Five Frugal Things | The teeny savings edition
I have a collection of not-that-impressive things to share with you today!
But hey, over time, small savings do add up too. You can get big wins AND small wins working together.
1. I used Sonia's work discount
I found some cotton bath towels at her store for a good price and since Sonia was with me, I was able to use her work discount.
Even 10% counts as something!
Also: a fresh new towel is an inexpensive way to make your everyday experience feel more luxurious.
2. I hit the clearance shelf at Sprouts
Whenever I stop at grocery stores, I always take a peek at the clearance rack. I can't resist!
Of course, I never buy things JUST because they're marked down, but I find useful things for a good price, I throw them into my cart.
This time I found a marked-down natural deodorant, a marked-down bar of natural soap, and an $0.89 bag of multi-colored popcorn kernels.
3. I changed my CVS Carepass billing to annual
I realized that my CVS care pass membership could go from $5/month to $4/month if I switched billing to annual.
So, I called and got it changed over.
(with a CVS Carepass, I pay $4/month and get a $10 store credit to use each month. That's a 60% discount, which gets even better if you use that in conjunction with coupons and sales.)
4. I submitted my out-of-network bills online
This saves an envelope, a stamp, and the cost of printing a submission form.
But mainly this is a win because it is SO STINKING EASY. It takes me under five minutes now.
Online insurance receipt submission is 100% better than mail-in submission!
5. I dumped my salad spinner water into an outdoor pot
This is indeed a tiny win because our water bill for our entire household is usually around $30/month.
Why yes, these seedings ARE from marigold seeds I saved last year.
So this was probably a $0.000001 savings.
But still, it seems smarter to give the water a second use.
Most of my frugal things this week are related to our son's graduation party.
1) Ordered half sheet cake from Costco for $20
2) Filled up my car with gas while I was at Costco picking up the cake. Also got my son's glasses adjusted so he didn't have to make a separate trip to Costco.
3) Purchased meat, cheese, crackers, and fruit for charcuterie board from Aldi
4) Purchased wine for the party from Aldi (and our guests were delighted with the $5 bottles of Rose!)
5) Leftover chicken tenders and nuggets from catering the party are lunch this week for son, daughter, husband and myself. The catering order from Super Chix was really good but it was also a lot of food!
Love the salad spinner water use...We regularly dump excess water in the pet bowls. I am now inspired to do better with more of our excess water...
Your water save reminds me of my parents. They always "catch" water in an old milk jug to water plants. This happens when they are waiting for the water to get hot to say, wash dishes; they catch the cold water to water plants with later. Or wash bird poop off the car, etc. They also reuse all of their loaf bread bags! I've seen you reuse cereal bags. This comment is reminding me to be more like my parents. If nothing else, thriftiness is good for the soul. 🙂
Haha, yes, I do that with catching the water too! And if I have water left from cooking veggies, I let it cool and then use it to water plants.
@Sarah C., when I started stashing bread bags I realized I am now my grandma.
Those big bread bags are perfect for when I make homemade French bread!
And saved bags are good for storing produce when it comes bagless from Hungry Harvest (sometimes they send me naked lettuce and it's nice to have a big bag to put the lettuce in.)
@Kristen, I, ahem, use my bread bags for the daily cleaning of the catbox.
@Kristen, I use plastic grocery bags for bag liners in my two small trash cans. Don't know what I'll do when my state bans them next year.
Reader question (only somewhat related to your post): Do you track your spending, and if so, what method do you use? I've been looking for an app that would create monthly reports showing spending areas, but I don't want to give it access to my financial accounts (so I can't get Mint to work).
I've always used Quicken, which you can do manually if you like. I just have it auto-import from my online accounts, though.
Are you good at Excel? I know some people do manual tracking on Excel and then they can make whatever reports they want.
That's desert thinking! I live in NM and use a bucket to collect shower water while it heats up. Water is precious here, and I can't handle the waste. It's perfect for watering plants indoors and out.
1. Repurposed leftover rice into fried rice adding in chicken and lots of veggies harvested from our garden.
2. Yellow squash from our garden made a yummy squash casserole for dinner along with pink-eyed peas, and fresh tomatoes.
3. We harvested well over 20 lbs of green beans from the garden this past week and we have eaten some and frozen the rest for use throughout the year. This makes it possible to enjoy garden fresh, lovely, bright green veggies all year long - YAY!
