Five Frugal Things | plus a $15 offer from Top Cashback
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1. I bought marked-down soup.
Sonia and Zoe sometimes like to heat up cans of soup at lunchtime, and I happened to find a can of chicken noodle and a can of tomato soup on the markdown shelf.
So now they're on my kitchen shelf.
2. I got a nightstand for Zoe from Facebook marketplace.
I wanted to find a solid wood nightstand that I could paint to match her bed exactly, rather than an already-white nightstand that wouldn't be an exact match.
(Here's Zoe's bed that I painted this summer.)
So, I snagged this one from Facebook marketplace for $25. It's Ethan Allen, so it's solid wood.
It's got some surface damage, which is fine because I'm going to sand and paint it. And of course, I'll put some new hardware on as well.
Luckily, the weather is going to be pretty warm for the next few days, so I should be able to knock this out right away.
(Here's how I paint wooden furniture.)
3. I bought and sold Snobs.
Snobs is a book by Julian Fellowes, and the library didn't have it.
So, I bought a used copy, read it, and promptly sold it again.
4. I sold one more Halloween costume.
It was this one, which I wore back in 2015.
So, now I'm down to two costumes, and I'm wondering if maybe I would just prefer to give them away, rather than store them for another year.
5. I remembered to use Top Cashback for two online purchases.
(Top Cashback is a shopping portal that gives you a percentage of your purchase back as cash.)
I never say no to getting a few dollars back for a purchase I'd have made anyway (clothing for my girls).
And of course, I used a rewards credit card for the purchase as well.
If you are new to Top Cashback, there's a bonus offer right now just for Frugal Girl readers.
Here's the deal: when you open an account and earn $10 in cashback, you get a $15 bonus (normally new members get $10).
With holiday shopping season approaching, it will be super easy to earn the $10 necessary to get your $15. The offer is only good through November 6th.
1. Eating up odds n ends in my brown bag lunch
2. Eating food from the freezer and pantry and not going to the grocery this week except for milk and bananas.
3. Walking my dog daily and not joining a gym. I also have free weights in the basement...that I sometimes use.
4.We just paid cash for a new high efficiency furnace. Expensive , but we planned. Saved the money . Saved 550 dollars by paying cash and should save on future heating bills.
5. Made a cute wall hanging rack out of things laying around house and garage....no money spent.
Several weeks ago I mentioned that I could not find Gold Medal Unbleached flour on any store shelves so I bought Target's store brand of unbleached flour and you asked me to let you know my results. I have baked muffins, cookies, scones, pancakes, waffles and bread and, honestly, cannot tell a difference in quality. Since it is $1.00 cheaper per bag than name brand, I guess it qualifies as a frugal thing?
Also, I was wondering what you thought about the book that you bought/sold?
Gold medal unbleached flour was recalled, probably why you couldn't find it.
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/general-mills-recalls-five-pound-bags-gold-medal-unbleached-all-purpose-flour
King Arthur and Pillsbury have also recently recalled flour:
https://www.consumerreports.org/food-recalls/flour-recalled-for-e-coli-contamination/
I write short reviews of the books I read on my 2019 Reads page, which you can find here: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/kristens-2019-reads/
It's missing a few photos, but there are at least reviews up to date!
1. Mended holes in a couple pairs of pants for my husband.
2. Made homemade pumpkin bread with leftover pumpkin for snacks for my kiddos this week.
3. Got a bunch of free lunchmeat from my husband’s work and used it all up before it went bad. (he is an accountant for a local sub chain).
4. Had my son make homemade thank you cards instead of buying some after his party. If you ask me construction paper with 4 year old writing and drawings are more fun to receive anyway.
5. I remembered to use Ibotta when I bought my new purse on Amazon. I was sad when the handle finally tore in two on my old purse because I loved it, but I was able to find a pretty similar one.
