Budgeting

For the last few months, my husband and I have been making the effort to schedule things to do as a family every other weekend or so that we call money-free weekends, in an effort to live more frugally, and minimally. When we started this experiment we didn’t think there would be very many free, family weekend activities available to me in my small town. To my surprise, there were lots of free activities that have actually been quite fun. So today I wanted to share a few ways we as a family celebrate money-free weekends.

Now before I begin I do need to mention one ground rule. As a family on money-free weekends, we’re not allowed to spend any money. On anything, no matter what. In other words, we can’t make a run to the store to buy food, even if it’s on the dollar menu. We can’t spend money on any sort of entertainment, even if a great deal pops up online, on say Groupon. Even grocery shopping on Saturdays, on a “money-free” weekend, is delayed until Monday or Tuesday. 

This rule also extends to our home. While we can use our utilities, extras are off the table. No renting movies on cable, no in-game purchases, no kindle downloads, no Farmville coins for the kiddos. Nadda. Zip. Zilch. 

With that said, we still manage to have an awesome time each money-free weekend. I hope you will consider the following list in the coming weeks, as part of No-Spend November, and try a few out with your family as well!

Please note that everyone’s interests are different – you probably won’t find everything on this list fun but they are all frugal, and all worth a second look. Anyway, here goes, 30 money-free family weekend ideas for No-Spend November:

Check out your town’s online community calendar: Look at your town’s website (as well as those of cities and towns close by). You’ll often be surprised at how many interesting (and free) activities are going on right now in your area. Fall, in most parts of the country, is full of awesome, free festivals and events, especially for the kiddos. 

Rearrange the furniture in a room: It’s amazing how much you can refresh a room just by moving the furniture into new positions. Pick a room, and try out a turn of 90 degrees on any new piece of furniture, and you may be surprised to see how it’s new configuration lends itself to your space. Why buy hundreds of dollars worth of new decor when all your room may need is a change of direction and a quick shop for accessories from other rooms in your home!

Go Geocaching: Geocaching is partly an outdoor adventure, partly a treasure hunt. Just visit Geocaching online, type in your home address, download their app, add your destination coordinates, and your set for adventure. Plus, you’ll likely find a few geocaches stashed in the area. 

Do a neighborhood cleanup: Walk through your neighborhood and shared spaces with a trash bag and a pair of gloves, and pick up the litter. It’s a great eco-friendly thing to do as a family!

Visit your local library: Oh, the library. My home away from home! Not only does the library contain a plethora of books, but most libraries also have extensive CD, DVD, Audiobook, and language learning software collections you can check out too! Many libraries also offer weekend story time for young children, film nights for various groups, book clubs, concerts, author readings or lectures, and many other events that you may be unaware of – all for free. Stop in and check out what they have to offer.

Get involved in community sports: Many towns have community sports fields where both youth and adult sports leagues and activities are regularly going on throughout the weekend. Stop by, watch a game or two, and if something intrigues you, look into joining as a participant, or as a volunteer.

Find a new podcast: Podcasts are wonderful! These free, informative, entertaining audio programs are available to you for free on any topic you can fathom. Give them a shot – it’s easy to do using iTunes, under the podcast section of the of the iTunes Store. 

My favorite podcasts include: The Minimalists (on minimalism), Cultivating the Lovely (on home matters), RadioLab (scientific and philosophical ideas), Fresh Air (interviews of general interest), The Simple Home (on sustainable living), and This Week in Tech (technology news), among many others.

Board games: We have a pile of board games that we often pull out and play on weekends as a family. Classic games like Monopoly and Pictionary can be great fun. You’re just a dig through the recesses of your closet away from memory-making success!

Baking: Bread baking. Anyone can do it. When freshly baked bread comes out of the oven, it’s delicious! Fresh bread also makes for an awesome hostess gift! Check out Stacy from Humorous Homemaking’s latest post, and her numerous videos on breadmaking success, for those looking to up their bread making game!

