Five Frugal Things | a gift card, a free fizzy drink, and more
1. I contacted Target about a missing $5 gift card
I'd bought at least $20 of personal care items, which should have triggered a $5 gift card for me. But somehow, I didn't get one.
So, I hopped on the chat, and about 5 minutes later, they sent an electronic Target gift card to my email.
I figure that's $1/minute, so it was worth my time to reach out.
2. I got Sonia a free fountain drink
My 7-11 app sent me a free fountain drink deal and while I'm not much for fizzy drinks, Sonia definitely is!
So while we were out doing driving practice, we popped by to redeem the freebie.
3. I used a free shipping code at CBD
(that's Christian Book distributors! They have great prices on homeschool books, and they have plenty of non-religious homeschool books; I was ordering Wordly Wise and Easy Grammar.)
I was just a few cents under the minimum for free shipping with the code, so I found one more book to add to the cart.
I'd always rather buy an extra item if it bumps me up to free shipping. A $5.99 book > $5.99 shipping!
4. I used $40 of Old Navy vouchers
I don't carry a lot of specialty credit cards, but I do like my Gap/Old Navy Visa.
Sometimes they send out special offers to encourage the use of the card (like, "Spend $300 outside our brands and get a $35 voucher").
So, I used it to pay for Sonia's driver's ed class earlier this summer. And when Zoe needed to place an order yesterday, I had $40 in Old Navy credit to use.
Zoe's choices were slightly under $40, so I added one more pair of these super comfy shorts to bring our order total up to $40.
5. I...
- used my Target Redcard debit card for 5% off
- bought a used textbook for one of Sonia's college classes
- bought some used schoolbooks for S&Z's homeschooling
- listed another old schoolbook for sale on eBay
1. This week, I froze peaches, a few tomatoes and am dehydrating more tomatoes.
2. We're having the deck refinished. To cut costs, my husband took down all the balusters. We'll also do the new railing ourselves. It isn't a cheap home improvement but it's needed so we'll cut costs where we can.
3. I'm continuing to find good deals at our discount grocery. This week, it was a box of bacon.
4. I used a $5 Kohl's reward on a Christmas gift for a nephew. I also found a new packaged set of Lego figures at the thrift store for him.
5. I stopped at a garage sale, my first and likely only this year! They had a great free pile and I bought a huge new bunch of sunflowers and other stems for 5.00. Tags were still on them totaling 50.00, at half off that's still 25.00. The sunflowers will be fun for fall and the others I'll use for spring.
1. Entertainment this week has been daily walks through our neighborhood park and rereading of books we already own.
2. Picked up some free items on a walk as my neighborhood had organized a "buy nothing no contact" yard sale-basically people set up tables of free piles and left them unattended for neighbors to browse individually. I found a shower curtain, some book ends, a bunch of greeting cards, and a couple jewelry pieces that my kids liked.
3. Weeded the paths in the back yard using my hands and a pair of scissors. Cheaper than using an electric device, and I could keep working when the power went out briefly.
4. Cooked and ate all meals at home.
5. Received a milk crate of free peaches from my mom's garden. I joked that they are more like peach ninths because there are lots of bad spots to cut out, but after some work, they are tasty and I have already made a batch of kombucha and some peach sauce with some of them. Will probably make a big batch of peach sauce with the rest today because everyone liked it.
Picked up some free produce at a local stand. The bag of apples I turned into applesauce and will freeze it.
I turned the last of our Blackberries into jelly and gave it away. I have way more than I will use in my lifetime.
I waited until my pet store sent me a 20% off coupon before I ordered dog food.
I am loving my $14. monthly cell bill.
We traded dinners with my dil's parents. So we both got to take breaks cooking. More a frugal time saver.
Currently pulling older items out of freezer to use up. I have too many odds and ends in there.
Ohh, I love having homemade applesauce available in the winter. So, so good.
I'm 100% out of homemade applesauce right now, but hopefully I can rectify that soon.
Oooh blackberry jelly, what treat.
I don't like jelly on bread, but love good jelly used as the filling in something like an apple crisp recipe, using jelly instead of fruit with the oatmeal crust.
For date night, we dined-in at Chili’s and each ordered the 3-for-$10 meal. We asked the server to box one entree and we shared the other along with our salad and drink. We split the entree the next day for lunch.
