Five Frugal Things | free Oreos, for one
I realized last night that we hadn't had one of these in the last two weeks. I am here to rectify that today!
1. I had a very frugal CVS trip.
Sonia needed some sulfate-free shampoo for her dyed hair (Lisey took her to get strawberry blonde done as Sonia's birthday present), so I popped into CVS.
I had a mailer coupon, plus I loaded up some coupons on the app and also printed some coupons from the kiosk in the store.
Between the CVS coupons, the manufacturer's coupons, and sales, I got three shampoos (naturally, I chose the containers that were 30% larger!), one conditioner, an eyeliner, and an eyebrow pencil for $6 total.
And I got $5 in Extra Care Bucks for use on a future purchase.
Plus I had a CVS gift card from a previous price adjustment, so this cost me nothing out of pocket.
(If you shop at CVS, definitely download the app. It's super easy to look for digital coupons that way.)
2. I went to the library during Zoe's dance class.
Starbucks and the library both provide a dry, warm place to read/use my laptop while Zoe is at dance.
But one is free and the other is not. 😉
3. I got a free package of Oreos.
I needed some Oreos for a dessert I was making and was pleased to see they were marked on sale.
But when I got to the register, they were not ringing up at 2/$5.
This store has a correct pricing guarantee, so once I went to customer service, I received one package free and one at the sale price.
4.I ordered discounted jeans at Old Navy.
Lisey needed some new high-waisted black jeans, so I made sure to order them during the 40% off sale that Old Navy was having.
I ordered a few clearance pairs for myself too, which hopefully will fit. They're not here yet because...I chose the slower shipping, which is free.
I would much rather wait than pay for shipping!
5. I...
...brewed coffee at home, packed leftovers in Mr. FG's lunch, froze chicken bones for future stock-making, contacted Amazon about an error in my order and got a new item shipped out, used an Amazon gift card from TopCashback to order some bumper plates for my barbell, and discovered I had enough points for a $25 Amazon gift card at Swagbucks. Yay!
1. I had bought flights for my daughter and her fiance to travel to the Midwest to visit my mom at Christmastime. The fiance had pneumonia and they didn't make the trip. By contacting American Airlines Customer Relations I was able to retain the full value of both tickets ( the normal change fee is $200 and it was going to a much bigger loss on one of the tickets because it was a reused ticket). It never hurts to ask.
2. Cooking, baking, eating at home. Enough said.
3. I finally submitted our federal tax return. We'll get a small refund, it looks like we paid fewer payroll taxes last year. Overall about the same as last year.
4. Our local library is collecting prom clothes, to pass along to those without economic resources to buy them. I contacted my daughter and a friend to make them aware of this opportunity to donate.
5. I decided to return some clothes I bought. They were not sparking joy but had received a thumbs up from my shopping companion (not enough reason to keep them).
1) I finally sent away a box of clothes to Thredup to sell. I know I won't get much, but honestly, I'm so far from anywhere to donate clothes here that the main appeal for me was they paid shipping to take them and will recycle them if they don't sell. But I think at least some of them will, and they were all things I got for free for my kids from other people.
2) We picked our sons up at school at 4 p.m. yesterday because we were going to church at 5 p.m. in the village. I knew they would be starving and was very, very tempted to just stop at the store in the village and get a bag of Fritos. But I made popcorn at home instead and brought that with their water bottles. I felt very virtuous. 🙂
3) I started making yogurt with the milk we get from straight from a farm up the road instead of store milk. It's actually cheaper than the store milk, because they don't charge tax. Closer, too. And I get it in half-gallon Mason jars that I then return when I pick up new milk, so no plastic jugs., which I can't recycle here. Better all around.
4) I've been making my coffee much weaker, which has the effect of both reducing my caffeine intake and the amount of milk I use. I suspected perhaps my extra-strong coffee with lots of milk--while tasty--was not being very kind to my stomach. The side benefit is that I'm buying less milk and coffee.
5) Grimly soldiering on with the school lunch packing for my three sons.
I wish I had a close source for milk in glass jars. That's awesome for you!
