Five Frugal Things | I love leftovers!
1. I got a free Pyrex container
Someone on my Buy Nothing group listed a Pyrex container so I said, yes please! I love the rectangular ones, especially this size. They're perfect for meal prepping, and now I will have three.
That's ideal because the max number of days I work in a row is three.
The lid has a crack in it, but I don't care.
I'm slowly replacing all my lids with the silicone variety anyway; I use them until the crack is too big, and then I buy a silicone one to use.
2. I paid my spring 2025 tuition by echeck
If I pay by credit card, there's an associated fee.
And we know I DO NOT LIKE FEES. 😉
Sooo, I paid my bill with my checking account. There's no sense in making my tuition more than it needs to be!
3. I submitted my tuition for reimbursement through my hospital
They reimburse at the start of the semester, and then you just have to submit your grades to seal the deal.
Hmm...I actually don't know what happens if you fail a class. Maybe they deduct the previously-disbursed funds from your next paycheck?
I do not ever plan to find out because I dearly hope to get all the way to my bachelor's without ever having to repeat a class.
Anyway, I submitted my current grades to seal the deal for the Fall 2025 semester. And then I submitted my bills for the Spring 2026 semester.
4. I got my $900 bank bonus
Several months ago, I did Chase's checking + savings bonus offer.
(Not an affiliate link of mine; just a link to the page where I found the offer.)
It was a pretty big headache and I almost didn't make the deposit deadline because of some issues with my married name and maiden name.
But I persevered and got it taken care of, and as of last week, I have my extra $900!
In case you want to do this offer, you should know that it requires you to have $15,000 in the savings account. But, this worked out nicely because I have money saved up for my future Civic purchase, and it was just sitting in my bank account.
Sooo, I made it work extra hard for me and it grew by $900. Yay!
I realize I will have to pay taxes on it, of course, but still, that's a pretty nice payoff for opening an account. And now my Civic fund is a little fatter. 😉
5. I emptied my lotion into a container
My pump bottle of Cerave lotion was getting to the very bottom, so I turned it upside down and let it empty into a little container.
This way, I can use every last bit.
Also frugal: my dermatologist recommended this for dry spots on my face, and as skincare products go, this one is very inexpensive. And it works great!
Frugal fail: I paid gor my son's dual credit class at the community college with a credit card, so I did pay the minimal fee. Normally I wouldn't, but weve been spooked by a relative having $10K hacked out of their bank account. So i prefer the credit card for the extra layer of protection . ( They are having a heck of the time getting ghe bank to come through with help. I've always found our credit card company ready to follow up with fraudulent charges. )
Frugal wins-
* snowstorm kept us in over the weekend, so no gas costs or entrance fees to the basketball tournament we were supposed to go to. Baked many snacks which helped warm the house and feed the teens so they had fuel for shoveling.
*paid ahead on the power bill so the first huge bill of the winter had some credit against it already.
*bought the maximum number of Target gift cards when they were 10% off. I use these as teacher gifts and gifts throught the year.
*Combined a trip to work with my son's visit to the animal shelter he volunteers at. I picked up my finals and played with adorable cats and kittens.
*trying to eat out of the freezer and pantry. I lost track of things in the last week's of the semester, so I am making a sincere effort to use up and clear out.
@mbmom11, that's not a fail! That's choosing to buy insurance on your payment.
This week, I made spiced sugar pecans for my office staff as gifts:
1. Pecans were ordered on sale a month ago
2. I saved Ball jars from spaghetti sauce all year long. Of course I bought the sauce when it was on sale. 🙂
3. Cut up old Christmas pj's for the lid decorations, that hides the spaghetti sauce name on the lid.
4. Tied it up with twine I use every year. I've had that twine for at least 10 years, I haven't run out of it yet.
5. Was gifted lots of bright green tissue paper last spring. Perfect to wrap the gifts with.
I'm sad that the spaghetti sauce company recently stopped using Ball jars for their sauce. I'm not sure I'll keep buying that brand anymore.
@MommaJo, I know exactly which sauce brand you mean, and I feel the same way! I'm so disappointed they made this change
@MommaJo,
I've found extra mason jars at our Goodwill store. They're usually 49cents, or 1/2 off if that's the color of the week.
Yay for reimbursement!
1. I went to a free parade for St Lucia's Day. It was cold and involved standing around for a while but it was worth it!
2. I made payments on loans.
3. I made Kristen's granola
4. I baked a fruit pie.
5. Slight frugal fail; I had to get a taxi to work because I had a meeting and the subway was down. But I'm going home for a couple of weeks and will be saving money on food etc. I am also owed some overtime!
--Craving mushrooms something fierce, I splurged on a $7 pack of four Portobello caps. They were HUGE, and the package weighed in at a full pound, not the 8 oz claimed on the label. We enjoyed three meals from them: homemade cream of mushroom soup (two caps), creamy mushroom lentils (one cap), and "Raph's Rude Shrooms" pizza from the TMNT pizza cookbook (remaining cap and LOADS of garlic).
--Splurges like my mushroom craving are evened out with sides like blackened cabbage. It's so cheap and simple---pan blackened, with pepper and a hint of salt--but sooo good!
--I repurposed a small tote as a case for my cordless power drill. I used stiff foam from my packing supplies to make compartments for the drill and its assorted parts. The foam is held in place with tape, so the tote can easily be repurposed again later if need be.
--I offered some unused supplies from our small bathroom renovation to a friend who is redoing her own bathroom this winter. She was glad to accept them, and I was grateful for another opportunity to repay her kindness in helping us move a few years ago. She and her strapping teenagers voluntarily hauled A LOT of stuff!!!
-- One would think that our water usage would have gone up since our clawfoot tub was installed in October, but no! November was our first full month with the tub/bathing only, and our water bill clocked in at $49. Our average until now was $53 even in summer, thanks to the garden's rain barrels. It remains to be seen whether removing the bathroom window* will change our winter heating bill, as it hasn't been properly cold yet.
*It was RIGHT where one stood to shower. Even with heavy-duty privacy film and a shower curtain, I always felt like I was flashing passersby! Now it's a wall of beautiful (Habitat Restore) tile.
@N, I adore burnt cabbage! Sorry, "blackened" cabbage. 😉
@Karen A., LOL! I was surprised when I first found the recipe for it on BudgetBytes, which specified "blackened." "Intentionally Burn Your Food" just doesn't sound as snappy! 😉
@N, Kristin at the blog Going Country (a frequent commenter here) has a recipe her family calls "Holy's Cabbage", and I follow her recipe because it's so good! Maybe it's time to get a cabbage at the store tomorrow...
Frugal fail—I stopped at a CVS to buy mints, and saw that they were buy one, get one for 50% off. I brought two to the checkout, and the cashier asked for my ExtraCard. I didn’t have it, and the 2nd pack of mints rang up at the regular price. I paid it rather than have people wait while the cashier did a refund. I really dislike the whole ExtraCard thing. I usually have it at the checkout and get the sale price, but isn’t it also supposed to accumulate points?
—We went to Ocean State and Walmart, the lowest priced stores in our area, to shop for stocking stuffers.
—We almost went to a high end toy store, but I changed my mind at the last minute, as I knew I would end up overpaying for some delightful but probably short-lived toy for my granddaughter.
—I asked the library for books from a series my granddaughter just discovered rather than add them to the several I’ve already bought her for Christmas.
—I was successful in disputing a charge through my credit card for a purchase that was quite poor quality.
—I bought Girl Scout cookies! How is this frugal? It’s important to me to support the organization, I get to support my DIL’s niece at the same time, AND we get to enjoy cookies!