An air fryer crisps leftover French fries and other foods very well. I consider it a frugal appliance.
I needed to send 2 short, non-confidential notes, so I used USPS note cards that I purchased back when their applied postage rate was 28 cents. I used 3 2-cent stamps to increase the postage amount to the current price of 35 cents (I went over by 1 cent on each). Although the savings was only 70 cents, I saved a trip to the post office and also used what I had already purchased.
Bought my 3-yr old granddaughter about 10 articles of clothing to keep at our house for $10 at Goodwill.
Her “water table” continues to entertain her-a plastic bin with a few measuring cups as well as a spray bottle of water.
1. Got word that I will get one month's free premium for my dental insurance.
2. The produce market I visit gives you a couple of free limes each time you buy from them. I squeezed 16 limes I had in the refrigerator. I will make limeade out of some of the juice and freeze the rest.
3. The grandkids stayed with us for two weeks. We took them to our community pool, the beach, and to our local botanical gardens where I have a membership. Fun things to do that didn't cost anything.
4. Downloaded three free magazines and two free books available through my Amazon Prime membership. Also got my regular monthly free book.
5. Purchased a bunch of BOGO items when I did my grocery shopping.
We have an Amazon Prime membership but don't know about the free books and magazines - is this a normal membership thing or do you need a specific type of membership? Thanks!
I don't know about the free ones, but you can get REALLY cheap magazine subscriptions through Amazon. You just go to the "subscription" section of your account and there's a link there for "magazines." It's great!
Can´t recall the names of the companies that will let you sign up for free magazines, Mercury Magazines is one of them, but I get free subscriptions to People, US, Oprah, Time, a couple of travel magazines. All ones I wouldn´t pay for but it´s fun mail when they arrive.
Just google Free Magazines. I belong to a couple of freebie sites that send emails with occasional free magazines to sign up for. (I call them my happy mail)
Oh, Recyclebank is another site that allows you to earn free magazines. The availability changes.
My niece sends me free magazines through Recyclebank. Such a nice treat!
Check your emails or set up your account for notifications or download the kindle app, Prime members get to pick one free ebook from a list every month.
Thanks for the tip on books/magazines through Amazon Prime. Will check it out (along with some of the other AP tips in comments here).
Isn't it great what you can learn from other frugal minds?
1) We continue to eat from our tiny garden -- lots of golden zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and fresh herbs are part of dinner
2) made 3 batches of oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, which are now in the freezer, along with a batch of chimichurri to use up parsley and cilantro that were starting to turn.
3) I bought two items off of Toad & Co. at 70% off. One dress did not look good, so I returned it - which means that for 2020, I've only purchased one item of clothing
4) In January, I knew I was going to make a big purchase for work, so I opened a new credit card that had a $600 in points if you spent so much in first 3 months. This month, they were running a special that each point was worth $1.25 if you put it toward what you bought on that credit card. Paid off this month's balance all with points, and will close it, taking cash for all remaining points. I just opened a new credit card (no annual fee) that gives 5% back on groceries, which is all I tend to spend on right now, anyway. [Note: I have a really good credit score, and do not plan to buy anything in the next 3 years that would need credit]
5) I convinced partner that we should cancel a streaming service. We have 2 others, so I'd prefer to just rotate among them, even if the savings is only 5.99 month.
Let's see, what did we do:
1) Dropped off our car at the office (not open, required WFH) to charge it for free using a work perk (free electric car charging).
2) Used a Subway gift card to pick up lunch for a hungry teenager, after I took him to a dental appointment
3) Continued to list items on eBay, even though sales are really, really slow for me these days
4) Used a grocery store gift card (earning buying gift cards for Home Depot, which we immediately used for our remodel) to offset the cost of a few things
5) Continued to make most meals at home, despite no kitchen
1. I got the school supplies that our kids needed during tax free weekend
2. I also got my daughters new dance shoes during tax free weekend
3. I paid my kids in ice cream to help me with a huge hot sweaty task, had two $5 gift cards so ice cream was only a few dollars for all of us
4. I got two more books from the library
5. STILL eating meats from the freezer so haven't bought any meat in weeks
A friend of mine very kindly gave me four pounds of ground beef from their supply when I mentioned we were out from the cow we got butchered almost two years ago. My opinions on the inferiority of store ground beef are well known. 🙂 Her husband is a ranch manager, and part of their compensation is a cow every year for meat. She also gave me a chicken to butcher that turned out to be a rooster (they didn't need another rooster) and a kid's saddle. Someone had given them two but they only needed one.
