Ug, must preface by saying we were awful Saturday night. Blew almost every cent in our entertainment budget on one pub night with friends. But, this lead to some good Sunday morning conversations:
1) We need to rethink how we enjoy our Saturdays. Both wife and I work from home. I have the benefit of getting out of the house for school, though. Wife gets cabin fever and then we splurge (too much) come our night out. This isn't a summer problem, since long days and warm nights lead to hiking, camping, and backyard entertaining. We need solutions for winter, though! So, we sat down and made up some plans for entertaining at home as well as some winter outside fun -- all inexpensive or free.
2) Wife is going to get back into brewing (an old hobby that fell by the wayside, but she still has the equipment). We are much more likely to invite friends over for a cheap night in when there is a new home brew to tap!
3) We decided that we just have to buckle down and accept we have only $30 left of our December entertainment budget to last till January first. No filching from the savings account to pad it out!
On to today's frugals:
- Lentil stew in the slow cooker and homemade rolls on the side. Most of the veg in the stew was from our summer garden and preserved for winter meals.
-Thawing out some rice and premaking a tray of vegetarian enchiladas for tomorrow's dinner. It's the start of finals for me, so I want food ready to eat when I get home in the afternoon so we aren't tempted by outside options.
- Decided not to get a parking pass at the school next quarter. Going to use the bus pass that student's receive for free. It's silly I haven't. The bus stop is literally 8 houses down from my house and the bus comes by every 15 minutes - half the time I am driving behind it to the campus! I have 4 remaining quarters, so this will save me $140.
-Eldest son made some repairs to our artificial holiday tree. We got it at a garage sale when the same son was 2 years old, he is now 17. With the new repairs, it still looks very nice!
-Staying home, studying, and decorating the tree this evening. Probably some holiday music on the free Spotify and cocoa from a bulk-purchased mix, as well!