Liam Takes the Stage, Some of My Favorite Things, The Last Thing He Told Me and More!

Hey there! I’m back again with another personal post update like I promised you last week.

I’ve really been looking forward to getting to catch up with you again this week.

This past week was a lot of fun for me as far as the blog goes.

I spent a lot of my time working on things behind the scenes for you all, and planning out exactly how the next year will look for Saving Dollars and Sense.

I’m super excited for this year and all of the content I have for you already!!

In fact, I have a content calendar planned and filled in for the entire year with 1-3 new posts each week focused on recipes, saving money, and frugal living.

My Posting Schedule for 2025

• Monday – Money Saving
• Tuesday – Recipes
• Thursday – Frugal Living
• Saturday – Personal Updates

I aim to give you at least one new post in each category every week, and I already have 80 posts ready to go!!

Of course, I’m always open to suggestions, so if you find there is something you’d like me to add to the blog, reach out and let me know, and I’ll look into getting it done.

Last night, we braved driving through a serious winter storm to keep my promise to my grandson, and we got to see Liam in his break-out role in the play Finding Nemo.

He’s been working so hard with multiple evening practices each week and it paid off because he was chosen to be in all four nights of the performance.

He asked me to attend his opening night performance, so I told him I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

I happen to think he is just the cutest little water creature.

Funny part of the night:

When Liam came out to see us, I had some Swedish fish candy and offered him some

Liam: I can’t, grama.

Me: Why not? They’re so good!

Liam: Because I’m not a cannibal!!

Because he was playing a sea creature in Finding Nemo, he just couldn’t eat the candy fish.

I was pretty proud of his use of dark humor at that moment.

The play was super fun!

And it was 100% worth it to see the smile on his face when he saw we had come like we said we would.

It was great to see Connors smile too!!

Weekly Wins

Here we are just two weeks into the New Year, and I’m still moving along with creating and strengthening my new good habits and our spending freeze.

It’s been tempting at times, but we have managed to stick to it except for one very small slip-up when we stopped at Dairy Queen one night on the way home from church.

We had a gift card for Dairy Queen to use, but there wasn’t enough left on it to cover the entire bill, so we had to use our debit card to cover the rest.

We also decided to have lunch together on Friday, and each of us got these huge Cobb Salads at our favorite cafe in town.

We were able to bring home enough leftovers to add it to some more lettuce the next day for another great salad lunch – so 2 days of lunches for the price of one!!

Yes, this was outside our previous goal of not spending at restaurants.

But here’s the lesson learned: when you fail at something, don’t just give up and say oh well that’s it I messed up and should just throw it all away.

No!!!!

Get right back to it.

Realize the mistake you made and start again.

Thankfully, we had a friend take us both out to lunch last weekend, so we enjoyed that guilt free.

I’m still drinking my water and reading my bible each day and I feel so much better already.

Favorite Find

What I’m Watching/Reading/Listening to:

I was so excited to see one of the books I read last year, The Last Thing He Told Me, has been made into a short mini-series on Apple TV!

This book is currently OVER HALF OFF in paperback if you’d like to read it.

What’s it About?

When Owen Michaels vanishes, he leaves his wife, Hannah, a cryptic note: “Protect her,” referring to his teenage daughter, Bailey, who resents her stepmother. As law enforcement descends and Owen’s secrets unravel, Hannah discovers he’s not who she thought he was. Believing Bailey holds the key to Owen’s disappearance, the two join forces to uncover the truth. Together, they uncover shocking revelations about Owen’s past while forging an unexpected bond and a new future.

While there is some swearing and LOTS of lying in this one, I have yet to see anything else that I wouldn’t want to see.

I’m pretty conservative and prefer my TV entertainment to free of sexually explicit scenes.

I haven’t finished the entire series yet, but so far, SO good!!

That’s it for this week’s little update!

Life has been busy but filled with so many meaningful moments, and I’m so grateful to have the chance to share them with you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed catching up and maybe even found some inspiration in the wins, finds, and favorites I’ve shared.

I’d love to hear about your week too—what’s been bringing you joy or keeping you busy lately? Drop me a comment or send me a quick message.

Take care and keep celebrating those little wins—they add up to something amazing!

Until next time,