Five Frugal Things (and a fail)
I'm switching up the order of posts this week a bit; I have a post I'm doing in partnership with Purex this week, and I think they want me to publish that tomorrow.
Soooo, you get Five Frugal Things today instead of our usual Tuesday.
1. I signed up for the max retirement match at work
Since I have largely been self-employed in my adult life, I have never had an employer-sponsored retirement plan. But I found out that my hospital matches 50% up to the first 6% that I contribute, so I immediately selected that amount.
It's not gonna be oodles of money because I am just a $20/hour part-time employee, but hey, it's free money and I am not about to leave that on the table.
(My 6% amounts to $1.20 for each hour I work, and my hospital will be adding on $0.60. It's not a lot but over the summer it'll be about $60/month extra. And I know all of us would stop to pick up $60 if we found it somewhere!)
2. I ordered a better lunch box
I realize that at first glance, this is a spend rather than a save. But given that I will have to pack a lot of lunches in the future, I consider this to be a very good investment.
After all, it doesn't take many packed meals to pay for the cost of a lunch box.
I have been limping along with some small bags that my kids used to use, but I could use something bigger for long shifts. Plus, I will need to pack meals for upcoming nursing school days and clinical shifts.
Soooo, I feel like this is a solid spending move on my part! Anything that helps me stick with a lunch-packing habit is probably gonna be worth the price.
(Plus, whatever I pack is likely going to be healthier than what I'd buy at the cafeteria/restaurant. Double win!)
3. I did some Altra-stalking on eBay
Since I can wear whatever shoes I want for working at the hospital now, I'm trying to get some backup pairs of Altras for cheap.
I already have a pair for walking and a pair for working, so I can take my time and wait for a really good deal to show up.
Patience is the name of the game!
Why am I stuck on Altras? Well, they're foot-shaped (no pointy toes here) so that your toes can spread out as they're designed to do.
As a person who prefers to go barefoot whenever possible, I love love love this design. Free the toes. 🙂
4. I got a free rotisserie chicken
After I worked that one overnight shift last Friday, I came home and napped for a bit, but obviously I was still tired. And everything in me wanted to do something like...eat an entire box of donuts.
But I knew my body was not gonna actually feel a whole lot better if I did that, so I used a $10 credit in my Safeway app and got a chicken, some bananas, and some blueberries, and my total was $2.30.
And then I scanned the receipt in my Fetch app, of course.
I ate the chicken for dinner along with some kale salad I'd prepped a few days before. No donuts were consumed. 😉
5. I cashed out TopCashback for a 2% bonus
Remember how I used TopCashback when I ordered tires for my van?
Well, I earned $40.47 back on that purchase, and I redeemed it for an Amazon gift card because that gives you an extra 2% back (whereas if you cash out with Paypal, there's no bonus).
Amazon money is basically as good as cash, so that works for me.
Maximizing these little savings makes my frugal heart happy; it doesn't make the tires free or anything, but it helps soften the blow a bit!
Your turn! What frugal things have you been up to?
P.S. A small fail: my Otterbox case for my phone needed to be replaced, so I ordered a refurbished one from Amazon. But...they sent the wrong case. Close, but definitely not meant for my iPhone 11. So I returned that one and decided just to pay full price for a new one. Like a lunchbox, a phone case is a good investment! $24 pales in comparison to the cost of a new phone.
Company is here, so:
1. Pulled out some cooked bacon and bagels from the freezer for the first breakfast. These were leftovers from work events.
2. Salad plans for every other day, picking lettuce from my garden. It is growing really well this year.
3. Same for my herbs, used home grown basil and chives for a yummy pasta dish last night.
4. Very happy with my cable bill since cancelling the live app subscription. We are going to see if we can live without it for a while.
5. Same for the newspaper subscription. If I miss it I'll subscribe again. Just want to see what we can live without right now.
Knowing we can resubscribe if we miss them makes it easier to cancel, I think!
@MommaJo, your number 5 is a good idea. You can always change your mind about buying but it harder once the money is spent. I feel that way about sales, there is always another sale so I don’t feel pressured to buy something before I’m ready. The bonus is a lot of the time I don’t need it anyway.
@MommaJo, another option for those who love their TV plan or newspaper is to put the service on vacation mode. Usually the reinstallation fee from vacation mode is a fraction of the installation fee after cancelation.
@MommaJo,
If you miss the comic strips in your newspaper, look them up at Go Comics or Arcamax websites. You can view them for free. UExpress has Dear Abby and it and Arcamax have other columns, as well.
I never pay for these features, and if they say you need to disable your ad blocker or pay, I search for whatever I'm looking for on another site. I've also googled in the headline of whatever column/article I want to read and then write msn on the same line, and Microsoft will usually have it for free.
@Fru-gal Lisa, thank you! I will try them. 🙂
--StitchFix emailed me that had a $20 credit off a "Freestyle" purchase. This limits one to the options they choose, but since they're based on one's purchase history, there's a fair chance at something I'll like. (Mind, I've only ordered from them using credits--first from Kristen's link!) I've been looking for a new green hoodie, and lo! There was one on clearance for $19.97, it was the only thing I chose, and yes, they honored it! Shipping was free, too.
--The first round of winter pesto is stored in the freezer! I ended up with two basil plants this year, as we had a hard frost right after I planted the first one (basil is the only thing I don't grow from seed). It died all the way back; thinking it was a goner, I bought a replacement *but* planted it elsewhere and left the goner alone, jut in case. Not only did the frozen basil survive, it's now the mightier of the two plants!
--My friend with the bottomless flower garden was thinning her beds again, which means our yard is now richer by two dozen DARK purple dwarf irises. Our ultimate goal is "Xeriscape + Gothic + Prairie," so bring on all the (low maintenance, drought tolerant) purples! Previous "I thinned my beds--here!" transplants include: tiger lilies, day lilies, wild strawberries, a peony, over two dozen full-size irises, and a pretty succulent-like ground cover with a name I can't remember.
--I removed the pit stains from my husband's national team soccer jersey by pre-treating them with our regular detergent* overnight and then washing like usual. Gotta be dressed for the Euros, even when watching from home! 😛
--I used the same method to remove grease stains from the front of one of my t-shirts. This worked DESPITE the shirt having been washed and dried before I noticed the stains while folding laundry. Just how and when I dribbled on myself, I'd like to know.
*Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin (no perfumes or dyes) for the win!
@N, I wish I could send you a clone of our lavender - it seems to thrive on neglect; I never water or feed it and it now takes up at least 10 feet of our long narrow flower bed - all just one plant!
@N, That's our favorite laundry detergent!
@Suz, I wish you could send me your negligence-loving lavender, too! That sounds marvelous. Hopefully the lavender twigs I just planted from the Arbor Day foundation are similarly inspired.
@N, I also am doing some stain removing today and think of it as a frugal win!
@N, My mom had dwarf dark purple irises in front of the house, and they were there for at least fifty, maybe sixty years. Always one of the first things to bloom after the snow was gone. I hope yours thrive as well!
@Heidi Louise, what a wonderful memory--thank you for sharing it! My friend received her dwarf irises from her sister's garden when she first moved into her house a decade ago, so I'm honored to continue their spread.
I would totally have eaten the doughnuts!
Honestly, this week feels really unfrugal. This is what I can come up with:
1. I went to the dentist. Not frugal, and I need to go back for teeth extraction (eek) but an investment in health. I heard a saying once that if you don't pay to look after your body you pay in health, and I am very grateful that I have the resources to do so.