1) I'm on tap for two treats for the school's Halloween party, since I have two children there. One son requested cookies, "Whatever we have the ingredients for" (that's my boy!) and the other requested banana bread. This is perfect because the school cook gave me an ENORMOUS bag of brown bananas last week--I think there were at least two dozen in there, but I shared many of them with other teachers--so I have plenty of bananas for this.
2) I read the first of the Hunger Games trilogy from the library last week--only about ten years late to this, I know--and will wait until we go to the library again to get the other two. I was very tempted to just order the other two from a used book site because it's hard to wait that long for me when I'm in the middle of a series, but I will. We only get to the library (90 miles away) about every six weeks, so it's a long wait.
3) I was given a free windshield ice scraper when I was helping someone set up for an event at school, which I gave to my husband, the school bus driver. He used it about ten times yesterday to scrape off the windshield while he was driving in ice fog, so it was frugal and lucky that I got it when I did.
4) Still wearing my three coats that I've had forever. The lighter coat is 15 years old, the slightly heavier coat is 20 years old, and the heaviest wool coat is I don't know how many years old, because I bought it at a thrift store six years ago.
5) We're getting an old horse soon that needs special senior horse food because he doesn't have any teeth anymore for grazing. We don't have pastures anyway, but we do have a good shed for him, so the owner is just giving him to us to care for. He's an excellent horse for kids, and even buying the senior horse food is cheaper than riding lessons. Our kids absolutely need to learn to be comfortable around horses here in the New/Old West, so this works for that purpose.
1. Made lunch using beans that were given to me from someone's garden.
2. I walked to the market and back saving transportation money.
3. Earned another $3 giftcard with swagbucks.
4.Pulled unused paper out of a mostly used notebook for school scrap paper.
5. Trying to eat food from the freezer and pantry.
Oh, Ethan Allan! My mom was obsessed with having an entire living room set of Ethan Allan furniture, and collected it a piece at a time. She would take us to the showroom and drop us off in the "play area"--which I remember as a walled-off area piled with toys--while she browsed and figured out what piece to save up for next.
1. Planned meals around what meat was on sale this week--chuck roast was B1G1 free, so i got two, made one into pulled beef sandwiches, the other one is snuggled in the freezer for another time. Pork chops were on sale, and those are in the crockpot today.
2. Am using Kohl's Cash today plus a coupon we got in our moving packet to get some really nice boots, I hope. My husband got a fantastic pair of Timberland boots, and suggested I go try those on--I'm always irked at how flimsy women's winter boots are, as if we don't need sturdy, safe boots! Plus his look cooler.
3. Used the free-access gym at husband's work for running--our kids can come with us and are old enough to be on the track, so we all get free PE!
4. Raked our own leaves in our ginormous, huge-tree-covered lawn instead of hiring a lawn service. The township comes around and vacuums up our leaves as long as they're raked to the street, which is awesome.
5. Using your advice of eating up leftovers no matter if the combination is odd! Yesterday I used up some tuna salad on some lettuce and chopped up veggies, and some leftover fries. I got protein, produce, and a carb.
Yes, and so often women's boots are not tall! If you go out in the snow, you want boots that come up past your ankles; otherwise the snow just goes right down in the boot.
1. I expect to buy a new-to-me dining table and 10 chairs from Craigslist. Rather than bargain on price, I will bargain for help: the husband of the couple is a builder who has a truck. Rather than rent a moving truck, I want him to help me haul and set up the table. This will save me the time and money of renting a truck, and the hassle of putting together an unfamiliar table.
2. My roommate had a great suggestion of what to do with the extra chairs: he identified a location for a reading nook that will use only furniture I already own. I might need a new lamp.
3. Unless my mother wants to keep my existing table - which was her mother's - I will sell it and the two glass tops I have for it. I hope my mother doesn't keep it. All she's going to do is put it in storage, leaving it for me to deal with however many years later. But my mother is very sentimental about Grandma's physical possessions so I gave her the choice.
