This holiday is something that I love and loathe at the same time. Mostly because Mothers should be celebrated all year! Also, because no matter how much I try not to get excited about the day, I still do, hoping that I’ll get something amazing or have a great day. After a few years of being a mother under my belt, I’ve decided to let the day be and see where it takes us. If I end up doing all my usual “mom” things all day, oh well. If I don’t, then that’s great too. Today and yesterday, I took the reins a bit and decided to turn this holiday into a frugal but fun one for me. Here are a few things we did that made the holiday a success(so far).
1. There is a new dine-in theater in town. We’ve been wanting to go to it but of course, we were afraid of the pricing. Hubby and I dropped the kids off with my parents, and went for an afternoon showing. We used a voucher I got on living social for 9.00. That included 2 movies tickets for any theater that uses fandango. Then, to offset the cost of the food, we used a 25.00 gift card that my parents gave us for our anniversary. So, for 2 movies tickets, and 2 dinners with an appetizer and “adult drinks,” we only spent 24 dollars. That is a 44.50 savings!
2. After the movie, DH wanted to take me window shopping. Turns out, he actually put aside some money to take me shopping for costume jewelry. I LOVE to stock up on trendy pieces in a costume variety. So, I got about 5 pieces plus some new shades for summer. All of that was purchased out of money he put aside so it didn’t effect the budget. I’m counting all of those things as a FREE gift :o).
3. To top the day off, I made DH take me to Pathmark and A&P for their super doubles sales this weekend. For a grocery hound like me, this was heaven! Plus, it’s still fun to see Hubby’s face when I get 30 dollars worth of items we need for under a buck. He even filmed it and said that he was going to send it off to TLC for the extreme couponing show lol!
4. I did make dinner last night, but that was because I had a craving and wanted it made in a specific way. we had pasta with homemade marinara and boccacini filled meatballs. Yum!
5. I enjoyed a great concert that aired on HBO last night. I try to take advantage of as many great programs as I can on our TV to offset the cable bill. If we would have went to that concert when it was here at Madison Square garden, it would have cost us around 300 dollars total. Watching it on TV for “free” is more than good enough for me.
6. While I watched, I treated myself to some s’meeps. We stocked up on peeps during the after-Easter sales and we always have free chocolate hanging around. To give a salty/sweet taste, I used ritz crackers instead of graham crackers. Plus, we don’t have any graham crackers in the house. FREE Mom’s day dessert for me!
7. This morning, I had DH run to dunkin donuts to get me some breakfast. We used a 10.00 gift card I had gotten for free. So, FREE breakfast for me.
8. As I’m typing this, my tootsies are soaking and getting ready to be glamorized by me. I’ve needed a pedicure for a while and I have the time to do it today, so why not? That’s 20 bucks saved right there and I don’t have get out of my pajamas!
9. Hubby also gave me a massage today and I rubbed down with a homemade sugar scrub for dry skin. I’ll be ready for spring by tomorrow.
10. We will be on our way to my parents’ house in a little bit. I’ve put together my mother’s gift, which is filled some of her favorite things that we got frugally or free but are pretty high end. I even included some of her favorite candies that I ran into while after-Easter shopping.
The day isn’t over but I think so far we are doing well with celebrating on a dime.
Did you all do anything low-cost but high-impact for the holiday? Did you at least get to relax? lol
This was not supposed to be a frugal Mother’s Day for me but ended up being. I never spend money on myself but my husband convinced me to spoil myself a but. So. I went to JC Penney’s with my $10/$50 q in search of a dress (I have 2 weddings in the next few weeks and I’ve recently dropped 40 lbs so I need new clothes.) I usually shop at Goodwill and know I could have found a nice enough dress there if I had looked. But today I decided I deserved to spend a bit more if I found a dress I loved.
Well they were having an awesome sale and their dresses were between 50 and 70% off (didn’t know that ahead of time.) I found a dress I love!!!! marked down to 24.99. Since I had it in my head that I was going to be spending $40 at least b/c of my q I decided to look at jewelry to go with the dress. FOund the coolest neckless for $9.60 (70% off.) Still didn’t reach $50. So I head for sunglasses, something I have none of. Found a pair. Everything rang up to 49.96. She let me use the q even though i was a few cents short. so dress, necklace, and sunglasses for 39.96!
Ok my DH and your DH NEED to hang out, so your DH can teach my DH! 🙂
I did the Pathmark deals this weekend, only a few. Not many good deals 🙁 Same with A & P…I didn’t get anything. I was hoping for a good sale on diapers to do the doubles, but they were $11 and up, normally on sale for $8 and change…ah well. Was hoping to score some for DH’s friend whose wife had twins 2 months ago and they are just going through diapers like anything! Ah well!, maybe next time…..