I get my milk delivered in glass bottles that I clean and leave out every week to be refilled. I even have a milk box! Best thing ever (and I live in a suburb of NYC, not in the country)
When I was young, my mom got our milk straigh from a farm in glass gallon size jars. And the farmers wife gave reflexology massages while our jars filled.
Amazing!
Too cold to go anywhere so a savings there.
I take my lunch to work everyday even though the office has been using Grubhub for lunch.
We had a new furnace installed and while not frugal they gave an additional discount due to paying in cash. We got a $400 manufacturer rebate on the furnace that was a prepaid visa card with monthly fees. Kudos to the Meijer cashier who was helpful in turning them all into Meijer gift cards. So no fees and I put all groceries and gas on them till they are used up.
Going to clean out my office at work, taking everything to Goodwill as I do not want or need this stuff at home.
Shared some dental bill knowledge with my youngest who has never had to deal with insurance companies on his own. They want to do screening and under gum cleaning (he is 26) BEFORE they clean and fill cavaties & place a crown. Um..no... what a way to blow your measly 1000 you get prior to getting what is necessary work done. It is Aspen Dental so I am feeling like they are scammy already. I told him get filling and crown, at that point 0 left. He does not have periodontal disease so I wonder why the under gum cleaning...
I'm so jealous of anyone who can do well at drugstores. I tend to get overwhelmed and flustered with all the coupons and whatnot.
1. My elderly kindle is not doing well, but it's hanging on, so I'm crossing my fingers that it hangs on a little longer
2. I came in under budget for groceries yesterday! Yay me!
3. No restaurants last weekend, again. We're doing really well with that.
4. I managed to feed everyone from leftovers and stuff in the freezer yesterday, so that's fantastic.
5. My mom came up last week and unloaded a bunch of usable stuff on us- soap, a coat and dress for my daughter, shampoo, that kind of stuff. It was all much appreciate and will be put to good use.
I don't often do the drugstore coupon thing! It frustrates me when I make plans to buy certain things and then the store is out of them. But this time I didn't go in with much of a plan and it all just happened to work out well.
1. I needed new lenses for my glasses, and I found an old pair of frames that will work great (I can't have large frames, my Rx is so strong the lenses would be horribly thick), and I took them in to have them put the new lenses in the old frames, saved me buying new frames! They can't guarantee the frames since I didn't buy them there, but that's okay.
2. I wanted to make a cake to celebrate a family accomplishment, but didn't want to go to the store to get a cake mix. I used a "wacky cake" recipe I've had for years, uses no eggs or dairy, and found a container of homemade frosting I'd stashed in the freezer and it was just the right amount of frosting.
3. Used up leftovers for lunch; I am very grateful for kids who are happy to eat leftovers and even say "they're better the next day!"
4. Borrowed digital books from the library--this saves me on gas and book $.
5. I've been using Ibotta and so far have earned 40 bucks--I'm working to make sure I don't buy stuff I normally wouldn't, as is the temptation with coupons. But so far, so good, and we've tried some new things, like Greek yogurt, that my kids found out they like a lot!
If you're among the many who make their own yogurt, you can greekify it by allowing it to rest in the fridge in a coffee filter in a wire strainer placed over a bowl. (That is a very long string of prepositional phrases.) The whey drains out to make a thicker product. You do have to keep an eye on it or it drains so much it's more like spreadable cheese, though. 🙂
Great tip! Excellent grammar, kind of like “Fox in Socks”! Seriously, is that all hats different about Greek yogurt?
1). Checked out a county parks pass to take my kids to the zoo over the weekend for free.
2) Decided to read spiritual books during lent and started reading an ebook that my husband already purchased.
3) We have been debating between moving and making renovations to our current home. The cost of houses has gone way up in our area. We love the location of our current home and decided to make renovations over time.
4) Have continued eating down our freezer.
5) We are refraining from signing our kids up from any additional activities. Instead we are doing things like weekly library trips, a child making dinner with me one night a week, going to the Y, sledding, crafting, playing board games, etc. Our kids tend to sign up for things and quickly loose interest.
