Five Frugal Things | you will understand my excitement
You know how not everyone quite understands how excited you get about a money win? Well, I always know you guys will understand. 😉
1. I got $99 of chicken for $8
Last night I stopped in at Safeway because I needed some chicken for dinner. I figured I'd look to see what might be on sale, and I spied some marked-down organic chicken tenderloins that had to be sold that day.
Amazingly, they were only about a dollar per package, and each package was a little over a pound.
So, I bought eight packages, and then they rang up for only $0.99 apiece. Even better.
I used some of the chicken for dinner and put the rest right into my chest freezer. Yay!
I do not consider this a $91 savings because I would not have ever spent that much on the chicken in the first place.
But it IS still a significant savings to get chicken tenderloins for $0.99/pound! I was thrilled.
2. I refreshed some romaine lettuce
This is so rewarding to do, I am almost excited when I accidentally let lettuce get wilty. 😉
I sliced it up,
put it into a bowl with cold water,
and left it for a few hours. It's hard to tell from the photos, but it grew so much bigger in the water.
I made this cranberry/orange green salad with the freshened lettuce, and we ate it last night with your dinner.
3. I oiled another dry knife
This is another thing that's so rewarding...I was excited when I saw that I had another abandoned-house knife that needed to be oiled!
I used my trusty bottle of Boos Block oil and now the knife looks way better.
4. I got two big bottles of Maui Moisture for almost free
Shortly before Christmas, I realized I did not have any wrapping paper. Whoops.
I stopped by CVS on my way home to pick up a roll, and while I was there, I got two Maui Moisture bottles. They were the sort that was extra big ("50% more free", the bottle says), and after all my coupons and discounts, I paid $5.91 for the wrapping paper + Maui Moisture.
AND I got another $4 of ExtraBucks sent to my account.
5. I did not buy this $2000 Snoopy fridge
You know how my friend Katy (of The Non-Consumer Advocate) is always saying that she did not buy a Lear Jet?
Well, my version is this: I did not buy this $1999.95 Snoopy fridge from Williams-Sonoma.
It IS very cute, but...$2000 is way too much for a mini fridge, thank you very much.
Those deals on chicken and the items from CVS were incredible! Great job!
I did not find fab deals like that, but some is better than none, right? Here are my 5:
1) My sis sent me flowers but they did not look anything like what she ordered and it was pretty bad. We both contacted the online site that had a contract with the local florist and in the end, she was refunded 100% and I was offered another bouquet.
2) I got a boneless ham for dinner at $1/lb.
3) We're able to buy 1 dz eggs at $1.99. We have coupons for that price for several dozen more.
4) I found a side job by shoveling snow. I get $30 from each home. I consider it a paid workout.
5) I placed rolled towels around the windows since they're drafty. The plants are near those windows and seem to like it better by making more green leaves...It makes me happy.
@lisa,
We do that too! On the window sill in our living I used a rolled white flannel that adds to the Christmas decor.
I considered crafting "draft snakes" or "draft dachshunds" but the towels and sheets are way easier to store in summer!
@J NL, @lisa, You two are so much classier than I am; I had my girls use whatever they found in the rag pile. I have several pair of blue jeans (not neatly) blocking the cold air.
@Jody S., high five for saving time! That is a savings too. 🙂
Hooray! For the chicken purchase! I loves deal like that.
Aldi had all their chicken breasts marked down after thanksgiving and it had to be used that day or the next. So I bought eight family packs, divided them all into bags of two or three, and froze them. We won’t have to buy chicken for months!
That snoopy frig is cute, but who would pay that much for it?!? Have you seen the Samsung ones you can customize the different color blocks in the front? They are so ugly and expensive. We were looking for a frig to replace out 26 year old one that is starting to have some issues and I was shocked at the prices.
@Faith,
I'm right there with you on the fridge sticker shock. We had to replace our refrigerator earlier this year (the freezer went out, and then the refrigerator part started having issues), and I was horrified at the prices. I really didn't care what we got, as long as it wasn't a side-by-side (the one that died was a s-b-s, and I hated it). Hubby wanted a French door style fridge, so that's what we got. Because of supply chain issues, the one we wanted was only available in stainless steel. Neither of us care if our appliances match, so that was a non-issue. We did check Consumer Reports before buying.
Score on the chicken!!! That’s definitely brag-worthy.
—The local thrift store had like-new thermal shirts in my husband’s size. They were all name brands—Gap, Banana Republic, Faded Glory—all super thick, and only $3 each.
--A fellow cat-owning friend realized she'd bought too many new toys for her brood and passed the surplus on to us. Between these toys, the stash in the closet (PetSmart had their favorite on clearance this spring, so we bought the whole rack and pull out a replacement as needed), our felines had a good Christmas. 😉
--A co-worker very sweetly gave everyone gift cards to the local gas station for Christmas. The station has excellent to-go food in addition to just being clean and well-run, so we'll hold onto our gift card for leaner times and/or a kitchen apathy night.
—Another co-worker was giving away a barely-used Ethan Allen easy chair for free, as she had a new recliner being delivered. (She’s older and found the very deep easy chair too difficult to get out of.) It’s ours now, with a “thank you” gift in the works!
—The Metropolitan Museum of Art sent me a coupon for $30 off any regular priced purchase. (In addition to having visited several times, I troll their online clearance section for gifts year-round and so receive promotional emails.) I spent a total of $35–a book on the Unicorn Tapestries that I’d been wanting, anyway, plus a small sketchbook—and was thus only out $5 and standard shipping. Happy early birthday to me! 🙂
FRUGAL FOR ALL: The Met has 99.99% of their publications online in pdf form for FREE!!! https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications Name the subject, era, art form, etc., they have it! I’m a stickler for physical books, and I’ve no regrets over the ones I’ve purchased (usually on sale 😉 ), but this virtual library is an INCREDIBLE resource.
