Four Frugal Things (and one ironic NOT frugal thing. Oof.)
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Let's get the not-frugal thing out of the way first, ok?
1. Of library fines and fees
So, I wrote the post about library fines on Tuesday night, and published it yesterday morning. I was drawing on past library-related mistakes for fodder, and I thought all was currently well with my account.
(I'm sure you can see where this is going.)
I started working thru my email backlog yesterday morning and lo and behold, there was a date due reminder. From two days ago.
AUGH!!!!
Of course, we have eleventy billion books out from the library at the moment, which means that in a matter of two days, I managed to rack up an $18 late fee.
I can't decide if this is funny or dreadful. But I do think it's kind of ironic.
2. I ordered a replacement part for my grill.
Our grill is a 3-burner Weber Genesis, which we've owned since 2002 or so. A big thing I like about Weber grills is that there are so many replacement parts available. If something fails, you can easily replace the part and keep on trucking (or grilling).
A lot of cheaper grills are not so modular.
Anyway, the thermometer on my grill stopped working, so I hopped on Amazon and ordered a new one.
(Amazon has a bunch of Weber replacement thermometers...mine is the 9815 version.)
Weber grills are a bit on the expensive side and their design is rather simple (not many bells and whistles), but I'm really glad we saved up and bought one all those years ago, as I'm not sure a cheaper grill would still be going strong by now.
Simple, reliable, and repairable trumps bells and whistles pretty much every time.
3. I cancelled a credit card to avoid an annual fee.
I'd signed up for Barclay's travel reward card to earn rewards for Mr. FG and Joshua's $500 CA trip. But our period of free annual fees was over, and we were about to be charged an $89 fee.
If the rewards program was as good as it used to be, I'd have considered keeping the card.
But they've made some changes that were decidedly not improvements, and I don't think the card was worth $89 to us.
4. I used a coupon code + cashback to buy clothes for Joshua.
He was in need of some clothes for his coffee shop job (jeans with no holes, shirts that fit into the muted company color palette), so I hopped onto American Eagle's website and put together an order.
I found items that were on sale, applied a discount code, and also remembered to shop through TopCashBack for an additional $7.34 bonus.
And since he needed multiple items, the order met the free shipping requirement. Yay!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: American Eagle is an awesome place to find clothes for tall, lanky teenage boys, and this is especially true on their website, where they carry sizes like 28/34 or 29/34. Seriously, such a godsend. Buying jeans for Joshua in stores used to be an exercise in frustration, and now we just pop onto the website and order them.
If I could insert a heart-eyes emoji here, I totally would.
(I am not affiliated with American Eagle in any way. I just am grateful that they make clothes that fit my son!)
5. I used some Kohl's Cash + Yes2You rewards before they expired.
I barely squeaked by with this, as the last day to use the Kohl's Cash was yesterday.
I got Sonia two pairs of jeans and also a leather belt.
The belt is from the women's department and while it is a bit on the long side, it's the sort that doesn't have belt holes, so she can just cinch it up as far as she needs to and tuck the belt end into her jean loops.
We couldn't find a kid's belt, and besides, kid belts are usually good for about 5 seconds before they fall apart. Since this one is leather, I have higher hopes for it.
(Fellow moms of very slender girls; after trying on all sorts of jeans that didn't fit, we were able to find slim S.O. brand skinny jeans for Sonia in the girls department at Kohl's. Regular skinny jeans usually balloon out in the hips for my girls, so slim skinny jeans are perfect. Yay! I am not affiliated with Kohl's; just helping fellow moms out.)
One pair of the jeans rang up at $32 instead of the marked $16.99 sale price, but we were able to get that adjusted at Customer Service. Excellent.
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Your turn! Share your own five frugal things (or throw in a fail if you want 😉 ) in the comments.
On my grocery store trip I bought a bag of black beans to cook in the crock, then freeze in portions - about 50% cheaper than canned. I bought a late season potted lantana at Wally World that was marked down to $1.92 - it is thriving in a pot by the front door. Cheaper and hardier than mums, and pretty gold and yellow blooms. This month we have spent a BUNCH of money on a new fence. I am trying to save a buck here and there. Yesterday we had leftovers for lunch, and today and Friday I am working some overtime hours. Gotta even it out somewhere!