—One more: I bought ten trees for $20 through Arbor Day Foundation. I love trees, and years ago—15?—I received one of those single little tree stalks from them for some reason I no longer remember, and I planted it, and now it is a five foot tall tree in our backyard that we decorate every Christmas. So sending ten more little trees out into the world for $20 feels like a great bargain to me!
@JaeFi, with CVS extracare card you get a small percentage of your purchases, small rewards for filling prescriptions there, actual "bucks" on some deals that are valid to use on another purchase within 30 days, and just sale prices like your mints. If you don't have your card, you can type your phone number into the pin pad and still connect the sale to your account, just as if you'd scanned your card.
@JaeFi, I love the story of your little tree and sharing trees with others is just beautiful.
@JaeFi,
I am amazed at your Arbor Day Foundation deal. They keep putting notices in our newspaper about the 10 trees, but when I worked at the paper, we constantly got complaints from people who responded. Either the little bitty trees were dead on arrival, or they never arrived at all. Hearing that someone actually got one of their trees, and got it to grow, is a shock to me!
@Fru-gal Lisa, Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that about Arbor Day…
@Fru-gal Lisa, I received my "trees" the second week of December, for planting - in northeast Kansas. None of them made it.
I actually have one of those silicone lids that has a crack in it. How, I do not know, but apparently it can happen. And I also have a Pyrex-related frugal thing this week!
--There is a small thrift store next to the Walmart that I have never been to. It doesn't open until later than I'm usually in town, and I'm also always so rushed trying to get everything done and get back on the road to home that I never bothered to go in. But! My daughter wanted to make candles from all the stubs of blessed candles from church (these either have to be burned or buried, because they've been blessed) and I needed a small pot to melt the wax. I was not about to use one of my own cooking pots for this, so I went to the thrift store for one. I found one for $3. I also found two Pyrex containers with lids--one of the two-cup round ones and a rectangular one like yours--and a big aluminum bread pan that were fifty cents each. I always look at books at thrift stores, and I found one Janette Oke book that I read and then left in the bookshelf of free books at our village post office. Someone else left one of her books there before, so I know it will be read.
--I've been working my way through all the produce my mother brought to make sure none of it goes bad. Some of it was processed and went into the freezer, none of it was wasted.
--I've also started using the giant cans of tomatoes and chickpeas that my sister brought from the kitchen of the camp she and her boyfriend volunteered at. The very large batch of curry I made on Saturday included the rest of two of the roosters we got free from an acquaintance that I had roasted earlier and then made stock from. The stock went into the curry, too, as did chickpeas from one of the giant cans, crushed tomatoes from another giant can, and some of the 36 pounds of onions I got from excess commodities. The rice that went with it came from our elderly friend. People give us a lot of food, and I use it all. (And if it's too gross for us to eat--looking at you, pouches of beef stew--it goes to the dogs or chicken.)
--We cut our Christmas tree on Sunday. We always go to a friend's ranch to cut it, and I pay him in Rice Krispie treats. He doesn't expect anything, but I know he loves them, so it seems like a good trade.
--I discovered when I was putting the lights on the tree that I only had two fully-working strings of lights, and one of them was a very unpleasant glaring white. Sigh. Since I can't just go out and buy more lights easily, I strategically employed the two working strands and one half-working strand to cover the tree as much as possible. Luckily, our tree is up against a wall, so I don't have to actually wrap the lights all the way around. I really need to get some new lights, but since I have no confidence they will actually work when I plug them in next year, I might just wait to buy them until I need them. Assuming I remember, of course . . .
Oh interesting! The Sophico brand? Did you hand wash or send thru the dishwasher?
@Kristen, Yup, Sophico. I mostly put them on the very top rack of my dishwasher (I have a flat one at the top that slides out for utensils, etc.). They're labeled as dishwasher safe, and I don't use the heat drying or anything, so I should think that would have been okay. Then again, maybe it's just that that one was pried up extra forcefully by one of my brutal family members. 🙂
Haha that is always possible!
I’m so used to hand washing the original Pyrex lids to try to preserve them, I’ve just kept hand washing them.
But also I don’t usually use the drying setting on my dishwasher so I suppose they might be fine in there. Perhaps I will bravely try it. Heh.
@kristin @ going country, Rice Krispie treats are definitely a favorite. One of the groups that I belong to did a "favorite things" gift exchange. (Not my favorite thing to do.) Almost everyone brought the typical types of gifts - candles, hand lotion, bath accessories. However, one of the woman made a tray of Rice Krispie treats. Everyone wanted them, and they were "stolen" many times.
@Bee, They are consistently the most popular of the many treats I make for kids and adults. They've even gluten free, and almost dairy free. It feels like cheating to make them, since there are three ingredients and no baking involved. Definitely more than the sum of their parts. And so much better than the packaged kind they're pretty much a different food.
AGREED on the packaged one. I don't bother eating those even when they have a big box out at work. Not worth it.
But the homemade ones? They are crazy good for how simple they are!
@Bee, I work in the kitchen at my church and we serve Wednesday night supper every week. Of all the desserts we prepare the hands down favorite is always rice krispie treats (from toddlers to 90 year olds)!!
@kristin @ going country,
I have some stainless containers that come with silicone lids, and I've been washing the lids in the dishwasher on top or bottom racks (with heated dry) for years now. I may just be lucky, so you do what feels safest to you.
@JD,
Also, call me crazy, but I don't like Rice Krispie treats at all.
@JD, I too dislike RK treats (with a passion), so at least there are two of us crazies. I don't care for the taste or the texture.
@A. Marie, A third crazy! I don't like marshmallows.
@kristin @ going country, I have had good luck melting down ends of candles to make new ones in empty cleaned-out tin cans. I just put them in a pan of water and melt over low heat. After pour out the liquid wax into my new candle containers, I just put the cans in the trash. Quick clean up!
@Plaidkaren, to those who dislike RK treats, I would counter that they've never eaten ones properly made.
@Sophie in Denmark,
I don't like marshmallows either! And like A. Marie, both the taste and texture of Rice Krispie treats are objectionable to me.
I wish this was true for me. Alas, I love marshmallows and I could easily eat an entire pan of Rice Krispie treats.
@kristin @ going country,
Go on Dec. 26 to an after Xmas sale and you'll find lights on at half price or cheaper. Also, try the thrift stores: our Goodwill has a holiday section and I get lights super cheap there. Just check to make sure they are not frayed or damaged, as they are "pre-owned."
@Lisa K, and all,
If anyone has any ceramic or glass holiday cups, dishes, vases, etc., you can put melted candle wax in there to make new candles. I usually use the unburned stumps of tapers (with unburned wicks in them)-- I secure them with a little bit of wax in the bottom, let it harden and then pour in the melted wax around the taper to make the wick. Anyway, this makes a cute little candle gift for someone, and it's really inexpensive.
@kristin @ going country, if you like peanut butter add some to the mix. Very good in my opinion.
@kristin @ going country,
Most rice krispies are not gluten free. The malt syrup contains gluten. If the box is not clearly marked gluten free, there is an ingredient with gluten. And this is the case with most rice krispies.
My Aldi version just has rice, corn syrup, and salt. Of course, that is not certified gluten-free because who knows what else was made in the plant. But for people who are just gluten-sensitive vs. those with Celiac disease, it would probably be fine!
@Kara, I didn't know that, because I buy the giant bags of Malt o Meal Krispy Rice, and those are specifically labeled gluten free. A good thing to keep an eye out for with different brands. Thanks.
Maybe only the brand name has malt syrup!
@kristin@going country,
Yes, brands to vary, so you're smart to look for the "gluten free" label on the box.