In return for all of this, I gave her a loaf of sourdough bread, a bag of green beans from the garden, and a jar of sauerkraut I had recently made. We were both happy, although I think I got the better end of that deal . . .
I have butchered chickens and moose and would much rather do the latter than the former. Those small pin feathers make me crazy. We keep chickens but when they get old I give them away to a friend who doesn't mind butchering. I salute you for accepting the free chicken, even with the work involved.
Ha. My husband skins them. I've never once gotten a plucked bird clean enough that I wasn't kind of repelled by the remaining feather shafts (which I even see on commercially purchased chicken and am really grossed out by), so we don't even bother plucking anymore.
1) I used a $5 off coupon at Meijer for things I was going to buy anyway. (I almost always forget my rewards coupons!)
2) We got solid wood bunk beds (with mattresses in good condition) for under $200 via Craigslist. Our daughters (2 & 6) are over the moon!
3) Made nearly all of our meals at home.
4) I've done really well with not wasting produce. The only casualty this week was a cooked sweet potato that got forgotten at the back of the fridge.
5) Our village's downtown development authority organized a street sale for our local businesses. We were able to mask up Thursday, when it wasn't crowded, support our small businesses, and get a discount on things we needed (like new sneakers for the six year old).
Thank you for clarifying CBD ;D.
The actual name was too long to fit in the heading text!
1. I took advantage of tax-free weekend for school supplies, and bought school supplies to take to our church to give to a local organization, a pair of scissors for us, and some cute little pencil sharpeners and a decorative magnet for my grandkids -- they loved them. The school supplies always go on good sale on tax-free days, plus tax-free days reduce the price by another 7% in our county.
2. I knew Monday would be a tiring day with a lot of driving to take my husband to an appointment, so I prepped ingredients on Sunday and was able to make a meal in the pressure cooker when I got home on Monday, with little effort and clean up. That kept us from having take-out.
3. Our sand pears are ripening. They are very firm, with thick, "sandy" textured peels, and aren't as sweet as other pears, but they make good pear butter. I made a large batch of pear sauce with them and will cook it down to butter in a slow cooker, then process. I often give pear butter away as gifts at Christmas.
4. Our porches' ceiling fans have died after 20 years in Florida's heat and humidity. I shopped around, but outdoor fans seem pretty expensive these days. I was surprised to find that a local lighting and fan shop, the kind that sells designer lighting and $1500 fans, had a few outdoor fans in my price range, and gave me a discount for buying 4. I paid less than any big box/warehouse prices I had found.
5. I watched a movie on Amazon Prime using my digital money from accepting slow delivery.
I like the shorts!
Re: No. 5. I am very much a techno ignoramus and have never made use of the digital money from Amazon Prime because I thought you had to use it to buy music.
Thanks for letting me know differently.
You can use it to buy books for the kindle device/app also, it comes off automatically when you use your prime account.
I soooo envy you the sand pears! They are one of my favorite fruits but you seldom get them here and then they are at least a dollar a pear and past their prime from the long travel time it takes to get to northern Alaska.
It's been a bit lackluster here with frugality. Feeling "blah" this week so I haven't done much as I had hoped. Here are a few things that I came up with.
1) Took PTO from work and haven't had the need to drive around, so no gas was used.
2) I have to get my car emissions tested this year. The price to do it hasn't gone up in 20 years!
3) DH and I have been taking long walks around dinnertime. We saw Jupiter and had the pleasure of listening to a girl play guitar and sing on her front porch with family around.
4) Only 2 books are needed for son's college this semester.
5) In past years, my insurance didn't want to pay for one of my meds and tried many tactics to get me to pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket each month (argue with me 30 minutes every month, put me on hold forever, try to force me to try different meds after my state passed a law that I didn't have to, get pre-authorization and then claim I wasn't authorized, etc). Finally, this year, with the new laws enacted, I can purchase my med for less than what my insurance charges me, using an online coupon.
Whilst I'm sure the girl playing guitar was nice, if I were viewing Jupiter I'd want to play some Holst.