Ha! Library late fees are my little contribution. I don't pay property taxes (yet) since we're renters, so I figure the late fees are my way of thanking the library system for their services. That way I don't feel guilty about it. 🙂
You can be sure your landlord is including property tax in your rent. When I had a mortgage property taxes were included in the escrow account. After paying off the mortgage it was a shock to see how much of my monthly payment went to taxes.
Was just going to comment along with AFS that property taxes are definitely included in with your rent! If/when your rent increases it may be because of a property tax increase. DON'T feel guilty!
1. Shopped at Aldi, as always
2. Made my granddaughter an awesome, full overskirt for her Snow White Halloween costume, out of yellow tulle that was .97 a yard. Cost me less than $5
3. Ate leftovers for dinner last night, when a takeout burger sounded decidedly better. The leftovers turned out to be just as good as the night we first ate them, though ( chicken and rice)
4. NOT FRUGAL: Splurged for tickets to the Nutcracker in December, this is becoming a tradition for the "girls" in the family ( my three daughters, my mom, and daughter in law, plus my oldest granddaughter) but what the heck. I ordered early, got great seats, and avoided a handling/shipping fee by having them held at will call.
5. Skipped a trip to Target when I really didn't need anything, but I know had I gone anyway, I would have come out with SOMETHING. This is a big win for me. My daughter and I both agreed we'd skip it, when we do usually go there when we are out and about together.
I should add, too, the the Nutcracker performance is not Houston Ballet, whose tickets are way out of my price range, but a smaller ballet troupe who are just incredibly awesome, and affordable, too. They even have a live orchestra, and are much closer to us than the downtown theater for Houston Ballet.
Last year I took my youngest to the Nutcracker at Christmas time. Even with a local ballet it does add up. Her delight made it all worth while.
It sure does, doesn't it?
Not sure if I can think of frugal things maybe 1 or 2. We had a date nite w/ a giftcard that was given us. I will be going to Aldi for grocerys today.
What I was going to say was love, love, love, Lands end for my boys pants. We have a son that is 6'2" & skinny as a rail so when I discovered them to say the least I was very happy. He wears 30/36 which is a little hard to find in stores. Love your site
Ooh yes, I bet that is a hard size! Luckily Joshua's been at a 34 length for a little while now, so I'm thinking MAYBE he's going to stay there. His last few pairs of jeans have been worn out, not grown out of, so perhaps that means he's done getting taller.
Do you happen to know off hand if they have 31/36? I've been having to get my boy 32/36 from American Eagle and Gap and telling him to cinch it with a belt. I'm the girl version and find the Eddie Bauer skinny slim fit jeans in tall for women are pretty good fitting if you have slim hips and thin legs.
YES to Lands End! One of my sons needed 29/36 dress pants once and the ONLY option in all of cyber world was LE boys school khakis unhemmed. His younger brother ended up wearing them as well. So glad when they both put on a little weight! As college students that have ballooned out to 33/36. Woohoo!
Most of my five things are food-related, but since I do those things all the time (making bread, always making dinner, packing lunches, etc.), I'm afraid I no longer consider them notable successes. 🙂
I'm about to start the buying of necessary outdoor winter clothing purchases for my three sons. We've moved even farther north this winter (like, a mile from the Canadian border kind of north), and so what I choose for them is even more important. It has to be exceptionally good quality if it has a chance of keeping them warm, which means $$$$. Unfortunately, my usual options for buying secondhand aren't really working out for the stuff this year. If anyone has any thoughts on how I can get serious cold-weather gear for small children (7 years, 4 years, and 2 years) with any kind of discount or whatever, I'm ALLLLLLLL ears . . .
Hi Kristin!
Have you tried going to thrifts stores across the border (Canada)? Since you are so close it's worth it to go take a look. I live in Quebec, Canada, and our thrifts stores always carry a lot of winter gear this time if the year.