Teach yourself how to juggle: Juggling is a great way to teach anyone not only great hand and eye coordination, but concentration skills as well. All you really need are three balls and a video showing you how to do it. And you are in luck, because my husband Daniel is a juggler, and posted a Youtube video on learning to juggle as well! 

Learn how to change your car’s oil: If your car’s due for an oil change, just bring home the oil and oil filter you need and teach yourself how to do it on your own. Use your car manual as a guide for the procedure and you might just find it’s both a lot easier than you thought and a useful skill to have as well. And it’s cheaper than taking your car to Jiffy-Lube. Just remember to dispose of the old oil according to local laws. A tip? Most gas and service stations will accept your used motor oil.

Introduce yourself to your neighbors: Be brave. Be kind. Bake something and take it over to your new neighbors and introduce yourself this weekend if you don’t know them very well. And if you meet any interesting people in your neighborhood, invite them over for a cup of coffee and a chat, just to get to know each other better. Your neighborhood will be a safer, kinder, and a more diverse place after you do.

Digitize your media collection: Go through your collection, determine which items you’d actually like to keep, digitize those copies, and then donate or sell the rest. Use this time to cultivate collections of media that spark joy to you, and maybe, make some money for the upcoming holiday season too!

Host a cupboard potluck: Go through your cupboards and find any items that might be hiding in the back of your shelves unused. Invite some friends to do the same, then get together for a potluck dinner prepared from only these ingredients and whatever else you have on hand. This is also a great time to collect food donations for local food pantries in your area as well. 

Make a goal list: Why wait until the new year to start a goal? Just jot down a goal, keep it in a place you will see it daily, and start bettering your life, family, home, or business today. 

Make a will: Now I know what you are thinking, that making a will isn’t fun. But you will not believe how relieved you will be to have one in hand when it’s done. Spend some time thinking about what you want to happen to your personal assets when you have passed on, particularly in terms of the personal mementos that you want others to have, and where you want the value of your estate to go. Do you want it all to stay with family members? Do you want to remember a charity? You need to just sketch out the basics of a will. Later, you’ll need either a lawyer to prepare it for a formalized copy for you or use a site like LegalZoom, but just having those decisions made doesn’t cost a thing and is a big mental relief.

Perform a household maintenance walk-through: Seasonally, go through your home and look for any little maintenance tasks that need to be done. Do filters need to be replaced? Are there any burnt-out light bulbs? Do any windows need sealing or addressing? November is also a great time to finish up any last minute yard detailing before the start of snowy winter weather as well. Here’s a great example from Real Simple. 

Go on a neighborhood scavenger hunt: Going on a themed neighborhood scavenger hunt is a great way to see what sights and sounds can be found in your neck of the woods. My family goes on one scavenger hunt each season, and we love it. Here’s are a few great examples of printable Fall, Thanksgiving, and Holiday scanger hunts as well! 

Organize a self-guided walking tour of your area: Research the interesting historic and cultural sites in your town, then go on a walking tour of them. Pack a lunch in your backpack and have a picnic on the village green or in the park. You can easily turn this into a full day if you live in a compelling area. Your community’s Chamber of Commerce and the National Historic League are great places to start looking for ideas. 

Teach yourself to knit or crochet: Learning to knit or crochet requires two needles or a hook, some yarn, a lot of patience, and an instructional video or two. There are tons of free patterns online, especially on Pinterest, Ravelry, and Red Heart Yarns! Beyond this, think ahead to the holiday season. Try making a scarf for a friend or a small blanket for a friend’s new baby. While it’s not quite free, you’ll learn a useful new skill — and if you stick with it, you’ll make things much more valuable than the initial cost of yarn. Before you know it, you might even be able to sell your knitwear and crochet goods on Etsy.

Hoan your photography skills: Pull your digital camera out and take pictures of anything and everything you find interesting. Take lots of them. Then go home later and see if you’ve taken anything beautiful and compelling. Great images can lay the groundwork for homemade greeting cards, nice desktop wallpapers, screensavers, personalized gifts, or create your own stockpile of photos if you are a blogger. 

