Five Frugal Things | Happy New Year!
This post contains affiliate links.
Happy New Year, friends! I hope that you've enjoyed some delightful times with friends and family over the holidays, and I hope 2019 holds good things for you.
What better way to start out 2019 than with Five Frugal Things?
1. I called ATK to get my promised discount.
My web membership was due to expire, and I called with the intention of cancelling. But they offered me a good discount if I renewed, so I said yes.
However, when it came time to actually be billed, I got charged the regular rate.
WAAAAAIT.
I called, and somehow someone had made a note to change my price but never actually went through the process to get it changed.
So, I got a refund for the difference and now we are all good.
2. I got a replacement bottle of probiotics.
In the bottle I got, some of the capsules had broken and spilled their contents. I called the company to let them know; they said it's a known issue and to go to the Vitamin Shoppe to get a new bottle.
I stopped by the Vitamin Shoppe when I was nearby, but no one there seemed to know what to do with my funky probiotics.
(This despite the fact that two managers were on duty at the time.)
Hmm.
So I tried calling the company again, and they said they'd just go ahead send me a fresh bottle. Yay!
3. I used a 60% off coupon to buy our eyeballs/lips/etc.
At this point we can't really make Christmas cookies without 'em.
I stopped in at Michael's and found the set we like to use but I noticed that A.C. Moore's site had a 60% off coupon.
So I used that instead of the Michael's 40% off coupon, and that brought the price from $10 to $4. SWEET.
4. I got my donations to Goodwill in before the end of the year.
Because I'd like to deduct this off of 2018's taxes, not 2019's. I'm patient, but not THAT patient.
5. I used a coupon on my book club book.
We are reading Just Mercy this month, and even though I put it on hold right after our last meeting, my hold request has still not been fulfilled at the library.
Apparently this is a popular book!
Book club meets in less than two weeks, so I figured I'd better buy a copy. Amazon had a copy for a good price plus a coupon, which of course I clicked to apply.
And naturally, I will sell my copy when I'm done with it unless it turns out to be so good I want to reread it (this happens very infrequently for me.)
P.S. I know I could have bought the ebook version, but I have a hard time loving ebooks, so paying a little more is worth it to me.
1. To save money on Christmas this year, I made a Harry Potter ceramic pot for a plant I gave my son for Christmas, decoupaged a Ravenclaw pencil holder for my daughter, made a Star Wars quilt for my son, and a pretty door hanger for my daughter (all gifts were well received..whew)
2. Celebrated Christmas and New Years at home and with family. We have a huge extended family so we never go out to eat for holidays (which is strange to some people apparently)
3. Decluttered all of our rooms and closets. Then rearranged furniture between bedrooms to make a refreshing change for no out of pocket costs.
4. Saved a lamp shade from a broken lamp to replace one that my kids broke on another...sigh
5. Earned $33 in credit card reward points
1. Bottle deposits and refunds are new to our state. So far I have managed to take $40 off my grocery bill. Furthermore I am sticking to buy only as things are truly needed.
2. I am making myself reuse old stuff before buying new.
3. I admit regifting is contentious. I did regift one present because Was given a small set of colour pencils. I have approximately 390 coloured pencils in three big sets.
4. There is a crochet along I would most dearly like to participate in. However, I am going to make myself use what I have in my stash.
5. Even though I have been in craft stores I have managed to not spend a penny on fabric and other supplies that make my heart go pitty pat.
Fail: I am booked for hand surgery on January 9th. I have been waiting for information from the doctor's practice. Nothing has arrived. I rang them today and they do not reopen until the seventh. Quite cross asI cannot plan ahead.
Hi Suzan, I don't think your hand surgery is a frugal fail just a necessity that came up; I also think it is frugal to address health needs as they arise if possible, hope the surgery goes well
How did you find your book club? I'd like to find one, but the only one I can find meets at 1 in the afternoon at the library. Not going to happen when I'm homeschooling kids.
Have you tried meetup dot com? My local one has a book/wine meetup....
