Five Frugal Things | almost a $500 mistake
1. I remembered to send an invoice
I had done some work for a company in the spring, and I remembered here at the end of the year that I had never sent them an invoice.
And it was a $500 job!
I would have been upset with myself if I had not remembered to submit it.
2. I bought a membership to a rec center for the girls and me
Sonia has been very into yoga of late (just doing it at home) and she was thinking it would be nice to have a place to go take some yoga classes.
I thought that would be a fun thing for the two of us to do together, and I remembered that the local rec center offers yoga classes.
I looked at the memberships, and once you buy one for two people, it's basically the same price to do a family membership for four people.
So, I signed the girls and me up for a 90-day family membership for a total of $225 (that's $18.75/person/month!). And that includes access to unlimited classes, plus all the weights, machines, and indoor track.
That's way, way cheaper than signing Sonia and me up at a yoga studio.
And I figured a 90-day membership was a good way to test it out and see if we use it enough to make it worth my money. We have our first yoga class tonight!
3. I made a gallon of yogurt
Milk is on the expensive side of things right now, yes. But it's still a screaming bargain when you use it to make yogurt.
I think I paid $4 for the gallon I used for yogurt, but that gallon made four quarts of yogurt. And there is NO WAY I could get four quarts of yogurt for that price.
Here's how I make yogurt without a yogurt maker.
4. I listed three books on eBay
Zoe's done with her books from last semester, so now they're up on eBay. Hopefully, someone else will be looking for these before the spring semester starts!
All of my textbooks from last semester were the online variety, so obviously I can't sell those. Oh well.
(Here's how I sell books on eBay.)
5. I...
- bought the 8-pound bag of oranges because it was the cheapest. And oranges keep well!
- got some chocolate-covered pretzels from the clearance rack (Necessary? No. But a cheap treat makes me happy.)
- scanned a receipt with my Fetch app before my points expired from inactivity (if you wanna try Fetch, use code QG8V2 when you download the app, and you'll get 2,000 points right away)
Mine are mostly food this week:
1. Organic chicken was marked 66% off at Sam's Club which made it about half the price of non-organic. I bought three packages and cooked it all before the use by date. Some was frozen in lunch size portions for DH's work lunches.
2. We walked to the local Breadery and bought four loaves of "day old" bread. It was cheaper, $3 loaf, than buying bread at he grocery and it has that yeasty smell/taste that I love. It's probably not quite as cheap as homemade but I'll take it.
3. I went to Lidl to use my $20 credit for buying a gift card before Christmas. They had Libby's organic pumpkin on clearance for $.99/can. I grabbed some of those, some Celestial Seasoning herbal tea for $.99/box and some produce. They had a lot of holiday items on sale, like Pillsbury cake mix/frosting for $.49 but I don't use that stuff. They also had holiday treats but nothing tripped my trigger.
4. We took a long walk yesterday and when we reentered our neighborhood there was an artificial Christmas tree with a free sign on it a few blocks from home. A friend is thinking about switching to artificial next season since they had cat issues with their live tree this past season. We carted it home and it is a nice looking pre-lit tree. If our friend doesn't want it we'll keep it and give away ours, which is skinnier.
5. DH rescued stuff that was going to be thrown away at work and I found new homes for most of it using Freecycle. I also gave away some items we no longer use including a set of dominoes that were stored in a Chubs box (a type of baby wipe that was in a plastic box that looked like a Lego). The box must be twenty-five years old and it's still is fine.
I need to say thank you. I learned to make yogurt using your method ten years ago. I think I’ve tweaked things and have developed my own method since then, but without your sharing and inspiration I’m not sure I would have ever become a homemade yogurt maker. At the time we were a family of four and I made the yogurt simply because I wanted to learn. Over time, we decided we much preferred the taste and texture of homemade, appreciated knowing the ingredients and some cost savings. Now we are a family of six and still love my homemade yogurt for all those reasons but are also grateful for the unbelievable cost savings, as well as availability of milk vs quality yogurt. I thank you so much for convincing me that making homemade yogurt is really a simple task!
Aww, yay!!
~Almost an OOps- when an order from JCP arrived mid December I was super sick with Influenza.. so I tossed the package into the corner and did not check it. 12/23 I decide I need to wrap and as I am going through the package I realize something was wrong.. Thinking I messed up my order I pull up my e-receipt to find JCP did not send me a t shirt from my order $13.ish.. but did send me a very expensive pair of dress slacks $120. I called customer service and (once I assured the rep that this missing shirt was not breaking my holiday and I was not irate on the phone at all) they removed the charge from my order and they just told me to donate the slacks.
~I returned/exchanged some Christmas clothing gifts for the oldest son/husband that were not fitting *right*- no money lost.
~I did do some after holiday clearance shopping.. snagged some 50% off personal care gift sets of men products. Full sized shower gel and deodorants for less than $6.00 a box. Also snagged a few shaving boxes and used coupons for them from last years after holiday deals! lol (yes I still had the coupons!)
~accepted wedding leftovers from a friend! They had leftover food and did not want waste. I said yes and when they stopped by SO MUCH FOOD! I laid it out and everyone warmed a plate. The next day I decided to portion and freeze for future meals. So I have veggies for future meals and meatballs for a future main dish option. I sent the HUGE bag of popcorn favors to work with my kids to leave in the breakroom- too many bags of the white chocolate treat bags to be left safely here at home-lol.
~Realized a sensor was going off on my car. Got it in and they *reset it* and told me it was *probably fine*. The tech admitted it could be a fluke or it will go off again and it will need replaced. I pointed out that I was getting VERY close to my warranty expiring and asked that they note that for future issues. He said they would.. the next day the sensor went off again... I called immediately and they scheduled me an appt to replace it 2 days later. (Of course I came down with the influenza and sent a teen.. and they did not even have the part in stock??? why schedule the appt.. I will be calling this morning once they open as they have not called me during this Chaotic Christmas break)
—I emptied the dregs of a pair of 1 lb honey containers into a recycled pickle jar. One container had crystallized but was liquified again in hot water. The honey dregs comfortably filled the pickle jar, and now there aren’t two giant plastic containers taking up space in our pantry.
—This month’s $10 CVS Extra Bucks went to restocking our dental floss (on sale for BOGO 50% off) and hand soap (the giant refill jug).
—We found pork tenderloin at 99 cents/lb. Ten pounds and many freezer bags later, we’re stocked and then some!
—Just as I ran out of free address labels from AAA, I received more from a state-specific charity. Thanks to my side-hustle, I go through sheets of address labels, but I’ve not paid for them in years thanks to promotional freebies. Mind, I only use the simple elegant ones, *never* any featuring company names or political anything.
—I have a portable DVD player in my office for listening to movies and CDs while I work. I accidentally knocked it over while cleaning and, while the player was thankfully fine, the charger jack broke in two. After searching high and low for the extra charging cables I swear I had from past DVD players, I ordered a compatible charging cable online for $15. Now the previous cables are bound to turn up. 😉 In all seriousness, I’m glad to keep my player and movie/music collection in rotation. My old favorites and I have created a lot together!
@N, I love getting address labels in the mail! If I don't like the pictures or logos, I cut them off. I also use the cut off ones on postcards, as there isn't much space for a return address on postcards.
