1. I’m using up some baby shampoo.
Not from when my kids were babies, mind you (my littlest baby is about to turn 12!).
No, I bought this when I got my ear piercing, per the instructions.
But I ended up finding saltwater soaks to be way more helpful in the healing process.
(Seriously, almost magical. It’s amazing how much that helps.)
So, I had this almost full bottle of shampoo on my hands, and I’m using it up on my own hair.
I don’t really love it because it’s not very sudsy or all that fabulous at cleaning, but I’m making it through. 
2. I shopped American Giant’s post-holiday sale.
Every year after Christmas, AG clears out some colors and styles, and the prices are super duper good.
They sell very, very quickly, though, so once you get the email, you have to shop right away.
I got two sweatshirts and a tshirt for a little less than $40. Yay!
3. I ordered a car battery online with in-store pickup.
Like most of the country, we’ve had some SERIOUSLY cold weather. The other day, I went to take the girls and a friend to a donut shop, and my van was a little slow to start.
I was like, “Eh, it’s very, very cold. That seems maybe ok.”
But then when we tried to leave the donut shop, my van wouldn’t start at all. Ugh.
Joshua drove over and we tried to jump start it, but no luck.
So, Joshua drove me home.
After Mr. FG came home from work, we went back over, cleaned off the terminals, and THEN we were able to jump-start it.
But the battery is original, which means it really is probably time to replace it. So, Mr. FG found the right one, and I called around to find what store had it in stock.
Oddly, the online price was WAY cheaper than the in-store price, so I paid for the battery online, selected in-store pickup, and off we went.
Happily, this store offers free battery install, which is fabulous when the weather is freezing cold and you have no garage to work in.
So. My van has a nice, fresh battery and I do not have to be afraid of winter cold or summer heat now (my previous van’s old battery died on a blistering summer day!).
4. I listed a bunch of books for sale.
I am not a natural-born seller (it always seems like a big headache to me), but yesterday, I listed multiple books for sale, some on eBay and some on Amazon.
I’m giving myself serious gold stars for this.
5. I inquired about a rentable college textbook for Lisey.
I noticed that a book she needs (which costs over $100), is available for rent for a mere $30. The rentable version doesn’t have an online access code, but in our experience, sometimes the professor doesn’t even have students use the code.
So, we have an email in to the professor to ask if renting is a viable option. Fingers crossed!
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Your turn! Share your Five Frugal Things in the comments.
1. I’ve been doing some shopping around on our groceries and seeing if we’re truly getting the best deals.
2. Not feeling the need to keep items that were gifted to us and will be selling, donating or flat out giving away a bunch of them. The hardest one to get rid of was an alcoholic egg-nog drink (a strange gift for my one drink every two years wife who’s married to a teetotaler) I’m thinking that may just get poured down the sink, though.
3. For whatever reason frosted flakes (even Aldi and Walmart store brand) seem to have gone up while regular old corn flakes are much cheaper. So I switched from the sugary cereal to the less sugar cereal. So I have less sugar in my diet and a few cents more in my pocket.
4. During some of the really cold days I’ve been baking bread. I figure I need bread anyway so why not use that heat from the stove to take a little strain off the furnace when it’s -5 vs when it’s like 40 out.
5. Doing a huge deep clean of my kitchen and taking inventory of what we have, what we buy and all that. I don’t know if this really counts as frugal but I figure if we can get it more minimal then we will spend less time dealing with it on a regular basis and thus be more frugal with our time.
Is the eggnog opened? I’ve had good luck giving away that type of thing on freecycle!
Nope, totally still sealed. I thought about giving it away but I wasn’t sure if I wasn’t breaking some law or fueling someone’s alcohol habit.
I don’t think you’d be breaking a law by giving away something alcoholic. Selling, yes.
Make it into eggnog pudding. In the cooking process, the alcohol would evaporate, I imagine.
No, no, don’t do that. Common misconception! If any children or teetotalers will be having the pudding, you would not want to do that.