How do you quantify Goodwill donations? I have donated SO much this year since we moved, but declined to take a receipt each time because I figured it wouldn't make that big of a difference come tax time. Was I wrong?
You can only deduct if you itemize, which may not be suitable for 2018 https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/guidance/tax-strategies/charitable-tax-deductions.shtml
Yep, you're right. Thus far, it's made sense for us to itemize, given our tithing and our mortgage interest, but of course, we'll see what TurboTax says this year!
I just guesstimate the second-hand value of what I've donated; it's not a very precise science.
There are worksheets on line, but for most of us, there's no point in itemizing any more.
Is that new in 2018? In every previous year, it's made more sense for us to itemize. I'm curious now!
The standard deduction for Married Filing Joint is $24,000 this year under the new tax law. Some items are no longer deductible, like unreimbursed employee expenses, etc. Also the SALT (state and local taxes) tax deduction is limited to 10k. So, many people who could itemize in the past cannot itemize in 2018.
The standard deduction for married couples has doubles from 12,000 to 24,000 as well as the dependent credit increasing. However, being self employed, a giver, a mortgage payer and having high deductible insurance all lend themselves to deductions so you might still be better off itemizing. It is, however, a real concern for most charities as they prepare to face a drop in tax-related giving.
Oh, Just Mercy is phenomenal. One of the best books I've read in the past few years; you won't be disappointed.
1. I knitted my son three hats, made with yarn I had just sitting in my stash downstairs. They were late Christmas gifts; I ran out of time to get them done before the holiday, but he seemed delighted just the same.
2. We only ate out once while my husband was off work, so that was nice!e
3. My husband emptied the trunk of all his camping stuff (FROM AUGUST!!!), so I can fill it up with the enormous pile that's just waiting to be taken to the thrift store (and stop tripping over it in the dark when I have to get up at night!).
4. Library books. SOOOOOOOOO many library books. I'm all set up on reading material for possibly the rest of the month.
5. I don't really need to buy much in the way of groceries this week. Cheese, some bread, almond milk, potatoes, and that's really about it. We'll eat from the pantry for everything else, which definitely saves money.
Just Mercy was the best book that I read in 2018 and I think it would generate a lot of discussion for a book club, too. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts!
Happy New Year!
1. Meals have been at home. We entertained for Christmas and New Years and kept it simple, using the crock pot both times. leftovers have been wonderful. I'm also working on the frozen fruit I have. I don't feel like smoothies this time of year so I add some to my oatmeal concoction each morning. Slow and steady wins the race.
2. I crocheted some cat toys for Christmas that were a hit. I will make more, for other people, next year. I am also crocheting scarves that will be future gifts, using yarn purchased on clearance.
3. I need to check on a college textbook I have listed on Amazon. This is the time of year to make sure it is competitively priced.
4. I am using the library for books, DVDs, CDs, ebooks, audio books, etc.
5. I will chase down the rest of our FSA reimbursable expenses today. There are only a few left to claim.
I love starting the new year with Five Frugal Things!
So yesterday I.....
1. Found a new pair of Birkenstocks on Facebook Marketplace. The owner was close so that was an added bonus
2. Did a big batch cooking session for an upcoming surgery. We found marked down meat at the grocery on Sunday so our efforts produced 2 meatloaves for 4.00, 4 one lb. packages of organic hamburger cooked with onions(3.99 a lb.), 2 large turkey casseroles for a fresh Costco 11 lb. turkey purchased for around 6.00 and a meal of lentil soup with leftover ham broth from Christmas.
3. My planned housekeeper was unable to fit me into her schedule for after an upcoming surgery and I was panicking a bit. My daughter's best friend messaged offering help after surgery. I asked her if she would mind stopping after work once a week for three weeks to run the sweeper. She was glad to do it and I'm relieved. I'll buy her a gift card since she refused payment. And it will be much cheaper than the housekeeper would have been.
4. My husband and I had a day out last week. We saw Mary Poppins using a gift card. Lunch was Red Robin because he had a free birthday burger and I had a 1/2 off my entire bill coupon both of which had to be used by Monday. Stopping at Walmart for something not in stock, we found Christmas had just been marked down to 75% off. I bought brown kraft paper for wrapping all gifts this year and burlap looking ribbon. He found lights for outside decorating and needed electrical plugs.
