Frugal Accomplishments First Week of March

This past week was again about using what we had on hand and spending as little as possible.  We were able to do some things that felt special for the boys, but stay at home.  Here's what we did for the week:

• Cooked all meals at home including:  enchilada casserole, greens and eggs, smoothies, oven baked salmon and roasted veggies, large dinner salads, snack plates (fruit, nuts, hard boiled eggs, cheese, veggies and dip), oatmeal, chili made with dried beans, banana bars, and homemade pizza (for those who could do gluten).
• Purchased necessary groceries with coupons or on sale.  Many other groceries were picked up at the food pantry.
• Took advantage of shared meals at yoga, with Mom, and another Children's Council group.  I also enjoyed some free snacks at a professional development meeting, and brought home a bottle of water from that.
• We washed all clothes in cold water, except ones that were worn by little man who was sick.  We hung clothes to dry inside on drying racks.
• Began seriously potty training baby.  He's been in training pants exclusively for three days now, with a few accidents, but is showing much more awareness.  He really seems to be getting it, and is really motivated when big brother helps him with it.  While this has made some mess, it has cut down on the laundry loads of cloth diapers.  We know it's a short term thing, and he is so proud of himself!
• Little man was sick for a few days with a fever.  Since so many kids had had something similar at school, we didn't take him in to the doctor's.  He toughed it out with homemade popsicles, broth and noodles, children's Tylenol, and rest.  We made good use of coloring books, story time, podcasts, and some screen time.  We found a few new free sources for children's audio books, including some of Aesop's fables told in a kid friendly way.
• We saved some money by not venturing out on Saturday as we usually do. We had centers at home (coloring, Legos, reading, rhyming word study, dress up, etc.) and spent a lot of time helping baby with the potty.  Little man was a big help, even though he felt puny, and we played a few of his easy card games with him on the couch and baby on the potty.  It was a kind of sweet, but comical morning.
• I began picking up little man on Wednesdays, as well as Mondays and Fridays.  While he loves for Daddy to pick him up, it really does save quite a bit for me to get him on the afternoons I don't have meetings, rather than Benny making a special trip.
• I registered for a a conference for school with the school credit card, rather than using our personal one.  This saved us the fee, and hassle, of having to get reimbursed.
• Benny picked up a few extra hours at work, which was nice.  He did it in the evenings, which meant more nights of me and the boys doing bedtime alone, but it was nice for him to find some extra time to work.
• I have taken on a contract position with the local art and history museum as a curriculum consultant for one of their new exhibits.  This is totally up my alley, and I look forward to finding out more about the position this week.
• Used a gift card to purchase baby's birthday gifts.  I ended up underestimating the cost, so we paid a little out of pocket, but that's ok.  The birthday party will be low key and hosted by Mom, which is really sweet.  

What did you do to live and save green this past week?  I'd love to hear from you!