5 (er, 4) Frugal Things
1. I froze avocado, pear, and pineapple.
I had a mushy pear, which was no good for eating, so I froze it for smoothies.
And I ended up with too many ripe avocados at once, so I froze some avocado chunks.
Aaand my new pineapple ripened before the old one was all eaten, so the older pineapple pieces hit the freezer too.
What would I do without smoothies??
2. I made dinner even though I wasn't here to eat it.
Last night, I took Lisey out for a belated birthday date, but I made dinner for my family ahead of time so that they wouldn't need to eat out.
(Clam chowder, which reheats very nicely!)
3. I asked for a cheaper inhaler.
Sonia needed a new inhaler for her seasonal allergies, and the initial one prescribed was many dollars.
(!)
So, we called the pediatrician and got a new one that was slightly fewer dollars.
Ever better, the expiration date is over two years away, which means Sonia can use it for TWO allergy seasons. She only needs the inhaler for a few weeks each year, so the expiration date always happens before she uses up the inhaler.
And it's super frustrating if it expires right before allergy season (which is what happened this year!)
4. I used frequent diner credit.
When Lisey and I went out for dinner, I asked the waiter to see if we had any credit from the frequent diner program, and we did!
It wasn't a lot, but hey, every little bit helps.
5. I'm coming up dry.
I can't think of much for #5. Ummm...I packed a lunch for Mr. FG using leftovers from our Easter dinner.
How about you?
Hopefully you'll have an easier time coming up with five than I did today. 😉
I never thought to freeze ripe avocados! Do you put them in smoothies or can you use them in other recipes? I freeze almost bad peppers - works great!
I just put them in smoothies, as I'm afraid the texture would suffer from freezing and thawing. But I do feel like I've seen people freezing pureed avocados on Pinterest, so you might want to google.
Also, once they're ripe, you can just stick them in the fridge. The cold slows the ripening process way down, and they'll stay good for quite a while.
I'm pretty certain that the holiday coupled with my parents visiting DID NOT help my "frugalness." My mother loves to shop when she comes to visit and it always derails what work I've done. But here goes my five (most of which happened prior to their visit)
1. Received three HUGE bags of hand me downs for my daughter. I was able change over my daughter's clothes from winter to summer with NO buying!!
2. Though the initial up front cost of gardening supplies (seeds, manure, plants, etc.) isn't free, we did plant our garden this weekend. We planted corn, beans, peas, carrots, onions and three blueberry plants. Hopefully, our hard work now will help us save later when everything grows!
3. On a Facebook mom's selling site, I was able to find a child's playhouse for $15. These normally sell for $150.
4. Our church had an Easter egg hunt for the kids and they had WAY TOO many eggs for the number of kids that came, so my kids were able to fill two baskets! While that is WAY TOO much candy, we did receive three, free kids meals to Texas Roadhouse. We never go to that restaurant, but maybe now we will with the free kids meals. (And as I type this I remember that candy and free meal vouchers are still in the fridge!!)
5. We did not eat out at all the last week or over the weekend! We ate leftovers or just picked at what we had around.
1. I somehow made way too many peas for Easter dinner so some hit the freezer right away, before I even put the peas on the table. I was right, we didn't need them, but they'll be good another night.
2. My husband needed some comfy pocket tee-shirts with short sleeves, but he had none, only long-sleeved ones, and it's hot here. He couldn't wear regular pants for a while after surgery on his leg, and needed a pocket to hold his insulin pump, but a button up shirt is uncomfortable to him at this point. I drove right past Walmart to the Goodwill, where I found two very nice pocket tees for him, cheaper than Walmart.
3. We had boiled shrimp the other night and the leftover shrimp went into jambalaya made with ingredients on hand last night. Yum.
4. I was going to pay my property taxes with a debit card, but found out it costs five dollars more to use a card than a check! I wrote a check from a book of checks I got free from the bank. I've been putting funds aside each month for taxes instead of scraping the money up at tax time, as I've done in the past. Why it took me so long to start saving ahead, I don't know.
5. I planted four cuttings from last year's longevity spinach plant. We'd grown them in pots through the winter and now they are in raised beds, so we have four new plants for free. It grows very well in heat, so it serves as our "lettuce" through the long hot season.
A few:
-- when buying a birthday gift online this morning, I googled the retailer and "coupon code" and got a 15% off code.