5. Decorating for two church events this week using snowflakes from my Christmas tree and Goodwill marked down Target dollar spot items. We're using Ikea napkins I picked up after Christmas last year for both events and previously used items for the first event. Second event we're doing raspberry and turquoise with snowflakes using the Target items. So much fun!
Re: #4. I was hoping to find some good deals on white string lights but I’m too good at staying out of stores. When my mom said she was headed to Walmart, I asked her to check for me. I now have a huge bag of 60 ft lights for $2 each thanks to that sale! I’m so happy as this is exactly what I needed for upcoming parties and a talent show.
I wish I had asked her to check out the wrapping paper too, now! 🙂
Danielle,
We rarely go into Walmart but what a deal! So glad she found what you needed!!! I didn't need Christmas wrapping paper since I've been using the same for years but the kraft paper will make it fun to use up old trims, Christmas cards for tags and stamping. And I'll use it year round. You still may find some really good deals on wrapping paper!
Trying not to duplicate the truly awesome list I posted at The NonConsumer Advocate recently.
1. Adopted a new rescue dog, which included several Frugals.
- The adoption was free because he's older and not easy to adopt out (extreme anxiety in the shelter although fine with the fosterer; recent surgery for a tumor that may reoccur).
- Adoption comes with a free first-vet visit, which is even more extensive if I use a certain vet chain.
- A separate program to encourage adoption gives $250 credit at pet stores.
2. Saw Aquaman for $5 off from T-Mobile Tuesday discounts. My roommate has gotten deep into trading T-Mobile Tuesday discounts, which has yielded several useful extras.
3. Used $2 coupon at Dunkin Donuts (T-Mobile again) to get almost-free donut holes. I'll use another one to get a free fancy donut.
4. Free weekly yoga at the library tonight, combined with checking out more library books.
5. Bought a lot of frozen food on sale + coupons, something that happens a lot at the end of the year. There has been very few sales or coupons on baking supplies for several years now - anyone know why??? - but I got 12 frozen pizzas for $2 per, and 13 bags of Tyson's Naturals chicken breast for $4 per.
I saw your long list over there! 🙂
Our cat was of the older variety as well, which is harder for the shelters to adopt out. But we think she's pretty perfect.
Hard as it was to lose a pet after only two years, I'm still find adopting older animals. They're generally chill and you know what they're going to be like. I imagine that's even more important with a cat than a dog.
1. I did not go after Christmas shopping this year.
2. I used leftover ham from thanksgiving from freezer to make New Year’s Day soup beans.
3. I bought some evaporated milk for 49 cents from the almost expired area at the grocery.
4. I made two loaves of banana bread from very brown bananas.
5. I have no outstanding debt related to Christmas. None!
I would love to hear your comments on Just Mercy.
I'll try to remember to let you know! Have you read it already?
1.) Returned a Christmas present I got this year. It was a pair of pants and I really have a lot of pants already. Lucky for me Target took them back without issue and I have $30 in store credit now. I still feel guilty for taking them back but it was the right thing to do.
2.) Repaired my mother's stove and replaced a couple of electrical outlets in my home. Much cheaper to DIY!
3.) Selling off our old cloth diapers since our kid has been in underwear for months now. If we do ever have kid #2 (doubtful at this point but who knows?) we'd probably just buy the all-in-one style instead of covers and pocket diapers.
4.) Didn't go overboard on Christmas. Honestly I'm happy with Christmas not being such a big deal.
5.) Scored a really good deal on underwear. I know it's not exciting or anything but I found a good deal on a deals site and jumped on it.