1. The after holiday sales always seem to “call my name” but I resisted the urge to hit up all of the big box stores the day after Christma. So I saved by not going. I did hit up the Dollar General and bought some gift labels that were half off.
2. So this one is a bit insane, but money saving none the less: I have been having some serious tooth pain since November. I’ve pushed it off until the new year when my insurance starts over. Compared to the $900 out of pocked it would have cost me in November, I should only pay about $90 when I have the tooth pulled tomorrow.
3. Daycare costs: yikes are they horrible to swallow each month. BUT, with the holidays our daycare was closed and we didn’t have to pay that week. I used that money to pay off a medical bill.
4. I tried Ting Wireless for about 6 months. I gave it it’s due justice and found that I need to go back to Verizon. My per monthly bill was the same or a bit higher than what I was paying with Verizon. With that being said, my rather old smart phone stopped charging on Dec. 31st and I decided that I should just up and buy a new phone. Yikes! but I did find a heck of a deal through Verizon on New Years day. A new phone and a tablet for $18/mo. So back to Verizon I go.
5. I am also trying to use up little bottles of hotel lotion. Dry skin season is in full swing in our house, so I would like to use up what we already have instead of buying new.
Per #5: I found a couple hotel soaps in my house and am using them up. Funny how those just seem to show up in the house (I haven’t traveled in years) and not get used.
I hear you on the insurance! I made an appointment for allergy shots for Sonia now because our new insurance kicked in.
I TOTALLY would have limped along for a month and a half with a bad tooth if it saved me over $800.
I switched from Verizon to Ting and my bill dropped by over $50/month!
I remember using leftover baby shampoo from Baby FAF before, and it wasn’t great either. It didn’t really clean my hair that well, so I switched back to my Herbal Essence hehe.
Best of luck on the online code!
I use not great or cheap shampoo/body wash/baby wash as hand soap!
Use the baby shampoo as shaving cream. I do this when I get shampoo or conditioner and it doesn’t work for my hair.
I use shampoo to shave all the time.
I’ve heard ,that works well I buy men’s shaving cream because it’s cheaper than the women’s
My son is a college freshman and also has books with those online access codes for next semester. I have heard that you can buy the access code only from the publisher in some cases so you can buy a used book. The whole thing feels like a bit of a scam to me – a ploy by the publishers to force you to buy a new book instead of used. My son’s spring term doesn’t start until the end of January, so we have some time to figure it out.
Yes, I feel the exact same way. Ugh.
I’d looked into access code prices for Joshua’s math class, and the code was so expensive, it wasn’t even worth it to buy a used book plus the code. So frustrating!
Ask your children to email their professors now and ask if they will be using the online code at all.
Oh yes, that’s one of my Five Frugal Things in today’s post…we have an email in to her professor to ask if the code is necessary. Hopefully it’s not.
I think it is kind of a publisher’s scam. As a professor who did use the codes, it was still frustrating to have to update to new editions even though the old one was fine because they would stop supporting the online part of the old edition. Also the publishers do not play nice with the college bookstores so it is often the best deal to buy directly from the publishers website unless you are buying as part of a bundle.
In my college bookstore management experience, buying a used book + the online code (even from the publisher) was usually still more expensive than buying the package of the new book combined with the online code. Hopefully the professor will say it isn’t needed! Those things can add up quickly!
I had a whole bottle of baby shampoo to use up once. I used mine to wash delicate tights in the sink. It worked just fine that it wasn’t super sudsy!
I used mine to clean the toilet bowls.
It is also great for cleaning make-up brushes!
1. Tonight’s dinner was salad using spinach, tomatoes and carrots from our garden (actually the entire pathetic carrot crop was about enough for a garnish).
2. Working my way through the pantry and deepfreeze. I would like to have an almost empty house (foodwise), do a thorough cleaning, and then start with fresh bulk purchases.
