Five Frugal Things | It never hurts to ask!
1. I got a 50% discount on a medical bill
We had a billing mixup and just ended up getting a bill from a January visit.
When I called to pay it, I asked if there was a discount for paying in full, and much to my surprise, the guy offered 50% off.
Two lessons here:
- it never hurts to ask
- always let the other person make the offer first. I would never have asked for 50%!
Note: I have had varying success rates with asking. For instance, one time I asked for a small discount on a $1400 ambulance bill for a 5 minute transport ride, and I got nowhere.
But I figure it only takes a minute to ask over the phone, and the worst I can hear is no.
2. I ordered two add-ons with my Mighty Fix
You know how I have that silicone lid that I adore for covering half a watermelon?
Well, I decided I'd like one that could fit on half a cantaloupe. Amazon does not have the best price on Lekue lids, and besides, they didn't have the size I wanted anyway.
So, I hopped on Mighty Nest and added a smaller lid to my Mighty Fix. You get a nice discount for things you add to your fix, plus you get free shipping on the whole thing.
Here's what the Mighty Fix is, in case you've missed it before.
3. We got a waterfront hotel night for $94
Our anniversary was last week, but there was a much better deal for an upcoming weekend, so we decided to have a belated night away.
We booked the hotel using my brother's family and friends discount, so I'm sorry to say that this frugal tip is not useful for you!
(In case you are worried about this being risky: it's a local hotel, so no flying necessary. We'll wear masks in common areas. And this list ranks a hotel stay as fairly low risk.)
4. We had a $24 anniversary dinner
We usually go to a semi-fancy restaurant for our anniversary, and they do offer outdoor seating, but the weather was not good.
So, we went to a favorite pizza restaurant that we used to sometimes visit in the early days of our relationship, and we ate our pizza in the car, on plates we'd brought from home.
It was not the fanciest anniversary dinner we've ever had, but it WAS one of the cheapest. 😉
Also, a date night in your car does make for a quiet atmosphere. Plus you can tailor the background music exactly to your liking. 🙂
5. I bought some things on sale at Costco
Costco's regular prices are good, certainly. But when things like my contact solution or dishwasher detergent go on sale, I try to make a point of buying a few extra to hold me over until they go on sale again.
I have been enjoying the car picnics! Our truck has a really wide fold down in the middle and it makes a great table.
For the last 6 months we've had 2 house payments, HOA payments, water payments, etc as we had moved into a new home just a few weeks before lock down. Showings in that 55 and older community totally dried up. However, 2 weeks ago we closed on the sale of that house and now our mortgage is about 1/5 of what it used to be! Also refinancing that balance to a lower interest rate (less that 2.4% - how can that be!!!). We plan to pay it off fast but the payment on the entire house was more than I was comfortable with in the event we hit a financial bump in the road.
I think that going through the COVID lock down gave me (and others) a bit of a reality check on how quickly things can change. So I'm on a mission to pay off the house and be debt free.
I want to thank each one of you for inspiring me to be more frugal and use what I have! We live in such aconsumer driven society! All the ideas I glean from this site are so helpful in my battle to be more frugal and using what I have ( alot!) instead of running to the store when I feel I need to change it up!!
Thank you all again for your continued Inspiration!!
1.) Aldi has the cooler bags again. I already bought one last year and my mom wanted one so I picked one up for her. For $7 it was well worth it.
2.) Found a pair of Melissa and Doug gardening gloves for my daughter on sale and bought them for her so she can help pick cucumbers without getting pricked by them.
3.) Speaking of cucumbers, I plan on making some pickles and/or relish with them. I just have to find some good recipes. I don't have the stuff to preserve pickles but I can do refrigerator pickles.
4.) Did yet another mend to my jeans. This time it was the stitching near the edge of the pocket. Of course after I do that I found another mend in them. No, I'm not giving up on these pants. I've had them for around seven years now and I don't plan on retiring them until I absolutely have to (or some punk kid buys them off of me.)
5.) Working on cleaning up my house and figuring out what would make it nicer. I've unfortunately sucummed to some serious house envy lately, particularly kitchen envy. So I'm trying to make do with what I have and not worry as much about other people's stuff.
Though I do confess, my kitchen is pretty difficult to cook in at times and more prep space would be great.
