Five Frugal Things | Leaves, a longboard, cheap weights, and more!
1. We cleared our own leaves.
For a variety of reasons, we never cleaned up our yard leaves last fall.
So I got an estimate from someone to blow them and take them away for yard waste recycling.
$300, they said.
Which suddenly made me want to pick up our leaf blower. 😉
So this weekend, Mr. FG and I worked together and got the yard taken care of. Is it quite as tidy as it would have been if we hired someone?
Nope.
But we still have our $300.
2. I helped Zoe buy a used longboard.
She tried out her cousin's board a few weeks ago and decided she wanted to buy one.
But new is not in Zoe's budget at this point, so I helped her find one on Facebook marketplace.
And $40 later, she's up and running!
3. I got change plates for $2.99 apiece.
I needed some 2.5 pound barbell plates because my 5 pound set was working out to be too much increase all at once for some exercises.
Amazon's cheapest were $15 apiece, which just seemed ridiculous to me for such small weights.
So I did some googling and discovered that Dick's Sporting Goods had some for $2.99 each.
MUCH BETTER.
I ordered online and chose free store pick-up since I was going to be near a Dick's location the next day.
4. We got phone chargers on clearance.
You know how charging cables fall apart over time? Especially Apple ones?
Well, Zoe and Sonia were down to sharing one charger (they have our old phones, so their cords were pretty elderly.)
So Mr. FG and I stopped at Target and found some braided Belkin chargers on clearance. Yay!
They're cheaper than the type that come with iPhones, and they hold up better over time.
Of course, I used my Target debit card for an extra 5% off. Every little bit helps!
5. I pulled up a coupon when we ate out.
We happened to go to a restaurant we rarely visit, but I remembered I was on their email list. So I searched on my phone, found the most recent email, and discovered it had a $5/$20 purchase. Yay!
1. I pulled our free annual credit reports. Every four months I pull one of mine and one of my husbands (from a different credit bureau). Thus, every year I look at all three of mine and all three of his.
2. I discovered that our local Zips' Dry Cleaners has a discount price if you drop off 10:00-2:00 M-F. It's $1.75 per garment instead of $2.49.
3. Our neighbors had a recliner out with a free sign. I know they are very clean people so we picked it up. It has signs of wear so I did order a cover.
4. When I was walking the other night I noticed that someone a few blocks away had three bundles of sticks/logs out. I assumed they were put out for yard waste pick up but had thoughts of firewood. My husband stopped by yesterday and they were outside so he asked if he could take it. Score.
5. I helped my young adult daughter complete her taxes with the copy of Turbo Tax I purchased. She submitted her federal return and printed the MD state return to either send in or submit for free using the state website.
6. Bonus: I woke up to see that a flight we were scheduled to take in a few weeks was cancelled and we were placed on an earlier flight. That meant I needed to change our rental vehicle reservation. Somehow the rate for an Intermediate SUV for three days is ~$42. It was ~$200 the first time I booked it, then I'd rebooked it for ~$120 a couple weeks ago. I used COSTCO Travel.
Wow, KD, your Zips price is great! My local Zips has what they call "Wacky Wednesday", where they drop the price by 30 cents every Wednesday. That drops the price down to 2.19/item.
Unrelated to this post, but... Thank you for the tip on the arm and hammer easy slide litter. I have an elderly cat who digs to the very bottom of the box. Scooping always made me fuss. With the new litter it is a quick chore.
Right? That litter is amazing!
Somehow, I have never (yet) had one of my apple chargers break, but the chargers I use for my ipod in the car seem to just disintegrate!
1) I’ve been saving and reusing old food containers (yogurt, margarine, etc.) for all my garden seedlings. I have A LOT of seedlings.
2) Yesterday’s meals were a creation of leftovers that I wanted to use up.
3) I hung a load of laundry to dry. Not exactly huge savings, but I am trying to keep my old dryer running for loads that need to tumble dry.
4) I paid for some necessary garden supplies using store rebate money, so nothing out of pocket.