This week is one of those weeks that I am feeling sorry for our financial situation (though I know there are people far worse off then we are). I need to find the good in our situation and just keep plugging along so these Frugal 5 will help me.
1. Our fire hall had an indoor yard sale and one family was selling two practically brand new Jansport book bags. One was blue and the other was pink. Perfect for my two kids next year for school. My son liked his so much, he started using it immediately (after washing of course). The pink one had some ink on an interior pocket, so I ran the pocket under hot, hot water and it washed right out. (I've done this before with a purse I sold on Ebay)
2. Part frugal fail, party frugal win (men, no need to read any further). I use a Diva Cup for my monthly (which has been saving me money for a while now). Well, low and behold it's missing. How does a menstral cup go missing? I am diligent as to where I keep it when not in use. I've searched everywhere...I've even asked my kids if they've seen a small cup (that was an awesome conversation let me tell you). So the frugal fail is that I had to buy a new one. The frugal win is that until Amazon Prime gets it to me tomorrow I am able to use some of the stock pile of other feminine items I keep on hand when my nieces come to visit. But seriously, where does a menstral cup go? My thinking is the dog ate it! Yuck.
3. This cold weather and snow is keeping me at home. While I"m not motivated to get any house work done, I am motivated to not leave the house and not spend money!
4. Ebay has been steady this month. I've been dropping off 2 or 3 packages a day at the post office. I dropped the prices on many of my Ebay items that have been in my store for some time just to get them sold. Every little bit helps.
5. I've been mending many items around the house. It's funny that my kids have easily adjusted to this idea that "mommy will fix it" when they see a small hole in something. This past weekend I rehabbed a coat for my daughter and sewed my son's favorite winter hat.
#1 is good stuff - Jansport is so durable and well-designed. Those backpacks will last your kids forever.
Good for you for soldiering on. It can be tough sometimes, and the long-term benefits aren't always obvious.
And does Jansport still have the lifetime warranty policy where they’ll repair your bag for free (no matter how old?). I sent them a backpack about a decade ago that had been used for used and the zipper broke. They fixed it and sent it back!
I don't often do this exercise but I'm inspired by your CVS trip. Maybe I'll try that as I need shampoo. Here goes my five...
1. Got a free coupon in the mail for a $10 bag of cat food. No cat here so will give to either a friend or the shelter.
2. Earned a $25 AC Moore gift card for doing so few minutes of surveys, then realized I have enough points to get a second one so will save for a gift.
3. Used weekend sale and manufacturers' coupons to get 16 free boxes of cereal for the food bank.
4. Ordered birth certificate through the mail and saved $15 over same day service. If you're over 30, a new driver's license requires a new birth certificate (at least in my state...homeland security!)
5. Wiped the car off after a heavy rain (free car wash!)
1. My daughter and I worked an event at church Tuesday night. Brought home a bunch of leftovers. They will be lunch and dinner today(couldn't eat them yesterday because its meat).
2. Got 7 hair masks free with coupons at Walmart that will go in the girl's Easter baskets.
3. Used a gift card I earned from Swagbucks to pay for everything else at Walmart.
4. Earned a $5 gift card for Starbucks from Lucky Day. That will go in my son's Easter basket.
5. I have been decluttering. Gave a box of books and toys to my cousin, Hubby brought a box of stuff to put at his jobs free shelves, brought several boxes to church. Kept stuff out of the landfill but not in my house.
Love this! I like how you use the store policies, too. I would chicken out if it required a trip to customer service; gotta grow a backbone. 😉
This week:
1. This morning I ate breakfast from the freezer. I like having pre-cooked breakfast frozen and ready to eat. Today I had croissants with berries and walnuts. Yum!
2. I finalized paperwork to get my SEP IRA in order. It's been a long ordeal, but I'm happy to see my tax savings finally set up! That's a big benefit of running a small biz. 🙂
3. I'm sipping on some homemade coffee.
4. It's cold here, so I'm wearing a crocheted hat and scarf that my sister lovingly crocheted for me years ago.
5. Mr. Picky Pincher bought me some flowers last week. They're on their last leg, so I plan on drying the more colorful petals. They're great for dyeing fabric!
