Five Frugal Things | A straw, a clock, a frame, a hospital bill, and more
1. I used Strawesome's guarantee
We love our glass straws from Strawsome, and we've had very few breakage problems. Our straws weather the dishwasher and daily use with impressive durability.
Unfortunately, Sonia dropped her new turtle straw the very first time she used it, and it broke right by the turtle.
She was heartbroken, but I remembered that Strawesome does actually offer to replace any broken straws, since they don't want breakage concerns to keep people from buying their product.
So, I filled out the form, submitted a photo of the broken straw, and got a code emailed to me for the value of a replacement straw.
You do have to pay shipping, so it's not a completely free process, but it is way better than paying for a new straw AND shipping.
Our new turtle straw should be arriving any day, and I'm quite certain that Sonia is going to be super-duper careful with it now.
2. I replaced a clock for $4.88.
The clock in my kids' bathroom had a paper backing, and after years of hanging in a humid bathroom, the paper had curled up and was preventing the clock hands from moving.
There was no way to fix this (I tried!) so I had to get rid of the clock.
Sad face.
I stopped at Target to find a new one, and I specifically looked for one without a paper backing so that I don't have to throw another clock out.
Luckily, a plastic-backed clock was on clearance for $4.88.
Perfect.
3. I bought a frame for 50% off.
Mr. FG was wanting to hang a quote up on the wall, so I typed it up in PicMonkey, printed it, and bought a frame from Michael's with a 50% off coupon.
(I pulled the coupon up on my phone so as to avoid printing a copy. Handy-dandy! And Michael's does offer free WiFi, so you don't even have to use data to pull up the coupon.)
I feel like the words on the print are too close to the edge now that it's framed, so I'll redo it with a small font and more white space.
4. I paid a hospital bill. And I tried to get a discount.
I got the resubmitted bill for the sleep study back, and our insurance paid a whole 2% (largely because we haven't met our 2016 deductible yet.)
When I called to pay the bill, I asked if there was a discount for paying in full, and sadly, there was not.
But I paid the whole thing, using a travel rewards credit card, so at least we earned a bit of cash back on the transaction.
And paying it off is certainly better than not paying it off.
5. Miscellany
I cooked dinner, even though I didn't feel like it, I made a batch of whole wheat rolls for lunch, I bought nothing at Target besides the items I came for (yay, me!), and I returned a sink strainer that didn't fit my sink.
__________________
I remembered to use ebates on a recent ebay purchase.
I bought a bunch of chicken wings for the freezer that were marked down at the grocery store.
I made yogurt.
I found a nice t-shirt for my daughter at the thrift store.
I ate leftovers for lunch yesterday.
Obviously from this list, sometimes being frugal involves lots of mundane things! But they add up....
"Them" wash your face?
It does look like that in the photo, doesn't it? It's just because of the way the font is...it really does say "then". 🙂
1. Shopped at Aldi.
2. Went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo ( a huge, I mean huge, annual event) on half-price day. Not sure this was worth it, because combined with the fact that it is also Spring Break this week, the crowds were super-bad.
3. Cleaned out two closets and passed along a springform pan ( I had five of them) some Scentsy bars, many candles, a vintage Corningware baking pan that we got as a wedding gift lo these many years ago, and several other things, to my daughters. Frugal for them, and I'm happy I filled a need.
4. Changed our cable to save $50 a month. The jury is still out on this. It involves a dish on the roof which we don't have yet, and because it's still AT&T, like we have now, I'm skeptical. It's their new program.
5. Went to a grocery store I usually don't shop at, to take advantage of their sale on chicken. Bought several packages, separated and flash-froze. Decided to just leave the chicken pieces on the cookie sheets, covered, instead of bagging them, for convenience. This is in my garage freezer so there's room to do this. Not necessarily in the frugal category, but more in the "well, why not?" category.
P.S. I'd love to see the whole quote in the frame more clearly.
1. I called and disputed a fee for booking my airline tickets. (I was not allowed to pay for the transaction online because it was for my kids and they didn't have a credit card, therefore, I had to call.) They refunded the $30 it costs to book with a live person since it was unavoidable.
2. I booked 3 of our vacation tickets with Frequent Flyer miles.
3. I returned something that didn't fit my daughter. I knew with JCPenney, if I order online, I can return it in the store in my town with no problem.
4. I found the perfect Easter Sunday pants for my son after looking at 4 or 5 thrift stores, over a period of weeks. (He wants to be very dressy this year, a phase I didn't want to spend a lot of money on.)
5. When we needed a snack on the road, I stopped at a grocery store for a 6 pack of water and a few snacks (vs. a convenience store or drive-thru).
-I failed to purchase (at the Goodwill of course) a green shirt for my son's St. Patrick's day party at daycare. As it ended up he was sick that day and didn't go to school. I guess there was a reason why I didn't pick one up.