Just one that I can think of from over the holidays but I'm still so happy about it. For years I've been frustrated with my wrapping paper storage; it's just been a big bag that holds my rolls of wrapping paper. They always tumble over, get wrinkled, etc. I put a tall canister on my shopping list to try to organize them better, and went to Walmart but couldn't find one. I did, though, see a ton of boxes, about 2 feet tall, with dividers in them that were holding wrapping paper that was for sale (at 50% off). I found a box that was pretty empty and looked like it was in good shape, emptied the few rolls out of it into another box, took it to the cashier and said I had a weird question ... could I buy this box? The kind woman said, "honey, you can just have it!" I'm so happy -- a problem I've had for years is now solved, perfectly, and for free!
Hurrah! I think my motto is "It Never (well, hardly ever) Hurts To Ask."
1. Used some frozen odds and ends of bread to make an apple, raisin French toast casserole.
2. Returned a few Christmas gifts to get items we actually needed
3. My 7 week old daughter is admitted to the hospital again. Husband has been parking on the street and walking to avoid $6 per day parking (will be here 17 days). Hospital has been providing me with meals because I am breastfeeding. Husband has been bringing me coffee from home to avoid $3 per day from coffee shop at hospital.
4. Already finished my FSA claims for the year which saved us about $1,500 in taxes for the year
5. Received lots of diapers and wipes for my daughter for Christmas. So much better than getting toys and clothes for an infant.
Regarding donations and tax deduction. It will be difficult for most people to itemize this year. If you don't itemize you cannot claim your donations. Goodwill has a website you can input your donations and it gives total cost of what you donate through year. You can print at end of year to help with your tax returns.
Best wishes for your daughter in the hospital!
1. The day after Christmas Parent's Choice Christmas print diapers are half off. I bought 12 cases for my two kids in diapers, and picked up 4 cases for my niece. These aren't my favorite brand, but you cannot beat the price.
2. DH finally took the kids swimming at the local hot springs with their free passes that they won from the library summer reading program.
3. Our 8 month old broke his femur. In all of my first few hours of fervor, I was ready to place an Amazon order with lots of clothing items. Once I calmed down, I hunted in the next size up of clothes stored from big brothers and found enough to get by for the few weeks we'll be dealing with a brace/cast.
4. I bought several Christmas presents off of FB market place. My kids don't care if gifts are already out of packaging, and since they otherwise looked brand-new (one even was shrink-wrapped still), it was an easy frugal choice.
5. My husband works for the government, so we're part of the shutdown furlough. We have savings, so we're fine for a while. Putting myself on an only essentials spending freeze is showing me areas where I've slipped up too much in my spending. It's a nice reset for the new year.
I’m so sad for you and your little son! Hope he heals up well and quickly- it’s so hard when a family member is having medical problems & must be worse since it’s a baby.
Different subject: going swimming in hot springs sounds SO great! Where is that? I might want to put it on my “bucket list”!
Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry to hear about the broken bone. Poor little guy. And poor mama.
I hope he heals up soon.
1) I transferred all the cash that came in over the holidays from airbnb guests to our savings account.
2) Our airbnb guests were gracious and sweet, as usual. And they left a few food items in the pantry and fridge that we will happily eat.
3) When we got back into town yesterday we ate supper out of food we had in the pantry and freezer, cooked up a few things for the rest of the week, and made a shopping list for Aldi.
4) We were supposed to receive a $30 rebate when we bought our dog's heart worm medicine. When I got only $12 I called. The office manager told me they had changed the policy, and since the rebate is reduced I was supposed to receive a free extra heart worm pill. We'll stop by this weekend and get it. Glad I called!
5) We stopped by two libraries this morning. We had books due at our city library but couldn't renew them online because of a hold because of a fine because we destroyed a book. I paid the fine, we got more books, and I renewed the two we weren't ready to return to avoid fines. At the university library I also frequent I needed to re-up my guest membership on Jan 2 to renew the book I had outstanding there.
Where do you resell your books? I just brought two brand-new, never-been-used cookbooks to Half Price Books and only got $2 for each. I’m sure they give even less than that for a used paperback.
Not every book is worth selling, of course...it all depends on market demand. I usually try to sell on eBay, or if I'm feeling lazier, Amazon.
1. We had Christmas with the family at our house, but since we made it a cooperative dinner, it wasn't expensive for anyone.