I have two ideas which might help:
1. Is there a Freecycle group in your area? Look up freecycle.org for more info.
2. Goodwill has an online store.
Good luck.
What sizes are they? I LOVE Lands' end outerwear, especially the Squall parkas (they have an attached hood and fleece lining. I have some boys' things I'm getting ready to sell that might fit your 7-year-old. Parka, boots, mittens, gloves. Also some North Face fleece and Patagonia long underwear.
Kristin: the ski store near out house has an annual tent sale this coming weekend, where they sell all of last year's gear at a deep discount before the new season begins. Maybe you have something like that? The store I'm talking about is ridiculously expensive, but the tent sale is terrific.
My oldest is at the size Small (7-8), the younger are at 5-6 and size 2T.
Though, I must add, I should have specified that we live in a very, very rural area, and so there are no Freecycle groups, large stores, or good thrift stores. I could go to Montreal (1.5 hours away, and the nearest large city), if I knew my way around there and could go without having to take my small children. I tried the online second-hand options, but they don't have the serious cold-weather stuff I need. I think I'm going to have to pay full price, but it's worth it if my kids can be out without discomfort. We're an outdoor family, so we need to be outdoors no matter the weather.
Is there a parents' facebook group in your neighbourhood? Or other families at church or daycare (or school for that matter) with slightly older kids? You could also check out bulletin boards at kid-friendly places like kids hair salons, indoor play areas, community centres. Some of the sports stores will also do swaps (more often on sports gear like skates etc than on outerwear but hey, you probably need that too!) where you bring in last year's stuff and get a discount on this year's.
Kids tend to outgrow rather than wear out and most parents are happy to resell the outgrown stuff.
when we moved to Alaska, we got an REI membership ($20or $30 for lifetime) which got us 10% off all non-sale items. We bought mostly REI brand items (instead of More expensive brands like Patagonia or Arctyrex), and were very impressed with quality and lifespan. It was worth the money to get gear that encouraged us to be outside, even when it was below 0 degrees.
I have made sure that we have eaten at home and not wasted food this week. I have avoided the shop as much as possible. My frugal fail was to grocery shop with my mother. We now have so many expensive treat foods in the fridge that is scares me. Who really needs quince paste, pear paste, various pickled fish and many more fancy things.
How long did you keep your rewards credit card before cancelling? I am considering cancelling one of mine. I have a really good credit score and I dont want it to. E negatively affected. Do you track your score? I realize that you already have a house so it may not be as big of a deal to you. I plan on buying a house in the next five years and want my score to be as good as possible.
I think we've had it for almost two years. Our credit score is very good, and the occasional cancelling of a credit card hasn't seemed to negatively affect it at all.
Kristen is right an OCASSIONAL cancelled card won't have a negative impact on your credit score. Just don't cancel multiple cards in a short period of time.
Especially if it's a relatively new card. If it's a card you've had years and years, it is going to negatively impact your score more than cancelling a new card, since it would significantly affect your average credit years or whatever the specific term is (it's too late, and I'm too sleepy to think coherently!), which is a fairly large factor in scoring models.
Let’s see. This week:
1. Yesterday’s dinner didn’t work out, so I used a BOGO coupon for dinner at Taco Cabana. Huge dinner portions for 2 people for $8. Not bad!
2. Otherwise we’ve been on track with our meals this week, which is AWESOME considering that it’s our last week in the apartment and all of our possessions are AWOL.
3. We’re almost done painting the kitchen at the house. We move in this weekend, so it haaaas to be done before Saturday. We just have to touch up the paint today and Mr. Picky Pincher will start sealing our DIY concrete counters.
4. I got a headboard for free on Freecycle. I just need to wait for Mr. Picky Pincher to repair a part on it, and then I’ll give it a fresh coat of paint. It should look pretty badass once it’s all done!
5. I used two bunches of green onions for dinner early in the week. I left portions of the leaves intact and put the onions in a glass of water. Hopefully they can recover a bit and I can plant them in our garden at the house. Love me some green onions!
