A speedy Five Frugal Things
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Quick because it's already almost 10:00 am here!
1. I sold a faux leather jacket on eBay.
I bought it on clearance over a year ago, never wore it, and recently realized I could actually sell it on eBay for more than I paid for it.
So, that's what I did. And I'll package it up and ship it out today.
Considering that it's a week before Christmas, I am VERY VERY grateful that eBay lets me print out a shipping label right from home.
That way I can just drop the package off without waiting in December post office lines.
2. I used some Amazon credit from TopCashback towards my Christmas shopping.
Mr. FG and I were running a little late on shopping for our kids, but Amazon Prime's 2-day shipping has saved us. 😉
Whenever I redeem TopCashback credit, I always opt for the Amazon option because you get a small bonus for redeeming that as opposed to cash.
I didn't have nearly enough credit cover all my shopping, of course, but every little bit helps.
(Related: TopCashback has a really great e.l.f. makeup offer going right now for new members. Join up through this link, spend $10 at e.l.f., and you get $10 back from TopCashback. Also, I believe e.l.f. is offering free shipping at the moment.)
3. I'm using saved shipping envelopes for Sonia's knitted animals.
She's got a couple of orders for bunnies and mice, and we're shipping them out in reused padded envelopes I've saved.
Reduced business overhead for the win. 😉
4. I exchanged a Groupon for two new ones.
I bought one for a date night, but Mr. FG and I accidentally let it expire. Luckily, Groupon sent an email offering to let me exchange the full value for a new Groupon.
Phew!
(The paid value of a Groupon never expires, but the promotional value does.)
5. I got a replacement pair of pants from Kohl's.
Kohl's sells a skinny jean that actually fits my very slender Sonia. I ordered multiple pairs online, and they've been great...except for one pair on which the fabric split open by the zipper.
Since this happened shortly after purchase, under normal use, and hasn't happened with the other three pairs, I took this pair back to Kohl's, explained the problem, and they replaced them with a fresh pair.
Which will hopefully be split-free for a nice long time.
Sonia’s animals are just too cute! What a fun hobby! Also what a bonus that she can sell her creations. It is so nice when a hobby can be income as well. I love seeing all the adorable creatures she creates!
Yes, it's so perfect for her! She gets to do something she finds to be enjoyable and get paid for it.
They are gorgeous and there is something extra special about a homemade toy. she should take a photo of each one she makes to create a folio of her work.
Let's see:
1.) Turned 4 $5 Gift Cards to Target into one $20 Target GC for my sister's Christmas gift. She's expecting and Target has some nice baby items.
2.) I kept in my Christmas budget this year (reduced from last year actually) and I don't feel at all guilty about it.
3.) Took advantage of some overtime last week so my post-Christmas paycheck will be nice.
4.) Since Christmas is coming, we're cleaning out the freezer and doing a lot of simple and easy meals this week.
5.) Returned some dresses that I bought for my wife that didn't fit her and Amazon quickly refunded my cash.
I love how easy returns are with Amazon. Love!
I love your frugal wins this week! The bunny looks absolutely adorable. Did Sonia sell it on Etsy?
I don't like waiting in line at the post office either. It's great to know that I can print shipping labels from home too. Gotta try and sell some of my clothes on Etsy hehe.
No, we didn't even have to mess with Etsy! One of my readers messaged me to ask if Sonia could knit her a bunny.
She could even make a stockpile to take to a yearly market or add a stall out the front of a yard sale when you have one.
I had a good experience returning something at Kohl's, too. Nice to know I wasn't the only one!
My two frugal things in a not so frugal week:
1. Bought my hubby a Keurig for xmas. Bought from Kohl's where I could use $17 in Kohl's cash, 20% off code, and a $22 merch credit that has been in my wallet for ever. I opted for in store pickup where I'll get $5 in Kohl's cash for using that option. Sending my son who is home from college to do the pickup today. $130 item cost me only $70 and I'll get Kohl's cash to use after Xmas.
2. We live in the Chicago suburbs and have a tradition of taking the kids into the city for a show, dinner and a stop to see the kindlmarket, windows at Macy's and the tree. I thought way ahead this year and got Hamilton tix at face value when they were first released (so excited!). My son was a HS senior when I bought them, and not knowing when he would be home for the holidays, I bought tickets for 12/23 knowing all college kids are home by then. Yesterday, I was looking at restaurants for dinner reservations near the theater, and the options are all super $$. We've decided to stop in Greektown on our way in which will still be special and delicious, but less $ than a loop restaurant. Not an inexpensive night, but it is a special tradition for our family and I feel good that we've maximized our dollars this year for an outing my teens will enjoy as much as my husband and I!