-- when enrolling one kid in chess camp for a week this summer, I was going to pay by credit card, but then saw that our township charges the interchange fee (2.45%) - so I mailed a check instead. I did have to pay for the stamp, but that's a 47 (or now 49) cent cost vs. the $7 the credit card fee would have come to.
-- I got a voucher for a week of dance camp at a fundraiser for one of the kids' schools. I paid about 40% of the face value for the voucher.
-- we will most likely be doing one week of a group co-op camp: a friend hires 2 college kids to play with everyone's kids. We all chip in, but it's less than the price of a commercial camp.
-- OK, that's four, same as Kristen!
- The biggest is that we continue to eat at home, even though I don't feel like cooking and have thoroughly fallen off the meal planning wagon. Frex, last night I nuked some happy meat sausage, tossed steamed chicken in leftover teriyaki sauce, pulled out some frozen applesauce, put tomatoes and pre-washed spinach on the table and called it dinner.
- Tues dinner will be provided at the community meeting I'm going to.
- Wed nite dinner will be provided by the friends who are asking my advice on something.
- Returned poor-quality bathroom caulk and disappointing Minwax gel stain to Ace. They didn't have to take the stain back - the problem was that the color was orange, not red-brown. Why did they take it back? Because I asked politely and was prepared to back off if they couldn't.
- Instead of staining the little maple shelf I bought from Goodwill, I will use some water-based polyacrylic I already own.
I froze avocados once, and when it thawed, it just didn't taste good. It was mushy and tasted a bit stale. Maybe I shouldn't have let it sit in the fridge for 2-3 hours before eating it.
My frugal things this past week:
1) I packed all of my lunch and ate breakfast and dinner at home.
2) I didn't buy groceries since I'm trying to eat up what I have left in the fridge and pantry.
3) I didn't go shopping although I was tempted to out of boredom.
Oh yeah, I'm not eating these avocados plain. They are going into smoothies, frozen!
This is my first comment. Thanks for making frugal things a cheery thing for us!
1. I had lots of egg yolks left after making an angel food cake and used most of them in baking the hot cross buns in place of whole eggs. I am making lemon curd today to use the rest of them.
2. I took the bones from our leg of lamb from the Easter meal and made a broth for soup. It made a great soup and I kind of felt like I was making 'stone soup'.
3. Planted lettuce seeds today.
4. I went to see a movie in the day time with my daughters- and saved a lot compared to the evening price.
5. Easter time seems to be a time when butter is always on sale. I bought enough to freeze to last hopefully until Thanksgiving
I make Homemade Angel-food cakes too ( yum)
I use the yolks & a little milk & cooked White Rice & cook it up together & then I freeze in portions to give our dogs as a treat
I only make about 4 a year
2 for my Daughters Birthday & 1 for a Dr I work for at Christmas & sometimes 1 at 4th of July if Not too Hot Yum I LoVe hearing that others make Angel food cakes Homemade â“Have u ever made the Chocolate one ? The Batter tastes like the inside of a 3 Musketeer bar
Chocolate angel food sounds yummy! I make Baked Alaska for Easter every year, and the angel food cake was for the base. I had egg yolks from that and the meringue, so it was a lot to find uses for. The Baked Alaska really turned out nicely this year. : )
It's harder to think of five when you already do many frugal things. 😉
This week:
1. I'm using an Amazon gift card to purchase a standing desk for my home office.
2. I'm being MUCH better about meal prep this week. Last night I pre-cooked today's dinner (lentil veggie soup to use up lentils). We should have extra soup, too, so I sense a freezer meal will be in my future.
3. I harvested fresh greens from the garden and ate them with dinner last night.
4. I made more yogurt over the weekend. Mr. Picky Pincher comes and goes with his love of yogurt, so once he decides he likes it again, it means I have to make more yogurt than usual. 😉
5. I rented more cookbooks from the library and got lots of great ideas fo' free.
One that I am particularly proud of is that I found some hot dog buns in the freezer that were getting a little freezer burned and turned them into "mini french bread pizzas" for our regular pizza night!
My boys wanted to dye Easter eggs on the spur of the moment. Used vinegar, paper towels, and drops of food coloring to make lovely tie dye eggs--no kit required! Bonus: The eggs can be eaten and the boys have been gobbling them.
I use an allergy nasal spray--Flonase--and discovered that Costco now has a generic of it! So much cheaper!