4. I purchased 7.5 dozen eggs at around $0.85/18 using a coupon, a digital deal, and our discount. We are stocked up for a bit now.
5. We were gifted two large quarts of blueberries from a neighbor so I whipped up a double batch of blueberry muffins for easy breakfasts and snacks this week.
Even teenier than yours . . .
My toddler has the irritating habit--common, however, to toddlers everywhere--of not finishing the last few bites of her food and then putting it in the refrigerator "for later."
Later usually never comes.
So. This morning I made the executive decision that she was almost certainly not going to eat the last two tablespoons of curried split peas from her lunch yesterday that had dried out in the uncovered bowl overnight. I microwaved them with a bit of water and used them as a sauce over my two fried eggs for breakfast.
Total savings? About as much as your re-using your salad spinner water (I dump mine into my houseplants, by the way). Total satisfaction about using up the last bit of food in a delicious way rather than throwing it away? Much higher than the actual money saved.
I have to be careful about watering plants with water that held food. Certain pets I know will try to dig the nano-particles of food out of the potted plant. This does not go well for the plant.
1. I've brought this up before, but I finally saw it come all the way to fruition-- I got my uber-expensive prescription filled for free, after months of wrangling. Even my insurance doesn't have to pay. I picked up the first dose under this plan sponsored by a patient foundation and read on it: Patient Pay: $0.00 Cash: $27,445.49. Granted, with my insurance I would have "only" paid $3,300 to $5,500 per dose, but that's still a really big save.
2. I found a $20 bill in the house. Frugality? Maybe not, but it's a win.
3. I bought 3 fresh-killed chickens from my farmer and cut up 2 of them before vacuum sealing them. I saved the necks, stripped backs, wing tips, excess skin, etc., and pressure cooked that for an hour, to get almost 3 quarts of very tasty broth. I also saved a dollar a pound by cutting up the chickens myself.
4. When I cooked a roast chicken recently, I roasted it on top of carrot sticks and onion slices. After we ate it as a roast, I pulled off the last of the meat, cut up the remaining carrots and onions, used some dehydrated celery I had made earlier and the remaining mushrooms in my fridge, cooked the vegetables in the last of some opened chicken broth in the fridge, and made a pot pie out of it all.
5. My boss and a co-worker need to stay overnight at a beach resort area, to visit a project there. Room prices are high. I searched around and found a nice hotel on the same fancy boulevard, for a minimum savings of $75 to up to $200 per room compared to the other hotels with a vacancy.
OHHH, I am so happy to hear about your prescription. Woohoo!
This sounds like a really dumb question, but do those colored popcorn kernels pop into colored popcorn?
That is such a good question! I have no idea, but as soon as Sonia pops some, I will let you know.
She is our resident popcorn maker.
@Anne, Generally, no. Popcorn either will pop as white or yellow. It's about the starchy endosperm inside, not the color of the exocarp that determines the color of the finished popcorn.
Most of my savings are tiny ones such as these.
- I often use my rinsing water in my plants or for my dog.
- While my place was being worked on, which is stressful for my dog, I tempted him to eat by giving him the frozen fish that I couldn't stand.
- Not wasting food.
- Finally giving up on selling some things and giving them to Goodwill instead. This saves me time and mental work.
- Will get supermarket to refund me for the 2 containers of hummus I was mistakenly charged for.
- Got a refund from Whole Foods for cracked eggs. Turns out I should have asked for the refund online because it was an online order but the clerk gave me the refund anyway. I think it was because I was pleasant and patient.
- Got a $3 coupon from Mars because the variety bag of mini candy bars wasn't very varied: it was 50% Snickers and 50% the other four types. If I liked Snickers I wouldn't've complained.
- Told the manufacturer that the container of vanilla yogurt was actually plain. They refunded the price and gave me a free one to thank me for helping them track a manufacturing error. (Most places will do that.)
- Sorted through a lot of newspaper bags and grocery sacks to leave at the dog park.
Some other recent things:
- I sold my second unused papasan for $125.
- There are a lot of amazing sales in this month's supermarket circular, so I'm stocking up on dog food, lunch meat, hummus, guac, canned fruit, razor blades, and other things.
- Was mistakenly told I couldn't exchange some pants bought online. Instead of taking the email as gospel, I wrote them back to complain. There had been a lot of fit problems already so while I wasn't overtly rude I let them know I was not happy. They allowed the exchange and credited me about 75% of the cost.
