Thursday, August 18, 2022

Thrifty Thursday - Laughter

     


Laughter is priceless. It's also my mantra about thrifty ways this week, as in laugh instead of cry. I'm very glad gas had gone down around here because of all the extra driving this week is burning dollars. DD1's house is about 25 miles's away from our house, so close but round trip the miles add up. I also am planning on restocking items we used from her apartment. We used laundry soap, TP, fabric softener and a whole lot of food basics. I'll nudge her to not scrimp as she settles in this week, getting the necessities of life, but I'm also aware she's feeling those initial pangs of " what did I get myself into!" She'll be fine! 

     Let's see if there was anything to share for Thrifty Thursday. 

  • Both DD1 and I shared the Fetch app with family members and got bonus referral points. I now have enough to cash in for a gift card somewhere. 
  • Little by little I'm adding MS Rewards points towards another Target card.
  • I did an opinion survey for a $2 gift.
  • I made food from things at home to bring to the cabin for birthday celebration. 
  • I brought the leftover rice Krispy treats, both kinds, to go with pizza my daughter bought for her mover helpers. 
  • I resisted though things were so cute, fall finds at Dollar Tree. Here's a few pictures both from the $1.25 area and the Dollar Plus section. I could have had a field day but instead will pull out my trusty ceramic pumpkins and maybe stencil cut some fall leaves on construction paper- but not yet! I'll wait well into September for fall decor. ( Edit- I forgot to add the pictures. See how much cute stuff! If I started throwing stuff in my cart, I'd have to change the name to Hundred Dollar Tree.)



    Dollar Plus Section

    Dollar Plus Section

  • I bought 2/$1 greeting cards at Dollar Tree. If you look a bit, there's a few funny ones. I get tired of ageist stupid jokes, but just funny ones are good. A recent find for a sister, " Happy Birthday from the bottom of my butt..." ( Open card) ...because it's so much bigger than my heart."
  • We were early to the final walkthrough so took a quick look at my daughter's new local grocery store. It's a small community with a small expensive store but I nabbed a great loss leader on Snyder Cheese Sourdough pretzel pieces. They are hard to find and the bags were good sized. 
  • Used coupons to fill my tank, which was very empty, and saved $1.40. 
  • Continued to use misbought almond milk and over purchased oatmeal packets in baking another dozen muffins. These muffins are so inexpensive and delicious. Literally pennies per muffin. 
  • I paid fall tuition on time, without payment plan, so didn't have extra fees. 
     
     Weeks like this it's important to  not lose sight of the big picture and feel deflated in quest to put money towards our goals. Most of the time we don't just order food because no one wants to cook. Every week we're not making multiple 50 mile round trips. I try and remember what are our norms. Almost all the time we use coupons or reward points to save money when we fill the gas tank. When I go out to eat, it's usually somewhere for good quality and not just to get a quick lunch. I often buy multiple of things at low prices, saving money over time. 

     Some day when she gets settled, I'll have my daughter do a guest post on how and what she did to get to the point of being able to purchase a home. The combination of a competitive housing market, interest rate hikes, and general inflation didn't make it easier. It wasn't simply bypassing Starbucks and avacado toast, but likely hundreds of decisions over the last four years since moving back to this area. No doubt, she's benefitted from many arms of support to help her in different ways along the way, even before she started saving towards buying. If it would be a useful series, let me know. Many of you might be or have children or other young people with a shared dream. Let me know your thoughts on this and how you practiced thrift this week. 

23 comments:

  1. when we find something anything to laugh at in any situation it makes it more bearable and more likely to handle it better.

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    1. This is a short situation( well not the economy) and my college kid has a senior year/ study abroad experience only once. My older daughter will have one first home. It's a month to enjoy and smile.

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  2. It's been an awful work week, so few wins to report. I used a gift card to buy Sam lunch, between tournament games. Sold a couple of items on eBay. Took advantage of garden goodies, plus neighbor's Japanese eggplant. Arranged carpools. The normal stuff, but nothing very exciting. oh, I also found a very good deal on some new tshirts for the kids. I combined a reward, free shipping, a site specific sale, and Rakuten, and ending up getting them for a really inexpensive price.