2. I met up with a friend and she insisted on paying for my food and drink.
3. Said friend and I went around a free museum.
4. I made Kristen's no-bake peanut butter squares.
5. I used the library,
@Sophie in Denmark, I would have ate the donuts too. They looked really good!
@Sophie in Denmark, I was feeling so guilty, because, I too, would have eaten the donuts.
@Anne, I would have felt zero guilt lol!
@Sophie in Denmark, Another donut eater here, especially if the alternative was a kale salad!!
@Sophie in Denmark, what's that now, no bake peanut butter squares?!? I need the recipe! 🙂
@Isa, (please and thank you)
@Isa, try this link— https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/wednesday-baking-or-not-baking-chocolate-peanut-squares/
@Isa, it's the recipe @Central Calif. Artist Jana linked. Thanks Jana!
Good job on picking the saving match. My honey had a company that matched 2% of 4%, though he saved 10%. That was a nice amount when he retired. I used to work part time for a small salary which had no match. Still I saved 10% and after 15 years when I retired I had $25,000. I found it an easy way to save. It did help that my salary was a bonus to our household, I don’t want to say not necessarily needed but was a nice extra.
A funny about cashing out the account, well I laugh now. They didn’t do direct deposit, but used fedex instead. I was watching for it and missed the delivery because when I checked my dog was running around with it in her mouth. I think they just sailed it over my fence. I started calling and following her all around the yard. Luckily she didn’t have time to open it. Ha ha.
@cc, I have to resort to peanut butter as a lure to get my dog to release ... whatever she has found and suspects I may want. The problem is she now patrols the house and yard looking for things she can hold hostage just so she can get the peanut butter.
@JDinNM, My favorite ever dog used to do that. He'd grab a bar of soap he didn't want just to get a treat to drop it.
@JDinNM, Oh, dear and that's also hilarious. Recently my dog stopped always barking at people in the house so I had them reward him with a treat when he "gentleman"ed. Now he barks at them then looks at the treat bowl!
I have a couple leftover from our trip the previous weekend and maybe a few more:
1. Some restaurants in IA were charging a fee if you paid with a credit card. The Mexican restaurant was charging 3.99% so we paid cash for our meals. Another restaurant in the downtown area charged 3% and said that that was less than what they pay in fees, another place where cash was king. One of my sisters lives in MN and she said the fees are common. I have not encountered them in the Mid-Atlantic region though there was a taxes & fees add on when I ordered takeout for a friend's birthday recently.
2. While in the Midwest we rented a vehicle from Alamo. We have always had good experiences with them in the past. When I looked at the electronic bill there was a charge of $16.73 with no explanation on the day we returned the vehicle. I called customer service and there was no documentation as to the reason for the charge so it is to be refunded.
3. We walked in the early morning and encountered leftover yard sale giveaways. I brought home a Pop Sockets for the back of my phone. DH grabbed a computer lap desk.
4. We were not home for Father's Day so we celebrated on Saturday. It was a hot day and all DH really wanted was a visit. DD and SIL came over to visit and I served apple blueberry crisp since I "bake" it in the microwave.
5. Frugal/Not Frugal: I renewed our PBS membership which allows you to stream shows with their Passport. For $60/year you get access to a lot of great shows that you can watch on your schedule.
@K D, Like your #1, I've noticed a variety of (mostly) small businesses are now adding on the CC fees, totally negating anything my card earns. In several cases, I've had the option of writing a check (home improvement expenses which were pricey), in another case (a bike shop), we were forced to eat the fee because we didn't have cash with us. The pandemic spoiled me when everyone wanted cards and fees weren't an issue. I'm now not a fan of cash and checks are so ridiculously old fashioned but other options don't appeal to me either. I'd really prefer the businesses to absorb the fees and just raise their prices to cover them without telling me. Ignorance is bliss. 😉
@Bobi,
As a small business owner and a consumer, I find credit card fees problematic. Since fees for the business owner run between 3 -5%, I think that the consumer is already seeing these cost reflected in the prices of most of the things they buy. Imagine if everything you purchased was 3 - 5% less expensive than it is now. Would making a trip to the bank for cash be worth it?
For example, let’s say a family of 4 spends $300 a week on groceries. The retailer already assumes that this cart of groceries will be paid for via debit or credit card, so the company has built this expense into the price of the items purchased. As a result, the consumer is paying $9 - $15 more than needed for that cart of groceries or between $468 -$780 a year.
With this in mind, my business does not charge a processing fee, but I do offer a discount for cash which I prefer. When you accept cards, you also occasionally will have a legitimate charge disputed and the amount of the fee charged back. (Another expense). If a consumer pays cash, this never happens.
I really do not believe that the use of credit or debit cards benefits any entity except the banks perhaps. By passing on this fee to the consumer, if your processor allows it, they may become more aware of how much this convenience is costing them and all of us.
@Bee, I would definitely make a trip to the bank to save 3-5% IF I could find a close branch (haha, another peeve, bank branches have closed faster than restaurants, but then I currently rarely use one, so there's that.) And I love that you offer the option of a cash discount. I also understand the toll the fees take on small businesses and do use cash when I shop at mom & pop retail stores even if they accept cards and I would otherwise use them. You're also right that if the fees were more obvious, we'd all me more aware of the cost. That being said, I prefer using cards when traveling versus carrying wads of cash so there are times when I'm willing to pay for the convenience.
@K D,
We do the same with the PBS Passport. There's always something on PBS that I want to watch, and $60/year I think is well worth it.
Nothing very frugal here- with the kids home for the summer it feels like I'm at the grocery store every day.
However, a few are
*child with special needs is going to her camp 4 days a week. She has fun, does activities and field trips, and they feed her lunch for a very small amount. ($75 per week). I'd pay double that as this is so good for her.
*other kids are going to a short camp this week which also has a nominal fee. I've run out of ideas for summer already, so this is just in time.
*Going to city pool with a season pass, so we can stay for only as long as we want. If I were paying full price for a daily admission, I'd have to stay a lot longer than I'd prefer to get my money's worth.
* with the heat wave last week, I only cooked outside on the grill. No use of oven at all, so the AC wouldn't have to work so hard.
Frugal fail: brought my big boy cat to vet, and the cat needs to go on a diet. Because my daughter was there, adding to the guilt about the chonky nature of my cat, I caved and bought the prescription diet food without asking the price. I won't do that again, and I think the cats will only lose weight because they don't like this diet stuff so they're eating less. ( my girl cat gets stuck on the diet as the vet thinks she could lose a little weight too.) If in another week, their appetites don't improve, I will return the rest of the expensive bag for a refund. And figure out another way to help him lose weight.
--I spent some time with my younger kids rolling up coins (from the peanut butter jar on my husband's dresser--does every man have such a thing for change?) to bring to the bank. We ended up with almost $115.
--I got a "retention bonus" out of the blue for my teacher's aide job. All the staff at school got one. It was about 20% of my yearly pay, which was a surprise. I hope it's not because the upcoming school year is going to be awful in some way. Like, say, if they make us do five-day weeks . . .
--I cooked a whole chicken on a cooler day last week, then the next morning made stock with the carcass and picked off the remaining meat. It's too hot for soup now, so I froze two half-gallon containers of stock+meat for future soup making. I especially like having that on hand when I'm sick and want soup without having to do too much cooking.