And better than another thing to store/move/etc. You have a great evening planned and will carry the memories and experiences forever. I think that sounds like a terrific gift.
Wow, you really thought ahead with the tickets!
Ooh, Hamilton! What fun! You're going to love it! We paid more than face value to see it in SF, but we sold something expensive on CL, so it was found money. We used points to pay for the hotel. We took the train (BART) so we didn't have to pay for parking and we also had reasonably priced Greek food for dinner.
It was worth every penny. I can't wait to see it again. We're going to try the lottery when it comes back.
You can valet park for free in Greektown, so you might want to leave your car there and just uber/lyft/taxi back and forth to the theater, which could be cheaper than parking in the loop (or use spothero to score yourself a discounted parking space).
I tallied up our spending while on vacation last week! The trip came in just under $500 for the hubby and I to take a six day road trip! That's our big frugal win!
I need to set up my account to sell things on EBay, I have some Uggs to unload!
Yay for a frugal road trip!
1) We ate dinner at home every day last week, no take out either. I did buy some roast turkey from the grocery store vs roasting it myself, but I'm ok with that. I only needed a small amount for 4 kids for one meal. Planning to roast a whole one and then have us eat it would have been a much bigger production.
2) I sold one small item on a yard sale page. Small item and small $, but its not in my house anymore.
3) I returned three items left by others at our house over a month ago. None required me to go out of my way at all and I no longer have to wonder when they'll be back to claim them.
4) For one dinner I used up a pork tenderloin from the freezer and sauteed some Brussels sprouts that were on their last legs. We had potatoes with it.
5) I borrowed a large gift bag for one hard-to-wrap present. It's not very Christmas-sy, but it will do the job and hopefully I can return it undamaged after Christmas for further re-using.
Love this! I made the mistake of going to the post office next weekend and it took quite a bit.
This week:
1. We went to San Francisco this weekend! I snagged round trip tickets for 2 for $250.
2. During our trip we used a coupon code to get $10 off our Lyft bill for the weekend.
3. We packed collapsible water bottles and snacks for the trip to save more money.
4. I brewed homemade apple wine, which I will strain and age tonight.
5. Even though we were out of town all weekend, we'll still enjoy a homemade dinner tonight to save moolah. 🙂
I feel as though I have been way overspending on the whole Christmas season, so I'm not feeling very frugal right now. But maybe I can come up with a few.
1. We ate meals at home all weekend even though we wanted to go out.
2. I got a very large ham from Aldi for a very reasonable price.
3. We are having several out of town family members come in for the holiday. I went through the totes in the basement and have 3 garbage bags of kids hand me down clothes for one cousin, and three for another cousin. Maybe not very frugal for me because I could try to sell them, but it feels good that they will be put to good use and will be out of my house. Plus, I don't really have the time to try to sell them.
4. Although I feel like I have spent too much on Christmas, I got quality gifts for people that I know they will love or can use.
5.I have been repeating to myself that I have everything I need, and I won't worry for tomorrow because tomorrow will take care of itself. I get a lot of anxiety this time of year, and I'm trying to not let it be overwhelming.
Thanks for your blog, Kristen!
1. Since my new job is in a new town, I now work in a town covered up in restaurants, and I had no idea what to pack for my lunch today. The temptation to just buy something was soooooo strong, but I found some taco soup in my freezer, and soup it is for lunch.
2. My pre-teen granddaughter admired my dressy flats I was wearing yesterday -- they came from Goodwill.
3. I am walking past bakeries full of Christmas treats to serve guests, knowing I can make my own much more cheaply. I've got some of them done already.
4. We had a family member's funeral this weekend, and the deceased's fellow church members provided a pot luck for the immediate and extended family, before the afternoon funeral. It's not my frugal activity of course, but it is frugal. I was in my 40's before I found out some areas have the tradition that the bereaved spouse/family provides the food for all the visiting family. I'm used to the church and/or friends and neighbors, providing food to the bereaved, which helps a lot at an expensive time.
5. It's the end of the year and our homeowner's and auto insurances are due. I'm glad I started putting money away each month for it. What a scramble for cash that would be, right here at Christmas.
Love, love the knitted bunnies.