- Continue to check a zillion books out of the library instead of buying them. I buy the ones I'll reread.
- Didn't need to take out a loan to replace my 30 yo roof because I set up a "major house maintenance" savings plan as soon as I started looking to buy a home.
- After wearing them around the house a bit, I returned some new clothes to Target.
Not Frugal But Good For My Mental and Physical Health:
- Hired a handyman to staple plastic sheeting to my attic rafters (something you need to do when you replace a roof because all that work shakes loose a lot of dirt).
We are finally getting our new fridge that we ordered quite a while ago. It is scheduled for Thursday delivery. Although a fridge is expensive, this is frugal because:
1. I saved up money to buy the fridge using the digit app and then we paid cash. I waited until it was on sale and then got another small discount for paying with cash.
2. We are eating up all sorts of things from the fridge and freezer this week so that we don't have much to keep cold for the several hours that we will be without a fridge.
3. The new fridge is more energy efficient.
Other frugality:
4. I traded with my neighbor...I gave her some magazines I was done with and she gave me a beautiful bouquet from her garden.
5. I cleaned and organized my linen closet and was surprised and delighted to find our travel alarm clock hidden behind the towels. I have no idea how it ended up there. I was just about to consider it lost and buy a new one. My daughter likes to bring it to camp with her.
I'm so intrigued by the colored popcorn kernels! I'm going to look them up. Sounds like a fun snack.
1. For our camping trip last week I borrowed a mobile hot spot from the library so we wouldn't go over our 1G of data for the month and be charged extra. I get it for 2 weeks and am continuing to use it until tomorrow when I'll return it.
2. I'm done buying diapers!!! It feels weird after having at least 1 kid in diapers for almost 7.5 years. We're 4 days into potty training our youngest and entering a new stage of life.
3. As others have mentioned bags... I'm finding new uses for my cereal and bread bags. I previously used them for bagging poopy diapers, but now they're being used for things like cat litter and when I have to clean out our little travel potty.
4. I planned ahead for my son's late July birthday party. Last year I waited too long to look for a backyard water thing and ended up paying $50 for something at Meijer that Aldi had for $30 a few weeks prior because it was the only thing I could find in town. And it didn't even last a full year before ripping beyond repair! This week I got a fun water thing for $20 at Aldi and I'm prepared.
5. We emptied and defrosted our freezer (under the fridge) yesterday. From it I made 2 pot pies for last night's dinner, we had leftover french toast for breakfast, and I made quesadillas for lunch with leftover fajita filling and black beans. The freezer was long overdue for a clean out and it feels good to have it done!
@Ruth T,
I was intrigued by your library loaning hot spots. I had to look that up. Now I'm jealous, my library doesn't offer that. Thanks for sharing! I learn so much from this community.
@Bobi,
My library is always looking for new ways to be helpful to the community. If you made a formal request, I wouldn't be surprised if they started a Hot Spot program. I'm the VP of our Friends Group, and we haven't spent money on much of anything since the pandemic began. Our branch has been a Covid Testing Site for over a year. Now that we're set to reopen in a few months, we've looking for smart ways to spend some of that money. I'm going to suggest this at our next meeting. Please don't be afraid to ask at your library.
@Bobi,
I believe that they got a couple around 2 years ago, then when COVID hit and everyone was remote learning they got a grant to buy a LOT. They have 20-30 now and we don't even live in a big city.
@Ruth T, My library also have mifi (about 12, I think) that we can check out. Since I only have to be at my work apartment one night a week, it has been a huge help to not have to pay for internet there for the semester. My other favorite thing that the library has is a bird-watching kit.
Before my FFT, a quick update on DH's adjustment to the nursing home: It's going better than I'd dared to hope. The only major problem thus far has been a case of swollen feet/ankles (probably a result of the sudden transition from daily walks on our street to ward life), and compression stockings plus a low-salt diet have helped a lot. He's also earned the nickname "The Gentle Giant" because of both his size (he's about twice as big as any other resident, male or female!) and his efforts to help other residents with various things. And he is not trying to escape, demanding to see me, or doing any of the other things I was afraid might happen. He seems vaguely pleased to see me when I visit, but is not unduly distressed when I leave.
