My Frugal List: Week of April 2, 2018


We all had a busy but wonderful week. I had to work most of the week because school was out so I did get an extra shift one day and an extra hour and a half another. My son had college all week and worked. Hubby had work as usual. Youngest daughter by far had the best week. She had no school so she was happily stolen by her Aunt. They went into NYC for 4 days where my sister has an apartment. They went to see Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton. They loved both shows. They got their hair and nails done. Some shopping was done too. My sister does not like/want to cook so they ate most lunches and dinners out. YD was treated like a princess and loved every minute.


-Went to Panera and got free bagels 5 times
-Got books and Blu-rays from the library
-Got a free kids shirt from work. 
-Found a dollar in a parking lot, 28 cents at CVS
-Hubby and I had an at home date night. We used GC to pay for dinner and brought it home and watched a movie from the library.
-Got our federal tax check and put it right into collage savings
-Washed and kept the inside liner from cereal boxes
-Hung laundry, washed Ziplocs, cooked, brought lunch to work/school
-Went on walks, worked out at home, watched what I ate and lost 1.4 pounds.

On Friday we went to visit Oldest Daughter in Maryland. Hubby took Friday off, I don't work Fridays, son doesn't have class Fridays, and YD still was off from school for vacation. 
-My sister watched our dog(Oreo) for us saving us $30 a day in kennel costs. We always watch each others dogs. She has no kids and spoils her dog. So when Oreo goes over she spoils her too.


-We stayed at OD apartment instead of getting a hotel room. Between her extra bed, couch and an air mattress we were fine.  Rooms in the nearby area cost about $300 a night so this saved us a ton of money.
-We brought some furniture from my sister that OD happily took. We brought her some household items that she wanted/needed. The car was packed going down. 
-We brought bagels (bought with a coupon) and cream cheese (bought on sale) to have as breakfasts. OD really loves them. There is nothing better then a NY bagel.
-We did splurge and treated OD and her boyfriend out to eat at a nice restaurant. Her one roommate was still at work and the other had gone away for the weekend. It was happy hour when we went so we split 3 appetizers that were from that menu. The 2 drinks that were bought were also from the specials. Everyone else drank water. We all passed on desserts as I had brought cookies from home so we ate those back at her apartment. All leftovers OD gets to keep. She will not have to cook dinner after we leave on Sunday.

Oysters from Happy Hour Menu

Friday night after her roommate and roommate's boyfriend were done eating dinner, we did an Easter egg hunt. I had posted that I had gotten some candy earlier in the week at 50% off. I only showed what I was keeping for our house. I also got 4 other kinds of candy for the egg hunt too (didn't want the kids to see what it was). They had a blast running all over looking for eggs. We did hide some in her other roommates room as she wasn't home. She can have some fun when she gets back. They are both very sweet ladies that she lives with. Their boyfriends are also great. Hubby and I have so much fun watching them all run around and then trading the candy for what they each want. It is quiet comical. They range in age from 16 (YD) to 25 and they had so much fun. They always thank us and give us lots of hugs.

Saturday we went to the National Aquarium where OD works. We have never been before. As an employee she gets free passes so we got to enjoy this beautiful aquarium for free. It costs $39.95 per person so we saved $239.70 for the 6 of us. We did pack our lunch(I brought cold cuts and bread from home) and left it in the car for later. Reusable water bottles were brought with us and we used the filling stations many times. We did buy snacks as no food is allowed inside. When we were done we ate a late lunch at tables outside.  We also got a discount on our parking because of OD.



After the Aquarium we went to the store to buy some groceries for OD and for dinner. We ended up going the easy route for dinner and got a special meal deal. Cooked chicken, 3 pounds red potato salad and rolls for $9.99.  We did get a second chicken for $4.99. We got asparagus for $1.99 a pound too. While we were shopping we came across the clearance racks. Easter candy was marked down and everyone wanted some. We also got Daiya cheese sauce for Hubby.



We went back to OD's apartment after to eat and play games. We had plenty of leftovers so OD won't have to cook for a few nights. We ended up playing a game I have never played before, Catan.  It was a lot of fun. OD's boyfriend brought it and we thought it was great. 



Sunday morning we had eggs and toast at OD's apartment. It was opening day for the Farmers's Market and Bazaar so we went.We had to park at the hospital parking garage for free parking since they sponsor the event. It was a little line for parking but it saved us $20. We did have to get the ticket stamped to prove we went but it was very easy to do so. They had so many beautiful things but we only bought raw milk, pickles, olives, and some snacks. OD's Boyfriend's mom and sister met us there, so we got to see them there too. It was nice to catch up with them. His mom brought us a present which I thought was very sweet of her.


We went back to OD's apartment and had lunch.  After that we packed up and headed home. It is always sad to leave but she is planning on coming home in 2 months for a few days. Something to look forward to. We planned to stop at my sister's house to pick up Oreo on the way home. She offered to feed us as it would be around dinner time. She made us bring all of the leftovers home with us. My sister also has been cleaning out some cabinets . She offered us some items for free and we took what we would use.


She bought the kids each a box of snacks and gave me coupons from the newspaper also. We had a great weekend with OD and we did't blow our budget!. When we got home we did discover water in our basement. It had rained badly while we were away. Our basement is unfinished and we do get water sometimes when it rains(one of the reasons it's still unfinished). So Hubby and son got to work using the wet/dry vac cleaning it up. Nothing was ruined because we know it happens and keep things off the floor or in plastic tubs. Overall it was a great week but life does happen. 

What did you do to save money? Did you pay any extra to your debt. Did you put any money away for a rainy day? I would love to hear about it.










Comments

  1. Hello. Just found you when I saw a comment by you on makedohomemaker.blogspot.com. Happy blogging!

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  2. You had a productive and fun week. That's a remarkable savings for the National Aquarium!

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  3. Hey Marybeth, I finally made it to your blog! You had a terrific week! Lost weight, had a great and FRUGAL visit with your oldest daughter, got to have fun... I can't believe you found a whole dollar bill in the parking lot! These days I'm lucky if I find a penny.

    I'll have to go back and read your back entries if I have time tomorrow :) Congrats again on the weight loss, woohoo!

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    1. Thanks for coming over. It has been a while since I have found paper money so it was a nice surprise. I do find a lot of change in my work parking lot though. I guess people are just careless with their change where I live. Not worth it to them to pick it up. I'm happy to.

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  4. Sounds like a wonderful and frugal time! =) And good for you with the weight loss - that's awesome!
    We too came home from vacation to the remnants of water in the basement! Nothing ruined here either as we know (like you) that it can happen.

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    1. Sorry about the water. I can't wait to here all about your trip to Disney. We haven't been in over 4 years and I have the itch. With the kids in college it will have to wait.

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  5. Woah, once you price out how much our trip to the Aquarium would have been, that's crazy! Glad I have those tickets! Glad you guys loved Catan, I'll have to bring it up when I come home.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks again. We had a great time. We are always looking for a new game. I will add it to the Christmas list.

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