1. We're in Gatlinburg this week, while their big fall craft festival is going on. We decided to forego the $14 in tix to go there and drove around the Arts & Crafts Trail instead. Much more relaxing and did find a few small gifts locally made and on the frugal side!
2.Shared an order of Smoky Mountain nachos for lunch at a small 4 and 1/2 star rated place. One of the best under $8 (for two people) lunches ever!
3. Using up stuff in the condo that we bought at Aldi's last week. So far under $40 in groceries here (and there will be some things we're taking on to our next stay in Indiana.
4. Using the trolley ($4 for the two of us) to go into downtown Gatlinburg rather than the expense and aggravation of driving and parking.
5. NOT SO FRUGAL: paying nearly a dollar a packet for yeast. But enjoyed the whole wheat pizza and English muffins we made with it.
I like that you're continuing your frugal efforts while on the road/vacation! It's inspirational 🙂 Oh my goodness, a DOLLAR per packet of yeast?! That's pretty steep!
I love American Eagle for my kids who are average size as well! My 12 year old girl fits well into their size 2 jeggings and leggings, and my 15 year old girl does pretty well with them too with a size 4. I was able hand the 2's down, so they held up well. My 17 year old 6'2" 200 lb. son loves their straight leg jeans and generally their all-American clothes styles. He's a jeans/tshirt/hoodie kid and appreciates that most of the stuff their is in that style. I have to be more careful with the girls shirts, especially for the 12 year old, but I can usually find stuff that is appropriate.
Five frugal things:
1. Ordered ACT scores sent on time so I don't have to pay priority fees to get my son's college apps done.
2. Made a crockpot dinner on a super busy night when I was coming and going all through out the dinner hour rather than hitting the drive thru.
3. Had a leftover night for dinner last night to save me time and avoid wasting food.
4. Making turkey chili for dinner tonight instead of ground beef since turkey was on a big sale this week.
5. Got an email notice from the library that they auto-renewed my books that were coming due. Score one for using the library and not purchasing the book and two for signing up for the auto feature!
One more - in getting together college apps, we were able to report 9 AP scores in the 4-5 range which means that my son will start college with almost a year's worth of college credit in the bank. This cost us < $100 per test as the classes were taken in his public high school. We just had to pay for the tests, and he had to do the studying.
I mark library due dates on my calendar now which is the glue that holds my house and family together!
+ Got back on the wagon about meal planning.
+ When I was extremely hungry yesterday after eating my bagged lunch, I bought a breakfast sandwich ($1.79) instead of a lunch-sized one ($6).
+ Looking for a Restore or equivalent at which to buy paint stains, rather than buying new cans. Also found some wood scraps (hard and soft wood both) to practice on. I haven't stained before and don't want to either mess it up or get the wrong color, so practice is in order.
+ Nabbed the unsold books from one charity sale, to donate to my work's charity book sale.
+ Finally caught up on my med bills - submitting to insurance, checking that insurance got it right, arguing with them when they inevitably don't. The stories I could tell...!
+ Continued to exercise.
- Still need to org the freezer. I hate doing this but do it often enough that I rarely actually lose stuff in there.
This is so funny! You post about accruing library fines and then.... have some. Funny for me, anyway, because I don't have to pay them :).
Today is going to be a bit unfrugal, because a friend and I are going out for lunch. However, it's been about 8 months since we've done this, so I'm doing it anyway. And yesterday I was bragging about how I never eat out anymore. So I got "caught out", too. We'll go to a cheap place, at least.
1. I purchased two more Christmas gifts. That's more money I won't be spending all at once in December. I'm rustling up ideas to make some more gifts, too.
2. I'm stocking the freezer with local grass-fed beef, like I did last year. We can eat off of it for a long time. I'll be pretty well stocked with beef, pork, and poultry when I get this done.
3. Now that the weather trying to act a little like autumn, I can put my concrete pumpkin out as décor. My aunts-- two spinster sisters-- had two of them for their front door for years, and gave one to me and one to my sister. I repainted mine and use it year after year.