I thought the same thing!
1.) Heh, also a Target Gift card one. My wife found a $5 GC to Target in her purse that was like six months old. So I added it to our account and ended up using it this weekend for a pickup order.
2.) My wife ordered some socks that are fine to the ankles but then get really tight up higher on the leg. They are too cheap to just return so I am going to attempt to shorten them. Worst case scenario we're out $2 and have the other sock to make a sock puppet out of. Probably not frugal with time but hey, what is time these days?
3.) Fully used up some leftovers even though I wanted to do takeout or something more fun.
4.) Doing a major house purge. The visual clutter has been a lot to deal with so it's nice to be rid of it. I consider not having to deal with something anymore to be frugal with my mind. That's cheating but I don't care.
5.) I've been watching a show on YouTube about these people who are attempting to live like people did on a Victorian farm. Despite the British accents and the attempt at education it is still crummy reality TV with all the tropes (Google "The Guest Shop sketch" to see what I mean) but with that said, it's giving me ideas on more things that I can and should do myself and how we really aren't working nearly as much as we claim to be.
Ooh, that does sound like an interesting show! What's the name of it?
Was that by the same people who made Wartime Farm? We watched that during the beginning of the covid madness when our kids didn't have school. I think there are several different phases in history that they revisit. We enjoyed it.
VICTORIAN FARM! If it's the one I'm thinking of, the BBC show, I love those people. They also did one on an Edwardian farm, and one on a monastery farm, and one building a castle . . . They're all historians, and the lady, Ruth Goodman, is totally my hero. She will try anything, and she's so enthusiastic. Plus, she wrote a couple of books that I just loved.
All the different shows used to be on YouTube, but they've gotten harder to find.
This is the show I've been watching, yes.
1. I have a pot of split pea soup on the stove. It will be lunch for several days. I used carrots I had sliced and frozen before they spoiled weeks ago.
2. I needed new tennis shoes since I walk regularly. I liked a pair of Nike's that were delivered last week. I decided to order another pair so that I can rotate wear. I happened to hit tax free shopping (but forgot to use a rebate site).
3. Meals at home. Enough said.
4. I'm trying a new crochet pattern. I do a lot of charity knitting so repeat a lot of stuff (hat patterns and the like). I'm going to crochet corner to corner lap robes. A new technique and project and another good way to creatively use up the yarn that I have. Cheap entertainment.
5. I'm able to attend an outdoor yoga class every week. It is part of my monthly membership, which helps support income for the owner and teachers. We've been trying to focus our spending locally, when possible.
Most of my frugal things were gifts...
-I was given a collapsible soft-sided swimming pool to use with my grandson. It needs to be cleaned but is in great condition. I'm the third family to get to use it. I'll wait & set it up next summer.
-A free 5 pound bag of potatoes, 2 pound bag of baby carrots, two - 3 pound bag of oranges & a handful of sweet onions.
-found some alphabet books for less than $2 for my grandson
Sounds like everyone had a good week! We are currently at the Washington Coast for our first "vacation" in over a year. My FFT are 1. That we drove straight through to avoid another night at a hotel, 2.Packed our own food and drinks and of course coffee 3. Found a super cute hotel close to the beach for about half of one right on the beach 4. Paid for our hotel stay with sales from Ebay, Nextdoor, Facebook Marketplace and my part time job. 5. Do not plan on buying anything while we are here with the exception of some salt water taffy for my co workers. Yay for the Beach!
A beach trip sounds lovely! I hope you have a wonderful time!
1. Realized we had a stack of history books from when we cyber schooled our kids that would probably be a hot item right now. Other ebay items are sitting unnoticed, but those books sold in 12 hours and we made about $80.
2. Our kids opting to stay home and take classes remotely for college this semester is saving us many thousands of dollars.
3. We were ready to open our wallets and replace the carpet in the basement with hard flooring because my husband will be teaching remotely from it and it's kinda funky down there even though it's finished.(I don't think the previous owners were great at letting their dogs out in a timely manner.) By the time we'd gotten samples and picked one it was out of stock. So, no new floor. Thousands saved! Yay! and Boo. 🙁
4. Since the basement's still funky, ordered a new air purifier that's cheaper than the one I'd originally picked out and was able to use credit card points for part of it. It's doing an amazing job making the room more habitable.