3. Worked a few extra days around my shifts over the holidays, covering for a friend (in private practice) who is taking a well deserved holiday. The money will be so useful, since I’m starting post graduate studies this year (NOT, NOT, NOT frugal).
4. Completed a one year cosmetics buying ban last year, and a clothing ban the previous year. It may be a challenge to put together outfits for lectures, but I am resisting the urge to buy anything before I have a better feel for the dress code. I may be OK, if it’s casual enough. Also, still using up cosmetics…
5. Planning to pass some nearly-new uniform items to a friend and colleague, who will get plenty of use out of them.
1. Cleaned out both the hubby’s and my dresser/closets to collect things to donate! Even though we don’t receive many gifts I still just feel the accumulation of stuff around the the holidays and I’m inspired to declutter!
2. Picked up some fancy winter biking clothing for my hubby to wear while bike commuting this winter! Gotta stay warm or else he’ll drive more!
3. I’m doing a freezer challenge this week and I’m defrosting some cabbage rolls and soup I made in November! No grocery shopping for me since Christmas!
4. Our well stopped working the other morning (major panic moment), but I was able to flip some switches and get it working again! Free fix! I’m planning on replacing a valve sometime in the next month or so to make sure this doesn’t happen again! And in the meantime I’ve filled up some containers with water, in case it does.
5. Got together to visit a friend from out of town for breakfast and didn’t order a coffee! Saved $2!
1. We put leftover pennies and dollars from our 2017 budget toward debt.
2. We spent 6 months saving up for a GOOD vacuum (instead of financing it), and we have enough now to go shopping for one.
3. We had two, inexpensive bean-based meals this past week.
4. I picked up some extra work covering for someone on holiday.
5. I didn’t renew my web-hosting account. I’m moving to a free blog in a couple of weeks. (Yes, this might be a mistake, but since I have a non-monetized website, I think I should give the free platform a shot.)
Absolutely! No point in paying for web hosting if you’re not making use of the features it offers. If free works, then go with free!
1. I created a folder in my cabinet for “offers” I get in the mail. They are usually from places I actually go already on occasion like Ruby Tuesday, Shutteryfly, etc. Instead of recycling them, maybe I’ll actually use them.
2.I quit coffee. I’m switching to tea this year because coffee upsets my stomach and ends up costing way too much when I factor in the urgent pit stops to caffeinate at the drive through.
3. I organized my clothes and will be shopping my closet this winter. To curb the urge to buy more things, I figure if my clothes are better organized, I’ll feel less inclined to justify new purchases.
4. I’m helping the family to re-use drinking glasses during the day so we run the dishwasher less. During vacation or snowy Saturdays we use an awful lot of glasses. I realized we could get away without running the dishwasher so much if we made an effort to use the same water glass all day.
5. I’m decluttering so we may better appreciate what we already own. I want the entire family to appreciate what we have and think less about what new items we want. It’s hard to do that when we can’t find half the stuff we own.
We saw some special markers at BB&Beyond to write on glasses (for parties) so people don’t get mixed up and share germs. It said the writing washes off in the dishwasher. I think it was just a few dollars and there are always coupons. Might be worth it. I wonder what would happen if you used a marker that you already have as a test on a glass that you don’t care about?
Dry erase markers would work fine as would the old wet-erase markers that teachers used for overhead projectors, both wash of entirely. If you have younger kids I’ve seen people online attach a magnet to a plastic cup for each kiddo (different color cup for each kid) and then they can attach them to the fridge and that’s their water cup. Wash them when the need washed all at once and save on washing so many cups all the time.
My sister got some of those markers & they’re great, she used them on plain canisters to write ‘tea’ and ‘coffee’ and it looks really good.
I love #3 and #5. I have also been bitten by the de-cluttering bug and strive for a more minimalistic home and life. Our 4 year old gets so many things for Christmas, no matter how much we urge family that those things are not needed.