--I've been processing all the cabbages coming out of the garden. Two batches of sauerkraut and a few freezer bags of caramelized cabbage so far.
--I never got rid of my dozens of CDs, even though I had nothing to play them in for several years. But now I have a CD player in my new car, and I can listen to them all again. Particularly nice since I often drive places without good radio reception.
@kristin @ going country, Not necessarily a peanut butter jar, but the men in my life have used coffee cans, milk bottles and piggy banks among other things, so I'd say yes all men do!
@kristin @ going country, My dad had a huge glass beer mug, as I recall. My husband does not have a coin jar, but I do!
@kristin @ going country, Whoa! Congrats on the retention bonus! That's exciting!
@kristin @ going country, I’ve also frozen raw, sliced cabbage to use in soups and it worked fine.
I think June has been a spend spend spend month so let’s see if there’s anything frugal
1. A group of us went out to eat to an outdoor bbq place. This place was very generous with their butter. I brought home all the unopened packages. About 2 sticks worth.
2. Shopped clearance and Costco for some clothes my kids needed.
3. Did not sign up my kids for camp. Instead, their cousins are staying with us for a few days. We live out in the country and have everything the campground offers. While the grocery spending was higher it’s nowhere near as much as the cost of camp.
4. Took the kids to the library. My older 2
check out up to 20 books at a time between the 2 of them. The younger 2 enjoy library toys and activities.
5. Used thrift books to order a book that’s not at a library and it’s one I’d like to keep in our collection. $16 less compared to Amazon price.
6. Not a fail but my frugal heart was not on board. All the kids got souvenirs at a place we visited. My husband said to let them live a little lol he’s far less frugal than I am
Followed up a really low spend period/use it up weeks with BIG shopping at Sams and local grocery store. lol
Used a lot of coupons and Ibotta on my store shopping though! That counts for something!
we bought 2 snails this weekend for our fishtank.. We have started to have big algae issues and decided to go the >$8.00 for 2 snails rather than pay for chemicals. At least they are entertaining to watch!
Ordered about a dozen pieces of clothing from Bloomchic- online plus sized clothing. I was VERY careful to read sizing information/fit/material etc and the return policy. I did not expect amazing quality as the cost is a bit lower and its traveling a LOOONG way.. but they entice you with additional discounts the more you order+free shipping. They offer 1 free return label per order.
I was careful to keep each clothing item with the bag it came in as I went through and tried on each piece. I was more than impressed with the quality of the clothing(for the cost). Fit was pretty much what I expected and in the end I only had to return 3 items from 1 order. The return process was very easy and once USPS logged the item in they sent me a text that my refund was processed! I was happy to see that fully expecting that would take multiple days to show.
I needed some new items and these will add to my closet with enough variety and much less cost than my go to plus sized shops.
Our health insurance will enter its new year effective July 1- Last spring my husband had cardiac issues so we entered the new policy year 2023 with lots of therapies and appointments. I took advantage of maximizing that and ordered orthopedic insoles for my shoes(at practically no cost to me) and when I found out the spot on my head was skin cancer got an appointment very quickly to get it excised under this years plan. What cost me hundreds of dollars the last time I dealt with this, and under a different employer and insurance plan, appears to be costing me less than $90 this time- I will take it!
@jes, Thanks for the info on Bloomchic. I have wondered about their quality.
I was thrown for a loop and had to come up with 5 frugal things because it's Monday. I was looking forward to see what part of the country we would be reading about. LOL
1. Make my own coffee. The other day, I was going to be driving to my sis-in-law's house, so I made a full pot and took an iced coffee with me in the afternoon to start the drive. Had a very nice visit with the sisters-in-law.
2. Only supposed to be a high of 81 today because the cooling front came thru. I have turned off the AC and opened the windows. Since I work from home, I don't need it super cool. Just at night when I sleep, so I will see how cool it is supposed to be tonight.
3. During the heat wave last week, I was closing curtains and shades to keep the sun out. Yeah, it wasn't as bright as usual, but we do not have central AC and only splits that are 2 years old. I do not want to have to replace them too soon.
4. I pulled out my copy of the Tightwad Gazette and I hope to read the winter section this week. Will it make us feel cooler? LOL I do remember reading about the size of a cord of wood, so I would like to revisit it.
5. And I too, get 50% of the first 6% in a company match. I have been playing catch up for the past 10-15 years and putting 16% in (yeah, I don't make that much). Anyway, it is a nice nest egg that I am looking forward to start spending in 22 months.
1. We've had so much rain this year that the only time I've watered my patio pots was on the day I planted them - and that was a month ago.
2. We've had four power outages recently, so saved money on electricity. Last outage was for 12 hours. Kept refrigerator and freezer closed and didn't lose anything. Even the ice cubes in the bin didn't melt in the slightest.
3. Although we've had some hot days, we have yet to turn on the central AC. Our house is naturally cool due to all the shade from trees, and we open windows when it's cooler to bring the temp down, and we run the circulating air with our new HVAC heat pump system. Indoor temp has never exceeded 74 so we've been very comfortable.
4. A friend paid my admission to the Keith Haring traveling exhibition at Walker Art Center. Amazing artist. Then I paid for my friend's lunch, so it all evened out and we had a great time together.
5. For my morning cereal, I trade off between Old-Fashioned Oats and Cream of Wheat (not the instant or individual packaged kind), even in the summer. Both cereals are healthful and economical. For example - nerd alert - where I live, a box of Cream of Wheat is $4.79 for 24 servings, so 20 cents per serving. I make a big batch every week and portion into pint canning jars to which I add a bit of milk and a pinch of sugar before reheating. I especially love that Cream of Wheat provides high amounts of iron, calcium and Vitamin D. (No, I'm not getting paid to say any of this!)
@MB in MN, I have oatmeal every morning. Back in my single days I used to bike to a little coffee shop in the town where I lived that sold bulk foods, and I'd buy bulk oatmeal and backpack it home. The owner once asked me if I made a lot of granola, and I said, "no, I eat it plain," and he thought that was, as he put it, "radical."
My mom's go-to winter morning breakfast for us kids was Cream of Wheat. I miss it since going light-gluten in my diet!
We often ate farina (same as Cream of Wheat) or old fashioned oatmeal for breakfast as children. We were expected to make it ourselves and did.
@Karen A.,
Lol, my mom never ever made any type of hot cereal when I was a kid, and I guess I never thought to make it myself. I was an adult when I finally tried oatmeal, and now I eat it almost every morning.
@Karen A.,
Wondering if he thought you ate the oatmeal as-is, meaning uncooked?
@Liz B., No, I said I cooked it, and apparently he had never heard of cooked oatmeal, like porridge. Or muesli.
@Rose, remember Malt-O-Meal? Or cocoa wheats - which by the way made an awesome brownie recipe.
You can (patiently) cook Cream of Wheat in the microwave. If you are not patient, it is Scream of Wheat due to the mess.
Oooh so jealous of your Fetch app! I've confirmed that it's not available in Canada, but that is a first-world problem for sure. I appreciated your perspective on donuts vs chicken as being about the energy/health food brings you rather than delving into the food shame arena that I frequent too often - thanks for the inspiration 🙂
FFT, "Beef and Liberty" Edition (look up the history of that phrase, if anyone needs any further proof that I'm an Anglophile!):
(1) I learned from the friends from whom I've been buying 1/4 steer for years that they are doing beef for two more years at least, so I'll be hearing from them when this year's animal--who, they added, has been "able to live his best steer life"--has his date with their butcher. I passed the good news on to the Bestest Neighbors and other friends to whom I sell beef at my cost. (Supermarket beef is so expensive now that I wouldn't even buy it Reduced for Quick Sale any more.)