-I am in need of one more small item for my daughter's Easter basket and, ta da, at the Goodwill I found a brand new Easter Bunny Mr. Potato Head. It's called a Spud Bunny. He's really cute! Only $3!
-I have two little ones in diapers and I had the opportunity to have lunch with a friend at Sam's Club! This is a strange little tradition we have held onto since I worked with her. Not only did I get to lunch on a cheap hot dog, but I was also able to take advantage of her membership and stock up on their super priced baby wipes!
-Another great Goodwill find was a brand new Fisher Price toy horse and rider set for $5. This will be put away for next Christmas. After this past Christmas sneaking up on me, I'm determined to find items throughout the year. I have a nice small pile growing in the closet!
Was the "sad face" pun intentional?
Let's see what I've been frugal with.
1.) I'm working overtime possibly tomorrow night and definitely all day Sunday so next paycheque should be quite nice. I plan on putting the extra toward our basement remodel.
2.) I made sourdough bread.
3.) I am working on cleaning my house and reducing clutter. Today I plan on dropping off a bunch of stuff at the Salvation Army so that they are out of my house.
4.) Got another free month of Hulu from Bing Rewards!
5.) As my ancient laptops are all getting a bit past their prime, I've started looking for a "new" one, which will probably be a used one that I can fix up.
And finally a frugal fail. I went to repair my file cabinet as the pull on it is broken. Apparently it has a non standard sized pull of 4.5 inches from screw to screw so I may have to either find one online or find a way to make my own out of something.
I made drawer pulls out of pieces of rope with a big knot tied on the back to keep it from pulling through. This was on a old drawer chest so it was sorta rustic looking anyway. May not work for your purpose but maybe you could think of some other unconventional item that would work just as well?
The built-ins in my house had nonstandard drawer pulls also, making it very hard to replace the nasty ones that were there. I found some that were in pieces: two that went into the holes in the drawer, and a third piece that slots through those two. Since the pieces aren't attached to each other, they can fit a wide range of holes.
Let me know if you want a more detailed description.
1. Cut open an "empty" lotion bottle and have been using what was in there for the past three days. There's at least two more days' worth in there.
2. Made my nephew's birthday cake from cake mixes I already had, instead of buying more, or a storebought cake.
3. Wrapped his gifts with paper, a gift bag, and pages from the Auto section of the newspaper, all of which we already had.
4. I continue to work on the mending. I've done quite a few things, but it seems to never end!
5. As usual, I am making prodigious use of my library. I took out two books, have another I reserved waiting for me to pick up, and I am listening to an audio book that I downloaded.
6. This is kinda fugal, kinda environmentally conscious, kinda necessary because we have cats. I have been collecting notices and things that are on colored paper to shred up as Easter basket grass. This is mostly because I don't want our cats eating the plastic stuff (and they are totally the kinds of cats that would, I know some cats wouldn't). It looks festive and I can just recycle it with our usual recycling.
1. I baked a loaf of bread and improvised some sandwich cookies for my kids from scratch, instead of buying a box at the store when they asked for them.
2. We found clothes at Goodwill for a costume my son needed for school, one Bilbo Baggins costume for under $10.
3. Sold some too small clothes to Once Upon a Child and used the store credit to get new swimsuits and other summer clothes instead of buying new.
4. I returned some unused craft supplies to Hobby Lobby, I'm really bad about holding on to stuff like that, thinking I might use it someday. But how many uses am I going to have for the wrong color pink spray paint????
5. My daughter has been begging for a new tea set, a "real one", not plastic. I looked online for girls China tea sets and they weren't terribly expensive, but when we were at the thrift store for her brothers school costume she spotted the china aisle, and she ended up with a real China tea set for four with a tea pot and everything for $5! None of the pieces match but she thinks it's fun.
I am enjoying a quilting project, which isn't necessarily frugal but the current project is hoodies, jeans, old batting, and embroidery floss. (No fabric bought except for when I get around to binding.) It's saving torn/worn clothing from the landfill, will extend the life of a jersey-knit throw, and is providing me lots of free relaxation.
I tried to be frugal and use the pumpkin bread kit my mom gave us, but I failed this - just barely underdone, so they got tossed.
On the other hand, I gave new life to leftovers. Chicken and broiled tomatoes one day became a baked macaroni and cheese the next. Win some, lose some!
so sorry to hear that the turtle straw broke but glad to hear a new one is on its way!
Usually if a print doesn't sit well in the frame, I'll add a larger plain white (or black) border and it moves it away from the sides. And then have it re-printed.
