So yesterday, I decided to take a little bit of my own advice and combine our errands into one day. This way, we would spend less money on gas, since we could map out an efficient route that covers each stops. This lessens the extra back and forth trips to and from the house. We would also spend less gas by limiting how often we make trips to any given place. If we designate one weekend a month, for example, to errands, then we know that we need to take full advantage of the trip, stocking up at the grocery store, for example.
Here is what we did.
Our first stop was to the Lowe’s in nearby Delaware. My oldest son took advantage of the Build and Grow program and built an ant house for free. He also got a free apron, free goggles and a free patch, as well as the ant house. While he participated, my husband and other two children shopped for materials for our next few projects. Normally, we might have made a total of three or four trips: for the program and for picking up just those things we need for one project at a time.
In the same complex as the Lowe’s was Michael’s craft store, where I picked up cellophane for a gift basket my son’s class is auctioning. There was also the Pet Smart for pet supplies. No driving was needed here. We racked our brains to see if we needed anything from any of the other stores within walking distance, but we realized that we did not. Taking advantage of the two extra stores shaved off at least two more trips.
The next stop was a lunch at a fast food place, which fulfilled our desire to eat out once every few weeks and gave the kids a treat while running all of these errands. Guess what we did after lunch? There are still more errands to go.
Don’t miss part two, which is coming up later today!
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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