Now, FFT, Cheap Thrills in the Garden Edition:
(1) I too am doing various things to save water. For one thing, I keep a bucket under the drip line from the condenser on my AC--and given how hard the AC's been running the last few days (our heat wave isn't as bad as in the Pacific NW, but it's bad enough), this has produced multiple buckets.
(2) I also keep several five-gallon buckets under my own eaves, and stick a bucket every time we get a good rain under the magnificent waterfall off a corner of my next-door neighbor's roof.
(3) I continue to pull redroot pigweed (aka wild amaranth) and lamb's quarters for use in stir-fries and salads. And purslane is now coming up thick and fast. (I call this time of year "Shut up and eat your weeds.")
(4) I dug 14 handsome heads of garlic last week (and it would have been 15 if I hadn't bisected one with my spade-@#$%!!), and have set out kale seedlings (marked down to $1 per 6-pack at our Regional Market) in their place. The garlic is now drying up in the attic, along with the dill and other herbs I've been harvesting, so the attic smells heavenly.
(5) And speaking of garlic and dill, I made my first two quart jars of refrigerator pickles for 2021 with those ingredients plus home-mixed pickling spice, one dried chili pepper per jar (my "customers" call the pepper my secret weapon), and the first few pickling cukes to appear at the Regional Market. Gonna make a lot more jars once my own cukes plus the main local crop come in.
@A. Marie, Thank you for the update on your husband. I"m happy for you and him that he seems to be settling in well. I would imagine that eases your mind a good bit.
Oh, that sounds like the best adjustment possible for your husband. Good, good. Thank you for updating us!
A. Marie, I'm happy that the transition is going well. Sounds like the staff really like him, so that's a bonus.
@A. Marie, Thank you for updating us about your husband; I'm so happy to hear that he's settling in well! (Also like the idea of "eat your weeds" : )
@A. Marie,
So very glad to hear the update on your DH is positive all around! Loved "the gentle giant" and that he is helping other folks!
@A. Marie, so glad to see your update on your husband. Have thought of you often. Glad it is going better than you thought it might.
We are caring for someone with dementia who recently had a blood clot. So far so good, but they can't remember why their ankle is swollen or why crossing legs at knees is not a good habit. So that discussion happens frequently and patiently.
@A. Marie,
So glad to hear your husband's adjusting well. My MIL had ALZ and lived with us for six years. When she bit me and wouldn't let go, we knew it was time to move her to a board and care. She did okay there for about 18 months and then passed away fairly quietly the week before last. I am glad she is finally at peace. I hope she's in heaven, enjoying full use of her memory again. I'm pretty sure everyone who suffers with ALZ goes to the head of the line at the Pearly Gates.
That your gentle giant husband wants to help other people at his new place is the best thing I’ve heard all day. As a nurse, this really warms my heart. It lets us get a peek at what people were truly like, before they needed us. And I love when family members or friends post photos in someone’s room of them as kids, young adults, parents, workers,veterans, grandparents, etc. the people we see as “patients” or “residents” or “clients” are just one tiny bit of who they are!
@A. Marie, I'm happy to hear that your dh is in a nursing home. I hope you are getting much needed rest. I know it must have been a tough decision but perhaps it was time. Hugs to you. aka Markie
I will join in on tiny savings moves.
1. Using (rather ugly) paper Christmas napkins that were in a free box at a yard sale. The package had been opened on one edge.
2. Putting the old kettle with a couple of inches of water on the back stove burner, where the heat vents out, when we use the oven. The water absorbs the heat more quickly than sending it into the air, and I can use it for washing dishes.
3. Have carefully balanced the AC temp setting to be as low-yet-high as we can stand.
4. Bought an unopened package of 25 envelopes for a quarter at a yard sale. They are sort of silver-tinted, intended to be used for holidays, I suppose, but they will still get the mail where it needs to be.
5. Starting to buy extra forever postage stamps when I get stamps, as the rates are going up the end of August. Need to get ahead a few dimes on international stamps before Christmas.
And 6-- Patiently, (NOT!), waiting for our federal tax refund, filed in early April. We are fortunate it is going into savings.
Little savings aren't so much about the savings of pennies but often (like your plant watering) it's because such things make sense from a "waste less" principle.
1.) I needed some canisters for some food organization and high quality foodservice style (commonly called Cambros, though these were made by Rubbermaid) were actually cheaper than buying pantry storage bins at Walmart. I'm moving more toward this model than from the space wasting round containers.
