Frugal-Free Day

Last night at 10:00 we decided to take our three-year-old to the Pittsburgh Zoo. It's about an hour and a half from home, and the weather was supposed to be beautiful.

I opted for a frugal-free trip. That meant no packed lunches, no breakfast before we left home, and no coupons all day long!

We drove through McDonald's for breakfast (a rare treat!) and bought our other meals at the zoo. I didn't even pack drinks! While the prices weren't dirt cheap, they weren't a huge rip-off either. We also paid to rent a wagon to push our daughter around in. (What a life-saver that was!) We even let our daughter choose one large stuffed animal to bring home. (She appreciated this, because she had fallen in love with the penguins. Her new buddy is currently sleeping in bed with her!)

Going discount/coupon-free today was good for me. I tend to get wrapped up in how great of a deal I can find. It took me out of my routine to splurge and just enjoy the day. I was less tired because I didn't have to pack half the house last night, and that put us all in a better mood. It didn't stress me too much either because we paid cash or used our debit card for everything. There won't be zoo bills coming in early next month. (Credit cards are a HUGE no-no at our house.) We had the cash to pay for everything, so we were able to just enjoy the day.

I confess that my eyes lingered on the Walgreens that we passed on the way home.... We don't have a Walgreens. For a split second I pictured myself stopping by just to see how great the deals were. Then I remembered that it was a frugal-free day.

Besides.... I left my coupons at home.