With a stock pot that goes 2" deeper than the top of a pint jar, you can make pints of pickles in a waterbath. Put a towel in the bottom of the pot to keep the jars from bouncing as it boils. It's only 10 minutes for pints. 🙂
Good to know! Any good recipes?
Honestly, I use the Mrs Wages packets — they are good! But right now it seems like everyone and their neighbor is learning to can, so they might be a little hard to come by. For the sake of safety, you should read through this — https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can6b_pickle.html — and the Ball Preserving & Recipes facebook page is a good one to follow. 🙂 They had a dill spears link just the other day. Hope you enjoy it!
What Karen said -- you don't need special equipment for pickles or anything that only requires a water bath to can. I even saw someone do a small batch (two or three jars) in a tall saucepan. Instead of a towel, I tie together jar rings with the twisties from bread packages and use them to keep the jars off the bottom of the pot.
I re-use classico spaghetti sauce jars or any that have rubber seals inside for my pickles. I finally found a sweet pickle recipe that stays crisp. The dills were nasty. Good thing nobody loves them here.
I never can pickles because they're never as crisp as refrigerator ones. The recipe I use for refrigerator dills (makes five quarts):
6 pounds cucumbers
5 heads dill (or about a half teaspoon dried dill weed)
5 large garlic cloves, peeled and lightly smashed
Brine
4.5 cups water
3.5 cups distilled white vinegar
.5 cup canning and pickling salt
Heat brine until salt is dissolved (microwave or stove top).
Cut blossom end off cucumbers, then cut into spears or rounds. Into each clean quart jar, drop in a head of dill (or the dill weed) and a garlic clove, then stuff full with the cucumber spears or rounds. Fill with hot brine to cover and put on the lids. Leave on the counter to cool a bit, then store in the fridge. I've kept mine up to eight months with no issues.
Oh, and you need to leave them in the refrigerator for at least a week before you eat them. If you find the brine too strong when you open them--I like really sharp pickles, but not everyone does--you can pour out just a bit and replace it with a bit of water, then shake it and leave it another week to tone it down.
These are almost exactly my grandma's pickles! She used diced garlic from a jar, which worked just the same. If you do want to get them out of the fridge, try the low-temp pasteurization method on the NCHFP site. It's the only way I have ever had pickles turn out crisp.
Good morning, Kristen and other frugal folks!
1. The garden is still cranking out tomatoes. We've been having a deck redone and I've given the contractor lots of tomatoes. In turn, he's brought us corn and spaghetti squash!
2. I saw one and a half gallons of Sherwin Williams paint on Facebook Marketplace for 10.00. Picked it up Sunday and it's a little brighter than the paint chip showed. Sherwin Williams will retint for free so I'll research what my options are.
3. My sister redid her porch for fall and it had me itchy to at least see what I had. I looked through pinterest and my fall stuff and came up with several cute ideas which won't cost anything. I know pinterest tends to make some people discontent but it just makes me rethink and reuse what I have.
4. I did pull out a few fall things I won't use again and plan to list them on marketplace this week. I don't have tons of luck selling but we'll see.
5. I've been using a discount grocery nearby who has some pretty amazing deals. Last week I bought Hormel bacon, a huge bag of frozen spinach artichoke dip and Belvita biscuits. They get new items in weekly and post at least the frozen shipment coming in.
Be safe everyone!
We are hopefully in the last week without a kitchen, so much of our frugality is food related:
1) Avoided all takeout, cobbled meals together at home. Costco has a variety of easy options that don't require much prep. More expensive than what we'd usually buy, way cheaper than takeout.
2) Continuing to use garden product (particularly the tomatoes & jalapenos)
3) Sold a few things on eBay. It's been a slow few weeks, but things are trickling out of the house. I package everything in reused Amazon packages.
4) I almost ordered a pair of my favorite shoes (Rothys, they are washable) & reminded myself I've worn my Rothys exactly once since WFH started, and I'll be doing this for another year. They'll have another sale before I go back to work.
5) Went through my closet again with an eye towards things that I just won't wear for the next year+, due to the ongoing WFH. Listed additional items on eBay, found things to donate.
I love your date night. We did that for my birthday this year -- it was different, but also fun.
