Here's what we were up to this week:
- Walked to & from the produce stand & Rite Aid (same complex) to pick up our supplies & my prescription. I have to be cautious not to buy too much, or it gets heavy on the return walk. ;-) I bought: lettuce, tomatoes, mini cucumbers, radishes & wheat lavosh bread.
- Remembered to use my Starbucks free birthday reward (Starbucks is in the same complex as well) & picked up a sandwich that M ate for lunch on Saturday.
- Showed our current rental house to a prospective renter. Not frugal yet, but if it means we get out of our lease early . . . !
- Used saved newspapers & a few spare cleaning towels to wrap our nice stemware. Speaking of, I think it's time to donate the vast majority of this stuff. I almost never use it.
- Found a few additional items to donate, as part of the packing process. Although not entirely frugal, having less to clean & maintain is great!
- Used a coupon when we went out for Sam's birthday dinner. Saved around $15, for a total of $39 for four people (including tip). It's not a place I love, but he likes it. ;-)
- M & I had a free babysitting option for Valentine's Day (just a few hours), so we had dinner at home with a bottle of nice wine we already had on hand. No out of pocket expenses, and the boys event came with free pizza.
- Received the $36 for my eBay sale (a scarf), & put that straight into our savings account.
- Started another soccer carpool, which reduces driving time/gas for both the nanny & us and also allows the non soccer player that day to get more homework done.
- Continue to manage my work schedule to minimize nanny time. This is more of a request of my nanny, btw. But, the boys have done well with me taking calls while they are at home.
- Baked more rolls last weekend, which is starting to reduce our expensive sandwich bread purchase at Costco ($5.99/package ciabatta rolls).
- Used my Rite Aid plenti points to buy last minute Valentine's candy for the boys. They'd declined before because "Valentine's Day is uncool", but changed their minds at the 11th hour. While there, I shopped for a Valentine's Day card for M, but found nothing. Saved myself $6 by making my own card.
And, not really in frugal news, but in terms of the long view, I had an informational interview with another team at my company. They do very different work than my current team, and if it plays out the way I hope, it means I could extend my employment. That is definitely financially beneficial. :-) The job involves, at most, one international trip a year, minimal global team management, and much less "on call" holiday/weekend/evening operational work. So, fingers crossed!
That's it for us! What about you? Any frugal wins this week?
A new work opportunity might mean a lot less stress for you and your household. I remember the days when hubby's job was a lot like that. We are so grateful that while we still work, we do so in a much lower stress environment.
ReplyDeleteGreat week!
ReplyDeleteYou can never carpool too often with kids! It makes things easier for everyone concerned, especially when you have more than one child,