@kristin @ going country, when buying lights, if you want white lights, make sure they match. We bought several boxes of cool white (which are bright white) and one box of warm white, which is more of a yellow light. Fortunately we had enough of the cool boxes to do our front porch. Unfortunately, I now prefer the warm white lights. Our front porch looks like an airport landing strip! Oh well, at least we decorated.
@Selena, yes! I don't like them when they're soft and bendy. When I make them I cook the marshmallow mixture just a little longer than called for and press them tightly into the pan. That makes then crispy and not limp.
@Selena, true! Store bought is totally different than home made!!
@Selena, my mom made a pan of them every week for almost 39 years. 7 X 9 pan (which is still in existence, permanently scored for RK treats) which made a dozen treats. Two per day in dad's lunch, sibling and I got one each in our lunch on Monday. Not sure who consumed the two extras after we both moved out of the house.
@Kathy, Special-K bars (do they even make the cereal any more) are good also.
Cute pyrex container. Definitely a good find.
Frugal things---
● used my Christmas VIsa giftcard I recieved for a bill payment & checked out my gift stash for gift(s) for myself for same amount
● eating all meals at home which means eating down the pantry & freezer
● using my (intentional) dripping faucet water to flush toilet & put in dogs water dish. With continued temps in single digits & below zero I drip faucet on outside wall to ensure water doesn't freeze (cheaper than frozen/busted pipe).
● using new tarp(s) as windshield cover to keep snow/ice off windshield & pull off snow onto ground. Same thickness as winter windshield covers sold at stores, just not as pretty & covers more onto roof.
● teen picking up extra hours at part time job this week (last week of year). Will be off until Spring because not busy usually.
● packing up donations for local Free Store to get out of house & hopefully will get picked up for someone's holiday items. Since free store will be closed for holiday's (Christmas Eve until New Year) they have been busy.
1. I (finally!) put up the Christmas tree. This has to take the cake for frugality: it is the same artificial Christmas tree our family has used for years. In fact, it was purchased in 1970 from Pier One; our family got tired of the aluminum Christmas tree we'd been using for the past decade. I saw it when I was out "shopping" (actually, finding excuses to drive around town since I'd just gotten my license). It was a Peppermint Pier tree from Pier One and, unlike most green artificial trees of the era, it looked like the real thing. It's currently tilting to one side, and there are a few bare spots, but what do you expect from a 55-year-old plastic item? Anyway, it's up in the living room, in front of the picture window. It's just like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree: all it needed was a little love. (And our old ornaments, some of which date back to WW2 or before!) (Frugal fail: we didn't keep the aluminum tree. Mom sold it at a garage sale for three bucks. Our bad! Those things are selling online for over a thousand bucks each!)
2. The star on the tree needed replacing, or so I thought. Therefore, I went to our neighborhood Target store to look for one. No luck, but I got a free sample of Downey Ultra Scent. A fairly big bottle at that. Did not make a purchase, but hey, I got a free product. Meanwhile, I just put up the old star atop the tree.
3. Used my Medicare Advantage OTC card to buy some health products. Have to do it before this fiscal quarter is up.
4. Had a Walgreen's gift card that was given to me last September when I returned some T-shirts without the store receipt. I hardly ever go there. Gave it to my handyman for his Christmas bonus because that's where he gets his diabetic Rx.
5. Waiting until Jan. 2 to replace my prescription eyeglasses so that I can take advantage of the yearly Medicare Advantage deal put them on the card. Meanwhile, I'm making do with "cheaters" (store-bought reading glasses).
1. Scanning every receipt I can nab into Fetch. My oldest goes to the same grocery store we do, and sometimes I find his receipts lying around and I just scoop them up and scan them.
2. My youngest DS is taking the same class as I am this spring semester (seems like everybody needs to take Interpersonal Communication for whatever reason), so I rented the digital textbook just once and will have him read it on my computer when he needs to. I see no reason to a) purchase it or b) rent two copies.
3. On a similar note, I did purchase the online textbook for Nurse Aide training, as there was no rental option. I have a friend who went through A&P 1 and 2 with me who is taking the same course this coming term, and I sent her my log-in details for the online library so she can access it. I see no reason for her to purchase a $100 dollar textbook for a 4 week course! Fingers crossed it works for her.
4. Planning our trip down to Florida in January, and DH found out there is a military base in Georgia along the way (we break the drive up into two days) where we can stay in their lodging. This is much cheaper than an AirBnB, and significantly safer--some of the rentals we looked at were in very dodgy neighborhoods. If you're a civilian DoD employee, many military bases will allow you to bring family members in through the Trusted Travelers program, and this is one of them! We got a two-bedroom apartment for about $100 a night, which is not bad!
5. I needed to buy mozzarella cheese for lasagna tonight and was very happy to find that the large blocks of cheese were $2 off. Since I'll be making four lasagnas per the family's request, I needed quite a bit of cheese and home-shredded is best for melting.
Whoa. Four 9x13 lasagnas???
@Kristen, Yep! In the spirit of your post title, We <3 Leftovers around here! Probably nearly two will get eaten in one sitting, since everybody likes lasagna, and then we will have two pans for leftovers. Most people are home during the day, so they'll get eaten for lunches. DH has been known to eat leftovers for breakfast as well.
Lest you think I'm certifiably insane, rest assured I use oven-ready noodles, so no boiling of lasagna noodles required. They actually come together very quickly once I mix up the sauce. This will also use up a long-stored stash of lasagna noodles that need to get used up!
FFT, Happy Austenmas!! Edition:
(1) First, a very happy Austenmas (as some of us Janeites call JA's birthday) to all. Yes, folks, today is her actual 250th birthday! Toast her in your favorite tipple; JA herself probably would have thriftily drunk some of the mead or orange wine that her sister Cassandra and her friend and housemate Martha Lloyd made. It was only when visiting rich brother Edward that she would "eat Ice [i.e., ice cream] and drink French wine, and be above Vulgar Economy."
(2) I'm glad to have lent a hand in the production of issue 46.1 of JASNA's electronic journal, Persuasions On-Line, which "went live" at midnight GMT and is free to all. (If Googling the journal title doesn't work for you, I'll supply a URL.) There's an entire special section on all the 250th birthday exhibitions around the world, including the one at the Morgan Library & Museum that I was privileged to see.
(3) And it probably won't surprise anyone to learn that my next presentation to my local JASNA region (in April) will be on "Jane Austen and Thrift."
(4) On to non-JA-related FTs. First, Kristen's mention of lotion reminds me that I've had to break out some winter-weight lotion, since parts of my epidermis seem to be turning into alligator hide. My friends who used to own llamas gave me a bottle of O'Keeffe's Working Hands lotion last Christmas, and I'm using it now.
(5) And I've begun work on my annual Martha Stewart parody calendar for the Bestest Neighbors. This year, Martha collides with the work of the cartoonist and illustrator Edward Gorey. Some of the panels may be gorier/Goreyer than my usual!
@A. Marie,
Happy Birthday, Jane! Thank you for your work and sharing your world with us.
@A. Marie, Happy Austenmas to you! Maybe I should make the family watch my favorite Pride and Prejudice adaptation (1999 with Colin Firth) during dinner tonight...
And your calendar sounds splendid. I am a big fan of Edward Gorey, less so of Martha Stewart 😉 so that's a winning mashup!
@A. Marie,
Your #5 is awesome! Just this past weekend I looked up at a tree in my yard that has died, and thought, "This looks like Edward Gorey drew it!" How neat that you are incorporating him into your calendar this year.
And happy birthday Jane!
@A. Marie,
I read about a CD that has been released on the occasion of her anniversary, with piano music music that was either mentioned in her books (Emma) or of which it is known that it was played in the Austen household- I was thinking about you and your friends immediately!