Although I love your melon covers and wanted to buy one, I decided I couldn't justify spending money on one because I already have a solution. I just turn mine upside down on a dinner plate and store in fridge like that. Works great and I don't have to find somewhere to store a special cover. So that's my first frugal thing.
2. got a hand me down stove/oven from my niece to replace my 1970's model. Lol, not going to lie, I miss the old one.
3. picking up some free bookshelves today for organizing our storage room (old woodshed).
4. Scored some free mason jars from a friend for ongoing canning of garden produce
5. Ordered online two pairs of riding breeches for my 13 yo who has had a huge growth spurt, marked down from $159.99 to $49.99. Seriously cannot complain about such a deal. We usually buy second hand but she is long and lanky and getting harder to find second hand that fit.
And one more, bought several baskets of discounted peaches to can for winter. If I get to it before the kids eat them all.
1. Another home hair cut, 10+ years and counting! For the record, my hair is long (mid-back) with a tapered front (shortest section is chin length), and it's super easy to do. I taught myself after the last time we moved, as I didn't want to go through the ordeal of finding a new hairdresser. 9/10 would automatically try to thin my *very* thick hair--even after I told them not to! I only wish I'd gone home cut sooner. At least if I screw it up, it's free. 😛
2. FINALLY conquered the three giant zucchini in the fridge! We don't even have a garden, but enough friends do to make up the difference. Likewise, we plowed through ten pounds of gifted tomatoes this weekend via mozzarella salad and tomato soup.
3. Scheduled general maintenance for our beloved beater. We've only owned it for three of its thirty years, but we like to treat it as though it has thirty more! It's worth a small outlay to keep our "Don't laugh, it's paid for" ride going strong.
4. I bought one fitted sheet to replace two. After ten years, our current pair of summer sheets were past the point of being saved by a dye bath, which is how I usually extend the life of things. Since the actual sheets and pillow cases are still fine, I just replaced the fitted sheet with a color (black) that matched both sets (purple and green).
5. Saved other people money! I cruised Michael's and discovered a medley of fantastic things on clearance, which I notified my artist friends about. One saved on an air compressor (for air bush painting) that was $50 instead of $110, and another scored a twelve-pack of high-end ink that was marked down from $65 to $15!
I never understood why they would want to thin my thick, curly hair. It looks better with volume and life, not thinned out.
I just cut my own now, as well, and get more compliments on these cuts than I did on the professional cuts. I am shy about speaking up for myself at a salon, so now I just give myself the cut I always wanted. ♀️
Your hair sounds gorgeous! You’re right to not trust anyone else with it when you can get it just right, yourself.
Aww...thank you. Thick hair is a blessing, I think! You are apparently also gifted with the luxury of it. We are so cute! Lol
I went salon free after my new guy gave me a haircut and did a great job trimming and shaping my hair. My hair looked really good and my coworker who knew I was going to get a haircut told me it looked great and asked where I went. When I told her, she said definitely keep him as your stylist. About a year later he had me caped, and was letting my hair down in increments to trim each layer, when his neighbor who is a hairdresser came over to say hello. She watched him trimming my long hair and she commented that he was doing a great job, but that he wasn’t taking off very much, then she mentioned that I have really thick hair and it really needs to be thinned out. As I heard her comments, it made me feel so happy that it was my guy who was wielding the shears, not her. I am sure she would have cut off more than I wanted as well as just the thinning shears to my hair. He took off less than an inch, just as I asked, no more. He doesn’t own a pair of thinning shears and he certainly wouldn’t use them on my hair as they cause split ends. I definitely don’t miss dealing with the scissor happy stylists that ignore what you tell them and just do what they want. It was rare that I would get two haircuts in a row at the salon that I was happy with. Now I never get a haircut that I don’t like and I love the added benefit that I am saving hundreds of dollars a year. So I agree that getting your haircuts at home is a smart move.
That's a fantastic discount on your bill. The best I've ever been offered is 30%. Way to go!
1. I rarely go to Trader Joe's, as the one near my office doesn't carry much that I want, and I can't stand produce priced per each as they seem to do a lot. But, I stopped in on a chance, and found several organic items for less than the other stores around me. I spent about $25, and I figure I saved about $10-12.