I have a AAA membership, and since my car doesn’t get driven much, the battery is prone to dying. I have a charger, but I forget to use it frequently enough, and I guess if you don’t keep the thing charged it loses it’s ability to hold a charge? Something like that? Anyhow, I discovered that AAA has not only a jump start service, but also a battery replacement service… seriously! They come to your house (or wherever your dead car happens to be) and replace your battery for free – you just pay for the battery, and it was much cheaper than the last time I had it done at the shop. Totally worth it for a car imbecile like myself!
OK… and this has nothing to do with this post, but the ad on your sidebar is showing me cigars – I have never smoked in my life so I don’t know why it thinks I care about cigars, BUT last night I had a dream that Katie Couric was trying to sell me coke-a-cola flavored cigars. It’s like the internet ad creepers are following me around in my dreams!!! Help!!!
Those targeted ads, man…they’re peeking in on your dreams now!
Kristen, I am curious how you “soaked” your ear lobes in salt water instead of using baby shampoo.
This was actually for the little hoop farther up my ear. It sounds weird, but you make a warm salt water solution, put it into a mug/cup, turn your head to the side, and submerge your outer ear in the salt water for 5 minutes.
It’s not crazy comfortable, but it does an amazing job of healing piercings!
Some water tends to spill when you put your ear in, so you just put a towel around the mug or bowl, and you’re good to go.
I love starting the new year with Five Frugal Things!
1. This week we’ll finish up the Christmas ham I purchased for 1.06. It’s still quite tasty and we’ve enjoyed it but it will be nice to have something else for dinner and lunch!.
2. My van wouldn’t start yesterday also while I was out. The battery isn’t very old so I’ll dig out the receipt. We will need to wait a couple of days for some warmth to ascertain if it was the battery before we have the starter checked. Or just the cold!
3. I’m still using the sweet potatoes from the two plants in the garden this summer. I’ve been roasting them with a little olive oil, salt and a McCormick bacon brown sugar seasoning grinder.
4. I had gotten two email coupons from Christoper & Banks that needed to be used last week. I stopped in and got both a jacket and a nice sweater for 5.32 total. Those are better prices than Goodwill!
5. Carefully putting away Christmas stuff and sorting out what we won’t use. We’re still using Christmas paper from seven or eight years ago and we always reuse gift bags, ribbons and even tags so nothing needs to be purchased at after Christmas sales again. With the children grown, their presents are smaller and use very little paper.
Happy New Year everyone!
I don’t see the clearance section on American giant?
It’s gone now…it was just a 48 hour thing they did. If you sign up for their newsletter, then you should get notified when it happens again, though!
1. Using what we have from the freezer and pantry and only buying what we need. Determined to do this with toiletries as well; lots of half used face wash (etc.) that I will go through one by one.
2. Paid for karate on a quarterly basis (instead of monthly) and saved $80!
3. Inquiring on a balance transfer that will reduce the APR from 13% to around 1.5%.
4. Stayed out of the stores after Christmas, despite my desire to stock up on holiday supplies.
5. Grocery shopped at Aldi; God bless the man who was so appreciative that I gave him my cart and didn’t take his quarter. Small reminder that there are always those less fortunate than myself and it makes me feel good to share (even if it’s only a quarter).
Baby shampoo can be used to clean make up brushes.
1. Walked today instead of paying for the bus. The temperature is up (temporarily) & the blizzard hasn’t hit yet, so it was beautiful to be outside in the sun & not freezing.
2. Got all of my things out of paid storage, which included donating quite a lot of clothes & some household items, selling some pieces of furniture for a song, & finding safe places to put the little that’s left.
3. Did a bunch of cooking before I traveled, enough to cover most of the food for the trip for myself & a friend, plus some that I froze for when I get back home from my trip.
4. Reused gently used tissue paper & gift bags on gifts I gave.
5. Gave handmade, art, photography & not store-bought gifts for the holidays.
1. Sorted through art and craft supplies and made a few pieces from what I already had at home.
2. Used up Christmas ham.
3. Cleaned out the pantry and cooked from scratch using free commodities instead of buying deli food from the market.
4. Used more of the herbs I grow in my cooking.
5. Bought a new sweatshirt hoodie from Walmart in a plum color that goes with a lot of my clothes, and it will be worn for volleyball practice and at home.
