What I Did This Week to Save Money 8/17

Chalk Art

Our weekly budget felt like it was under a little more pressure than usual this week.  I forgot to budget for elementary school fees ($75.00) that are due next week.  I recently heard Dave Ramsey say that budgeting isn’t so much of a ‘microwave’ thing… more like a ‘Crock-pot’ in that it takes a good bit of time to reach perfection.  Even after so many years of budgeting we still have mix-ups.  We also have a medical bill due in a few weeks so surplus cash will be diverted in that direction temporarily.

Summer Minestrone in the Crock Pot

To prevent us from tapping into savings for these expenses we:

• Got busy and listed a large carpet remnant on Craigslist.  I am glad someone can take advantage of it while it is still clean and new.  + $15.00
• Listed several clothing items on eBay.  I have to say I am surprised at the demand, especially for kids’ clothing, on eBay.  The last kids item I sold went for $16.00, plus $4.00 shipping – which is kind of a head-scratcher considering it was not new.
• Planted more arugula – this is our third crop this summer.  Also planted some broccolini which is a fall crop for us.
• Ate at home using ingredients we had on hand, including…. Summer Minestrone Soup!  I am coming up with new places to put zucchini and kale in next week’s meal plan 🙂
• Made chocolate zucchini cake for a treat.  Could not find a good price on chocolate chips so I made frosting instead – a trick a good friend taught me.  This recipe is a keeper!
• Were vigilant about waiting for time-of-use-rate to kick in to charge devices and run dishwasher, washing machine, etc.  Time of use rate saves us $200.00 a year.
• For some Saturday fun we went to a chalk art festival – free, and no temptation to bring the art home with you.

We were grateful to have some money left at the end of the week to put towards upcoming expenses.  We had a Saturday night budget recap and determined we will go back to focusing on our emergency savings as well as holiday gifts in the coming weeks.

What I Did This Week to Save Money – 6/22

As I wrote this week in ‘Summertime, Is the Living too Easy?‘, summer vacation brings its own challenges to the weekly budget.  This week I saved money by:

• Resisting the urge to wash and dry beach towels from swim team until after 7 pm when our electricity rate drops.
• Took advantage of two double coupon days.  I try not to chase around after every deal because money is still money and even if I saved .50 I still spent something.  This week, though, I was able to combine store coupons and manufacturer coupons to get items we will really use, like toothpaste, paper towels, and cereal.  I spent $110 this week on groceries, which is slightly more than usual.  I have most groceries needed for my meal plan next week though.
• Husband spent an hour or more researching various options for rental cars for an upcoming vacation.  He looked into what benefits AAA brings us as well as promotions offered by credit card companies.  He ended up booking with Car Rental Savers for a 5% discount and our credit card company offers an additional 5% reward.
• Making my own chocolate zucchini cake for entertaining in-laws this weekend.  I was
  

  Chocolate Zucchini Cake

  tempted to buy something at the bakery but I went to a tried-and true recipe that uses ingredients I usually have at home.  This recipe freezes well and is very moist.  The walnuts are optional if you have nut allergies.

And, as for spending money…

• Had an unanticipated expense of a Speedo swim suit for daughter’s swim team ($50!).  Next year if she participates I will know to plan ahead for that expense.  This was my first experience with the costs of children’s sports, and it made me feel compassion for the people who have multiple kids in sports.
• Had some “fun” expenses related to Father’s Day last Sunday and attending a bike race.
• Levolor shade broke in sunroom.  We immediately allocated some of our unspent weekly money towards a replacement and hope to order that in July.  We can wait until we have the cash saved since it doesn’t interfere with privacy.

We ended the week with 20% of our weekly money unspent.  Some will go into savings and the rest towards home repair and maintenance.

I would love to hear how your week went!