I don't have many frugal wins lately, it was a spendy December. But I did manage to sock away a bunch of individual freezer meals for myself with all of the clean containers I had just emptied and did not send home with my peeps! I am also back to $50 or less on my weekly groceries and am having a no spend month, other than bills and necessary items like gas. I was able to pass one of Hubby's really nice winter coats to my youngest instead of him having to buy one. I have resisted all of the Christmas clearance items. And I finally got accepted into my FB Buy Nothing group. I have a huge pile of things to give away and I will be on the lookout for a skinny Christmas tree for next year.
@gina, Hi, I'm wondering if anyone has had difficulties moving & trying to go from one FB buy nothing group to another with different priorties?
I was in one for a year then had to unexpectedly move when my rental condo was sold. I finally gave up on the new one because the moderator kept hounding me about how I chose people to give things away to. It was just so strange. I was doing it the same way I'd been encouraged to do it in my previous group. It didn't work for the moderator in the new group. I felt awful.
I always feel like we just hemmorhage money when we're away from home, and I get SO TIRED of getting out my wallet. But that's probably because my typical lifestyle is so free of wallet-opening situations. And there were some frugal bright spots.
--The island we were on had a small grocery store that was really very well stocked. I was there every day of the three days we were at our rental house. I definitely bought things there I would not typically buy (FYI the barbecue flavored Cape Cod kettle potato chips are dangerously good), but then again, the total for those three trips to feed us for three days was about the same as the ONE restaurant meal we had on the island. (However, I do not regret that restaurant meal. It was fun, and it was good, and it made everyone so happy.)
--I only got a small salad at that restaurant, because I knew there would be things from my children's giant platters of fried foods that they wouldn't finish and I could scavenge. I was right. Since I was a kid, my favorite foods to order out have been salad and french fries, and they still are. So now I can order the salad and just steal my own kids' french fries. 🙂
--We went on a charter boat to fish, and the crew was keeping the whiting we were catching for bait for larger fish. My husband asked if he could have some, as we would be fishing all the next day from shore, and they gave us about a dozen. He used the smaller ones for bait (with which my son caught a sting ray!), but the bigger ones that were around 12 inches he actually fried for dinner. And they were actually really good.
--The fishing boat was about the only experience that we had to pay for. All other fishing was free at the parks and jetties, and of course the beach was free. So was the National Parks mission we went to in San Antonio on our way home.
--A frugal tip: To keep kids entertained with a fun treat on long drives, Werther's Original are perfect. They last a long time, they're delicious, and a bag of them is way less than say, cookies or something. Not as much sugar, either.
@kristin @ going country, it sounds like your family had a lovely trip!
@kristin @ going country, thank you for the term "dangerously good". I will be borrowing that!
1. I bought personal care items at Target. They were having a gift card promotion - spend $20 and receive a $5 gift card. When the cashier rung up my sale, she did not give me the gift card. I went promptly over to the service desk, gave them my receipt, and received my gift card. $5 is $5.
2. I had some family members over for a traditional New Years Day lunch - roast pork, black-eyed peas, greens and corn bread. This is a very inexpensive meal to serve to a crowd. We had leftovers for lunch yesterday too.
3. I set my table for lunch with oversized pottery plates that I bought at the goodwill, placemats from the goodwill bins, and estate sale crystal. I love to set a pretty table so indulge myself by thrifting for china, crystal and vintage linens. These items are plentiful and inexpensive where I live. When I no longer want these things, I am able to sell them for a profit.
4. I sold two items on eBay and used some recycled materials for packing.
5. Since it’s a new year, I worked on my financial and personal goals. Last year was quite dismal, there were lots of expenses, I hope to make some progress this coming year.
Wishing everyone a blessed 2023!
FFT, Year's Endings Edition:
(1) 2022 total on cans/bottles collected on my walks and returned for the NY State 5-cent deposit: $410.15. (In DH's absence, I've been devoting more time and energy to this activity. Good for me, good for the environment, and good for my wallet. I consider this income stream "thrift store money.")
(2) 2022 total on found change: An even $17. (And, yes, this includes the quarters from Aldi's cart returns.)
(3) Some great produce deals at Aldi on 12/30, including $1 off on a 1# bag of green beans, plus a 5-oz container of an arugula/spinach mix for .49. I'm coming to favor these two greens over lettuce, as they keep longer and can be used in more things (put into soups, etc.).
(4) I scarfed up the Bestest Neighbors' small Christmas tree almost as soon as they put it on the curb, and added it to what DH and I used to call the "organic fence" (the vertical brush pile at the back of our property that substitutes for a fence). Believe me, nobody's even tried cutting through our yard from the apartment complex in back of us for years.
(5) And an ending of great personal importance: The lady who founded our local JASNA region, and is one of my real-life heroines, died early New Year's Day (2 months short of her 97th birthday). I'll be dedicating this week's Thankful Thursday to this wonderful woman. But I'm mentioning her on FFT day for this anecdote, which I know Ruby and other Ollie's shoppers will appreciate: Although she and her late husband were fairly well-to-do, I mentioned on a visit to her a few years ago that I'd gotten something or other at Ollie's. Her face lit up and she exclaimed, "Ollie's! Good stuff cheap! [Her DH] and I used to shop there all the time!"
@A. Marie, R.I.P. to a beloved Ollie's Army member! And great job on can/bottle collecting, that's an impressive number!
@A. Marie, I LOVE Ollies books! Thanks for the reminder. It's a good idea to check in on a regular basis.
@A. Marie, Awwww... I'm sorry about the loss of your friend!
I am VERY impressed with your bottle return haul!! Even that total with Michigan's 10 cent return would be super impressive, so it's even more so since it's 5 cents! I admit that I'm at a stage of life where I just gave three bottles to my mom to return since she was heading to the store. We don't get pop very often, so I don't regularly use the bottle return. I was happy to have one less thing on my plate. But kudos to you for cleaning up your neighborhood and getting those things recycled!!!
@A. Marie,
I'm sorry about your founder's passing! I look forward to this Thursday's thanksgivings to hear more about her.
I'm truly impressed by the bottle return. It's odd to me that people would discard that many in a place where they would get paid to return them!
@A. Marie, I am sorry to hear of your friend's passing. A fellow Ollie's lover and the founder of a Jane Austen society makes her a quality person from the get-go. (((Hugs)))
That is a very impressive return on the recycling. I wush we did that here in the South.
@A. Marie, The recycling total is amazing!! I'm sorry you lost a "real-life heroine" because they are hard to come by...
@A. Marie,
I'm so sorry for the loss of your JASNA friend and fellow Ollie's shopper. She sounds like someone who did not let her age define her!
Also, your "organic fence" creates habitats for birds and wild animals who need shelter in the winter. Win-Win!
@A. Marie, I miss walking & picking up bottles on side of road. Son used to enjoy when younger (& gave him $ for his finds).
I have noticed lately that during last few weeks at Aldi that many people just push cart into corral & do not latch to get $0.25 returned. Will have to keep eye out & start doing, of course teen will be aggravated taking too long, but free money is always good.
@Ruth T, beware as Michigan is looking to put $0.10 return on all single serve beverage containers. Been talked about few years now but recently heard Governor looking for more revenue.
Also that many states/communities (across country) are passing laws regarding (plastic) grocery bag fees. No longer free, costing $0.10-$0.25+ each bag.