I haven't really been frugal at all. In fact, since this was a nice paycheck for me with OT and Call, I bought myself two new scrub tops and a pair of work shoes. It's Spring Break and I no feel like cooking - pizza and fried chicken are both making appearances on the menu. I bought a friend a nice birthday resent because she deserves it. Another friend and I are meeting in Round Top for shopping and eating. And I finished Hubby's new job wardrobe, though I saved a bundle using Kohl's cash and coupons.
Sigh.
Next week I will go back to my frugal ways...
1. Made last-minute plans with a friend for tomorrow. We arranged to meet at a Starbucks between our houses and I'll treat her with a gift card.
2. Baked some cookies for a work potluck rather than buying something at the store...even though I was really tired and didn't want to stay up late baking cookies.
3. At the potluck today, we're also collecting food shelf donations. I found something in my cupboard to donate that I won't eat rather than purchasing other things.
4. Trying to use up some bananas in oatmeal for breakfast every day this week, even though the repetition gets boring. Whatever I don't eat up will go in the freezer for banana bread.
5. The usual: coffee from home, leftovers for meals, water from the water fountain at work...
1. I hung out clothes again today, as I did yesterday. My clothespin bag is a giveaway canvas carryall fastened to the line with a clip off a sport bottle that was also a freebie. Only yesterday, birds tried to build a nest in it. I brought it back in, today, after hanging out the laundry before work. They do this every spring.
2. We've made two steaks last for two meals and four lunches. It helps that neither of us is a big eater, so once we have had them grilled, I start slicing them up for fajitas, "tips" with onions and peppers, etc.
3. I knew it was time to start buying some more clothes, so yesterday I found a pair of nicer colored jeans and a very cute cotton skirt at the Goodwill store.
4. The weather has been pretty warm, but not too hot -- rare for Florida -- so we've run neither the heater nor the a/c. Yay!
5. I made my own bathroom spray -- I reused a misting bottle and put in water, alcohol, and essential oil. I like to use tea tree, peppermint, lavender or eucalyptus for bathroom sprays, as they smell "clean" to me. Shake and spray, done.
Glass straws -- very cool!
Trying to make up for 2 -3 weeks of unfrugal -- travel plus another visit to friend, etc. Don't regret it but do need to get back on track . . . hearing from all of you really helps!
1. Took lunch/ate breakfast in every day (lunch was store bought salads but still cheaper than fast food)
2. Ate up the last of the soup over which was itself a marvel of use-ups -- former potato soup with added clean outs from the 'frig and pantry. It was pretty yummy -- even husband approved.
3. Husband out of town, so it'sjust me eating stuff from the freezer. Last night marked down spinach tortellini that had been frozen with added veggies; tonight will be either frozen veggie burger and added stuff or frozen meal and added stuff.
4. Very low groceries this week since it's just me -- extra fruit, veggies, milk. Under $20 so far.
5. Inspired by all of you to put some things on line to sell: Some boots bought for the trip -- live in SoCal -- snow boots not needed! Plus a winter coat. I bought these as cheaply as I could and I would like to get rid of them.
6. Cleaning out closet and found an untouched still in box with price tag pregnant Midge doll that I must have bought for daughter or for a gift. No memory of it. It was $9.99 at Kaybee's; checked on line where it is selling for $120 - 140 dollars! Whoo hooo! Happy to divest!
Have a great week and thank you for the inspiration!
*Last night I really didn't want to cook (stomachache) and I was tempted to order pizza but then my daughter suggested Breakfast for dinner which is super easy so I said 'sounds good!' Then my husband stepped in and offered to do the cooking and the dishes since I wasn't feeling well. Grateful for those sweet gestures! So I was able to rest and we avoided money to the pizza shop.
*I hadn't realized my insurance had begun covering some vision benefits. My daughter had an appt. on Monday and I was fully prepared to pay the $99 cost for the (contact) exam when my boss mentioned he thought we now had vision coverage. A few minutes on the computer and on the phone with the eye dr. and it ended up only costing $51.00. Note to self: Read your benefits every year, don't just assume!
*Have cooked most of my meals this week & last weekend out of my freezer & pantry. I was able to keep my grocery trip costs pretty low last weekend and I think I can carry it over into this weekend's trip also. Will need a few things but not a whole lot.
*Donated a bag of clothes so I'll be able to write it off on our taxes next year.
*Mended a dress and a pair of pants that had tear in the seams. The dress is fairly new (boo for a tear already) but I love it and didn't want to replace it. And the pants are my black capri's and I wear them all the time, very comfortable and I'm not ready to throw them out!
Five frugal things for the week:
1. Since gas is cheaper north of where I live, I filled up when I had to travel in that direction to attend a workshop for work. It save me approximately .05 a gallon. I wasn't that far away either.
2. We have not eaten out any this week. I have prepared all meals at home and used leftovers for my lunch at work.
3. I went to the dollar store to buy candy to fill eggs for my granddaughter's egg hunt at school. I had the plastic eggs from last year and the candy only cost me $2.00.