(2) The "liberty" part is that last week's heat wave has finally broken. We're still not getting as much rain as we need, but we're having a nice little soaker this morning, so I can put down my hose and watering cans and relax. I'll be heading out for my usual Monday morning thrifting shortly.
(3) And, of course, I've been able to shut off the central AC and open a few windows. I'll open some more once the soaker rain has stopped.
(4) Now that it's possible to be outside without fear of heatstroke, I'll be cutting and drying a lot more herbs. And since my dill is starting to flower, I'll be starting to make A. Marie's Locally Famous Refrigerator Dill Pickles this week.
(5) MommaJo's #5 reminds me that I recently cancelled my online subscription to our local newspaper (I let the Sunday hard-copy edition go a while back) and don't intend to renew it. This was a hard decision to make, because I do feel that every city needs a newspaper. But this one isn't the one we need: It's poorly written and edited; the website is abysmally designed; and it seems to me as if about 1/3 of the news coverage concerns sports at the local party-school university. So I'm out.
@A. Marie,
I learned something new today. I looked up the phrase, “Beef and Liberty.” Although I do appreciate the nationalistic pride of the British and understand that they did not want Gaelic luxury influencing their culture, I do think the food on the British Isles could be improved upon.
Have fun thrifting today and thanks for the history lesson.
@Bee, well, fortunately, British cuisine is a lot better than it used to be, thanks to Elizabeth David, Delia Smith, my beloved Two Fat Ladies, Jamie Oliver, the Great British Baking Show, etc., etc.--not to mention the welcome influences from all over the world, especially India and Pakistan.
@A. Marie, Jamie Oliver rocks! Although Gordon Ramsey is known in the US more for his "not suffering any fools" temperament, his book on home cooking is wonderful. It blends technique so neatly into the recipes. My husband, who is on the autism spectrum and will eat only about a dozen food items, enjoyed a new recipe from that book and asked that it be a keeper in the family menus.
@Ruby, I like Gordon Ramsey because he doesn't suffer fools. I make a really pesky, involved recipe of his--roasted fillet of beef with a truffle and root vegetable infusion--and it's the most delicious thing on earth.
@Rose,
I like him, too, though I've never made any of his recipes. I especially like one of his more recent shows, where he travels all over the world, learning about indigenous and traditional foods of the area he's traveled to, then has a "cook off" competition at the end with a local chef. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the series, and I'm too lazy to look it up. 🙂
@Rose et al., I have an Anne Taintor magnet on my refrigerator: "I don't suffer fools gladly...but I do gladly make fools suffer." During my working days, my coworkers occasionally charged me with making this my approach to authors. (If only they knew how often I did bite my tongue...)
@A. Marie, I once got in trouble for writing on a manuscript, "CAN WE PLEASE TURN OUR BRAINS ON?" I didn't use the doofus who kept making idiotic mistake's name, but apparently he burst into tears when he read it, which still affords satisfaction this many years later. Also my ex boss, who is still a dear friend, will, if asked, show you a scar on his leg he alleges he got from when I kicked him once for being a ninny. I think he's full of it--I didn't kick him that hard.
@A. Marie,
I do love an Anne Taintor fridge magnet! I had one that said (paraphrasing here) "another case of male refrigerator blindness" (my DH can never find anything in the fridge....I often tell him "you might have to move something". Lol. )
@Liz B., there are so many things missing on the "Y" chromosome.
@Liz B., about that fridge blindness - there's a reason I put labels on every fridge container.
1. I submitted a bunch of receipts to my insurance.
2. I am SO CLOSE to finishing my reception dress. Just hems and zipper left to do today.
3. I bought some convenience foods (frozen dumplings and the like) to make this week easy without resorting to takeout.
4. I tried a fancy shampoo that I got as a sample and didn't like it; my budget curly girl method will do just fine.
5. I arranged to buy a garment steamer secondhand, but then learned that my mom owns one that I could borrow. Saved myself 40 bucks.
@Meira @ meirathebear, Would you be willing to share what your budget curly products are? I'm especially interested in your gel recommendations!
@Lindsay B, I actually started with Kristen's recs!
I use Live Clean argan oil shampoo, garnier conditioner (the cucumber one,) cantu cream, and tresemme mousse. I'm in Canada so some products aren't available here.
@Meira @ meirathebear, thank you! I will check those out.
Now I want a donut.
1. I've been mostly cooking from the pantry and freezer, although we did have a sanity saving pizza one night. Luckily UberEats had a 40% off coupon.
2. I prepped some things to sell on eBay.
3. This is a good one, but IDK if it counts as frugal. 2023-now's oil budget plan was overestimated by quite a lot, so from now till this time next year I should be paying very little for heat and hot water.
4. It's been pretty nicely cool here so fresh air and no AC makes me happy.
5. I found a much cheaper cleaning lady to turn over the cottage rentals.
I think it is smart to have a back-up pair of shoes if you're working in a hospital; I ruined our doctor's shoes with my first childbirth.
You caught me by surprise today, but my daughter's brain adjusts more quickly than mine, and she's helping me out. (All I can remember on my own are all the NOT frugal things going on lately.)
*We picked various berries and froze to make jam later.
*I made coffee at home.
*We were going to be out at lunch time last week, so my husband picked up cheap large containers of yogurt and some fruit which we served in containers we keep in our van for such occasions.
*We are sorting through leftover things (which are taking up much space in our basement) from my defunct Etsy shop. We will be heading out to a HUGE yard sale in a big town to set up our wares at a friend's house. I really hope people want what I don't.
*Our friend has been gifting us with various things. She works at the food bank and brought food by; I used up the things that needed used up right away. She also gave us a lot of videos; we're keeping some and selling some.
There are times when I feel like yelling this: spending money is not inherently unfrugal! (I deleted about 6 other exclamation points)
Sometimes it's an investment; reread Vimes' Theory of Boots (below) to see why. Sometimes it's something you can afford. Sometimes it's an emergency and despite all reasonable preparation you have little choice. None of these circumstances are frugal fails.
A frugal fail is buying a new power cord because you left yours at home (and by "yours" I mean "mine"). It is not "buying another cord from your travel bag when they're on sale because you keep forgetting yours."
Frugality is not the same as "don't spend money" and I'd love to see us stop beating ourselves up for it. Money, like all readout es, is a tool to be used wisely, it's not something to hoard just because.
https://terrypratchett.com/explore-discworld/sam-vimes-boots-theory-of-socio-economic-unfairness/
@WilliamB, excellent commentary! For us, money is a tool and being frugal means using that tool wisely.
Nothing very frugal here as we are still cleaning out the old house and getting settled into the new one.
- Purchased the new frig from Costco for slightly lower price than other places and got an extra year of warranty.
- Sold our 20' ladder to the painters working at the old house. At our age, we won't be going up on the roof anymore. As an added bonus, we don't have to figure out how to move the ladder as it's too big to fit into my Honda Pilot.
- Yesterday we had DH's delayed Father's Day celebration. He requested KFC so I got enough for everyone to have leftovers if they wanted. Made homemade ice cream with the heavy cream we had on hand and an apple crisp with apples we received by mistake in our Walmart delivery order.