5) I have been searching for over a year for curtains for one room of my house and couldn’t find anything that I liked in the price range I wanted to pay. The curtains I was eyeing actually just went on clearance for half price, so I was finally able to purchase them for a reasonable price.
6) On our weekly trip to the library, I was able to pick up some new release DVDs my family wanted to see. Yay for no Redbox fees.
Oops. I actually hang most of my laundry to dry. I was thinking just of yesterday when I said I hung “a” load to dry.
1. I did a very non frugal thing and let my old tea kettle (at least it was very old, nearly 20 years of use) boil dry on the black glass top stove and it ruined the kettle and left a horrible white mark on the stove (and we rent! ugh!). Luckily I was able to get the mark off with a razor blade and a lot of elbow grease and ceramic stove top cleaner. My only consolation was Then I searched on Amazon for an electric kettle with boil dry protection--I got a Secura, which had the highest percentage of good reviews. It was surprisingly reasonable, and this will save future damage to any stoves! Now we're drinking tea like it's our job, because it's just so much fun and I can start the kettle and walk away without worrying about a loud whistle or anything boiling dry. So kind of a frugal fail, but a fun find. And i saved the stove.
2. I used Ibotta and earned 50 bucks for an Amazon gift card (full disclosure, it took me TWO WEEKS to get my card information, their customer service is not all that great, but it was 50 bucks) and put it towards some books I needed for school and some tea samplers (see #1). I will continue to use Ibotta but not work as hard to try to find offers, just use the ones that show up for Kroger, which is where I usually shop.
3. I got an email that my Kohl's account had $10 in rewards that were going to expire soon, and there was a deal for free shipping. I am down to one pair of nearly threadbare shorts, so I used the rewards and shipping deal to get a new pair of shorts for over half price.
4. We discovered that the community college downtown has a culinary arts school, and they run a "restaurant" every semester for the students to practice their cooking and serving skills. It's $15 a person for a fancy sit down dinner (the lunch was $10 a person) with several courses, and no tipping is allowed. Also there is free parking! My kids got to practice wearing their dress up clothes and we had a very nice meal. If you have a culinary arts school near you, look into this--it was a really fun experience and we plan to do it again.
5. I absolutely couldn't think of what to make for Sunday dinner, so my husband said he'd cook, and I love it when he cooks, because he goes around and sees what we have and tells everybody their choices, and does a short-order cook thing. He uses up what we have and I don't have to cook--score!
I can't believe I forgot this: we got our federal tax refund super early, and combined with what we saved up over the year, we had enough to pay off our last piece of debt left over from taking out loans to sell our old house--aside from our car payments, we are DEBT FREE. No mortgage, no nothing. We pay our cards off every month, and now we'll have an little extra chunk of change each month because we're not paying down that loan! Woo hoo! I forgot about this because it happened a few weeks ago and then lots of other stuff happened.
That is AMAZING. Yay!! You guys should be really proud of yourselves.
Thanks! It really is a great feeling.
Congrats!!!
1. Cooked our maple sap into syrup this weekend. This is our 2nd year doing this. We tap 2 trees and get about 1/2 gallon of syrup. Our neighbors gave us the firewood, cinder blocks to make the outdoor stove were free from neighbors, and collection buckets we got from a local grocery store's bakery department for free. Paid $20 for taps and tubing only. So total cost has been $20 over 2 years. The syrup is amazing!!
2. Our pantry and freezer were quite full, so only spent $26 on groceries this week
3. Getting ready to sell our house, so fixing a few things. We had 2 cracked window panes in our attic. We looked at used windows, but cost was still about $100 each. Husband ended up replacing both panes and reglazing for $20.
4. Started basil seedlings for our garden. Basil is very easy to start as a seedling.
5. Signed my son up for outdoor soccer for only $15. He has been asking to play for awhile. Then purchased him a soccer ball, shin guards, and soccer socks for his Easter basket!
$300 for leaves? Ouch. My husband uses mulching blades on his mower, so our leaves are ground up and added back to our yard. We mow several times during leaf season, to avoid having a really thick layer of leaves to mulch. I realize that won't work for everyone, but since I hate to rake, we have no leaf pickup services of any kind, and I'm allergic to leaf smoke, this works for us.