4. I am presently patching a quilt that I made for an older granddaughter several years ago. I had some leftover material from the original so no new fabric was bought.
5. My son and his wife share my cell phone lines with me. Our bill seemed to be going higher so I called the company and was able to knock off quite a significant amount from the monthly bill.
It's been a busy week but we're almost to the end. We have a birthday party planned for my 10 yr. old grandson this weekend. Lot's of excitement on its way.
These are quickly becoming my favorite posts! I'm so inspired.
About the glass straws...have you seen the metal ones? That's what we use. No breakage! But I completely understand that Sonia wants her pretty glass turtle one! I kinda want one too 🙂
1. A friend invited me to her vacation house for the weekend. I pitched in with food and treated her to a somewhat pricey lunch ($50!) but that was cheap for a weekend away.
2. I have been wanting to read _Start_ by Jon Acuff but my library doesn't have it. I pretty much decided I would buy the kindle version for $10, but I heard Dave Ramsey advertising an ebook sale on his site. I was able to get it for $5.50 there.
3. Although I have not been following my meal plan this week, at least I am eating stuff at home and not getting takeout (one of my biggest frugal challenges!)
4. I stuck to my grocery budget (my other biggest frugal challenge!)
5. I got the first season of Empire on DVD from the library.
Next time check to see if your library does inter-library loans. Sometimes its a long wait but I have seldom been told that a book is unavailable.
I did consider that. Our library charges $3 for interlibrary loans so for $5.50 I would rather just own it. (Insofar as you can "own" a digital book. But that's another story . . .)
My library charges $5 for ILL. Between having other local library cards because of reciprocity, and that you can get a wide variety of mass market paperbacks online for $4 ($.01 for the book, $3.99 for shipping), I never do ILL in my home network.
As a Librarian we like to know what titles people want so we can purchase them. 🙂 For instance I looked the author up in our catalog and saw we have his other title "Quitter" in ebook form so I'm going to order both titles in print. Thanks for the tip 🙂
How exactly does pic monkey work? Is it free?
As far as frugal goes I will try and come up with 5.
1. Am using a refillable k-cup for coffee at work. They provide coffee but not decaf. I hate the idea of the cost of k-cups and all the waste! So I purchased a refillable cup and keep a mason jar of my decaf coffee at work. Frugal and green!
2. Put our tax refund straight into the savings. Less tempting to spend it. We will be putting it towards a bill but want to calculate which is the best one to pay with it.
3. Made some potatoes on the grill this weekend for dinner. They didn't really turn out so I have been dicing them up with some eggs for breakfast so as to not waste them.
4. Opted to go to a mid day movie on Sunday instead of red box on Saturday. It saved us about $14. The movies is not necessarily frugal but it something we do enjoy doing.
5. Didn't wash my jeep. I was going to wash my jeep yesterday and my hubby warned me of the incoming rain. As I sit here it is raining. I rarely watch the weAther and it ALWAYS rains when I wash my vehicle.
Bonus- continue to reflect each day how fortunate we are.
Pic Monkey is free for the basic version. If you want access to more features/fonts, then it's $33/year. I pay the $33, since use PicMonkey for blog-related stuff a lot.
I would enjoy a picmonkey post from you, showing us some of what you can do with it. I just joined for a design project I was doing, but thought it would be great to use for personal projects, also.
I'm going to check out those glass straws, too!
I'm still enjoying birthday freebies and gifts. One friend met me for lunch as a gift and we used my buy-one-get-on-free entree from bd's Mongolian Grill. Another friend took me to a celtic concert last night and treated me to a latte milkshake afterwards.
My cousin made a bulk purchase of 90/10 ground beef from Sam's and I purchased one ten pound package. This time it was 2.66 a lb., great price for quality ground beef!
My husband is playing banjo for an event this weekend and needed a costume. Before my lunch date, I stopped at my favorite thrift shop and purchased FOUR quality wool sports jackets for .69 each. He chose one for me to make into a vest, a friend's son took one and that leaves me two to make fall owls. I also found a wool cap from Donegal, Ireland for .99 for him to wear.
We painted the kitchen this weekend using Sherwin Williams paint purchased at 40% off. We bought several gallons untinted as we have three rooms to paint. We just have the store tint them when we decide on a color. Looks great!
I did a quick shopping trip for 1/2 price toilet paper this week and found a variety of Prego spaghetti sauce on the marked down cart. I purchased several jars that will last us quite awhile.
And I have to add one more. My quick shopping trip included a quick run into our local Goodwill. I was looking for jeans for my oldest daughter and had no luck. But found four pair of NYDJ for me. They retail for over a hundred dollars and I paid 4.19 a pair. I'm a petite length plus size so pants are hard to find. It will be a long time before I need jeans again!