5. Hung the giant whiteboard I got on FB marketplace for husband to use while teaching. I got it last fall for $25 and was going to give it to our daughter who likes to do her math on a whiteboard. Kind of overlooked the fact that it was bigger than her car, felt like I'd wasted money, then husband had to teach math via Zoom from home. So, eventually, a frugal win. He taught sitting on the floor last spring because neither of us had the mental bandwidth to realize we should hang it. Now we just have to see if it stays on the wall...
1. Ordered scrubs for nursing school through a different website with a coupon - saved ~$100
2. Figured out childcare through December - having a couple of family members help instead of preschool since our schools are online due to covid - saved $3200, although some of that will go to the family members helping us.
3. We've had a few installation problems with our dishwasher. The brand company sent us a $75 check for the delays. Going to call the store that sold the machine to see what they can do.
4. Took care of all my vaccinations for nursing school at my primary care Dr instead of the on campus health center - saved ~$200-$300
5. We pay annually for pest control at our house, since it seems every year we have a few ant colonies in the house, fruit flies and multiple wasp nests - they have sprayed two wasp nests in addition to our 2 annual sprays. Not exceptionally frugal, but better than getting stung spraying the nests ourselves.
I bought those super comfy shorts at the beginning of summer, after you mentioned them. I’m so grateful! They really are comfortable and I love them. I’m not a shorts person but these might just sway me. I’ve been meaning to thank you, so thank you!!
I find most shorts to be really uncomfortable (THE WEDGIES), but I feel the same as you about these. I don't dread putting them on. Ha.
So glad they're working out for you!
Our washing machine died Friday - a fright with 5 kids!!!
Managed to sell enough tools etc laying around that we have double of (due to gifts) or that we simply don’t use and made enough to purchase a refurbished front load washer for $375 with warranty. Seemed like a better deal than paying $200 for a new mother board plus installation for a 10 year old washing machine. Quite pleased I didn’t have to take money out of our savings!
FFT, Carnivore Happy Dance Edition:
(1) Our friend who raises his own animals has delivered our 2020 1/4 steer. He used a different processor this year, who not only was cheaper but did a better job than last year's, IMO. And the friend deliberately keeps his own costs low as a courtesy/charity. Per-pound cost to us with all expenses included (hold on to your hats): $1.86!!! No lie!!! Blessings on our friend--and I will of course pass the savings on to the other friends to whom we sell some of the beef (since DH and I obviously can't eat all this by ourselves).
(2) I admit that there has been some Henry VIII-style feasting around here, since we sold/ran out of our 2019 beef some time ago. Two T-bones on the day of delivery, and hamburgers last night. Henry VIII should have been so lucky. (Don't worry, I'll sober up and eat more sensibly before I see my GP for my first Medicare-funded exam on 9/3.)
(3) Re: an earlier commenter's mention of seeing Jupiter, I've been getting considerable consolation on insomniac nights from watching the planets this summer: Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Venus are all putting on quite a show right now. I've also seen two meteors in the past couple of weeks, and am hoping for a good display from the Perseids this week. All free entertainment.
(4) A neighbor to whom I gave a jar of refrigerator dill pickles has just reciprocated with some tomatoes, since she knows of the near-total failure of my tomato crop. Bless her.
(5) And DH's home care aide who was a hairdresser in a previous life and gave DH such a good haircut a few weeks ago (his first since March lockdown) has agreed to bring her scissors tomorrow and take an inch or so off the bottom of my mop. No extra charge (she's always asking whether she can help with housework or anything else that's within the home care agency's brief, and this is definitely a way she can help). Bless her as well.
1. I continue to help my sister with her projects (decluttering, painting, posting, cleaning). She provided lunch twice and dinner once.
2. She gave me several of her receipts which I scanned on several apps (Fetch, Receipt Hog, My Points, etc) for points.
3. Worked diligently on survey sites. I have accumulated enough
so far for about $65 in gift cards. I plan to continue to do surveys and use the gift cards to purchase gifts for birthdays and Christmas.
4. I decided to try making greeting cards. I purchased 40 blank cards with envelopes for only $6.99. I have lots of scrapbook paper, stickers, ribbon, etc already.