I always think the same thing about prepared baked goods...it pains me to buy them because I know how cheap they are to make!
I only know that in some places the church will provide a funeral day meal, but it is a fundraising activity for the church- very expensive to the family, but I guess it's a good cause, and one less thing to worry about. I have to say it was a little bit of a shock to me, but churches are businesses.
The idea of the church charging for a funeral day meal blows me away!
My goodness, me too. A church should most definitely not be a business, and none that I've ever attended have been that way. I'd leave if it became business-like! It should be a ministry, not a profit-making endeavor.
And the idea of charging people at such a time as a funeral is especially sad.
I guess it depends on the situation, most churches conduct funerals many times a year and would not be able to afford to provide free catering for them. It may be that there are not enough cooking volunteers in the church or the families' culture to 'bring a plate' and providing health department standard food for a large number of people is quite expensive, it may be they charge just to cover costs and save the family hosting people in their own home. My family culture both Christian and non-Christian on one side of the family has always involved many people bringing the food in someones home or the church hall, the other side of the family all go to a pub bistro and everyone buys their own.
2 frugal tips - if you’re shipping usps, you can schedule a pickup during your regular mail delivery for free on their website. Then you don’t have to leave the house at all 🙂
Also for Sonia’s adorable knitted animals, I usually find padded envelopes on sale after Christmas. They may have snowman or Santa designs but they can be really cheap.
Ah, you speak my language! No leaving of the house! 😉
I forgot to add this one last week during Five Frugal Things.
1. A few weeks back my husband brought home a $25 off any Keurig brewer coupon that printed at the grocery store. (I've never seen such a great coupon). I shopped around and found one at Walmart for only $50. So with that coupon I now have a brand new (red) Keurig waiting for me. I already have three (home, office and camper) but our home one is starting to act funny. I'll keep this new one in the box just waiting for the right time!!
1. Not due to my frugalness, but when I went to the dentist this morning for my cracked crown, I found out that it was originally done with a batch of bad materials and so they are replacing it for free. Phew! I thought I was going to have to shell out another $500 (my insurance only covers part).
2. I cooked dinners this weekend using stuff out of the freezer so I could save money for a more festive Christmas dinner.
3. I used up the scraps of Christmas gift wrap to make tags and wrap tiny gifts.
4. I went to Starbucks to buy a tray of the Cranberry Bliss Bars for a gift for someone who loves them and managed to ONLY buy the gift, and not a fancy drink for myself. Win! Also, the bars were 40% off.
5. I guess just the usual things: lumping errands together to save on time & gas, packing a lunch, using the library, etc.
Well, if you have to go thru the misery of dental work, it's at least lovely to not have to pay for it!
True!
1. Was in mood for holiday tamales. The kind you buy from the locals who make them to sell, are often $25-$29 a dozen. Braved the Coscto crowds and picked up a dozen there for $12.75. While there bought the potato salad I need for Thursday gathering at my house. And some salsa to go with tamales.Have been staying OUT OF restaurants almost completely this month!!
2. Went to library to borrow Christmas movies to watch in living room with our own popcorn.
3. Played cards at clubouse with 3 friends.. one has apt. building with beautiful clubhouse we can use, with FREE KEURIG COFFEE too!!!!!
4. For "date night" we spent time helping our congregation "hang the greens" and trim the tree at church yesterday. We all had brought our favorite soups in crock pots for pot luck meal together.I got to decorate two big wreaths with the pastor's daughters, so I get some "children time" at the holidays ( no grandbabies!!!!)
5. Kept our gift giving very minimal and was able to get what I need delivered to the house, no gas, no running around. I try to shop local but the 4 items I needed were not available in local shops.Time now for baking and relaxing.. music and family time.
I can't believe the tamales sell for $20+!! Here I am complaining that $10-12 is too much (TX).
1. Made a rice pudding type thing with leftover rice. Kids had it for dessert and a couple of us will probably have it for breakfast tomorrow.
2. I was having trouble getting the last of my conditioner out so I put some water in and shook it up. So far I've gotten 2 more uses out of it and hoping for 1 or 2 more.
3. I also have a stack of almost used toothpaste tubes in my bathroom. I have one cut open right now.
4. While I haven't actually done it yet, I'm hoping to wrap some gifts in an African fabric I have from an old torn and worn skirt. Pinterest has ideas for how to tie them.