- Contacted Walmart customer service because most of our deliver order was missing but we had items from someone else's order, including the apples I used for the apple crisp. Walmart refunded me for the missing items, refunded me 20% of the refund amount and gave me a $10 promo code for next order. The tea, lemonade, and sodas we were not going to use so those went home with the kids after Father's Day celebration.
If your Otterbox failed, you can usually get a replacement from them under their great warranty: https://www.otterbox.com/en-us/warranty-begin.html
@Jaimee Drew, Otterbox will get a replacement IF your current model is still available. I keep my phone for years and the cases are phased out too quickly for me to qualify for a replacement.
Kristen, in case you haven't checked it out, I've found sierra.com to be a great source for shoes and it looks like they have lots of half-price Altras!
@Amy, thanks for the tip about sierra.com!
Vacation week frugals-
Filled up in Ohio as it is $.60 a gallon cents cheaper than here.
Used a coupon for $25 to get oil changed.
Visited as many free parks, waterfalls and scenic areas that we could.
Spent an expensive day on Lake Cumberland and so well worth it. We did bring our own snacks and drinks.
I use Olay and they are having a 30% off, plus additional code for an additional 15% off plus Swagbucks of 7% so this is the cheapest I have paid in a long time.
Some wins, some fails this week.
1. Library books- I've been reading a LOT more since deleting apps off my phone--who'd have thunk? I highly recommend "Irresistible: The Rise Of Addictive Technology And The Business Of Keeping Us Hooked" by Adam Alter.
2. Biked to a new Little Free Library in our neighborhood--including mine, this makes three within a mile of our house! Got A Walk In the Woods and All Good People, both of which I've been meaning to read.
3. We got a nice thunderstorm that broke the heat wave, and we gathered five gallons of rainwater, which will come in handy.
4. Ate all our meals at home, even though it was stinking hot and we could have justified getting takeout and not using the stove or oven.
Here's a fail; I learned some health issues I've been having have been due to my overconsumption of sodium. I need to keep it down around 1000 mg a day. This means I have to restock my pantry for some items, and revamp some recipes. I hate being the Special Snowflake in the house who needs the more expensive no-salt tuna, but there it is. I guess in the long run it's spending to save, as you can't put a price on health.
5. But on that note, it looks like our insurance is going to cover most of DS's second admission--that was the big one, he was in the hospital for 8 days--so that is a relief. So far they're not even showing a billing for his third admission, where they had to put in drains to drain the abscesses that formed after the second admission (and which they didn't check for before they grudgingly discharged him so he could get some SLEEP at home).
@Karen A., “A Walk in the Woods” is so good. As is the movie, which was on Hoopla or Kanopy recently.
I forgot--hanging laundry to dry, on a clever makeshift clothesline that is out of the view of neighbors (who get stroppy about such things) and which re-used the rope from a broken swing. The bright side of a heat wave is I was able to hang our towels out as well and they smell fantastic after being dried outside.
@Karen A.,
Oh, my....limiting sodium in your diet to 1000 mg/day is TOUGH. Good luck to you! The lowest that is typically recommended for adults 50 and over is 1500 mg/day, but you do you.
@Dee in AZ and @Karen A., almost anything by Bill Bryson is good. I can't read a book of his in a public place any more because I laugh too much. On a long-ago plane trip, I had such a fit of the giggles over Neither Here Nor There that at least three other passengers told me to put a cork in it.
@A. Marie, Sadly, his books have gotten meh over the years. The earlier ones are hilarious, though.
@A. Marie,
Agreed about Bill Bryson's books...they are hilariously funny. Loved In a Sunburned Country, which made me want to go to Australia (no, I haven't been, but would love to someday).
@A. Marie, I read the intro to The Road to Little Dribbling when I need a laugh. Works every time. I also enjoyed The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, which were remembrances of his childhood in Iowa. A little before my time and a few states away, but close enough to hit home. I listened to the audio version twice in my car.
I usually avoid audio books, but memoirs are okay.
It was mostly not a frugal week, as we were traveling. But, scraping together a few wins here & there:
1) We flew out of SFO vs San Jose, so we could use flight credits to cover flights for four. That is a huge savings, and no one wants flight credits to expire. That said, getting to SFO is an expensive hassle. Priced out the cheapest option, and it was Lyft - a significant savings over Uber. Chose the least expensive Lyft option that could fit the four of us. I was wedged in the back with my very broad shouldered teenagers, but it all worked out.
2) My amazing family hosted a party for DS18's graduation & he was spoiled with gifts. We paid for the food (my parents hosted at their house) & alcohol, although everyone brought fantastic sides & we had fabulous food. DH ran the barbecue & made margaritas, we prepped all of the sides, condiments, etc & my parents had a bunch of the food prepped & ready before we arrived. My mom made DS18's favorite dessert - strawberry cream cheese pie. A fun time was had by all.
3) DH & I flew back yesterday, and came back into the closer airport. We again priced out ride shares options & Lyft was the cheapest again, by quite a bit. We also had a small credit card offer I'd opted into, which saved us a bit more.
4) This is the first summer I'm not paying for any camps! My teens are both working at camps (DS18 has already worked two weeks, and DS17 starts next week.) What a change of fortunes to instead have them be employees of the camp!
5) DH & I are heading to Las Vegas for a long weekend to celebrate his birthday, while the teens hang with my parents & continue living their best teen lives (mountain biking & golfing with cousins & all of the family in Bend). We pre-booked airport parking, which was the cheapest option for the days we'll be there.
Bonus: I also made dinner when we got home from the airport last night, instead of succumbing to takeout. I made most of the salad out of items from our garden. Wahoo!
1. My son came home with a bag of golf balls that he found in the woods surrounding a golf course. He was excited to wash them up and present them to my husband though he did keep the one that has an LED light inside it.
2. When I dropped items off at Goodwill I made sure to run inside to look for a few items that are on my Goodwill list. I picked up a spoon rest, a book for my son, and a pair of brand new sandals for me.
3. I reserved a bunch of books at the library for my reluctant reader son. I requested a variety so that he can pick what (hopefully) interests him without being overwhelmed at the library.
4. I propagated a plant that was thriving so that I could have a plant in a new area of the house.
5. I made banana oatmeal muffins with bananas that ripened faster than expected. I love these muffins because they have less sugar than banana bread and they freeze really well.
@Geneva, Speaking of golf balls and Goodwill, my golfing-fanatic friend accumulated a mix and match set of clubs, and also a golf bag, by shopping all the thrift stores around her big city. They didn't cost her a lot but over many years, she's slowly accumulated quite a few really nice putters and drivers and such. Her prize possession, however, is an antique wooden golf club that dates back to the 19th Century. She got it at Goodwill for a couple of bucks, and it is worth several hundred dollars. It hangs in a place of honor above her fireplace mantel.
@Geneva, My husband is extremely color blind, as in what I would consider almost monochromatic. He loved golf but was always losing balls and had to cultivate friendships where the other players in the foursome didn't mind point out where his balls were. As a joke one year, for his birthday I bought these yellow golf balls and for some reason he can see them! Not readily, but if he concentrates he can pick them out. There is a kid who collects lost balls at our golf course to sell and he saves the yellow ones for the husband.
@Lindsey, I have a friend who is severely colorblind like that and he can recognize yellow and orange, although it's not like seeing them as we do. For years he had cars only in those colors so he could find them in a parking lot.
