Last weekend was Labor Day, and a long weekend where we actually stayed local the full three days. After our experience with the ferry wait over Memorial Day weekend, we decided it was worth avoiding the travel crowds and just staying near home instead.

Clearly, this made our weekend cheaper than it would have otherwise because we had no travel or lodging costs that would have have normally. And it was a low key, relaxing weekend, even though we were off doing things each day. Sometimes it feels like we need to take advantage of every long weekend that comes our way by going somewhere and doing something big, but taking advantage can also mean sleeping in our own bed each night and taking each day as it comes.

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Friday’s Frugal Five

1. We headed down to the Edmonds farmers market on Saturday morning after a slow breakfast at home. We picked up some local peppers, corn, and peanuts (who knew anyone grew them in Washington!) and stopped to listen to the musicians who played at the market.

The town has a free trolley that runs through their downtown during the holidays and it ran on Saturdays in August this year as well. The kiddo loves all things trains, light rail, and trolleys (even if it technically had wheels), so we had to take advantage of the half hour circle through town.

2. After our Edmonds morning and lunch, we headed for home, and the kiddo fell asleep for a nap on the way. He’d randomly asked about the fair earlier in the day, so we decided to drive to the fair while he slept so we’d be able to surprise him there when he woke up. He was so surprised, and it was so worth seeing his face when he realized where we were at.

He’s now old enough to “get” the rides and games part of the fair, so we set him a limit of what he could go on and do. Beyond that, it was totally up to him. He played a balloon pop game for the stuffed dragon that came with it and rode on a car ride and a big climbing play structure.

He’d already used up his dollars when he kept asking to go back to the “big jump” we’d passed initially, and so I asked him if he would be willing to chip in six quarters (three days of chores payment) to go. He did, and had a totally fabulous time. By having him buy in to the cost and the decisions, he was able to have a great time with what he chose and there was no argument for more. Maybe someday there will be, but for now it’s working well for all of us. And this fair has a single reloadable card instead of tickets, which is pretty awesome on the waste perspective. Hopefully other events will follow suit.

3. Not holiday weekend related, but Sunday, September 1st, marked a full 2.5 years of my clothes buying ban. I’ll publish a post later this month with more thoughts on this half year milestone, but I wanted to acknowledge it now. My initial goal was for one year, and I expected to just squeak by with that length.

Never would I have expected to still be pursing this ban a year and a half beyond that. Now that I’m “just” six months away from three years, I’m very tempted to see if I can make it. The first six months were tough, especially the first three, but my perspective has changed so much that now another six doesn’t seem so daunting. And for anyone who has clothing destined for the thrift store that might fit me (size S-M tops, 8-10 bottoms, 6-7 shoes), I’m listening! Especially a pair of black boots 😉

4. Sunday was a low key day with Purple and Felicity. We spent a good portion of the day together, including brunch, which meant we snacked on some Cherokee purple tomatoes, blueberries, and cherry tomatoes from the garden, as well as some of those peanuts that we picked up from the farmers market. I have to say, I absolutely love that this blog has brought me to so many wonderful people like those two.

5. Speaking of personal finance friends thanks to this blog, at the time this post is published I will be at my first ever FinCon! Last minute, I decided to extend my trip to Sunday instead of leaving midday Saturday as planned. I did have to pay for the new flight home, but the Airbnb shared with seven of my blogger friends was paid through that day anyway, so there was no additional cost there (and it was way cheaper than the hotel, plus we have laundry).

If you haven’t stayed in an AirBnB before, I would highly recommend it. We love the flexibility it gives us while traveling as a family – full kitchen, laundry, and extra bathrooms, and it’s usually considerably cheaper than a hotel, especially when you travel as a group. If you’re new to AirBnB, here’s a link for $40 off your first stay.

It’s funny, this community will get excited and celebrate the few dollars made from using the Jobspotter app but will also encourage a last minute plane ticket change. The whole point of being intentional with money is to spend it on things that matter, and staying another day with all my wonderful money nerd friends is totally worth it. (It’s not worth the $39 carry on fee though, so I’m traveling “personal item” only in the form of a 15L day pack. The upside there is I will be forced to limit the swag that comes from the conference to just the things I actually want to bring home).

Exercise Update

Friday was a short afternoon run at 2pm – one of the major perks of working a reduced schedule. Saturday we walked all over downtown Edmonds, as mentioned above. Monday was a hike through our backyard trails.

Tuesday was my walk to work, but with a steep detour thanks to some trail work. That afternoon was a walk around downtown Kirkland and then up to City Hall for a meeting. Wednesday was running around getting ready to leave for FinCon and then walking through the airport. Thursday was day 1 of FinCon for me and a 20,000 step day.

Are you at FinCon? If you are, stop reading this post and come say hi!