4. Spent 2.5 hrs going through my fridge over the weekend, processing food, making sure I knew what was there, and keeping the fridge clean. This is my primary anti-food waste technique.
5. Made fried rice from leftover take-out rice and bits and bobs from the fridge, including the greens from leeks, which are almost impossible to use, and rotisserie chicken leftover from a meeting.
6. Made Mock Paella with leftover court bouillon used for cooking broccoli. Usually court bouillon can be used for more veggies, but the strong flavor from the broccoli would overwhelm whatever else was cooked in it.
7. Supper Club featured pizzas made in my friends' portable pizza oven. I contributed about $5 in toppings -- sauteed fresh shiitakes, caramelized onions -- and Fleur de Sel, a very fancy salt that has sitting in my cabinet for years, waiting for the "right occasion." Time to use the darn stuff! One Club member brought REAL balsamic from her recent trip to Italy, which was amazing with the Fleur de Sel and olive oil on fresh bread.
I grow about 200 leeks every summer; they are very expensive in Alaska and the ones we get are old and too large to be tasty (I think they set them aside for Alaska, figuring "Oh, they are desperate for fresh food, they'll et anything!"). I use the white parts in special recipes, like leeks au gratin or leek pie. The greens I chop up finely and freeze and all winter I add them by the handful to long cooking foods like stews, soups and chili. I may throw out the very tip tops that are usually deep green and browning, but the rest I use up. Great taste and fiber, too! I also dehydrate leeks in larger pieces (including green parts). They are too fibrous to chop with a food processor so I hand chop. Then, when they are almost dry, I run them through the food processor, as the fibers dry break up easier. Then I return them to the dehydrator to finish them off and store the now finely chopped leeks in glass jars.
The last markdown that I bought was Otto's cassava flour at Publix. I guess they stocked it, then it didn't sell well, so they cleared it out. If I wasn't currently GF and nut-free, I probably wouldn't buy it either -- it's normally about $17 for 2 pounds. It's a pretty darn good substitute for wheat flour, better than many other GF flours in many opinions, but still, that's expensive.
I used the last of a cabbage to make cole slaw, instead of tossing it. We'd had the rest of it cooked in dishes and we were both getting tired of it. They only had huge heads of cabbage at the store when I bought this one, so we've eaten a lot of cabbage.
I renewed some gift subscriptions online, saving stamps and checks. I renew when the good offers come along around the holidays.
I am happily using the office-wear clothing given to me by my daughter from her closet clean out.
I trimmed my dogs claws myself, saving $5 to $15, depending on where I could get them cut.
I am training my cat back off of the litter box. He once again has 24-7 access to a safe, enclosed, large yard and can return to his outdoor "habits." And I can quit paying for litter and cleaning a box.
Failure: I forgot to use Top Cash Back for a purchase I made. Rats. I'm glad you reminded me, with holiday shopping coming up.
I was wondering if you were able to sell the other Halloween costumes, so thanks for the update. I like this 5 Frugal Things post, as it is inspiration, and it brings fun and cheer to being careful with our things and our money. It also encourages me to think about the things that I do to make a difference, as there are always frugal fails. So instead of thinking about the fails, I can count up 5 frugal wins! So, thanks for that Kristen!
1. I discovered Good Rx thanks to a previous 5 Frugal Things thread and saved $80 on a prescription. I'm grateful to the person who recently mentioned it.
2. I've ordered a kid's meal when eating out lately. I am mainly thinking of portion sizes and calories, but it also costs less. Sometimes I get a a really nice fruit cup instead of French Fries, so even better.
3. I needed a replacement lamp shade and found it at Ross. They had one marked down to $2. I don't think I could have found it at a thrift store for that price. Ross has been a good place for me to find things for our home.
4. I saved a restaurant-sized aluminum pan from a previous event and had the perfect occasion to use it this weekend.
5. I am trying to use up things in the fridge. Also, trying to plan errands well to save time and gas.
GoodRx is amazing! I've saved using it myself.