1. I had dinner out with a friend twice this week. We both drank water both times and got the special once. I took my own carry-out container once.
2. Paid bills on time. For the last two years, I've paid my car insurance late, thinking that it was due a month later than it was. Last year I got smart and put a reminder in my Google calendar, so this year I paid it early!
3. Read several library books and watched Kanopy.
4. I passed by the 3# box of grapes at Fry's and found the exact same box at the ranch market for $2!!! Green grapes are so refreshing when it's over 100 degrees for days on end. I ate them all!
5. I filled up my car using a $.70 per gallon discount from Fry's.
It seems like I noticed a few other frugal things in the past week. I'll have to "note" them on paper rather than just "notice" them. Ha.
@Dee in AZ, forgot to say that the grapes were $8 at Fry's and I paid $2 at the other place.
Okay, I'm trying to get back to commenting.
1. My car is quite likely subject to a recall, but I found out no dealer near me can see it before the 3rd of July at the earliest. I would have had to rent a car to drive for over two weeks at the point I made the 7/3 appointment, waiting for my car to be checked out. One of the mechanics said to watch my coolant level, add coolant when needed and keep driving my car. I discussed it back and forth with others and finally decided to take his advice, which, fingers crossed, is working. Rental of a car was going to run in the neighborhood of $900.
p.s., Even with a recall, the dealer would only pay for 3 days of car rental, and that while my car is in their shop, not before it goes in.
Needless to say, the timing of my car problems was not great, with everything else I had going on.
2. It's not why I purchased the plans, but my having purchased pre-need funeral plans for DH and myself means I am spending nothing our of pocket for his funeral.
3. My daughter is getting the rental of a large private area for the family and friends to gather after the service this weekend, free of charge. It's owned by the father of one of her lifelong friends and he immediately offered it for free.
4. Again, cost is not why we chose it, but hospice care is normally paid by insurance or Medicare - most people pay nothing, including us. Also, this is not frugality-connected, but the nurses in hospice are wonderful. They have true passion, caring and skill for helping people and their families through such a difficult period.
5. Due to DH's situation, I have not been to the grocery store except for a small handful of items but maybe once this month. I'm glad I had food in the pantry and freezer. At least it saved some money.
@JD, welcome back. And I'm sending my best to you and all your family and friends at your DH's service this weekend.
Also, I'm a total believer in hospice care, although my DH went down so quickly at the end that there wasn't time to call in our local hospice. Dr. Bestest Neighbor was at one time the medical director of our hospice, and he's shaped my thinking about this.
@JD,
Glad to see you back. I, too, can sing the praises of hospice. They were such a big help during the last 5 months of my mother in law's life (my MIL was like a biological mom to me, we were very close).
@JD, I've been thinking of you. Condolences.
@A. Marie,
My husband’s last living sibling chose hospice care when cancer treatments did her worse than the cancer and it was clear she had no further options for treatment We were so impressed with her hospice care. DH was confident and calm about going to hospice after seeing how well it worked for his dear sister.
Thank you for your kind thoughts. For everyone’s kind thoughts!
@Liz B.,
Truly hospice is an overflow of kindness!
@Molly F. C.,
Thank you!
@JD, Welcome back. We stand ready to help and support any way we can. I'm glad hospice worked out so well for you guys. It can be so lovely.
@JD, welcome back. sorry about your car troubles. i volunteered at a hospice for ten years. the nurse i met there came to my wedding, my daughter's baby naming, her bat mitzvah and my son's bris and his bar mitzvah. from my training i was able to give my dad permission to go. i told him i was happy and i thanked him for college, my wedding and life.
Had a frugal weekend with the 3 shwanky neighborhood garage sales in nearby town, went in the heat of the afternoon when they were giving everything away (please haul off...well, if you insist). Have an afternoon of cleaning up items and posting on various sites.
Bought cattle panels at auction for 20% of original cost. Using for fence repair of a 100+ years old fence line. Picked up rusty pie tins that I am using to "cap" fence posts that are starting to wear (gee, they are over 50 years old). I painted them flat black and they are not noticeable.
Continuing to purge the many cupboards and built in cabinets throughout my mom's house. We are having a 4 family garage sale event with an open house to drum up new customers for my aunt's house that is for sale.
Picked and froze 4 gallons of pie cherries. Picked another 4 gallons to split and dry/dehydrate (will do that tomorrow and finish them off in the solar oven).
Arranged to harvest a friend's filbert and walnut trees this fall. I sprayed the filberts last week.
Washed and detailed farm truck, suv and tractor. Working on washing fences around the house/barns (white).
Shoes are the most important piece of your uniform. If your feet aren't happy then your knees, hips and back aren't happy. I switch my shoes halfway thru my shift.
1. I am finally getting around to using some rhubarb. Made a delicious rhubarb cake for DH as a belated Father’s Day cake, and will make another today.
2. I continue to find creative ways to give things away that aren’t good candidates for donation. Some diapers will go to someone at church who is expecting. A few miscellaneous cards will go to the “Free” table at my counselor’s office.
3. My toddler has outgrown his shoes suddenly. I was able to check in our hand me down boxes and found a few that will fit him, although we also need some rain boots and rain gear. I had no luck at Goodwill so I will check Once Upon A Child soon.
4. Drinking a coffee flavor I don’t prefer. It will be nice to use it up and have the cabinet space free.
5. Found some needed drool bibs on eBay for a great price, and am looking at a few other items.
@Lindsay B, I commend you on your #4 in particular. The coffee I bought most recently at my grocery outlet tastes like sheep dip, but I'm grimly hanging in there with it till it's gone.
@A. Marie, Life is too short for that.
@A. Marie, Can you use it in recipes that call for coffee, such a brownies or sour cream-coffee cake?
@A. Marie, I can't quite imagine what sheep dip might taste like, but the thought alone makes me shudder. Good luck as you forge ahead! (Or, as Rose and WilliamB suggest, perhaps another use might be found for the vile brew?)
Happy Monday! Do you by chance have a referral code for Fetch? I just downloaded the app - it sounds like frugal fun, which is my cuppa tea!
I do! It's QG8V2. 🙂
1. My first of two little kid birthday parties is this weekend. I just got piñata candy and since I know I'll be doing this again in 3 weeks, I got a couple of big bags to take advantage of a cheaper per piece price and a buy one get one 50% off sale. Also, I used my $4 off coupon at CVS to get a $6 bag of candy for $2.
2. In the same vein... the first party is a Princess Peach theme and the second one is a Mario theme. I could have gotten a pack of 50 Peach stickers for $4, but instead I got a pack of 50 Peach and 50 Mario for $5. Perfect! Both parties are taken care of and sorting the stickers will be something helpful that the kids can do this week.
3. Meijer had 2lb containers of strawberries for $1.49/lb over the weekend (crazy!!!) so I bought 3 cases. We took fruit to a party last night, have eaten a ton plain, and will be freezing a bunch for smoothies.
4. Right now I have a free Panera Sip Club membership, so I'm enjoying lots of free blueberry lavender lemonades.
5. We returned our mobile hotspot to the library on time (I missed the reminder email, so I was going off memory!) and checked out a lot of books, a couple of puppets, and a backpack of activities.
I would think your phone case is not a frugal fail, as you use your phone every day and need to have it protected.
1. I replaced a fluorescent bulb with a LED bulb I found around the house. It is for the desk lamp I bought at the neighbor's garage sale last week. Very bright light, uses less electricity.
