Frugal Friday

We've made it to Friday! Here are a few wins for the week. I find that, sometimes I really have to search for them, and other weeks, the wins just roll off of the finger tips (while typing). This week was somewhere in between.  

Saving on things we buy

• M & I are splurging on a few mini trips, while the boys are at camp. I'd booked two nights at one place (they had a two night minimum) & we opted to instead change to one night at another place that we booked for just Sunday. Sunday is definitely cheaper than a standard weekend away, and it will reduce the number of meals out. We're both super excited about the place we picked, which should be fun. 
• We went to dinner for M's birthday, and brought our own wine. There is a corkage fee, but it's still cheaper than buying at the restaurant. 

Earning money

• Sam had camp setup on Sunday, and has been working all week at his summer job. He's in charge of 1st graders, and is enjoying it. It's definitely been a shock to him to discover how hard it is to keep track of & entertain 20 1st graders. ;-) 
• Nick helped out his tennis coach, & also got paid a bit.

Avoiding spending

• We've made some tweaks to the upcoming weeks to eat more at home than originally planned (even during our time off) & reduce costs. We'll still go out & splurge, but treat it more as a one off, vs a week of splurging. 

Eating what we have

• I'd planned to have leftover orange chicken & fried rice for lunch one day, but saw that Sam had eaten the chicken when he got home from soccer practice. Instead, I added 1/2 of the rice to a pan, and then added two eggs. I scrambled them all together, and then added sriracha on top. Yum! I did this for two lunches.
• Made a double batch of chicken fajitas for dinner one night, and used peppers & cilantro from the garden
• Defrosted bolognese sauce, and added meatballs, and part of a very inexpensive ($1) jar of spaghetti sauce to make enough for two dinners. The bolognese had been in the freezer for awhile, so it was good to get that out of the freezer. 

For others

• We brought gifts to Sam's soccer bud, who just had surgery
• When we got to the store to pick up the gifts, all of the carts were spread over the lot, making it really difficult to park. The kids & I rounded up all of the carts, & returned them to the corrals. 
• Gave away some garden produce to interested neighbors
• Donated school supplies to a non-profit camp, serving low income students

What about you? Any wins to share?