I love reading everyone's comments, I often find myself coming back to the post throughout the day to keep check on the new ones. Here is my 5:
1. We (my husband) built our baby chick brooder and the coop nesting boxes from material we had on hand. The only purchase made was hinges for the tacking on top of the brooder. We used plywood and leftover scrap wood from our business for the nesting boxes. For the brooder; plywood, drop ceiling tiles for insulation on the outside, and old oven racks the previous owner of our house left for the top. Our chicks arrive next week and to say I'm excited is an understatement.
2. I stuck to our cash envelopes last and this week. The debit card is in the safe after going through our bank statement and seeing all the little things I swiped it for!
3. My daughter is ravenous after I pick her up from pre-K. We have a 30 minute drive home so I've been packing healthy snacks in the car because I am so tempted to stop at a drive-thru rather than listen to "I'm huuuuuuuungry" for a half hour.
4. I ran out of shampoo and decided to just use mt husband's Suave shampoo because I have stockpile of it from a sale CVS had. I actually like the way my hair feels and smells...bargain shampoo for the win!
5. We've been making smoothies each evening for "dessert" since my husband got me a Vitamix for Christmas, yay! It's totally worth the money because it got my veggie-adverse kid to drink a smoothie with spinach in it. Mind. Blown.
I also try to keep bottles of water in my van as well for after school. During the hot summer months, I try to pack a cooler with water...but there are many days I forget!!
Re #4: I've never found that shampoo type makes much difference in my hair. Note that I don't mess with my hair: no dyeing, no drying, not much product use. Conditioner, on the other hand...
Love these type of posts!
My frugal 5 includes one not Frugal thing:
1. I bought a boatload of reduced produce last week, and it looks like we're going to get through it with minimal waste!
2. I got a new pair of fall boots at my local thrift store for $4 and they're in perfect condition!
3. I received a $4off coupon for bulkbarn when I signed up for their newsletter. (You can too! http://www.bulkbarn.ca not sure if they have the same offering for the US)
4. I babysat my nephew and my sister-in-law will watch my kids in a couple day! Love trading babysitting.
And one not Frugal thing:
5. Our fridge died. Wahhh! Hopefully we can find a used replacement today!
1. I also had a 25% off coupon for CVS that was expiring, so I combined it with some extra bucks coupons and sales to fill up on my cosmetics.
2. Been rocking the dollar store recently 🙂 I found large sweater and blanket storage bags that are far more expensive elsewhere, and will be great when I store winter clothes away for the season. I also have some large clothes waiting for my younger set, which I need to store.
3. Also from the dollar store, I discovered shower curtain rings for a $1. I can replace the broken ones (all!) from my shower curtain without replacing the whole thing.
4. I've been doing my twice yearly clean-out of old kids clothes and toys, getting ready to sell these at a club sale. Cleaning them and finding all the pieces for toys ensures that someone else can use them instead of ending up at the landfill sooner.
5. Managed to go to the gym 12 times last month, so I can file for a small reimbursement from my company to offset the gym membership fee.
1. After wrangling my refund from a medical provider (see yesterday's post's comments) I put it straight in the bank for our fence repair. I love mobile depositing.
2. I paid our electric and internet bill through my bank's online billpay system -- no stamp, check, gas, or stupid online "convenience fee."
3. My husband saved his fruit cups from his trays at the rehab center. They are the sealed snack pack types to put in lunches. We've been putting them in plain yogurt that was gifted to us by our farmer for a nice light breakfast or snack for him.
4. I saved the one leftover sausage patty from our Shrove Tuesday pancake supper at home, and ate it for breakfast this morning with my usual veggies. I fasted yesterday, so I had to wait until today to eat it, but it was good reheated.
5. I found organic celery at a really good price, so I'm going to dehydrate some of it.
I have a problem with our local CVS being out of the items for which I have coupons, too, so it's rare for me to get any bargains there. I check Walmart online first, too. Sometimes, even with the coupon at CVS, Walmart can be cheaper.