5. Electricity went out this evening, so me and the kids entertained ourselves with games and after they went to bed I sat outside and looked at stars, including seeing a shooting star and was reminded to "be still and know that I am God". Sometimes those free kinds of things are the most relaxing.
I killed my Groupon account because I kept buying them but not using them. I must have wasted 5 Groupons and swore off never using them again unless I have to use the paid values one day. Not worth it to me! 🙂
I am trying to be frugal about everything. We did a semi-takeout on Saturday. My daughter and I shared a pizza bought at the grocery shop and it was only $3(Aus). My mother insisted on a proper take away and that cost me about $14. Mum's food costs are a killer for me. I am trying to make some gifts. I have plenty of fabrics and I am making a few hussifs. This is a little sewing kit that is tiny and easy to carry. I have been staying home as much as I can. There are some presents for my first grandchild. I need to collect them as my eldest daughter has hidden them so mummy doesn't know. I am still baking our Christmas treats.
1. Went out to a festive event with friends yesterday and packed a lunch.
2. Resisted all the expensive shopping at the event, contenting myself with two pairs of boot socks, which I needed and which got my friend $3 off her pair.
3. Renewed my insurance package yesterday and cancelled coverage I now get through work, saving $30/month
4. Suggested a friend come over for dinner tonight instead of us going out to a restaurant. We had a blast and dinner was delicious.
5. Dinner used up a bunch of veggies that were languishing in my fridge, and left me with two days of leftovers for lunch.
1. Found 2 new hooded sweatshirts for hubby for $17 each. This doesn't seem very frugal until you start to shop for plain zip-up goodies and see prices upwards of $80!!
2. Completed a gift for a family member for a quarter the price of what I would have paid to purchase it. Plus, handmade is always more special!!
3. Trimmed dogs nails myself instead of paying someone to do it. Our old dog doesn't do as much walking as our puppy due to his hips so his nails grow faster. I typically get them both trimmed at the same time totalling $25. Puppy wasn't in need of trim, so I just clipped old boys myself. (I would do both myself, but puppy is way to hard to handle.)
4. Shopped around for sales, coupons, rebates and ibotta deals to complete shopping for the holiday gifts. I feel like I managed to score some great deals and it allowed me to stretch my dollars.
5. Eating out of fridge, freezer and cupboards to clear out stuff, meals have gotten interesting.
1. Friend and I started running again. No gym!
2. Continue to pack my lunch every day.
3. Packaged my work friend gifts in brown lunch bags with festive tags. Pretty and cheaper than gift bags.
4. Worked at my 2nd job from home for an hour tonight.
5. Paid bills online today.
1. Used homemade vanilla extract in all my holiday baked goods. It’s SO much cheaper even with the cost of beans going up.
2. Took advantage of holiday sales to get good deals on dress shirts for my oldest to grow into and eventually hand down to his brother.
3. Was invited to a baby shower and was able to pull together a great gift from my gift drawer (all things purchased on clearance and to get free shipping on something else we needed.)
4. Used my pantry staple easy recipes this week while sick to feed everyone healthy food and avoid takeout.
5. Wrapped all the presents using materials we already had, with the exception of one $2.50 roll of paper.
1. Bought pork loin for 99 cents/lb
2. Bought games on sale for gifts. (I had the children pick out their favorite games to give to their grandparents as gifts before we dropped them off for a weeklong visit. When I called to say goodnight, both the kids and grandparents said they are having such a great time playing them, so I think this might become a new tradition for our family.)
3. Melted broken crayons into new multi-colored crayons as gifts for my Sunday school class
4. Used up the rest of our Halloween candy as treats for my class (My kids only like certain types of candy, so I tried using the snubbed candy as treats for my class and luckily they were not as picky as my kids!)
5. Accepted a freshly killed chicken from my father...it was still warm!! (He was trying out a new chicken plucker for his side business and I just happened to be there...luckily I did not have to see the messy part, just the plastic wrapped finished product!)
1. Spent the day with my granddaughter, who is visiting nearby. Used a gift card I already had, and walked the mall with her, just talking.
2. Celebrated Christmas with some visiting friends, pulled the tissue paper out of all of the gift bags, folded it, and put it away in my stash.
3. Put the leftover chili in the freezer for another meal someday.
4. Went to Coinstar, got an Amazon gift card code, used that code online to purchase a gift for a family member.
5. Hated the movie my family decided to watch, so I went and cleaned out my closet instead. Came up with a bagful of items to donate, and love everything left in my closet!
