Frugal Family Activities

I heard on the news that this was susposed to be the "Most Depressing Week" of the Year! This is due to the fact that we are deep into the winter-weather blahs, sunshine is scarce, there's not really anything going on to look forward too (emotional let-down after spending months preparing for the holidays), credit card bills from December are coming due (not here!), and the talk of economic recession everywhere! Well, those are depressing!

But look around you and see how very blessed you are! Right now is a great time to focus on family. I love this time of year when we are forced to spend more time together as a family due to weather and it is a really slow time for us. There aren't any sports that we are involved in going on now, no big functions taking place at school or church, and because we are trying to save money there aren't any big trips or excursions. What we do have is home time.

What can you do as a family to beat the blahs while being mindful of your home economy?
Here are some ideas that we like to do as a family:

• put a jigsaw puzzle together (we just finished a 1000 piece NASCAR puzzle)
• build houses out of cards, see who can make the tallest one
• play board games (Deal or No Deal and Clue are our current favorites)
• fly kites (Wal-mart sells these for $1)
• Watch Wheel-of-Fortune (great for beginning readers!)
• rent a redbox movie for $1
• bake cookies
• plan a scavenger hunt (I usually plan the first one and then the kids take over)
• we play on our trampoline and with our pool table
• wrestle with daddy
• use sidewalk chalk to draw pictures
• plant seeds indoors to be ready for Spring
• play video games together
• have a jump rope contest, do fancy tricks
• invite another family over for a playdate
• paint with watercolors, make personalized stationary

What activities do you and your family like to do together at home?

Please share an idea or two with us so we can all share in the fun.

How we saved at least $100 in 2007

Crystal at Biblicalwomanhood posted a question on her "Frugal Friday" carnival that asked readers to share a few ways they saved money in 2007.

Here are a few things we did:

1. Shopped CVS for almost all of our household products. My year-end savings from their records was over $2,000. Of course, I would have never paid full-price for those items but most of them were either free or close to free with Extra Bucks. Check out how I'm getting diapers there this week for less than $.10 per diaper!

2. Cut the Directv bill. I called and pretty much demanded that they give me a better deal since I had been with them for almost 10 years. They finally agreed and that cut $30 off my regular bill. I recently dropped our 1 premium channel package for another $13 per month savings.

3. Bought clothes on deep clearance at Old Navy and Penney's. Old Navy is having another clearance sale this weekend and I'll be there with my $25 gift card I got for Christmas.

4. I let people know that we were looking for items we needed for the new baby. I have gotten so much for free from people who were getting rid of baby items. (Crib, changing table, mattress, diapers, clothes, toys, etc.) Use freecycle.org and just let those around you know what you are needing. Many items they will give it to you to get it out of their house.

5. We eat at home. Or least we did until I was pregnant! My husband and kids can't wait until I start really cooking again. In the beginning I was just too sick to do it and now I'm just exhausted. The crockpot is my friend! And so are frozen pizzas and chicken nuggets!

Check out www.biblicalwomanhood.com/blog for more money saving ideas