1. I was running around town last night picking up last minute items needed for our weekend getaway which included hormel pepperoni at the Dollar tree and other various snack items.The pepperoni, in my opinion, is one of the best deals at the Dollar tree besides Nature's Own bread. I also picked up a few crystal light drink mixes. My kids don't love water, unfortunately, but if I mix a tiny bit of drink mix in there they will drink it. Reusable water bottles save us so much $$. I almost got a take-out pizza last night but decided I could quickly whip up some spaghetti when I got home for much less money.
2. I went to Kroger this morning and found some really fancy cheese that was reduced to eat at the picnics on our trip with our fruit, crackers, and pepperoni. I baked my husband a birthday sheet cake and brought candles so we can celebrate too.
3.I ran by the library to pick up several DVDs so the kids can watch them on the headrest DVD players. I love the fact that these are free, they haven't seen them before, and I don't have to return them for 1 week.
4.I spent a little time yesterday printing off coupons for some freebies and half price deals in the area we are going. We plan to eat out one night and since it is my husband's birthday Golden Corral sent us a BOGO buffett coupon so we will probably do that. We also were able to find some coupons for a free root beer float and dippin'dots.
5.I turned off the ac and hot water heater before I left. No reason for all that stuff to run while we are gone.
I don't think I have EVER seen anyone with a clock in their bathroom - care to share the thought behind this one?
Kristen, we have one in our bathroom and the former kids', now guest, bathroom. When we are getting ready for work, school, church, an event, whatever, I find it keeps us on time to have a clock to glance at while getting ready, and keeps me from dawdling in the shower in the evening. It amazes me how time flies when I just do something like a "quick" nail filing while I'm getting ready. Without the clock, I wouldn't realize I'm about to make myself late.
Yep, this is exactly why we have clocks in both bathrooms. It helps everyone to keep an eye on the time so that we can get out the door in a timely manner, and it's particularly helpful for the family members who always think they have more time than they do!
Thanks for the response! I guess it never would occur to put one in our bathrooms since we aren't naturally "late" people or people that tend to dilly-dally around and have an issue being ready on time 🙂
Yeah, I'm not one who tends to run late either. But I've got several family members who consistently overestimate how much time they have or just fail to keep track of time, so the clocks are really helpful for them!
Why didn't I think of that? My husband and I were just discussing today how after 33 years the only arguments we can remember having is about him always being late while I am always early. He consistently is late (even to our wedding!) and it makes me crazy...and long showers leading to morning lateness are part of the problem. I am going clock shopping tomorrow. (I used to think it was a flaw in his genetic makeup. Then I was at my father's funeral and his secretary was telling stories about him and included the fact that he considered anyone who was not five minutes early arriving to an event to be shamefully late and slothful. I never remember him hounding anyone in the family about being late, but that has to be where I got it. I am afraid I burst out laughing right there at the funeral.)
Let's see can I get 5 this week
1. Ate at home all week & used up all leftovers for lunch. Used up all fruit in smoothies and veg in a tasty vegetable soup
2. Shopped in Aldi and have a coupon to use for this weeks shop for €10 off
3. Got books out of library
4. Getting hair colour done next week on Wed as it is colour special day in salon
5. Dried clothes on line this week as weather lovely and dry. Finished them in the dryer
1. Still breastfeeding that baby 🙂
2. I found a cloth diaper solution that actually works - flour sack towels. We've had terrible luck with getting the all-in-one or pocket diapers to not leak, so I decided to try the tried and true flat diaper method using some flour sack towels I already had. Guess what? No leaks! So we bought some more of those and will get even more soon. FSTs are less than $1 apiece as opposed to $2+ for official diapers. Oh, and I'm using the pocket diaper covers we already had over the top of them to make the waterproof.
3. Still on the subject of cloth diapers, I'm knitting a wool diaper cover for nighttime. I've read that wool is the best for overnight cloth diapering. The hank of yarn I bought should easily make 2 or 3 covers, which will suit our needs. And, I chose a color that was over $2 cheaper than the rest. I'm not sure why it was cheaper, but I'll take it!
4. I planned our menu based on what we already had at home, making my grocery trip over $60 cheaper than the week before. I really can't take my husband to the grocery store - he has such expensive taste when he's the one purchasing.
5. We returned 2 library books on time and 1 early. Hooray for no late fees! And only picked up new books for my 3yo instead of everyone, since everyone else still has books (that we own or are borrowing from family) to read.
Breastfeeding is such a frugal thing to do. I saved so so so much money over the course of feeding my four babies.
I had an extremely frugal week:
#1- I cooked at home like usual.
#2- Went food shopping ans found several really great deals. They were even giving stuff away for free!