@N, I have fallen deeply into the Met's gift catalog offerings. My whole adult life I have wanted a 1940s looking women's wrist watch. The kind with the very small face and very thin black band. The catalog showed up and they had one and called it a French evening watch. It's 2022 and I did not need a watch, but it reminded me of my mother, who has been gone for over half a century, and I longed for it, and ordered it.
I should have probably saved this story until Krisren ran a column on "What Did I BUY That I Didn't Absolutely Need."
It may be 2022, but I ALWAYS wear a watch!
Then again, I was born in the 1900s, as the GenZ-ers like to say. 😉
@Anne, I felt a leap of gladness that you found the exact thing you have wanted your whole adult life! I can picture it and you will treasure it the rest of your whole adult life! Enjoy!
@Anne, Like Sue, I’m so happy you found your watch!!! Special things are worth the expense, especially those that remind us of loved ones and loved moments. I think it would be great fun for Kristen to do a post on that topic like you suggested.
Re: the Met, I’ve a life-long love of ancient history—I owe my husband and closest friend to an online history discussion group, actually! While it’s been less true the past few years—supplies, pandemic, etc.—the Met has beautiful reproductions from our mutual favorite period and tremendous exhibit catalogs. I normally try to wait until items go on sale, but I’ve made exceptions. My long-distance best friend and I celebrated our graduation by traveling to the Met for a specific exhibit. It was our first time meeting in person, and both the company, trip, and exhibit were amazing. You’re damn skippy I forked over the $60 for the exhibit catalog then and there. 😛
@N, thanks for the tip about the Metropolitan Museum
@N, Thanks for the tip about the Met and its online site.
@Anne,
My mother had one of those and wore it for decades. I always wanted one and now I know where they are!
I will point out that actual antique ones are generally quite cheap.
I have some questions on Maui Moisture products. I see them often recommended for curly hair, and I think I remember you originally buying them for Sonia, so I'm just curious why you've decided to continue buying them and which shampoo and conditioner you like best. They have an overwhelming number of options on their website! Have you (or your girls) used any of their gels/mists/creams (again, so many options)? What do you consider a "good" price for the products. Thanks!
I snorted in disbelief at that refrigerator. Buy some decals and be done with it.
Anyway.
We're leaving in, um, about an hour (theoretically . . .) to drive (and drive and drive) to the gulf coast of Texas to fish. I did many frugal things to prepare for this trip, mostly to do with food, but it will not be a frugal trip, Mostly because I refused to even entertain the idea of camping and instead rented a house so that my four crazy kids and two even crazier dogs will be suitably contained. And so that I do not have to sleep on the ground.
Actually, today is my birthday, so I'm gonna call that my birthday gift to myself. Certainly the priciest ever, but also certainly worth it.
@kristin @ going country,
Happy birthday!!!!!! I hope your trip goes smoothly!
And good call on the Snoopy decals! Y'all are so smart. I love it here.
@kristin @ going country, Happy Birthday! Enjoy your trip.
@kristin @ going country, happy happy birthday to you!
@kristin @ going country, Happy birthday! We were just looking at pictures from a trip my husband made to fish on the gulf coast of TX - so beautiful. Hope you have a great time! (and - excellent call on the "not sleeping on the ground" decision 🙂
@kristin @ going country,
Happy birthday! You share a birthday with my oldest son!
@kristin @ going country, Happy birthday and many more! I am with you on refusing to sleep on the floor at my age...
@kristin @ going country, Happy Birthday! Hope you’ll have a great trip 🙂
I was excited to see the preview with the picture of the knife on it! I'm still amazed at how you've refreshed those handles!
My FFT (Do I have 5 this week? Hmm...)
1. I had $6 in CVS bucks (I'm new to the CVS game and still figuring it all out) so I stopped in and got some gummy bears and 3 packs of gum for my husband's stocking for about $1.50 out of pocket.
2. I made more apple chips. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I still have leftover apples from what I purchased to make applesauce in October. But I'm nearing the end and the apple chips are delicious.
3. I went to the store Wednesday night before the storm hit on Thursday and got another turkey for 55 cents per pound.
4. I borrowed Christmas movies from the library. The Grinch, The Polar Express, and a collection of Christmas Classics including Rudolph and Frosty.
5. One perk of going to church on Christmas Day: I finished my book earlier than expected and was able to get the next one in the series from my church's library! So even though I haven't been to the public library in a week, I'm still well-stocked with reading material.
Nothing earth-shattering, but I made it to five!
Ah, that fridge!
I would have been tempted, it is lovely.
Christmas FFT
We did not buy stollen, although it is a seasonal dish. We had way too many other things to eat.
When my mega fruit and veg boxes were delivered, I cleared out the fruit bowl and the crisp drawer to make sure we processed the older produce first. This resulted in apple/pear/tangerine compote that we ate with baked potatoes, and in sweet and sour onion/cauliflower/red pepper/cabbage that we can eat with fried rice.
We put any leftovers from Christmas in the fridge immediately after our meals. The salads were eaten for lunch and the meats will make two easy meals, which is handy as we will be paying visits to family and friends this week.
As we speak I am making bone broth from the leftover bones.
I happened upon a high quality second hand coat that shouted "I have been waiting for you" . There are very many years still in that coat, and the proceeds go to a local initiative providing meals to people who are lonely or in need. So I bought it with pleasure.
I bought two 50% off Christmas decorations last Saturday, they can be used in future years too. I totally love decorations of natural materials and I also love how great our cats look, sleeping next to them!
It is lovely weather again and I look forward to going for a walk (in my new coat!)