6. Made a "thrift list" of clothing items that would complete some outfits. Lists keep me from impulse buying. I did this after noticing that some of the items in my donate bag were originally from the thrift store, impulse buys, and I only wore those a few times.
Let's see...
1. Using up food this week and trying not to grocery shop!
2. Meeting friends from out of town for dinner, but we decided to get a pizza, so it won't be an expensive night out.
3. Hosting a friend overnight - she said she can skip having dinner and will bring dessert. I'll provide snacks and breakfast, so it will be low-cost evening.
4. Was going to buy a gift for a friend, but realized I made far too many cookies for a potluck. I'll package up the extra cookies for my friend, who doesn't bake and is traveling, so she won't have to lug the gift home.
5. Used up the last of my wax paper for cookie decorating last night, but it didn't get too messy. So I'm reusing it for the next batch of cookie decorating tonight! We'll see how long I can make these sheets last...
'Tis the season for baking!
1. Ate leftovers for lunch.
2. Served leftovers for dinner last night. (I made a FULL crockpot of soup on Sunday... for our family of 4.)
3. I put half of the above soup in the freezer already. I didn't wait til it was near it's expiration to do this as I often do.
4. Tonight we're going to look at Christmas lights at a zoo 45 minutes away (free with the zoo membership we got for Christmas last year!) We are packing food for dinner instead of eating out.
5. My dishwasher has been failing to clean dishes, so we've been washing them all by hand for quite a while. Now that I'm pregnant with our third child we are motivated to do something about the dishwasher situation. We debated whether we spend $70 for my husband to buy parts and fix it himself or to get a new one. We opted for the frugal fix. Even though my pregnant/tired self was leaning toward just getting a new one. 😉
I hope the dishwasher fix is speedy!
1. Eating out of fridge, freezer & pantry...trying to cut my grocery bill way down this month to make up for some of our Christmas spending.
2. Sold a few items on Facebook garage sale sites to make up the extra $ i needed in my Christmas budget.
3. We had a White Elephant gift exchange at my work's Christmas Luncheon. Instead of opening a new gift, i "stole a gift card" someone had as the gift they opened & nobody ended up stealing it from me, so I got to keep it. Will come in handy (better than just an item I probably won't use).
4. Making all of our holiday goodies myself, saving me lot of money from buying them. They taste better too!
5. Used all of our extra Christmas cards from years past plus all leftover gift tags so I didn't have to buy any this year.
1. I fixed my washing machine! I tried because I had read about you fixing your appliances. It was a VERY simple fix (clearing out a clogged piece of tubing) once I got the machine apart.
2. I am returning shoes that didn't fit, a jacket that didn't fit, and bras that didn't fit. Can't wait to get that $$ back!
3. Made dinner tonight from what we had on hand instead of running out to get food or anything else to supplement.
4. We are making our long holiday trip overnight because traffic is lighter and, since the dog and I both sleep the whole way, we make far fewer pit stops and consume fewer treats.
5. I asked a friend at our holiday destination to borrow an academic book from her library for me to use while I am visiting. I don't need to own the book, so it's a big savings!
1. My son always pours too much OJ in the morning. I saved the extra in a jar for his breakfast tomorrow.
2. Filled my outside pot with free pine branches scavenged from where we cut down our Christmas tree. Looks great! I’ll add lights later today.
3. Got free Christmas lights from a neighbor that had too many
4. Found a new to me surplus grocery store near our Wednesday night activity! Great prices!,,
5. Got new Clark shoes for me at a silent auction fir $8!!!
We're enjoying a quiet night at home & it's so good to switch gears from the Christmas hustle & bustle to a little blog reading:)
Here's my 5:
1) I'm filling some cute cosmetic bags with little gifts for my sis/mom. Walked around Walgreens looking specifically for nice clearance soap, nail stuff, etc. This helped me get way more bang more my budget.
2) Used a 25% off coupon for Christmas cards & hand delivered some locally.
3) Bought like new used $1 books from the Library for some gifts.
4) I'm going to make hole-y sock/lost partner mitten puppets with my girls over break. Also plan to make homemade play-dough & use our cookie cutters.
5) Bought a huge container of organic spinach at rock bottom clearance. I've froze a ton & we've been eating lots this week too. Love finding cheap produce!
Isn't it marvelous that you can freeze spinach? Not for salad, of course, but you can always smoothify it once frozen.