I have been using reusable cloth & heavy duty plastic bags for years. Though do like Menards (heavier) plastic bags for trash liners. So many people think I'm strange for not bagging groceries & taking cart out to vehicle & unloading cart (into my bags).
@Regina, Oh, interesting! I hadn't heard about the discussion to expand the deposit system. I guess that'll be one more reason to stick with my coffee and water from home!
@A. Marie, I’m sorry about your JASNA founder and friend passing.
That’s an amazing job on the collected bottles and cans! I would think it makes a real difference in your neighborhood and not least the danger to kids and animals if the glass bottles and aluminum cans would be laying there breaking apart.
Happy New Year!
1. I gave my husband and son haircuts.
2. I planted 4 trays of microgreens and 8 starter cups of Everglades tomatoes.
3. I read 2 digital books from my library, Lessons in Chemistry and It Ends with us. Both were best sellers and I enjoyed them.
4. Walking daily, free exercise and it just helps my mood. I look forward to it.
5. We cleaned out our shed and put some things out on the curb. Someone came by and took them, so free for them. My son also fixed up one of our bikes we weren't using for his girlfriend.
@Sandy Beach, I loved Lessons in Chemistry. It was my favorite read in 2022.
@Bee,
I'm on my library's wait list for the e-book...I'm "many months" away from getting my turn! I've heard it's very good.
1. I gave up aspartame about 3 weeks ago so, I no longer purchase diet cokes (my addiction) or boxes of equal for my hot beverages. Since I replaced this addiction with water or unsweetened tea, the switch has saved me more than $100.
2. Returned all the things that needed returning.
3. Used up all the leftover holiday party food.
4. Cooked most of our meals at home (except NYE)
@sarah, congratulations on giving up aspartame! I have a friend who tries and tries but can not escape. I have only one or two diet sodas a month, but it's amazing how often I think longingly about having one.
@sarah, Good for you! I was a big Diet Pepsi addict in college, and it was so hard to give that up (I was drinking about 10 cans a day!). It was really hard to give those up, but I felt so much better!
@Elaine N, We recently discovered Zevia sodas--they are sweetened with stevia, no aspartame--but funnily enough, to me, they taste like the diet sodas of yore. My kids like them for a treat. We've tried the root beer and cream soda, haven't tried the cola because it has caffeine, which we avoid.
@Karen A.,
The light blue Zevia cola has no caffeine. My granddaughter loves them, and I drink them on occasion. I prefer the Dr. Zevia, since I was a Dr. Pepper fiend for years, but I have to limit how many I drink, since they have caffeine and none are cheap.
Good plan on tge yoga classes! Hope you ladies enjoy them!
5 things:
1. Stocked up one of the college kids with drinks/snacks from Costco. She’s 7 hrs away and doesn’t have a car so once this is gone she’ll be instacarting. This is much more cost effective!
2. Paying ahead on my car loan to lower interest costs overall.
3. Found some shoes I got for my bday and forgot to return. Still within Zappos 1 year so I had good timing!
4. Filled up the gas tank while at Costco as its always cheapest there.
5. We didn’t use our prepaid health spending account much this year. Ordered a bunch of otc things we needed to use up some of the money rather than losing it.
I was on the road last week, visiting family in several places including a big city, so there was not a lot of frugal going on. I packed snacks and drinks; in the small town I stayed in a hotel and bought several meals for the group; in the big city I stayed with someone and was taken out to several meals.
We're doing the final clean-out of my parents' old place. Even without taking all the cleaning supplies I did well:
- toilet scrubbers in snazzy stainless steel containers, for my new place;
- 2 tubs of dishwasher pods;
- 2 large boxes of quart ziplocs;
- 3 coffee table-sized atlases;
- a set of practically new, luxurious towels;
- 2 swiffers and pads;
- a set of plastic cutting boards, because my new place will likely have two chopping stations;
- 2 Henkels knives;
- a portable DVD player;
- more presidential memorabilia for my friend who collects it; and
- to be sent later: 6 chairs from my grandfather's pharmacy, a funky dining table, a mid-century modern teak desk & dresser, and more artwork.
I gave away a lot of bulky things to a coworker who rented a U-Haul to pick them up. His family made out like a bandit, I got a lot of things out of my house, and we're both better off.
I made a warm hat from leftover yarn for my new niece-in-law, who gets cold easily.
@WilliamB, good swag out of the parental cleanout. When you have a minute, I'd be interested in hearing more about the presidential memorabilia: Which presidents, and what types of memorabilia?
@WilliamB, without even seeing them, I swoon at the idea of chairs from your grandfather's pharmacy.
@WilliamB, wow -that is a very impressive list of useful items!
@Anne, and @WilliamB,
That, and the MCM teak desk and dresser....{sigh}
I have two questions for you-- ha ha
1) You let an invoice go for what? NINE months? That is very unlike you-- you did the work, you deserve to get paid ( 30 days from when work was completed)
2) Do you ever keep textbooks? I have my botany book from when I went to community college EONS ago, and I use it ALL THE TIME to look up stuff-- faster than the Internet cause I know what to look for-- and my "old" Norton literature anthologies, philosophy and art books have been valuable resources--
1.) Returned my daughter's CD player after it started giving issues a week or so after getting it. I ended up finding a new in box replacement at Goodwill for less than $10! Sadly this is a technology where good quality just doesn't exist.
My daughter likes music a lot and she's not ready and I'm not willing to give her any sort of more sophisticated device (e.g. a tablet or a phone or something) so for now she has CDs.
2.) I was at the mall with some free time to myself and found a bunch of final clearance items and was able to get my niece's birthday shopping all done. It's now wrapped and ready for her birthday in a couple months.
3.) Eating out of the freezer again and doing quick, simple meals. We ate out a lot over vacation and I'm tired of restaurant food but I'm also not super into cooking again so we're doing easy meals.
4.) Doing some new year purging. I think it's frugal because it leads me to have less desire to get new things when I can find and use the things I have.
5.) Worked a half hour of overtime on my week off. Yeah ... not my plan but at least I got paid for it.
@Battra92, I bought myself a CD player a few years ago. Not using a tablet or phone means I don't get distracted from my task and I get to enjoy a whole CD! I love that your daughter gets to enjoy CDs now too.
@Battra92, Our children love to listen to music and audiobooks, but those cd players break so easily! We recently were looking to buy a new one (or two), but they were so expensive new. We found several at an online estate auction. However, we do have some old cell phones that are just used for music/audiobook listening, and I prefer them somewhat because then the cds don't get scratched. But they do like to play around with pictures and whatever other distractions are on the phones.
@Battra92, I got Bruce Springsteens new cd for Christmas. I play it on my 31 yr old son's old Discman and have a cheap speaker hook up. I have a 12 year old car that has a cd player in it so I can listen to that in there too.
@Auntiali, and @Battra92,
I have a circa 1990s stereo system I bought used that has a 5 CD changer - it works perfectly - I listen to my favorite tunes while in the kitchen. My 2018 car (bought used) also has a CD player. I find CDs very inexpensively at thrift shops. I am a big fan of Mr. Springsteen, too. 🙂
Actually did some frugal things this week--well, some are from last week because I forgot to post here.
After the power outage we had a few weeks ago, we started looking for ways to reduce our overall electric usage.