I love getting deals on personal care items which always seem to be overpriced! In fact, I noticed that HEB had their Dove and Old Spice gift sets marked to 50% off yesterday and I may go back and peruse those for future gifts and such. Great win on the chicken - I always look for quick sale meat since I knw I will portion it out and freeze right away! My frugal things:
*Fixed both a pair of PJ pants and a bra that would otherwise have gone into the Goodwill bin
*Pulled all the meat that I could off the spiral ham bone and froze it for various dinners. The bone will go into a crock pot of beans on a cold day.
*Did zero after Christmas shopping except to pick up my curbside grocery order
*Got a $297 bill resolved with a counselor that was not helpful - this is a long story - they zero'd the account since my feedback was so negative.
Happy New Year!
The refrigerator is cute but not THAT cute!
I am fortunate to have this week off so I am typing on my phone, which I hate. I probably won’t comment too often because of that.
1. My kids gifted me with exactly what I asked for, one item being a large cutting mat for my sewing. I wanted to store it so that it wouldn’t curl but I only have room to keep it upright. So I got two wooden yard sticks from Ace Hardware (they were free!) and used Command picture hanging strips and made horizontal supports on the closet wall that I can slide the mat behind. A piece of dowel I had, hot glued to the baseboard, is a stop at the bottom to keep it in place. I already had the Command strips so it was all free.
2. I had a lot of ham leftover since it was a huge ham. I cut it up and vacuum sealed a lot of it for later in the year.
3. I saved the bone in the refrigerator for seasoning the traditional New Year’s dinner of collards, black-eyed peas and smoked pork jowl.
4. I only wrapped four gifts, that went to people who don’t live near me. The rest went in reusable gift boxes or homemade reusable gift bags.
5. Some of us went to the 11 pm Christmas Eve service. Instead of going out to eat first, we had a simple meal of soup at home. Since it was 20 degrees here in the land of Sunshine, soup hit the spot.
First, Kristen, GREAT score on the chicken!
Now, FFT, Have Yourself a Frugal Little Christmas Edition:
(1) For those who'd like more ways to save big bucks by not shopping at Williams-Sonoma, don't miss the annual "Hater's Guide to the Williams-Sonoma Catalog."
(2) I listed two Christmas Eve frugal fails over at the NCA: (a) not taking a silica gel packet out of my bread flour before baking a loaf, and (b) having the Aldi salad mix with iceberg lettuce in it start going bad on me. But I'm pleased so far with everything else I've bought at Aldi, so I'll take that for the win. (And I made another .25 on a cart return there. My side hustle continues.)
(3) Fortunately, nothing happened to my now-traditional Christmas Eve main dish: "A.N.'s Slow Shoulder of Lamb" as featured on the Two Fat Ladies. Instead of a shoulder (which can be hard to find), I used a Reduced for Quick Sale boneless leg from Wegmans that's been in my freezer since right after Easter. (The RFQS savings came to $16, so that ain't hay.) Also included in this dish were a can of Muir Glen tomatoes bought at Ollie's, two cans of Wegmans' inexpensive cannellini beans, local onions, and my own garlic and rosemary.
(4) Don't forget that gift subscriptions to magazines/newspapers can be good presents. A very generous gift to me from the Bestest Neighbors was a year's subscription to The New Yorker (I'd let my own subscription lapse earlier this year), and I gave my JASNA BFF a year's sub to The Atlantic.
(5) And I celebrated Boxing Day in proper fashion yesterday by taking a generous portion of the leftover lamb/beans/etc., plus some of the cookies another neighbor gave me, over to the BNs.
@A. Marie,
There's an annual "Hater's Guide to the Williams-Sonoma catalogue"? this sounds like something I'd get a big kick out of looking at. I used to love looking in their stores, but rarely if ever bought anything there.
Gifting magazine and newspaper subscriptions is a great idea. I recently discovered that my Libby library app also includes magazines, so I get my magazine fix that way. (I love "paper" magazines, but I have a bad habit of over-subscribing to a zillion magazines, which then stack up until I put them in the recycle bin....not frugal.)
@Liz B., put the "Hater's Guide.." title through Google, and you should get there.
And I don't subscribe to too many paper magazines any more--but I do pass on those I do get to either friends who do the same for me, or the lobby at DH's nursing home. The residents who are still mobile and still able to read come out to the lobby and snap them up.
@A. Marie,
That's so smart, to share the magazines with others. I'll bet the residents who still enjoy reading love snagging those new issues when they show up.
@A. Marie, This is off-topic, but I thought I'd let you know that I used your idea for a tea wreath. It was a big hit at the gift exchange, and quite a frugal one too. Thanks for sharing this idea!
Erm....I'm on my second Smeg fridge. First was pink, trashed by previous renters, and now it's a Union Jack.
Frugal: yesterday I figured out why I've been so weak, shaky and dizzy: severe dehydration. (colitis flare because of stress...) I drank more than a gallon of water yesterday and I already feel steadier on my feet. Thank goodness, I was getting scared.
Also frugal: not eating! Everyone around here feels sick so our Christmas dinner hasn't been made yet.
I hope yours was a more practical size than this $2000 one. It's so small!!
I'm glad you are feeling a little better now. And I hope that you all are feeling well enough for a Christmas dinner soon.
@Kristen, It's the full size one but it's still European sized, not American sized, which is why I used it in my rental cottage.
@Rose, I love Smeg refrigerators and hope that is my next one after this one goes!
1. I got some granola bars in a care package and stashed them in my desk...and today's the day they'll be eaten, because I didn't have time to pack a lunch. 🙂
2. I only bought a hot drink at work once in the last two months, which is a huge reduction.
3. I've been more attentive to the flyers at the grocery store and buying what's on sale (lots of sweet potato, broccoli, and zucchini.)
4. We ordered takeout a few nights ago and got a full refund because food-safety guidelines weren't followed and we couldn't eat what the delivery guy brought.
