Finances on Friday!

I'm a little late getting up my Finances on Friday post this week. I've been cleaning house all week and trying to go through everything and get rid of anything that we don't need/want and trying to just pack up anything we aren't using to get it out of the way. And, I'm almost done! I just have to finish 4 loads of laundry and clean up the homeschool stuff and I can kick my feet up, relax and eat bon bons. (Are you laughing yet?)

I also missed last week, so here are my frugal efforts for the last two weeks:

• I made $194 from the consignment sale! I was hoping for $150, so I'm really excited. This money will go back into the clothing fund for some things I couldn't find at the sale, like shoes for the older girls, tshirts/shorts/shoes for my older two boys. WHO ARE IN MEN"S SIZES. Where does the time go?
• Found some beef marked down for quick sale.
• Used some leftover beef and rice to make stuffed peppers for my lunches last week.
• Forgot to register for a women's conference I had wanted to go to. I'm not sure if that's a success or not, but I guess it will be saving me $50.
• A very good friend bought my girls a surger and is teaching them to use it! SO thankful for her!
• I decided that since the girls have been learning to sew, that we could make a diaper bag, crib set, blankets and burp cloths for this baby. There is some super cute owl fabric, and since Brittany works one night a week at the fabric store she can get a discount. So, we'll see if this is a frugal endeavor, but none the less, I think it will be fun and a fantastic learning experience!
• Used my grocery store rewards card and saved 10 cents/gallon on gas. This is twice as much as saving 5/gallon at Sam's.

And, where things weren't so frugal............

• I went shopping at Sam's and unloaded the groceries from the van onto driveway in front of the garage for the kids to take to the extra fridge in there, while I quickly went to take David something at work. Well, apparently TWO WHOLE PACKS of lunchmeat got overlooked behind a bucket of stuff in the garage and I didn't notice it until the next day when I went to make David's lunch. It had to be on the 65 degree day instead of the unsual 35 degree days we'd been having.
• David had a MUCH needed four days off (Saturday through Tuesday) so he wanted to do something fun. We took the kids for pizza, then bowling and ice cream. The cost gave me heart palpatations, but really it was worth it because we had some great family time.

Does anyone else get anxiety over spending money? I admittingly am very uptight about it. I am thinking about buying a new purse, because, well, i just want one. I have spent maybe six dollars in the last six years on purses. I usually pick them up at yard sales. But, this year I'm just in the mood to buy a brand spanking new purse. I'm not talking Coach or Dooney and Burke, just maybe a nice $20 one from the local discount store. And, I'm still stressing about whether or not to spend the $20. David is like, "JUST GO BUY THE PURSE ALREADY. You deserve it."  I don't know. I am way too hard on myself. I can get very frustrated if I don't do every frugal thing perfectly. I know part of that is the "oldest child syndrome", but I also know what it feels like to lose everything. So, anyway, it seems like a constant struggle to be frugal, but yet not try to "maintain control" over everything to the point where my faith is "in my finances". Know what I mean?

Don't forget to link up over at Renaissance for Finances on Friday!