1. Started hanging more laundry to dry; every night we had been having the kids run the bath towels in the dryer to keep them from getting mildewy, but my handy husband rigged up a rack and clotheslines in the (small) laundry room, and we started hanging them there overnight. The room has a door and an air vent providing warm air from the furnace, and with a nice fan running on low, the towels get bone dry. I forget exactly how many kilowatts this saves, but it was significant! And the dryer will last longer, and so will the towels. We can take the rigging, as I call it, down when we need to use the room for other things, but on certain days we leave it up and I hang most of laundry in there. We aren't allowed to have outdoor clotheslines here (boo), but this works well.
2. I switched from using a traditional tower PC (big box) to a laptop. Unless you need a fantastic graphics card or a lot of computing power, nobody needs a big CPU computer. I only do word processing and internet research, so it was an easy sell. We had a tablet computer already, it just needed a solid state drive which was $25. Laptops use between 15 and 60, typically, while desktop computers range between 60 and 250 watts.
3. I also showed my youngest, who likes to leave his computer on but takes breaks from it regularly, how to put his computer "to sleep" to save power. I try to remember to do this myself.
4. We switched to a different energy production provider--Energy Harbor--and got a significantly lower rate.
5. I started using the toaster oven (we have one that can fit a full muffin pan and even a 9x13 pan) for baking things like popovers or brownies. Less energy than firing up the oven. Also figured out how to bake quick bread in the crockpot.
I had to think this over for a bit because the past weeks were not very frugality-conscious.
- Our eldest had friends over for New Year's Eve and everyone in the ravenous horde brought snacks and drinks to share;
- I made my mother's recipe of apple beignets for New Year's Eve which is healthier and cheaper than bought;
-Some new Christmas decorations entered our house - all marked down, resusable and since this morning carefully boxed up again for Xmas 23;
-I made my own laudry detergent from a 70's bar of Lux (I could probably have sold the soap bar at a profit as "vintage" but it was my mother's and now our laudry smells like her);
-We are eating leftovers from the holidays;
-We purged some closets and donated several items.
Non-frugal: I binned some items of food and drink. This included some past use by dated beers and cava which had been gifted to us years ago and never actually made it into a glass. I am not feeling guilty about this actually, only made a note to self to pass such items on in the future. I use alcohol more often for cooking than for drinking I find (try the vegetarian gravy with madeira from BBC Good food!)
@J NL,
oh Lux ..I loved that scent
@J NL, isn’t it amazing how a certain smell can bring back memories?
I'm terrible with invoices too. They're SO fast and easy and yet one of the things I procrastinate on the most.
Our frugal wins this week were quite huge in nature. Sometimes I feel I have nothing, and sometimes it is all at once.
1. We got new tires and new tire pressure sensors on the car, and within 1.5 weeks, the pressure sensor light was on. We checked the tires, they seemed fine, so we figured one of the sensors was faulty. Called Sam's Club and went in, and we were right. They couldn't reset the sensor so they ended up replacing it - free of charge.
2. After my dog's wellbeing visit, I hadn't heard back about his routine test results, so I called the vet. Turns out through an error on their end, they didn't run the tests we paid for. We ended up having to go back in to get blood drawn again and provide a stool sample (again!). They refunded us for the tests we had paid and will run them for free, and gave us a gift card to a local coffee shop. I told my husband I feel like "adulting" is scheduling the thing, going to the thing, and following up after the thing to make sure everything gets done. 😉
3. And the biggest of them all, we paid off the rest of our mortgage! I know early payoffs are a contentious subject in financial circles, but it was something I felt really strongly about doing for several reasons. We're still young and we never stopped saving for retirement during this time, so I think we're in a fine financial position. It definitely is a strange feeling to walk around our house now and think "I own this. This is mine". Wild. We haven't told many people in our life which has been hard because I want to scream it from our rooftop! But most people I don't think would understand, and I thought this was a place where you guys would get it 🙂
@Florence, I'll scream with you! YAY FOR NO MORTGAGE! It is a fantastic feeling. Enjoy it.
@Florence, Congratulations on paying off your mortgage!! 🙂 That's an awesome accomplishment!
@Florence, no. 2 is so important. Follow up, in my opinion, is one of the most important things in life. It can make the difference between success and failure in adulting.
Especially, in these modern times with lots of info now computerized, follow up is a must. I can't quite seem to get this message across to my middle aged sons who seem to feel that once they have attended to certain things, the universe should be happy. 😀
But the universe isn't happy, and really, hardly a week goes by that I don't have to check up on something.
@Florence,
Whoa, congrats! We hope to follow your example but this will take a few more years.
@Florence, Whoo hoooooo!! Congratulations!!
@Florence, huzzah for the paid-off mortgage! Paying off ours early has given me untold peace of mind.
@Florence,
My mortgage is paid off and I wouldn't have it any other way. Congratulations!
@Florence, Yay!
@Florence, GOOD FOR YOU! We paid off our mortgage when we were younger and I have never regretted it.
@Florence, Congratulations!!! I paid mine off at the age of 48. It is the best feeling.
@Florence, Congratulations on paying off your mortgage!
@Florence,
Woot! Woot! Well done!!
@Florence, Oh, Wow, I was already so pleased with your Dog vet adulting story, and then WOAH, your MORTGAGE! Congratulations, I know how it feels having done the same just under 2 years ago.... Surreal, actually. That is SERIOUSLY EXCELLENT ADULTING! big hug celebratory wahooooooos from my living room to yours!
@Florence, CONGRATULATIONS! In the words of the late Irene Cara, "What a Feeling!"
@Florence, congratulations for paying off your mortgage!!
And good job on Nr. 2. I’m impressed that they refunded our money - and gave you a gift card!
@Florence, congratulations! It's such a great feeling !
The holidays were rough health wise as we tackled various illnesses but on the positive side, this limited our ability to go shopping!
1. I sent an email to Ibotta after noticing a cash back offer was missing from my account. It was only $1 but taking a screenshot and sending an e-mail only took a few minutes.
2. I received a $10 Target gift card after restocking our toiletry essentials.
3. Colored my own grey hair at home.
4. Ate New Years Eve leftovers.
5. Made four cups of red Chile sauce that served to make different meals.
Here's my 5 including an unexpected adventure!
1. I boxed up the cloth gift bags and clothing boxes we used to wrap Christmas presents to use for next year.
2. Saved Christmas packing/parts bags and twist ties to use to line trash cans and for pet waste pickup.
3. Had the dead igniter replaced on our furnace instead of getting a new furnace. I couldn't find the part locally due to stores closing early for Christmas/the bomb cyclone snow storm. I'm sure we paid extra to get next day emergency service during a weather event on a holiday weekend but the furnace also go a once over by the repair person who said some parts will need to be replaced in the future. We'll get a second opinion on this once everything settles down.
4. It was -30 F with the wind chill factor outside and the house was getting too cold to stay the night (the house was at 40 degrees the next morning when my husband met the repair person.) Fortunately I had already checked for dog friendly hotels in case the power went out like the news predicted (luckily it stayed on.) It wasn't the cheapest room in our price range but for $10 more a night we got a room with a kitchen which meant we could grab food from the pantry and refrigerator for meals instead of forcing a delivery driver out on the bad roads or driving around to find a place open so we could eat. The pool and hot tub were also welcome features. Our emergency fund covered the expenses and I am very grateful we made the decision to have one.
