Frugal "Friday" - Most of March 2019

I found these hollow chocolate bunnies for $1.99 each  - I had to get them for Easter baskets!  The quilted squares in the background of the picture are 12 inches (30.5cm) square - so this bunny is huge!  And it makes me laugh every time I see it.

Wow - March has flown by!  This much has been a hard much - we have had several disappointing, complicated, and very hard things happening and I feel like I have barely had time to catch my breath. I will not write about those difficult things until I have had a bit more time to process them, but suffice to say, March has been difficult. We started with a lot of snow and are ending with the perennials close to the house peeking out into the sunshine.  I am delighted that spring is on its way!   I am ready to get into my garden, dig in the dirt and enjoy the outdoors!

When difficult things are happening, time can be short and sometimes it becomes time-consuming to be frugal.  We persevered and were able to stay in budget and mostly on track. 

Here are some things we did this last month that may count as frugal:

* John brought home leftovers from two church meals for dinner this month.

* John and I each enjoyed a meal at work. 

* Our children worked a fundraiser for their school trip at the end of the year - they will each be paid a certain amount for working this event with the money going into their trip account.

* Our daughter used money she earned babysitting to purchase a very well thought out birthday gift for two different friends.

* Enjoyed Lenten meals at church on Wednesday nights - different groups within the church take turns making these dinners, so we just attend and enjoy.  It is a lovely break from cooking and we get to enjoy foods we normally would not make at home.

* We were gifted frozen blueberries (picked in the wild last summer), dried desert fruit (we live in Minnesota), dessert bars and an apple pie by parishioners.  I mentioned to a friend that being a Pastor's family is both a blessing and a curse sometimes! 

* We enjoyed a lengthy visit with my sister-in-law and her husband - they're a lovely couple and we rarely see them.  They were in town for a work event and were able to join us for dinner one evening.  We fed them from our freezers and pantry and enjoyed a long conversation.

* I purchased a pair of new winter boots for our daughter on clearance sale.  Her old boots fell apart and this new pair was only $18 on clearance sale.  Hopefully, we will not need them again this spring!

* I sewed 2 buttons back on a suit jacket for my husband.

* Our children checked out several video games from the library.

* I have been listening to audiobooks from the library while cleaning the house.  Much more enjoyable than just doing the work in silence!

* A friend gifted our daughter 3 shopping bags of clothing and shoes.  She chose multiple items that fit and that she enjoyed and we donated one bag to our church's spring rummage sale.  I did give the reusable shopping bags back to my friend along with a thank you note.

* We have continued cleaning out and donated several bags of items to the church rummage sale and filled our recycle bin with old papers as well.

* I worked on embroidery for a gift using supplies I already owned. 


What frugal things did you do in the month of March?

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