I so wish I had time to paint furniture! But at another season in life..
Things I did have time for,
-Mended some kids clothes before passing them on to a friend, so I didn’t have to discard them.
-Used up a sweater/pants beyond mending for a Halloween zombie costume (my child went to town ripping them up and painting them with fake blood).
-Participated in wellness activities again this year at work, and just got my $200 reward voucher. I use these for Home Depot gift cards for some home projects.
-Got a free flu shot at work.
-Made some hosh posh meals using up leftovers with fried rice and potato hash.
Any time you can get marked down food is always a good thing 🙂
I need this encouragement from FFT today as I got some things at a non-Aldi store yesterday because of the Ibotta deals and left my receipt at the store! Ugh! At least it was only things I already needed to buy. Funny enough (from your recent post), one item was saltine crackers. So I'll enjoy the quality of the name-brand saltines this time. 😀
1. I made french bread to go with soup over the weekend and made a double batch just because, then used the second loaf to make grilled cheese sandwiches yesterday.
2. I'm in the process of bagging and boxing up the clothes my 5yo has outgrown and am saving them for when my 1yo gets bigger.
3. Found a book I want to order off Amazon for a baby gift and my friend is going to order it for me since she has Prime and I don't.
4. Took a load of recyclables to the city recycling center yesterday instead of paying for recycling service at the house.
5. Had my 5yo make a couple of cards for a birthday party she attended over the weekend.
I also look forward to reading everyones posts for inspiration!
1. Signed up for a few free samples on Freebieshark and also entered a bunch of sweepstakes on same site and won a few minor prizes in the Instant win catagory.
2. Reapplying for a job at my old employer, i am finding retirement to be not as much fun as anticipated! Especially when you dont have any extra funds.
3. My gallbladder is bad and i dont have insurance so have gone on the gallbladder diet which means no red or fatty meat, no sugar, no fat, no dairy with fat and i am finding it rather frugal. Eating fruits, veggies, rice and beans, oatmeal etc...actually saves money.AND have lost 3 pounds!
4.Raking all my own leaves in my giant back yard instead of hiring it out.
5. Reusing an old Halloween costume and bought all my candy at Costco...yay!
Wishing you much good luck with #3! Healthy AND frugal is awesome 🙂
Hi Kristen,
What are the costumes you have left and would they fit a female size 2?
As far as frugal things, I do a little bit when and where I can.
I cut off the front of greeting cards, if they aren't written on, and use them as postcards. Everyone likes a quick note now and then and the postage is cheaper.
I bring home the extra fries from restaurants, freeze them, and use them to fry up in scrambled eggs.
I get my books from the library. When I can't wait for a book, I try to buy it used from Betterworldbooks.com. Then, I share the books with friends and family or donate it back into the Betterworldbooks collection bins in my area.
I go through Rakuten to get cash back on my online purchases.
My office is collecting the small shampoos, conditioners, soaps etc. that hotels put in their rooms. I donated a bunch of items I have been collecting. My office is donating these to local schools who give out these sample size products to needy students. The students can easily carry some home in their backpacks and it is confidential so the other kids don't make fun.
Thank you for all of your very frugal ideas, I thoroughly enjoy reading your postings.
I have a kids Star Wars costume and an adult medium Oscar the Grouch costume. But the Oscar costume is difficult to ship because it's so large!
Thank you for replying, alas neither costume is feasible.
1.) Used an Ikea birthday coupon. Now I know that IKEA isn't exactly the frugalest place on Earth but I wanted a wire rack for our pantry and they had a good price on one. The $10 off coupon was nice.
2.) At IKEA I got lunch. My daughter and I both got kids' meals because, quite frankly, the large ones were a bit too much for me that day. They were also a lot cheaper than the adult portions.
3.) Haven't been buying all that much lately, in particular with groceries and the like as I've been eating out of the pantry and freezer. It's nice to see all those categories under budget.