5. My husband and I went to a Prom themed New Year's Eve party that the host said was a blatant excuse to dress up 🙂 Instead of buying new funky formal outfits like some did, my husband wore a suit with crazy color running shoes that have been demoted to causal wear. I wore a tiara from an old Halloween costume and a Thredup dress I bought a few years ago that was too small, couldn't return and kept forgetting to list. The dress fits now yay!
I'm glad you remembered to send that invoice, Kristen! $500 is a lot of money.
I technically didn't do my frugal thing this week, as it's a plane ticket I bought about a month ago, but I'm flying later this week and my flight was $79. I love getting flights for under $100!
Well, I hope you get paid more promptly than you billed 🙂 It's a good thing you remembered it! That's too much to lose.
1. I bought treats and dogfood at my usual pet food store. My rewards kicked in and gave me $50 and change off of my purchases.
2. I need new valances in my new craft room/office to go over the existing wood blinds. I found 108" wide fabric on sale at JoAnn's and paid $8.98 total including tax instead of $21.99 per yard plus tax. One yard will make two valances, which is all I need. I already have everything else I need for them.
3. My new freezer arrived yesterday, hurray! I put the purchase on my credit card and will pay it off as soon as the charge finalizes on my account, earning 2% rewards dollars. Since I put my new contacts and glasses on the CC and paid them off as well, I have a nice reward to apply to my next statement.
4. I spent part of my holiday time off in painting over my head under the roof of our back porch. It has a metal roof and none of the woodwork, including roof supports and railing, had been painted yet. It would be so much easier to hire someone to do this, since the roof is over 10 feet up, but I can still do this kind of work. I made a good start, and I've very pleased with the the results so far. I'm using some of the good paint I got at 40% off this fall.
5. I moved food from the old to the new, bigger freezer and was pleased to toss only one pint container of leftover green beans that didn't freeze well. Everything else was good and is organized and noted on my chalkboard. The old freezer will go to a friend who can use it.
1. I did more shopping at after Christmas sales so I was able to find workout gear that I needed for 70-80% off. I also perused sale racks to find some high quality underthings at super cheap prices so I am well stocked for the year.
2. I used a gift card and a sale to get two brand new sets of sheets for our bed for less than what I would have paid for one set.
3. We reorganized our garage...again. This is the 8th time we have completed this task since March of last year. Since we keep purging and organizing there is constant shuffling but I am glad to be getting stuff out and with every shift we are more organized & that makes me happy. Plus I can see what we have in the way of supplies so I am not double-buying.
4. All meals from home via batch cooking. This is far less expensive than takeout and so much healthier. Double win.
5. Purchased ten pounds of oranges over the holiday and will be making a batch of orange marmalade. Used veg from crisper drawers in a batch of baked eggs. Bulbs will be planted this week so we can enjoy spring flowers. A new Boxer pup is coming home mid January and we are re-using the crate we already have, small toys and adding her on to our insurance policy to save as much as we can.
Only semi frugal- I hit some after Christmas sales to pick up items for the grands for their birthdays this year. Saved a lot.
My pup has another ear infection, he has them so often even if I keep his ears cleaned out anyway I already have the meds so no doctor visit needed.
Hubs need to repair the basement ceiling due to work we had done long ago. He mostly used materials we had on hand so yay.
After our Christmas party they gave away all the centerpieces that are super cute gnomes with mini plants in them.
Very frugal walks in the park, our weather has been more mild than usual so pups enjoy them.
Just a thought, I would love to see a post on what apps people use to save $ both restaurants and grocery type like Ibotta. I am cashing out my Ibotta because they hardly ever have items I use. We do use Jersey Mikes for free subs. My kids use McDonalds but I personally don't eat there but I might reconsider for free fries! 😛
@Mar,
You reminded me, I have the Firehouse app. I used it this weekend to get a free medium sub sandwich. I ordered it on gluten-free bread, so I had to pay $2 and change for the bread, but that's all I paid. I meant to include it in my Frugals, but forgot.
@Mar, my friend's dog kept getting ear infections. She found an article that said gently rubbing coconut oil on the upper portion of the ears (the right amount moves down on it's own) has greatly reduced the number of infections. It seems coconut oil has some antifungal properties. My friend uses the solid kind you find in the baking oil.
I hope you enjoy your rec center membership! I have really enjoyed access to exercise classes and working out with others. I hope your class tonight is a good experience!
My FFT:
1. We took a crock-pot full of baked potatoes to a potluck on Saturday (the main dish was chili, so this was an inexpensive side that was perfect for chili) and had some leftover. We shredded the leftover baked potatoes the next morning and had hashbrowns with our breakfast.
2. My 8yo went to a Christmas party with some friends and needed to bring a gift to exchange. We had been given a second game of Qwirkle the previous Christmas and didn't know what to do with it, so she took that as her gift to exchange. It's a really fun game for kids her age (and fun for adults too, which is a bonus!)
3. Used some CVS bucks to purchase discounted wrapping paper and Christmas cards for next year.
4. Purchased a produce box from Flashfood. $5 got me 6 big yellow/red/orange peppers, a bunch of little orange peppers, about 10 roma tomatoes, 3 lemons, 8 oranges, 3 apples, and 2 starfruit. I was pretty happy!
5. My mother-in-law and I tackled my mending pile yesterday. We fixed a glove, a produce bag, a dress, a reusable shopping bag, a dress shirt, and snow pants.
Got 3 30 oz jars of Miracle whip for $6.00 at one of our stores. Lately the cheapest I can find this is at aldi for around $5.50 a jar. Score!
@TeeA, wow! that's a great deal. I didn't get it that cheap pre-pandemic (2/$5)
Happy New Year Everyone!
My FFT include
1. We ate leftovers and what was in the house after Christmas. It was too cold to get out shopping.
2. We only went to the grocery store once between Christmas and New Year's and that was to get buy one, get one packages of black-eyed peas for New Year's Day. Our son came by to get cooked peas, so he didn't have to go to the store or spend any money.
3. Went to Sprouts yesterday to restock the kitchen and found several manager's specials, including a quart of yogurt for $1.99. Probably not as cheap as Kristen's homemade yogurt but still a cheap breakfast for me this week.
4. Did not go shopping at after Christmas sales. I bought wrapping paper 70% before Christmas so we're still stocked for next Christmas. We do not need any more stuff so better for me to stay out of the stores.
5. Used the heels of the boxes of cereal to make more Chex-mix for NYE. We rarely eat cereal at the bottom of the box (I know, we're weird!) so I figured we would waste less if I used it to make a snack that would get eaten.
On the non-frugal front, our dishwasher has been out since early December. The plumber told us on Dec 9th that the part would be in within 2 to 3 days, but we never heard from them again. So, after handwashing way too many dishes over the holidays, I broke down and bought a new dishwasher. I had to shipped to the store because it came in a week faster than home delivery. Thankfully the plumber is supposed to install the new one on Thursday.
@Beverly, check for energy savings rebates for dishwasher. That is one thing I agree that really is worth money, of course I get tired of washing so many dishes.
1. Received $348 in an out of network claim I filed for my hideously expensive glasses. I was expecting maybe a hundred bucks, so this was awesome.