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    1. It's the not exciting stuff that keeps our budgets and in hectic weeks, minds in check. I'm glad you got car pooling worked out to help a little with your boys schedules while your week was challenging.

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  3. "It wasn't simply bypassing Starbucks and avacado toast, but likely hundreds of decisions over the last four years since moving back to this area" YES! That is the key to any goal, but particularly financial goals. Sadly, I don't seem to be able to impress that upon my own kids--I remember when we were in our Florida place, the boys took the car to Panama City to go fishing, (DD and I had no interest) so she and I stayed home. To break up the day, we walked the 2.2 miles to the fancy pizza place (plus, we had little food in the house.) Then, we walked back--harder than the trip to, btw. 92 degrees, lots of humidity (and I was stuffed with pizza and wine)--anyway, we got home, got our suits, and went to the pool. As we were dozing on our pool noodles, DD said, "It WAS easier when we just kept walking, but I still wish you let the Jimmy Johns guy drive us when he asked."

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    1. Your kids are young. Until my daughter moved back to this area and got a better paying job, she wasn't saving much. But once she decided she wanted a house, she buckled down her spending. The reality though, had Covid not happened, she might have both had much more travel and less motivation to have space completely her own. Having obnoxious neighbors when your home twice as much was her big push.

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  4. Instead of going to Sonic for a chili cheese footlong hotdog, we bought the ingredients and had them for three meals for much less than one dog. Of course, we had to settle for regular length dogs and buns, but no suffering occurred.

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  5. That's so impressive that your daughter saved to buy her own home! It's totally worth it to have that equity and be paying monthly for something you actually own! Good for her!

    This week...I spend nothing on a daily basis (no coffee out, no "outside" food). I picked up a bunch of radishes for my lunch (69 cents a bunch) which will last me all week, plus local cucumbers were on for 2 for $3. Picked up some canned soup on special at the drug store(!) for a really good deal.

    Oh, I did buy two board games, both expansions of games we already own and play multiple times a week. Those pay for themselves with the amount we play, but woo, $100 on two games is pricey. At least I supported a local shop when I bought them!

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    1. I imagine if you compare price of board games to one evening out with dinner and drinks with friends, they pay for themselves quickly. We really need to do more board games.

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  6. I would love to hear from your daughter in a guest post! So proud of her! I am running a 101.5 temp so went home but I tested negative for Covid so far. After being around 200 plus folks this week, I am hoping it is not Covid. I was double masked and I am fully vaccinated and boosted. Cindy in the South

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    1. Oh, Cindy. I hope you feel better soon. It could be Covid, or the other illnesses that so many have had now that people again are freely moving and few masks. I'm not advocating mass mask wearing but it sure was nice not picking up even the germs from typical coughs and sneezes.

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    2. Hope you feel better, Cindy!

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  7. Brilliant news about your daughter's new home! You must be so proud of what she's achieved Sam. Arilx

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    1. I sure am. No doubt it'll be a transition for her, but part of building her life.

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  8. I swear there is a grocery store in my garage. If I wanted to save money I could open a store. 25 miles is not a bad commute, but it does make you think about no short second trips.

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    1. She's not really much farther to work and the cities than when she lived in our town, just slightly different direction which puts her 25 miles from me. She will definitely be mindful about making her stops on route and treating her home as her retreat.

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  9. I’m looking forward to reading your daughter’s story, Sam. Sounds like you had a good frugal week too. And I’m also glad gas prices are coming down.

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    1. Now if other goods would lower, but I don't think we'll see that. Corporations will lie to see their sales and figure we all just will suck it up. I'm excited to see her make it her own.

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  10. Nice week! I have not been to Dollar Tree in a couple of years, but probably NEED to go see some of those cute things

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    1. They really had some adorable things, but I need no more clutter. The little trucks though...

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  11. Oh I want to go to Dollar Tree. I love those pumpkins, and I am so ready for fall.
    Sounds like a good week! Congratulations to your daughter, and I would love to hear her story when she gets settled.

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    1. I looked a right nob taking pictures, but it was all so cute, but I didn't want to buy more stuff.

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