How was your week? Mine was actually slower than it usually is, as our daughter came down sick so that caused us to cancel several appointments and plans that we had for the weekend. So that was sad, of course, but the GOOD news is she only was sick with a cold, and it wasn't even a severe cold either, so in this time of COVID that is a HUGE thing to be happy about!
So, due to her cold, I stayed home with her more than I normally do, so on the one hand it doesn't feel like I had very much savings or frugal finds this past week--on the other hand, staying home can be a great way to save money! As long as one isn't shopping on-line the whole time, of course!
I did manage to do a few things, however, so I am thankful for that.
*I made a clothing purchase at Eddie Bauer for our daughter, for an item which is going to be a part of her Christmas present. I would love to say what it is, but just in case she reads my blog post I better not! Normally I would not say that shopping at Eddie Bauer is frugal in any way, but I have learned that if one watches for sales, it can really bring the prices down to reasonable, and sometimes you can stack other coupons or savings on top of that! The item I purchased was normally $99. The company had put it on part of their 50% off sale for Veterans Day. Last week I had been inside the retail store, and had seen that they are having a winter coat drive, where they are collecting new or gently used coats for charity, and for each coat that you bring in they will give you $10 off of an outerwear purchase there in the store. Well, I had had my eye on the item I wanted for our daughter for some time, but was waiting because it was just too expensive for my budget. But when I saw online about the 50% off sale, I called our store and asked if I brought in and donated a coat, would that work on top of their sale price. I also asked about another deal they are doing, where if I reserve an item online and then pick it up in the actual store, they have been taking an extra $5.00 off of the item. The manager at my local store said that she would make it work--so those two things would give me an additional $15 off of my 50% off sale price! So--in the end, I was able to purchase an item that was originally $99, for $35! I felt that was a great deal, and I already know it is a good quality item and should last my daughter for a long time.
*We Zoomed our daughter's violin lesson. The day of her lesson is the day she woke up with a sore throat--but she still felt well enough to HAVE a lesson, just didn't want to spread germs around to her teacher. And of course, while we "thought" it was only a cold, with all that is going on in the world one never truly knows unless time passes. And her teacher doesn't need to be passed cold germs either! So my daughter begged me to text her teacher, and ask if we could switch last minute to a Zoom appointment that day at her regular lesson time, instead of us coming in for our lesson. Happily, her teacher saw our text in spite of already being in the midst of her busy teaching schedule for the day, and texted back that she would set up a Zoom appointment for us. So happily, even though she had a sore throat, my daughter didn't miss her lesson time after all. :)
*We had some wonderful feedback from readers on my daughter's fundraising project! I appreciate everyone who commented so very much! In case you missed reading last week and are wondering what this is all about, my daughter is participating in a fundraiser for our local food bank. The Samaritan Center, which operates the food bank, is the second largest food bank in our county. They have recently had a 60% increase in families and individuals coming to the food bank and asking for help—while at the same time, they have had a sharp decrease in donations to the food bank, primarily because many area churches that normally this time of year are having special services and collecting large amounts of food to donate are not able to have their regular services with the virus mess going on. So the need is up and the supply is way down. My teen daughter’s violin teacher organizes a play-a-thon every year, with the proceeds raised going to different needs, such as hurricane relief, rebuilding after the California fires, help with tornado relief, etc. This year, the teacher has chosen The Samaritan Center food bank as the recipient of the children’s play-a-thon. We homeschool our teen daughter, and as part of her homeschool I gave her the assignment to create a video and a GoFundMe page, both describing the project they were going to be doing. Last week I asked any readers who would like to help us out to please view her video, and read the description she wrote up on her GoFundMe page, and to give me some feedback, as it is very difficult sometimes to “grade” your own child! It can be so easy to just feel like your child deserves an “A” on their project! Anyway, so several readers very graciously helped us out and did watch Alison’s video, which I appreciate so much! And next year when they have another play-a-thon for whatever project is chosen, she is definitely going to be incorporating your suggestions! If anyone else would like to help critique, more feedback would be wonderful! You can view her short four minute video here:
And you can view her GoFundMe page here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/strings-students-fill-needy-food-pantry
Oh! One very fun thing that happened for Alison this week is a sweet reader from England watched her video and left her a comment! And she even made a donation to the food bank! That was SO very sweet, and really made Alison’s work feel well rewarded! She was just thrilled to know that her video had reached someone so far away from where she lives, AND she felt so supported from someone that was a total stranger to her!
*I made $27 from selling some clothes that no longer fit me at a local consignment shop. :) I was thrilled! I had marked for the store to simply donate to a local charity any of my clothes that did not sell, and I honestly kinda forgot all about it, because I knew with the virus going on not that many people are out shopping for clothes, so didn’t have all that much confidence that the things I brought in would be purchased. But the items no longer fit me at all anyway (I have lost 55 pounds), so I needed to move the things out of my closet to make space for the clothes I have found in my new size. I am sure that many of the clothes I brought in probably did not sell and ended up being donated, but that is fine with me. Anything that I can get does help greatly since I have had to replace literally every single clothing item that I owned except for socks and shoes—they still fit. But I am also happy to move the too large sizes on so they can bless someone else who needs them. So I figure it is win-win, whether an item sells, or whether it is donated to charity!
Well, those are the things that I can think of from this past week. How was your week, and what did you find to do to bless your family or those you cross paths with? I love to read what you share!
~Susan
1 comment:
You did good. Glad that Alison is feeling better and that ya'll got a bit of a low key week. Sometimes that is very helpful and enjoyable. Lisa :O)
Post a Comment