2. The farm store where we buy pet food sent me a 10% off coupon for pet food and treats which saved us $10.
3. My whole household caught dreadful colds between Christmas and New Year's, causing us to stay home and be exceptionally frugal. We spent $14 on soup from the local Chinese restarant for our NYE meal, and the next day I had recovered enough to cook a simple meal that yielded lots of leftovers.
4. Hung my laundry to dry on racks placed around the dehumidifier in the laundry room and it was all dry in a few hours instead of taking a day or two.
5. Hemmed a pair of thrifted slacks.
I always feel inspired from all of you sharing your frugal wins.
1. We didn’t spend anything over our school holiday break on family outings. I don’t mind spending on experiences, but the kids and I were all just enjoying frugal fun at home - games, puzzles, Nerf wars, movies, workouts, art projects, reading, baking, and cooking.
2. I remembered on the 31st that I had a Kroger fuel reward expiring and hurried out to use it at the gas station.
3. My daughter and I went to several stores after Christmas for some shopping she wanted to do. I was tempted a couple times, but did not buy anything.
4. I played pickleball several times over my school break (teacher) for 1.50 at our local rec center. It is my happy place.
5. I called the vet and asked them to send a refill request to Costco instead of their office which saved me quite a bit.
I love that you and the girls are getting into yoga! My mom has been an instructor since I was in high school and I have been doing yoga for most of my life. There is something about the experience of practicing in a dedicated studio that really adds to the experience. A lot of yoga studios a very community oriented, so check and see if they have donation only community class (my local studio does it every Sunday). Namaste!
1. Oatmeal. I have been going on my run early in the morning so I can enjoy the frost and have been coming back wanting something warm to eat for breakfast. Super cheap, super healthy and helps use up borderline fruit so it's a win-win everywhere.
2. Eating at home. My husband came up to work with me and stayed at my crew house over NYE and we cooked at home pretty much every night. And I didn't have to worry about about drunk drivers, long waits and lots of people.
3. Flooring. I finagled my schedule and I will have 2 weeks off without taking any PTO, so the spouse and I are going to use that time to check out first big project of 2023 off the list and replace our flooring ourselves (wish me luck)
4. Unsubscribing. I am doing a massive email purge and unsubscribing from pretty much every email list I am on. It technically hasn't saved me money right now, but I think it will in the long run.
5. Facebook Marketplace. I am in the midst of a mini facelift for my house and I am determined to do everything either by thrifting or FB marketplace (I am looking forward to scavenging everyone's spring cleaning resolutions in a few weeks)
@Heather, with all the ordering accidents I had recently, I KNOW that unsubscribing is a frugal win. If we don't get the email, then we don't click through to the site, don't see anything, don't put it in the cart, don't pay for it. It is a slippery slippery slope, especially late at night.
I love chocolate covered pretzels!
1. Logged in to my health insurance account online for the "new year" rewards stuff. I would rather they just cut their costs instead of offering incentives, but play their game of reading brochures and watching videos to get points to use in the rewards program. Made $100 worth of points by letting them re-tell me what they told me last year at this time.
2. Checked my "I only have these for the hotel rewards points" no-fee credit card accounts online to make sure they weren't expiring and the points weren't expiring.
3. Set "rotating category" in Discover card rewards to get 5% back on groceries for this quarter. Will adjust which card to use at the store to make the most of it. It doesn't seem like much, but if I would fuss to use a fifty cent coupon or something seemingly similarly small, I figure I can do this. We keep all credit cards paid off every month.
4. Shopping carefully to avoid food waste and plan for leftovers. I refuse to be part of the dreadfully high statistics about Americans and food waste!
5. Am well stocked up on USPS stamps; price increases three cents for first class mail on January 22. I like choosing stamps to match the recipient for cards and always have a big variety. (Some package costs went up for the holiday season and they will go back down a few dimes or so; some will go up).
@Heidi Louise, actually the higher shipping prices are not going to go back down after holidays, as expected. Decided to keep increase since stamps will be increasing again & hope people will not notice as I asked when going back down.
I love to get fun stamps & use throughout year. Of course many people don't mail anything except packages anymore.
@Regina, Ooh, Boo! Package prices are a mystery to me anyway.
Sometimes, though, I remind myself of what really happens to my packages and letters, that they travel hundreds or thousands of miles safely and fairly quickly. That makes me think the prices aren't that bad.
@Heidi Louise, thank you for the warning on the first class price increase. I asked our postmaster when it was going up again, and he said, "Sometime". Thanks to you, now I know for sure. I love the Forever Stamp thing, because we used to have to buy one and two cent stamps to make the old ones work.
This is my year's accounting of all things frugal that I keep track of, entering the information every single day.
1. When I closed out our finances for the year and found that in 2022 we spent 1/3 less on food than we did in 2021. I am pretty pleased because this year I really worked on no food waste, stretching meat by making more soups, and making our bread products.
2. Closing our finances also showed me that this year I made $598 from selling stuff that had been sitting around my house not really being enjoyed by anyone.
3. I had been wanting to see if doing things like downloading coupons before grocery shopping, scanning receipts into Fetch, Receipt Hog and My Points, were worth the trouble (especially because we don't buy that many name brand things), so I kept track of every penny I saved or earned this way. Just over $400, for not much effort.
4. How much did I save by getting books and puzzles and tools and seeds from our libraries? Over $1,000! (Although nearly half of that was borrowing expensive tools that in the past the woodworking and fix-it man would have purchased.)
5. And, finally, my small side gig of mystery shopping brought in over $1500 in either direct payments for doing the shops or in product such as gas, groceries, movie tickets and mailing stuff for free.
I also had frugal failures but none as horrible as the year we bought a house in the Seattle area and sold it a month later because when we got down there I realized that I just could not leave Alaska. The house sold at a loss and moving stuff down there and back here set us back over $50,000, so when I get too thrilled with myself for the money I save every year, I remind myself that I have yet to be frugal enough to make up for that stupid move. When we go on vacation, in the back of my mind I always have this niggling worry there will be a war and I will be stuck in the lower 48, so why I thought I could live out there is beyond me...
@Lindsey, I keep track of all exspenses for each thing but did not think about keeping track of savings earned. What a good idea & motivational statement.
My recent stupidity shows that I need this blog to keep my head in frugality.
1a. I accidentally bought a new kind of card, all excited about the great price (for resale purposes) but alas, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. They are flat, not fold-over. I cannot sell them.
1b. Is this offset by finding the discontinued style of Carhartt shorts that Husband loves, 1/2 price on eBay?
2a. I accidentally bought 2 copies of the same book on Thriftbooks.
2b. Is this offset by finding a second pair of those Carhartts for 1/2 price on eBay?
3a. I accidentally bought 2 of the same tee shirt on sale at Lands' End (yes, that is where they put the apostrophe).
3b. Is this offset by finding a third pair of the 1/2 price shorts on eBay?
4a. I bought the wrong amount of yarn on sale at Yarn.com because I loved the color. It isn't enough to do anything useful with other than 3 scarves that I don't need.
4b. Is this offset by finding a fourth pair of those shorts at 1/2 price on eBay?
4c. Or is it offset by finding the yarn for a blanket friend's new baby at 1/2 price on the same site?
Someone needs to take my computer away from me. Or shut it down late at night when those sale offers show up.
