Finances on Friday

 

Some financial efforts for the week:

 In addition to the typical money savers (like saving ziploc bags and hanging clothes...)

* Matt and I had our "budget meeting" on Sunday night.  (That sounds so dorky.)  It was nice to talk about our finances together instead of me just doing my thing.  The big change is that we will work together on writing out any unbudgeted expenses on a running list to see just exactly where the 'excess' money is going each month.    Sometimes it feels like you are just treading water- until you see in list form all the things you have spent things on...those things are easy to forget, leaving you wonder WHY DON'T WE HAVE ANY MONEY?!?  ;-)  It was impressive to see the list of financial things we have accomplished this year due to our scrimping.  I am glad we had the meeting and I look forward to the next one!  It was kinda date-ish, in a stay-home-and-talk-about-money sort of way.  ;-)

*  I went out the Saturday after Thanksgiving to get several turkeys at a post-holiday discount and couldn't FIND ANY for less than .88 a pound.  So I didn't get any.  That was a big disappointment for me because I had hoped to buy three or so.  Now .88 per pound is still cheaper than most meats~ just not as impressive a deal as I usually like to get.  (Last year I got three turkeys for .29 a pound!)  NOW I regret not getting a few anyway.  I was being greedy.  As of now, I only stocked up on ONE turkey @ .49 a pound (on my big grocery trip last week~with a $25 minimum, or I would have gotten more.).  I still hold out hope for turkey/ham discounts after Christmas- but if the lowest I can get at that point is .88 cents a pound, I guess I will just go for it.

* Made a dollhouse pillow for a Christmas gift using only items I had on hand.  I thought I had stuffing on hand and I didn't.  For some stuffing, I washed a bed pillow that was so flat no one used it anymore, unstuffed it, fluffed up the stuffing and used that to stuff the dollhouse pillow. Cost for stuffing= FREE!  Cost for pillow- FREE!

* crocheted a cowl for a Christmas present using yarn I had on hand.  (total cost: FREE!)

* Ordered two Christmas presents online and got free shipping.

* Since our printer is (still!) broken, I had to order our Christmas pictures for cards.  Price shopped around on the web and used a promo code and site-to-store free shipping to get the cheapest rate.

*  Ordered a cd from seedsfamilyworship and used a coupon code for 20% off. This company is fabulous!  They artistically and skillfully set scripture verses to music.  It is really incredible- fun, catchy and addictive- music.  And each order comes with two identical cd's- one to keep and one to give away! I downloaded a free song a few weeks ago and the children listened a few times and I have been hearing them sing it ever since!  The other day I figured if they loved the freebie that much, it would be worth it to get ourselves a cd.
(The 20% off sale code is Story2013 and should be good until December 9th...if you are interested.)

* Started up an Etsy shoppe. This, by the way, was one of my 2013 goals! (Thank you for everyone who has checked it out and for those of you who have purchased something!  I am so thrilled with your purchases!  Thank you!) 

* Read my free copy of Imprimis...put out by Hillsdale College.  Subscriptions to this newsletter are free.  An interesting article this month!  



* Organized, cleaned, labeled and inventoried the spice cupboard.

* Made homemade taco seasoning. (Thanks for the recipe, Terri!)

And for the bad~

* I was disappointed to have quite a bit of food go bad on me this week.  I really, REALLY hate it when that happens because, in my mind, it is essentially burning up money.  One large zucchini, a winter squash, half a loaf of homemade bread that fell behind something in the cupboard, half a cup of tomato paste, and about 8 bananas that I intended to make banana bread with but never got around to it before it was too late.  (Usually I just throw the bananas in the freezer but my intentions were to make them immediately.)  I try very hard to not let things like that happen.  Just as I consider every step  toward saving money (no matter how small) a great success, every small waste that could have been prevented is a big disappointment.

 

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This weekend will be a busy one!  

Tomorrow I am doing a craft show with my sister- the first one in YEARS- which will leave me busy from 7:30-4:00.  This means tonight I will have plenty to do in preparation for that!  One thing I absolutely HAVE to do is find a yarn project (or two) to bring with me to work on while I am there.  

There is nothing worse than sitting in a chair all day not doing a thing.

 Then, if all goes well on Sunday, I am hoping to get our Christmas tree and have our Trim the Tree party.

What are your plans for the weekend?  Any frugal accomplishments you want to share?  Any handmade gifts being made lately? 

Have a great weekend!