Share those digital photographs: And if your weekend photo shoot goes really well, you can pay-it-forward and sign up for a free Flickr account. You’ll be able to upload some of your most interesting pictures to share with others. Be intentional in your selection. Spend the time titling your images. You can also add interesting captions and allow them to be used under a Creative Commons Attribution license so your images can be enjoyed by as many people as possible.

Start a blog: Have you considered starting a blog? You can get a free blog started this weekend using WordPress or Blogger. Join either service and start a blog on a topic that interests you. Not only can it be a ton of fun, it will also help to improve your communication skills, and perhaps earn a bit of income further down the road.

Visit a free museum or zoo: Many cities, colleges, and universities offer free educational attractions, such as museum or zoo passes. Many banks, such as Bank of America, do seasonally as well. Make an effort to enjoy these free attractions. If your community doesn’t have free zoos or museums, call your local Chamber of Commerce and inquire about free to the public exhibits or free days for local attractions to add to your family’s social calendar for the upcoming months ahead.

Take a free college course: Did you know that you attend, and sometimes receive collegiate credit online for free at numerous online learning institutions for free? Great options include Coursera, Khan Academy, and the edX, a partnership between Harvard and MIT.

Cook some meals in advance: Spend some time this weekend cooking some meals in advance to store in the freezer. It’s easy to prepare casseroles, soups, pasta meals, breakfast burritos, and many other items all at once, then store them in portion-sized containers in the freezer for quick and easy reheating on a busy weekday. You’ll be glad you have pre-made meals on hand during the holiday’s next month! Here’s a great list from Crystal, of MoneySavingMom.com!

Build a basic net-worth calculator: A great way to ensure that you’re consistently making financial progress as a family, or for yourself, is to build your own net worth calculator. Once you have it set up, updating it quarterly is easy, and it can provide a great snapshot of your financial situation as well as show off your progress. Here’s a detailed guide to making one with any basic spreadsheet program. 

Create a YouTube how-to video: We are all experts on something. Share your knowledge! All you need is a smartphone, as you can edit killer videos right on your iPad or iPhone with iMovie. Just create a video to demonstrate how to accomplish something interesting and useful. You’ll be a star before you know it, and helpful too!

Make a time capsule: Find a small box, and then walk around your house gathering items that represent the reality of your present-day life: A newspaper or magazine, photographs, recent receipts, letters or greeting cards, and the like. You could even include a digital flash drive with photos or a video. Then just put it all in the box, tape it up securely, and write a date on the outside saying when you’re allowed to open it. Add the date to your digital calendar online, and that’s it! One day you’ll enjoy reflecting on those items in the future and seeing how the world has changed.

Throw a Throwback Thursday party: Invite friends and family over to look through each other’s pictures, and then have a digital party where everyone scans and uploads their memories. There’s nothing better than getting together with family and friends and looking at pictures from when you were in high school. Besides, this will give your kids a little fodder as well! 

So, that’s it folks, my 30 ideas for money-free weekend activities. I hope you all will be able to glean a few ideas for yourself, and perhaps start a few new free family traditions this weekend as well. And if you have any ideas on free family weekend activities, I’d love to hear about them below.

Here’s to the weekend,

If you are anything like me, you love a bargain. One of the most basic reasons I love freebies is that by scoring freebies, it helps offset my monthly budget, and the money I save is funneled directly into my families retirement savings account. But as with most things in my savvy saving arsenal, there’s a backstory as well.

For nearly a decade, I lived in the midst of debilitating debt from student loans and medical bills. And it was the sweet little extras of life, the magazine subscriptions, lattes at Starbucks, and pedicures were always just out of reach for me. That was a season of my life, where my husband’s entire teaching salary barely covered our everyday living expenses, and my own paycheck, allocated to paying off this before mentioned debt, often left me with nearly nothing to call my own. 