2. Not frugal yet, but Aldi says they are coming to the town where I work. One problem is that one of their two preferred choices for a location is waaaay across town from my office. It would be nowhere near another store I would shop at, but closer to the universities (there are two universities and a branch campus of a third college in this town). I hope they pick the closer-to-me location.
3. Ordered seeds for fall planting.
4. Discovered native milkweed popping up in a flower bed. That's fine with me - the monarchs use it for food and I didn't have to pay a dime to get the milkweed there.
5. The beauty berries are ripening, so it's time to pick them and make some jelly. I let several volunteers of this wild native grow up under some of my trees. The clusters of magenta berries are particularly pretty under the white blooming crepe myrtle.
Hope you get your wish about the Aldi location, but as far as I'm concerned Aldi is worth the drive! It's nice if you can go often but well worth a drive for a stock up trip.
I have never seen beauty berry before. It must not grow in my area. I looked up a picture of it and it looks beautiful! What does it taste like?
Not much, when raw, but they make a fine jelly and I'm thinking about trying a wine out of them. They are lightly sweet but have a large seed for their size. I make an infusion out of them in water to make jelly with, same as one would when making an herb jelly. Bonus -- the leaves, when steeped in water, make a natural mosquito repellent spray!
I live in North Florida and they grow well here.
I am delighted you got the 50% off the medical bill, but quite taken aback by what that suggests! If a provider is willing to discount 50% for the certainty of cash up front, it makes you wonder how much of their bills they generally collect. Wow! (There’s always the possibility they are experiencing a greater cash crunch than usual right now, I suppose.)
I only have one, but I'm pretty happy about it. We decided to cancel our upcoming vacation because of COVID. We were canceling early enough to get back everything except a $200.00 deposit. It's a house we've rented every year for six years, so I thought it was worth asking to move our reservation to next year, rather than getting a partial refund. I thought it would be a win for everyone. We don't lose $200.00, the owner gets to keep the money we've already paid, plus have a booking already for next year, and we have half of our 2021 vacation paid for already. I know it ties the money up for a long time, but it's money we'd spend anyway, and I'd rather just pay super early for next year than lose the $200.00 deposit.
1. Received a credit of $250 from our dishwasher purchase due to installation problems and delays.
2. Needed to replace tires on my car - there was a $125 rebate.
3. I've been slow to buy outdoor toys, even though we are constantly at home this summer - we have inherited a large swing set and a battery operated rideable car for our toddler from family with grown children.
4. Stretching the time between grocery orders - I'm following a free 2 weeks meal plan from Budget Bytes and when I start school, I will pay for the month long meal plan, so that we have a grocery list and recipes my husband can follow when I have classes.
5. Bought some clearance garden decor - toddler really loved the garden gnomes in the neighborhood, so I appreciated finding one on sale. Also bought 2 bird feeders which have been immensely enjoyable for us and our cats.
6. It's time to replace our cats litter boxes - originally was going to buy from PetSmart, but at $25/box I checked target's website and found similar style boxes for $10/box.
Our anniversary was in April, long before anything opened up. I packed a lunch for us and we parked overlooking a lake to eat. I brought a battery-operated candle for ambiance. Ha. Glad you found a way to celebrate.
We traveled recently and spent 2 nights in a hotel. We had minimal interaction with people--breakfast was served in a common area but it was all pre-packaged, so we got there early to grab and go and were able to beat the crowds (granted, not ideal if you are hoping for a lazy morning). We took wipes to sanitize all high-touch areas and pulled the bedspread down. My hubby was the designated "front desk" person and the check-in and -out process was pretty streamlined so that went quickly ... of course we wore masks anytime we were in common areas. All to say that while nothing is without risk, staying at a motel/hotel can be done in a low-risk manner and I hope you have an enjoyable time with your hubby. How many years of wedded bliss?
1. Made egg salad out of the last half dozen eggs about to expire.
2. Used lots of garden basil for Caprese salad.
3. Limiting grocery shopping and making do has greatly reduced our food budget. Paid off all credit cards this month.
4. Cancelled magazine subscription that wasn't being read.
5. Negotiated some ongoing medical treatment post stroke and received medicine for free in August.
1) Opened new checking and savings account with a promotion to make $500 if you keep a minimum balance and have direct deposit. Given the dismal interest rates these days, this works for me.
