1. I “fixed” my locket
When I graduated from high school, my aunt and uncle (the ones Lisey lived with during aviation mechanic school) gave me a locket with my initials engraved on it.
It also has my graduation year on it!
I got married a little over a year later (!!), which meant that for most of the time I’ve worn this necklace, the initials have been wrong.
But…now they are correct again. 😉
I’ve had this necklace for almost 30 years, and it will not stay closed anymore. This is probably due to me absentmindedly fidgeting with it and popping it open. I am the problem!
Note the popped locket
I stopped in at a jewelry store to ask about it, but they declined to work on it since it is not real gold.
I tried using a pliers to adjust the little tab that’s supposed to hold it closed, but that didn’t work.
And upon closer inspection, I saw the problem was on the other side; there just was not enough material to hold the tab in place.
So, as any good jeweler does, I got out my super glue and glued the whole thing shut.
In keeping with my professionalism, I used a rubber band to hold it shut during the drying process.
It doesn’t function as a locket anymore, of course, but I don’t care! I just wanted to wear the necklace.
2. I noticed a missing 12-hour work shift!
Every month, we have a new grad nurse education program at work, and I was scrolling back in my time card to make sure I’d added a clocking for those four hours.
It turned out I had.
BUT.
In the process, I noticed an entire 12-hour shift that wasn’t showing up! I don’t know if I’d forgotten to clock in and out that day or if there was a system error or what.
I emailed our payroll person to ask, and she confirmed that yep, I had indeed worked that day but had not been paid. So, she’s adding my 12 hours onto my next paycheck.
Whew. I make $35/hour, so multiply that by twelve, and you have $420.
That’s a significant amount of money to leave on the table, and I’m really glad I happened to notice!
3. I attended a staff meeting for $35
I noticed I could make my schedule work to attend a monthly unit staff meeting on Teams, so I logged on from home on a day off.
Chiquita always comes to my meetings
The meeting itself was helpful (since I’m so new, almost any topic is going to be helpful to me!!), and I got to ask some clarifying questions about a few things I’ve encountered at work.
But, this is also paid time, so I logged on afterward and added a one-hour clocking (after clarifying that this is indeed a valid paid-time meeting.)
Hey, $35 is $35! And it was an easier hour than most of my regular work hours. 😉
4. I worked some CVS deals on deodorant
I usually use Native deodorant, which runs about $13 at most stores.
However, I got two at CVS for $8.50 apiece by:
- doing an online order for in-store pickup (prices were $1 cheaper online than in-store)
- using multiple coupons (one specifically for Native and one for $3 off a deodorant purchase)
- taking advantage of a sale
Native deodorants are $15.99 apiece at my local CVS, but I never look at those prices to calculate my savings; I consider whether or not the deal/coupon will get the price lower than what I’d pay at a grocery store.
Because CVS prices are craaaazy most of the time.
Also of note: I drive by my CVS almost every time I leave my house, so it wastes exactly zero gas to do an in-store pickup.
5. I canceled my Canva Pro trial
I’d said yes to a free trial this month because I was designing so many PowerPoint presentations for this horrible BSN class.
But I think I am done with slideshows now, so I hit “cancel” before I got billed. It’s only $15 a month, but still, that’s $15 I’d rather have in my pocket.
Kelli
Saturday 29th of November 2025
I made 2 reusable spa bra & panty sets using recycled material and am in the planning stages of creating 2 side hustles - the spa sets mentioned above and a THRIFTY solo self-care staycation planning service.
AZ Lynn
Wednesday 26th of November 2025
Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone. I came into some money, and was able to double my savings! I went to our new Aldi store today. As I was getting out of the car, the women next to me started to return her cart. I asked if I could use her cart and tried to hand her my quarter. She declined the quarter but we exchanged Thanksgiving greetings. After checking out, I pushed my free cart into the line and noticed the 2 carts in front of mine still had their quarters in them. So I liberated all three for a profit of $.75. My family has a decades old tradition of saving found money during the year and donating it to charity at Christmas. My grand total so far this year has been 75 cents - from 12 finds. This cashless society is so disappointing. But my Aldi score doubled the yearly total! Yay Aldi! My community will never be known for being a shopping mecca. We do have a huge Dollar Tree in a former 99cent only location. I went there for the first time today also. Things I did not expect to find were a single serving of Nutella (which I got to try because I have never had it before). They also had a small jar of pesto (6 oz?) made in Italy with all good ingredients. So again, for $1.25, what is there to lose? Aldi score was 3 pound bags of sweet potatoes for 63 cents a pound. Only had 4 bags left so I only took 2. The best deal I could come up with for turkey was $.99 a pound, minus 10% with my vaccine coupon, and $7.00 off of meat using 400 reward points. Frugal fail: Kristen, I really hope you have another whine-a-thon soon. Because I need to vent about Arizona residents getting shorted on savings that national chains offer all over the country but not here. I should release some frustration before I blow a gasket or bust something. Blessings for tomorrow ;) <3
Amanda in VA
Wednesday 26th of November 2025
I love that you were able to make the locket wearable. Feels like a metaphor for a human broken heart. We patch up and keep going.