1. I neatly put away used bows, bags and tissue paper from Christmas gift opening. Some gift bows have become old friends, I’ve used them so many years.
2. Using up the Christmas ham as well. I love ham but rarely buy one for just the two of us, so I enjoy it while I have it.
3. Cooked red kidney beans to put up in the freezer, as I had used the last of my frozen stash.
4. Signed up for Every Dollar — I was using my own budget, but still wasn’t completely satisfied. This one is free, so I’ll give it a whirl.
5. I cut my own hair again this weekend. It saves time and money.
1. My son, DIL, and 2 grandchildren are here for a week. I have cooked all meals at home, and some of those were things in the freezer partially prepared like chicken and broth from a Costco chicken carcass that I made into soup, etc. I appreciate the lower food costs and the time savings by having some of the cooking done ahead.
2. Christmas bags and tissue paper were reused and kept for next year.
3. No after-Christmas-sale purchases for me. (see #4 and #5)
4. My daughter was married in a simple ceremony Saturday, and I found her semi-formal dress at Ross and my regular-length dress at JC Penney for good prices. I expect to wear mine for years as it is a classic style and very comfortable.
5. The ceremony was held at a decorated wedding chapel, so only additional costs were marriage license, photographer, and half of the food at a restaurant for the 20 guests. I’m very happy with the total price of $1225 which also included our dresses. My husband wore a suit he had. The photographer will provide all of the photographs digitally so we can print what we want for only printing costs.
1-eating from the freezer; I think I can do it for the whole month!
2-repaired holes in 2 sweaters
3-our City ordered water to be run 24/7 until April so I’m trying to find ways to fill containers to use the water: dogs bowls, plants, toilets, (Anyone have other ideas?!)
4-On my work day I went to Sam’s and bought dog food and filled up with gas which was $0.20 less per gallon than other places.
5-Made a realistic budget for next Christmas and WILL stick to it!
Oh my, why do you have to run your water?
Water pipes are now below the freeze line from all this cold. It’s to prevent water main breaks and breaks to the house
Oh wow. So, do you just have to leave your faucet at a slow drip then?
Pencil width stream; it’s about a gallon every 4-5 minutes so pretty substantial waste!
We’ve had our faucets and tubs and showers running for a few days now to avoid frozen pipes as well, very slowly of course. 4+ days of below freezing temps is abnormal for our area and I do not want to pay to repair frozen pipes! I absolutely understand why you are having to do that. We are back to more normal temps today (40’s) and I’m happy to be able to turn off all the taps!
That seems terrible and EXTREMELY costly. Where I live that would cost thousands of dollars! Your sewer or septic systems will be overloaded and then what?
Where do you live-east coast, I’m guessing?
Best wishes to you!
Where I am in the midwest, if the city suggests it, they provide a bill credit of a good number of gallons to compensate. I’ve never heard of it going until April, though! Just for a few days.
I have been pleased with my efforts to keep our meals small and affordable. We are still eating Christmas meats with very little being wasted.
I stayed out of the stores and the Christmas sales.
I have been battling with my love for Coca Cola and I am doing well with that at present.
It is hot and humid where I live and I am trying to keep the use of air conditioning down. It isn’t easy because most days are around 100 plus.
Some holes are beginning to appear in the freezer…I really need to get the contents under control.
1. It’s dry/dusty season here, so I wiped down the fridge coils with a wet rag, this should help the fridge run more efficiently.
2. We’ve been enjoying fresh mangoes from our tree, and I used basil from the garden in our pasta today.
3. I’ve been watering our plants with leftover rinse waters from cooking, dishes and laundry. I also noticed a leak this evening, so I pit a bucket under it for now, that water can be used on my plants.
4. We don’t have a phone plan, but pay for minutes as we need them. I’m hoping to start only purchasing minutes when they do their sales.
