I love small town life. If anyone is in central NY in mid-September, c'mon over to the Jordan Fall Festival. It was a lot of fun. Not very big - maybe 10 or 15 rides, a big food tent with about 10 different booths, some games, and two large craft tents. But it was a reasonably priced night out, not too crowded, and my boys had fun.
I did spend a little more than I wanted to, but I also had $10 left from my grocery trip today that I put towards my entertainment budget, plus DH kicked in the exra money he had from going to the ATM this week.
Spent: $11.50 for food for four (I brought our drinks so we wouldn't have to buy them)
$6 on used books (12 children's books at $.50 each)
$6.60 on ride tickets (my parents also bought a few extras for the kids)
$5 on a dozen of the best doughnuts I have ever had, made fresh at the festical - we always get these first as they tend to sell out every year

A delightful evening!

I also went grocery shopping with my mom today. We stopped at two Mennonite stores close to home. One is less than 10 minutes away, yet I never think to go there. It was SO cheap. They sell a lot of near-expiration or past-expiration date products. Some examples:
16 oz carton of sour cream, $.59 (a few days before expiration - but I have found it to stay good for a week or two past opening, even if it's past the date)
package of sausage breakfast links, $1.29
large bag of apples, $3.25
6 slightly bruised pears, $.95
8 oz. shredded cheese, $1.39
a huge bag of unsweetened chocolate squares for baking - 36 squares for $1.81 (my best find!)
I spent $31 at this store, and then my mom spent $33 at the next store - a similar store but with more of an emphasis on bulk goods. There I got some cornmeal, nuts, chocolate-covered coffee beans (my splurge), some seconds peaches, more pears, etc. Both my mom and I bought stuff, but it evened out in the end as we each spent about the same. I got some TVP and am going to try to use it in cooking to stretch the meat budget. I used it once in the past and it wasn't noticed...let's see if I can do it again. It will be healthier too.

Now to get one of those doughnuts...