5. Used my credit card rewards to get a gift card to the grocery store.
@Meira @meirathebear,
Out of curiosity, how did you know food safety guidelines weren't followed? I'm amusing myself thinking of all the circumstantial possibilities you might have observed...
@Becca, Nothing to exciting or sleuth-y haha. We knew that the delivery driver picked up the food and took two hours to bring it 1.5 miles to our apartment and when it arrived it was lukewarm/warm on one side and cool on the other. Based on that, we figured it had been in the "danger zone" for too long, and didn't want to eat it.
I got a few gifts at decent prices for next year Christmas and a fall birthday. That always feels like a money win, knowing these fillers would be so much more later. Using up leftover ham in delicious new ways feels like free food as I expected most to get consumed Christmas Eve, plus sent home with others, so I felt generous, another win.
I did order some Charles M Schulz postage stamps last week and they are cute. If you use many stamps (I don't and I still bought some) you might want to look into them.
Nothing Earth shattering here:
1. I had a double highlighter that was dry. I added a drop or two of water and now both the yellow and pink highlighters work again.
2. CVS sent me $4 Extra Bucks late last week (they sent me $4 and $5 the week before). I only stop there now when they send me free Extra Bucks. I bought three boxes of Cheerios for $.93 since they were on a sale and I had a manufacturer coupon on my card.
3. I used some very bruised Macintosh apples by cutting them, microwave cooking them, adding Craisins, a splash of orange juice, and some cinnamon. It's something I made up one year when we discovered we did not have canned cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving day. It is good warm or cold and it freezes well.
4. I continue to clean surplus out of the house using Freecycle.org. I love that items do not go in the landfill and help the community.
5. We braved the weather every day to take a walk. I am healthier both physically and mentally when I get outside and move every day. While there is ice I will avoid walking in the dark, breaking a bone would not be frugal.
@K D, I am reading a book called The Mission Walker. This lady had stage 4 gallbladder cancer and she kept walking. She states in the book if I am walking I am not sick.
The cancer came back and she beat it back into remission. And she literally walked out of the hospital the 2nd time and walked a half of mile to her apartment by the hospital.
Now she is walking the mission trail in California. Sooo inspirational.
@karen, if you like that story you might enjoy "The Salt Path" by Raynor Winn - quite the tale!
@karen,
Thank you for the recommendation.
I'm thinking you might want to rethink on the Snoopy fridge. It is just adorable. You wouldn't even have to plug it in. 😀
Wonderful frugal wins, especially on the chicken. I would have been super happy about that too.
Quick idea re: the fridge that you didn't buy -- are there snoopy decals or a refrigerator wrap that you could slap on your current fridge instead? I did a quick search on Etsy and you can do something custom for a whole lot less than $2000.00!
Most of my frugal wins are pantry related but I am still counting them as wins....
1. I had a house full of guests for Christmas and we did not spend one dime on take out!
2. I pulled two chickens from the chest freezer to make chicken & rice which fed us for a couple of nights.
3. I took advantage of a house full of people situation to make a HUGE pot of Brunswick Stew using a pork butt & a pack of chicken thighs from the freezer. I also used up a gallon of homegrown okra, corn and some home canned diced tomatoes. This is a huge frugal event to me since eating down the freezer is important to rotate stock and make sure nothing goes to waste.
4. Cranberry orange muffins were made with dried cranberries from the pantry and I will be canning some orange marmalade to gift to my neighbors with the half bushel of navel oranges I purchased two weeks ago on sale.
5. Gift packaging was gathered and what was still in good condition will be recycled for next year, we kept the heat no higher than 65 despite 8 degree temps, books we already had were read, we enjoyed old Christmas movies on hand and assembled jigsaw puzzles together. It was a lovely Christmas.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
@Angie, You often mention your chicken and rice dish. Do you have a recipe you could share? I'm on the lookout for new meal ideas.
My big savings nowadays is just not buying anything. I did get a good deal on dried pinto beans and half off on some thick cut bacon. I'm going to try the way they cook beans on Coffee Time with John and Moma. I usually make copy cat Chipolte pintos which are great.
During the frigid snap I put quilts over the windows and saved on heating but now the sun is out the curtains are pulled open and sunshine heats the whole place.
I have an 8 dollar membership to Sam's Club I gave my kids. I may have them get me a rotisserie chicken. I'm always amazed how many different meals I squeeze out of those tasty birds.
1) Bought gas again in the way home from work yesterday at Casey's in the neighboring small town at $.04 cents cheaper per gallon than town where I live. 2) Did not bake holiday treats prior to Christmas, so saved that money, will bake cinnamon rolls instead, hopefully this week for those I gift baked goods. Still will be less sugar and significantly cheaper. 3) Also did not put up Christmas decor but basked in others. I think by taking it down so late last year in order to organize, sort and weed out, I just wasn't "feelin' it. ( I also had my second case of COVID two weeks ago.) 4) My neighbor posted a gorgeous Turkish designed bowl and sterling silver salt and pepper shakers on local swap shop and told her I would purchase them. She gifted them to me for Christmas! They are moving and though we are not close, I will miss them. 5) Made some egg roll in a bowl, and some chili soup in order to have choices for meals while working this past weekend instead of "driving through." Being single, (in which I've learned to be content) it is often difficult to cook for one and so often "driving through" or "ordering in" is the easy route. I do usually make it into two meals, so there's that...
Husband and I went out last week to purchase a new wood stove. Yes it will cost us a little over $2,000. but we will save on wood because it is more airtight and won't burn wood as fast. And since I work at home, it is more economical than electric or propane heat.
Found a Longhorn Steak Restaurant that I still had a gift card to that had $35. left on it. So we had a wonderful steak dinner for 2 for the price of 1. It was delicious.
