Good morning friends! Happy Monday!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We took a quick trip up to the mountains and spent Saturday at Tweetsie Railroad. Of all the times we have been to the Blowing Rock, we had never taken the kids to Tweetsie before. It is pretty expensive, and we kept waiting until we felt they were at the "right" ages to really enjoy it. Well, it finally felt like the perfect weekend to give it a. shot, and I am so happy we did! The kids had so much fun and both said “I want to go back every day!” Luckily, you could take your day pass and put it towards a season pass, so that’s exactly what we did. I think we have a lot of visits to Tweetsie Railroad in our future!
Today's topic for our monthly Not Just a Mom post is "money saving tips". I am embarrassed to admit this is not an area where I shine. Like, not at all. Especially post-cancer Lauren. Post-cancer Lauren lives by the philosophy that life is short, if you want something, buy it now while you can enjoy it. That's not exactly a good "money saving tip." 😉
In fact, I initially thought, "I have nothing to say here, maybe I should just let Adrienne, Dara, Jen, Joanne, and Sarah take over this month." After more thought though, it turns out I do save money in some "outside the box" ways, so I can share those with you!
Consignment Stores— I love our kid's consignment store. The kids outgrow their clothes/shoes/coats/etc so quickly that they’re usually still in good shape when we’re done with them. I love taking the kids' old clothes to sell there and I always look for new-to-us items while I’m there. We’ve gotten a lot of the kids' winter gear there “for free” because we traded in old clothes.
AAA Discount— this is one I always forget to use, but thankfully Devin remembers. We are AAA members, and a lot of places take a AAA discount. For example, for our Disney trip in November, Devin used our AAA discount and saved us $150 on our tickets.
Use the Public Library— I used to buy every single book I read, and I usually read 3-4 books a month! Not only is that saving roughly $20 per book, but it keeps us from having to store all those books someplace once I’ve read them.
Gardening/Composting/Rain Barrel— I’m not sure we save a ton of money on this one, but it is a fun way to save a little bit! We love to garden and this year we especially hit the jackpot with our tomatoes and okra. Since we buy those things regularly at our grocery store, we are able to save money each week when we shop. By composting, we have a lot of great soil for free in our compost bin. We also grew all of our plants from seeds this year, which saved money too. We use our rain barrel to water our plants, and that actually does save a noticeable amount on our water bill!
Facebook Marketplace-- Speaking of composting, we got our compost tumblers on Facebook Marketplace for a steal! Before we make most major purchases, we check FB Marketplace first.
So, while these aren't your traditional money saving tips, they do seem to make a difference! I can't wait to read what you all have for your tips. If you are a blogger, please link up below. Also, next month we will be blogging about comfort foods. Be sure to come back!
I'm not great at it either. I used to do consignment when the kids were younger!
ReplyDeleteI love the library! When we grow our herb garden, we definitely save money there!!
ReplyDeleteSarah @Toronto SAM
I didn't even think about our rain barrel saving us money but you're so right. And the city gives us a small discount on our water bill for having one. And yes, all the library love!!! We did consignment when the kids were younger but now we don't.
ReplyDeleteWe should get a rain barrel, can I connect it to my sump pump that always seems to be running, or take water from the creek in our backyard, only half kidding.
ReplyDeleteI’m not super at money saving tips either. I do consign our boys clothes and love my library! And no one, absolutely no one can fault you for your “take the trip, buy the thing” mentality. How wonderful that you are feeling so good and able to do these things!
ReplyDeleteIt’s Sarah from Sunshine & Books. 😊
DeleteIt's hard to find that balance between enjoying things now as life is short and then saving for a rainy day.
ReplyDeleteThe Consignment Stores sound like such a good idea. There isn't anything like that where I live, they could have came in handy when my girls were little.
I mentioned the library too! Facebook Marketplace is a great idea !
ReplyDelete