4.) I still feel like crap about this but someone gave my daughter a birthday present that we felt wasn't really age appropriate for her (a Kindle Fire.) My daughter was really broken up about not getting it but the giver (her grandmother) never asked us ahead of time about it and my wife and I were just blindsided by it. So instead of keeping it for a few years, we returned it. My daughter will get some other gifts in the meantime.
I still feel it was the right thing to do but holy cow do I feel like a horrible father for doing it.
5.) Still chipping away at the mortgage, saving regularly for a rainy day, etc. You know, the usual ...
The usual is what frugality is based on. Even if some of the things don't save us a lot (reusing $.50 of court bouillon), the mindset matters.
Good for you Battra92 - parents who make and model good decisions is part of real love in action - you are giving her something way better than a kindle fire - well done
Re: "Snobs is a book by Julian Fellowes, and the library didn’t have it. " Did you know that you can fill out a "Suggestion for Purchase" form online at your local library? and also at university libraries? It's no guarantee, of course, but most libraries try to order books for their patrons when they can, and you can UP your chances if more than one library card holder does a request for purchase-- Like if you really want a book? You can ask a friend to fill out the form too (which takes like 2 minutes: title, author, ISBN).
1. Figuring out what to buy with my Ibotta app, before I go in the store, instead of just seeing what lines up after the fact.
2. Sold 7 books through BookScouter. This time, Sellbackyourbook.com was the best pricing.
3. Re-purposing my leftovers tonight as a whole meal instead of thawing out something else to cook and just hoping the leftovers get eaten at lunch.
4. Sold an electronic dog door on Facebook marketplace that I hadn't been able to sell at my last garage sale.
And I almost forgot the 5th one, instead of taking hubby's shirts to the dry cleaners, I'm washing and ironing them all myself.
I inadvertently got my major non-husband Christmas gifts done this week. A friend went to some olive ranch thingy and brought back (carting on the airplane, mind you), 4 ten gallon cans of premium olive oil. She opened one and her family did not like it so gave me all four cans and refused any payment; she said losing the money was penance for being a financial idiot and not tasting that oil before buying 40 gallons of it. I think she compounded her financial idiocy by refusing payment from me, but oh well...I will not use 40 gallons of olive oil if I live to be 100, so I am keeping the open one and gifting the other three. Another person trades the honey from her bees for my pickles I can, every year. She brought over a gallon of honey. I am repackaging it into smaller fancy jars and giving that---most people are thrilled to have local honey. So, three people will get olive oil and a small jar of honey for gifts and others, like folks from the place I volunteer once a month, will get larger canning jars of honey complete with fancy labels the husband makes. Except me, I don't like the flavor of honey so I am happy to keep only a small amount for tea drinking visitors and give the rest away.
Did a mystery shop three days last week, each taking only about 20 minutes, and earned $50 and free gas and free pops.
Husband did a mystery shop this morning, getting a free oil change for nephew. Is frugal for us since this is the kid who turns my compost heap a few times in the summer and snow blows our driveway and will only take cookies in payment even though he is a poor college student.
I don't know how, but the husband gets holes in the TOPS of his socks! Mended six socks that have been sitting around waiting for my attention and watched a movie at the same time.
Dug a huge salmon out of the bottom of the freezer and, miraculously, it was not freezer burned. We ate it for four days, in various forms: straight up, as fish tacos, as salmon chowder, and in spring rolls. Dog happily ate the skins. The bones and head were given to a friend who makes fish head soup in the traditional style of her culture. She also makes moose head soups when we pass on moose heads we have scored for her from friends who would otherwise discard them after butchering their hunts. Nothing to do with frugality but with making my heart happy to see her light up when we deliver them. She is elderly and alone and while she can get these foods at potlucks, she seldom has the ingredients to make her own. She always offers me soup but I don't care for it and she laughs when I remind her that I don't force her to eat one of the favorite foods I grew up with---raw onions and a schmear of lard on dark brown bread. (I only eat those when husband is out of town because he practically gags at the sight of the sandwich and hates the way my breath smells for two days afterwards.)