#3-I went to Kmart to waste some time and found mega deals on 3 pairs of jeans which I needed. I thought they were $9.99 but at the register they took another 40% off so they were only $3.90 each!
#4- I refashoned a lacy top which was a tad too tight on me, so with my handy dandy crochet hook I inserted a gusset in crochet cotton. Love it now!
#5- Found some forgotten books which I never liked enough to read a second time so as not to let them go to waste I gave them to a friend who is a voracious reader.
I hope that's considered frugal!
Kristen- Sorry about the straw. I'm glad you were able to get another at a discount.
Priskill- VERY cool find!
Turvis plastic tumblers
Ok, my 5 frugal things this week:
1) We changed schools for our youngest and got a refund of $1400 !!
2)Our local pizza shop has $5 large pizzas on Tuesdays so DH always gets one or two. We freeze them.
3)Today is $1 short pancake stacks at IHOP. I have a gift card to use and will go there today with hubby. Grab a pot of coffee as well and total will be free! Savings: $7
4)With the youngest going to a new school that can be walked to, I walk there daily and we won't be spending for gas anymore. Savings: $150/mth
5)After my left eye surgery, i only wear one contact in my right eye. No need to buy alot of contacts anymore. Savings:$200/yr
$1400 is AWESOME. Yay!
$1400 -- wow!! And, yeah, I was amazed that anyone wants a pregnant Midge doll that much 🙂
Five Frugal Things? I'm not sure I have that many, but I'll give it a go.
1. Re-used a gift bag/tissue paper for a friend's birthday gift.
2. Gifted something that I kept on hand as a gift that I purchased on sale at Christmas time.
3. Used a reusable water bottle instead of buying a case of water bottles.
4. Brought leftovers to work for lunch instead of going out.
5. Purchased shoes through amazon instead of at a shoe store (paid half what they would've cost at the store)
See, look at you! You did have five!
I think I can come up with 5.....
1. I needed new brakes & rotors (desperately) on my SUV. DH is really handy, so we purchased them using a $20 off coupon & he changed both in 40 minutes. The shop would've charged a minimum of 2 hours labor, so savings there as well!
2. ate leftovers for lunch all week
3. Was going to run to the store yesterday evening for a few items but i wasn't in a good mood & had a late meeting, so i skipped going thus saving money til another day.
4. I looked online for some Easter basket inspiration....found a few cute ideas that will save me money, plus i already looked in some of my supplies before i go shopping for duplicates
5. Had thought about getting something to eat quick after my late meeting last night (as DH & the girls had eaten while i was gone) but i resisted the temptation & just ate a quick sandwich for dinner when i got home.
1. I called to complain about my internet price going up (again!). I didn't get it back to the original price, but it did come down $5, and I'm moving in 4 months, so that's $20 saved.
2. I sold three items on a facebook swap page for a total of $35. I have more to list later this week as we declutter for the move.
3. I menu planned by digging through my cupboards and freezer first. The result is the smallest weekly grocery bill I can remember in forever.
4. My youngest is using his sister's pink flowered old water bottle. I tried to order him one on Amazon but couldn't find one I liked that is baby friendly, so I decided he can put up with pink flowers until it's summer and we start hauling it everywhere.
5. My husband's lunch box broke. Instead of buying a new one, he found a fridge at work that he can use for his last 6 weeks of employment so that we don't have to buy another lunch box/bag until we see what facilities are available at his new job.
We also have a clock in the bathroom. I guess I just thought that was something that everyone did. It does tend to keep dawdlers moving! I do however think that a clock for a bathroom is more difficult to find.
1. Finished the mending pile (for now).
2. Caught a sale on bell peppers and chopped and froze them for future use.
3. Goodwilled a couple of bags of clothing no one wore and would not fit any growing children here again.
4. Sent a friend a book that she needed for her college aged son and she was so tickled that she sent me a grocery gift card I used for a fancy ground coffee that my dh likes.
5. Ate leftovers or created new meals from leftovers all week long.
1) Bought shorts for $20 (cost plus shipping) off of ebay
2) Made yogurt
3) Meatless meal tonight - bean burritos - therefore less cost
4) Shopped at Trader Joe's and am exploring other options
5) Found a lovely airbnb place for a short getaway in the summer. Not a big savings, but the amenities and location are much nicer so more for my money.
It's going to be hard for me to find 5 things because the past couple of weeks have been noticeably less frugal than usual:
1. Cooked dinner at home more often than felt like - although not every night.
2. It's time to replace the emergency water supply. I reuse 1/2 gal juice bottles because I had them, they're sturdy and last forever, and are rectilinear so are space efficient. Instead of dumping the old water down the drain, I'm gradually using them, then refilling with the water that runs while I'm waiting for hot water. Tedious but cheaper and efficient.