1) I explained CVS pricing to my husband. I stopped by CVS on Monday for a prescription. I also checked prices on the Vitamin D gummies our daughter's doctor recommended. They were, of course, crazy expensive, so instead I used my stacked coupons for a couple of lip moisturizers after comparing prices on my phone. When I got home I shared this story with my husband who said he had no idea CVS had jacked-up prices. I count him having this piece of knowledge as an even bigger win than the few bucks I saved because it will prevent him from buying something when he picks up a script.
2) On Sunday night we menu-planned and put in an Aldi order, which I picked up on Monday. We do this every week, but this week was especially complicated with kids home some days and two Thanksgivings for which we are bringing dishes. We strategized a walmart pickup on Friday to get fresh items for the Saturday dishes. I added in extra dishes too because despite all this careful planning, we have been running out of food by Friday because these kids are eating like crazy.
3) Before I left for campus yesterday I started bread in the bread machine and a roast in the crockpot. I also packed my own lunch to eat on the 1.25 hour commute. No emergency take out for us. Things are tight enough as it is; I can't imagine if we were blowing hundreds a month on take out for the six of us.
4) I signed up to be an AP reader this week. I've never done it before, but I finally have a little breathing room in my life, and I've been looking for part time work for a while. I went ahead and completed all the steps to get me up and operating in the pool. Evidently I might still not get an assignment, but we'll see. It's something.
5) I worked on replacing the zipper in a jacket I bought for our daughter at Goodwill. Maybe it was already breaking when it was donated, which explains why it was a very expensive jacket in otherwise perfect condition at a thrift store. I was able to purchase a zipper for about $15. I have been working on it a little at a time as I have time, taking the zipper part apart and pinning everything back together with the new zipper. I hope to get a moment later this evening to sew it together. I would not describe my sewing skills as advanced, but so far this project has been easier and cheaper than I first imagined.
Frugal fail: Last weekend my husband noticed that the registration sticker on the car read July 2025. I always purchase new registrations promptly, so I can only assume I didn't get the postcard that usually triggers me to buy a new one. I went online immediately and renewed, which cost me $10 in late fees. It could have been worse.
Frugal indulgence: I've been fighting cancer for a couple of years now. I started with chemo, which led to me gaining 30 pounds, enough that my wedding rings no longer fit. I'm not a jewelry person, but I really miss wearing my rings. I've tried losing the weight but it proved impossible with the medication I'm on. I thought about having my rings resized, but I thought, what if, when I go off the meds, I lose the weight and then have to resize them again. Then I came across a small gold filled (not fully gold, but better than gold-plated) ring on Etsy. It's simple and made of enough gold that my skin won't react. And it was $40 including shipping. It's not frugal to buy a piece of jewelry, but I so rarely spend money on myself, and in the grade scheme of things, it is relatively cheap.
AZ Lynn
Wednesday 26th of November 2025
That picture of Chiquita! It and she are the cutest! Ten different captions flashed through my mind in seconds of looking at it. So adorable. Aren't velcro kitties just the best? My sweet little black kitty, Bella, is curled up next to me in bed. She has exhausted herself giving my arm a bath, and is resting from the exertion. She has planted her tiny self between me and the edge of the bed. So I don't fall out of bed maybe?
Amy
Tuesday 25th of November 2025
I am a rare if never commenter (reader and granola and pizza maker, mostly), but I really appreciated your jewelry repair segment. “I glued the whole thing shut” and “keeping with my professionalism” brightened my day. Thanks for the laugh and well done making something you love be a useable item again.