I have unsubscribed from Lands' End, from Yarn.com (aka Webs), and resolve to not buy any more shorts for Husband, or any more books from anywhere. For awhile. Maybe, on the books.
@Central Calif. Artist, great deal on the shorts! He should be set for warm weather.
@Regina, he wears them almost year around, like a uniform. (He does have great legs!)
@Central Calif. Artist, actually pretty hilarious.
I have one or two sterling qualities and one of them is that I never forget to pay a bill. Just about never, as I have a fairly iron grip on our finances. Can you guess where this is going?
This month I got a bill in from a clothing store that last month accidentally got shuffled directly into the "paid" file. I couldn't believe it. Not me. Do they know with whom they are dealing? I checked all my records and sure enough I did indeed miss it last month. The store charged me $29 for being a deadbeat. I hung my head and paid.
@Anne, isn't that the most embarrassing thing ever? Yikes, I feel your pain. Those sorts of experiences cause me to never assume that I am right, even when I KNOW I am.
Great job on the $500 "save!"
We just returned from a week in Indiana visiting family, which did not seem too frugal, but there were savings:
We ended up cancelling our SUV rental and going in my son's truck, which, while harder on gas, saved $850 on a rental.
We ate most of our meals at my kids' homes and shared grocery costs. Our 2 meals out were paid for by my son in law. (It's a blessing when your kids start making more than you do and take on some of the costs.) I bought/prepared several meals, including a big turkey dinner, and did a lot of cleaning and child care.
I picked up some "stock up" groceries at Aldi to bring home because we do not have an Aldi anywhere close.
I picked up an extra shift at work, sold a book on ebay, walked for exercise, meal planned and didn't shop for groceries at our local grocer, knowing it would force me to eat out of the freezer and pantry.
I love your yogurt recipe!
1. I picked up some cookies, for a hot cocoa bar I am throwing at work, off Buy Nothing. I also made home made hot cocoa and will be using some graham cracker crumbs from a leftover pie crust for the party. The rest of the ingredients cost me maybe $7.
2. I picked up some NYE decorations off Buy Nothing. My kids just love to decorate for any holiday.
3. I returned some holiday gifts to Victoria's Secret and got underwear I needed instead. On the way into the mall, I found a $12 Wegmans gift certificate in the parking lot!
4. I used the leftover ham from Christmas, leftover carrots from our NYE party, and left over corn from dinner to make a delicious soup for my lunches this week.
5. The housekeeper cancelled this past week, so I saved $100 on housekeeping costs. I had to clean prior to hosting holiday parties anyways, so it worked out.
@Corrine, I wish I could trip over a Wegmans gift certificate in the parking lot! At the rate things are going price-wise at Wegmans, I'm not going there much any more except for bottle returns and pharmacy pickups.
And one more story about my friend who passed on New Year's Day, before my Thankful Thursday tribute: She always claimed credit for writing Danny Wegman and getting him to change "7 items or less" to "7 items or fewer" in the express lanes at Wegmans. Because she was such a force majeure in Rochester, I have no reason to doubt this.
@Corrine, ooh, could you say more about the hot cocoa bar? I'm always looking for theme ideas for work potlucks and that sounds fun.
I've started taking a leaf out of your book and posting weekly on my frugal wins:
https://www.toloveandtolearn.com/2023/01/03/weekly-frugal-wins-christmas-clearance-fast-food-apps/
Thanks for the inspiration! I feel like I've been much more on top of saving money and staying under budget lately.
My frugal things--
1. Saved $0.45/gallon (up to 20 gallons) on gas at station on way out of town, which was busy station this time. Teen Filled up tank as he is getting in hours to take last portion before drivers test. Apparently gas went up $0.20+/gallon that evening & again yesterday making it $3.39.9/gallon for unleaded. (Ouch!) Who knows why went up again & again.
2. Bought groceries after holidays & glad to report only picked up 1 item 50% off ($17), white wooden advent calendar house. This is first year no Advent calendar for teen, and this is pretty nice to fit in with winter decorations. Was looking for certain cookie cutter with no luck, those went quick once on clearance.
3. Only bought on sale/coupon items & almond milk (needed), earning another grocery reward. Teen tells me "don't need it" yet has no problem eating within few days. Snacks have been whole package of cereal & whole package of meat sticks lately. Cereal 2/$6 with $1 off coupon. Meat sticks, not so cheap, but buying from local farm store.
4. Used (menards) rebate to purchase few items on sale (free after mail in rebate), but need to return one as was not correct item/in wrong place for free rebate.
5. Got Bonus $15 credit on Mastercard because took many weeks to get card in mail in addition to $50 credit for spending $70. Though lost $0.68 cash back because only good through end of year??
6. Cooking & Eating all meals/No takeout.
7. Called Target customer service & asked why one of my purchases was not counted towards reward that ordered online. Because shipped separately apparently did not count $ amount towards reward which did not make sense to me. They reviewed the other purchases & sent me (my)$20 gift card/reward.
Frugal fail--
1. Forgot to go online to fill out rebate for energy savings appliances through utility company. Actually had 2 (same) but 2 different houses. ??$20 loss??
2. Have attorney fees because Ex had put in divorce papers that when his income goes down over next 6 months want child support review. Income goes down when you choose to not work like you did before for timeline to get reduced (& I have to pay back $ he paid). This is only review get because only get 1 every 3 years after 1 year & teen will be graduating before that date. Hoping judge looks at everything submitted.
Congratulations on getting that invoice in. The cost of a credit hour or so when you restart school in the fall?
1. Tonight's dinner. I had leftover delicious gravy from New Year's Day shortrib dinner. And I had a pound of ground beef. Shepherd's Pie for dinner it is.
2. Put a book on hold at the library from one of the other posters here. Hopefully it is good. There is quite a wait.
3. My nails split and peel. Online this week I came across an inexpensive idea to try to improve them using simple things that are sitting in my cabinet--nail oil and vaseline and gloves. I have all 3 to give it a go for a month at least.
4. I used CC points to pay for my new hiking boots.
5. Enjoyed a free hike in the woods yesterday, saw beautiful swans, the wonderful relaxing sound of water falling over a dam, birds singing. Many times in winter we don't hear the sound of birds at all.
Kristen, do we know what kind of work you do on the side? (I'm newish here so may have missed that piece of your most totally interesting life.) My guess is web design, proofreading, or editing.
1. I made all our meals at home and used up ingredients that we had.
2. I dug through boxes to find bigger clothes for my youngest.
3. I put together a box of outgrown clothes to resell.
4. We enjoyed free entertainment and activities over winter break.
5. I avoided buying stuff that we don't need.
Great score on the rec center memberships! And yay for another fun thing you can do with your girls!
My FFT:
1. Made overnight oatmeal with a butternut squash that froze on the porch. Kids loved it!
2. Only did one grocery trip while on break and am now getting back to Wednesday trips. Might go back to once every two weeks. We'll see.
3. Bought some new clothes for me and my daughter. We did spend some money, but many items were on sale and we got some things we really needed and had a nice time together.
4. Ate leftovers for lunch, like a lot. I was home, so "here...eat this soup..." Happened more often than usual.
5. Bought hungry harvests this week and last mainly for the eggs. Cheaper than Aldi and also giant and free range? Yup. I stocked up.
The vacationers are GONE!!!!! Somehow that must be frugal. It’s only for 2 months but it is wonderful.