5. My husband is working on compiling our expenses for 2017, this will help us see if there’s areas we can work on lowering.
If you don’t wear a ton of eye makeup, I have found baby shampoo to be a cheap eye makeup remover!
1. I am trying to get all the new toys and games from Christmas put away without buying any new storage stuff.
2. I am meal planning around the rest of my farm share veg and all the veg that I froze during the summer.
3. I ordered my farm share for next year before the end of 2017 in order to get the 2017 pricing.
4. It was so cold during winter vacation that we didn’t go out much. We are getting more of the same this weekend. My heating bill for this month is going to be crazy, but that is what it is.
5. A couple of years ago, I spent a year weaning my hair off of any sort of shampoo. I now wash with water three times a week and my hair is more manageable than when I used shampoo and conditioner. (Not really a recent frugal thing, but your post about the baby shampoo made me think of it.)
We just tied the record for most days under 20 in a row here, so there will be no frugality to the heating bill. But, our pipes have not frozen as has afflicted so many others.
1. Finished baking many loaves of banana bread with my Friday free container of yogurt and bag of seconds bananas. Made 8 loaves (froze most) that the kids can take as school snacks.
2. Cut up the extra dill and scallions from the holiday menus and froze them for future use.
3. Did not buy any new wrapping supplies for Christmas. Plus I finished off my least favorite paper – flimsy and tore too easily.
4. Returned a number of things that have been sitting around since before the holidays. But, I knew I would need to go to those places before the return period ended so I saved a trip. In one case the return was more than the new purchase made.
5. I did purchase two full size Hershey’s candy bars in a post Christmas clearance section. A treat for my oldest who wanted this specific thing for Halloween when I didn’t find any on sale. $0.10 each because they had holiday wrappers!
1) We ate off our Christmas turkey for over a week, finally finished the meat yesterday. I mixed up what we did with it so we wouldn’t get tired of it. Turkey gravy over mashed potatoes one night, turkey and black bean enchiladas another (the beans were dried and had been given to me so they were much more frugal than buying canned from the store), turkey noodle soup another night as well which my husband is still eating!
2) We’ll be moving this fall and I’ve decided we are going to start eating more from the freezer and pantry so we won’t have a lot to use up/get rid of before the move. I’ll only buy essentials and fresh fruits/veg as we need them.
3) It’s been so cold here in TX that I haven’t left the house so I haven’t done any clearance shopping! We had I think 3-4 days where the temps never got above freezing this last week, that is not normal!
4) I’m having some ladies over in Friday evening and it’s a potluck (totally frugal!) and I’m “bringing” leftovers from New Year’s Eve. I had bought items for a meat and cheese platter that we barely touched so I’ll set that out along with what everyone else brings.
5) We reused the metal dowel for our front closet when we redid it recently. It’s very old and was stained up with some stickers on it but worked well so I scrubbed it and it looks much better now. Saved us from having to buy a new dowel for that closet.
Love everyone’s ideas!
My 5 for the new year:
1) We were gifted a Visa card from my in-laws that will go toward new tires.
2) We were gifted cash from church members that will go toward paying off a medical bill. Praise God for all these financial blessings.
3) The last 2 years we’ve asked for memberships as family gifts. This year we got one for a botanical garden. Really looking forward to free weekend visits, esp. in winter!
4) We didn’t do a gingerbread house, candy canes, stockings, extravagant gifts and long distance Christmas travels so that we could make our budget work.
5) I’m going to transfer a prescription to a local grocery store offering a $50 store credit.
1. I switched my electricity & natural gas to a different provider who were offering Jan & Feb energy FREE. The cost of the NG is a little more expensive but the elctricity is less than what I’m currently paying and with not having to pay Jan & Feb bills, I’m still saving! AND it’s been -40C with the windchill so well worth the gift!