@A. Marie, Happy Austenmas! I had never heard it called that before. I just finished reading Persuasion and found the 1995 movie on Tubi. Maybe I should watch it tonight to celebrate Jane's birthday.
@A. Marie, Happy Birthday Jane Austen! I'll be watching Clueless soon (my favourite adaptation of Emma and my favourite film in general)!
I cut through the middle of sturdy plastic lotion containers and scrape out the last of the lotion with a rubber spatula and put in small mason jar like yours. A serrated knife works for the thick plastic bottle. I have been doing this for years. ☺️
Lately my frugality has more to do with not eating out. But also:
*doing jigsaw puzzles that I find for cheap at thrift stores - same for books
*watching my free Netflix as a bonus of being a T-Mobile customer
*getting new PJ pants on sale at Old Navy, knowing I will wear them for years
*not buying new decor for Christmas, using all the wrap and gift totes I already have
*making a Christmas lunch for a friend at my house instead of us going out to eat
*and instead of ordering photo cards I bought a $5 box of cards from Hob Lob and included a 39 cent photo. I haven't sent photo cards in years!
I also listed a few things on Ebay, and I haven't yet decided how I will spend those proceeds, but I have a few ideas!
The “I Love Leftovers” on the Pyrex container brought up a memory from my childhood. I grew up in a family that didn’t save leftovers! As a kid, I never thought about it, because it was just how it was. Going back, as an adult, I was upset to find everything thrown in the trash! My husband, kids, and I always get an extra meal out of leftovers, plus if it was really tasty, we’d be looking forward to having more later. I also appreciate not having to cook every day! After that visit, the leftovers went in the fridge for us, instead of the trash. I guess my frugal note of the week is that my household saves (and eats) leftovers!
I love CeraVe for my face. It’s one of the few products that I don’t have a reaction to. Maybe not as frugal, but Vanicream is my go to for general body lotion. It’s very thick and I found it great for my kids’ eczema (and no allergic reactions).
Oh wow. So every night, any leftover food just got thrown away? Even soup?
@JenRR, we love leftovers for the same reasons!
@Kristen, The only soup we had was Campbell’s. If there was any left, it went down the garbage disposal with everything else.
That's so interesting, because soup is one of those leftovers that is actually so easy to reheat and serve. Other leftovers can be of lower quality the next day, but not soup!
@Juhli, Leftovers are awesome!
1. I sometimes work a couple of hours at my old job and this year I got invited to Christmas dinner at a local hotel with them. A very pleasant surprise!
2. When buying Christmas present for my partner I saw that the store had a 50% discount on a big fishing reel to mount on our boat so I bought it for his birthday in February.
3. Finished knitting some long wrist/armwarmers so I can use two linen tops with elbow length arms during the winter too. Used two skeins of a lovely silk/alpaca blend I found at our yearly flea market for just 50 cents.
4. It’s been -20 (-4F) here the last couple of days so when walking the dog I’ve been using the LL Bean snow pants and Kamik shoes an American tourist donated to the Salvation Army secondhand shop last year. First time using them and they are w a r m! I’m so happy that she thought of delivering them to the store when she didn’t want to take them back to the US.
5. A frugal fail, or mishap. When going to the Christmas dinner I changed my mind about wearing my trusted high heels that goes with everything and just chucked them in the living room corner. When my partner got home from driving me he found our dog happily munching away on the leather shoes. First time he has done this and hopefully the last as I’ve certainly learned a lesson in cleaning up after myself straight away.
1. I emptied the remaining CeraVe Moisturizing Cream from the pump container into a wide mouth container. Since the cream is thick I use a spatula to do this.
2. I made a pot of pulled chicken in the Crock Pot. Boneless, skinless breasts were on sale for $1.99/#. I shared some with a neighbor, we ate some, and I will freeze some.
3. CVS is loving on me. Last week they sent me $4 Extra Bucks and they did the same thing yesterday. I will stop today as I'm passing by and see what I can get for a minimum out of pocket. I tend to look for on sale food either for a healthy snack or to for food to donate.
4. I walked, carefully, despite the snow and ice. Fresh air and exercise are good for my mental and physical health.
5. I am finishing listening to The Woman in White, borrowed from the library. I appreciate the ability to listen to audio books at an increased speed.
@K D, I love the CeraVe Moisturizing Cream but hate that the pump doesn't go to the bottom of the container. I just scrape it out but would prefer to be able to use the pump.
1. I volunteered to make 4 dozen cookies for a vulnerable youth cookie-decorating party. I used Kristen’s sugar cookie recipe, and all I had to buy was sour cream. I didn’t have a circular cookie cutter, so I used a straight-sided drinking glass. None of the other team members brought cookies because- and the team leader told me this- they told her they couldn’t find a store that sold undecorated sugar cookies. No one else thought to make them, I guess?
2. Everywhere I look these days, I see signs selling Christmas light installation service. Instead of hiring help to put up my Christmas lights, since I’m getting a little old to teeter on stepstools over brick walks and edging, I called upon the 20-year- old granddaughter. who came over and hung them for me. Being taller than me, she could do most of it without a stool. All it cost me was paying for a delightfully chatty lunch at a quiet restaurant with my girl.
3. We are having a white elephant gift exchange for work this year and the gifts are to be humorous. I bought freezer bags and aluminum foil to give because I hated the idea of buying a gift just for it to be thrown away after the party. But, I put it in a Duck Dynasty gift bag someone had given me as a gag, used saved manilla packing paper as the “tissue paper” and tied the bag handles shut with black nylon mesh that had held a dog’s toy when I bought the toy.
4. My electric bill for November showed I used almost 20% less electricity than I did last November, even with some unusually cold days that required heat. I hope I can keep that up!
5. After 3 solid days of rain weekend before last, I couldn’t hang up all of my laundry, since my racks aren’t big enough for sheets. I folded the used bed sheets, unwashed, and put them aside in a bedroom, then washed them this past weekend along with this past week’s sheets. The warm afternoon sun and a cool breeze made short work of drying them.
@JD, that's the kind of white elephant gift I would love to receive! I still shudder when I think of my last one - I got a wooden tray with interesting colors on the flat part (ok so far) which I suddenly realized were made up of hundreds of detached butterfly wings (noooo).
@Suz,
Oh no! I'd shudder too! That's terrible.
We had a wicked cold snap this weekend, which led to our little dog wearing her $2.99 sweater from Ollie's Outlet for the first time. It's a tiny bit short on her, so I crocheted an extension that works fine. It definitely helped make her trips outside more tolerable, as she has thin, silky fur and the wind dropped the real-feel to zero degrees.
DH and I braved the Sunday afternoon member's only sale at Ollie's and saved 15 percent off 80 pounds of cat litter, dog treats, cherry pie filling, and bags of trail mix.
Had lunch out with my best friends from college and paid in cash to avoid the card fee. Ordered some calendars as Christmas gifts from Barnes and Noble to use some reward cash.
Many of my Pyrex lids have cracked. I need to check out the silicon lids.
- It's ugly sweater week at work and I'm wearing sweaters I've had for years.
- I was "Elfed" by an anonymous coworker and the treats were in a beautiful stocking. I am supposed to "Elf" someone else, so I bought a few small treats while I was at Trader Joe's. I won't use some of the items that were in my stocking, so I'll add those to the one I'm gifting.
- I've made homemade treats to share with friends and neighbors. I'll be gifting them in treat boxes bought on sale. Just have to keep DH from eating all the treats before I gift them!
- I shared sourdough starter with a friend. She accidentally killed the previous starter I had shared with her.
- Making cherry pit heating bags to gift from Christmas. I bought a huge bag of pits last year and am using fabric from the stash I inherited from Mom.
- Used the gift card from the Facebook settlement to buy stocking stuffers.
