The hubby is officially retired from the Army and the last paycheck has been deposited.
Our income is now reduced by two-thirds and we are uncertain as to when the checks will even begin. I am not certain we are really prepared for this but we are trying to adjust our way of thinking
-I have been working on Swagbucks. I nearly have enough for a $25 gift card. I already have $35 in Amazon gift cards that I have earned I will save these until I really need something.
-I was gifted $20 in gift cards to Sonic for helping a friend in need. I am stashing these for future use. They will come in handy in the future. There are times when the schedule gets really unruly and feeding a kiddo can become complicated. These cards will be useful at those times.
-I also have almost $100 in grocery store gift cards that are being saved until just the right moment (presuming I can discern when just the right moment is, sigh). The same goes for $20 in rewards from Walgreens. And the hubby earned $10 off of his next purchase from a local meat store; this will also be saved until we really need something.
-Maceo is Gaston in our community theatre's production of Beauty and the Beast Jr. When all is said and done I will have watched it a total of ten times and I will have only paid for one viewing. I used a comp ticket to watch the show once and for eight of the shows I was able to score free admission by volunteering to usher and by working the boutique or flower sales. The value of the nine shows that I was able to watch for free is $171. $190 dollars worth of shows for $19 is not bad, huh?!?
-I brought some daffodils in from the yard so as to have a small bouquet to enjoy.
-I scored some meat at a good price, $.89 per pound for chicken thighs and $1.48 per pound on pork butt. I bought at least fifteen pounds of chicken thighs and a couple of the pork butts. I also stocked up on some necessities. At Aldi, I purchased 40 lbs. of flour and a large quantity of oatmeal and salt. I now need to do a full inventory of our pantry, fridge and freezer and ensure that we have enough food (with the exception of fresh fruits, veggies and milk) to last six weeks to two months, to include St. Patrick's Day treats, two birthday meals and Easter dinner.
-We were blessed with a visit from my father and his wife. They came to watch Maceo's show but managed to see a lot of the kids doing cool stuff. We dined together several times as a family and were treated to those meals by my dad. Now, that is not my frugal doing but, I will say, that it sure was helpful and enjoyable.
-We did, however, have some great family time that did involve some frugal choices on my part. We had a family potluck dinner. I brought bread and butter. I baked two fresh loaves of bread using some bread dough that I had in the freezer and I molded some butter into cute little heart shapes. It seemed special even though it only cost me about $3.50. Good choice, don't you think?
For another family gathering we were to go to the park for a picnic then had a sudden change in the weather. We just moved the picnic to a family members house. I contributed deviled eggs and snickerdoodles. Again, frugal offerings.
-I hit the bills hard. Among other things, I am three months ahead on the trash service and a year ahead on one of the student loans.
-And, of course, there are all the little things that I do routinely; I try to wash baggies for reuse, use up the leftovers, try to turn lights out when not really needed, etc. I will try to be more intentional about these things and make note of them.
We have many challenges ahead of us but I am certain that we are capable of facing these challenges. It will be tough but our family has had financial challenges in the past and we have always managed. Our family can do this!
Our income is now reduced by two-thirds and we are uncertain as to when the checks will even begin. I am not certain we are really prepared for this but we are trying to adjust our way of thinking
-I have been working on Swagbucks. I nearly have enough for a $25 gift card. I already have $35 in Amazon gift cards that I have earned I will save these until I really need something.
-I was gifted $20 in gift cards to Sonic for helping a friend in need. I am stashing these for future use. They will come in handy in the future. There are times when the schedule gets really unruly and feeding a kiddo can become complicated. These cards will be useful at those times.
-I also have almost $100 in grocery store gift cards that are being saved until just the right moment (presuming I can discern when just the right moment is, sigh). The same goes for $20 in rewards from Walgreens. And the hubby earned $10 off of his next purchase from a local meat store; this will also be saved until we really need something.
-Maceo is Gaston in our community theatre's production of Beauty and the Beast Jr. When all is said and done I will have watched it a total of ten times and I will have only paid for one viewing. I used a comp ticket to watch the show once and for eight of the shows I was able to score free admission by volunteering to usher and by working the boutique or flower sales. The value of the nine shows that I was able to watch for free is $171. $190 dollars worth of shows for $19 is not bad, huh?!?
-I brought some daffodils in from the yard so as to have a small bouquet to enjoy.
-I scored some meat at a good price, $.89 per pound for chicken thighs and $1.48 per pound on pork butt. I bought at least fifteen pounds of chicken thighs and a couple of the pork butts. I also stocked up on some necessities. At Aldi, I purchased 40 lbs. of flour and a large quantity of oatmeal and salt. I now need to do a full inventory of our pantry, fridge and freezer and ensure that we have enough food (with the exception of fresh fruits, veggies and milk) to last six weeks to two months, to include St. Patrick's Day treats, two birthday meals and Easter dinner.
-We were blessed with a visit from my father and his wife. They came to watch Maceo's show but managed to see a lot of the kids doing cool stuff. We dined together several times as a family and were treated to those meals by my dad. Now, that is not my frugal doing but, I will say, that it sure was helpful and enjoyable.
-We did, however, have some great family time that did involve some frugal choices on my part. We had a family potluck dinner. I brought bread and butter. I baked two fresh loaves of bread using some bread dough that I had in the freezer and I molded some butter into cute little heart shapes. It seemed special even though it only cost me about $3.50. Good choice, don't you think?
For another family gathering we were to go to the park for a picnic then had a sudden change in the weather. We just moved the picnic to a family members house. I contributed deviled eggs and snickerdoodles. Again, frugal offerings.
-I hit the bills hard. Among other things, I am three months ahead on the trash service and a year ahead on one of the student loans.
-And, of course, there are all the little things that I do routinely; I try to wash baggies for reuse, use up the leftovers, try to turn lights out when not really needed, etc. I will try to be more intentional about these things and make note of them.
We have many challenges ahead of us but I am certain that we are capable of facing these challenges. It will be tough but our family has had financial challenges in the past and we have always managed. Our family can do this!
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