5. I got 10 cents off per gallon of gas when I filled up. All meals were eaten at home except the 3 meals my sister provided. I checked out books and DVDs from the library for free entertainment. I walked in the neighborhood or the nearby park for free exercise.
That's a great price on blank cards! Where did you buy them?
JoAnn
1. Roommate and I chopped wood, cut branches, and sorted kindling/tinder. While I don't object to buying wood, I have a lot of logs because the neighborhood has had to bring down several trees in the past couple of years.
2. Neighbor gave me his long-handled 10 lb sledgehammer, when I mentioned that I was chopping wood. He hadn't used in the 10+ years since he'd broken up some concrete. It's a welcome replacement to the short-handled 4 lb sledge I'd been using: got more done in the last 45 min even though tired, then in the previous 2 hrs while fresh. Physics is real, folks!
3. Still eating down the freezer.
4. Brown-bagging everything on the days I have to go to the office.
5. Didn't buy a Lear jet or gold-plated latrine.
That's two years in a row you put off buying that Lear jet isn't it? A little self discipline & look what you can save 🙂
FYI gold is pretty soft so I think that's a good frugal save as scrubbing would result in scratches ruining the look - a bit like people who discover that marble stains really easily right after they buy a marble benchtop
LOLOL
1. Neighbor brought over a huge Tupperware container of corn salad but neither the husband nor I liked the dressing at all. I could not stand to get rid of that many vegetables so I rinsed off the dressing, put the naked salad into homemade chicken stock that had been sitting in the freezer, cooked until everything was soft, used an immersion blender and served it with a swirl of cream put in at the time of serving. It tasted terrific!
2. Did three mystery shops, so a free lunch and 10 gallons of gas reimbursed plus $30 payment.
3. Sold several dozen canning jars in a size I no longer use. Most of them were passed on to me by others so the money I made was almost pure profit.
4. Picked up five library books.
5. Years ago bought a gorgeous slab of petrified wood while touring California. This month husband used his considerable wood working skills to make it into an end table to replace a rickety one that has been annoying me for years.
Lindsey loved your salad rescue idea
1. My husband got our cable provider to lower our rate. Our last deal had just expired and although the new deal is not as good it still beats paying the highest rate that they were going to charge.
2. Successfully soaked/cooked another batch of dried beans. Dried beans are cheaper than canned and I can control the salt too. We froze a few containers for later use.
3. Continuing the bean theme, we made our own refried beans for tacos. You can use whatever fat you like so we chose olive oil. It's really easy and tasty!
4. Darned holes in my clothes and sheets. Looks pretty good and found an account on Instagram that encourages visible mending. Getting some lovely ideas to make my clothes last even longer.
5. Cleaned out our air conditioner. It was getting musty, but now is not a good time to have a service person come into our home so we did what we could. We will eventually need the freon checked, but at least it smells better.
Annie: Not quite sure where you would put it in the AC unit, but you might try something with dry coffee grounds to get rid of the musty smell. I use coffee wrapped in a paper towel inside boxes to absorb odors. I've seen tips to put in an open can of coffee grounds in unused refrigerators or freezers, or when moving them. Charcoal briquettes might also work.
I don't remember how much I spent at the grocery store last week, but I know I paid cash so it had to be less than $30 because that's all I had in my wallet.
Here are my Five Frugal Things for the week,
1. My daughter is going back to college soon and the big bill for the first trimester came (ugh). I go through it line-by-line every time to make sure all her scholarships, awards and grants are reflected. I found a $1,400 credit for the unused room and board for last year's third term that she did completely online from her bedroom, and a $2,200 charge for medical insurance that, with one phone call and quick online proof of insurance waiver, I had removed from the bill, Every bit counts!!!
2. While grocery shopping, I found a quart of name brand heavy whipping cream on sale for $1.99. Its "best by" date was in two days. I took it home and made a pound of butter (which I froze) and used the resulting buttermilk to make oatmeal cookies, pancakes and biscuits.
3. The tomatoes in our garden are going nuts right now! I've been dehydrating some for flavored (garlic, hickory smoked, basil and plain) sun dried tomatoes. I also did a batch of freezer tomato sauce.
4. We redid one of our bedrooms and I needed a curtain. It's a small room so I wanted something light and airy. I bought 5.75 yards of white lace that was regularly $29.99 a yard. In addition to getting the fabric out of the sales bin, I had a $5 rewards coupon and they also let me use a 20% off everything including sale items coupon. With tax I paid $39...total. Can't wait to get the curtain whipped up.