2. New Year's day was just my husband and me, which is normal. The meal was black-eyed peas made from dried peas, on-sale frozen chopped collards, bacon I bought last spring and had in the freezer, and corn bread from the bag of meal I had already.
3. I bought a giant roll of wrap on the after-Christmas sale, but have spent most of the time out of the stores.
4. My Christmas card list continues to shrink as less people send out cards, and the elderly pass on. I used to send out nearly 50 cards -- this year, 16. I hand delivered four of them (I was going to see them anyway) and saved postage. The cards were free from a friend who works for a card company and gives me a few sets of the previous year's cards at times. I never thought about this until she told me, but, at least with this particular card retailer, the cards not bought for holidays are not re-used or re-cycled. They are tossed. That just seems wrong.
5. Inspired by the comments someone wrote about the Flylady, I decided to join the club. I was spending way too much time just trying to catch up on housework. I've already seen improvement in the home situation. I'm busily de-cluttering and purging, and plan to have a big yard sale soon. I think this will prove quite frugal as well.
Sounds like the New Year is off to a great start. 🙂 I love how you speak up when something isn't quite right. Sometimes I let things slide that I really shouldn't!
Let's see; this week:
1. I made a new batch of homemade yogurt.
2. I'm putting away the Christmas tree today, because if I don't, it will take up the living room until July. 🙂
3. I'm going to Costco tonight. Unfortunately, we need to stock up on a lot of stuff, so it's going to be pricey. At least we're generally getting a better price. And bulk buying means fewer trips to the store, anyway.
4. Today I downloaded several eBooks from my library for free.
5. I started watching the Marie Kondo show on Netflix and love it! Oh, we also signed up for two weeks of free Hulu with a trial, so that was nice.
1. Made a pumpkin pie from scratch, sweet potato casserole with sweet potatoes I already had and needed to use, and deviled eggs (eggs are 78 cents at Aldi these days) for a family Christmas yesterday.
2. Had a friend over for a playdate this morning and we made our own coffee instead of having her pick some up on her way.
3. Ate leftover soup for lunch and froze the rest.
4. Used up a bunch of Christmas candles recently. There are a number of Christmas decorations that we have but I don't love, so we used some this year and then I got rid of them. I need less stuff in my life.
5. I haven't started my baby on solids yet. She just turned 6 months old. I'm not putting it off for financial reasons, but it did dawn on me the other day that I'm in my last weeks of only buying food for 4 people. Sigh.
Bonus: I've been trying to use up food from my freezer and pantry. My goal is to use one thing from my freezer a day. I've been doing pretty well these last couple of weeks.
Our family trip during Christmas week wasn't inexpensive as I would have liked ( a few times, the family members who were out and about included their food orders with ours and we weren't reimbursed, but I guess it's the season of really sharing). This week is planned out as frugally as possible.
1- accepted 2 extra air bnb units to clean which yielded some extra cash.
2- helped a friend move and because it was a last minute move, she pretty kuch just took her children's clothing, meds and left everything in her apartment. I am going to clean it for her and she said i can have all of her pantry and fridge food.
3- making do with the food in our pantry and fridge for at least 1 week.
4- another friend asked me to provide childcare this week to his very well behaved son, the bonus is he gets along wonderfully w my kiddos and they insist on paying me.
5- when we left my FIL's, he insisted we take as many groceries as we could (SIL brought like 13 bags) because he eats at nursing home w MIL for free when he visits every day. We took about 3 bags and asked our nephews to take the rest back home.
1. Worked on New Year's Day for time and a half, which is a nice bonus.
2. Trying to eat through the pantry/fridge in January so buying very little groceries except for milk and yogurt.
3. Paying property tax bills, HOA fees, and car insurance with money saved up throughout last year in a higher-interest savings account so it doesn't hit the pocket quite as hard.
4. Returned books to the library on time and picking up books placed on hold.
5. Found some Christmas stocking stuffer-type gifts from 50-90% off on various post-Christmas Target trips to use in my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes next year. I try to stock up on appropriate items throughout the year as they go on sale.