3. Made ground meat mix from happy pork I already had (large roasts that I didn't really want) and CAFO beef roast bought on sale from the grocery's freezer. After I ran the meat through the grinder, I ran a potato through. The meat gets pushed out by the potato, who what's wasted is potato and not meat.
4. Realized that I already have seeds for the veggies I want to plant. No predictions about whether I actually plant and tend them - I'm an unenthusiastic gardener, liking the idea more than the actuality - but it's the right start.
5. Finished a BIG pile of mending, including several pieces I am loath to mend. But fixing my own hems is such a significant cost savings, and while it's tedious work that I enjoy not at all I am, in fact competent enough to do it. I'd rather spend that $20 on sushi (as I did for lunch this week) then on mending. I mended every single one of my cotton workout socks that had holes. That doesn't save me a lot of money but it means less shopping and fewer almost-perfectly-good socks in the trash. (I will have to buy more in the next year or two, this batch is coming to the end of its working life.)
I'm a fellow unenthusiastic gardener. I am amazed when people are willing to put in hours and hours to make a garden work. I think it's not in my bones or something.
(Also, my house is so stinkin' shady, it's hard to grow much of anything!)
Kristen, cilantro loves it cool. I wonder if it grows in the shade? Good for guacamole!
Hi Kristen,
Did you throw away the wrinkled clock? Unless I'm mistaken, I think you could re-use the mechanism over a plastic backing, for instance an old CD/CDROM? Like here: http://www.cdrom2go.com/images/blog/cd-clock_BIG.jpg I remember we did a project like this in class when I was a teenager. That'd be a nice DIY to do with one of your kids as they could customize the CD with markers 🙂 you just have to unscrew the clock mechanism and put it on the CD. You might need to glue a bit of plastic to fill in the CD hole and then fix the clock mechanism, or use bigger washers, but I think this would work with most clocks 🙂
Oh man, I did. Oh well. That IS a cool idea!
I like that your "5 frugal things" because it's regular stuff, not extreme stuff like "we ate road kill 3 times this week", ahah!
* We are looking into buying a 1/4 cow (natural beef) at 7,75$/pound, which makes it much cheaper in the end.
* Going to the movies tonight using a coupon and a gift card.
* Got a shoe rack at half-price
* Bought 10 pairs of funky earings on sale for 2$/pair.
* Got 10 VHS tapes (yep, old school!) and a DVD from a free pile. Also, only reading books from the library or from free piles, never buying them.
Bahahahaha about the roadkill!
Hey, here in Alaska, working at a non-profit residential center, we eat a lot of roadkill moose. When a vehicle hits and kills a moose, an agency cuts it up and non-profits are on a list and the free meat is cycled through the list. Moose is very lean, they get fat on natural greens and trees, not antibiotic laced food...all in all, better for you.
Same with hit deer in Maryland...fresh meat can get donated or you can report it to DNR and take it home. Mostly in the more rural areas.
I'm all in support of that! I was thinking more along the lines of cooking up a racoon from the side of the road. 😉
I know...so funny!!! lol
1. I'm making yogurt right now! Love that it's so hands off.
2. My husband received an unexpected bonus this week and we are using it to pay off our first car loan and start debt snowballing our second car loan. We're working to avoid this kind of consumer debt in the future! This is a huge shift for him in particular and I'm so proud of us. Woo hoo!
3. Used an awesome coupon for my daughter's haircut in an out-of-the-way Great Clips when we were already in the area.
4. Made an extra homemade pizza to welcome our new neighbor when it was pizza night at our house.
5. Planned in advance (for once) for an April birthday gift and chose slow shipping to get the pantry credit on Amazon.
I've been frugal lately! Yay!
1. Ate in every night for the past 2 weeks; leftovers for lunches
2. Ordered a bag from ThredUp to fill and sell no-longer-used clothes and shoes
3. Sold a table on Craigslist
4. Menu planning based on what's in the freezer
5. Quit "stopping in" at Trader Joe's just because it's fun and they have such yummy stuff. Ha!
6. Put cash in an envelope for groceries instead of using the debit card... can't believe ho much I save when I have to part with my limited amount of cash. 🙂
We needed to buy a clock and a scale for our new bathroom. At IKEA we found both in one unit. It gets some laughs to see the clock on the floor. I didn't do a lot of pricing but I'm pretty sure $11 is not more than I would have spent buying them separately.
That would take some adjusting...I'd keep forgetting to look at the floor for the time!
1. I mended my five-year-old's pants...again. Two pairs had ripped around the patches, so I put in larger patches. I was too lazy to remove the old ones and just patched right over them!