2.) Got a bunch of regular necessities I normally purchase on sale during Amazon's big sale day. I used the slow shipping and racked up some digital credit I'll be using for kindle books.
3.) Cashed in all of my change that's been hanging around for the last year or so. It ended up being $55! I said to the teller that I kept meaning to bring them in but just never got around to it. I suppose I should have done it during the coin shortage.
4.) Went to a Cash and Carry type store and got some bulk items much cheaper than buying from the grocery. Not everything was cheaper but what we got was a good deal. The only downside is having to buy in large quantities (so like Costco or BJ's.)
5.) I wandered into a Goodwill whilst traveling (it was next door to the place I was actually going to.) It was pretty slim pickings for the stuff I normally buy but I wandered through the clothes (something I almost never buy.) I decided to look for shirts for work. At the end of an aisle was a button down shirt. It was still in new condition and only $4. Upon further inspection I saw it was from Brooks Brothers (a store I can't exactly afford to shop in) and a web search says this shirt was around $70 new! So I'm happy with my purchase!
@Battra92, Brooks Brother shirts are amazing! I can toss mine in an overnight bag and pull it out and walk into meetings with out ironing. Mine are almost 10 years old and still look great
1. I soak strawberries, blueberries, and bing cherries in a bit of soapy water before we consume them. I dump the soaking water on an outdoor plant instead of down the sink. With strawberries there is a lot of dirt/silt so I feel good about returning that to the earth. I also save the strawberry tops and freeze them to use in smoothies although I might try them in a pureed soup next time.
2. I borrowed a digital audio book that sounded interesting, Die with Zero, from the library. It is thought provoking. I am almost finished and it has some ideas worth considering.
3. Our suburb has outdoor concerts on the weekend during the summer. They're in the "woods" and generally worth attending. Entry is free but they do collect donations at intermission. Rather than donating each time we attend I put a check in the mail to cover the season. We should be able to deduct the amount from our taxes and they will receive a generous donation.
4. I wanted to pick up a few items at Sam's Club so I drove my husband's vehicle and filled the gas tank. It was $.25/gallon less there than at the station closest to our house.
5. I paused our Hulu subscription since we were not using it.
I love all the water waste comments. We've had many water issues over the years and appreciate how precious water is. We use our dehumidifier water for plant watering every summer but one particularly dry summer we used it to wash our cars.
Let's see. We cleaned out odds and ends in the fridge for a smorgasbord lunch today ... went to the library for books yesterday .... I went to a canvas painting event at our church last evening and my only cost was the $5 for the canvas, so an inexpensive evening out. Last week we spent a few days in Michigan's upper peninsula so my son could attend college orientation. We got by with only purchasing 2 meals "out", since I packed some food (purchased at Aldi). We already have the state park sticker on our car so there was no extra cost incurred when we went to a state park for fun after the orientation. I think that's 5!
@Kris,
I lived there for 24 years.
Tech
Northern
Finlandia
Lake Superior State
????
@Stephanie, you're a Yooper???? 🙂 He will be going to LSSU this fall. He's always been my outdoorsy kid so I think it's a good match. We're trolls (Muskegon area) so it's a bit of a drive for us. Looking forward to exploring some of the beautiful areas up there. Thanks for asking!
1. We grow over 100 leeks each summer, for use all year long. To get stouter plants, which means more of the tender white portion, I trim the tops back severely in June and July. I caught the pieces I chopped off, which are tender since these plants are still young, and put half in soup instead of an onion and half in potato salad instead of onion.
2. While standing at the grocery store, I watched a display of watermelons disassemble itself all over the floor. As they were cleaning up the chunks and throwing them into a produce box, I asked the manger if I could take a box home for my chickens. He told me to meet him out back and I ended up with three boxes of bashed watermelons. My chickens have been very happily eating hunks for days. I threw a lot of them in the freezer but they don’t care if the texture gets mushy as they thaw. They probably like it on these warm summer days!
3. Listed and quickly sold two items on FB Marketplace. They had been sitting in the garage for literally years and now they are gone and I have $70 in my pocket.
4. My neighbor loves marigolds but needed to clear some out of her garden. She gave me a bunch of fresh marigold heads for my chickens, which they love to eat and which turn their yolks a deep and attractive orange yellow. I don’t think they are healthier but they sure are pleasing to someone who loves orange and yellow as much as I do. Not really as money saver I guess, but these eggs make me feel rich!