I used eBates when I ordered from eBay. Black sandals from SAS, normally $130, got for $57.50 in "worn twice" condition. Score!
That's also only 4 :-).
Kristen, did you ask the ped. about the expiration date? An allergist I used to have said that inhalers can be used for 6 months past the expiration date. I know you already replaced it but you might ask if that happens again!
I usually don't do this, but here's my first try:
1. Scored some unneeded but desperately wanted half price Reese peanut butter eggs. Yum!
2. Dusted with a sock that was headed to the trash can anyway.
3. Taking a free weekly wellness class at the local medical center which will also earn me rewards on my health insurance.
4. Got two seasons of a favorite show (32episodes) on DVD at a thrift store for $4!
5. Used a $5 digital coupon at the grocery to get my parents some free ice cream when I got the items I would have purchased anyway.
Wow, not sure how impressive that was, but I think I did it. 🙂
Woohoo! Look at you go!
I love all five of yours!
You did very well!
Our favorite clothing store had an online sale ~ most items were 70% off the last sale price plus we have a loyalty card so we get another 10% off. I was paying $2.49 for sweaters that were $60 to begin with. I ended up with 8 items for $26. I haven't added up the value but I'm pretty sure it was over $600. That was the best deal of the week.
Today, I'm working from home again, which means no driving kms, no gas usage and I get to wear my comfy ripped jeans. It's snowing outside but not cold, so I don't have to turn on the furnace or light up the fireplace. And it's light and bright, so no additional lighting needed. However, I do have the tv on as it's our stereo too and I have baroque music in the background. And I'll use up some gas to heat my lunch and make a big pot of tea later.
Thanks for sharing, frugal girl!
X Chy
oops, my website didn't work: it is https://ourlittlecottageinthewoods.blogspot.ca/
I purchased black pants and a belt at the thrift store for my son's first job. By the way, he loves his new job. I picked up my daughter at the front door of the airport and didn't pay for parking. We had perfect timing. That was amazing since it is the busiest airport in the US. I ordered 7 magazines for free for my daughter and her roommate to enjoy. I made use of the trip into the city and did some coupon shopping. I used a 5.00 gift coupon at Best Buy to pick up a movie for Christmas . I picked up 20.00 worth of panties at Lane Bryant for free. I used Daughters ECB,s to get her a bunch of stuff and returned the new ECB,s to her. I bought two high end water bottles at thrift store for 80 cents a piece. They are listed online at 24.00. I also got a brand new Brita water filter device for the kitchen faucet for a quarter.
1.ate all meals at home
2.put on hold at the library a pass to a local museum for next week.will save 16.00 on each ticket
3.use reward points for my Whole Foods trip this week
4.bought a work out top at goodwill for 1.00 on 75%day
5.made homemade iced to drink instead of soda.Way Cheaper and much healthier
1) it's me & Hub w- 2- Adult Kids I cooked every night but for 1-2 nights a week. Well I was gonna cook BFSK for dinner last Thurs. & then at last min I decided No I want a Sm hamburger w- extra pickles & Sm fry ( my Fav McDs meal & only $2.71) 18sp on weightwatchers but I had the points... ANYWAYS well I went thro the Drive thru & the Cashier seen my Car was for Sell & she Bought it the NEXT DAY So that Mickey D trip PAID OFF Big time ( in case ur curious it was our car we had for our now adult kids to drive. & my son just bought a car so it was no longer needed )
2) Ate Easter Leftovers last night
3) Froze some Easter Leftovers ( We had Mexican Potluck this year we decided to change it up)
4) shopped from my Pantry & Freezers for our meals & I still had 60$ Leftover from 100$ weekly food /Misc budget $
( does that count ??? )
5) got my Son a NICE Pullover jacket fleece for .50c !!!! at a Garage Sale
Does anybody elses do what I call a MEAT $
I have $100- that I use to buy Meats & foods on sale then when I use the items I pay back my MEAT $ from my Weekly Food/Misc $
1. Ate at home all week & used up all leftovers for lunchs
2. Added clementines to smoothies I had bought that were tasteless
3. Instead of buying individual baby yogurts bought a big pot of natural yogurt & added puréed fruit we have here- a lot cheaper
4. Reading books borrowed from library
5. Walk everyday for exercise- no gym membership fees here
Frugal Girl -
3 Words: Every Dollar Counts.
-Lanny
1. I ordered from schoola for the first time. My older daughter is going to need shorts for the summer and used clothing stores are a bit hard to get to. I either need to take the subway to the other side of Boston or we need to spend money on a zipcar to drive out of Boston to get to a used clothing store. Hopefully we like schoola.