@Beverly, the term “elfed” is new to me. The regifting makes me speculate that some of those treats might get passed around your work over and over and over, like the proverbial fruitcakes that last for decades and keep getting regiven.
I'm thinking of getting a cashback credit card (all of mine are points cards) where the CB is more than the fees charged to pay utility and other bills.
I participate in those bank promotions as well. Thankfully, in Canada tax is not payable on the bonus given. I'm participating in an investment promotion now that will pay a bonus of $2,500 in April. It required a sizeable deposit and I was thankful to still have some proceeds on hand in cash from the sale of my condo last year to put toward this promotion.
FFT
1 - I again participated in a gift card promo and got $90 in Walmart gift cards as a bonus
2 - I received $48 in cashback from Rakuten offers
3 - I have not once purchased coffee since starting my new job and working in office a lot more. I don't care for the coffee chain that is in the building so that definitely helps. If there was a McDonald's in my building I'd be in trouble as I love their coffee.
4 - For my home renos being done due to my neighbour flooding my condo, I bought new fixtures directly from the manufacturer avoiding retail and middle man markups. I've decided to upgrade some items since I won't have to pay the labour to have them put in and while upgrades are not particularly frugal, it makes sense to do them now since the neighbour's insurance will cover putting in new or putting in the old.
5 - I participated in a promo and received $15 cashback for signing up for a $1, 3 month, e-subscription to a local newspaper.
That is my favorite size of pyrex container for leftover lunches at work that need to be heated. Thank you for the link to the lid replacements! I have bought Pyrex lid replacements before but didn't realize silicone ones were an option!
1. On our snow day last week, we went to the movies with a friend and I bought a large popcorn for the kids to share. I brought a few gallon ziploc bags, divided it up, then got my one free refill to cap them off.
2. I read the movie theater's website and saw that they now allow you to bring in your own water! Reading the policies paid off and we don't need to buy drinks now!
3. My husband set a rule on our Gmail account so that emails from our new library will stop going to the spam folder. The library said that this has been a problem for all Gmail users for the last 6 months, but what my husband did worked and we got the first email delivered to our inbox! Hopefully the $7 I paid in overdue fines last week will be the end of our big overdue totals.
4. I made our photo calendars that I do every year and got them done in time and with a discount. I ordered three and was $19 away from free shipping. Our shipping charge was going to be $18, so I just added another $20 gift to my cart. If I'm going to pay $18, it might as well be for a gift!
5. I used my new CVS extra care + membership to order some sale Lego sets for my kids for Christmas with free shipping. It'll get here in plenty of time and the prices were good!
1. I made applesauce out of some mushy apples. I used the cores and peels of the apples to make 2 jars of apple scrap jelly. I used some leftover bread to make croutons for my salads this week. I dehydrated some over-ripe cherries and grapes. I used the dregs of a jelly jar to make salad dressing for my salads.
2. I enrolled in a study on back pain through a local university. I will get a TENS unit to wear for 6 weeks and have 3 visits at the college. I will earn $600 and am hopeful the TENS unit improves my back pain.
3. I changed my monthly Amazon Prime membership to a yearly membership, which saves $40 for the year.
4. I purchased sourdough bread at Aldi for 50% off and some seasonal trail mixes for $1. The trail mixes will be stocking stuffers.
5. I went to my twice yearly dental cleaning yesterday. I also have my screening mammogram scheduled for tomorrow. Both are covered in full by my health insurance. Preventive medical care is always frugal.
1. No one in my life was selling Christmas wreathes to raise $ for their 8th grade trip so I saved $35 this year.
2. Filled up on gas while down the hill so saved about 40¢/gallon ($4.80 total)
3. Took lunch to library mural painting job instead of eating out (never mind that there are zero places to eat in the sorry little town where I am painting.)
4. Driving less, because I told the mural bosses that for the rest of the project, I will only work on days the library is open. So the 70 mile round trip will be made once a week until the mural is finished, because they will not give me a key to the building.
5. Pursued a couple of sales (abandoned cart on site, someone just “wishing”) and they came through.
I wish we had a buy-nothing group in our area. You've gotten some really nice things from yours.
This morning I used the last of the lotion from the container I cut open a couple of weeks ago. And I'm still using the sunscreen I cut open about the same time.
I used Pirate Ship to print a postage-paid label for the one Christmas package I needed to ship. It's a big savings over the post office.
I got my hair cut yesterday at Great Clips. I paid using the prepaid card I purchased last month. It saves me $3 a haircut.
One of my choir directors gifted us all cards for a free drink at a local coffee shop. While running errands yesterday I redeemed mine for a chai. A very nice treat.
Not really a frugal, but today we're taking cookie trays to some of the small businesses we use during the year -- our dog's vet, our mechanic, etc. Keeping in mind a recent post from Kristen, I included some purchased packets of nuts and pretzels in with the homemade cookies, to give everyone a choice.
I would like to switch to glass storage so will start looking for Pyrex containers that will work with the replacement silicone lids.
Frugal Wins - food edition
* We had a bag of carrots that tasted bitter raw so I made a big pot of vegetable soup. They taste ok when cooked.
* Started inventorying the pantry, frig and freezer again and then making a menu plan and grocery list. We also agreed on our Christmas Eve dinner with one son and DIL and what we will take to the large family Christmas Day gathering.
* Bought 6 day old bagels at the coffee shop and put 4 in the freezer.
* We love leftovers. Decades of cooking has dimmed the excitement of doing it every night. We do both cook fortunately.
* and one non-food item: I get high blood pressure readings at my new Dr's office but not at home. They had me bring in the blood pressure monitor I have at home (was my FIL's) to calibrate against theirs and the readings were the same. Today I have a phone check to see what my at home readings are and they are normal. No new medication needed.
@Juhli, and I forgot - apples that were not tasty raw were made into tasty applesauce.
1. Chanukah: we bought gifts for the children only (agreed on in advance,) wrapped in leftover tissue paper that my daughter decorated, and made cards out of paper that she'd decorated.
2. I gladly accepted leftovers from my mom on Sunday to take for lunch on Monday.
3. Mr. B and I bought one gift for each other (and had each texted the other EXACTLY what we wanted.) We both planned it months in advance to take advantage of sales. He got me a perfume, I got him a tie--we each went for fancy and frivolous this year 🙂
4. I learned that a workplace holiday lunch on Thursday is actually a potluck. I wouldn't have signed up if I'd known, because I work late on Wednesdays (and I don't usually like potlucks because I don't trust other people's hygiene. Sorry!) I set some dried chickpeas to soak and I'll make a chickpea/quinoa salad tonight. It'll keep until Thursday and uses pantry staples that I'm struggling to use up (I don't really like quinoa, so why do I keep buying it???)
5. We'd bought an extra Playmobil set last year when a local store was going out of business, and my daughter was THRILLED with it as a gift. I'd been thinking about getting her a MagnaTile set, but they are very expensive. I think we might be able to get some better deals second-hand in the new year, so we held off. She gets so many presents from her grandparents and other relatives that we didn't feel the need to buy much.
Oh, and to add: I don't know why, but CeraVe does NOT agree with my skin at all. My frugal skincare pick is Cetaphil bar soap for my face (lasts for months.) I do use a horribly expensive medicated facial cream for rosacea, but my insurance covers most of it. Since I put it on twice a day, I don't find that I need a moisturizer. As a teen, I used SpectroJel products. Inexpensive, ugly bottles and unscented (it's on the bottom shelf of the pharmacy for a reason...) but gosh it was great on my sensitive skin.
@Meira@meirathebear, I was very fond of Playmobil as a kid! We had two sets which got jumbled up so I had half a hospital and half a playground, iirc!
