Frugal Things

Thrift Store

We have been having fun finding treasures at the thrift store lately. Ben found Metallic CDs for just $1 each, a cute planter for $2, Ben found an identical teddy bear that matches his beloved Bearie (he said he just could not leave his bear’s brother in there), a feathered cat toy for $2, and I found Emma a funny Hamilton t-shirt and a religious t-shirt for $3 each.

Cool Temperatures!!=no AC

I don’t know if anyone else in the country is experiencing this, but since the pandemic has started, Northern Alabama has been blessed in the weather department. We had a long spring last year, a rather cool summer, a long cool fall, and then a nice and cold winter with two snow events. In my opinion that is just perfect weather for Alabama. We usually have hot, humid, miserable summers with super short Fall and Spring seasons and then sometimes get a few snow flurries amidst all of the rain in January. I firmly believe that God is giving us respite in the weather to keep us sane during this pandemic. Thank you God! These cool temps have meant that we rarely have had to turn our AC on this year which is unheard of for Alabama. My utility bills are almost half what they were in 2019 which is amazing.

Sam’s Club Deals

I love Sam’s Club so much! They are hands down the best place to get cheeses and so much more for bulk prices. My biggest savings this week included a 45 pack of Toilet paper for $18, 26 ct. Babybels for $6 (!!!), 2lb Sharp White Cheddar Blocks for $7. **I did pass up the great deal on Nutella because I will tell myself “its for the children” but we all know that is a lie.

Car

We were flirting with getting Emma a used car this summer but with the skyrocketing used car prices, we decided to let her drive our oldest car until the world gets a bit saner. We came to this decision after our local Toyota dealership started sending us offers to buy back the car for twice what it was worth six months ago (!!) So instead of buying a totally overpriced used car, I finally went and got the tags for the 2007 Toyota Yaris that has been sitting in our driveway for the past year. Surprisingly, it drives just fine and we have been letting Emma practice driving it around town this week. It also gets close to 40 mpg so that is a bonus with the gas prices rising lately.

Library

Oh, how I love the library. We always come out of there with no less than 20 books and smiles on our faces knowing we have a ton of things to read over the next few weeks. I finally got back into eBooks, so I have been downloading quite a few books from the library website to read when I run out of books too. I very rarely will buy a book full priced nowadays because our library is so well stocked and spoils us rotten with their selection and ease of use features. I cannot even begin to guess how much money the library has saved us over the years but it has to be substantial. I have read 36 books this year already, so my goal of 100 books by the end of the year just may be possible after all.

Chase Reward Points

We are saving up for a trip to Disney World next year, so I have been hoarding my credit card reward points since January to help pay for the hotel. So far we are up to $340 and counting. And yes, credit cards are only a good idea if you do not pay interest, so we always pay the card off each month to avoid those sneaky fees.