2. Baked cookies with Little Brother. Frugal treat! It was this real-food recipe, so almost guilt-free: http://communitytable.parade.com/336477/lorilange/whole-wheat-peanut-butter-cookies/
3. Taught Big Brother to ride his bike next to me since he is outgrowing the trailer (age 5... one five-year-old and one almost four-year-old is a tight squeeze). That will save gas and is a lot cheaper than a cargo bike!
4. Convinced Mr. FP to wait for his turn with library DVD instead of paying for $5 digital download.
5. Found out I have lost enough wait (a few pounds) that my favorite skirt fits again! Cheaper than buying a new one :-).
-I saved all of my annual bonus in my investment account.
-I bought a sample wedding dress for 50% less than the brand new version. I don't mind at all if other people have tried it on.
-Removed a book from my Amazon shopping cart and put it on my wishlist instead. I already have lots of books I haven't read yet.
-Managed to eat all of the leftovers from a gathering we had at our house last week. Yay for no wasted food!
-I feel like I'm cheating to say we ate leftovers for all of our lunches because we always do that.
1. My outfit today consisted of maternity jeans that I am borrowing, a maternity shirt from a yard sale, and a hand-me-down sweatshirt.
2. I stuck to my list at the grocery store (which was just a couple of cleaning and bathroom items) and did not buy one of the delicious-looking donuts they proudly displayed. I'm pregnant, so I feel like this is a pretty good accomplishment... Especially since I made the dreaded mistake of going to the store hungry.
3. Stuck to my menu plan for dinner which included using up some ham from my freezer.
4. Tried a different brand of diapers that are cheaper than what we've been using. They aren't terrible, so we may stick with them for during the day.
5. I showered at the gym today. Used their hot water instead of mine. 😉
That's a major accomplishment! But really when you are pregnant it's kind of impossible to go to the store not hungry. 🙂
During my last pregnancy I couldn't make it through the store without opening something and chowing down (nothing that is charged by weight, of course). My husband said he didn't know why I kept buying half eaten boxes of cookies. 😉
1. We've made all meals at home all week.
2. Continued to breast feed and cloth diaper the baby.
3. Made a list of books I need for class in the coming weeks and will pick them up at the library tomorrow instead of buying them.
4. Shopped around and found a reasonably priced pressure washer to eliminate the time-consuming chore of scrubbing my porch this spring. We are in a city neighborhood on a main street, actually Main Street, and the porch gets covered all over in black dust somehow. Time is money, and the pressure washer should make quick work.
5. Turned in an article on Monday for $50.
It does not feel like a frugal week but here goes.
1. I bought a new to us car. It is fifteen months old and has 13000km on the clock and I saved over $6000 Aus on a new model and talked them down over $3000 on the price I paid.
2. I spoke with my regular mechanic and he is organising a few little extra for me with a saving of around $1500.
3. The personalised plates my son wanted to have for the car were not available. Another $300 plus.
4. I hunted through the fridges, cupboards and freezers before shopping. So far I have spent $38 on fruit and vegetables. No need for much more but milk and bread until after Easter.
5. Remembered to purchase cheaper low income person stamps thus saving me 40 cents on each letter I send around Australia.
I think that is is. Even the few Easter eggs I have for my grown children were bought at 50% off.
1. We are in the process of selling a house and found foundation problems. (A very pricey repair!) I got the estimates and asked if they did a discount if paid by cash or check and they did, so not only did I save 2% on the cost of the repair work but also an additional 4% surcharge that would have been charged if paying by credit card!
2. Found a book I wanted to read at the library instead of on Amazon
3. Cancelled the gym membership we really don't use
4. Got a free jacket from American Giant when they accidentally sent the wrong thing ordered. (I offered to return it and they told me to keep it as an apology for the mix up!)
5. Got DVDs at the library instead of purchasing them on iTunes
WHOOP!!! I just got off of the phone with the Hospital and because I am using our tax refund to pay off the hospital bills from hubby's cancer they reduced the amount by 20%! Praise God!
I knew you would understand the thrill....
Oh, that's so great! Yay!!
That's awesome! Took 3yrs for my hubby. We did get a blood work bill reduced after chemo when we offered to pay off at once.
1. I'm pulling out the Spring/Summer clothes, and ordered a ThredUp bag to sell whatever doesn't fit.
2. Saw some great deals at the thrift store, but decided to forego them all until I see what my warm weather wardrobe looks like.
3. I've packed my snacks for the week, except for produce.
Preparation is part of frugality, right? I have hand surgery coming up, and DH and I are brainstorming ways to rearrange the kitchen and other rooms so I can do things one-handed.
Can you tell me which travel rewards credit card you use?
☆went to farmers market for 1st time in a long time, paying cash for great food
☆ made yummy kale & potato soup, lots of leftovers
☆ made organic chicken stock, 2 quart to freeze
☆ only spent $40ish on non market items
☆ did a local hike with family instead of going to the movies