Well, not entirely.

Dh had gotten the art of $50 groceries down at the Bel Air (for 10 cents per gallon, off gas). But then they added the lucrative, spend $100, save a quarter per gallon.

Of course, Safeway has been having better deals of late (and we get smaller gas discounts there, bus discounts nonetheless). But I really prefer the BelAir gas station as far as convenience.

So I didn't have a coupon last week and was out of gas. So dh went shopping at BelAir and got the 25 cent discount, and filled up for me. That was the first time we had reached 25 cents actually. BEcause dh has so accustomed to shopping for $50.

My tank was 1/2 full yesterday, but I did my convenience store/junk run before work yesterday and occurred to me to just fill up while I was there. Dh had no plans to go shopping there and I figure with the quarter off last time I could pay full price and still be farther ahead than usual.

Of course, the gas prices were insane. Yikes! I'll pay a good $50 for my round trip to the Bay Area next week. A trip that was only $20 when we moved here. Ouch. (Well, taking the van instead of the subcompact doesn't help).

I took my lunch to work though and worked most of the day.

In the evening, dh made dinner. and the kids and I played in the backyard after dinner.

I try to avoid the outside because of my usual allergies, and because of my extreme fear of spiders (& the monster spiders that take up in our yard. Egads!!!!) & we have huge wasp problems. Anyway, we had a pest control company for a while, but we really only needed them for the wasps and the giant spiders. They quit doing wasp control so we just figured we'd do it ourselves. OF course, I don't think we did anything last year. Which did not make me inclined to hang out in the backyard with wasps and giant spiders. We tend to go to the park instead, and they spend all their time backyard exploring at preschool. (I think the poor bugs who end up in that yard - LOL. I can't tell you what BM brings home in his pocket. Worms, bugs, etc. Boys!! & though I appreciate their curiosity, I told them to be a little gentler with the bugs last night. One got its head squashed - poor little thing). I know, the gentleness is a lost cause with them. I should let them be...

Anyway, I think it was the first time I really felt I could let them roam around without watching them every second (well last time we really enjoyed the yard was when LM was 18 months??). YEah, 2 years makes a difference. Plus I can always bring out the laptop and just hang out while they play.

Anyway, what spurred our little venture outside is the kids had asked to paint outside a while back, and we never made it out for some reason. You know, the old water painting thing. Bucket of water, some paint brushed, and the kids "paint" the house and the ground. So last night I didn't feel 100% so thought the backyard would be a nice alternative from a walk to the park. Plus it's not wasp season yet. (& I didn't even see any spiders...)

Of course, I remember buying a paint brush specifically for this before LM was born. & I even found it! But the only other thing I could find was a giant paintbrush from when we painted LM's room.

Likewise, it was a little big and heavy for BM, so they fought over the smaller one.

I asked dh to pick up a cheapie brush (or 2) next time he was out. Wouldn't be surprised if you can just get one at the grocery store. Not worth the gas to go elsewhere.

So the kids had a blast. & I enjoyed not having to watch them like a hawk. They have learned pretty well the dos and dont's of outside play at preschool - they play outside so much. You know, last time the 18-month-old was probably eating dirt or something. LOL. So it's nice to move past that age where they put stuff in their mouths, etc.

Anyway, besides all this, for some reason I was thinking about one of my favorite records growing up from childhood. It was "Urban Chipmunk" - country songs from Alvin & the Chipmunks. I looked it up and saw it was out of print and asked dh if he could download the songs. So I played some of those for the kids and they LOVED it.

So I would say that makes a pretty frugal Saturday.

My $2 convenience store run wasn't very frugal BUT it's my treat for working overtime and I'd say I only had to work 5 minutes to earn $2. So, no, not frugal. But I won't sweat it.

For some reason I thought "My Sharona" was on that album, but dh said that was on Chipmunk Punk. I don't remember having that one. Which is funny because I am not a country girl - I am a rocker. But something about that Urban Chipmunk. Very memorable. So we'll download some of those to CD.

I have to tell you those are 2 CDs I would gladly BUY if they were still in print.

Well, I really look forward to a relaxing Sunday.