Friday’s Frugal Five (2018 – Week 3)

While I didn’t list any of these Friday round up type posts in my list of favorites in my post on my first six months of blogging, but I really do enjoy writing them. I hope they are fun and quick reads for you as well and that you like them as much as I do.

I had originally started with the first of the Friday’s Frugal Five  when I was trying to stick to writing two posts a week and was at a loss for what to write about that day. It’s funny to think back to how hard it was for me to write some days, because now that I’ve been at this a little longer, I have an endless list of draft ideas. If you’re just starting out, keep with it. It really does come so much easier as you go on (at least that’s been my experience). 

Nevertheless, I still plan to continue writing these every Friday because I enjoy doing it. Like I’ve said before, listing out things we’ve done during the week that help us reach our big goals – even when they are seemingly tiny things – really help keep me energized and focused on the big picture. It is always so easy to fine where you screwed up or where you could have done better, but I think it is really important for happiness and a positive mindset to really look back and celebrate your successes.

Friday’s Frugal Five 

1. I had FIVE no spend days in a row this week, which is a new record. I’ll need to get gas today and oil change soon, but I am really proud of this five day streak. Even a couple months ago, two no spend days in a row were a really big deal, so I’m really happy to see how much my habits are changing through this process.

2. Again, I did not buy lunch any day this week. The streak continues from the very first time I wrote one of these Friday posts (back in October). Whoa. That means I haven’t bought lunch at work in a few months now. Crazy considering a year ago I was buying lunch four or five days a week.

Even better, one of my lunches this week was a box of chicken noodle soup that I had bought a while back when one of us was sick, and it didn’t get eaten. Since it’s not something we eat when we’re well, no one has wanted to eat it since. In the past, that is something that probably would have sat on the shelf for years until it finally expired and then I threw it out. Not only does this save us money, but it also seriously cuts down on food waste. There’s nothing I hate more than things that end of uselessly in the landfill, and I am finally getting a heck of a lot better at it when it comes to food.

Another day I completely spaced and didn’t bring any lunch, so I ended up eating an apple and some oatmeal that I had in my office. After Kristine at Frugally Reckless wrote about her pantry at work and showed off her fantastic snack shelf, I’m realizing I need to up my game there. Regardless, I had enough to eat and kept myself from running out for food just because I had forgotten.

Apparently I have too much going on this week or something, because I had somehow also forgotten to leave a change of clothes at work on Tuesday for my regular morning run to work on Wednesday. Running with a bag over your shoulder full of clothes is really no fun, and I ended up taking a bus part way. The upside is I had time to lift some weights in our work gym, and now I am still incredibly sore two days later. I used to lift a couple days a week and I definitely miss it. I need to figure out a routine where I make it happen even twice a week – even just body weight exercises at home.

I’m not sure how I totally missed on two very regular parts of my routine now, but I still didn’t eat out for lunch, and I still didn’t drive my car into work, so I’m calling this a successful week even if I’ve been pretty dang forgetful.

3. I haven’t done any kind of grocery shopping since our trip to Costco last Thursday. This is a huge huge deal because we used to hop into the store for at least a few things a good five or six or seven days every week. The downside to living within a short walk of the grocery store is you can always convince yourself there is time to go.

4. I picked up another giant stack of books for our son at the library this week. It looks like he is going to become a voracious reader like I have always been, and that makes my heart happy. And picking the books up from the library makes my wallet happy.

5. I am absolutely loving the community in the No (Low) Spend 2018 Facebook group. One of the members tipped me off to a program where with a debit card from Bank of America you can get free admittance to different “museums and things” on the first full weekend of every month.

I’ve never heard of this before despite having a BOA card for almost a decade (I had to go for that bank because it was the only one that was in both Oregon and the town in South Carolina I moved to after graduation). I’m excited to look into this over the weekend and figure out where this might get us in for free.

How was your week? What were some of your frugal wins? I would love to hear all about them!