Frugal Friday

I haven't done a Frugal Friday post in a while, and thought I was due.  One of the things I've learned is to appreciate the small things in my life.  Dan & I live simply.  We have a small house.  We can't afford fancy vacations.  We don't have a lot of toys.  But we enjoy our lives.

We've learned out to have fun on a shoestring budget.  We've celebrated big events simply ,but with joy.  We've made due with what we have.  And it sets the tone to truly appreciate the small things. 

Some frugalness this past week:

$ For our anniversary, I packed a picnic dinner and we headed to the lake.  We found a quiet spot off the beaten path.  I brought a folding table, camping chairs, tablecloth, china and stemware and cloth napkins.  We had salad, fresh mozzarella with tomato and basil, shrimp, sour dough bread, olives, and apricots.  I picked up two pastries at a local bakery and we had sparkling water with fresh lemon.  It was perfect!  The best part was there turned out to be a wedding ceremony there and we could hear chamber music wafting through the air.

$ Dan and the boys have started climbing the high peaks of the Adirondacks.  There are 46 of them and their goal is to climb all 46.  Some take up to 10 hours to climb in and out and so far they have done 9 peaks since last year.  The only cost is gas to get there and the food they pack.  They get a fantastic view and a sense of accomplishment!

$ Dan's Father's Day gift was a pie of the month certificate.  It was a frugal gift but since I truly hate making pies, it's a gift of love that keeps giving all year because he loves pie!  This month was strawberry-rhubarb.

$ I wanted to make barbecue chicken for dinner last night so whipped up my own barbecue sauce.  It used simple ingredients and took 20 minutes start to finish.  Delicious!

$ We wanted to take the teens at church on an outing and we went last night.  We found a place where they could ride go-karts and play mini-golf.  For $11 they rode the karts for about 20 minutes and played 18 holes of mini-golf.  That was a wonderful deal.  We paid for the ice cream and for 5 teens who ordered things like hot fudge sundaes and shakes it only came to $16.  That was a very frugal way to have a night of fun! 

Our denomination's northeastern district has a campground with dorms, tent sites, cabins and cottages on a lake.  We are headed there this weekend for a week of family camp.  From Tuesday afternoon on we will be staying in a cottage with a kitchen so I'll bring food to cook.  I'm so looking forward to it as we'll get to fellowship with friends from around our district, hear great speakers, have fun on a lake and just enjoy some peace and relaxation for very little money.

Fun does not have to equal expensive.  Learn to expect nothing and appreciate everything!