These were the days when splurge day funds, vacations, and black Friday shopping were things I could only read about online. I was a legal clerk, dependent on my newly transitioned to a home office position. This was worsened by the fact that despite graduating from graduate school, my dreams of working towards becoming partner in a law firm, let alone starting my own firm were too far out of my reach. I was depressed. I was constantly angry. My can do attitude of my early twenties was a distant memory. 

I lived in the grey area of financial crisis. I earned too much to qualify for any public assistance, including senior daycare, despite being an in-home, unpaid caretaker for my grandmother who at the time suffered from dementia, yet earned too little to be financially secure at night. I vividly remember paychecks were only cents on the dollar were left in my personal checking account, and while my debt was snowballing into completion, my confidence was plummeting to the floor. One paycheck in particular, after paying off one student loan I had a whopping $0.19 left!

These are the times that those are working towards being debt-free try to glaze over, the debilitating feeling of suffocation and depravity. But for me, I reinforce debt-free living in my home, by remembering the days when looking through a magazine in the waiting room of my grandmother’s various medical appointments was the highlight of my week.

My saving grace? My discovery of freebies. The world that only coupon bloggers and freegans dare enter, the land of days upon days of my mailbox being filled to the brim with magazine, samples, cards, coupons, and free high-value store offers. Admittedly, I discovered freebies inadvertently while looking at articles on various debt relief sites, which helped me stay abreast on the latest deals of the day.

At first there was a freebie here and there. And over time as I started to couple freebie deals with blog book review partnerships, hosted parties slots, and product reviews, I began to notice that not only did I find a means to add a few happies to my week, but I was able to help save my family even more our monthly bills than I had simply by could shopping with coupons.

No longer did I have to decide in the grocery store checkout line if I could afford luncheon meat for my family, or the latest issues of Martha Stewart Living and Better Homes and Gardens, I could have it all. Freebies helped my personal budget last longer, and helped me save money on everyday expenses. Freebies gave me something to look forward to. Freebies gave me options. Freebies gave my encouragement in my journey to becoming debt-free.

So, for me freebies literally saved my life.

So, you may be thinking, I’m not in a lean season of life so why should I want freebies? Whether you’re a hardcore coupon collector, a natural bargain hunter, or just looking to save some extra money there are always ways to save more by hunting down freebies online.

So, a decade later I can honestly say that I still love freebies, and in fact still freebie hunt weekly. And a really cool tip I’d like to share is that there are items that I no longer need to pay for as a result of freebie hunting.

So here are a few ideas I’d like to share with you for things you should insist on getting for free:

Free Audio-books: You don’t have to pay for audio books on Amazon. Find a book you like on LibriVox and download it for free. The books are all in the public domain, so there is no worry about piracy. Are there any classic works of literature that you would love to hear on audio-book? Check them out on LibriVox.

Free Music: Spotify.com is a great online service that makes it easy to listen to music by your favorite bands and musicians, and all for free. You can also pay to upgrade to a premium membership that gives you some additional features and abilities to use the site, but for the most part the free version is wonderful enough without having to pay.

Free Meals for Kids: If you’re traveling with your grandchildren or taking them out for dinner, one of the best ways to save money is to find a restaurant where kids eat for free. Check out MyKidsEatFree.com offers a search tool where you can find nearby restaurants where kids eat for free.

Free Anti-Virus: You don’t have to pay big money to protect your home computer from viruses and malware. There are excellent free anti-virus programs online, such as Microsoft Security Essentials (for Windows PCs) will protect your computer from the most common threats at no cost.

Free University Courses: This freebie comes with a caveat. I am an ardent believer that the only things worth going into debt for are your home, health, and your education. By the grace of God, my husband and I have earned five degrees and six certifications. My mother-in-law is a college dean, my sister-in-law earned a masters in nursing education, and my grandmother held a masters in public finance. I do not state this to be braggadocios. Simply to state, we are nerds. We value the time, energy, and cost associated with advanced degrees. Luckily, more and more universities, including some of the most elite private universities in the world, are offering their courses online for free. Although you can’t get course credit, these are a great way to keep your brain sharp and learn some new things while hearing from some of the brightest minds in the world. You can get free courses from Harvard University’s Open Learning Initiative online.

