The bad is that we ended up spending money this week on things like a water pick for my daughter's teeth and we had to pay for a chiropractor visit. And my car might be starting to have problems (I can't complain too much as it's been a good car for the last 7 years).
The good is that we ended up only paying cost on the water pick by buying it through the orthodontist office (I price compared before I committed to buying it through them) which saved me about 10.00 to 15.00. The chiropractor visit was a lot less than I was scared it would cost (I was figuring 300.00 and it only ended up costing 100.00 instead) and we got the good news that my husband's back is in okay shape, we just needed to pick up a rolling tube thing to help him relax his back at night (40.00 at Target) and he needs to swim more (which is 6.00 per hour, so he's going a couple of times a week). The car might be having problems, but my husband is now on top of the situation (we're in "wait in see mode" for right now) and he has the skills to fix whatever might be wrong...and we have a good mechanic in case we need him to help my husband too, so both of those are bright points.
There was also good in the money saving front this week as well.
1. I am SO glad I slapped the significant payment onto my husband's tooth bill before my daughter's braces charge got added in. I got the bill for next month in the mail and it went from up about 60.00. After the significant payment was taken into account. If I hadn't done that and waited I would just be making higher payments and not getting any further ahead on the bill, I think, so I'm glad I did it when I did.
2. This was a good week on the freebie front too and the best part is that it is things I'll use, not just "free"! I got two Just 4 U freebies this week through Carrs (seen up top there). I'm most excited about the black olives as those we eat a lot. These were SPENDY olives normal price, so I was impressed I got a full sized can for free (they're about two times the price of the store generic olives).
The yogurt is a mix of yogurt and grains to help keep you feeling fuller longer. I haven't tried it yet, but it intrigues me. I'll probably eat it for lunch sometime next week.
I personally wanted to get the mint flavored ones, but my husband, being a purist wanted the original flavor. Since I'm PROBABLY the only one in the family who would have eaten the mint flavored ones, I decided to humor him (still wish I could have gotten the mint ones, though *laugh*).
The cat treats will be devoured by my salmon loving cat, so they will definitely not go to waste. She LOVES cat treats.
4. I got my kid's school pictures in this last week. I ordered the CD with the photos on it so that I can print off my own copies. This not only saves me money (the CD costs 15.00), but these will be used to print off photos of the kids for the grand parents for Christmas. They turned out cute, too, so bonus!
5. I shopped sales hard (as you can see from the freebies I'm sure) and came in under my weekly grocery budget by 20.00. I then used my stored up gas rewards to fill up my tank for less than 2.00 per gallon, so I filled my tank for little over 30.00 (and I was running on near empty at the time). It felt GOOD to get cheap gas for sure.
6. While shopping sales, I stumbled across some sour cream on reduced at Carrs and I knew I had a personalized price as well as an E-Coupon from them loaded on my card, so I decided to take a chance and see how cheap I could get the reduced sour cream after coupons. Final price ended up being .39 for a 16 oz thing of sour cream. That was a cheap purchase that will come in handy.
7. I replaced one more light bulb in the house with an LED. I've still got a ways to go on the globe bulbs on our bathroom vanities and the candelabra bulbs in our chandeliers, but overall I'm making progress. I'm working on one light bulb a week and if money is too tight one a month. It'll add up in the end.
8. I mended my daughter's shoes this week. Her elastic laces on her shoes were getting too loose, so I tightened them up for her by sewing the laces up a bit. She now complains that she has to hold the tongue of the shoe to pull them on, but otherwise she seems quite happy with them, so I consider it a win.
9. I found .30 on the ground this week. Yes, not much money, but it goes into my "thrift store fun money" and believe it or not you can get some cool stuff for .30 if you keep looking, so I was happy.
10. While researching new labeling practices at some of the companies I buy products from (just to be safe with my son's allergy) I actually stumbled across the fact that one of my favorite candies in the whole world (Andes mints!!!) are peanut free and are actually made by the same people who make Tootsie Rolls (which are proudly peanut free). I just always assumed Andes mints were unsafe, so to find that out just kind of made my Christmas season already as I know what I'M getting in my stocking this year *laugh*.
11. I mended three pairs of socks this week. Which is just the tip of one major ice burg, but it's a start.
12. I used one of my four oil changes a year at our dealership (lifetime oil changes on our vehicle) to get my oil changed for free. It's been especially nice having those since the car got paid off two years ago as I feel like we're getting our money's worth out of the lifetime oil changes that way.
I had a 2 hour wait, but got some Christmas gifts worked on while I was waiting and took advantage of their free coffee and popcorn while I was there as well. This is where they found my car problems (leak in oil and leak in coolant, supposedly), but I haven't seen any leaks (I check for those things religiously a couple of times a week as I've had beater cars in the past and it's become force of habit) and neither has my husband, so we're keeping an eye on things for now.
So, there you are. Some of the ways I've saved money this week. How did you do?
Love the thrift store fun money idea. I saw a dime on the ground the other day but didn't bother picking it up. Next time I will remember your idea.
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