Friday, November 9, 2018

Frugal Friday Instead of Thrifty Thursday

We were really thrifty this week-no unexpected spending. We did well using leftovers for meals, the usual packing of lunches or DH coming home sometimes (though not all the time to my annoyance). Despite last Saturday being my annual sisters day, spending was less than I have spent other years. Perhaps since we stayed a bit more local, when I saw cute thing in the shops, I paused before buying, knowing if I later decided to, I could come again. Much of my thriftiness was in spending less than I might otherwise spend, but I guess that is what being thrifty is-spending only what you need to for necessary and enjoyment. Here were some of my frugal successes.

  • For the breakfast out Saturday morning with the girls,DD1 treated me and DD2, but I gave her the 15% off coupon I had. It was very sweet of her and it was to thank us for helping her get settled in her new place. For the cards night, I bought the Papa Murphy's, but my sister had discount coupons that I could use. 
  • I resisted the craft fair's overwhelming amount of beautiful things, only buying two bars of goat milk soap for DD2 to try out for $3.00, and a plate of krumkake, her favorite, for her to take with to a friends later that afternoon..
  • DD1 and I shared a glass for the wine tasting event we went to between shopping and poker night, each getting to try 8 different varieties before choosing our favorite. She got to keep the wine glass included with the tasting.
  • Enjoyed a phenomenal  choir festival concert at a nearby college for free. DD2's choir was one of the featured choirs, but we also heard the  Minnesota Boy's choir, and two of the host colleges choirs. For those of you trying to watch your entertainment budgets, look and see what is out there in your communities for free or low cost. The concert really was a good way to end the weekend.
  • DH wanted to go out for a burger after the concert, but I suggested just having chicken cordon bleu's and potatoes at home since we would still need dinner for our daughter once she got back. He was begrudgingly OK with that. 

It's bothering me how much DH wants to go out for dinner lately and at least twice a week he's eating out for lunch. With the holidays coming and the unknown, it is befuddling to me. If  we spend money going out to eat, I think it needs to be planned as entertainment and not just as regular meals. He seems to be enthused about my savings challenges and when extra money can be socked away in an account, but has seemed to forget what has to be done to make those financial wins happen. I'm sure he is going to suggest going out tonight or tomorrow. When he does, I'll figure out where it can fit with the $100 target for the month. I might have to humor him to keep him from going rogue! We already have dinner plans after a play at the end of the month at a nice restaurant with a large group. 

How is your November shaping up so far in the thrift area? Who has had some big wins or are you, like me, a slow and steady thrifter for the week? 


14 comments:

  1. Likewise, my husband is very, very gung ho on paying off the mortgage (which, is a big change from his previous investment strategy). However, he only wants to focus on trimming the "big expenses." Those were all trimmed years ago, so we either need to move to another house, or.. .focus on the small stuff :-)

    For us, no meals out, eating up leftovers, managing the food waste, I sold a $20 item on eBay, we're planning our Hawaii stuff to minimize what we need to buy when we arrive, etc.

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    1. You do so well selling what you no longer use.

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  2. Preach it! I love the "Humor his to keep him from going rogue" I have one of those kid of husbands too. Since I am having the painters in today and they will be working in the kitchen, we will do take out of some sort for dinner. TheHub will want to go out because there will be a paint smell. I might have to give in just to keep him happy.

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    1. Sometimes I know he just wants a different environment. I get that but not too often.

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  3. Husbands, they will do it to you every time (or in some case wives lol). Hubby does that too, goes rogue with the groceries...in my case hubby has an amazon addiction but fortunately not that expensive and in most cases office products for our company. I think his issue is being stuck at home a lot since we work from home.

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    1. He could do my game if filling up Amazon cart but then purging it.I see what I could have spent and it shakes the spend thrift out if me.

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  4. Funny my husband used to rarely want to go out but lately he suggests it. I just quickly come up with a plan. It is hard for you when you work full time. A little easier here since I work here. Good luck!

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    1. That's why I have options instead of strict menus.

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  5. No big wins here. Business as usual.

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  6. By the time our kids reached their teens we were going out to eat pretty frequently during the week because we were too tired to cook. When you do it that often you don't even see it as a treat so it was almost a relief when we stopped and started cooking at home again!

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    1. Yez, eating out should be about enjoyment and not for me, laziness.

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  7. I guess I'm fortunate that since Hubs is away from home so much, he NEVER wants to eat out when he does get home. Biggest frugal win was getting a $25 coupon to use in-store from filling a new Rx. The Rx cost was a whopping $3.81 for a 90 day supply and was paid via our FSA. Additionally, I received yet another $10 coupon for in-store use for the store's Rx program. Not that I'm advocating the need for medications, but may as well make the most of it! Lol

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    1. I may take advantage to change one prescription to a different store.

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