Five Frugal Things | fancy yogurt
1. I got some grocery markdowns
I always check out the meat and dairy markdowns at this store and this time around, I got a package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs:
And also some fancy individual yogurts, which I rarely buy.
I tend to stick with my homemade yogurt (no yogurt is more affordable than that!), but sometimes I enjoy a little flavor tour of marked-down Greek yogurts.
2. I renewed my van's registration for only one year
You can renew for up to three years, but there is exactly zero discount for doing so.
I don't really want to fork over almost $600 if no benefit is offered (I'd rather keep my money in my savings account!), plus, since I don't know what my long-term plans are for the van, I'd rather just take it year by year.
I do pay my car insurance annually, and that's a big chunk of change. But I'm willing to do that because it lowers the total amount for the year.
I need some incentive to pay ahead! 😉
3. I am officially taking ethics at the community college
I think I told you my approval request went through, but by that time, the ethics class had a waitlist. I joined, not feeling too hopeful, but lo and behold, I made it in. Whew.
This will be cheaper than taking it at the BSN school, and it will also probably be less frustrating.
Of course, I promptly submitted my paperwork to get reimbursed from my hospital.
I think I am very nearly done submitting paperwork to my hospital now, because I only have the spring 2027 semester left to register for! Yay!
Also, I did submit all of these classes before I went part-time, so I'm hoping I will still get the full reimbursement amount. We shall see...either way, part-time was still the right choice for me for now.
4. I hopped on my Safeway app
I needed to stop in for some milk (I wasn't near an Aldi!), so I pulled up my app and snagged a $3/$30 coupon, and I also grabbed some good sale items.
And, of course, I used my 5% student discount.
Mine renews in October, so I will have it until October 2027, even though I will graduate in May of 2027.
I will enjoy my 5% as long as I can. 😉
5. I ordered an EZ Pass transponder
I realized I never got one for my Civic, which means that right now, if I drive on a toll road or bridge, I'm going to pay the higher bill-by-mail price.
I'm not a fan of paying higher prices, as we all know. 😉
So, now a $0 transponder is on its way to me. Sweet.
Although I do paperwork for my job every day, I often have to kick my behind to get my private paperwork done. Today I resubmitted an online pension scheme form because I received a reminder. Only after asking I discovered that ALL contributants received the reminder, regardless of any previous submission. We will only get the confirmation notification in three weeks time. Very confusing and unhelpful, in my mind.
This week's frugals:
-- after spacking (spackling?) we are using the dehumidifier and are emptying the water in the flower garden;
--we shared some marked down produce with our youngest;
--we restocked on pharmacist products with a trade union discount;
--after the brief spell of rain it is sunny again, so I can do laundry on free solar power;
--we are taking shoots of some favourite shrubs, to replant in other parts of our back yard.
We have big bunches of grapes this year and I cannot recall they were ever this ripe so early in the season. As per usual I will sap them together with some apples then leave the last for the birds.
Feeling frugal after a previous week of vet and dentist bills!
1. My rice cooker stopped heating. I recycled the cooker and sold the insert and lid on ebay. Bought a new one for $25, made 15 on the insert. So basically a new one for 10, and someone else got a nice insert.
2, 3 and 4: Brought home leftovers from a work lunch. Turned the cucumber slices into tzasiki, turned the inside of the wraps into chicken salad by adding a touch of mayo, and made chips out of the flour wraps. Yum. I love making things out of leftovers.
5: Cleaned my shoes instead of buying new for school. Wiped off the outsides and soles. I used to sell shoes on ebay and learned how to clean them back then, so I thought, why don't I clean my own shoes more?
I gave my garden crocs sandals a good rinse and spin the other day and they were like new again-
- Dear Cat is sick (blogs say things like DS and DD for family - do we say DC too?). Thankfully so far it looks like the weekend was the worst of it, and he hasn't needed a trip to the vet thus far.
- Nothing in the house has broken so far this week lol.
- Amazon Prime credit card has a wild 9% cash back promo I think through the end of Sept. on certain categories - ones we actually use! The credit back stacks up nicely.
- My one subscribe and save item, powdered bone broth, had an extra coupon when I underestimated my usage and needed to get another bag.
--Tomato largess has been transformed into soup and pasta sauce and stockpiled in the freezer. We've also been eating plenty of caprese salads with garden basil.
--The crockpot has also been cranking out pumpkin puree as I roast through my pie pumpkin hoard. I freeze puree in two cup containers; any odd amounts get used in cooking that day or the next. Thus, pumpkin mac and cheese for dinner and pumpkin overnight oats in the morning!
--I've been saving flower seeds to share with my gardening friends and family. Nearly all of my wildflower/pollinator garden seeds came to me this way, so I'm paying it forward.
--My feet have been very much enjoying my practically new $4 gardening sneakers from the thrift store. So much cushion!
--Sometimes Dr. Elsey's cat litter includes a free collar in the bag. Since our strictly indoor boys don't tolerate collars, I left the latest one on the "freebie" table at one of the local coffee shops. Everything from tiny sewing kits to flower seeds to Tarot cards to handmade pocket notebooks has appeared on this table, so a cat collar isn't as random as one might think!
Splurge: My husband and I signed up for Paramount+ this weekend, our first PAID streaming service in over a decade. We greatly enjoy watching the Serie A (Italian football league) together, and this was the only way to access all the games. (PlutoTV sometimes has them for free, but it's a crapshoot as to which matches they carry.) We chose the cheapest plan-- why pay extra for no ads when the only ads are during halftime, anyway?--and will pause the subscription during the league's summer break. $8.99/month is worth it to us to snuggle and cheer in our pajamas while enjoying games. 😛
1) DH took the boys for a camping weekend away and I got food at the grocery store and cooked at home for myself rather than getting restaurant food. Don’t feel bad for me, I definitely had things like steak and chocolate molten cake for one. But it was also definitely cheaper than going out.
2) When I was at the grocery store shopping for their trip, I offered to help a lady get something off a top shelf. I guess she appreciated that, because then at the checkout, she handed me a $10 off coupon.
3) I cleaned out and reorganized our bathroom cabinets and pantry, throwing out all of the expired things and discovering that we actually already owned a lot of sunscreen and bug spray so we did not buy more for DH’s trip
4) While doing all of this cleaning and reorganizing, I listened to a free audiobook on Libby (The Late Show by Michael Connelly- nothing like a good murder mystery to inspire cleaning energy!)
5) I reupholstered our entry way bench with fabric that I already had