1. I got a free health screening plus $100
My new health insurance offered a $100 bonus for completing a little health screening at CVS. I was due for a Covid booster anyway, so I got that done at the same time.
All of my numbers are in a good range, and now I know my A1C, which I’d never gotten checked before (it’s 5.2%). My fasting blood glucose was good too (85).
The NP said she could tell I exercise by looking at my bloodwork (for example, I have super low triglycerides), and that made me happy.
My blood pressure was 106/78, which is typical for me, but these numbers look so oddly low to me now because I see such high blood pressure readings at the hospital all the time!
Anyway…I got $100, plus some confidence that my lifestyle habits are working for my body.
2. I bought only a few months’ worth of contact lenses
Since I don’t wear my contacts every day, it does not make sense to buy an entire year’s worth, even though there are some rebates offered on the annual supply.
I do really like to wear them when I go to work or to a clinical site (if I have to wear a mask, I prefer not to wear glasses!), and that’ll be about three days a week.
Do we want to add regular eyeglasses to this combo? NO.
So, with four days of glasses and three days of contacts, my several-month supply should last me a nice long time.
(Unfortunately, my poor eyeballs only do ok with the daily contacts at this point. I don’t love that they are disposable, but it is what it is. I will be low-waste in other areas of my life.)
3. I got some free cloth napkins
A local reader (hi Kim!) who is in my Buy Nothing group alerted me that someone in my group had put some cloth napkins on offer.
I responded right away and lo and behold, this person lives IN my neighborhood. Ha.
So, that was a very easy pickup.
Now I don’t even need to haunt the thrift stores to try to find some napkins; I’m all set thanks to Kim and also my Buy Nothing neighbor. Yay!
I didn’t need as many as the person was giving away, so I offered the rest up on my Buy Nothing group and they got picked up right away. Sweet.
4. I ordered a secondhand NCLEX prep book
This semester we have a certain number of required NCLEX questions to do per week (like 100+ per week), so I figured I’d better get a book!
A new copy is $56, but I got a used one on eBay for $32 (a $24 savings).
And you know I will list it right back on eBay when I pass my NCLEX. 😉
5. I got a free holder for my cloth napkins
Shortly after the post for the free napkins, I saw a post for an interesting-looking rectangular ceramic container, and I thought, “Ooh, that might make a nice cloth napkin holder!”
So I responded to the listing, picked it up, and I’m happy to say it does work pretty well for holding some napkins.
I figure I will be more likely to use the napkins if they are readily available on the table vs. in a drawer. 🙂
Cindy
Wednesday 22nd of January 2025
Disposable contact lenses may seem wasteful as they are ... disposable! But from the optical perspective, NOT putting something back in your eye is a huge win. Less risk of infection. For me, this is a win. :-)
Kara
Wednesday 22nd of January 2025
I know what you mean about seeing a lot of high BP at the hospital. When my DIL was in hospital for a month before her baby came, the nurses were always commenting on her excellent BP and blood glucose. They kept saying, "We don't get patients like you in here."
Hawaii Planner
Tuesday 21st of January 2025
It was not a frugal week for us (took DS17 & 5 friends skiing for the long weekend), but we made some optimized choices where we could. Can I just say that I know we will miss all of this next year, when he's at college? We're trying to soak it all in.
1) Used a Subway gift card + BOGO offer to pick up dinner for the teens. We were all at a soccer game, they came home & showered while we loaded the car, & then we took off. So, this was the easiest option. 2) Made banana bread & 3 dozen cookies for the trip, and the boys kept those snacks in their room for a quick bite. I also put 10 or so Gatorades in their mini fridge, as it's hard to stay hydrated while skiing. 3) I went through the teens room after they had left for the slopes, but before the cleaning people came through. I was mostly trying to corral up all of their garbage, leave a tip & make the clean up as quick as possible. Along the way I found a few unopened snacks & drinks that I packed for the return drive home, as well as an unopened package of toothpaste. RIP dental hygiene? And one lonely glove. I brought the toothpaste home with us, and washed up the glove & hope it gets reunited with its owner. 4) I had a $25 food credit at the hotel we stayed at, so I used that to buy a glass of wine before we met the teens for dinner. 5) We stopped at the Costco food court for lunch for the teens on the drive home. Can't imagine a cheaper lunch than that while on the road.
Bonus: had freezer leftovers for dinner when we got home.
DebbieR
Tuesday 21st of January 2025
1. I went through my puzzle stash and listed 4 to sell on FB, sold 3 and netted $23. 2. Played trivia at our community center's trivia night with friends and we came away as winners! (actually, everyone who played won something). For our prize, we chose a candy jar with various candies and a $5 Target gift card. It was free to play and a fun evening, plus they fed us snacks! 3. Did a community survey sent in the mail and got a $15 gift card I can redeem for various stores. 4. Bought a lovely leather ottoman/stool from our neighborhood FB group for $15 to replace our current ottoman/stool that has a crack in the leather?/vinyl? top and has seen better days. Looking up the retail value of similar styles it sells for over $100. 5. Eating up half-finished snack bags in the pantry, hanging clothes to dry (indoors, while the heat is on), reading library books and using coupons/discounts when I can.
Selena
Tuesday 21st of January 2025
I take "numbers" with a grain of salt. Genetics come into play just as much as lifestyle. Based on your posts, an NP would think you eat far better than I as well as exercise more - which you do. Yet my A1C is lower, glucose a couple points lower, my BP is close to yours as are my triglycerides. Why do I say this - the numbers are just that, numbers. Ethnicity plays a role as does your age. My dad's PCP got her knickers in a knot over his PSA. His urologist is not concerned due to dad's age. Prostate cancer in a male in his 40s/50s is *not* the same cancer in those age 80/80+. Glad dad was hard no on invasive tests. Other health issues will likely kill him before prostate cancer. Being dad's advocate is one, if not two of my frugal things. Money in exchange for my privacy is not. 2/3 - will re-home various household goods we recently replaced. My (semi) retirement is in the near future 3/4 - using the wood stove to take the burden off the furnace during this cold snap 4/5 - buying everything we can local. Less money for magat corps is my goal 5/6 - maintaining a steady weight means having to purchase few new articles of clothing. Flannel lined jeans from a relative are quite welcome during the cold snap in my neck of the woods.