On Sunday night, I had a clean-up-the-papers* session, and I discovered I had a few coupons that I needed to use up.
*it was also a dump-out-the-purse session. I hadn’t done that since at least December and it was getting pretty clogged in there. Ha.
So:
1. I got three free Einstein bagels
I found a receipt in my purse that had a survey on it, with a three-bagel reward promised. So, I filled it out and got my reward code.
You did have to make a purchase to get the bagels, so I bought a single bagel and then got the other three free.
2. I got a free Bath and Body Works shower gel
They send me coupons for freebies every now and then, so I popped in and got a shower gel, which I promptly gave to Sonia.
Bath and Body Works items bring my girls more joy than they do me, so I almost always pass my freebies on to them.
3. I got two pairs of socks for $2
DSW had sent me a $5/any purchase coupon, and I needed some invisible socks to wear with my black flats anyway, so I stopped in, found a two-pack for $6.99, and used my $5 coupon.
4. I triple-dipped at Target
I wanted to get a pack of Crest tooth-whitening strips (remember when reader Jodie, a cosmetic dentist, recommended those as the best ones?), so I placed a store pickup order for a pack with Target.
I got a $5 discount for placing the order, a $5 Target gift card added to my account after the purchase, and I had a store credit gift card (from what? I HAVE NO IDEA. It’s been in my wallet for a while!!) to use as well.
5. I did some serious trip-batching
Gas is so expensive right now, I am trying extra hard to reduce my driving miles.
In conjunction with taking Zoe to her class I also went to:
- the post office (to ship two packages)
- the UPS store (to do two returns)
- the library (to drop off two books)
- Einstein (for my free bagels)
- Target (for my whitening strips)
- DSW (for my almost-free socks)
- Bath and Body Works (for my free shower gel)
- Lidl (for some cheap produce)
And I managed to do all of this without driving out of my way by more than a mile or two total. Yay!
AEW
Thursday 10th of March 2022
1. I'm definitely trying to reduce and combine my trips places since gas is so high! Also I'm carpooling for kid activities whenever possible. 2. The forsythia are blooming in my yard so I cut some of the offshoots to decorate with. In a vase they look really pretty and are free to me! 3. Hubby's bday was last week, I made his cake from scratch and used up some carrots that were a bit past their prime but fine to shred up for carrot cake. 4. Using up some old bananas today to make a banana cake. 5. Just put in a request for a few new books at the library. Borrowed is always better than paying for books!
Lindsay B
Thursday 10th of March 2022
1. Writing thank you’s for baby gifts with cards from my mom’s unending card stash. 2. DH shopped around for a moving truck, and moved almost everything by himself with the exception of furniture, which he recruited a coworker to help with. The total cost was only $120 plus some pizza and snacks for the coworker. 3. I had a friend come visit to help with both the new baby and also she wanted to help clean our new house. As a bonus she brought some homemade raspberry jam, taco meat, and two small containers of soup. We’ve been grateful for the easy, heat-and-eat meals. 4. Had my biannual dental visit and received a clean bill of (dental) health. Frugal in the preventive sense, and also that it is covered by our insurance. 5. Am using diapers that were given to me by my coworkers. I’ve tried several cloth diapers from those I received through Buy Nothing, but Baby E’s bottom is still too small to really make them work. Besides, I’m currently too tired in the newborn stage to have energy to deal with washing them. Maybe when he’s bigger and I have more energy/margin? 6. Have set aside a pile of baby things to take back to various stores for credit. People have been so kind to send us things, but how many blankets does one baby need? (Of course they can't use one for a long time anyway as nothing can go in the crib at first.) We are keeping 5 of the handmade/monogrammed variety, but the rest are going back along with various other odds and ends. I will say, the best gifts so far have been gifts of homemade bread, chocolate, meals, help around the home, etc. rather than baby clothes or blankets (many of which were too small or, as I mentioned, how many blankets does a baby actually need?!)
BettafrmdaVille
Wednesday 9th of March 2022
AS prices go up, I just keep reminding myself that I am not a refugee and my house is not being shelled. 1. Did a Mystery shop at a grocery store and scheduled the next one (fingers crossed that this will continue 2x per mont for the next year). 2. Scheduled another mystery shop for a mid-range burger joint that will make my partner happy/paid for cheap date. 3. Gifted items from mystery shop that we have to purchase (reimbursed) but will not use to friends (who have given us leftover CSA boxes that were not picked up). 4. Happily accepted a bag of tomatoes that a neighbor had and was not going to use and somehow convinced partner that a homemade BLT would be better than lunch out. (I love BLTs although my stash of bacon is running low and, at one store, it is going for $9.99 PER pound!) 5. I found ice-melt at Amazon warehouse (so even cheaper) and used Ibotta GC to pay for it.
BettafrmdaVille
Thursday 10th of March 2022
@Kristen, I've never tried Fetch. I find Ibotta to be VERY slow going, as we don't buy much processed foods or named brand foods. As such, it is often only 10 cents a week.... But still, I suppose $20 a year is better than nothing, and sometimes we totally luck out like when we needed coarse grain mustard and Maille was both on sale for half price AND $1.50 back per jar on Ibotta. But those are few and far between for us.
Kristen
Wednesday 9th of March 2022
Do you find Ibotta to be worth it? How does it compare to Fetch?
Julia
Wednesday 9th of March 2022
Champagne Toast is my fav B&B scent right now. I’ll be picking up my freebie this week! 1. Got 60 cents off a gallon of gas at local grocery store with my points. Saved $9 on my fill-up. 2. Need to take a 2 hr round trip this weekend for an event. Will drop a rescue rabbit off on the way and my gas will be paid for for my whole trip! 3. Found 2 whole chickens marked down 1/2 off. Bought them and put them in the freezer. 4. Found $5 in the woods during a hike 5. Selling items a friend left behind after her move. $ for me
Becca
Wednesday 9th of March 2022
Took advantage of free county park and nature center for awesome entertainment for the kiddos.
Stopped at the farther away cheaper grocery store after work and scored a bunch of clearance produce for $4 plus clearance pork chops for $4 for the freezer.
With all my clearance goodies from the grocery store I made a big bag of dried banana chips, banana muffins, banana bread, a crumble with strawberries and the last of the frozen raspberries from our yard, apple/pear sauce, sautéed chilote squash, peppers, sweet potatoes, and mushrooms for our bibimbap, chili using the tomatoes, peppers, and onion. Also ate a bunch of the apples, oranges, and bananas plain. Used a bag of lettuce for a side salads. Used potatoes for fried potato cubes as a side, and lemons to make lemon cookies, lemon pound cake, lemon muffins, and salad dressing, plus froze some juice and dried some lemon peel for future baking.
Have done a good job of meal prepping for the days we have jiu jitsu at 5:15 so we no longer are stopping for fast food after. Transitioning from having littles to running everyone around in the car to various activities is going to be interesting!
Picked up some clearances clothes 50% off for the boys for next year. Athletic shirts and shorts, they always like those for summer.