Mr. FG sometimes gets holes in the tops of his socks too! I think it's from his big toenails sticking up.
If you like Japanese food, you can broil the skins and paint them with miso/soy sauce/soy sauce + mirin.
I know what you mean about making others light up when you gift them something, especially if the something would otherwise go to waste. I'd count it as frugal though - either a frugal gift, or frugal for her and the world even if not for you.
1. I made 1 gallon of yogurt this weekend, which cost $2.50. This should last me 3 weeks.
2. I unfortunately rear-ended someone last week, which is not frugal. But, my car had no damage and the other person's car had very minor damage. The person I hit was agreeable to not filing through car insurance, which will prevent my car insurance rate from rising. The damage was much less than my deductible anyways.
3. My husband made all of our Halloween costumes out of boxes we found in people's recycling bins, so cost was $0
4. My daughter got a free eye exam at daycare today
5. Sold 2 items on ebay
So sorry to hear about your accident!
Here's what I could scrounge from a couple not frugal weeks (birthdays, Halloween/school stuff. husband's big event):
1. On my school closure Friday (due to fires -- it's a "snow day" that smells like an ashtray) I hit VONs for Friday specials, using coupons and my J4U deals. Picked up big trays of boneless skinless chicken breast ($1/lb.) and ground turkey (3 lb/$4.70), along with staples. Portioned all the meat individually for 2 servings and froze. Depending on size of servings, cost ranges from 32 cents for 1/4 lb. up to 60 cents for 1/2 pound.
2. Reusing all Halloween decorations, etc., at school. Will only buy a pumpkin to carve and explain all the parts.
3. Found perfect soft, warm hoodie that I desperately needed (FAIL -- lost previous jacket) at Kohl's (picking up presents) for $12.74. Originally $32.00, but lovely sales associate filled me in on additional discounts.
4. Used clothes I had for Husband's event -- it was fine. No one was looking at me 🙂
5. Continuing to take lunches, use up food, breakfast at home, all the usual stuff
1. Took advantage of a get $50 of groceries for $20 if you try our curb side pick up.
2, noticed I was being charged $6 a month for my new checking account. Called the bank and switched to a no charge account.
3. Was emailed a 50% off dry dog or cat food at TS. Will use to buy food for a friend’s feral cat colony.
4. Ate leftovers for lunch, made cheap chicken and veggies in the crock pot for supper
5. Went to pick up a rabbit hutch cheap off of FB Market and found a free rabbit cage in someone’s trash. Yea two cages for One cheap price!
I’m always impressed by people who actually resell things. I find I do much better to just give them away, or they sit in the house for farrr too long.
I am not an expert seller by any stretch of the imagination...I drag my feet on it a lot of times. But eBay IS pretty easy, especially with the ability to upload photos from my phone. So that helps a little.
Five frugal things this week:
1. I've organized my Christmas list and am making as much as possible.
2. I needed a new invisible zipper presser foot for my sewing machine. Using Joann's coupons, doorbuster deals and a $5 off a $5 or more purchase, I got the foot and a package of my favorite flower head pins for $1.06. The foot paid for itself in spades the same day after I replaced a a broken invisible zipper in a cocktail dress for a friend's sister and took in a mother of the bride gown at the zipper.
3. My boss brought us bagels from his favorite Brooklyn bakery (we live in Western New York). Used them for breakfast three days, made bagel rotisserie chicken salad sandwiches and pizza bagels for lunches.
4. Made omelets and breakfast burritos from some eggs given to me by my neighbor.
5. Bought a loaf of day old French bread for 30 cents. Sliced and toasted part of it, made garlic cheese bread with another part of it. Have one third left that I plan to use with dinner tomorrow.