WOW! 900 dollars! Such a frugal win.I see a Honda Civic in your future! I love them,too!
Congrats on good grades and reimbursements.
What are you doing for holidays?Tree up? Special meals or activities?
We keep it low key.Just got our grown son to visit and we all went for a ride to see Christmas lights..some beautiful displays in neighborhood!
Making a nice crock pot beef stew for dinner lotsa leftovers for the coming week.
Feeling sadness over the recents news events, but increasing my prayer.
I also have a bank account-related frugal win this week.
1. My husband and I had to go to the bank in person to clear up an issue with our joint account (which we've had for over 30 years with no issues, but all of a sudden had a glitch no longer showing it as joint. It felt like we were renewing our wows signing the papers!)
While at the bank, we took the opportunity to open up a money market account with a much higher interest than our older savings account, free of charge provided we keep $15000 there.
2. I've been clearing our closets and taking clothes to a consignment shop to sell (they take a few, the rest I donate). With the consignment proceedings, I bought a pair of jeans, a cashmere sweater, and a silk dress for Christmas.
3. Since we are traveling and away from home this Christmas, we did not get a Christmas tree this year. Boo! But trying to look at the positives.
4. Brought home lunch leftovers from the company holiday office lunch, and had the leftovers for lunch the next day. Also brought home a warm hoodie with the company logo, nice to wear while working from home. And brought home the company Christmas gift, for which I had chosen something I've been wanting to get for a long time (a new lamp for our dark living room).
5. Extended the life of a flower bouquet gifted to me by discarding the wilted flowers, cutting stems and removing leaves, changing to fresh water in a smaller vase. I've been enjoying the same bouquet for four weeks now.
@Kristina M.,
I think you meant wedding VOWS, but I like wedding WOWs better. I hope you can always feel wows about your wedding!
@JD, funny I read right over that,,,I think my eyes autocorrect.
@JD, haha, that is too funny. There was another typo which autocorrected, but not to the right word. Wows is definitely better, and something I rather repeat every day than vows 😉
I travel for work and we are have a large per diem. When I eat out I tend to have leftovers. I bring containers and eat leftovers once I'm home.
Traveled last week
1. Steak medallions for 2 lunches
2. Left over short ribs for dinner Monday
3. Bread - avocado toast today and tomorrow, snack with almond butter.
1. Went to my friends annual cookie-baking party. Had fun, enjoyed baking and seeing her friends, and walked away with a couple dozen assorted cookies.
2. Prepped all the produce to eat before leaving for vacation.
3. Spent enough on my new credit card to get the 80,000 AA miles signing bonus, which is 3-6 round trips. First year is free, after that the perks are worth the $99 annual fee. Good seats alone are $35 per and I definitely use that more than 3x/year, early boarding means no struggle for overhead bin space, and accelerated miles accumulation pays for itself.
4. Quiet Xmas gift-wise this year. Not planned, that's just how it happened.
5. Continued to exercise without a gym, using gifted and thrifted hand weights, treadmill (new was worth it to me to get what I wanted, delivery, and set-up), and the outdoors.
6. Knitted a baby sweater for my pregnant friend using yarn someone else gave me.
1) When the weather was extremely cold, I did not need to leave the house, so I didn't.
2) I did go to church on Sunday. While I was out, I did my shopping at Aldi's and bought the "smaller" sizes of a ham and a turkey breast for the freezer, as they are not available year round. Also got two bags of the mini meatballs either to take to church lunch or have for carry-in at work. I like to use grape jelly and barbecue sauce to heat them in. Or cranberry sauce instead of the grape jelly.
3) The electric company "warned" me that I had burned $54plus in electricity by a day last week. My monthly budget bill is $80 and was due in just a couple of days. We live in an area where good farm land has been converted to solar panel and wind farm use and so I get a "lot" exasperated at their warnings, esp. when I am actually saving money.
4) Gas is $2.59.
5) I chose two ladies at the nursing home for Santa gifting. I had a VERY nice blouse that was too big and gave that, an organizer basket and regifted a new bottle of body spray to one in a recycled gift bag. For the other one, I had a VERY nice night gown/robe, an organizer basket and also a new bottle of body spray. There is so little space in the rooms and little things tend to end up on the floor unless corralled in some orderly fashion that I'm often giving some type of organizer just to keep things together.
This week we . . .
1) Meal planned and grocery shopped based on what was in the freezer and what I have energy to make this week. We are coming off of a long, very wonderful weekend in NYC, and I know I only have easy button meals in me this week. I made a big pot of spaghetti Sunday night and roasted chicken breasts in the crock pot yesterday. Then my husband assembled dinner with those items and some broccoli.
2) This morning I took our daughter for a scan that required anesthesia. Because she couldn't eat, I wasn't going to eat in front of her. Now that she is finally back with the doctor I am devouring the breakfast burrito my husband made me. I also have tea I brought with me in a travel mug I found in a free pile in our block. That mug came along at just the moment I was thinking I might look for one at Goodwill to replace another that broke. I have used it almost daily since I acquired it.
3) Yesterday I batched errands when I went out for an appointment and to pick up our daughter from school. I left with just enough time to swing by a jewelry store to have my finger sized for a ring resizing before my appointment. Then I sat in the pickup line and prepared the things I needed to put in the mail. After pickup we popped into the postoffice and then picked up our Aldi order. It was a busy afternoon, but very productive and completed with as little gas and time as possible.
4) Yesterday I also reviewed our family's list of medicines and ordered any we are close to needing refilling because we are at the end of our policy year. We paid our full out of pocket very early in the year, so everything has been at $0 cost to us since then. Last week I also called to follow up on a medical bill from 2024 that we do not owe but keeps popping up. Every time I call and explain the situation, the representative understands and says they will fix it. And then I get another bill. I will call later this week and continue to follow up until I finally get a confirmation that they have worked it out. It is crazy how much time one has to spend to keep from paying incorrect bills. (This one just got into their system because they were over estimating what our cost would be. Even though our insurance paid the claims and I paid the portion for which insurance said we were responsible, the institution never made the adjustments in their system and shows we owe the difference. From 2024. Maddening.)
5) I pull up our bank accounts on my phone every morning just to make sure nothing funky pops up. This morning I noticed that one of our accounts had $100 less in it than it did last week. We have to keep a $2500 minimum balance, so I quickly transferred the cash from another account. We got $100 out of the ATM last week, and without realizing it, pulled it from the wrong account. Hopefully I caught it before we get hit with a fee.
You gave your Civic savings a wonderful boost!
Expensive brands are not necessarily the best. The Dutch consumers association does comparative tests on all kinds of products and it appeares that one of the Lidl store brand shampoos was best from the test, and without microplastics! at only E 1,39 for a 400mls flask. The Lidl store (similar concept as Aldi) is not near my house but I make a regular detour to stock up on this shampoo and also their best in test washing powder, also store brand. Aldi has the best in test dishwasher tablets and I make sure I buy them there. Annually, you save loads.
This week we had a quarterly shopping spree to Germany, where we went to an Aldi. German legislation does not allow plumping up meats with water, so the meat there is far better quality at a comperable ptice. Also there are meats you don't generally see in NL supermarkets such as turkey, duck, goose, and bull. Well worth a try. Oh and Real Buttermilk (not the artificially soured milk variety).
Our bill was ridiculously low, and I am pleased to say we managed to skip the entire chocolate aisle and stuck to proper foods.
While we were across the border we filled up on gas, that is cheaper in DE as well. And had a very affordable lunch.
It does make an enjoyable errand run this way!
Other than that we ate down our freezer ahead of the trip, made yoghurt, line dried our laundry and picked up a high quality pillow for free, against rewards points we had saved at a local store.