1. Our weather cooperated again on Saturday, so I hung all but one load of my weekend laundry on the line.
2. I fought the urge to cruise the thrift stores and won. I don't really have anything in particular that I'm looking for.
3. I bought an "it'll do for now" quilted bedspread for a spare room, but the pattern is just too flowery for me. However, I recently realized that the bottom side was a solid color in the same kind of fabric as the top, even though it's not sold as reversible. I've flipped it over and now it looks fine. No need to buy another.
4. I clipped our young dog's claws myself.
5. I shredded old black and white plain paper receipts, bills and other random "clean" papers, and added it to my worm bucket for their bedding material. I used some of the worm castings I already have to beef up the soil around some container plants. I gave them some of my clean vegetable scraps while I was at it.
Well, we do have 7 oak trees on our 1/3 acre lot, so the leaves are pretty dense here!
I used the leaf blower to get them all out into the yard from the borders and edges, and Mr. FG mulched them with our mower. And next fall we swear we will stay on top of them. Heh.
1.) Found a ham that's been in the freezer for ages and my wife hosted a dinner party/play date around it as a ten pound ham is a bit much for two adults and a kid. Leftovers will continue for a few days.
2.) Used a coupon to buy a new small offset spatula. Funny how these things become exciting when you're older.
3.) Took the kid to the local (well an hour away) museum. It's run by the state so it's free admission and there's some nice exhibits for kids. She did well but hit her limit after a couple hours and we had to leave.
4.) Moved some money from a regular old savings account to a money market account. Nice to be earning some decent interest again.
5.) I've been saving up gift certificates from MS Rewards and now have about $30. I'm planning on using this to buy something I've been wanting for a while that I don't really need. It's nice when you're playing with "free" money.
Battra92, I'm with you on the small victories. I was all excited yesterday when I bought 260 bandaids from CVS for 42c out of pocket.
That IS a victory! Woohoo!
Leaves are not a problem, they are fall gold. We vacuumed ours up, shredded them and spread them in our garden to decompose. They are an excellent source of minerals and nutrients for our fruit and vegetable plants. We burn the branches that fall from the trees and spread that ash in the garden as well. For those who live on top of each other and cannot burn, you can rent a shredder and spread the wood chips as well for compost to improve your soil. Much cheaper than paying someone to do it.
Our trees drop a lot of branches too, and luckily those are easy to burn in our fire pit.
Feeling a bit unmotivated and frugal fatigue of late, so have to really think of this one.
1. Found second-hand baseball cleats, spring jackets and swim suits for our two youngest at a consignment sale, all for $20.
2. At the same kids clothing sale, sold my own stuff for $160.
3. A very expensive purchase, but we bought a new cello for half of its worth, and can deduct half of this in next years taxes as the proceeds are a charitable donation. Our high schooler has played the cello for 9 years and I'm really glad to finally stop paying rent for the old one. He's also planning on applying for a music scholarship for college next year, so I feel it's a good investment in his future.
4. Retrieved $400 that had been repossessed from our old escrow account to the state. We would not have known had I not paid attention to a mailer, and made a few phone calls.
5. Donated our old car for a charity and hopefully a tax write off.
One bonus thing, as birthday presents for both grandmothers, I sent a DVD recording of my son's musical performance. Not frugal, but the proceeds go to the school's music department, and this way both can see him perform as they could not make it in person.
#4 is excellent! We received a $1000 check in the mail from when we sold our house almost two years ago. I wasn’t expecting it at all. It appears that the title company looked up our new address. It came at a very good time.
Isn't it funny how those off-brand chargers work better? That reminds me that I need to get a replacement for my old iPod charging cable (yes, I still use an iPod, lol).
This week:
1. We were house-sitting and stupidly locked ourselves outside. Through a few phone calls and a little creativity, we were able to get inside without the $400 fee for a locksmith. D'oh!