5. Returned two of my husband’s favorite but very expensive socks to the company that makes them, explaining that they were unraveling at the exact same spot on every sock. I said that if they looked at their records, they would see that my husband was a loyal customer who has a lot of their underwear and shirts, as well as socks, and this was the first time he was unhappy with the quality of an item. They sent him a three set of socks and a $100 gift certificate to use on their clothing. I had hoped for a new pair of socks so the rest was gravy, as they say. My husband had cancer when he was in his 20s and even now, many decades later, his feet are ultra-sensitive so finding good socks was an ordeal until we found this brand. I would buy them for twice the price.
@Lindsey, what brand if I may ask? I love "good" socks and feel like the higher quality brands are worth the extra money as they wear longer and are the ones O always reach for in the drawer . Also love supporting a company that has such good customer service/loyalty.
@Lindsey, BOMBAS?
@Jean, It was Duluth. My husband loves their products, especially their underpants and socks but more than half of his shirts come from them, too. Until the socks, we had never had a product that was of poor quality or did not wear well. That being said, my husband works at a computer most of the time, so I have no idea how their stuff performs for folks who do a lot of physical labor. I have never bought any of their products for myself, so also cannot speak to the quality of their women's line.
@Stephanie, Duluth.
@Jean, we live near Duluth trading company, I may even work in one of their distribution centers when my kids are older, but we love their socks and underwear!
My frugal things are mostly about food/groceries.
1. I have been trying for a no/very low monthly food total for June. I am thrilled to say I spent only $24.20!
2. I used up some fruit cups I bought last year during the height of the pandemic, the few remaining tablespoons of quick oats and steel cut oats, a little brown sugar, butter and cinnamon and made a tasty fruit crisp.
3. I used all remaining packs of instant oatmeal, also purchased during the pandemic.
4. I used some very old french bread from my freezer and made french toast for 2 meals and french bread pizza for another.
5. I redeemed digital coupons at Sprouts for a free Chocolove bar ($3.49! Who would pay that??) and a Bob's Red Mill bar ($1.99. Again, who would pay that??)
I don't really worry about saving water here. We have tons of it and my well is free. Whatever I don't use gets put into the water cycle anyway and then I pump it back up.
Since my garden is much smaller this year I joined a CSA which has been fun. It's challenging to use up all those vegetables. Today's my son's birthday, though, so the planned garlic scape pesto is on hold till tomorrow. I made carrot soup with the enormous bunches of fresh tiny carrots, ate the sugar snap peas raw and am planning to pickle the beets.
Accepted way more freelance work than I should have. I need a break so badly but I'll be working all weekend, darn it. I need to learn.
Refused to buy new summer clothes because I have too many anyway. Gonna send extra to ThreadUp.
Filled up with the cheap gas which is $1 cheaper a gallon an hour away (where I had to go shop anyway).
@Rose, I miss having a well! We had one at our last house and the water was sooooo much better. Better tasting and, I don't know if it's related to having municipal water, but in our current home, the mildew/mold/whatever (shower, toilet, sink, tubs) is way more aggressive than in our last house.
This is so funny because where I live, the well water always tastes bad. Rather rotten-egg-ish.
@Sarah G,
Well, I live 75' from the Atlantic Ocean so it's alllllways damp here. Mold, mildew, salt clumping, you name it. It's just a thing you have to get used to!
1. Holding off on replacing any kids' art supplies until they've really dwindled down to near empty. I tend to replace them too soon.
2. Waiting until I lose a few more pounds before I buy new jeans, to avoid having to buy them again. That's the downside of losing weight: not fitting your clothes anymore. Since I don't keep clothes I don't actually wear, I don't have a stockpile of smaller sizes from my pre-baby days.
3. Trying to feed the baby less baby food (it's pricey and I don't have the mental bandwidth right now to make "baby food." So now that he is 9 months he's eating more things like mashed up scrambled eggs, mashed banana, mashed up whatever veg we're having at dinner, etc. Plus breast milk/formula of course.
4. Making as many meals as is feasible that don't require buying additional things.
5. Enjoying a lot of free family activities... biking, hiking, playgrounds, walking around the neighborhood, going to the lake, etc.
We do also have things planned that cost money (day camp for the three oldest) but it's nice to not pay for everything.