CVS will give rainchecks if you ask for them. I know it means another trip, but I am there every week for their real bargains.
Cute hair color/style on your daughter! Yay for Amazon too.
My 5:
1. I've been freezing whatever produce is about to go bad. It all adds up for smoothie materials. Also buying the clearance bananas for this purpose too.
2. I'm streamlining homeschool materials for year #2. Keeping the sellable things in good condition & switching to a cheaper curriculum (we love Master books) for next fall!
3. I've been trying to make most of our snacks from simple, healthy recipes. The energy balls, dried fruit/nut combo's, etc. have been good nutrition which adds strength & health to our days.
4. I've been trying to stay on top of stain treatment/removal so my kid's clothes stay fresh looking. Also I learned from my sis in law to zip footsie pjs inside out to keep them like new--works amazing!
5. Used birthday money to get a special candle & natural soap item that I had my eye on months ago.
1. Put patches in the knees of 4 pairs of my son's jeans, which should get us through until he needs a larger size
2. Fixed holes in my winter gloves and my husband's winter gloves
3. Purchased our plot at the local community garden again- it costs $35, but includes the plot, water, compost, a shared herb garden, shared apple, apricot, and peach trees, and gardening tools- and our $35 plot yields tons of produce!
4. My sister-in-law and niece came over, last minute, after dinner this weekend. At first I asked my husband to grab dessert from the store, but then realized I had all the ingredients to make cookies for a fraction of the price
5. I have been making my own yogurt for the past month. 1/2 gallon of organic milk costs $3 and yields 1/2 gallon of yogurt. This saves about $5 compared to buying pre-made and has no additives.
1) My lunch is ham that my parents gave us on homemade bread.
2) I signed one of our sons up for a free kindergarten prep summer camp. I'm not sure that we'll get in or that we'll send him, but I am working on lower-cost options for the summer to keep the kids engaged and give me some dissertation writing time. It is through our city's public school system. Lots of folks rag on city school systems, but we have found that ours has some excellent programs.
3) Our Amazon cart is full of "save for later" things. So many of these things would be easy to get and don't cost that much, but we are making do, and we know they are there if I really can't manage without replacing my falling apart wallet.
4) Last night I tried making bone broth in the crock pot with leftover chicken bones and vegetables. I've made broth on the stove, but my husband has been doing whole30, and I have been reading about the benefits of bone broth. We'll see how it turns out.
5) I have started updating our budget daily. I have done it weekly for years, but I think I like taking ten seconds everyday to know exactly where we stand. I feel even more in control.
What's the difference between the broth you make on the stove and the "bone broth" you read about? (I don't mean the difference in how you make it, but any substantive differences.)
My frugal five are all in household-type this week:
1 made a food plan that takes into account my temporarily very busy work week
2 food prepping over the weekend, with your no-stir granola, some broth, pulled pork and several other small preparations
3 ordered cake for an upcoming birthday, paid for by a coupon
4 bought home delivered cat food at a 14% discount, special offer
5 repaired some clothing: buttons mainly and a loose seam
Frugal fail: I used the dryer three times instead of line drying. My excuses: rainy weather and the aforesaid busy work week. I felt I "earned" the ease of the dryer by home cooking and keeping up with other household chores. It is a bit of a lame excuse, but there you are. I can forgive myself, as long as it does not become a habit.
1. Went into town to meet my Aunt. Thinking about an Alaska trip in May 2020 for my husband's 50th and wanted to pick her brain about more affordable ways to travel there.
2. She made us a great lunch and sent me home with my favorite cookies!
3. Bought only my coupon items at Publix.
4. Doubled a really good recipe yesterday for ziti and brought one 13×9 dish of it with garlic bread to my Mom. She has company and is feeling a little overwhelmed.
5. I'm on Spring Break, but have enjoyed puttering around home.
Michele, are you driving to Alaska or taking the ferry or flying into Anchorage or Fairbanks? I live in Fairbanks but have lived all over the state, including the bush, and would be happy to give you some suggestions if your Aunt has not been here in a some time.