2) We made our fourth batch of oven-roasted tomatoes that we then cover with EVOO and stick in the freezer for the long, cold winter.
3) When I went to the super-cheap Market Basket, they were out of one ingredient that we needed (perhaps wanted would be a more honest answer) for 3 recipes for this week. Partner when to more expensive store to get it, and while he was there, I asked him to get a couple loss leaders. Saved 11.67
4) Partner really wanted lunch from a restaurant (sushi). I convinced him that he should just get some fried chicken from the grocery store when he went there. So. Much. Cheaper. (okay, not healthier or better, perhaps, but these are desperate times!).
5) Switching internet services to save 50% for the first year
Happy anniversary! Our 20 year anniversary was a week ago today. We picked up lunch and ate it in the car after a hike and picked up dinner and ate it at home. Not the most exciting but it was nice to be together without this kids.
Happy Anniversary! My FFT:
1. We refinanced our home and locked in a fantastic 30 year rate.
2. My husband continues to sell through his LEGO collection, and he modified some boxes to ship them in so he wouldn't have to buy pricier shipping boxes.
3. Sold some partially used Singapore Math books on Nextdoor - clearing out things we don't need and getting them to someone who can use them -yes!!!
4. Our credit card had an award credit to Dell.com but since we have chromebooks and apple computers, didn't think we'd be able to use it. Ended up getting mice and surge protectors since our kids will be attending school from home and have greater tech needs.
5. Our steam mop died and I was about to order a new one on amazon but saw that Kohls had a similar model but it was priced higher. Searched for some coupon codes, applied some kohls dollars and found a gift card buried in my purse. Ended up not paying anything out of pocket.
1 -I bought 35 different sized canning jars, plus three canning tools I didn't have at a yard sale for $1. It all came in an old tub that I plan to plant in.
2- I bought a brand new unopened dehydrator plus two extra trays at a yard sale for $4.
3 - I've been dehydrating some free oranges for my winter potpourri (before they go bad)
4-I roasted four pints of roasted grape tomatoes
5- I was given a dozen free plums & one zucchini
You made out at the garage sales! Jealous!
August has been extraordinarily un-frugal. My husband ran over a bungee cord hook and it embedded itself in the tire, wrecking the tire. We had a long work day and then a trip planned the next morning after that...resulting in an unexpected car rental due to not being able to get the tire replaced in time. That was, all in all, a surprise $712. The frugal part? We save. We save all the time and we save a lot. I hate spending the money but I am so grateful that we are frugal enough to HAVE the money and didn't have to cancel our trip to the dunes (first homeschool field trip that I organized for a big group of friends. It would have sad to have to skip it.) Saving for the win!
I hope all of you have had a better time of it!
I feel your pain! (with memories of a certain roofing nail)
So great that you saved and were ready for one of those inevitable annoying "extras"
My 5 frugal things for the week:
1. I traded mass emailing customers for a friend who owns a small retail shop for product (10 handmade goats milk soaps, a batch of assorted greeting cards and a lovely candle). It took me about 2 hours to do the emailing task.
2. I made a second batch of pasta sauce from the items in our garden. It's a lot of work, but I'll be thanking myself in February.
3. I traded banana peppers and tomatoes from our garden to the neighbor for three dozen fresh eggs.
4. Attended parking lot barre fitness class (evolved from zoom class) for half the price of studio classes.
5. I bought a marked down angel food cake for $2 and used it for two desserts. In the first I topped it with fresh raspberries I foraged out back tossed in some natural sugar given to me by a friend. I made a quick raspberry coulis that I smeared on the plate for the angle food cake to soak into. The second dessert I had a few maraschino cherries in juice in the fridge, so I poured the juice over the cake and topped it with chopped cherries and drizzled it with hot fudge sauce.
I received a $50 Staples reward in the mail, so I ordered items online we could use like envelopes, pens and notebook. Shipping to my home was free.
I’m remembering to use the roughly $8 balance for small purchases on a $25 Visa card I received for Christmas.
I use paperbackswap.com for ordering used books. My cost is $.49 per book plus a credit from sending a book to someone else (postage is usually less than $3). I can’t always find the book I want as soon as I would like, but if I can wait it will eventually be listed.