Our mindful spending splurge this week is our poor sweet cat, who has a fever and high blood pressure, and has possibly picked up an infection somewhere. But blood test point to nothing chronic and we are in good hopes that antibiotics will soon set her to rights again. I am glad we did not wait to make an appointment. Cats hide their discomfort like a pro, and before you know it they are seriously ill.
@JNL, I hope your cat feels better soon!
1. Bought a pair of red boot laces to brighten up my old gray suede boots. Spent $7 at the local shoe repair shop. The pop of color brightens my spirits every time I have to put on my boots, which is every day around here. Will give away the previous laces on Buy Nothing.
2. Took my winter jacket to the library's sewing circle where I was able to use one of their machines to repair a hard-to-reach seam.
3. Walked inside a shopping mall with a friend. It was cold and snowy here, even by Minnesota standards.
4. Gave away a dog kennel and a miter box on Buy Nothing. I was one of two people interested in the miter box, so I passed it on to the second person when we were done using it for a project.
5. Saved $15 by spending $60 on an online grocery order via a Target Circle bonus. I picked it up when it was below zero and the employee was so hard-working, helpful, friendly, and possibly a target of ICE, that I gave him a $20 tip. That felt good and was the least I could do.
1. Happily accepted a new kid toothbrush and sample toothpaste from the dentist, along with no cavities for my oldest. Oh and a coupon for one of our favorite local pizza chains for some free cinnamon bread.
2. I made baked oatmeal for dinner using some ham glaze (it’s basically brown sugar and honey), as well as some frozen elderberries, blueberries, and nectarines that were tasteless when fresh.
3. I received 99 cents via Venmo from the Amazon prime class action suit. I guess I never paid for a full-price prime membership or it would have been more! But hey, I’ll take it.
4. Frugal for others: I have a large load of clothes and some toys in the car ready to take to Goodwill.
5. Also, I dropped off some greeting cards that were not to my taste at my counselor’s office, where in the main lobby area there is a table with a “please help yourself” sign. The table used to be full with food, school supplies, etc. back in the early post-Covid days, but I still like to pass things along this way that Goodwill would just throw away.
1. I started saving cookie crumbs, peanut crumbs, etc. in a sealed bag to use as sprinkles on yogurt.
2. I have learned to use less body wash on my volumizer, because it really does volumize!
3. I used up sour cream, canned mandarin oranges and pineapple, and apple chunks in an ambrosia salad.
4. I am exercising at home these days, avoiding the winter weather and thus saving on gas as well.
5. I hung a load of laundry to dry on the bathroom shower bar.
All small stuff, but it all counts!
We love and use the whole Cerave line.
thanks for the civic update. could we know how your extra spending money is being spent? not to be nosy or anything. glad you got an extra $900. that's not chump change.
Update: I just had a MASSIVE frugal fail! Early this morning, I heard something scurrying around above my bedroom ceiling. I also heard animal chattering. Thinking it was squirrels, I called the pest/wildlife control company. The guy just left.
Oh no! It wasn't a squirrel; it was a rat. I had to write a big fat check to get rid of the big fat rat.
Oh, and it gets worse. (Sorry for grossing you out, but this info may help you to avoid the same problem.)
This is something the exterminator told me: if you have plumbing vents, it is possible for rodents to fall into those vents and down into your plumbing pipes. He said he's gotten calls that ended up being dead squirrels underneath someone's toilet. (Told you it was gross!)
Usually, the home's occupant smells something stinky in the bathroom. The plumber is called, and finds a dead squirrel deteriorating under the potty. It would have fallen to its death some time before.
Per the exterminator, roofers do not commonly put screening on the plumbing vents. Screening prevents such things from happening.
The pest control company is going to plug up the places where the rats got in, and they are going to put screens and guards over all the vents on my new roof. I'm about to call the roofer and let them know that I am extremely displeased about paying them a ton of money for my metal roof and not having any vent guards installed!
It may be something for you to check on at your house. The exterminator said mine was the 5th or 6th call in a row he's had that has turned out to be rats.
I think this is not a frugal fail! It is just an unfortunate happening. 🙂
@Fru-gal Lisa, Tell us, how did *you* fail, that makes this a Frugal Fail rather than an unpleasant and pricy event?
To me it sounds like a Life Happens event: the sort of thing that *will* happen, eventually, although when and how damaging is impossible to predict. Ideally to be paid for from the Life Happens Fund.
Exactly!
Took a load of winter sweaters and jeans to the community closet. While there, I picked up a rolling soft sided suitcase that will be given to a foster child.
Received a class action lawsuit payout from a national bank, now I will close that account and set up a more integral high interest acct with my money manager company.
Scheduled my farm fuel tanks to be topped off on the last possible day of this year.
Ordered my whole farm Nat gas generator, paying for it this year, to be installed next year.
Applied for a land mgmt Firewood permit, as a family we can harvest dead or diseased trees for $4/cord. Our timber property surrounds a large tract of BLM land that is only accessible at this time thru our property, so we are harvesting the dead and diseased trees that are closest to our property lines. It's a great way to insure our property is protected during wildfire season.
using one of my $1/10 lb russet potato bags for a baked potato potluck dinner for our weekly volunteer fire dept meeting and subsequent barn basketball game.
our dermatologist alos suggest cerave. It's good stuff.
We are replacing closet bifold doors with french doors. We are doing the work ourselves to save on that cost. Bought the doors with a military discount.
Eating through the freezer and pantry which is making grocery bills pretty low this month.
Gave DH a haircut yesterday.
Using the wood stove to keep the propane bill down during this cold snap.
We have been cutting down small trees in our woods to keep the woods from getting too thick and to also to start drying for the wood stove next year.
Five frugal things:
I, too, am saving the last bit of a product -- mine is sunscreen. I cut off the end of the tube some time ago and clipped it shut -- however, I didn't clip off enough and my fingers are too short to reach the bottom, so now I have scraped it out into a little glass jar, like you.
One of my Christmas gifts for my hard-to-buy for grandsons is cookies on order. If they send me a text I will make cookies, and I will mail them to the one in college. To the one here in town, I will deliver. Okay, I know this is likely not to be frugal if they really get into it, but then it will be bonding experience. We'll see how it goes.
I went to a pizza dinner last night at my ex's along with other family members. I did not know if there would be an exchange of gifts, but just in case I took some hand soap in a jar emblazoned with one of his favorite sayings. I had picked it up at TJ Maxx for just such an occasion. (Turns out he gave me a larger gift, so I'll have to come up with something better in the days ahead.)
My ex lives next door to a gas station that he swears is the cheapest gas in town. I don't know if that's true, but it looked pretty cheap to me, so I filled up, though I was only down half a tank. In winter, I don't like to get under a half tank, anyway.
I have been following my doctor's advice to let water run in my ears when I shower. It helps to soften the wax, which is a big problem for me, and if I do this regularly I won't have to get them irrigated.
@Beth W, I love the cookies on order!
That's awesome that they reimburse you for the class at the beginning of the semester. My job had tuition reimbursement, but you didn't get it until the end of the semester after you submitted your grades. And I would have already had to pay for the next semester before I got paid for the last one, which made it tough sometimes.
Congrats on working that bank deal! Nice bonus for your car fund.
I have a loan through Lending Club. I received an offer to open a checking account through LC that offered a $200 bonus (with 3 direct deposits in 8 weeks) and a 2% rebate on my loan payment if made through the LC checking account. I just received my $200 bonus and my 1st 2% rebate, which makes me pretty happy and effectively reduces my interest on the loan!
Yay!! Good for you!