1. Agreed to babysit for 3 days, which will bring in extra cash.
2. Still DIY on our fixer upper house. It's going slow, but making progress.
3. Earning swagbucks to use to buy a baby gift for my nephew/niece due this summer.
4. Continuing to furnish our house with used items (not counting matresses). Our latest purchases were a $25 living room chair, $25 mid century end table and a free (needs some work) lawn mower.
5. Planning to take the kids to the library today for some free books and maybe some dvds.
Earning cash is always a very frugal thing!
1) I'm on my 5th phone call in less than 24 hours to see if my insurance covers a compounded medication I was prescribed late yesterday. It's been some frustrating work so far to just get basic info about my benefits but IF it's covered I could end up paying a copay around $7 rather than $30 for a months supply!
2) I used gift cards we had to Walmart from some returns we made that we didn't have receipts for (1 was a gift we didn't need) when we were shopping there yesterday so we paid nothing out of pocket for our groceries!
3) We'll be staying with my parents tomorrow night before taking a very early morning flight to visit some friends rather than a hotel for the night or driving over at 3AM (we're about an hour from the airport). My parents will also keep my car for us so we don't have to pay for airport parking and they'll drop us off so we don't have to pay for uber to get there!
4) We bought some raspberries and strawberries on sale at some local fruit stands this weekend and I'm making jam out of them before we fly out Saturday morning. I've got one batch down and I think 2 more to go. Definitely saves over buying jam at the store, plus I know what's in it and can use less sugar to make it.
5) Hubby has brought his lunch every day this week. We ate dinner at home all but one day when we met my family for my brother's birthday dinner. We used up some zucchini we had in the fridge last night for dinner before it could go bad. We searched for the best price for the rental car we'll be getting for our trip. I'm sure there are others I'm not remembering right now.
I've not been very frugal lately, well maybe I have but I haven't been denying myself stuff lately and actually letting myself spend from my "fun money" that I'd saved for ages.
But for saving money stuff I've ...
1.) Worked overtime which means more money of course.
2.) Did some great couponing and shopping with the wife. We were able to save a lot and stock up on things we need.
3.) Made a conscious effort to use up stuff in the fridge and freezer.
4.) Saving up Microsoft Rewards points for some items I want and need to buy.
5.) Needed a power supply for my label maker and found that the brick from a Genesis Model 1 worked for it. I know this is oddly specific but it was nice to not have to buy something for a device I use infrequently.
Good for you! Fun money is there for the spending.
Every frugal thing this week is related to food.
1. This week it is supposed to get above freezing during the day, so I have to bring in all the stuff we store out there in the winter in Rubbermaid storage containers. I had tackled two already but still had one left to go. Actually, I thought I was done with this task only to find this third container when I kicked at what I thought was a frozen pile of snow on the porch to try and spread it out for better melting. The containers save us from buying a freezer, but it does mean that I need to be mindful of eating the stuff that accumulates out there from October on. Three days ago I took inventory. Yikes. MORE pumpkin pulp and nineteen bags of chopped rhubarb, both stuff I harvested in late August. Spent that evening making pumpkin dog biscuits and pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread. The pie will be eaten within three days and the bread is being used for lunches--it is not a sweet bread but a savory one so fine for sandwiches. Then yesterday I made rhubarb chutney, rhubarb jam and rhubarb/applesauce and canned them all, so can be stored without using freezer space. By 10 pm last night I was cursing my garden and my rhubarb patch for being so prolific.
2. Found a large container of what I had labeled Naked Chicken Soup, which is homemade broth with chicken pieces in it. We ate it for three nights, one night part of it with just ramen and matchsticks of jicama added. Next night naked but with shredded carrots and zucchini from the indoor freezer (also last summer's garden). Third night, made a slightly modified version of your Thai chicken soup.
3. A friend has a birthday this week, so I gave her jars of all my new canned rhubarb items, plus made some sourdough crackers and put them in a fancy recycled tin. Consumables that won't leave her house cluttered.
4. For the last three days we have eaten yogurt pumpkin smoothies for breakfast. Not my favorite thing, smoothies, but it used up the last of the pumpkin. I always feel hungry about an hour after I drink a smoothie.