Frugal fail: while working through eating through the fridge, I had to compost a bag of grapes and some green beans that were forgotten in the busyness of Christmas and not eaten. I'm keeping a written list of food waste to try and reduce what we waste and throw out and trying to beat last year's list. Inspired by Kristen!
1. We are still living off Christmas vacation leftovers. It’s gratifying to be able to stay out of the stores for two weeks. I’ll probably need to give in and go get eggs tomorrow, but it’s been a good run!
2. I used my big discount from an online card company to order our New Years cards. This our first time waiting until the new year and I’m excited to actually have the time to write thoughtful notes instead of frantically mailing out Christmas cards in the midst of the holiday craziness.
3. I signed up for Frugalwoods Uber Frugal Month Reset. I’m eager to take another look at our spending and priorities.
4. We received lots of yummy chocolate for Christmas. Hubby and I have been enjoying it after the kiddos are in bed.
5. Our town event center is opening up in the mornings for locals to run/walk for free since it is snowy/icy outside. I’m so grateful for a free way to keep walking this winter.
That's so great - we don't get snow so it never occurred to me that it would be hard for you guys to keep up a walking habit in winter. Our local shopping centres have free walking clubs all year round which is especially good for the elderly as it is climate controlled & safety in numbers a&indoors with flat ground & keeps people more socially connected.
1. I did not go overboard with Christmas. Everything was paid for with cash.
2. I made several of the Christmas gifts I gave.: personalized cutting boards, body scrubs, and bedspreads. I got several gift cards with my reward points from Soeedway.
3. My grandson and I went to see Aquaman with gift cards we both won.
4. We have been eating at home.
5. We were able to purchase a much needed washer and dryer at a huge discount during the after Christmas s sales.
So I have a few more than five
1. I got two bags of salad for a total of 19 cents, $2.69 a bag, then BOGO, each had a $1 off coupon in them, plus I had fifty cents off one salad on my store card. Yea me!
2. Got new insurance and remembered to use it for prescriptions so saved two co pays of $10 each. Used 100% coverage for catcher not up on routine med stuff. Used 100% coverage for dental X-rays and cleaning. Getting eye exam next week.
3. Using my homemade laundry detergent
4. Made homemade pizza out of the pantry to go with 8.5 cent bag of salad
5, Got $44 spiral cut ham free w coupon. Used it for Christmas dinner, froze the rest
6. Used ham bone to make very yummy bean soup with dried beans in hand.
I love FFT, Kristin well done on following up on faulty items
My FFT are a mix from the last few weeks;
1. Didn't buy any Christmas wrapping paper however sorely I was tempted....
2. Been learning to live the seasons & really reduced heating & cooling costs - my new place has evaporative cooling & someone taught me you can run it just on fresh air with no cooling so when a cool change comes you can open the doors, put it on fresh air & in 5 - 10 min it flushes all the hot air out & fills the home with fresh air; brilliant. My home is solid so I haven't used aircon/cold evap cooling yet this summer.
3. Is it just me or is toothpaste in Aus ridiculously expensive? I need to use sensitive stuff which can be $8 - $10 per tube! I got a stash of 1/2 price for $5 per tube each.
4. I have noticed many times in 2018 I stopped myself from impulse buys or 'little extras' not perfect but a huge improvement for me
5. I save my used teabags & every third cup use 2 used ones together.
Good idea on the tea bags.
We had a lot of items my son was able to take as they just bought a new (to them) home. Both our gains because the stuff would be going to Goodwill anyway.
We went to stay with them to get stuff off their to do list. Only cost us our time and we got a lot done! Hubby wired their garage for them and changed out some fixtures.
Gas was 1.63 in Ohio so Yay!
Shopped some clearance sales but bought nothing.
My neighbor, bless her heart gave me 8 bags of dry and 24 cans of wet cat food for our local feral cat. This should keep him till spring.
I’ve never tried to deduct donation items on my taxes but we do itemize (at least we have in the past- not sure what this new tax year holds!) Would you possibly be able to make a post about this? Thanks and love your blog/social media. Refreshing to say the least. Thank you.