2. Cleaned out a flower bed and used the fallen leaves to put into a large planter. The leaves are the bottom layer, and then I filled the next third with old dirt from other flower pots mixed with some compost and topped it off with new potting soil and more compost. That saves me from having to fill up the planter with the most expensive ingredients, and the plant roots will only reach down into the top layer. Oh, and I transplanted some plants I already had so that I have a nice patio arrangement.
3. I had mentioned at the store (summer job) that I love Bath and Body products, which a schoolteacher friend usually regifts me at Christmas time; I don't mind being regifted such items! A coworker, who is a school librarian during the year, overheard this conversation -- and brought me a bag filled with such products. She said she gets overloaded with these gifts and was cleaning out her bathroom closet and thought of me.
4 . Before my subscription expired, I called the home warranty people so that a plumber could come out and see what's wrong with the pipes. They sent out some guy I've never heard of. He did such a lousy job -- charged me extra and didn't fix a thing --that I am going to cancel the subscription and just hire plumbers and other workmen whose reputation is well-respected around town. I'm also calling the home warranty place and asking for a refund of the extra charge.
5. Summertime frugal hacks: I've been making sun tea instead of buying jugs of iced tea. I bought a really nice clear glass refrigerator container with a spout at Goodwill, and it works well for this purpose. Also keep air drying my clothes outside and not running the washing machine until late at night, doing my part helping to not overload the power grid.
The time value of that money going into your retirement (both your own contributions and the match) are very powerful!
1. Have gotten back on the decluttering bandwagon after a 6 month break and have given away quite a few items on Buy Nothing and Freecycle that aren't good candidates for charity donation. Still annoyed by some flaky responders who ask and then never show up. Donated a bunch of books to the library book sale and a couple bags of good, unexpired food to the food bank. Happy to give some baby-proofing hardware to a friend with 2 young kids (mine are now 16 and 13, not sure where the hardware was hiding all this time).
2. Ordered some needed items for church using my Amazon prime trial and will cancel it this week as my month is almost up. Also finished watching the shows I was interested in on Amazon prime.
3. Was reminded to activate and use a $20 gift card given to my husband for attending jury duty (he wasn't chosen). Will probably use it to buy an Amazon gift card since it won't expire and will eventually be used. The jury duty card deducts $4 each month as a fee!
4. Ordered some new checks from Costco. We only write a couple checks per month these days but still need to keep them on hand. 250 checks should last us about 4+ years! The Costco price was the lowest I found, much lower than the bank.
5. Still hanging clothes to dry, using the library, batching errands, eating leftovers.
I made baby food (rather than buying puree).
I planned my menu around the sales the grocery store was having.
We resisted buying more chips. (That junk food is crazy expensive!)
I made a larger purchase of makeup/toiletries to take advantage of a sale my Mary Kay gal was having. I'm set for the next 6-12 months. (Due to the fact that makeup irritates the skin around my eyes, I mostly wear sun protection, blush and lipstick.)
I picked up my daughter from daycare on foot. We picked a daycare within walking distance and I work from home so we can get by with one vehicle.
For frugal stuff, I have dried a lot of laundry on our back porch in this blazing heat wave. Picked a lot of tomatoes and peppers from the container garden as the plants like the heat as long as they are fed and watered properly. Made a pan of cocoa brownies to use up some eggs, iced them with peanut butter frosting to use up some peanut butter (also it's an outrageously good combo), made a loaf of bread in the bread machine to use up an open bag of flour, and bathed/groomed our trio of longhaired dogs and cat myself. They clearly enjoyed being cool and fresh after their beauty treatments.
I am going to hate to see our water bill if the weather does not ease up. We have two very old japonicas that screen our yard from the street and they are struggling, so we had to start giving them a good soaking every other day.
@Ruby, your mention of "japonicas" brought back a fond memory of my mother, who used that word to refer to some bushes in the yard of the house where we lived from my birth till I was 12. I think they might have been flowering quince? Is that what yours are?
@A. Marie, I will mess up the spelling, but these are euphonium japonica, variety "Manhattan," and valued because they thrive in an urban environment, grow fast and can be trained on a fence. The two we have must be at least 50 years old and are entwined in a fence. They have smooth leaves that last all year and bunches of white flowers in the spring. They are an excellent property screen.
@Ruby, I've been poking around a little online, and the bushes I'm remembering were probably Chaenomeles japonica, or Japanese flowering quince. "Japonica," of course, is just the Latin tag for any plant originating in Japan, so it's not too surprising that our different bushes had that tag.
@A. Marie, we have some of those quince along the side of the fence. My husband planted them to keep our dogs from running the fence line. They are so pretty when they bloom. He plants, but I tend, so it's been my job to wade into that thorny thicket and pull out the ivy that tries to overtake everything.
1. Went to a swimwear outlet and picked up some great deals for me and my girls. One was a bathing suit for me - I asked them to check the price because the signage was a little confusing. so the guy scanned it and it came up as $52. But then he said "if you grab another bathing suit, it'll be 2 for $25." Makes no sense but we ended up picking up another bathing suit for my daughter (she's skimming the xxs in women's sizes this year so next year, it'll likely fit).
2. Husband wanted to stop by the market and pick up some berries, apples, and avocados. On the drive over, I checked the app and clipped coupons for all of those and saw that i had some rewards that would be expiring soon. Similar to FG's $10, I had $5 off my grocery purchase so I applied it. My husband was so confused. This is why I do most of the grocery shopping ha ha.
3. Due to my age, I knew that I would likely be going in for a colonoscopy, mammogram, physical, and bloodwork (in addition to optometrist and dental appointments) this year so I elected to put away some pretax funds in my HSA at my former employer. Now that I work elsewhere, the company that manages the HSA charges me $4 a month to manage it. So I made all my appointments over a 2-3 week period and have been submitting for reimbursements. And on top of that, my new insurance covered more than I was expecting so I can submit other expenses as well.
4. Watermelons finally went on sale this week so I got one for less than $2! So silly that it brought it me as much joy as it did but honestly, it made me happy.
5. Saw that they had frozen riceballs at the korean market. Picked up a pack to give them a try and they were pretty good. Costs half as much as if we had gone to an onigiri place. BUT it's still more expensive than if I had made them from scratch. To be fair, though...mine don't taste as good and they fall apart way easier.
@CrunchyCake, look for a locally owned bank and roll over your HSA. AND remember, the date you first had an HDHP health plan is yours forever. AND you can reimburse yourself whenever you so choose (record keeping is on you). My former employer's HSA admin wanted $25 per month (this was 10+ years ago). Rolled that money post-haste and continue to fund it to this day. The TPA my current employer has does not deserve my business. Sure, I had to "wait" and get my pre-tax savings come tax time. But I don't support a semi-shady (IMHO) TPA.
I am a knitter and I wanted a set of interchangeable needles that were very expensive--around $100 for a set with only half the needle sizes. At the time, Amazon was running a promotion if you got the Amazon Visa card they gave you a $75 credit. And I already had a gift card on Amazon. So I got the needle set for "free". I asked for a small credit limit on that card, and I pay it off monthly, so no interest, and no cost to renew the card. Amazon gives you bonus points for purchases on Amazon and Whole Foods, so I accumulate points and whenever I need a new accessory for my needle kit, I use points. I only got half the range of sizes with the first set, so I buy pairs of other sizes I need, longer cables, adapters and connectors with points. As it is, over the years, I have never paid a penny out of pocket for my very nice set of interchangeable knitting needles.