Used up wrapping paper from years ago. We were at Costco about 12 years ago with my sister and bought 2 HUGE rolls of wrapping paper and I think they were $7.99 a roll??? We are still using that paper every year. And it is 2-sided paper, so you can switch back and forth between designs. I am amazed that we are still using it and will continue to be using it for a few more years because there is a lot left still.
Signed up for a Sheetz rewards card. It appears that Sheetz gas stations are all along the way to our daughter's house and by using the rewards card, I can save a bit of money on the expense.
My daughter replaced my broken crockpot with a new one as a Christmas gift. Can't wait to use it.
@Maureen, you are lucky that your gift card still had usable money on it. I purchased several Steak & Shake gift cards (before covid19 first hit USA) & after covid19 eased & places started to open I soon found out that my (many) gift cards had $0. Later also found out some others had been reduced to $0 also. Now I only purchase gift cards that know will be using next few months.
What? No after pic of that oiled knife? Who even are you??? And that fridge is so darn cute...maybe buy a 60.00 mini fridge and slap one of those ten dollar snoopy decals on it. Call it your budget look alike. Also, the chicken score! I know well that dopamine hit of an awesome deal! Congrats!
My FFT:
1. We did NOT get COVID this Christmas because we did not go anywhere. So much less stressful and also cheaper than last year.
2. Had leftovers for several meals.
3. Bought clearance cookies for the grocery helper yesterday as his treat.
4. Made Christmas Eve and Christmas day dinners from our pantry and freezer stash.
5. Shopped at Aldi instead of anywhere else for groceries. Eggs were still 3.60 a dozen! Seriously! When I opened them to check for cracks, I expected those cloaca droppings to be golden or something...
One frugal fail...maybe... I deliberately waited until the day after Christmas to buy birthday gifts for my ten year old from Aldi's random crap aisle thinking that the gifts would be clearance priced. Some were, but the items I ended up getting were all still full price. I mean, they were Aldi full price, so not terrible, but still...I was hoping to get a Hot Wheels advent calendar for like .50, but no such luck. Oh, well. I think he will like his gifts and I used leftover Christmas paper to wrap them, so they are still halfway frugal. 😉
I'm sorry!! I will take a photo!
Frugal stuff.
Xmas gifts limited. Not a fan of stuff.
Went to avatar at matinee. No snacks were purchased.
Also found chicken on deep discount but not a dollar a package. 3 dollars a package.
Cooking and eating at home.
I only baked half of my normal Xmas treats to save on butter and eggs. No one complained.
Using Kroger pickup to avoid impulse holiday buys.
1) last night’s dinner was entirely leftover odd bits from the fridge plus some roasted asparagus.
2) i didn’t buy any Christmas wrapping supplies this year. It was all re-used stuff. And free tags that came in the mail.
3)we have trimmed our Christmas gift-buying by at least half over the last few years. We don’t need so much stuff!
4) i had some square New Year’s cards to send but i mined my paper stash for rectangular envelopes so i could send them without an extra postage cost.
And we do need to oil some wooden utensils of our own!
That Snoopy fridge is cute but you can really see the duality of comic strips there. Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes are by far the greatest comic strips of all time. Schulz decided to market Peanuts on everything. Watterston opted for no merchandise of Calvin.
Here's my post Christmas FFF.
1.) Scored a few items on Walmart's 50% off Christmas sale yesterday. Admittedly it was not much I needed outside of some wrapping paper for next year but at least we treated ourselves for less.
2.) My work from home headset is falling apart and they won't replace it (that's considered our responsibility as they supply the "in office" model) but I was able to snag a deal on a damaged packaging pair.
3.) Returned one Christmas present at Target and used the money to buy shaving gel for my wife.
4.) Got some free PC games as they came up in the leadup to Christmas.
5.) Sorta Frugal, sorta not: Got in a huge case of baby wipes which were on sale dirt cheap at Amazon. I mean, they will keep and we will use them but ... we'll probably not use them for the original intention.
Worse comes to worst I can give them to my sister.
@Battra92, actually I don't think Schulz did so much when he was alive. The heavy merchandising came after he died.
@Battra92, re: your #5, I know you and your wife must still be hurting. Hands across the miles to you both.
Adding my love to you guys as well. I've been thinking about you these last few weeks.
@Rose, No, Schulz went in for the merchandising and advertising starting in perhaps the 70's, (Met Life, the bread company--Dolly Madison?, Snoopy for President, books and stuff, introducing Woodstock and Snoopy's family members, Rerun, and so forth). The strip ran from 1950ish to 2000. He requested that the strip not be drawn after his death, but the merchandising and media productions are not included in that request.
I just read "The Peanuts Papers", an anthology of articles about how various authors recalled the comic strip from their childhoods, edited by Andrew Blauner. They were divided over whether the strip lost something in the later years, seemed to agree that the 60's and early 70's were the best.
@Battra92, I think Calvin and Hobbes is the better of the two. My kids read them to their younger non-reading siblings. I think they are so amazing and creative and funny and everything possible good.
I'm glad you're commenting again (unless I just missed it before). I've been concerned. Re: baby wipes. We've wasted a ton of them by thinking we would use them. When the time finally came, they were all dried out. Maybe you could keep some and donate some to a crisis pregnancy center or something?
@Jody S.,
Fyi, you can rehydrate baby wipes by just adding a bit of water to the package. If the package won't reseal, you can transfer the wipes into a ziplock. No need to throw them out-just think of them as thicker, wetter paper towels.
@Battra92,
Calvin and Hobbs fan here!!!
@Jody S., I've been off and on busy because of work and other stresses but thanks for thinking of me.