@Sarah G, RE #2, I'm also in the process of losing weight and I find dresses more forgiving size wise than pants, I can wear them longer before it starts looking silly. And Goodwill is my best friend!
By the time I got to kid #4, I didn't have much patience for baby food either! Zoe ate a LOT of mashed bananas. Ha.
Found out recently that I still have Oregon Health Plan (due to Covid the state can't terminate due to income). It is secondary to my very crappy high deductible health insurance through my job.
So far, $60.00 refund from my doctors' office which I told them to leave on my account because once I get terminated from OHP I will have co-pays for doctor visits.
It is possible that OHP will cover emergency room doctor fees from last year. My work insurance calls them out-of-network and didn't cover a penny of over $1470.00
Ordered a backup CPAP mask on Amazon at $21.00 (buying through Norco is partially covered by both insurances but they mark the supplies up a lot so when my OHP coverage lapses I will get my supplies through Amazon).
They are the same masks from the same manufacturer but the profit motive for Norco is insane. Did purchase a CPAP mask today from Norco as the one I was using ripped at the chin.
Used my remaining food stamps which I didn't even know I had left until last week
Last Sunday while cooking spaghetti, I used some of the pasta water in my bread recipe and rolled the dough balls in some everything bagel seasoning bought super cheap at the clearance store. The two round loaves came out so delicious.
Ordered some sneakers from a company's eBay storefront because the shipping is a few bucks cheaper than through their website for the same item. Bought some capris off Poshmark (my one other pair is nine years old and getting see-thru in the seat) using the bundle-make an offer option to save $14.
Turned leftover noodles into a chicken casserole for my work lunches. Casserole used up lots of odds and ends. It's not great looking but is tasty, filling and nutritious.
For the first time in my life (and I'm 61) have over $1200.00 in savings.
Hooray! Good for you!
May your total keep increasing.
@Suellen J Roley, Keep up the good work! Hope you're able to keep growing that number!
Woohoo, Suellen! Good work!
@Suellen J Roley,
Hooray! Great job. Keep up the good work. The little things really do add up.
Mmm..... Nothing feels frugal right now since I'm off work sick and not paids, but I'll try...
* Found 2 dresses at Goodwill for 16$.
* Found a pair of 1 lb weights at Goodwill for 2$ (for shoulder rehab). They are impossible to buy new since Covid, or the price is crazy, so I got lucky
* Having my 4 first massage therapy for shoulder recovery covered at 80% with hubby's health plan. This is saving me 240$. The next ones will all be out of pocket, but 240$ is better than 0$
* Decided to not buy ANYTHING for the freezer for the whole month of July. M chest freezer is full, so is my pantry, yet I keep adding to it. So now is the time to actually eat the food!
* The kids are happy entertaining themselves at the park and the neighbors pool, and having friends over to play. They are keeping busy, it costs nothing and it gets them out of the house? Sign them up!
1. We got charged for a service we no longer need. My husband asked to cancel and for a refund which should be about $100.
2. I made a leftover soup with:
- Leftover frozen chicken
- Leftover spaghetti noodles from 2 meals. I used my scissors to cut them smaller.
- Frozen beef broth
- And I added some veggies and spices.
3. I cooked at home.
4. I line dry, exclusively.
5. I did some number crunching trying to find the best areas to save a little extra.
1. I picked up some clothes, for my son, off Buy Nothing. These will fit him next year. I also picked up a pack of eyebrow razors off Buy Nothing. I have been wanting to try them. They are definitely a game changer! Much less time spent tweezing.
2. We decided to re-enroll our son in public school. He attended a private school this past school year, as our public schools did not open fully. This will save us $6,500 per year.
3. My husband built a cat gate, for our basement, using scrap wood. He also fixed one of our dinning room chairs. The leg broke off, so he found a similar leg on a chair in someone's garbage!
4. We celebrated my son moving on to 2nd grade with a trip to a local state park that has a great beach. We packed a picnic lunch. I picked up a pass from our local library that gave us free admission to the park (worth $9).
5. I made a batch of conditioner
I have fallen off the frugal train lately. This often happens in carefree summer!
