Frugal Accomplishments 1st Week of April

As usual, this past week was all about saving where we can.  We did take a weekend trip, but it will be reimbursed by the school since it was work related for me. 

We continue to work at developing a side hustle to bring in some additional income.  I'm hopeful that this blog will become one such way, and we're doing some research to figure out some ways to monetize this without it becoming so ad heavy that it's unappealing to readers.  (If you have any ideas, please let me know in the comments section!)  Earning baby bucks through our Children's Council activities is another way we're able to supplement our income a bit, since each time we accumulate 10 we can earn a Walmart card.  This Walmart card allows us to purchase some needed items without spending out of pocket.

Other ways we've saved:

• Meal planning for the month of April will allow us to stick to our food budget and our dietary needs.  This past week we've had banana bars, a snack plate, and crock pot Asian chicken with Asian slaw.
• We enjoy our shared meals through our support groups at the Children's Council.  We also shared a meal with my mom, using some things we had on hand for minimal cost.
• Our play activities were focused on free things, like hide and seek and doing an Easter egg hunt.  We've been stuffing the eggs with little man's sight words and plan to add letters to the eggs for baby.  This helps with reading readiness and they've had a blast with it.  We've had fun with hide and seek by using skip counting (5, 10, 15, etc.) to rehearse counting and basic number sense.
• The weather was pretty enough outdoors this weekend for a lot of outdoor play.  I was able to do yoga outside while the boys played, and this gave all of us some vitamin D exposure.
• I worked out with YouTube videos and our yoga parenting class.  I also was able to get some walking in on the college campus this weekend.
• We washed most clothing in cold water and hung to dry.  Potty training continues to go well, so we've pretty much packed up the diapers (we used cloth).  We still use a diaper at bedtime for baby.
• A big Costco run was made this past weekend, where we restocked on pantry staples and some organic freezer items like berries, broccoli, and fish.  I price checked a few items, and realized that we can get them cheaper at our local store, so I skipped those.  We keep a running list using Google Keep, so I stuck to our list so that we didn't buy a lot of things we didn't need.
• The ThreadUp bag (referral link) I sent it was finally processed.  I didn't earn as much credit as I'd like from it, but hopefully I'll get some referral credit or add a little more to it when I send in the next bag.  This is a nice way to clean out a bit and give me a little spending money for clothes without paying out of pocket.
• A generous coworker gave us some eggs from her free range chickens, which was really nice.  The eggs will be great for breakfasts and for baking.
• I did a few Epsom salt baths at home for relaxation and cleansing.  I have found that I really do sleep better, especially if I include a little lavender and tea tree oil in the bath.
• I've begun picking up little man from school more so that Benny isn't driving across the county multiple times a week too.  It's a little tougher to get my work done, but it's worth it for the savings.  Little man is also getting some of his homework done during this time, so that's a plus.

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