Kristen, you are honestly so inspirational, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
Frugalness, for me, usually produces its rewards when I cook. Even though I am a long time single person, I tend to make extra just so I have something to eat the next few days. I have not dined out in months. Today for lunch I finished off a hash Brown casserole that I made last week and portioned out so that I could just take the leftovers and put them in the air fryer and heat them up. It is a very hearty casserole that includes sour cream and cheese and bacon and cajun seasoning, something that warms you up as you eat it.
Yesterday was left over prime rib from a roast that I cooked on the grill last week. I don't buy a lot of beef just because of how high prices have become. This time of year they tend to have standing rib roast on sale and I have the store butchers cut it into individual steaks for me. Then I get 3 meals out of each steak.
Tomorrow I'm going to finish off a cream corn casserole that I also made last week and portioned out and I still have chili in the freezer that will get finished off sometime in the next several days. I can only get so much in my little freezer. Need to clear a few things out so I can make more to put in there.
At one time I was not a big leftover eater, never brought food home from eating out. Now, though, I put more though into what my body needs, verses wants. And, I will admit, you always find some type of rolled cookie dough in my freezer for when I get those cravings for something sweet. I will always make 2 batches of cookies when I'm putting a recipe together and one of them will definitely go in the freezer for later consumption.
1. I used a $10 off $50 coupon for groceries.
2. I followed up on an order of laundry detergent that never arrived. The company is sending me a replacement for free.
3. I have been seeing so many recipes for Christmas desserts online, I wanted to make something, but didn't want to spend money on expensive ingredients. I used ingredients I already had to make rice crispy treats and melted some mint-flavored dark chocolate to drizzle over the top. Very easy and delicious with no money spent.
4. I got out the same decorations I use every year and listened to the same music I have had for years while I put them up.
5. I accepted an offer of 2 free months of Spotify Premium.
My dermatologist just suggested CeraVe to me as well, so my frugal self winced a bit and bought it (it may be less pricy than some, but it’s definitely not CHEAP…). But let me add, since I was at Costco, I bought the CeraVe there for $24.99 for TWO of the 16-oz containers. (I stood in the aisle and did some online price comparisons and then leaped on this one.) And I really do like it. Seems like a good deal if you have a Costco membership.
Many hospitals (or other companies who reimburse tuition) do not issue funds until they have proof of your grades at semester’s end
Yep! I was surprised mine is so quick to reimburse.
I hadn't filed taxes for 2 years (state), 3 years (federal) so I got that taken care of when the federal government reopened. Apparently I made some fairly major errors on the state forms, and ended up owing over 1K. After some swearing and grumbling I chose to pay it in full using a credit card. At the same time I took care of some small medical bills. Not frugal, but it had to be done. And I've been working overtime all month long (6 days a week, between 10 and 12 hours a day) this will continue at least to the end of December so I can pay things off fairly quickly.
I have been choosing to eat most of my meals (except for lunch at work) at home which is frugal.
I also have been doing lots of surveys, using Fetch Rewards and NCP, etc to build up my stash of Amazon gift cards. I call my house "the house that Amazon built" lol because a lot of stuff that I've needed for the house has come from Amazon (for example, both toilets, one of the automatic litter boxes, etc). Also I half jokingly say that my house is decorated in "early garage sale" as I have not paid for most of my furniture or lighting. Dining room table was my mother's, living room table belonged to my stepmother, living room sofa was my dad's (ditto for refrigerator and stove as well as the entertainment center, bookcase, and gun cabinet--both of which were repurposed as storage as I am a dyed-in-the-wool packrat!!), dining room sofa and one chest of drawers and a queen size mattress and two more chairs were given to me by my next door neighbor. Former roommate left behind two excellent chairs and the 2nd chest of drawers.
Sorry for the long post but I felt the need to count my blessings after a no good horrible very bad night at work!!
1) Drove the electric car to & from the office, to avoid paying for gas.
2) Both teens are working at the restaurant (DS19 took over for DS18 when he left for college, but now both are in town) & getting some hours, thanks to holiday parties & the like.
3) Made a big batch of chicken noodle soup & a double batch of chicken shawarma this weekend. The soup also used up some extra noodles, and the chicken shawarma made a great dinner for four + leftovers.
4) Did not want to commute in this week (very early starts thanks to London calls), but made it happen as the boss is visiting. Took advantage of free lunches, bananas & fizzy water, so at least there was that. And, a delicious free dinner out last night, although would have preferred leftovers at home. The company was nice, but I hate driving at night.
5) went on a free hike this weekend. We live next door to a nature preserve, and I try to remind myself how fabulous it is to be able to walk into the preserve from our house. I saw coyotes, lots of deer & wild turkey, and a bunch of birds. It was, as always, so lovely!
Thank you for all these ideas, Kristen and everyone!
Can someone answer this for me, please?:
I really want to start using the Buy Nothing group in my area--I have a lot to give and would like to ask for some things.
However, as a woman living alone, the safety issue has stopped me so far. I don't want to give strangers my address!
How do some of you handle that? Thank you in advance.
@Kimberly,
Sorry for a late reply. I hope you get to see this.
I don't have a buy nothing group, but I used to use Freecycle some. I would only meet in the daylight hours at a very public place, such as the parking lot of a busy grocery store. I know some people use police stations as their meeting spot. I never met anyone at my house or theirs. If it is possible to get a friend or co-worker to come along, I'd recommend that, too.
@Kimberly, You could offer to drop off the items or meet up in a public place.
Chase offer not applicable in Alaska. That is very common. And forget about free shipping in most cases (but not Amazon. They give Prime shipping to even our remotest villages, and I mean the ones reachable only twice a week by plane or copter...)
Frugalities:
1. Neighbor on one side left for vacation and we are watching their giant dog. Since we already have a 185 pound Dane and a 87 pound lab and something big mix, we thought, "how hard can it be to bring in another dog for a week?" Pretty hard as it turns out. But the guy usually snow blows our driveway when he does his, so I consider it frugal to help in the areas we can knowing we will reap what we sow.
2. They left 6 dozen eggs for us because they have been unable to keep up with how fast their chickens are laying eggs. We already had 2 dozen, so we are freezing some, passing some on, and eating egg-centric meals for the next few weeks.
3. Neighbor on other side found a Harry & David box of pears on her porch. At 41 below, they were quite frozen by the time she saw them. She told me she was throwing them out. I took them in and am in the process of making pear jam with them.
4. It has warmed up to 21 below as I write this but we are still pouring through the heating oil. They delivered 188 gallons today, for $706.12. If I pay today, I pay only 700.12, so I did. Six dollars is six dollars!
5. Mailed off a book I sold through a USPS mystery shop.
I just got back from a trip to NYC with my husband, which certainly cost money, but I think I actually succeeded in making it a frugal win of a trip:
1 - Paired it with a business trip on his part so that his flights were covered.
2 - Used credit card points to book both our hotel in Midtown Manhattan and tickets to the Rockettes show for free!
3 - I took the subway + bus to and from the airport for $5.80 total vs taking Uber for $140+ round trip. It was great on the way into the city, much more crowded and I stood with my carryon luggage backpack the entire way to the airport ... but I consoled myself and my tired feet with knowing how much money I was saving, ha!
4 - My lunch one way was a hot dog at a cart for $5 in Central Park - overpriced hot dog, but cheap lunch and totally checked an "iconic NYC experience" box for me.
5 - We thought it could be fun to ice skate at Rockefeller Center but looked up prices, $90/person at the cheapest!! We decided it wasn't worth that to us, so we didn't book it ... and then we were so cold anyway that we felt fine not being on ice skates!
Kristen, I thrifted the very same Pyrex container !, and then I bought the silicone lid(s) for it because it did not come with one. Based on your recommendation, I too am replacing the plastic lids with silicone as they wear out.