2. My in-laws gave my husband and me gift cards to llbean for Christmas. Rather than use them on stuff we didn't really need, we saved them and I ordered sandles for the 3 out of 4 of us that need sandles for this summer.
3. I have been hanging well over half of my laundry rather than putting it in the dryer.
4. Easter leftovers are getting eaten.
5. And one not so frugal... My washer is dying and the shut off valve is leaking. So I am going to need a new machine and a plumber to replace the shut off valve.
If you are cool with the commuter rail, Global Thrift is maybe 4-5 blocks away in Waltham. My favorite one for kids clothes by a lot.
Many fall in the tax theme!
1) I printed out and filed my state taxes instead of e-filing and saved myself $20.
2) we've had a ton of medical expenses this year and will soon be hitting our $7k family deductible. I thought we'd have to dig into a savings account, but we are able to cover it so far. We are spending our larger than expected federal tax refund on medical bills, which I am glad for.
3) I used my turbo tax to run tax simulations for the next year. My consulting income will nearly double this year (yay!) and I know exactly how much to pay in estimated taxes (the check is in the​ mail today). This saves me from underpayment penalties.
4) We hosted Easter and we're able to send family home with leftovers AND get two more meals out of them. We had Hawaiian fried rice tonight to polish off the ham.
5) As usual, we've been using our library for audio books. My kids (6 and 4) love chapter books that they can't yet read themselves. I don't have to leave my house to check them out and they automatically check back in, as I have had (ahem) a few problems getting real books back to our library four blocks away from us. I racked up $1.75 in fines (5 cents per day). Silly me!
My first time participating 🙂
1. Filled two of my kids' Easter Baskets with brand new sidewalk chalk & brand new Webkins another friend was getting rid of. She was decluttering and no longer wanted them!
2. Submitted an invoice for my kids' music lessons for this semester. We participate in a program that allows school funding to reimburse a portion of their lessons. This is a really big savings!! Can't wait to get my check. 🙂
3. My 16 year old wore a second hand shirt on Easter. I bought the shirt second hand because it will probably only fit him for 10 hours the way he is growing!
4. Cut clippings from a forsythia bush, in my yard, and used them as a centerpiece for Easter.
5. Packed a dinner for both myself and my son to eat in the car. We had to go from an appointment to his Scout meeting without stopping at home. I hate wasting money on fast food!!
1. Hubby and I have been taking advantage of weekly rewards from our cell phone carrier and got a free movie rental and free drink from Dunkin' Donuts this weekend with them.
2. We've eaten leftover ham in several forms since Sunday. Yesterday I used it in homemade mac and cheese and tonight in a frittata.
3. I did our taxes myself using Turbotax.
4. We're on track to actually eat everything from our produce box. This hasn't happened in I don't know how long. I'm planning out meals in my head that will use each of the items and finding ways to add some of them to things I'm already making (like adding spinach into the frittata).
5. Hubby and I gave each other one small gift for Easter that we knew the other would like/want/need. We don't have kids but still enjoy celebrating every holiday and we can tend to go a bit overboard. This time it was just right.
OH MY GOSH I almost forgot about the biggest one! We paid off my student loans last week! We've been very good savers the last few years but kind of figured the student loans would just be there to pay on forever. I noticed we had enough to pay them off and leave a good amount in our savings so we did. Saved us about $1000 in interest each year! The money we were paying for the loan payment I've already set up to auto transfer into our savings account every month so we'll be building the savings back up in no time!
Congratulations on paying of your student loans! What a relief that must be.
I am paying mine off this week and am SUPER excited.
Yay! So wonderful your student loans are gone.
. My house is 67 years old and the plumbing is wonky. Today I had to have the plumber out to snake the main sewer line, which I have to do about once a year. I generally try a different company every time I have to call. But recently a local company helped out a relative of mine by giving him a free service when he and his wife were in a desperate financial situation. Not only did they do the sewer service for free, but the owner of the company returned to my relative's house with his weed eater and cleared the weeds from the front yard, also free of charge! So of course I decided they will get my business from now on, because who does that??? Although they arrived later than I anticipated, the cost was 1/2 of what I have paid other companies, and in addition they gave me a $30 first-time customer discount. I am so pleased and from here on out will call them Every. Single. Time.