5. A friend bought Nathan's hotdogs and didn't like them so offered to bring the rest of the package when she came over for tea this morning. I don't care for most hot dogs but husband and I both like Nathan's so that will be dinner tonight.
I am tired of messing with food so am happy to see the bottom of that last storage container!
Let's see:
-Paid by check for a summer camp for the kids. Saved $40 vs using a credit card
-Unexpectedly took four kids out to dinner after a bunch of things came up. Used a gift card & a coupon, so didn't pay anything out of pocket.
-Sold an unopened phone on eBay for $150
-Replaced clothes for the kids (they've both grown out of everything!) for about $9/piece
-Line dried the majority of our laundry
Can you give the recipe to your homebrewed coffee? It looks delish! Is it half and half? Give us noobs a walkthrough to coffee-brewing!!
I don't have much of a recipe. I'm a noob too...just started drinking in the last year. I follow the instructions that came with my coffee maker and add sugar and heavy cream (or half and half if we are out of cream).
Did you know that when the CVS coupon says "$X off on $Y amount", it doesn't have to be exactly $Y? Not even all the sales clerks know. So if you're close, have the clerk scan the coupon anyway.
1. Did pretty well on toothpaste at CVS. 3 tubes Colgate for $4.50 plus 2 EB for later. Saved $3 by insisting the clerk scan the $3/$10 when the purchase was $9.95. However, I didn't know I had a 40% of item in my account; it got "wasted" on a $1 bottle of soda. Oh, well.
2. Ate dinner at home despite frequently working late this week.
3. Knitting socks for myself from leftovers from large projects.
My athletic socks were leaving my ankles cold, and I'm frustrated by the intricate, slow-moving sweater I'm making, so knitting simple socks from stash yarn seemed just the ticket.
4.
... this window has been open for an hour and I still can't think of anything else ...
... maybe the reason I can't think of frugal things is that I didn't buy anything other than food and toothpaste ...
The usual: still rocking the library, using the stash of on-sale meat from the freezer, working hard to avoid food waste, brown bagging lunch and snacks.
Hmmm... I feel like this is going to be tough this time around...
1. I picked up my discount cauliflower before my rain check expired. They were $3.88 each at the time and I paid $1.50 each.
2. I cleaned out my main floor freezer and made a priority list of things to use up.
3. I made vegetable broth with scraps and actually used it all.
4. I had some wiper blade issues on a snowy day while I was away visiting my mom. Hubby gave remote support and I ended up picking up a new one at Walmart instead of paying someone to replace it (since I had no idea how... hello YouTube).
5. I managed some airline claims for my mom, and she got a decent refund from their bereavement travel policy.
Huh, maybe it wasn’t so hard to come up with a list of five after all!
Umm lets see..
1. Checked my receipt & realised I was charged for a bunch of spinach I didn't buy - really glad I'm getting good at checking...
2. Redeemed a free loaf of bread from a loyalty card I'd forgotten about
3. With drought, fires, & floods fruit & veg are getting expensive so I shopped very carefully today to buy some of the cheapest options
4. REALLY wanted hot chips & went to buy but they were closed for a public holiday - went to my sisters & she cooked oven fries for me for free!
5. Spent some lovely hours skyping family interstate
March tends to be very spendy in my house because it is birthday season. But here goes....
1. Cooked a large batch of beans so I have homemade lunch for the week - no eating out.
2. Cleaned out my fridge and pantry and cooked a few meals with what I had on hand - again, no eating out.
3. I used up about 95% of the fruit and veggies received in my first shipment from Misfits Market (an organic produce rescue/delivery service). I just received the second shipment and look forward to using up new to me veggies, such as sunchokes.
4. I stopped using disposable dryer sheets and now use a wool dryer ball, a gift from a co-worker. I don't think I am saving big money with this switch, but I am using a little less trash as a result.
5. Stuck to my grocery list while at the supermarket. I was right on budget and now I am optimistic that I can trim my weekly grocery spending a bit.