And yes, I do shop at Whole Foods, CAREFULLY. Their 365 brand is generally competitive with local grocery stores, and when they had more bulk items before the pandemic I saved money by only buying what I needed of bulk items, often cheaper than buying them packaged in other stores. There are a few things that are only available at Whole Foods like unbleached baking parchment, certain grain-free items. It's not where I do my major shopping, but it is possible to shop frugally there (and you get extra discounts with the Amazon card).
@Jan, Have you tried the reusable baking sheets? King Arthur Flour has reusable precut ones for baking pans and I use ones like these for baking sheets:
https://www.amazon.com/Regency-Reusable-Cookie-Sheet-Liner/dp/B0000VYSB6
I found several children books, games, and a bag of Legos at a little free library type thing.
Ran an errand at the same time the summer food truck would be at the library so the kids could pick up free lunch and breakfast.
Signed up for Walmart+ thru the assist (using the WIC my youngest receives) at $49 for the year. $4.08 a month since I paid for the whole year. It includes Paramount Plus which I was paying $5.99 a month for, so I cancelled that and now have it much cheaper. Between that, the .10 off per gallon of gas, and free shipping without hitting $35, it is well worth it.
Was able to get two pairs of shoes for the oldest on clearance online at Walmart and shipped free. Under $20 for two new pairs. He is extremely rough on shoes and I have found the more expensive supposedly better quality shoes doesn't last him any longer.
Went to a gender reveal where they had a taco bar. I didn't know there was going to be food so the free dinner was nice.
Apologies if someone already mentioned, but i’ve had 100% success getting cell phone cases at thrift stores. Many of us have “older” phones and used cases are plentiful and cost $1.
I have used Altras for about 7 yrs now, but they made some very bad updates lately. I run in them, so that may exacerbate poor design changes, but I’m confused why they make such significant changes to popular models. I’m wary buying any new versions online without trying on first. Most shoes companies are more reliable.
Many stores in The metro Atlanta region are adding charges for using cards. A local supplier we use for business has sent messsges to all his customers explaining that he desperately needs to hire another team member. His accountant pointed out that with what his business pays in card fees he could pay a full salary with benefits. So he will be instituting fees July 1 of this year.
* received an offer for "20 cents off per gaz liter", swiped my points card, paid, then realized the points card didn't go through. I opened a live chat with the companie to have the points added. Felt a little silly, since its only worth 5,60$, but free money is free money, and it only took me 10 min. This equates to 33$/hour, worth my time!
* Brought the kids to the movie theater today ( to watch Inside out 2. Very good, and accurate!). Used my member card to get reduced prices on tickets and 20% off snacks. Attendant made a mistake and gave my daughters 2 large popcorn instead of one. They would have thrown it away if brought back, so we didn't. Theater popcorn is soooooo overpriced, I don't even feel guilty about it. (10$ for, what, 20 cents worth of popcorn?)
* Got 5 books for 8$ at a sale. I don't buy books usually (i get them from public library or free piles), but those ones were not available at the library. I got "We need to talk about Kevin". Oh man, i'm so grateful I got to read it, it was excellent! Well worth the little money spent on it.
* Daughter asked me to accompany her, last minute, to a school outing. Teacher said OK but wasn't sure if they could pay my entrance fee. I was ready to pay it myself but they had an extra ticket for me so, with the ride offered (school bus), no parking and entrance fee I saved about 100$.
* Cutting back on groceries in order to use up what we already have at home.
1. I had to buy a new black dress for a funeral. I found one on clearance that I'll be able to use again.
2. Kid B borrowed a plain black shirt from Kid A for a photo for a performance group. Kid B is also borrowing plain jeans from Kid A for another event. No purchases necessary.
3. I bought only necessary clothing items for the kids to attend the funeral. One kid (Kid B from above) loves to wear neon colors... and had recently outgrown their shoes. Everyone else was either set or needed only 1 item.
4. I accepted a brand new humidifier and a gift card to a gas station that the person didn't think they would go to.
5. I cooked our meals at home. We made coffee at home. We ate food before it could go bad. We accepted a box of gluten free girl scout cookies.
Those of us with wide feet never consider anything pointy toe - unless one is sooo vain to wear "in style" footwear and waste money (IMHO) on shoes that are too big. Which is a lesser sin than a woman whose toes hang over the end of an open-toed shoe.
Question - the food storage in the new lunch box (carrier) don't look microwave safe to me - are they?
I'm picky about what donuts I eat - hard to find French twist anywhere these days. I reserve my donut eating until apple season as the local apple farm has the best apple cider donuts. And occasionally consume donuts made by an organization in the small town where Dad lives.
And I have to brag - my Dad made turkey broth out of his turkey carcass - he likes to cook a turkey around February. Then used it (and some chicken broth as he didn't have quite enough) to make himself a couple dozen servings of soup. Plus used poultry meat he'd saved in his freezer as well as veggies - generations of farmer genes persevere. Dad is in his mid-80s.
It’s been a post vacation reset week here (back to normal eating, sleeping, exercising, and life maintenance schedules) - it’s been great frugally too:
-we have not gotten any take out since we returned from vacation last monday
-I have been using up our cucumbers in the garden - pickles, cucumber lemon water, lots of pickle snacks
-we decided to use some soil and native wild flower seeds that we already have to fill in a large stump area where we had a tree cut down instead of using sod on it. Less money, time, and water intensive (and better for the environment too). Also spread the mulch from the tree around the yard and did the work myself instead of hiring someone to do it.
-I sewed the clothes and stuffies in my mending pile
-used the library - free indoor kids event on Sunday, books for the kiddo for the week, signed her up for a reading challenge with prizes, and got my book club book there
Some weeks I am crushing frugal life! (Other weeks not so much ;))
I just completed a week of house/pet sitting for a colleague (I’m retired3yr)
I prepare and pack all my own meals.
Breakfast is cold or hot cereal; or avocado toast(of course prepared at site); or yogurt/granola all with a serving of fruit
Lunch is always a salad w/chix, hard boiled egg, avo, low sodium Cottcheese,dried cranberries, tom, mushrooms tossed with spring mix & romaine and topped with my fav:Ken’s Lite Honey Mustard dressing. Dinners are a choice of quick fajitas (use frozen veggies) or rice stir fry or penne pesto …again all made with chix.
Aldi tortilla chips on the side!
No desserts…
Very little driving once I arrived, as the dog stays on property.
I brought my bike to use for errands and exercise(on the local rail to trail)
Since my husband and I ( and sometimes our daughter) enjoy salads so much, we have them frequently for our dinners during the week. I used to try to put loads of different veggies in the salads to make them more healthy and attractive. Of late, however, I’ve been more intentional about just adding one or two veggies along with a protein
and just changing up what I add to a spinach/ lettuce base. So one night we may have lettuce/spinach with cucumber and tomato; the next night may be carrots and red or yellow peppers; the next may be broccolini and sprouts. I don’t know if this is making sense but somehow we’re using less produce and not spending as much money but also feeling like our salads are more interesting and just as satisfying. When I was growing up, if we had salad, it would just be a side dish to whatever the main dish was a as d the salad would only be iceberg lettuce.
I’ve mended a couple torn shirts this week. That ensures a bit more wear.
I shopped my closet for an event , found a perfect dress so avoided buying something new.