2. I just made homemade cranberry orange granola, per hubby's request.
3. I also picked up two sacks of 50% off limes at HEB. I squeeze them and turned them into limeade.
4. I used my business rewards cashback to purchase some luxury items for my work office, like a second computer monitor. It's a luxury, but wow, what a difference it makes!
5. I used a promo code to get some high-end skin cream for just $5.
I found a second computer monitor greatly reduced the amount of paper I printed.
1) I trimmed my kids hair- it’s not the best job but we saved £30 and a long and exhausting trip to the hairdressers.
2) We travelled to see family and the weekend and I packed lunch snacks and drinks. This must have saved £40.
3) I thought ahead for UK Mother’s Day and preordered nice flowers and cards for my mum and MIL; much nicer than interflora and cheaper.
4) I lie dried our laundry.
5) I found nice non-chocolate Easter gifts for my little nieces and gave them to my sister in laws at the weekend rather than post them.
6) I sowed seeds and replanted saved plants in our garden now it’s warmer (I spent £5 on compost only) instead of £100’s on plants!!
Similarly, I find landscapers in my neighborhood to be very expensive, so my husband and I do most of the yard/lawn maintenance ourselves (read: he does most of it, I help if he asks). It is hard work but saves quite a bit of cash, especially in the spring, summer and fall.
My frugal things:
1. I vacuumed the inside of our car. My local car wash charges $39.99 to "super-clean" the interior. It is a service I am happy to do myself to save $40 bucks. And a clean car is a simple way to put a smile on my husband's face.
2. Yesterday I cooked a big pot of lentil soup. I now have lunch for the whole work week.
3. I sold some gently used children's clothes to a local consignment/thrift store.
4. I planned a whole week menu with food from the freezer/pantry. I hope to stay out of the grocery store all week.
5. I received an unexpected check for about $10 from a class action lawsuit.
1. I went through our bookcases and culled two bags of books I know I won't read again. They've been donated to a huge community book sale planned for next month which will fund scholarships at the local university.
2. I followed the suggestion several people made to turn old shirts into rags. My paper towel use has gone way down.
3. We've had an old DVD player on a shelf in the basement for a couple of years because there was no way to recycle it. A new recycling center for electronics has finally opened and that DVD player is out of the house.
4. I found a brand-new comforter for my daughter's bed at the thrift store. I may have done a little dance in the aisle.
5. I used some Murphy's Oil Soap and an old toothbrush to get my sneakers looking new again. I was talking to my husband over my shoulder and stepped into a mud puddle up to my ankles because I wasn't looking. 🙁
1. Just got back from the dentist. We're in Mexico visiting family and since our insurance doesn't cover dental, we do it here where it's so much cheaper. I figure we're saving at least hundreds of dollars.
2. Looking into school curriculum for next year and someone just sent me a list of discounts and where to look for used curriculum.
3. I got some free ebooks for the kids.
4. We went out to eat last night. I had a lot of food, so I brought home the leftovers.
5. We've been enjoying the books we got from a thrift store, but four get the fifth free.
1. I am making SURE to eat a healthy breakfast or lunch before going out to shop. Then I am not tempted to grab a sandwich or any fatty snacks while out..and if it’s a grocery shop, my bill is lower!!
2. Just started with contact lenses and found an online source for almost 10 bucks cheaper than Costco!
3. Making huge bunches of vegetable soups,using every scrap in the refrigerator.great lunches for me and hubby with some homemade bread.
4. Wearing my clothes till they get holes in them, then still wearing them since holes are “in style!”
5. LIBRARY LIBRARY LIBRARY! Not only do I get all my books there, it is our “DATE” day every 2 weeks, and we usually also go for a walk in the Riparian park next to the library, duck watching, bird watching, bunny watching and exercise, ALL FREE!!!
It doesn’t take a lotta money to have a good an dhappy life!
1. Found an amazing deal at CVS for Easter candy. A $5 off coupon printed with my prescription (that was free) and I also got a $3 off $20 in the same print. I combined those two coupons with another coupon for a specific type of candy and was able to buy all of the needed supplies for my kids baskets (and a treat or two for me and daddy!!)