Free Phone Calls: Instead of spending big money on long-distance phone service, you can talk to your loved ones for free with Skype or Google Voice.

Free Stuff: Are you looking for some new furniture, a new bicycle, exercise equipment, or any other odds and ends for your home? Always look with Freecycle, an online organization that helps people give and receive free stuff first. Part of the mission of Freecycle, is related to environmental sustainability – by recycling and reusing and giving away their old stuff, people can keep things from going to the landfill. Go green! 

Free Museums: The next time you’re on vacation, or even while you’re in your own city, check to see if there are any free museums where you can enrich your cultural horizons without emptying your pocketbook. National Geographic has a list of 20 great free museums in the U.S.

What are some other fun “freebies” that you enjoy finding? Let us know in the Comments! 

Here’s to saving,

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #DataAndAMovie  #CollectiveBias

Debt is a serious problem for most Americans. We live in a society where everyone wants the coolest gadgets, a nice car, and an even nicer home. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, the good life is hard to achieve, nor does it come cheap. 

While nearly everyone has debt, that doesn’t make it any easier to live with. And it was this reason my family set out four years ago to rid ourselves of all of our unnecessary consumer debt. We knew that the best way to live the good life was to simply spend less and earn more. But what was not so obvious to us initially is that we also needed to be able to live well while spending less.

Going into our debt-free journey we knew that redefining our new budgeted lifestyle would entail limiting our overall budget, way back! We started with a weekly allotted food budget of just $60.00. We no longer eat out. We packed lunches. We downsized our furnishings. We went from being a two-car household to a shared vehicle family. I even started working from my home office to cut my work-related overhead business costs.

While we intentionally scaled back nearly every aspect of our lives, one area my family decided not to compromise on was on our family movie nights. You see, we are a very close-knit family. We love seeing the latest and greatest of what Hollywood has to offer from the comfort of our homes. We are also a very tech-savvy, gadget-loving clan. We just couldn’t continue to pay a premium price to do so. A complete revamp of our family home entertainment was in order. 

The day we returned our cable boxes was a very dark, gloomy day for us. This was our fun stuff, our daily entertainment. We knew we had to come up with a plan to revamp our entertainment fix. Our saving grace during this time? By cutting cable and home phone service we would save us $4,200.00 annually!

We quickly found out there are a lot of at-home streaming options available, and many of our favorite shows could be viewed online with only basic internet service. I mean, how awesome is that? We contacted several different internet providers, and were able to negotiate an affordable monthly package. We had their highest internet package installed the same week for half the price we were previously paying!

Also, since we had already owned a gaming system, viewing popular streaming services was a breeze. We subscribed to several affordable subscription streaming services and were able to pick right back up with many of our families favorite cable programs the same week. An added bonus? We allocate grocery apps rebate savings to pay for our services, making our family streaming free!

As a family, we also switched our cellular provider. We no longer wanted to be tethered to a cellular contract. We opted for pre-paid service because while working from home I can speak to my husband online, leaving us in need of only one single family line for my husband who works outside our home. The question remained, which service would we choose? After checking out several local options, we chose the Walmart Family Mobile Services. 

So, why this plan? The Walmart Family Mobile provided us the option of affordable cell phone plan without being locked into a long-term contract. Plus, there’s no credit check required and no annual contract to sign. 

Switching to Family Mobile was an easy process for us. First, we picked up a Starter Kit in-store. As a side note, Walmart also helps families with the cost of activation. The Starter Kits are cheaper than before and now on rollback for just $19.88 (regularly $25.00)! This offer lasts until July 7th. 

My favorite part of our Walmart Family Mobile plan is that this quality cellular service comes with unlimited talk, text, data (10GB 4G LTE), plus a free new release movie feature (a $7.00 value) on VUDU every month for only $49.88. Keep in mind, you will be required to purchase one month of the plan to lock-in these features. 

Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to here or your local Walmart for current pricing

Another great budget-savvy reason to join Walmart Family Mobile? Walmart Family Mobile offers great selection of budget-friendly phone options. We opted for the Cool Pad Rogue, currently priced at $19.88 (on Rollback from $39.83). Keep in mind that Walmart Family Mobile does not have contracts so you have to pay full price for their phones, this initial price is totally worth the up-front cost from what we will save each and every month!

And do you know who was most excited about this new Walmart Family Mobile Plan? My husband! He chose the Android Cool Pad Rogue, which is currently priced at only $19.88 (on Rollback from $39.83). As a gamer, my husband goes through quite a bit of data, so a limited plan would not work for our family. Thankfully with the larger data bucket of 10GB of 4G LTE data my husband can checkout his favorite free game Harthstone to his content!

As for me, I also use the bucket of data to look up recipes on Pinterest, listen to my favorite Pandora stations, check out families movies with the littles online, and even to help save money while grocery shopping in-store at Walmart with several grocery rebate apps! 

The Walmart Family Mobile is perfect for families like ours that need affordable cell phone service without long-term contracts. And with unlimited talk, text, and data for up to 5 lines on each account my family will always be able to affordably stay in touch. I’m glad my family switched to this solid service at such an affordable price. Being able to stay tech-savvy on a budget rocks in my book! 

As a family we think it’s important to get involved in our families media lives. But helping our family become both savvy savers and critical media consumers can be easier said than done. Our sure-fire way to stay involved with our families media picks by hosting a family movie night each week.  Luckily, our Walmart Family Mobile Plan comes with one free new Vudu release each month, and so we build this into our monthly family movie schedule! What’s really nice is that we can watch our free Vudu movie not just on our phones, but on our Playstation 4 and Smart TV. 

Here are a few tips for affordable family movie nights :

• Schedule it. Make it a regular date and time and don’t break it. Make it a family-only time to unwind and spend quality time together. 
• Take turns choosing the movie. If you’ve got little kids, pre-select a group of films for them to choose from. Enforce a “no complaining” rule for whatever film is chosen.
• Prep for your movie. My family knows that family movies in our home means one thing, crock pot freezer meals! But what’s really fun? I match themes to movies, such as making Crockpot Tagine Chicken the night we watched Casablanca! 
• Location, location, location. We host film nights in our den. We put away all toys, bring out the bean bag chairs for Moroccan-style lounging. 
• Snacks please. In our den you will find a theater candy machine full of gluten-free treats including cereal, trail mix, dried fruits, and acai berry candies! No need to go to head the lobby around here! 
• Talk about it. After the credits roll on our Vudu movies, we always make time to chat about what what we watched. We discuss everything from book-to-film adaptations, animation variations, and Hollywood history.
• Make it educational. Often after movie nights we visiting our local public library to follow up on interests piqued by the movie.
• Make it a life lesson. Talking with kids about how movie characters handled fictional situations can be a subtle way to reinforce your family’s values or get kids to open up about their lives. Lessons learned, friends!

Last evening we had a fun watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Mind you, I had to go back and watch some parts again due to giggles and laughing from my family during the movie. Luckily, with Vudu you get 2-day rentals with each code redemption so I was able to re-watch my movie while curled up in bed. Luxury at it’s finest, my friends!

It goes without saying that the Vudu credit is just one more awesome reason that our family loves the Walmart Family Mobile. I encourage you all to check the Walmart Family Mobile at your local Walmart Supercenter to see if this mobile plan could save your family hundreds of dollars a month too! 

So, friends have you ever considered giving Walmart Family Mobile a shot? If you’re a current subscriber, what do you think about it? I’d love to hear about it!

Here’s to saving!

Hello again, savvy savers! For today’s October No-Spend Daily Challenge, as part of the #31DayLWSZ Challenge, I want to discuss my experience this past weeks savings victories, challenges, and learning curves for week three of the challenge. 