Early 2020 a kiddo was applying for jobs during lockdown and their phone was not up to the online process. I gave them my new phone and this week they gave it back. It worked so well they got work and felt stable enough to buy a new one of their own. I’m retiring my 30 dollar crappy phone!
Name brand clothing kept sending me coupons, coupons, coupons. I was going by their store and finally went in. A dash egg cooker for 5 bucks and 2 super soft long cosy tops for 5 bucks.
Eating from the freezer and free food when kids make big cauldrons of their fancy pasta.
* really wanted a take-out meal tonight but I skipped and ate at home
* Been giving and receiving on Buy Nothing
* Eating the extras in pantry and freezers before buying more
* Refraining from buying clothes online. I have enought already
* couting calories to lose weight = eat less food = cheaper!
1. Used 2 more free birthday offers before the end of December, one was for a free entree at a BBQ place (worth $20) so we paired it with a kids meal and regular meal for my kids. I couldn't order on the app for pick up, so we went in to order and they gave us 2 free drinks while we waited. The food itself lasted 2 meals. The other birthday offer was for a free burger (worth $15) and we ordered kids meals with free extra fries to go with it, which again, lasted for 2 meals.
(frugal fail: I planned poorly and missed one birthday freebie (free crepe) because it had a limited time of 2 weeks to use it. Writing it in my planner to schedule everything at the beginning of December!)
2. Husband had some friends over for a game night. We had enough remaining cans of soda and unopened snacks from his last game night at Thanksgiving so nothing new was bought. My friend gave us money to buy a birthday cake for her husband who was coming to the game night as a surprise for him.
3. Bought some items for my MIL last week from Costco which were full-price (gasp!). Then the new sale cycle kicked in 2 days later and a couple items were on sale, so I went today to get a price adjustment, netting almost $8 back! Used my annual rewards certificate to pay for the rest of my purchases today, and only spent $12 on top of that.
4. Cashed out almost $100 worth of earnings from TopCashBack from purchases the past few months. I was able to cash out part of the amount straight to my bank account and another part as a Visa gift card with an extra 5% bonus, which I will use to buy an Amazon gift card for an upcoming purchase. Redeeming as an Amazon gift card only nets a 2% bonus.
5. Bought some men's hygiene gift sets 50% off after Christmas which has shampoo, body wash and deodorant for my husband and boys to use. The set cost about the same amount as one of those items regularly priced.
Dh and I are spending a fortune on plane tickets to ds's wedding in Singapore this spring. So the month of January is a no spend month.
1. Used credit from Lands' End to get a cardigan and a waterproof hat. I look a little goofy in it but if it keeps the rain and snow off my head that's fine with me.
2. Refilled gas tank at $2.79. The Christmas Miracle is over and gas has gone up again.
3. The day after New Years hubs made our free turkey breast for dinner. Got it free for spending x amount of dollars at grocery store before Thanksgiving. Then he used the crock pot to make turkey soup. He has extra turkey to make turkey sandwiches for his lunches.
4. Purchased a half price ($5 from $10) disposable razor set at Walgreens after Christmas. Gave it to my friend along with other things in my stockpile, i.e. toothpaste, hand soap, and a few other things. Gave my sister in law and neice a gift bag of things from my stockpile. Toothpaste, toothbrushes (wonder how long it will take before they notice my dentist's name on them), laundry detergent, hand soap, and other things. My neice loved the bag of goodies and the fact that it will save her money.
5. Watching electricity usage and furnance thermostate. Hubs and I now wear either fleece pullovers or other layers to stay warm.
1. I was able to find several "loss leaders" at the grocery store: .88 lb whole chicken, .99 lb pork butt (carnitas), $1.97 for 5 lbs of potatoes. 3 (small) freezers are now stocked to the brim and we shouldn't need to purchase meat for a month (well, except if I find a real deal, of course!)
2. Between Swagbucks, on sale & coupon, I got 168 loads of laundry detergent for $3, which is great, until I remember that a few months ago, I made $3 on the deal.
3. Invited to two different friends' house and, for both, I was asked to make dessert. I was able to make two things with all ingredients that I had on hand (1. gingerbread, made with on sale/Swagbucks free molasses and mystery shop ice cream, eggs & milk and 2. lime curd tart made with mystery shop eggs & limes that I had bought on clearance, juiced and froze juice).
4. Bartered a Christmas present that isn't my thing (floor lamp - who gives a floor lamp as a gift?) with a colleague for a plate of cookies. (Okay, I would have given it to her without the cookies, but BONUS.)
5. I lent my work pied-a-terre to a colleague and she left me a generous gift certificate on top of giving me money to cover utilities, etc. Win-win.
6. My car has some persistent sap all over it. It was raining today, but strangely warm for New England in January, so I went out and scrubbed it and let the rain rinse it.
Frugal fail: I had purchased a Groupon for an oil change. But today, when I went to use it, they would not honor it as I had used one a year ago. I'm trying to get a refund but, if not, I'll give it away and make someone happy.
@BettafrmdaVille,I’m experimenting with only buying loss leaders.
I was holding out to see if I got slippers for Christmas. Didn't. I had a gift card from Telwut Surveys that I cashed in for $25 to Walmart.
Headed to Walmart & found holiday slippers that say naughty & nice on them, on clearance, for only $3.00 even! Woo. Even picked up my Xmas cards for next year for $1.99.
Yay me.
Also been eating out of the pantry & not ordering out. Big deal, b/c I am the queen of ordering out but that is what eats the money the most!
The rec center sounds like an awesome option! We were on a ski trip the last week, which isn't at all frugal, but a few wins to share, and one fail:
1) Brought food for several meals (breakfasts & dinners). The kids skipped lunches most days on the slopes, and instead opted for a small snack until we could get home.
2) Bought gas at Costco, which is the cheapest around. While there, picked up lunch on the drive. Not the healthiest option, but lunch for three for under $6 is a huge win.
3) We stayed in a condo for a few nights, and then a hotel for the second half, as the condo was much cheaper over NYE.
4) Booked the hotel using a corporate code (allowed for personal travel), which saved us about $150/day between the actual rate reduction, and other perks.
5) Took advantage of free breakfast at the hotel.
Frugal fail. Tahoe got an absolutely insane amount of snow (record breaking, at the place we were skiing). We forfeited one night at the condo, and moved to the hotel one night earlier than planned, as the weather was so treacherous. At the hotel, we didn't have to drive back & forth each day to the lifts, which was much more enjoyable & relaxing, but $$$. It meant we also ate one more meal out than planned, etc.
Ooh, I am going to Tahoe in February this year!
Happy new year, everyone!
1. Hand-delivered Christmas cards to friends and family that we visited out of state.
2. New year = new rewards available from our insurance for completing health-related activities. I completed a personal health assessment and some wellness workshops for an easy $85 in FSA rewards, and will remind DH to do the same. We can earn up to $250/year for various activities, and I have several set up for later.
3. Took advantage of a return policy for a skin care product that didn’t work for me. I did pay return shipping, but it was still worth sending back and receiving about $23 back after shipping.
4. Received a nice selection of clothes for Baby E from my SIL.
5. MIL gave me two international forever stamps which she bought years ago when DH and I lived overseas, but which she doesn’t need anymore. I needed one for a Christmas card, so that was perfect timing.