2. I suppose the usual things - library books, youtube exercise videos, bringing my lunch to work, etc. etc.
Frugal fail: I signed up for Audible to listen to an audiobook that wasn't available on disc at my library or through overdrive. I was planning to cancel after the free trial but I now I am hooked on listening to some old favorites, so I think I will keep the subscription for a month or two! Which is how they suck you in I suppose. I am OK with being less than frugal once in a while.
I've kept my Audible subscription too, mainly for Lisey. She's such an auditory learner, to me it's worth the money to have her consistently listening to books.
Books are so important no matter how they are consumed. Definitely worth the money.
I love that story about the plumber! We are a family-run construction company and are happy when we can do something nice for someone, especially seniors. And by you recommending them, it pays off for everyone- you have a good tradesman who charges fair rates, you don't have to scramble to get someone new there in a crisis, your friends and neighbors will give him a try because of your family's positive experiences, it keeps the money fairly local and not going to a huge corporation out of state or something. We hate to pay for advertising when we could pass the savings along to our customers, so "word of mouth" is the way to go! Thank you!
Thank you for the reply. I love supporting small, local businesses who have the heart to help out the community.
By going above and beyond this company has definitely won my loyalty and a life time of word of mouth advertising. Because literally everyone in my circle of friends, coworkers, and family has heard the story and said they would use that company, too if they need it.
I am always impressed when I read everyone's efforts. As one lady listed the more you practice frugality it begine to become difficult to find new tricks.
1. I spent a small fortune on seafood for Easter. It is a huge thing here, However, I cannot eat shellfish so I told everyone that the feast was my gift to everyone.
2. I cooked a Hainanese chicken on Monday. This has made two main meals and a soup for one dinner. I still have leftover soup and stock. I think this is my new 'rubber chicken' recipe.
3. We have not eaten out all week. This is rare for us.
4. I found some almost used bottles of spirits. Mum loves a tipple so I have placed them in a visible spot so I can reduce some bottle clutter in the house. We needed a stocktake as whenever we can buy duty free we do. Since we rarely drink I seem to have bottles of spirits and liqueurs everywhere.
5.I have been keeping a close eye on the stock in the fridge to reduce food waste. The food waste has been so much better this week.
What is your recipe for Hainan Chicken? I like the dish, my father loves it, and the only version I've liked came from a Singaporean mix that - technically - isn't legally allowed into the US.
I love #4 and #5. Sometimes much of being frugal is just knowing what you have on hand!
1. I'm having a new dress made for a wedding (getting clothes made here in West Africa is super cheap compared to the US), and while there I gave her some of my other dresses to be fixed/modified, so I can wear them again.
2. We're selling our moped to a friend.
3. For entertainment we've been doing lots of free or almost free things, reading, kids playing games on the tablet, and yesterday they were making all kinds of play food using paper and glue we had on hand.
4. My husband fixed the seal on our fridge making it much cooler inside and I'm sure saving electricity.
5. We've eaten almost all local food this week, which is not only fresher, but cheaper, and helps the local vendors I buy from.
1. Bought an inner tube for my jogging stroller wheel. I'm not sure what's going on, exactly, because the current inner tube isn't leaking. It just won't take on any more air even though it's half-flat. Maybe the valve is broke? or our pump is broke? I saved the receipt for the inner tube, and I'll tackle this project this weekend...definitely cheaper to fix the problem (whatever it is) than to buy a new stroller 🙂
2. Have eaten dinner at home this week, and am trying to use up leftovers before they go bad.
3. Purchased two used denim skirts through Poshmark...it was a little pricier than at a regular thrift store, but I am not having any luck finding what I want. Only purchased those two things.
4. Found a penny on the ground near the creek and promptly stuck it in my pocket.
5. Took LO to the park yesterday for some free mother-son time. We used the swing (he sat on my lap), went down the slide, met other kids, and climbed up and down the stairs a zillion times. Free sunshine and movement for the little guy.
6. Ate a picnic lunch at the park in order to maximize our time there (and to avoid eating out). Lunch included an orange that I got in a 1$ grab bag at the grocery store.
