Seven Frugal Thoughts

Well, I actually didn't have a Frugal Fridays post planned for today, so I thought I'd try something new: 7 Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary. You can check out other people's 7 Quick Takes here.

So without further ado, seven quick frugal thoughts for your Friday:

1) One thing I will never, never understand is - vanity licence plates. I don't mean any disrespect if you have one - please enjoy it. :-) But personally, I just cannot possibly comprehend spending actual money so that your licence plate can say DIVACHIC or IROCK. And then you're completely defined by whatever it is your licence plate says (hear that, LOVRBOY)! For thirty bucks! I think I would pay for pretty much anything before a vanity plate. But that's just me.

2) I feel so blessed by all the great deals I have gotten lately. I particularly excited to share my awesome Target deals with you tomorrow! Check my Super Savings Saturday post tomorrow morning for pictures. Our pantry is overflowing, and I'm so excited to have extra to share. God is good!

3) If my husband has to work more on Saturday (hoping not!), I'm going to take my 2 year old to this free Little People event at Toys R Us. She loves Little People; she knows all their names from the DVDs. Farmer Jed and Michael are her favorites. I love the DVDs too, because they are just right for a toddler. They're simple and fanciful and don't try to be too educational or sophisticated.

4) I hosted a playgroup this morning, but since we were out shopping all day yesterday, I didn't have time to bake anything. So I bought a Pillsbury lemon poppy seed muffin mix on sale for $1.99. It went against the grain to do it, because it probably would have cost less than half to make them from scratch. But it made me think that it is important to not look for perfection in frugality, but to just do your best. If you can't do the best thing, do the next best thing! If I had bought prepared muffins from the bakery they would have been double the cost of the mix, so I definitely still saved.

5) I'd sort of like to check out another kids' consignment sale in my area tomorrow, but I don't really think I still need anything! I got so much good stuff at the sale last weekend, and also a friend of a friend just gave me some lovely clothes from her daughter. Even better than consignment sales are nice hand-me-downs!

6) For a good explanation of stockpiling (not like it sounds; just means stocking up on sales), read this post by Frugal in Virginia. I thought it gave a good explanation of how I've been shopping now, especially when she mentions that she hardly ever has the ingredients for a full meal in her cart at the same time. Lately that's how I shop: stock up on the sales and create meals from that. I think it's working - my family hasn't complained, and my grocery bills keep getting lower!

7) I just want to say, to anyone who's been reading, commenting, and/or telling friends about my blog . . . thanks! I'm having so much fun writing this and hearing your feedback. Keep it up! Have a great weekend! :-D