4. I also have a trough style concrete planter that had belonged to my late parents. I planted self-seeding blanket flower in there and it grows lovely flowers every year with no effort on my part. The cooler air is making them come back and bloom again in bright gold, red and orange, perfect for fall.
5. I'm wearing a Goodwill shirt, gifted slacks and repaired shoes.
Kristen, I feel for you on trying to find unusual sizes. My oldest started high school wearing a women's size 4-1/2, AAAA shoe. She basically had 3 pairs of shoes that year -- sneakers, school shoes, and one pair of dress shoes. The rest of the time it was flip-flops. I hunted everywhere for her shoes.
I'm thankful that our library does not charge late fees. If they did, I could probably fund a brand new library building all by myself!
Here's a library fine solution for you! Encourage a child to get a job as a library page or clerk. It was my second/part-time job for five years, ending eight-plus years ago (gah, all of a sudden seems like a long time), and still staff members will forgive my fines. 🙂
Lisey has been trying! But the page jobs are in high demand and she hasn't been able to land one yet.
Good for her. Keep trying, Lisey! If there's a Friends of the Library group that maybe does fundraising or has an annual used book sale or whatever, she might consider joining up with that group to get her name out there. (You've probably tried All Of The Things already, so forgive my over-helpfulness.)
I think I only got the clerk job because I was a library aide in high school at the time the librarian was digitizing the collection, so I wasn't a rank amateur at the database concept. Fortunate, because it was a really good job and I've ended up with some lifelong friends and allies in the library science business. 🙂
I had a job as a library clerk as an adult. I loved it! A lot of the younger clerks there were volunteers first, so they had an in when a job opening popped up.
We are waiting to move into our house, so we're on the less-frugal path due to our living situation being a day-by-day thing 😉
But I did use TopCashBack for some big ticket items that we needed for the house (like a bathroom sink) and my husband opened his own account there to earn cash back on the blinds he ordered!
Just a comment on grills: I bought Hubs a Weber original Kettle grill as my wedding gift to him (six years ago - wow!) It is seriously the best $100 I ever spent! We use it a ton! And it's great for bbq get-togethers at our house, which encourages us not to eat out as much. If you can't afford a gas grill, I highly recommend the Weber Kettle. It's practically indestructible - I think our cost per use has to be in the single digits by now. 🙂
1. While I didn't make dinner for my birthday, I bought it marked down 50%.
2. I got a new book for my oldest to read from the clothing / book giveaway at school.
3. I walk everywhere rather than drive.
4. We ate leftovers.
5. NOT SO FRUGAL - All 3 kids needed new shoes at once so off to Wally world it was.
On the belts for kids: I have found Myself Belts to be good quality and very helpful. https://www.myselfbelts.com I have a couple of really thin leggy sons and they had a permanent case of 'plumber's butt' until a fellow mom told me about these belts. They are easy for potty training kids to undo, too!
What a great idea for younger kids! And for teens/adults with dexterity challenges.
Interesting product. I work in the elderly rehabilitation field, so I'll keep it in mind.
Well, not every day is a frugal day and yesterday was not a frugal day for me and I'm not happy about it! I succumbed to temptation and ordered delivery! I had been craving a piece of pizza for days and I fell into that craving face first!
This bothers me for multiple reasons.
I spent $16 on delivery!!!
It tasted like crap and in no way was it good for my body.
I spent $16 on delivery!!!
But, one must get over it and learn from her mistake and move on.
Frugal Five:
1. I've started sorting through items I have around the house that I no longer want or need. I really want to declutter and get rid of all the unnecessary items we have. I'm going to try my hand at selling on the local Facebook page and craigs list. Junk out, money in 🙂
2. My parents came to visit Sunday for dinner. We had a lovely grass fed beef pot roast that I had bartered for, roasted potatoes and carrots, deviled eggs and a huge pan of cornbread. The company was lovely, the meal was healthy and delicious and I fed 4 people for well under $10 This is why I really struggle with my frugal fail that I mentioned above. (must... move... on...)