So, thus far this month I was able to save a total of $738.46, and some of the ways I did this were by:

• Pantry Organization
• Utilizing On Hand Food Options To Help Make Weekly Menu Ideas Sheets
• Learning Home to “Dine Out At Home”
• Working on a personal #Choose30 Challenge to be more positive daily.
• Rain-Check Shopping for next months needed coupon staples and groceries from this last weekend.
• I clean off my Counter-tops to use as workstation areas for donating, sorting, and prepping donations.
• I listed and sold items via eBay, Craiglist, Facebook Local Groups, and Craftsy patterns. 
• Had an in-home spa day and saved $32.00! 
• Upcycled several new home projects. 
• Our family ate from our crock-pot for a week! 

I did have a few set backs this week though. My husband needed to take the entire $80.00 cushion I set aside for this months produce and incidentals budget for an impromptu school robotics club he is the sponsor of, as well as the funds needed for an oil change (for his car that was suppose to have previously been taken care of). Mind you I was a little taken back to find my home stripped of cash, sodas, and my pre-purchased Halloween candy (candy and sodas to help supplement our family and his 14 students going with him on this trip). My saving grace? Three hours after he left for his day-trip, I received not one, but four ETSY shop orders (that I already had the materials on hand for, score!), which not only reimbursed my budget, but paid for the missing household staples, and set my savings goal ahead by $27.00!

So, all’s well that ends well here is the Roberts household. 

As well here are a few ways I have been able to accomplish my no-spend goals this past week: 

1. I woke up at 6:25 daily, walked my fur babies, showered, & dressed to my shoes. (Thanks, Flylady!)
2. Worked on my daily Motivated Moms Planner.
3. I read three review books. 
4. I finished today’s Day 1-7 No-Spend Challenges!
5. I enjoyed a free Chik-fil-a- frozen latte!
6. I cooked from my pantry, eleven times.
7. I walked for three miles every other day!
8. I finished all of my daily blog posts on time!
9. Read my daily devotional.
10. I cleaned out my coupon cabinet, paper files for my ETSY business, and recycled numerous bins of random scraps of fabric around my craft room, too! 

My tally of last weeks savings are:

• I was able to procure 16 new rain-checks savings $54.00 in savings.
• I completed 2 surveys online via Ipsos-iSay, and earned a $1.00 towards my next Amazon gift code.
• I eat at home thirteen times, saving our family $77.93. 
• I recycled, upcycled, and composted one bins of deluge, and saved $1.20, the cost of 6 trash bags. 
• I enjoyed a free Chik-fil-a frozen latte, for free, a savings of $2.99!
• I received $32.98 worth of product review items, which can be placed in my home gift closet!
• My family drank water for one, and saved $7.30, the cost of a five 2-liters of soda.
• We made DIY fireplace starters, savings $12.98 over commercial pricing. 
• We used earned gift card dollars at Sam’s Club to buy gas, saving us $20.04.
• We made DIY hand sanitizer bottles, saving our family $7.98.
• We made DIY wet dog food, saving out family $19.98 over a case of pet food cans. 

So, overall my family saved $138.38

This months savings goal remaining: +$49.62 for this month. 

All-in-all, I am pleased with this past weeks progress and will be thinking of new and better ways to save come the next three weeks ahead! Mind you this progress is in part due to my families use of earned and gifted survey cards; I’ve read a lot of people state that they will not be using them on the challenge, but for me and mine, we love them. I legitimize these cards as ALL were earned from taking surveys, using savings apps, or by wining contest, paid affiliate campaigns, and giveaways. Free money is just that, free. 

I’m excited to note that these funds will be able to be allocated for last-minute holiday gifts, holiday donations, and Angle Tree presents this holiday season. As well, a fourth of the funds from this challenge went towards my yearly savings goal for acquiring a rental property/tax sale in the year and a half to come.  I am proud of myself, and so proud of you all as well.

If you were able to follow along with this past weeks #31DayLWSZ challenge, I’d love to hear about it!

Here’s to Saving,