- Meal planning around what we have on hand. I'm still cooking at least one time a week in the crock pot, and we're often sharing a few meals with Mom over the week.
- Trying at least one new recipe a week. This week was BBQ chicken drumsticks that started in the crock pot and finished under the broiler. The adults loved them, my boys wanted all the meat pulled off the bones! So much for a fun, messy meal... but at least they ate it.
- Worked from home, saving on at least a tank of gas a week. Since gas prices are down, this isn't a huge savings, but probably $25/week. It's something at least.
- Boys are doing homeschool with Nana while I teach online. We're saving on preschool costs right now too, so that's something. Very grateful to have a mother with teaching experience, though 1st grade is a stretch for her since high school was her expertise.
- Our grocery spending is up right now, but that is probably because we're eating more at home. We're ordering groceries online to save going into the store. I do like the time savings, but don't like that I can't use my reusable bags.
- We planted several seeds including onions, spinach, mustard greens, chard, basil, tomatoes, pole beans, white cucumbers, and more. All were from things we had on hand saved in the freezer, so we'll see what comes up. The boys are enjoying pulling the first few radishes. We had those with eggs this morning for breakfast.
- Graciously accepting a weekly meal at church and a box of food there. We don't eat all the food in the box (being gluten free), but we send what we don't eat to the food pantry.
- Enjoying trading homemade bread for eggs with a friend. I like having the farm fresh eggs, and it gives me a chance to make homemade bread while not having it around to eat. It's a win-win.
- Trading puzzles with family and friends to stay busy. It's fun to have new ones to do, and it's really good for the boys. It helps to limit screen time too.
- Trying to take a daily walk or do yoga each day. The walks are great when the weather is nice, and yoga works well for us all when the weather isn't so great. The boys love Cosmic Kids yoga on YouTube.
- Keeping the motivation going with reading for little man by trying to set up weekly Zoom/FaceTime, etc. sessions with family or friends for him to read to.
- I've been enjoying finding creative ways to re-purpose items from the school breakfast/lunches. For example, we used the ketchup and orange juice to make a sweet and sour stir fry sauce. I've used the raw veggies to roast the next night, or the rolls the kids don't want as the basis of a French toast casserole to gift to neighbors who just had a baby. (We also used some of the bread for egg sandwiches for those in the family who still do gluten.) I also used the milk from the milk cartons to make a rice pudding. It's something I haven't made in years, is total comfort food, and gluten free.
- We kept up with our usual hanging of laundry, etc.
- We moved into Mom's basement, which is saving us a few hundred dollars a month on utilities. Our hope is that by saving what we can over the summer, we can save several thousand to build up the savings fund.
What have you been doing to save over the past several weeks? I'd love to hear from you!