2. We used a gift card we received for Christmas to go out for our anniversary meal
3. I used gift cards I received for Christmas to buy a new winter coat, boots, a pair of jeans and 2 new sweaters and I still have $16 leftover! (Took advantage of sales)
4. Made lots of coffee at home
5. Used my Airmiles to book a flight.
BONUS-Paid off my car and am redirecting the payments towards paying off my credit card
That’s awesome, well done on paying off your car
I have found that if you do need the code, sometimes you can buy a separate code that is still sealed and then rent the book. I did that last semester and saved $50 on my son’s textbook
I use baby shampoo to wash off my eye makeup after having a bout of styes and a chalazion I had to have surgery to remove last year. That is what my eye doctor recommended, so that’s another way to use baby shampoo.
1. Finally used up an old gift card that I kept completely forgetting even though I had it with me.
2. Used a coinstar machine to get rid of our old coin bucket which we rarely use or add to. We use little cash anymore.
3. Making the best of all of our Christmas and New Year’s left overs. Saturday, ham and pineapple pizza with our leftover ham.
4. Saved a few large boxes of clothing from a trash room in my apartment complex that is being donated.
All of the frugal ideas were great. I really loved this blog, please do it again soon.
* Decided to track all my personal purchases this year and be more critical about them. Do I really need new shoes when I already own 10 pairs? Noooooo.
* Done an inventory of the freezers and trying to use it all before buying more “freeazable” stuff
* I usually take a day off on my birthday (this Friday), but when I don’t work I don’t get paid… So I decided to work this year.
* Bought needed clothes at the thrift store for really cheap
* Bought our annual family pass (60$) for the city’s activities. Already used it four times in the past week for ice skating, badminton and the pool. I have this goal of being active as a family, so this pass should come in handy.
Happy Birthday!
I had a houseful of guests for Christmas and I did not buy groceries. I decided to use up what I had on hand and for our Christmas dinner we had TONS of leftovers so I froze them for weeknight meals & lunches.
I am doing a no spend January and February aside from necessary groceries and a new bed which we had planned on. Not necessarily due to money issues but rather to use up what supplies I have on hand.
Frugal things- hubby trash picked a wire snowman and a christmas tree. Both just needed lights which we already had. Put both on our deck. The snow person is so cute!
Our gas fireplace would not light so I called the repair person who said before he comes out use an air compressor to clear pilot and that worked so that saved $125 and with this -16 weather the fireplace is helpful to heat the living room up.
I paid more for a pair of winter boots and hope they will hold up longer than the cheap ones I have bought in the past. I bought Columbia on sale for $44. Super comfortable. Lol when boots are on your Christmas list…
1.Does mooching count as frugal?? I was visiting my mom and she had a huge crockpot of chili (she had seven kids(two still live at home) but never remembers to make smaller amounts after we all left home…God Bless her!) So she urged me to take some chili home…which I did…but not before she gave me a bag of almost old Fritos that she was going to toss if no one ate them. So we had Frito pies for dinner…yum. I guess they were really Free-to pies:)
2.Bought 3lbs of Apples for just $1.69. We love Aldi
3.Having a no spend week(except for $20 to use for veggies/fruit if needed) to pay off my credit card before the interest starts accruing on the 16th. I haven’t paid interest in 9 years and do not want to start now!
4. My sister gave me a $50 Amazon card to thank me for baby sitting my niece during the holiday break, so I think I am going to use it to buy grocery items that we can only get thru Amazon this week
5. Found a really great homeschooling book at the library that had ideas on cheap activities and ways to get books for free, so I have been taking notes:)
Free-to….love it!
The easiest frugal thing of all….I haven’t entered a store or spent any money for over a week. A combination of cold weather, limited budget and lack of transportation contributed. But, all is well. Nourishing meals made from scratch, lots of lemon and ginger tea, brisk walks bundled up and projects to work on inside. Definitely looking forward to a weather warm up next week, but I think I will make staying out of stores a habit.
We’re doing a Pantry Challenge, so I’m staying out of the grocery stores, which is a huge money saver for us.