@Heidi Louise, To me when Peanuts was good, nothing was better. I started reading the strip daily in the 80s and the last few years were rough (though my grandmother never tired of laughing at Snoopy proudly coloring the sky blue.) For me Peanuts was as much about reading the old strips as it was keeping up with the new ones.
Rerun might have been a shark jumping moment but I feel like in later years Schulz got to do some things with him that he hadn't been able to do since the 50s and 60s, which was nice. Also the special "I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown" is one of the best post-Schulz specials.
But for me the glory years started February 1, 1954 with a famous strip of Shermy showing off his train set. It really continued for decades after that and it's amazing the sheer mass of great works we have in the Peanuts strip.
@Battra92, one of my all time favorite sayings came from peanuts, " there is no heavier burden than great potential"
@Jody S., Snow goons. Hahaha
Kristen, I thought of you while looking at the Big Lots weekly ad: lots of Snoopy and Peanuts women's clothing is on sale. It is very cute.
My frugal stuff has mainly been staying home during the big freeze: I have not gone past the mailbox in five days. We ate every scrap of our Christmas meal and put the carcass of the Christmas duck in the freezer to make soup from at a later date. Soup for lunch is totally my thing, so I am looking forward to that.
Happy Birthday, Kristin @goingcountry! Safe travels & most of all HAVE FUN!
In the spirit of Kristen's snoopy fridge: I did not buy the chainsaw I've been wishing for!
We are having a blustery, raining sideways day.
Have a big pot of navy beans and ham bone in the slow cooker.
I replaced the insulation around my woodstove door/window. Saving wood!
I am painting the handles of all of my new to me tools that I picked up at estate sales last winter. I do this so that they are easily identified as mine when I have handy people helping me who bring their own tools.
I purchased a gently used roll up garage door to put up in one of my shop bays. It was $75 only 5 more to go!
During our cold snap last week I did not heat the greenhouse, only used mounted barn fans to keep the plants from freezing.
Did not go anywhere because of the ice storm, so big savings in fuel.
I have initiated a rule that I must have a list of 5 things to make a trip into town.
1. My mom is making a sheet for Baby E’s portable crib mattress. She is piecing together some old pieces of flannel that were left from a rag quilt she made me back when those were trendy. I appreciate that she is using fabric that she already has on hand, and it’s fun to see the old fabric. And I will appreciate having another sheet.
2. I continue to try to rescue food while staying with my parents. My mom wanted me to throw out some squash– yes it was a little old, but it smelled and tasted fine! Since I’ll leave in a few days I’m trying to make sure I use all the bits I can so she won’t “have” to throw them away.
3. Went Goodwill shopping to find replacements for DH’s very worn out wardrobe. While Goodwill prices are much more expensive than they used to be, I was pleased to find him multiple solid t-shirts, swim shorts, and two pairs of shorts for a reasonable price.
4. I was able to find all-leather ankle boots for $70 at Nordstrom Rack. I wear shoes for years and repair them, and am thrilled to find such great boots at what I consider a good price. When you wear them for years, the cost per year is minimal and they are so much nicer than the cheaper/crappier versions in discount stores!
5. In solidarity with Kristen’s #5, I too did not buy things when I was out and saw some post-Christmas sales. I passed up some cute decorations when I was not able to think how I would actually use them in my home.
Hooray for the low chicken price! Do let us know if you notice any difference in quality, color, texture, taste, etc., from being organic.
Wow, that's a great deal on the chicken!
I went to a discount grocery store today, and found some good deals. I just wish it were closer to me so I could go more often (it is about 40 minutes away).
That chicken deal is amazing! We are in Ontario Canada and haven’t turned on our heat yet even with that crazy blizzard that passed through our temperature inside is still 66F.
Another frugal thing is today we got a great headboard for our king bed free. The people who gave it to us posted it only on kijiji and not FB marketplace because I think it would have been gone a lot sooner. Keep up the good work.
Before I forget mentioning it again Kristen, that red top is great on you. The muted warm colour enhances your own tones.
Thank you! I love it when I can find things with warm pink/red tones; those colors seem to work nicely with my skin.
Great job on all your frugal finds!
1. We took our bachelor friend who does not have a car with us when we went shopping for groceries. He greeted me with a frozen chicken carcass; as usual, it was a Costco cooked chicken with only the breasts sliced off since he does nto like dark meat. He used to throw the rest away! The thought of that waste nearly makes me swoon.
2. While at the store they had a sale for butter, limit of two. He does not use regular butter, only the expensive European butter, but he bought the limit of two that were on sale and gave them to me. Refused payment, saying it cost him less than his usual taxi ride to the grocery store.
3. I entered a FB contest sponsored by a small Russian grocery in town. Won chocolates and a one quart soda.
4. Neither of us like soft centered chocolates, so we took them as a gift when we went to a friend's house for dinner last night. In the summer I usually bring produce or flowers from my garden but in the winter I purchase a small edible to bring with us, so the chocolates were perfect. And free!
5. Did a mystery shop that will pay us $100 for about a half hour's work. I had said I was not doing any shops until the new year but then the furnace froze and pipes burst and it took our entire emergency fund to pay for a repairman to come out on Christmas night. It depleted our entire fund so I am hyper focused on getting that built up again...so off I went this morning to do the shop. At least it was in North Pole, 17 miles away, and they have great light decorations.
Quite envious of your cheap chicken find!
@Lindsey, you're only 17 miles from the North Pole?? Geez...
And re: the furnace/pipes disaster, what I didn't think to say over on the NCA is that I didn't change the filters on our furnace/AC combo for quite some time (being distracted by DH's multiple other issues)--and the upshot was that I had to replace the AC unit 1.5 years ago (the same day as I was checking DH into the nursing home). S0 I do feel your and your hubs's pain on this one.
@A. Marie, yeah, I was wondering about that North Pole thing, also.