I started a philodendron plant for my daughter from mine.
I have a surprise plant growing in the area I dump my compostable veggie scraps (it isn’t a proper compost but I feel like it is better than the landfill). I can’t wait to see if it produces anything.
That is an awesome discount on the bill! I hear you about the ambulance cost. We got a bill for $15,000 (yes, thousand) when one kid had to be medically airlifted. Thankfully I had been warned of the cost or I might have fainted.
I harvested carrots, swiss chard, green beans, zucchini and tomatoes. I get seeds free from the seed bank. So the only cost to my garden is water. I'm thankful for the food, since prices are rising.
I received notecards from a Buy Nothing member. I send a reasonable amount of letters, so they will be helpful. It's so nice to get real mail.
I have resisted buying frozen yogurt by making smoothies at home in the evening. We are going for frozen yogurt for our anniversary on Friday.
I'm reading an investment book (Millionaire Teacher) so that I can be better informed when we talk to our financial planner. The book caught my eye since my husband is a teacher!
I'm trying my hand at felted wool coasters for my etsy shop. I have a special order for some. I will make several before I have them good enough to sell.
A supplement I buy from Costco goes regularly on sale just about the time I need to buy more. It's a lot of money to buy more that one, but so far for the past few years that has worked out well for me.
FIL bargained with our generator tech for $100 off our combined bills so yay!
Someone was parting with a small child's slide so picked up for free for grand baby.
We are parting with a 55 year old Drexel fluted cabinet that my son got for free many years ago. We should be able to get $500 out of it. It's very unique and the few I could find have sold for more than 625.
Bought a $20 can dispenser for my cabinet, makes it so much easier to see what canned goods I have. Well worth the $.
Saving by not running the air. It has been close to 90 for months and today is....73. Down right cold!! We schlepped thru the last couple of days without it cuz it cools off at night.
As soon as I read the title of your post, Kristen, I thought of WilliamB. If I'm remembering right, he's a big believer in it never hurts to ask! And it's so true.
It's true - I am! I'm complemented that you remembered.
1. I made sun-dried tomatoes using cherry tomatoes from our garden, used herbs from our garden for multiple meals, used basil from our garden to make pesto, juiced limes and froze the juice before they went bad, and dehydrated almost-bad grapes to make raisins (so much better than store bought raisins!!)
2. My son's new school doesn't allow kids to wear jeans that have been patched. Boy-moms, you know how hard they are on the knees of pants. So, to avoid buying extra pairs halfway through the school year, I patched them now; I figure it will prevent holes in the knees. I cut patches from old jeans and just glue them in with liquid stitch glue. Works great!
3. Picked up 2 new bottles of hand sanitizer from Buy Nothing
4. My neighbor gifted us 2 zucchinis, which I used to make zucchini banana muffins for my son's lunches. It made about 2 dozen muffins.
5. We bought all the supplies for my husband to fix rust spots on his car roof. Quote to have it fixed was $650. Supplies cost around $50.
What a strange policy re: patched clothes! Don’t they know how kids (and budgets) work? Good on you for thinking of a clever preventative measure.
I know!! I agree totally! The uniform shirts are also crazy expensive.
How anti-ecological this policy is. There is a tradition in Japan in which visible repairs are made to cracked china and other broken items. The resulting repaired item is considered just as beautiful as the original. The "slow fashion" movement encourages us to use this visible repair method to repair clothing. Slow fashion is buying sustainable clothes and used clothing to ease up on the landfills. This is a sad, out-dated, and non-progressive policy. What a fantastic solution you've used to manage things frugally.
$1400 for an ambulance. Goodness. A reader from the UK.
I have not done anything unusual in the frugality department but I wanted to stop by and say that I bought one of those silicone watermelon cover and love it. Also, belatedly, a few years ago I read your comments about that gold colored bakeware (can't even remember the right name). I bought several bread pans and two cake pans and have never, ever regretted spending the money on them. They bake up well and are so easy to clean...now if only I could find a muffin tin in the same material. Anyway, thank you for such terrific recommendations.
I’m curious what that bakeware is!