I’ve also listed some things to sell on Ebay. I’m curious, how do you decide between Amazon and Ebay when you’re selling something? Is one better for certain items than the other. I haven’t tried selling on Amazon yet, but I’m thinking about for some books that need to go.
Well, Amazon is quicker and easier, but their fees are higher. Also, eBay is good for when you want to sell a grouping of something…like I listed a lot of four books in a series together, rather than doing four separate listings on eBay.
I also look at what something is selling for on Amazon vs. eBay (I look at completed listings for the item on eBay) and that helps me decide.
1. Decluttering; feels so good to finally make progress (it’s been a long term project for me) & getting more organised to save time and money
2. Going through all my statements too for 2017 and updating my budget
3 Keeping a brief frugal wins/frugal losses list on each left hand page in an exercise book I fill out expenditure on pay week, inspired by this blog to track how i’m doing and to motivate me to keep innovating
4. Had some frugal losses – forgot I was in a 1hr park & got a $79 parking fine getting a dress I waited to go on sale to buy that was $70 cheaper, got sick so couldn’t go to a potluck party & had to throw out a cream based cake I made that won’t freeze – & no-one wants food someone with gastro made & I was too sick to eat any of it either, forgot about a bag of avocados that were way overripe and could only eat one.
5. Even though I was exhausted I made chicken curry and a chicken and veg risotto to freeze in portions totalling 10 dinners for me & made banana bread with two over-ripe bananas & some plain yoghurt I bought my mistake thinking it was vanilla
And big blessing to me – I hadn’t bought a new calendar yet & a friend gave me a great one that I have already started using
Depending on where you live. If you take your parking ticket to the store you were shopping in they will take care of it.
Wow, that’s amazing, I don’t think that happens in Australia but it was my fault I wandered around to some other shops and just forgot, but thanks for the suggestion.
I’m not sure if I have five frugal things, but I’ll try:
1. I won the local Chick-Fil-A New Year’s Resolution contest on Instagram, and I’m waiting for an envelope of coupons to arrive.
2. I worked at my part-time online job this week and last week when I didn’t feel like it and could have cancelled my hours.
3. It has been cold here this week for South Florida, and we haven’t turned on the heat. It was 42 degrees outside this morning and 64 degrees in the house. I’m originally from New England, so I can live with it! The kids don’t mind very much either. We’re warm enough with extra blankets. I love the fresh air when I air out the house. It’s too hot and humid for most of the year.
4. We’re going to eat out of the freezer and pantry as much as possible in January. We have way too much food, and we’re only going to buy vegetables, milk, and fruit.
5. I have been reserving and reading books from my local library. It has a great selection, and the reserved books arrive relatively quickly as well. I can’t remember the last time I bought a book.
That was easy!!
Not sure if you know this, but a lot of the big retailers will give you a refund if you return your old battery.
1) We stayed an extra two days with my in-laws in Indiana. Instead of driving home to Texas and cranking our ill-prepared furnace at home, we thought it seemed like a better idea to stay in their house with their excellent furnace. I would have been more hesitant if I had seen folks posting on our neighborhood Facebook page about frozen pipes. No one did, and we arrived home to running water last night.
2) We do our long trips overnight. My husband prefers to drive at night and doesn’t mind me sleeping. We save $$$ on road trip food since I’m sleeping.
3) I got a new fitness tracker for $23.95 on Amazon. It’s marked $69.99 on the package, but it’s a recently discontinued model.
4) While visiting the in-laws, my mother-in-law took me to the Half Price Books outlet for their $20 bag of books sale. I got tons of books (audio and paper), greeting cards, and movies for $20 plus tax. I usually don’t purchase books, but the greeting cards alone were worth $20. And we needed an audio book on CD for our return trip.
5) Instead of being completely neurotic about our budget, I have a set amount of $ for eating out. I am exhausted and was easily talked into 50% off pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner tonight. There’s room in the budget and it’s less expensive than normal. Not the frugalest frugality, but it feels good for us.