Last Tuesday capped off such a frugal week, that I don't think I have anything frugal to offer this week. I did buy at Aldi's instead of Food Lion, which is always better than Martin's, but I was doing a lot of snack buying for Christmas, as I just don't bake, and daughter and I agree that we don't want to spend holidays in the kitchen. Except Thanksgiving--that's her favorite holiday and she loves to cook for that.
However, I have to tell you about my granddaughter's frugal adventures this season. Hazel will be 8 in Feb., and has recently begun buying things with her own allowance, saving to get what she wants. She's also getting into homemade items, and doing quite well, as she loves to work with her hands.
So this year, she made her mom, her Popsy and me all ornaments--and they are really cute--little wood slices painted, with wooden Christmas trees also painted and glued on. She re-used gift tags from years past (as do we all) for the gifts as well.
But then, while shopping, she saw a ring holder, turquoise colored and shaped like a stiletto shoe, and about 6 or 7 inches long. It was for display only, but she negotiated with the sales lady to buy it for me at the bargain price of $4! It now sits proudly on my dresser with about half of my rings in it.
This is the same child who last year, age 6, at Halloween, came upon a house that had just given out its last bit of candy and was packing up. They apologized for not having any candy to give her, so she asked for the decorative candy bowl instead--and they gave it to her! This year it graced her kitchen table with candy. lol
May we all be as bold as children!
@Stephanie D, I love your granddaughter's moxy! What a sweetie!
@Stephanie D, I've got a little kid story, too. My 7 year old (my baby), without any of us knowing, "got" presents for everybody in the house. When big sis unwrapped a snowman figurine, I asked, "Where did you get that?!" Her reply, "Grandma gave it to me and I didn't want it, so I gave it to Helen!" She was so proud to re-gift. Then she also found a half-empty box of tissues (one of the sample-sized ones) for her big brother. She found a pen under the entertainment center for another sibling. Other folks got "treasures" from things she'd snagged from the things her great-grandmother saves from junk mail (to give little kids), things like pens, junky calculators, compact mirrors, etc. And, best of all, was the present she gave my husband. (Please keep in mind she's not an independent reader yet.) Anyway, she gave him a partially used pencil that had a little verse on it titled, "Mother."
@Jody S.,
Haha! So cute and thoughtful of her to have something for everyone! My youngest is eight, and he wrapped up a birthday gift for his brother about three months ago. He would not tell anyone what it was and insisted that his brother had to open it on his birthday (which was today). It turned out to be a coloring book and he proudly pointed out that he had already done some of the pages for him! Hahaha!
@Stephanie D, I am majorly impressed with your granddaughter. She'll probably have her own home by the time she is 12.
@Becca, I love that!
We traveled out-of-state for the holidays, and it wasn’t very frugal feeling with a long-ish hotel stay, four restaurant meals, and gas expenses. But totally worth it to see family!
Let’s see what I can find:
1) One of our church members was graciously giving away free holiday gift wrapping materials (after a family member’s passing who had worked at a card company) & we received many things to use this holiday season. I did not need to buy any tissue paper, gift bags, or tags. What a blessing, though we are sad for the reason to have them.
2) I ordered soup & a baked potato twice at restaurants to keep dining costs low. We also used online coupons, and once a hotel discount. We were pretty full from the holiday parties in between, and breakfast/snacks at the hotel.
3) The hotel pool was in repair. So to entertain ourselves for free (in a winter storm) we walked the hallways/stairs (to wear out the kids), played small board games, used a watercolor set, watched TV, and decorated a gingerbread house in the dining/lobby area. Our hotel rates were cheaper because of the pool being unusable.
4) Family provided so many great meals & desserts & cups of coffee. We were also sent with leftovers.
5) We did not: go somewhere tropical, order steak/fine meals/desserts at restaurants, order medium/large coffees, buy gas station snacks (packed a variety snacks instead), spend beyond our means on gift giving, spend any money on movies/bowling/etc.
Now we’re home unpacking, before the next holiday party (local thankfully).
1. Had such luck today and the 23. and got four amazing TGTG bags from our local grocer. Spent $14 in total and just today I got meat for about $50. The 23. was even better. Now the freezer is completely full again. It gives me such peace of mind.
2. We need more shelving in the basement. The plan was to cut up some old doors that stood in the garage when we bought the house, but then we would need to supplies (that I don’t know the names of in English:)).
So I got to thinking about a free standing “Veggen de Luxe” teak shelving system in the attic that also stood here when we bought the house. With a cabinet from my mum and a surprise part from the attic we have a perfect fit. Will paint it with leftover paint from the renovation because the veneer is pretty damaged.
3. Speaking of old teak furniture, we had a second shelving system up in the attic just taking up room. My partner has been feeling low after getting Covid, not been able to do much because of shortness of breath and fatigue. So I wanted to find a little project for him and wished for a firewood storage for the livingroom made of this battered teak cabinet.
The result is so much nicer than expected. He cut it to fit the space, sanded and painted it black with some leftover paint. And also found led lighting strip at work that they were planning to throw away. Now it’s a piece of furniture I will be happy to display every winter.
4. Our free dinner table that we got this summer is so large that none of my Christmas tablecloths was big enough. It’s so wide I have had trouble finding anything that fits. Saw coincidentally that the web shop where I got the everyday tablecloth had the same in red. They were sold out of the size I needed, but I stalked the shop until they got a return. In the meantime I signed up for newsletter and I got a 40% of coupon. Took less than 15 minutes in total.
5. Have finally gotten enough snow now to use the kicksled, so my partner don’t need to fire up the car for grocery shopping. Saving on gas and getting exercise and fresh air. And I can use it as a walker when I get tired 😉
That Smeg fridge is really cute, but way too expensive.