Here’s one of Kristen’s posts where she talks about the pans. It includes a link to a website in case you’re interested in checking them out. https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/how-to-make-homemade-egg-bread/#:~:text=%20Ingredients%20%201%209%201%2F2-10%201%2F2%20cups,scant%20teaspoons%20salt%207%204%20eggs%20More%20
This is not a muffin tin of the same material, but I love my muffin pans. I am posting a link to my (totally unprofessional) blog post that shows how easy the muffins come out and clean up.
http://spiceoflifemom.blogspot.com/2015/12/presents-recommended.html
http://spiceoflifemom.blogspot.com/2016/02/muffin-pan-reprise.html
http://spiceoflifemom.blogspot.com/2017/01/muffin-pan-update.html
You can see by the fact that I posted 3 blog posts about these muffins pans that I LOVE them. They are still every bit as wonderful as 3 years ago. AND I am not affiliated with any company to give me money. No ads. I'm completely unprofessional with no ulterior motives whatsoever-- other than wanting a company who makes a good product to still be in business so I have something to buy for my children as gifts when they get out on their own.
And, if you don't want to look at the blog posts, the pans are USA pans. . .silicon-coated ones with ripples in the surface.
"It never hurts to ask" always reminds me of this Dilbert strip:
https://dilbert.com/strip/2004-01-18
#1. I got some crafts supplies on the clearance rack at Mary Maxim. #2. We got 10% off at the Bulk Barn plus 25% of unsalted cashews. And, of course, free shipping from Amazon with our large grocery order. Costco here in Canada is a 2 hour wait to just get in the door...no thank you! #3. However, fuel is usually 5 cents or more cheaper per liter for gas at Costco. #4. I also mended a pile of clothing that needed seams reinforced and a few rips/tears. I do needlework so I hand stitch most everything. And we repaired hubby's favorite sandals. The velcro was shot, so we 'gorilla glued' new pieces on to the straps. 5. We live in an RV, so hubby is always fixing things and improving these things so they don't break as easily. And we made a batch of 7 layer casserole in the slow cooker, making 4 meals and then vegetable soup the next day for 6 more meals.
My D/W repairman was here to check out my 2 year old Maytag which didn’t complete a cycle. The detergent pac had not dissolved. He said there is too much detergent in those pacs. Cut them in half, and when done dispose of the plastic in your garbage rather than send it out into the environment. A long time ago a similar situation had gotten the same advice with the powdered detergent. Only 1 Tbsp of the powdered is all you need. I am going back to powdered detergent when I finish this Costco size container of pacs.
I haven't had the most frugal week but here goes.
1. I imagined to find some meat that was marked down and since it was on a great sale it made for a brilliant bargain.
2. I did try hard to achieve a price match. I didnt' achieve it but I have learned more skills for next time.
3. I have had a number of no spend days since the last frugal things. Any day that is no spend is a win.
4. I managed to buy some paper goods on great discount. I should now have enough until the nest sale cycle.
5. The car has been filled at the lowest price point of our fuel cycle. This saved about 25 cents per litre or two US pints.
This week I have been working to use all the goodies coming in from the mini garden...so made an incredible garlic/basil/tomato soup with cream to use up the produce. It turned out so yummy-so that inspired some gifting in cute jars with fabric covered lids to my neighbors. I love sharing food gifts, and everything was from home! Nothing spent out of the budget. Thanks for the great post, really enjoy your blog!
This was the soup recipe, turned out great (added extra garlic) pureed in the blender after cooling for super smooth/creamy soup!
https://www.spendwithpennies.com/fresh-tomato-soup/
The tomato soup does look wonderful! My plants have produced an absolutely crazy amount of cherry tomatoes lately and I need to use up a bunch. This looks like a perfect use for some of them. Thanks for posting the link!
Happy to share a good find! Hope your soup comes out nicely...it works amazing as a pasta base also...we used the leftover with a little extra cream and parmesan cheese on top of pasta with little fresh basil-kids loved it!
1). We decided to homeschool 2 of our children this year. They were enrolled in a Catholic school, which we love but they are only offering in class instruction which we aren’t comfortable with. This will be a significant savings even after purchasing curriculum. I’ve always been interested in homeschooling and am very excited about this!
