**I have missed a few Frugal Things postings so here is my highlight reel for the past few weeks
1. Star Wars Quilt
My son asked for a Star Wars quilt for Christmas that he could use while watching tv downstairs and wanted to know if I could make him one. I knew that novelty fabric was quite pricey, so I was iffy if I should make one or just buy a generic Star Wars blanket. **More and more it seems that it is cheaper to buy a ready-made item than it is to buy fabric (very sad, but true) For example: I was excited to make my son’s Cowardly Lion costume this year, but after I priced out the fabric and fur (!!) it was going to be over $35 and that was if I chose the cheapest fabric I could find. I looked on eBay and found one for $15, so while the fabric was not perfect it was still a good deal considering it was for a one time use.
Back to my story…
We went to Walmart to shop for Black Friday deals and stopped by the fabric department on a whim to see if they had any Star Wars fabric, so I could price out my project. Not only did they have a nice selection of different designs, but they were also on clearance for $3 a yard, so I was extremely pleased with that price. I made it up to the register and began to check out, but quickly noticed that the fabric rang up for even less than I expected it to. After I checked my receipt, I realized that the fabric was further reduced to $1.50/yard!!!! I was quite happy to say the least:)
**When I finish the quilt I will share a picture in one of my DIY Christmas posts I have planned for later in the month
2. Black Friday deals
I actually bought a few items on Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year (I very rarely do). But Payless had all of their shoes on sale for 50% off, so my daughter found a pair of Mary Janes to wear with her costume in It’s a Wonderful Life. We had been looking in the thrift store for Mary Jane type shoes for the past three months to no avail, so she was happy to pick up these for a great price.
**I also picked up a Kindle Fire, pajamas, and a new George Foreman grill for great prices as well. After only buying used items all year long, it felt very strange to just buy whatever I wanted in the stores. I am definitely continuing my buy nothing challenge in 2019, it really helped to reign in my spending habits…and lowered my clutter:)
3. Free Kindling
Every week in the winter, my children go out into the yard and scavenge for broken twigs and small tree branches that we use for kindling in our wood stove. I guess it does not exactly save money, but it definitely saves on the time and effort that we would have to spend on chopping logs into smaller bits.
4. Thrift Store finds
I think out of all my family, my son has the best luck finding clothing at the thrift store. This week he found a Batman shirt, a Teenage Mutant Ninja shirt, and a pair of TMNT pajamas (which he was so excited to find) While my only find was a pair of yoga pants that had pockets in them, which I was very happy to find. **I swear all yoga pants are moving towards thin spandex material:(
5. Credit Card Reward points
We decided to apply our reward points to our credit card statement for the upcoming month. This way Christmas is paid for (in a roundabout way) and a good chunk of our car insurance premium got paid for as well. **Car insurance seems to go up every year…as does home insurance…
What did you do to save money last week??
The Thrifty Educator 