1. Trying to do laundry during off peak hours and using dryer less
2. I used a bunch of random frozen bread odds n ends to make a cinnamin sugar snack. Very good.
3. Made and froze pesto from basil that I grew.
4. Bought nothing CRAZY on PRIME Days!
5. Drinking lots of water right from my kitchen sink !
So excited to play!! This is my favorite blog feature. 1) bought my Dads birthday present with gift cards gifted to me and used my B&N educator card for a wee discount 2) registered my son for Football during the early bird registration for a $20.00 savings 3) we had 4 days at home in between two trips so did a laser focused shopping trip based on a meal plan so we could eat at home but not waste much. 4) finally got the tomatoes into the garden 5)shopped around quality boarding places for our 2 dogs and found a great place for 1/2 the cost of another option. Have a great week everyone and a Happy 4th!
I like when your frugal things are also environmentally beneficial things! Saving seeds! Growing plants! Conserving water! Avoiding plastic and crazy packaging! Etc., etc.!
I love the Frugal Five things on this blog!
Here are mine:
1) We inherited a working window air conditioner. I tried giving it away for 2 years! I finally put it on Craigslist and sold it for $50.
2) I got Pillsbury pizza dough for $1 a tube on clearance and made Margherita pizza.
3) I'm growing an herb (basil), veg (carrots and onions) and fruit (peaches). I used the basil so far for the pizza above.
4) I put $25 in my PayPal acct after acquiring enough points on Swagbucks.
5) We've been doing yard work for neighbors for extra $. We got taken advantage of on the first big endeavor but learned after that! We now charge $50/hour. So far, we're up to $170!
My five this week:
Converting dress to top
Making salad dressing with homegrown herbs
Swimming daily in open water
Making granola (your recipe!)
Picking a bouquet from garden flowers.
I hardly think of these as frugal because I do all of them for fun!
It's been a expensive week, but we had a few frugal wins:
1. Found bags of walnuts on sale at Walmart for $2/bag. I snagged 5 bags (leaving some for another lucky shopper).
2. Used a gift card to eat out on Sunday
3. Cleaned two of our cars myself. Typically, I go to the local car wash place. This saved us about $50 (probably more).
4. Finally received a refund for some clothing I purchased online and returned.
5. It's blackberry season.! We picked about 5 lbs of blackberries from our bushes this week. I froze 4 lbs and kept 1 lb out to eat now.
1.) I paused our Netflix subscription. We currently have Amazon prime, Disney plus, HBO max, and Apple TV through various bundles - we decided to focus on watching content on those services for the time being.
2.). I cut both our daughters’ hair and my husband cut his own.
3.) Stopped at our local thrift shop to look for jeans and joggers for my oldest daughter. We had placed an order through Old Navy using super cash, it ended up getting lost and cancelled. I found 7 items for less than $18!
4.) Making sure to get our pool water tested on Wednesday’s when the store offers a discount on chemicals.
5.) Planning a Christmas in July camping trip using things we already have around the house. Including a buy noting white elephant gift exchange.
We are officially back in Maine full time after 9 years in Hong Kong...and honestly, the transition has felt anything but frugal, but much of that cannot be helped and is expected. At any rate, it is soooo good to be back! Yeah for transitions!!
1) Our first night back in the US, we stayed in a hotel in LA right by the airport (free with points). Because we have "status," they gave us $50 in food vouchers since they still are not serving the free breakfast. This was to use at their grab and go restaurant. Things were really pricey, but we got 2 sandwiches and a banana each and managed to stretch that into 3 meals as one of the sandwiches was really big.
2) We stayed with our daughter in Wisconsin for a week to visit her family, which included a new 3 week old grand daughter. (Be still my heart!) Another son and his wife came also, and although we went out to eat a few times, we mostly shared kitchen duties, shopping at Walmart. We also just enjoyed being together and did inexpensive things like going for walks, and visiting parks and the capital building.
3) I picked up a member card for Irvings and updated my Walgreens card since we are back for good.
4) I picked beet greens and collards from my neighbor's garden after he invited us to do so.
5) I bought two 5£ bags of flour & 2 boxes of cereal, all for 99 cents each in the mark down bin at the local IGA.
Welcome back to the states!
I don't know if I have 5 frugal things but some of them include: 1) using my fuel points to get 50 cents off a gallon of gas, 2) got some good clothes that weren't pretty cheap at TJ Maxx, and 3) at the Hanes outlet store they have a clearance area and their bras were on sale for $5 to $10 so I stocked up. In addition, I found a few shirts for me and my mom that were marked down from $30 to $6.00. We needed new clothes desperately so I was very happy.