Last Week's Frugal Accomplishments

My "New" Ceiling Fan

Writing down my frugal accomplishments has been a great way for me to see the blessings the Lord has provided my family with. Slowing down to remember what small way we were able to save money or things given to us makes my heart full.

I accepted a huge black garbage bag full of girls clothes from one of my sweet friends. They are SO nice! My girls were SO EXCITED. The clothes sizes will be good for Hailey for the next 2 years - she is smaller so clothes last longer on her. Now I need to go through the girls' dressers to take out the items that are too small for them...hoping to do this soon.

I accepted 4 cans diced tomatoes from Nathan's Grandmommy. We see her every Wednesday after my MEMs Bible Study (Moms Encouraging Moms.) She makes us lunch (so I do not need to make anything that day plus she usually sends leftovers for the girls for dinner.)

I gave Grandmommy 2 boxes of cereal. I also told her I could get her more items when she needs them.

I received 2 copies of Crystal Paine's book Say Goodbye to Survival Mode (MUST READ!!! It is so good!) - one went to my lovely friend Cara...she wanted to read the book so it was perfect and the other went to another lovely friend who asked to read my copy. :D So thankful I could blesses them with the book since I was blessed with them.

While walking about of my mother in law's office (she works at a church) - some books caught my eye on the FREE Book rack. The Left Behind Series...I literally said the day before that I wanted to read them and there they were...well most of them but the ones I do not have my friend Megan is giving me those. :D Plus I found 2 other books by Francine Rivers who my mil really enjoys. She is reading them now and then I will read them later.

I scored Nature's Own Sandwich Thins, Bagels, one loaf of bread and one pack of tortilla chips for $13.13 after tax!!! They were .49 cents each!!! Such a great score. My freezer is full to the brim with bread...we will be good for months!

Monday night I had a dream that I woke up and cleaned all of my ceiling fans - we have FIVE! So what did I do when I woke up?! Cleaned the ceiling fans! haha I started in the kitchen - I got our ladder out and unscrewed all of the fan blades to give them a really good cleaning. While doing this I noticed that there is a totally different look on the top side of the blades...I did not know that is normal. I only changed the one in the kitchen - it has a very coastal vibe. The greatest thing was that I was going to buy these exact looking blades at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore using my credit! Now, I do not have to use it on that! SCORE!

I couponed again for items we can use. I have been able to score a lot of great deals this month. Last night, I saved $101.55 and spent only $50.57 plus tax!!! I did go a little over our normal grocery budget  - I try to keep it lower than what we actually have to spend so we can use our extra on special treats. But next month, I will be doing a Dairy Only Grocery Challenge - I saw it over at Renaissance. She inspired me. More on that later. :D

I ordered the 10 Minute Trainer DVDs by Tony Horton - I started them last week. I spent about $100 on them but it will save me $596 a year (this year alone) by not having a gym membership. I am loving it already. In the past 4 days, I have lost 2 inches!!! Awesome!

We went to a birthday party on Saturday so we had cupcakes, chips and marshmallows for lunch (yummy!) Afterwards, we stayed to have dinner together. We ordered pizza - I suggested we pick up the majority from Little Caesar's since they have the $5 pizzas. Nathan and I picked up that order and then our other friend picked up the specialty pizza and drinks from Pizza Hut plus they gave the kiddos juice boxes and snacks. It cost us $23 but we got an entire pizza to take home from the leftovers. We will be having that for lunch this week. :D Not bad for 3 adults and 7 kiddos plus leftovers for the Little Caesar's pizza!

I have kept the lights off during the day to see if it would save us electricity but our bill was higher this month. Haha I do not think it helped at all. :D Plus we kept our heat way lower than we normally do. Any suggestions?

Last night we went out to dinner with some friends to Taco Mamacita - I went to the Family Dollar next door and purchased 4 pack of applesauce and puffs for Harper - this way I spent less than I would have to buy her a meal at the restaurant (she usually does not eat what we order her.) But the greatest part was when we asked for our checks - someone had paid for our meal! How amazing is that?! I have never had that happen to me before so it was extra special for me. I have seen it happen as I was a waitress for many years. :D May the Lord bless whoever paid for their generosity!

I think that is about it for this week! Share your accomplishments! I would love to read more ideas!

(I will be sharing my link with The Prudent Homemaker - She is truly amazing!)