5. I ordered interfacing online. When it came in, it was black instead of white, which will show through the project I am planning on using it for. When I wrote the customer service folks for a call tag to return it, they refunded my card and told me to donate or keep it (I guess they don't want it back due to COVID risks).
1. Frugal/not frugal: Bought a small freezer. Able to stock up a bit more on sales .Also in preparation for a possible rough Autumn/winter if we can’t go into stores again,we’ll be prepared. We consider it an investment in our home “infrastructure” as we like to call it!
2. I have become RUTHLESS about food waste.For lunch yesterday I had half cup of homemade vegetable soup, about 2 Tablespoons of brown rice mixed with a few spoonfuls of fettuccini leftover. A side of berries that are getting ready to shrivel. It did the job. No waste.
3. Learning how to prepare ALL of our favorite “take out” foods.I just made a Hawaiian fish plate lunch we used to get at a local Hawaiian lunch place.I made the macaroni/potato salad, the battered fish, and a side of jasmine rice,served up on a nice plate just like at the Aloha Kitchen.I am still experimenting with Greek salad dressings.
4. Trading books with my neighbors: We’ve all cleane dout bookshelves, and have been learning bags of books on each other’s doorsteps.
5. Making cheap herbal iced teas so my husband can stay away from juices which are high sugar. The teas cost less too , as we like ours on the weak side.
We are happily eating free peaches, apples and pears!
I washed our collection of masks in boiling water and a bit of blue Dawn (since Covid seems to be destroyed well by regular soap). I used that water once it cooled, and the rinse water, to water a tree.
I am serving homegrown zucchini with every meal, and making multiple batches of Joanna Gaines's zucchini bread.
Tending my seedlings of fall veggies.
Walking our neighborhood and around nearby lake, doing free yoga on youtube (Yoga with Adrienne) and generally trying to stay active for free.
Sewing for my Etsy shop which maintains my mental health, and provides a tiny bit of needed income.
Reading lovely blogs like this to stay inspired and connected! Thanks to all!
1. I sold some used odds and ends from my house on fb marketplace. One item that surprised me that I got tons of messages about was a mostly full box of swifter dry clothes that was left in my house when I bought it earlier this year. I don't have a swifter, so I was happy to make $4.
2. I went to help move a family member. One family member who couldn't make it sent over lunch. The family member moving paid for dinner, so I got two free meals.
3. I learned how to re-caulk my shower, which is cheaper than paying a handyman.
4. Decreased the data on my phone plan, since I am home so much these days. Now I only pay $15/ month!
5. I really like Tide, but don't like paying for expensive laundry detergent. I've decided to alternate Tide and cheaper laundry detergent every other week, so my Tide lasts longer. If anyone has any favorite laundry detergents that are cheaper than Tide, let me know! For most items, I'm not brand loyal and up to trying different brands.
I make my own from grated soap. Borax, and washing soda.
I also make my own. I used to use the grated soap, Borax, and washing soda. But, I recently switched to soap nuts. It's much easier and works quite well!
I use this one from Sam's club.
https://www.samsclub.com/p/ecos-plus-enzymes-laundry-detergernt-230-loads/prod22647050?xid=plp_product_1_14
It does a great job. I never use the full amount it calls for, so it lasts me a long while. I use Member's Mark softner, and wool dryer balls.
Try using a lot less when you do laundry-like maybe just a teaspoon of detergent. Apparently you don't need any detergent, just agitation, but I haven't given it up completely yet. I just feel emboldened to be really skimpy on the amount. Try a little less each load until you find an amount you think is enough.
I don't use laundry detergent. At all. Sometimes for greasy cloths or something, I use finely grated Fels Naptha soap. If you don't use detergents, though, there isn't any of the blueing that makes whites look whiter, so if that's a concern for you, it's something to be aware of.
I use liquid dish soap to wash laundry, about 2 tbsp per load or less. Been doing it for years. Seems to work well with my hard well water, and using cold water.
All is my favorite brand, we have to use the scent-free due to allergies. It's much cheaper than Tide. But I usually use the Target knockoff of All which is fantastic!
I'm not one for homemade cleaners.
