money. This evening I didn't end up having time to pack a supper so we bought stuff there but we did at least figure out a way to save money by buying a coupon book and getting meals from that. I also brought along fruit and cookies to supplement our purchased supper.
-Aaron want a tube scarf thing for skiing so he made one this afternoon from an old sweatshirt.

-I used homemade laundry detergent.

-We drank a lot of herbal tea (made from herbs that we dried this Summer) so that we didn't need as much milk and could save money that way.

- I have been using water (or squash) instead of milk in all of my baking or pancakes lately. It works find and saves money.

-I made some cards from scraps of paper that I had saved.
- I made some gifts to give away rather than buying them. I made Fudge, Granola and a Nursing cover all to use as gifts lately.

-We have been burning wood in our fireplace a lot to help to heat our house and reduce our propane or electric usage.

-We have made many supplies for Sunday School classes using things that we already had on hand.

-I baked my own bread.

-I called the Motel (that we needed to stay at when going to Jonathan's Robotics tournament out of town) rather than booking online and discovered that we didn't have to get 2 rooms after all and also that I could get a AAA discount.

-I used a 7 cents off per gallon coupon whenever I bought gas. That doesn't save a ton but it all adds up.

That is a few of the ways we have saved money lately. Now, how about you? What have you done to save money? Do you find it interesting to read how others are saving money?



7 comments:

Nola said...

I always enjoy hearing about the ways that you save money. One of the ways that I save money similar to yours is that we take advantage of free things in our city. There are a lot of things that cost money but now and then there are free things that are interesting and often educational. This morning we are going to a free talk on composting at the library. We have gone to free orchestra performances twice (I had wanted to take my children to see our city orchestra but it would be almost $100 for all of us to go and we didn't want to pay that). Our city has weekly listings of all that is happening and I get emailed it and then I look it over. Most of the times there is nothing of interest but its worth reading since a few times a year there is a real winner.

I also enter any contests there are for things that I can use. Lately I won a $5 gift card for a local coffee shop that I go to with my homeschooling Moms now and then and I feel I have to buy something to go there for a few hours.

I frequent used book sales to look for "gems" to use as gifts for my family...often I find like-new copies of books. I also have found homeschooling books like the other day I found a copy of our grade 1 math workbook unused and that is the consumable part of the program so now I won't have to buy it for my 3rd child.

I also love saving money in some areas so we can spend a little more in others that matter to us.

Mrs. Chrissy T said...

Abbi,

Sounds like you had some great savings. I will be honest this week was quite expensive as we had birthday's, outings, field trips, and life. *Smiles* I had been doing very well, but somehow EVERY thing landed in one week and I did try to be thrifty as much as I could. I think being prepared and watching our weekly activities better we would be a good lesson I learned this week.

Blessings!

Abbi said...

Nola, Thanks for sharing the ways that you saved money too. That was fun to read.

Chrissy, I totally understand about their being more expensive weeks. That does happen. But it is fun to see how much you can save even in the middle of somewhat spendy times. Yes, we may have gone on a trip for example, but how can I get more out of that trip for less.

angie said...

Frugality posts are my favorite! I brought home some hot dogs from a Super Bowl party because the host said that her family will not eat them. I ordered two gift cards for Old Navy with points from American Express. I will use these to buy jeans for my son. We packed a lunch to eat along the way when heading into the city on Saturday. I mailed calendars and photo album to 3 families recently. I used media mail because they are books and rate is much cheaper.
I will look forward to your upcoming Friday frugal posts!

Lydia said...

I love this and can't wait to read these on Fridays. I haven't been grocery shopping in close to a month, except for a few small things. Kinda nice to watch the grocery budget grow. Will be nice when we need to buy meat again as we usually buy in bulk from local farmers.

Marilyn @ MountainTopSpice said...

I enjoyed your frugal Friday post, about a week late! Sorry about that, but better late than never, lol! Enjoyed hearing about how you saved money here and there, and yet had a wonderful week! :)

Abbi said...

Thanks to all of you for the feedback on the Frugal Friday posts. I really appreciated knowing what you all like reading. I write about things that interest me but I also like to write about things that interest you too.

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