I'm back from my trip to see my sister in California and I am having fun reading all of your frugals! Kelli, that shawl is lovely!

I am in the process of planning some frugal mini-trips for us this summer. I am sick of being stressed out and I think a couple of weekends of camping might help to clear my head. We are going for just one night over 4th of July weekend to a place that is less than an hour away from our house. I planned a pretty frugal, easy camping menu, so it won't really cost us much to go.

One thing I had noticed the last few years was that we tended to spend more than I thought was reasonable going out for ice cream. It's fun, sure, but so is eating ice cream on the deck. I bought some Costco ice cream treats that were 40 for $10. We are lucky to spend only $10 on the entire family going out for ice cream, these days it's more like $20 with all of the kids. I also got some regular ice cream and I have been making my own fudge sauce with chocolate chips and milk when I want something a little more special.

We sold a dresser that we used to use for the girls' room, but don't anymore, and our old bed frame. We got $85 for the two of them.

Our family reunion was canceled and rescheduled. This will end up being a frugal thing for us because the new location, Chippewa Falls, WI, is only about half the distance of the old one in Wausau, WI, so we will save on gas. We may or may not camp, but even if we do it will be three days less than it was going to be. I wish we had more time, actually, but maybe next year, and I might as well look on the bright side.

Zach's paycheck was less this time because he had to go in late when I was in California and we didn't want to use vacation time to cover it. I am trying to make up some of the difference in the grocery budget for the next two weeks. I managed to come up with a pretty decent menu that should cost about $80 less than my usual grocery budget.