Monday, April 27, 2015

Sharing Ways We Save

Has anyone else struggled with or noticed that the cost of most things are still just going up and up.  My husband says everything goes up except his amount of pay.  Sometimes it can be tough to try and continue to pinch pennies, somedays I feel ready to give up the fight.  This week though, we carried on.


I worked more intentionally to earn swagbucks each day.  I usually make about 20.00 in gift cards a year just doing the bare minimum, but we have some personal goals we would like to meet, and every bit counts.  I have read lots of blogs that talk about earning up to 60.00 a month.  That would be nice to achieve.

We recieved a free box of food from a local church that does a bread basket and food program every other Thursday.  We recieved quite a bit.  A 1/4 sheet cake that served all week as dessert.  2 pks bologna, 2 packs of italian beef, 1 pd ground pork, 2 diet sodas, 4 water bottles, 4 packs of pop tarts, queso cheese, rolls, and bacon.  This was truly a blessing and will help keep our kitchen stocked.

I also shopped Winn Dixie and purchased some items on sale.  They mark down their things that have to sell on Mondays, and I got some great meat deals this way.

In the kitchen we made, chili, and cheese sauce for our potatoes from scratch.

My husband was treated to breakfast by his boss on Friday and lunch by a sales lady.

He also cut our kids hair.

I repurposed a dog food bag as a trash bag.

Saved .20 per gallon of gas using the fuel perks reward program at Winn Dixie.

We had a free lunch at the senior center on Saturday, a lady there gave us 4 croissants, and we had an extra piece of cake and cup of potato soup to bring home.  While out, there was also a little free bread stand we received one package of hamburger rolls, a loaf of bread, and two small apple pies.

The kids and I also stopped to look at a yard sale and found many items and most of them were just $.50

(The kids got a couple of books.  I got a new cross body purse/  We found some great items, some of which will be re-purposed as gifts for upcoming summer events. One of the little bags of jewelry was just .50 and had three pieces in it)

On Sunday with my husband we found another yard sale and got some gorgeous glasses that I will share at another time, but several weeks ago a reader shared with me about how she and her family "ate fancy" and we purchased some great glassware that will work great for the tips and ideas she shared with me.....I think her name may have been Sherry and I just wanted to say THANK YOU!  We paid 1.00 per set of 4 glasses.  I can't wait to get them cleaned up and to use them.

My daughter has a dance recital in the next couple of months, and I am not exactly a girly girl and have been struggling to figure out just how to do her hair.  Pictures are actually this coming week, and we had to figure out a style, we actually almost considered just going to the local cosmetology school and paying them to do her hair, but we decided to get up and do a "dress rehearsal" of hair and make up today.  I also took a few pictures of her myself our in the yard because I have no idea how much the studio pictures will be and if they are in our budget.  Anyway, we played around...this was our end result...


How did we do?  She really liked it.  She was excited and felt beautiful.  I took a few more shots with my regular actual point and shoot camera that I have.  I may edit those, and share another time.  I don't really know what I am doing with the hair, makeup, or the camera...but sometimes it just all works out!  I am sure this will work and we won't be paying anyone to do her hair.

We were richly blessed this week, and I know some people may or may not approve of the ways we receive our food, but it allows our dollars to be stretched in many ways, and we at times get to do some extra activities that way. 

I also want to invite you to check something a friend of mine wrote here.  It is called Beach Therapy.  It is very much worth the read, and you may want to even try it!

9 comments:

  1. Your daughter looks beautiful [and is beautiful] You did a great job on her hair and make up.Congrats on saving that money..
    Also congrats on receiving that extra food. So proud you were able to get it and to accept it. There is nothing wrong with that..You are working to feed and take care of your family.. I am proud of you..
    Groceries and everything is getting higher.. so hard to have anything left.
    I too, have been trying to up my swagbuck points.. Every little bit helps.. Have a blessed week.. S

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  2. You did great this week! I wouldn't be concerned whether others approve, there's nothing wrong with some assistance when things are difficult in this life. It allows others to bless you and give of themselves, and I know when you have the opportunity in the future you will pay those blessings forward to someone else. Your daughter looks lovely. I didn't have girls to do hair on but I would the biggest issue would just be for it to stay in place during her performance, which if should pulled up like that & be really cute. Hang in there, you're doing good. You were right that you were blessed last week, I know The Lord will continue to bless you if we seek to do His will. Have a great week.

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  3. Life can be difficult, so don't feel anything but good for making it more bearable.
    Your daughter looks lovely! And you said she feels beautiful too and that is what matters!

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  4. Ladies, Ladies, your comments are oh so very heart warming....this is me sending hugs to you!

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  5. Your little lady is absolutely beautiful! You did such a nice job on her hair- I am wondering if my little ladybug would let me do that cute style on her... I may have to try and see. :)
    You had a wonderful week and many blessings. I am so glad that you were able to get some extra food for your table- I know how much of a blessing it can be when something comes your way and how it helps to keep bellies full and the budget intact. Don't ever feel bad about accepting something offered. In actuality, you may be robbing someone else of receiving a blessing if you do not accept. I used to be way too proud to ever accept anything from anyone- I think it drove my husband crazy at times. Over the years we had hit some pretty low times and I had to drop my pride and accept help when it was offered. I came to realize that when I accepted help, it not only blessed us, but it blessed the person giving the offer as well. And I make it a point to pass that same kind of help on when I am able to.
    I really like the idea about the fancy glasses! I had gotten a set of nice iced tea glasses years ago and I keep them in the box in one of my kitchen cabinets- the idea was to only bring them out for special occasions. The problem is that I always forget that I have them so they still look almost new! :(

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    1. Time to pull those glasses out and use them! Any day can be a special occasion!

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  6. Great week! I'm sure those who shared the food with you felt so happy to see how grateful and deserving your family is. It's really fun to see even the little ways you save - I use the plastic diaper sleeves from inside the boxes for our garbage all the time! If I could actually find a bag that size it would be great because we're coming to the end of our diaper days (thank goodness for that, though!)

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  7. Thank you Kristin for stopping by. I am still learning that every penny counts, and still guilty of wasting them at times....Everyone being out of diapers should be nice for you.....I am glad your husband found that new job....Hope you are having a great week!

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  8. I thought I had lost the link to your blog...so glad I stumbled across it again. I love reading how you save. I know you've mentioned swagbucks a few times, if you enjoy that try out InstaGC...I like it better than swagbucks. You can cash out for Amazon as little as $1 and you get the gift card instantly and don't have to wait for it. Sorry, I just love the site. :P If you want to use my ref you can, but no pressure.... calirpm

    Praying for your family!! Love reading here. :)

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