Rochester NY here!!
Gosh, the Frugal five come up so quickly and I really have to put my thinking cap on this week!
1) DS2 is going to college to be a mechanical engineer. He has to design and make things using a 3-D printer and machines that I am not familiar with. He made a very heavy duty ice scraper. It weighs a ton and is thicker than a glass coke bottle but it's cool.
2) I sold a Door on ebay. We didn't need it and it's for local pick-up only. But, c'mon , it's a door...Who knew I could even do that. The best part is that we got it for free since the company sent us the wrong one and let us keep it.
3) I sold books that DS2 didn't want anymore on ebay. I sent it by media mail, which is so much cheaper than any other type of service by USPS.
4) After having surgery a couple of months ago, a big bill arrived from the hospital. I will call them tomorrow to see about a payment schedule. I've never done this before and don't know if they charge a fee or interest or what. If a fee is charged, I'll see if they'll waiver it somehow. Maybe by paying a larger amount each month? I'm not sure if I can haggle on it, but I'll try to avoid any extra fees.
5) I earned $35 in Swagbucks and $30 in rewards from my credit card. I intended to buy DS1 earbuds from Amazon for Christmas. Today, he showed me his earbuds (I had no idea he had them as he said he needed good ones and told me what name brand and style he wanted) and they were exactly what he told me he wanted. ::sigh:: Back to the drawing board.
1. Called the health insurance company when I got a provider bill for $200+ when I normally pay $10 for the lab test. It was a typo error on the providers part. I save at least $200.
2. Mended a lunch tote. The handle was frayed, so I cut the frayed side and used a lighter to stop the fraying on the web material and changed the configuration to a wristlet.
3. Replaced buttons on a shirt using the spare extra button from other shirts.
4. Shopped the garage and replaced a light bulb and continue to declutter the garage.
5. Decluttered skin care products and lotions over 3 years old. DDs skin felt burned after using an old lotion. She washed it off and all was well. I now know that the skin care products I have are safe. Avoiding injury is frugal.
1. I stayed within my grocery budget for the month of September! I am on track with October as well! I am very excited by this because I budgeted $50 less than my typical monthly spending.
2. I stayed within my dining out budget for the month of September! I am on track with October as well! This was a tricky category to cut back because it required lots of commitment to cook most meals at home.
3. Carried my lunch to work everyday for the past two and half weeks. No trips to the vending machine either.
4. Found a forgotten suit jacket with my winter clothes. It wears well with my current work wardrobe. It feels new to me at no extra cost.
5. Just started using the Ibotta app, earned $20 sign up credit.
good for you Jennifer!
I'm late to the party but here are my FFT:
1. Went to free training for work with free food & cuppas
2. Training was on the other side of city so stopped for dinner & avoided peak hour home & had leftovers for dinner the next night- petrol was 1.62/L & saved 1hour's drive- admittedly food probably scuppered the saving but it was delicious & saved me from a hideous drive...:)
3. Going to bed a lot earlier a lot more - have more energy & less electricity used
4. Going to work earlier - quicker drive = less petrol
5. Really little thing but when I clean the toilet or as necessary I drop a few drops of tea tree oil in bowl, no nasty chemicals, really effective & I can't tell you how many years ago I bought the bottle...
1) A bigger one, but I got promoted at work. It was a big career milestone promo, so I got a raise, and will get a larger bonus & qualify for more equity each year. I'm still struggling with my work/life tradeoffs dilemma, but it's nice to be recognized for my accomplishments.
2) Chased Lowes for issues with our door delivery. This has gone on for 6 months, so there will be compensation involved. I want to just give up, but I know that's not the right answer.
3) Sent all paperwork to hospital that didn't receive the payment we sent from my husband's HSA
4) Made (most) meals at home. Did have one splurge meal out on Halloween, when both kids were unexpectedly gone
5) Made the most of grocery store & pharmacy rewards to get things we need.