2. Didn't step foot in one store this weekend. We worked around the house and started in on yard work. So sore!
3. We are going camping this weekend for the first time this year and I have a running list of supplies we need to reload the camper. Thankfully I already have all of them and do not need to purchase.
4. I'm attempting to replace the bike intertube inside of a Green Machine that I found alongside the road. Attempting is the key word right now. I've had to walk away from it a few times, but I swear next time I'm going to get it. I just can't seem to "open" the break far enough to get the tire back in. Grrr.
5. We acquired a slide for a swingset from our neighbors. Our set is blue and this slide was green. It fits perfectly to our set, so hubby bought blue pain to match and only we will know!
6. I sprayed painted our mailbox to look a bit better. It was quite rusted, but the paint made it look great.
Hmm, this week was NOT good on the frugal front since we had a special date night to celebrate our 10th dativersarry this weekend. We spent a pretty penny on that date night but had fun together!
1) Bought bacon on sale and saved as much as 2 packs of the bacon would cost full price so they were basically free! Though I never would have paid that non-sale price since it was just too high. The bacon will be going in the freezer today.
2) I was talking to my uncle about needing to have some concrete work done at our house and he said one of their employees does it on the side. Well he came out this weekend and his price is about half what I was expecting to have to pay. We're saving several thousand dollars having him do the work!
3) I ordered our fridge air and water filters online, saving quite a bit per filter, and was able to get water filters that also filter out lead. I don't think lead is a huge issue where we live but the ones I found that also filter lead were about the same price as the ones that don't. I had to look at several different websites and search through many Amazon reviews to find them but it saved us a good bit of money.
4) I picked up some free crafting supplies from a new friend who was decluttering. I've got items to make gifts for several people I know having babies and even got a nice terrarium that I'll use at home, though for fake plants.
5) We switched out a bunch of incandescent bulbs that were in our home when we bought it last fall for some LED's we got free from the power company. They sent a card in the mail offering free energy saving items. We got about 10 LED bulbs as well as other items to watch how much water we use, the temperature of our water heater and fridge, and a bag to check our water flow rates from our faucets. So far the bulbs have been the most helpful things and we've switched out all of the incandescents and several CFL bulbs for the more energy efficient LED's.
6) Hubby took his lunch every day last week, we ate leftovers for lunches and even other dinners several times, I got gas when on base the other day using our military star card and saved about 20 cents off the price in town, I ordered pillowcases and sheets we've been needing online and saved about 50% off the regular price when combined with a sale and other discounts (they're good sheets too, we have one set already and they are holding up quite nicely), I made yogurt for my husband and this was the best batch yet...I'm sure there are more!
Glad Zoe got her longboard, it looks like fun. How about a helmet, too???
(Wannabe nagging grandma here ;o)
Don't worry, she was just modeling her longboard for me, standing still!
I have lived almost all of my long life in Southern California. When your headline said "longboard" I thought you meant one of the longer surfboards. 😀 For a few seconds I couldn't figure it out because I didn't think you lived on the coast.
I came of age in the late '60s when most of us girls had long straight "surfer girl" hair. The times.......they do change.
I'm a midwest gal and I'm thought the same thing. I wondered why she wanted a surfboard.
I was thinking surfboard too but then I grew up listening to my dad's Beach Boys LPs.
I am not a coastal person or a surfer, and I thought you meant surfboard also.
Love the Zoe pic!
Thanks for sharing updates if your kids with us. I Can tell they are nice humans
1). Used a coupon for a free oil change
2). Opted underbuy what I thought I needed to paint my daughter’s room rather than overbuying and having excess
3). Redeemed a free car wash and used the vaccums provided to clean the inside of my car
4). Returned unused and unneeded items to hardware store and dresses my daughters don’t really need to store
5). Brought home leftovers from a school event I volunteered for, my kids enjoyed the treats and pizza for lunch.
Line drying is routine here.
I managed to save over 20 cents a litre on fuel this weekend. I had a longer drive to a place I don't really know so I kept an eye on the prices. A saving of 80 cents on a US gallon of fuel is good to me.