2). Our anniversary trip was cancelled so we are taking our camper and staying at local wineries through Harvest Host. We paid an annual member and can stay at host location. They only ask that your make a purchase at the location. This is costing much less than the trip we had planned but will be a lot of fun and something different.
3). Utilizing curbside pick up at our local library when we can’t find what we are looking for on Libby or Hoopla.
4). Trying to use what have as much as possible while preparing for homeschooling vs spending a lot of money to create the “perfect” homeschool room.
5). Making sure my husband and I have all the necessary preventative care medical appointments scheduled to insure we receive a discount on our health insurance next year.
Happy anniversary!
Been doing my usual frugal work stuff: bringing my lunch, snacks and drinks from home, and wearing thrifted outfits. (Loving having a little fridge in the office!) Over the weekend, I shortened two blouses bought from an online thrift store -- squared off the tails so they can be wore outside my slacks and look professional -- and mended a shirt for my husband. Saved about $17 shopping with store coupons for groceries. Gassed up my car with a gift card and saved 3 cents a gallon. Used my unpaid lunch hour to run errands for my household: a quick trip to Dollar Tree replenished our supply of Pears soap, which we use because it doesn't scum up the shower like regular soap.
1. We kept our scheduled vacation although our vacation plans were canceled. Instead, we have taken the time to get our house ready for some overdue renovation. Decluttered our office and laundry area, and took down old built-in cabinets. Two vans full of broken furniture, mattresses and other things went to the dump, besides bags and bags into recycling. It feels so good to take inventory of everything every now and then.
2. I sold some decluttered items that were still in good shape, and some I took to a consignment shop where I have an account.
3. My husband mended an old pair of swim trunks that were perfectly fine except one seam by the waist.
4. Shopped for clothes and shoes for the family during Maryland's tax free week.
5. My son started his first job, which I take some credit for as I coached him through the whole application process and was sending him job postings. Frugal for the family as he can now cover more of his expenses and increase savings.
I always ask for discounts. The best one I think was for my youngest's braces. First I asked for a discount since it was kid #3 and then I asked for a paid in full discount. It saved me $1200.
#1. I made mussels marinara with homegrown tomatoes, parsley and basil. The mussels were on sale. It was so yummy.
#2. I canned 10 pints of dill relish. The cucumbers are going crazy this year. I need to make more pickles.
#3. The man I help is in the hospital. His daughter asked me to clean out the fridge and to do a deep clean of the house if I wanted hours this week. She said to take whatever food would go bad over the next 2 weeks so I got milk, juice, watermelon, grapes and bananas. I can't visit him in the hospital but I have been calling him several times a day. I go to his house every other day. Bring in the mail and papers, check his answering machine, put out the garbage and recycles also. His daughter is very grateful for the help.
#4. Hubby uses our CC for work charges. I just redeemed $106 from the credit card. We pay it in full every month. I will be putting my youngest's tuition payment on it at the end of the month so I should get a good amount next month too.
#5. The weather has cooled off the last few days. The AC has been off. It has rained several times so no watering the garden. The laundry was hung inside on drying racks. Leftovers have been eaten for lunches.
1. Bought my interstate niece's b'day present online & made it click & collect local to them so her mum picked it up & will wrap it for me (I'm posting a card) saving me about $12 postage
2. Pay my bills as soon as I get them so no late fee & two give a substantial discount for paying on time
3. Changing over internet to new service & went for the cheapest option - no charge to exit or upgrade if its not enough GB per month but if it is its $10 cheaper/mth than the next one up so worth trying out
4. been doing better with meal planning
5. Wearing outer items more times before washing when not necessary
1. Took my granddaughter to our neighbourhood mini-orchard to pick some apples. Was a fun free activity and we have free apples! Sent half home with her and made a large jar of applesauce with the rest.
2. Tried out a new recipe from a cookbook I borrowed from the library, that uses up some pantry Items I had on hand and wanted to use up.
3. Currently have bread rising on the counter
4. Propagating some of my plants. Using tin cans I’ve saved and pots I found at a garage sale.
5. Prepping for winter and wanted a new neck cowl, so I’m using a free crochet pattern I have used before and some leftover yarn from another project. Nice relaxing activity in the evenings and I make something pretty I can use afterwards!