1. Picked up a brand new kid's game from Buy Nothing, that I will gift. Picked up tomatoes, cilantro, and jalapenos from Buy Nothing that I will make into salsa.
2. We need to take my son's temperature everyday before school soon. I found a coupon code to get a $10 forehead thermometer.
3. I made my husband more homemade deodorant
4. Used our local Little Library to get some books for my son
5. My son will be starting school at a new school and they require uniforms. Luckily he can wear jeans. I picked jeans and sneakers up for free this summer for him. The shirts can only be ordered from Lands End though. They were offering a 20% off sale and I only ordered 4 shirts and a zip-up fleece.
1. I'm working on getting ready for another homeschool year. Today I located pencils and erasers from around the house.
2. Ate meatless today. Bread for breakfast, rice with onion sauce, beans, hard boiled eggs and veggies for lunch, and an egg pasta salad for supper.
3. Speaking of the above mentioned beans...we got our first beans from our garden!!!
4. Finished shelling the last of the peanuts I was given.
5. Reading my favorite frugal blogs for inspiration!
I have these same shorts. Amazing! Love them! I never wore elastic waist shorts until now and I can’t believe I’ve waited this long 🙂 This specific pair of shorts are hard to come by now too...I went back to get more colors and all were sold out at the store and online.
1) made banana bread from over ripe bananas.
2) returned items I was not using.
3) returned canned green beans that did not taste good to Costco.
4) cooking meals with ingredients I already have.
5) had to do take out so bought pizza from Costco.
1. Used toothpaste to clean the inside of a white mug. Looks like new.
2. Was told its $5 each to return propane tanks. Placed them at curb mart and paid zero.
3. Updated my work from home desk with a wide mouth clear plastic nut jar and zip tie to hold pens. Poked two holes in the jar and zip tied it to the table leg right under the table top. It looks fine and gives me more table space. A wicker basket would look more lux but this is what I have available at home.
4. Cooked at home, used garden vegetables.
5. Tailored two cotton masks that I had been given that were too big. Cut off length and added wire for the nose. They came out great and are added to the mask collection.
1. Local grocery deli had a buy one get on free on Chinese entrees. Purchased and split into four portions to freeze for the future.
2. Signed up for USPS to pick up my eBay packages from my porch. No longer have to run to the post office to have them scanned. Saved gas money and my precious time 🙂
3. Made another loaf of 90 minute wheat bread. So good and much cheaper than store bought by a lot. Haven't actually purchased bread from the store since the pandemic began.
4. Checked out an audio book and also an eBook from my local library.
5. Baked a batch of low calorie granola - I have for breakfast every morning with yogurt. Tasty!
Made homemade granola bars.
Line dried a bunch of laundry outside in the heat.
Used the library for free movies and books.
Have been eating lots of veggies from our garden.
Cut my toddler’s hair myself
I feel like such a slacker compared to you folks but here goes (more than 5):
1. Cut DH and DS25 hair - Summer buzz cut
2. Tinted my eyebrows - too much white!
3. Trimmed my bangs - still not comfortable about my salon
4. Sold two Grandin Road outdoor pillows on FB marketplace
5. Ordered some cashmere sweaters on Poshmark - Boston winters can be bitterly cold and we try to keep the heat at 64. The sweaters were about $20 each.
6. Washed, dried, cored and froze whole tomatoes from my garden. They will be great in stews and pasta sauce this Winter.
7. Using up giant jar of oats by making an oatmeal and banana smoothie with almond milk every morning. I don't like the texture of overnight oats but if I puree them in the blender with extra almond milk I can tolerate them.
8. I make my own cold brew half-caff coffee using my French press.
I'm late to the pary but here are my five
- Been experimenting & cooking with my microwave, discovered it does really good baked potatoes with a u-tube trick I picked up to wrap the potato in foil after & rest it for 5 min; tastes like oven baked.
- shocked to discover it also does pasta well - hoodah thought
- my main activity outside work is till decluttering so free ( very weird for me that when I need to find something now I usually know exactly where it will be lol)
- been doing this one for years now- I love chocolate but I buy dark cooking chocolate to eat as I eat way less than I would with other choc, plus cooking chocolate's cheaper & then I usually get it on special which is even cheaper
- Held off buying a few things this winter even though I really wanted them to discover I did quite well without them