Friday, August 21, 2020

Frugal Friday

It's Friday, and I'm thrilled about that. I need a quieter work day (the non US based teams are already on to their weekends, so it's my quietest day of the week). It's been a long work week. The boys did reasonably well with online schooling, although technical challenges continue to plague everyone (teachers, kids, the systems the schools use, etc). It's a big adjustment for everyone.

The boys started socially distanced soccer practice, and are thrilled to be back on the field & seeing friends. This is the first time they've really seen friends in six months. Sam is quite disappointed to not be with his age group (there is a required pod structure for safety, and because we are in the same household, Sam is temporarily with Nick's age group). I assure you, the last thing either of my kids need right now is more together time. ;-) I'm thrilled they are getting more exercise, which always helps their behavior. School is also giving them something to focus on, which is awesome. Fingers crossed they stay this focused for the full year.

Here are the frugal things we've been up to.

Saving on things we buy

  • Used a coupon to save an extra few bucks off of already well priced juice. Our kids have never been juice drinkers, but do use it in the morning to blend up their protein/fruit smoothies. 
  • I'm ordering a Q-Tip alternative (Last Swab) that is washable & reusable. (Will share my thoughts after it arrives). Searched online for a coupon code & found one for 15% off. If this works well, it will save costs in the long run, but more generally, is good for the environment & reduces waste. Similarly, I also ordered washable cotton face rounds & Thinx. Details to come on my experience with all three. 

Earning money

  • It's been a really slow week on the eBay front. I sold;
    • A sports bra
    • A work shirt
    • Two kids shirts
    • A sports jersey (for my sister). This was the only valuable sale of the week, so winner/winner for my sister!
  • Found $.01 on the ground at the store

Avoiding spending

  • I talked myself out of a few online purchases (shoes, workout wear, etc) that I was thinking about but don't really need.
  • Almost all meals at home again this week, with an In & Out purchase after soccer practice on a late night. 
  • I checked the school supply lists against all of our existing home supplies, and we were able to get away with buying just a handful of things: binder paper, graph paper, a metal ruler, and glue sticks. We may need more as the year progresses, but that is where we are starting. 
In terms of things for other people, I've been:
  • Sharing garden produce with multiple neighbors
  • Volunteering several times at work
  • Made two small donations (we have automatic planned giving, but this year I set an additional goal to do more random, small donations as the opportunities come up). I've really enjoyed this approach. 
  • Helping out a neighbor
What about you? Any frugal wins to report? Any kind/thoughtful deeds to inspire us? 

8 comments:

  1. I will be interested to see your thoughts on the washables. Fortunately for me I have no use for the thinx, but I use cotton pads daily and would love to have some reusable ones.

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    1. I'll report back! On the Thinx, I would much prefer an IUD & eliminate the trouble altogether, but my health condition prohibits it.

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  2. Still eating produce acquired on our trip to southern Idaho. Found a dime at the grocer.

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    1. Fresh produce is the best part of summer! And, you were 10x luckier than me on found change this week. :-)

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  3. I'm happy for your boys that they can get a little of thier soccer back in their lives. With school, soccer, and your pool, maybe they can get in a new routine. My dughter too only bought essenitals or her school work, bu tloves the littleindex cards as a study tool, so we stcke dup when they were so cheap at $ .48 cents.

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    1. It really is starting to feel like we're adapting & finding safe way to add a few things back into our lives, or find new things that also work. It takes a while to bounce back from that "OMG, we can't do anything we used to do" & get creative.

      I love index cards, and used them all through college. I try to get my kids to use them, but they don't. No one even makes a to do list. Drives me batty. I suppose one day they will evolve their (non-existent) organization systems.

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  4. I'm flopping down with total gratitude that it's the end of the week and also taking a deep breath because this was supposed to be the easy week since PiC took it off to be more available for the first week of school. We're figuring out our new schedule next week and it's going to be a lot more tough once he's back to working full time again. I've never stopped and I'm juggling two major home finance things so I had to put the ball of doing things for others down. Oh! We did write letters to people who are lonely this week though and weswe those, plus birthday cards, out in the mail. So that was a good thing.

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    1. Love your letter writing! We've been making videos for my parents (using a chat app) & they've been loving to see the kids.

      The first week of school is crazy, with all of the various tech challenges, scheduling issues, etc. Good luck!

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