3. Our lovely daughter-in-law came to visit (from Georgia) this weekend and she helped me cook the lovely Sunday dinner. We enjoyed each other's company without having to make plans, make reservations or go shopping. She even went with the Z Man to deliver a load of wood that he had sold and we had a great time visiting!
4. Saturday the Z Man and I had a date night... we rented a movie, had a bottle of wine and ate leftover meatloaf at home. It was the best date night! I'm not going to lie, sometimes I do think I'm a bit odd because I'd rather stay at home with my husband and just do us instead of going out and being around a bunch of people we don't know eating mediocre food (at best) and paying too much for it. We are homebodies, it's what we like and it works for us.
5. I swept all my leftover money from the cash envelopes into savings last week and I'll continue that process every week, even if it's only a small amount. Pennies make dollars Y'all! Keep on keeping on with the frugalness and be gratefull that spending $16.00 for stupid delivery does in fact bother the crap out of me. Ok, I'll not mention it again. 🙂
If you fall into the Pizza Delivery trap frequently you can try what I do. I keep Pizza kits (home made dough, proportioned sauce, shredded mozzarella, and other toppings) in my freezer at all times. When the cravings hit I can create a homemade pizza in a little more than the time it would take to have it delivered. My estimated cost $3.
Its clear that you learned a valuable ($16)lesson from your moment of weakness.
A little while ago I fell into the Chinese takeaway craving-trap. It was expensive, and not nearly as nice as home-made stir fry (not to mention unhealthy). I considered the cost 'school-fees'; an investment future savings, by not making the mistake again. Forgive yourself!
Don't get too wrapped up about the delivery pizza; we all have a story or two to tell. On the foresightful side, keeping a frozen pizza on hand will help diminish the financial next time. $5-8 is much less than $16.
CarolineRSA - funny you should say that. I'm an experienced cook and spent a chunk of time in Asia. Nonetheless, I find that most Chinese take-away is better than what I cook at home. One reason is the stove. Home stoves aren't well-designed for Chinese cooking, which calls for extremely high heat that is concentrated in a small area.
I am always so excited to come up with my 5 frugal things because it makes me think and then hold myself accountable for the things that weren't so frugal.
1. I sold kids clothing and toys (that were just sitting around the house) at a trunk sale this past weekend. I made $200! The most expensive thing I sold was marked $5, so I know I sold a lot.
2. At the end of the trunk sale, after I had all of my items put away, I walked around and looked through the FREE bins that were appearing. It seemed odd to just look through those bins, but I was there to make money...not spend it! (plus it was at the end of the sale, so I wasn't like they didn't have time to sell the stuff before hand) I was able to pick up some great clothing for my daughter to grow into.
3. The lady next to me at the trunk sale had women's clothing for sale and I had boys clothing that would fit her son, so we traded! No $ needed!
4. There are many Halloween events happening this weekend and my husband works, so I have a full agenda for my weekend and everything is free. The BEST one on my list is a trick or treat a local nursing home. Not only do my kids get to trick or treat indoors, but we also get to give some of the residents visitors that they may not have normally had.
5. I was tempted multiple times to not pack my lunch but I made myself eat whatever we had in the fridge.
It seems hard to come up with 5, but I'll give it a try.....
#1 Last week I was going to get my muffler fixed at a local garage. They misquoted me by $80, so i told them to forget it (they also tried selling me an oil change which my hubby just recently did, plus try & sell me tires which i got a quote from the same place a week earlier & the price changed by $110 more - same tires).....glad i didn't get it fixed there. I went to a actual local muffler place & got my car fixed & saved that $80 and i also get a warranty from the muffler place. They didn't try to sell me anything else. Also, the muffler place told me that now with my new muffler I'll be getting better gas mileage!
#2 My sister & co-worker both got vouchers from their health insurance company for four free tickets to our local hockey team for this weekend and they won't use them so they offered them to me. So i got 4 free tickets to the Friday game & 4 free tickets to the Saturday game. My family loves hockey so I was ecstatic about this. Plus retail on those 8 tickets is about $160!!!