I shopped well this week and I am loving having fresh not frozen meat. For the second week of the fortnight we will be eating from the freezer.
FYI, Apple replaces your charging cords if it is damaged from normal wear. It has to be a new phone purchased from them of course. I have done 4 over the last few years. I always make an appointment for while the kids are in school. They just go bad after a while. It is covered under the phone warranty. Only once did they tell me it was excessive wear.
1. Bought some little girl shoes from someone on Facebook. 3 pairs of shoes (NWOT) for $6 total!!
2. Used my $10 Kohl's reward before it expired. I needed new belts as I inch closer to my pre-pregnancy size and a new black purse as the hand-me-down from my mom from 7 years ago needs to die. 🙂
3. I took some clothes to a consignment shop for the first time. We'll see how it goes.
4. Tomorrow is my husband's birthday and every year he wants bed stroganoff. This year I got him to ok using venison steak from our freezer instead of going out and buying steak.
5. We had fish tacos for dinner. I tried making tilapia in the Crock-Pot for dinner Saturday, but it took 3x as long as it said it would and I ended up making something else. So I had 2 pounds of fish and no clue what to do with it. We made fish tacos for the first time ever and everybody liked them!
1. I ordered bulbs to plant on sale from Holland Bulbs. Will plant tomorrow. Got the bargains. Buy any and all colors ...do not let what is fashionable touch me. 2. Two nice winter sweaters at goodwill. One grey. One red. Tues is old folks discount day. 3. Redecorated bath with laundry basket and hamper from thrift. Also found classy framed iris picture for bath wall for 1.99. 4. Went to seniors yoga at community center. 5.00 for hour workout, good conversation and delightful new friends. 5. Bought rice noodles at dollar store. Look for them in a small box.
1. I ordered bulbs to plant on sale from Holland Bulbs. Will plant tomorrow. Got the bargains. Buy any and all colors ...do not let what is fashionable touch me. 2. Two nice winter sweaters at goodwill. One grey. One red. Tues is old folks discount day. 3. Redecorated bath with laundry basket and hamper from thrift. Also found classy framed iris picture for bath wall for 1.99. 4. Went to seniors yoga at community center. 5.00 for hour workout, good conversation and delightful new friends. 5. Bought rice noodles at dollar store. Look for them in a small box. 6. Dug and divided day lilies and iris for sale at Elks club. They all sold.
1. Chose to get bumped from a flight last year. Got 800 credit. Just flew to Dallas for three people for nearly free.
2. Since bags fly free on SOUTHWEST we packed an extra small suitcase with snacks purchased on sale at home.
3. Used restaurant.com and got 30.00 of food for 10.00.
4. Got an entire outfit ( dress. Necklace. Bracelet. Earrings. Clutch. And shoes)for my son’s upcoming wedding for 125 dollars total. Careful shopping. Coupons. Sales. Etc. will need to spend a bit more on minor alterations.
5. Made a sheet pan dinner from carrots potatoes onions and peppers that all needed to be used up. Mixed them with kielbasa purchased on markdown. Olive oil and ranch powder, garlic and pepper. It was good!
Here's our 5 this week:
1) We paid down a ton of credit card debt--3 months out from paying off this card, Lord willing.
2) Scored clearance bread, batteries, and cheese at Kroger.
3) I have consistently been making hot breakfast to save money & have better morning nutrition. We did a lot of cereal/pre-made store frozen food in the past.
4) Used a gift card we've been saving for swim lessons.
5) Used a gift card I had been saving for over a year (!) for new sandals, socks and pot holders. Grown-up joys:) Oh & used my phone too to get 15% off in store.
$300 for leaf blowing?! Glad you mustered up the courage to do it yourselves.
I feel the yard clean up savings. Putting in the effort and getting your workout in the backyard saves a LOT of money!
We are cutting our cedar hedge that lines our property way back and it's a crazy job. However, I think the cost to hire someone else to do it would be astronomical.
We also turned our power off for a day to test the limits of our solar panels, made pizza and cake for a double birthday party, shared meals at a restaurant, and ate leftovers.