1. I got two Maui Moisture products for $4
You know how I get that $10 CVS credit every month, but only pay $4 for it?
(It’s the ExtraCare Plus program, and it costs $48/year if you pay annually.)
I used my $10 credit, plus a sale, plus an ExtraBucks offer to get two bottles for a little over $4 out of pocket, and I got $4 of ExtraBucks after my purchase.
So, my only cost was the $4 that I pay for my $10 credit every month. Sweet!
2. I shipped two eBay packages
My scrub watch shipped (here’s why I sold it) and also an old piano theory book that I’d had listed on eBay for years.
This is why I have a list-it-and-forget-it approach to eBay; you never know when someone will come along and buy it!
(I’d listed that book and then stuck it in my piano book files for safekeeping, so having it sit around all this time wasn’t bothering me in the slightest.)
Of course, I shipped them in saved padded envelopes.
Related: Here’s how I sell books on eBay.
3. I sliced and froze my bruised peaches
Sonia alerted me that the produce stand has bruised peach boxes now, so I popped by and got a basket of bruised peaches for $15.
I paid with some of my cash from doing jury duty. 😉
I sliced them up on trays, froze them, and then put them in freezer bags once they were frozen solid.
Mainly I use them for smoothies and I gotta tell you, they taste way better than commercial frozen peaches. One time I bought a bag of them from the store and was like….uhhh, where is the flavor?? They weren’t very sweet at all.
And of course, it also makes my heart happy to use peaches that might have otherwise gone to waste from being bruised.
4. I got some freebies at Noodles and Company
You know my study buddies and I frequented Noodles and Company this past semester for our pre-exam study sessions, so as a slightly silly grad gift to them, I wanted to buy Noodles gift cards.
Noodles was running a promo where you could get a free $10 gift card if you bought $50 of gift cards, but as an accidental bonus for me, they had none of the $10 gift cards available.
So they gave me two coupons, each worth a free meal, and that’s actually way better than a $10 gift card.
Also: when I opened my Noodles app to scan it at the register, I noticed I had a free dessert in the app. So I picked up a Rice Krispy treat because the ones at Noodles are actually really good.
And that’s in stark contrast to the packaged ones from the store, which taste nothing like regular Rice Krispy treats to me.
Noodles and Company uses real butter in their treats, and I’m positive that’s the difference!
5. I planted some old basil seeds
I figured it was worth a try to see if they would germinate and…they did!
Sweet.
AW
Friday 13th of June 2025
My Frugal 5’s + - Batch run errands so saved on gas. - At the library: Picked up free lunches for the girls, dropped off returns, picked up RSVPs, got freebies from summer reading program, notarized document. - Tighten eyeglasses at my optometrist nearby for free since they felt loose. - Walked across the street to my bank to deposit about $11 in change into my checking account. - Been eating down food from the fridge. - Husband is fixing up our old camper instead of buying a new one so we can go camping. - Had to call medical billing since they charged my girls for the full cost for their medical instead of applying the new insurance. $750 saving there!
lisa
Thursday 12th of June 2025
Kristen- I'm glad you got a great deal with the entree gift cards! The basil plants are looking good!
Here's my fab 5: 1) The car that grandpa gave us decided to not run and leak all over the driveway. We ended up jumping it so we could drive it to get fixed. It needed a new battery and had fluid leaking and not sure what else...... The good news is that grandpa had an extended warranty and everything was covered. Savings- $800+ 2) I purchased some collectible cards for my son but he didn't want them. I sold them for $20 more than I paid. 3) I signed up for a credit card and got a promo offer of a free round trip ticket. Hmmm, where will I go? Savings- $1,000 4) I needed some makeup and got good deals on Ebay. Savings= $15 5) My job gives us a free pair of shoes every 2 years. Savings- $73
Selena
Tuesday 10th of June 2025
One should never discount (but don't rely on) seeds germinating. It is really easy to be frugal when you have no time to spend money. Still no definitive answer on best cat ever health issue. But the $5K+ CC bill was easily absorbed in the checkbook. Mass is not cancer. Nasal may or may not be a sarcoma (cancer). We'll keep him on the antibiotic with an anti-inflammatory bonus. If you saw him, you'd never know he's had health issues. I'm not knocking the vet school but the words "unusual" and "rare" tells us this is something they've not seen before. If you lived close to me, you'd be a recipient of a quart of organic grown strawberries. Better half and I are not in agreement - a lot of blossoms on the plants but she who picks them (small feet and squats), is not seeing berries equal to blossoms. This fall I will be thinning out the patch - even with barely size 6 shoe, some berries have to die for the cause. And violets in my berries starting last year. You are welcome any where BUT the garden area (we have 5 acres). And are only popping up in my berries (won't be for long).
Joyce from Arkansas
Tuesday 10th of June 2025
I repurposed an old bag. I washed an old heavy fabric tote bag I ran across a few weeks ago. I now use it to store my weights at the senior center I attend. It's easier to leave them there rather than haul an extra 6 lbs. back and forth. I believe I hurt my neck last year by lugging this extra weight around.
I've been using up my old lipsticks by applying color with a Q-tip. While I have a lipstick maker to remake lipsticks that I bought after I saw it on Shark Tank years ago, you need quite a few to make a whole new lipstick. At one point, though, a few years ago, I used about a dozen nearly gone lipsticks to create a few “new” lipsticks. It really is a neat invention.
I created two Google documents on my phone. One is “what we ate,” the other one is “5 frugal things” so I can easily track of these all week. Also, Kristen, I always go back to your posts a few days later to read additional comments and replies.
I figured out that my Sam's Club generally has chicken legs for 98 cents a pound and chicken thighs for $1.28 a pound. So instead of waiting for a sale on these at Kroger, I'll buy them at Sam's from now on. And I prefer how they are packaged at Sam's, too. I need to also check out their price on chicken breasts.
I repaired my purse. I switch purses when summer starts. I discovered a tube of lipstick stuck in between the lining and the outside body of my summer purse. It drove me crazy but I finally found a small hole in a seam of the lining and got the lipstick out. Then I used my sewing machine to stitch up the seam.
Gina from The Cannary Family
Tuesday 10th of June 2025
I feel like I've been spending money like its going out of style. I did use the last $3 of my Firehouse Subs card on my lunch today. I used my HEB Partner card to get 25% off my grocery run last week (on store brands, which is pretty much how I buy anyway). I used a $35 Amazon gift card to buy a couple of things that have been sitting in my cart. (I earned it for referring someone to Everlywell) And not terribly frugal, but the World Market near me is moving and everything in their store was at 40% off so I did some Christmas stocking shopping. But really, I need to slow the shopping - I keep saying that.