#3 My youngest daughter & i went shopping at our local thrift store last night. I was looking for two articles of clothing to complete my Halloween costume (we have to dress up for work) and I found one of them for under $2. I will check another thrift store this weekend for the other piece.
#4 My mother-in-law helped me make an article for my costume the other night & even provided the elastic for me (no charge). The tulle I purchased at the craft store with a 50% off coupon.
#5 Neighbor guy brought over homemade strawberry crepes for us as a treat on Sunday. His wife passed away last fall & he now lives alone, so we've been trading garden vegetables this summer along with baked goods. I took him two pints of different soups a few weeks ago since we had leftovers & i didn't want them to go to waste.
Wow! That was easier than i thought. Will work hard to have some to report each week.
Thank you so much for recommended a store for tall people. My son was given a few hand me down hoodies from American Eagle and I was impressed with the quality of their clothing. However, I was stumped on where I can find bottoms for a tall, skinny teenager and never once thought about AE. I will definitely check it out.
I buy all of my underthings at American Eagle, and have since my early 20s (I'm in my mid 30s now!). I just LOVE them. Recently I found myself in need of new underwear, and went down to the store to find that they magically were having a fantastic sale: 8 pairs for $28. WHAT?!
It was amazing. I love American Eagle.
We bought a Weber at a garage sale for $25 several years ago. Best $25 we ever spent.
This is kind of an unusual thing I guess but I'd had a root canal done the end of August right prior to going on a long planned trip to the lower 48, (I live in Anchorage) to see my siblings. My pain continued getting worse, to the point of dental agony & I had to pay cash from my emergency fund for a root canal on the same tooth because the original dentist had missed a root according to the 2nd dentist. It was almost $1,000 although they discounted it by 15% due to my paying cash. Anyway, finally got up my nerve to call the original dentist in my hometown & asked to speak with the billing mgr. After a couple of hours she called back & said that the dentist (who had missed the root) was going to refund my insurance company! So now I have more dental credit to use for the cap which I wasn't going to be able to afford for some time. I was so afraid to make that call but it worked out really well! That dentist now is on my warm & fuzzy side....
It's ok about the library fine. 1)the fines provide revenue for libraries to purchase more books and 2)you couldn't spend $18 and enjoy the # of books you had borrowed. That's what I tell myself!
In my experience braided leather belts break if you cinch them too tight. Loose lasts longer so pull it just tight enough to keep the jeans up.
Recently...
1)We picked apples at a neighbor's house last Saturday, and I made and canned apple butter for Christmas presents.
2) Asked a different neighbor for permission, then picked hachiya persimmons that would otherwise go to waste.
3) Walked over to pick up my CSA box instead of driving.
4) Toasted some bagels for breakfast that I'd previously frozen after they were left over from a brunch we hosted.
5) Dragged my two kids to the fabric store instead of paying for shipping and potentially getting the wrong colors or material. (Still not sure this one was a win on the whole, as baby cried the entire time).
1) cooked a 9 pound pork loin and we made meals for 9 days with it. Growing, hungry son will eat anything.
2) bought Christmas gifts with Staples rewards, Shutterfly credit, Groupons, Top cash back, 55.00 free gift cards from Best Buy and Swagbucks. had Kohls cash, Sams rewards ,Visa checkout credit. I spent 45.00 out of pocket and got about 250.00 in gifts for my 3 children. This includes 65.00 in Target giftcards for my sons upcoming birthday. I imagine a video game will be his choice.
3) Put bubble wrap on my windows and covered them in plastic.
4) did three deals at Walmart online order/store pickup and saved 30.00 off a 90.00 purchase. I purchased holiday food and pet supplies.
5) stopped at Shanes BBQ with my son to eat. A rare treat since he rarely goes anywhere with me. 30.00 for two of us. He said next time we should order wings from the pizza place that it was so not worth it.
wow! great score on the Christmas presents!!!
Consider your library fine as a donation to your library system. Thinking of it like that helps ease the pain a little.