1) I called and argued with a healthcare provider over a bill they sent on Monday. It is 100% their error that there is a $421 bill on our account. Now they are working on fixing it. Always check behind health care providers and your insurance company, people!
2) I had given myself permission to spend a few dollars on a cheeseburger last night after an all-day bike ride. But when I finished I wasn't that hungry, just sore. Instead I had a couple of fried eggs, grits, and veggies and went to bed.
3) I packed my own lunch for the ride yesterday that mostly consisted of Easter leftovers.
4) I got into a conference at Harvard! They are paying our hotel and giving us a $100 travel stipend. I signed up for Hopper (just learned about this) to monitor flights. I will wait for it to tell me that flights are close to $100. Then I'll hopefully get another small travel stipend from my school to cover Ubers and meals that aren't provided.
5) My husband and I would like to go to Japan next summer to visit his sister and her husband who are on deployment. The trip will depend on how our funds go and how cheap I can make it. I'm on it. I'm confident that I can turn a $20K trip into a $10K trip. (There are five of us in our family, so flights alone could eat up that budget.) Starting early helps.
I'm not sure how frugal I was last week, but here goes.
1. Took my lunch to work everyday.
2. Waited until Thursday evening to buy gas in town, as I had to be there anyway Gas is .25 cheaper there right now.
3. Cooked at home all week until Friday. Everyone ate leftovers that night.
4. Due to some medical procedures and then my back going out I didn't (get) to cook Easter dinner. My oldest daughter cooked and sent me some leftovers. I'm not sure I like being frugal here but it did save me some money.
5. The kids were able to wear their suits and dress for Easter that was purchased around Christmas. Lots of money saved here.
Hi Kristen,
If you daughter suffers from pollen, it may also help to put a greasy cream (Vaseline, sun cream, etc) around the nostrils and eyes, and on the lips (lip balm). The cream catches the pollen before it gets to the sensitive areas. Replace regularly.
My sister made a large batch of baked spaghetti for Easter and hardly anyone ate it so that gave me lunch for several days this week. We traded several other dishes so I am good for lunch all week.
Not really frugal but my washer died, 12 years old & can't find parts. Repair shop said pain to repair, ugh! Anyway we bargained with Best Buy manager and got a $900 washer for $544. At least my hubby took the washer apart and is scrapping the metal (which makes up most of the machine...new ones are plastic another ugh!). Also receiving $50 from our power company for purchasing the washer which is energy efficient.
We are taking a trip to GA, I manged to find a couple of nights Airbnb so a big savings there.
We plan on making some of our meals in GA so we will have a savings there too.
I love reading everyone comments!
1. Received a dozen free eggs from a friend with chickens
2. Combined an assortment of leftovers and 'soon to expire' foods into a big batch of something like Spanish rice which I will divide into lunch size containers for ready to eat portions
3. Read books from our library's free digital collection
4. Sold a decoration that the previous owners left here for $10 on a FB sale group
And the biggie ...
5. We plan on building our long awaited house this summer. A friend mentioned that a window manufacturer in a small town about 3 hours away has an outlet warehouse where they sells returns, seconds, and direct. So we took a drive down to check it out, did some haggling, were flexible on sizes. We ended up getting all 13 color matched windows for the house for $2,600! This included four 6ft x 6ft specialty windows. Very happy!
1 While on business trip I was tempted by cosmetics that I was in need of. However I waited until I was home, because my local shop has a cheaper-than-tax-free brand that works as well for me
2 I asked for reimbursement of company costs immediately upon return
3 After traveling home, I made dinner with what was available, rather than some take away
4 For a theme party, I shopped a top in the requested color at the local thrift shop. Actually it what looked so well on me that I will probably be wearing it regularly afterwards!
So this week gets me to four as well. I'll have a regular week next week, with more opportunities to be frugal.
1. Cooked dinner at home, even when feeling sick & tempted to get fast food for family. Bonus--soup was on our menu, so helped me feel better later.
2. Brought almonds & a travel magazine to a long afternoon medical appt so that I wouldn't be tempted to buy snack out of hunger/boredom.
3. My husband & I split a yummy chicken fajita meal for date night. Also we traded baby sitting with a friend. $12 date!
4. Have been using junk mail/old magazines for my daughter's art stash instead of going to Dollar Tree for crafty things.
5. Downloaded Free Friday grocery item coupon, even though felt like I was too busy to do so. It only took a minute to do:)
W