(In the picture Gimli is modeling one of the dog shirts that I made next to two other shirts I made for gifts)

I am feeling very frugal right now! By changing the dates for a trip we were going on we saved over $500!

A Few Frugal Things-

– We booked our trip to see my sister’s new baby who is due in December. By changing the date by a couple weeks (which actually worked out better for everyone) we saved over $500. I can’t wait to meet my new nephew!!!

– I’m taking advantage of MLK day so I don’t have to take any days off.

– We were also able to take advantage of a $50 one-way Frontier discount airline flight where we will only bring personal items as luggage and then we will fly home on Southwest which gives you 2 free bags so we will be able to shop at the Goodwill Outlet until our hearts are content without having to pay to bring anything home

– I used fabric scraps and a 2 inch by 2 inch square of brown felt to make a new baby gift for my soon to arrive nephew. I may make another one for the puppy and my friends baby.

– I joined a sewing group on Facebook called Fluff Love Sewing and I am so inspired by what everyone makes! I am sewing up a storm here and while I’m not good enough to make everyone’s Christmas presents (yet!) I’m happy with the new skills I’m learning.

– I’m having great luck finding free sewing patterns online! So excited by my new creations.

– My father is having a yard sale so I am using it as motivation to get rid of junk in the house

– We are moving ahead with our plan to purchase a small farm. We have a new relator and we are going to see some places on Sunday. He has warned us that it might take a while to find what we are looking for but I’m still extremely excited.

– Next week is finals week which means my hours are much shorter. I have adjusted some of the things I’m doing this semester and it has meant hours upon hours usually spent grading that I have saved. I’m excited for a shorter work week hours wise and then a long Christmas break.

– Yay to getting three paychecks this month! More money to save for a house down payment.

– Our family is doing a toned down version of our usually Christmas gift giving. In fact, we are all giving very few gifts. We really don’t need much anyways. The gifts we do give are going to be mostly small and practical.

– We bought food for dinner instead of going out to eat while my mom was in town. We also bought a few ingredients for dinners this week so that meals will be cheap and easy.

Not So Frugal-

– We got Panda Express last night to celebrate the end of the semester. However, each meal is two meals for us and it was worth it!

– I got some unexpected news from work which led to me leaving early for the office and in the process forgetting my lunch. I bought lunch instead. Oh well.

– I had to buy something from Kohl’s because I was worried my card might be deactivated otherwise and could find nothing I wanted to buy. I ended up buying chemical free chap stick and I really like it.

Extra Income

– Found out I will be paid for the extra class I picked up in one lump sum. The Dean rushed the payment so it will all arrive before Christmas! Yay!

– I just did $20 worth of online work in 5 minutes. Great bonus!

– I diligently keep relisting my eBay listings that haven’t sold (currently 39 of them). Experience has taught me that they will sell eventually and at the most random times. My strategy is to list my items fairly but on the higher side. Because I don’t mind waiting for them to be purchased I end up making more money off of the same items than had I listed them to sell instantly. I guess you could say I play the long game. Last week I sold some Sperry shoes that had been listed for a long time. While I find that Sperrys do sell, they seem to take a long time to sell with my strategy.

– Just sold two more random items on eBay that had been listed for a while. Makes me think I need to do more listings over winter break so I can keep renewing them into the Spring semester for extra income. I love extra income!

– I have $25 in free Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks and I’m expecting $50 more

Chemical Free

– I finally bought Chemical Free nail polish. It arrived at my house today but I’m still at work. I can’t wait to try it.