* I've refrained from personally eating out or buying junk food since the beginning of the month, which is huge for me!
* I've been having rotator cuff pain for about a month now and finally decided to see a massage therapist about it. He was really good and after 2 sessions (one last week, one today) the pain is already much better. I have a physical job and I need to be able to use my arms, so it's essential that I have work done on my own body. This is an investment long term (I will continue going every 2 to 3 weeks). 65$ per session is well spent if it permits me to keep taking shifts (I work on-call, so zero sick days).
* 2 birthday parties this weekend (kindergarten age). Got a bunch of stuff on sale (asphalt crayons, fruit lather, princesses cups, cotton candy and stickers roll) used gift bags and paper from our stash and added an homemade card.
Cost : 10$/gift.
* Daughter needs a water bottle. Was on the Christmas list. Found a Gaiam one in the lost&found at work (been there long enough). Washed it well and added it to the Christmas pile. Bonus: it's purple, her favorite color!
* Frugal fail: registered for a support group. 125$ for 8 weeks. Went 3 weeks and realized it's not for me (won't go back). Oh well....
I have the same grill as Y'all do -- a Weber Genesis Silver. I got it in '99 and it's still going strong. I replaced the grates with stainless ones about 10 years ago and the thermometer about three years ago. 🙂
Yup, we've replaced our grates too! Love those Webers.
Sometimes I see my two-day notice from the library and don't act on it, sometimes I just don't see it. I never mind paying the fines for all the reasons already listed in the comments. Recently I've been renting two movies on Tuesday ($1.59 for both!) and that gets me back every week for returns so I've had less fines and the kids get a higher turn over of reading material!
We replaced the grate on our grill two years ago and it was like getting a whole new grill.
Y'all, I don't even know what to think about frugality or money anymore. After months of trying to figure out what was wrong I've been diagnosed with a terminal illness. On the one hand, there will come a time when I cannot work anymore And my expenses will get considerably greater – even now, we are relying more on restaurant and other services I used to just do myself.On the other hand, if we're ever going to take certain trips together this is the time to do it. We are deeply in prayer.
Oh, Stephanie. I am so, so sorry to hear this. Are your hand problems all related to this?
Sending you so much love.
Stephanie, may your lord be kind to you and your questions answered.
Thank you both so very much. Yes, our faith is a big part of getting us through this.
You have a great memory Kristen – ALS does not usually show up in my hands first without showing up elsewhere. That and the fact that I'm younger and female or been most ALS patients through everybody for a loop on the diagnosis.
Hoping and praying that this moves super slowly for you, and that they make some speedy breakthroughs in treatment.
Irony is the worst when it costs money!
Here are my frugal things:
1. I am almost finished piecing together a Captain Hook costume from Goodwill items. I am especially proud of the fact that the main bit is a $3 ladies red wool blazer. The fabric was just the amount I needed, and $3 was much cheaper than I could have purchased the fabric new.
2. When we cleaned out our home office to move to a commercial space, I discovered where my husband had been squirreling away all the items he had been telling me for years (YEARS!) he was going to Craigslist. The last item, an old camera, sold yesterday for $90.
3. We decided to raise prices in our business and our airbnb rental. My husband and I were nervous about it because we are both very price-sensitive ourselves, but the prices on both had been too low for too long, and it hasn't slowed demand one bit.
4. We've decided to pull our oldest out of aftercare when my semester ends on Dec 9. I'll be home reading for comprehensive exams after this semester ends, and he is old enough sit quietly and do homework and then go about his business while I get one more hour of work done before we pick the little ones up from daycare. It will save us $95/week.
5. We're on month two of Dave Ramsey-style budgeting. My husband and I have always lived very frugally, (we can go a month without getting takeout or buying clothes and not even notice) but I was curious to see if it might help us live even cheaper. Last month we came in under budget by just a little, but this month we are way under. I'm not convinced that it is because of the budget. Rather I think it might just be because this has been an especially quiet month. But I'll take the cash either way. And we'll try it again next month to see how it goes. The jury is still out.