My Frugal Five:
1) I used the $15 off $50 deal for household items on Amazon yesterday to buy some things I needed.
2) I saw there was a $5 off $5 deal for Grocery stores on 4 of our Chase credit cards. I saved the offers, then took those 4 credit cards to Aldi's today and got $20 worth of free food items.
3) I used my AAA discount to purchase tickets to Sunken Gardens over in St. Pete when visiting my mom for Christmas.
4) I bought some after Christmas marked-down items at Aldi. We're having Santa shaped pasta tonight.
5) I didn't buy a Bentley SUV for $226,000 like the bright blue one parked next to me at the doctor's office today.
1. Sawed a limb off an oak tree - great firewood for next year.
2. Yarn.com had a great sale - got enough yarn to qualify for free shipping, and can start working on gifts for next year
3. Using carcasses from Cornish game hens to make soup
4. Gave away all milk chocolate which somehow snuck into my house (not worth the calories): does saving calories count as a frugal win?
5. Husband and I only did stockings for Christmas because we have enough Stuff
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
1. Vistaprint had a great sale so I was able to stock up on new card designs to sell resale, which isn't always possible because of the high costs of printing. (I am an artist and sell my work as cards in addition to originals).
2. Gave some books I was finished with to a friend because I needed space on my shelves for new books. (Does saving space count as frugality?)
3. Bought the new books from Thriftbooks, because used is always better. And these are ones that I will be marking up. Besides, my library doesn't have them.
4. Just sold the last 2023 calendar! What a thrill, because I upped this year's order and was a little worried that I'd be stuck with some extras.
5. Lands' End had such amazing deals that I unsubscribed. The reason: too tempting!
Ok, look at you doing ten frugal things!
Hoping that everyone had a lovely holiday.
My frugal 5:
1. I had $44 in Staples rewards that had to be used by December 31. Hubs and I went yesterday and I got 2 packs of computer paper, a wireless mouse, phone charger cord, and a pack of batteries. I do wish I had planned the trip a little better.
2. Using old beach towels as draft dodgers. It really helps in the livingroom where the front door is.
3. I don't know if I told you but I found a fold up bookcase that a neighbor was throwing away. I brought it home and cleaned it up and now it's in the basement with books in it. We got to put our 33 year old microwave cart out to the curb for someone to be blessed with. I always wanted one of these bookcases and I got a Vermont Country Store catalog last week that had them in it and it was....$149!!!
4. I needed eye drops for my glaucoma and the insurance company was being difficult with requesting a prior authorization over Christmas weekend. I had enough in our FSA account to pay for them out of pocket. They were $211! No liquid gold was found inside but it's worth the price to save my vision.
5. Hubs got me Bruce Springsteen's new album Only The Strong Survive and I'm listening to it on my son's ancient Discman hooked up to a speaker. Works for me!
@Auntiali, I love great free finds like that. Few months ago I put out to curb 50+ year old screen porch door & man stopped shortly after & loaded into his truck. He was so happy that could find.
1. We cooked all our meals at home.
2. We borrowed a movie from the library and renewed our books at the same time.
3. We accepted perishable foods from some relatives leaving town.
4. We enjoyed free entertainment during winter break.
5. I found some pajamas on clearance at TJMAXX to replace the pajamas that my mom bought me about 17 years ago. I love when something lasts so long.
Not frugal is that I had to buy my youngest a new coat after the zipper on his hand-me-down one broke. I'm not good enough to replace a zipper yet, so I bought a new one at TJMAXX when I went there. It was also on clearance but I was just happy that they still had coats in Dec.
@Nikki,
I wonder if it would be worth the time/trouble to sew a long strip of Velcro onto each side of a coat with a broken zipper...like if the strip ran the whole length of the coat, it would probably stay closed, right? Velcro is very cheap and I reckon much easier to work with than zippers. Maybe if you have time and some sewing machine skills, you could try it on the old coat as an experiment. If it works, you would have a back up coat.
@Nikki, replacement metal zippers are not cheap. I bought one few years ago at JoAnn (with coupon) & still paid $15. Then had to pay sewer to sew into coat. Coats will start to disappear after New Year. Menards had sold 60% of Christmas trees last week & were already bringing put summer outdoor furniture. Personally they should bring over the shovels & snow blowers because January is when get ton of snow & won't be able to find anywhere in Michigan.
1. Spent Christmas out of town at my MILs place. She bought the ingredients for the Christmas meal and we cooked it for her. I made cranberry sauce from frozen cranberries bought from Aldi around Thanksgiving for 99 cents.
2. Not as frugal: ate out a lot over the few days we spent away from home, but with friends we hadn't seen in a long time and the other times we took home the leftovers and made a couple more meals from it.
3. Asked some friends to watch our dog while we were gone, rather than have to board him. They were thrilled and even asked to keep him an extra day after we got home. We bought a generous gift card and paired it with some Starbucks hot chocolate and marshmallows as a thank you gift. Still cheaper than boarding him, and they both loved the time together.
4. Made Shutterfly calendars for my husband, brother, and parents' gifts. Used free calendar codes that floated around during October and November and only paid shipping for each. They enjoy receiving these every year so I don't mind paying for the shipping.
5. Ordered some Barnes and Noble gift cards from Swagbucks for my son's Christmas gift.
Your chicken score is incredible! And yay for frugal things that are fulfilling in more ways than one, like oiling the knife 🙂
1. Went to a Chinese restaurant that is a little far that I've been trying to take my husband to for years at lunchtime prices since I'm off work right now.
2. Raided the Aldi produce section for affordable, fresh food since we were getting low. Buying good food for our health is a frugal investment in long-term wellness! Especially excited about the bags of organic avocados, 4 avocados for 1.89.
3. Since I stopped buying so much junk food, even when it is on sale, I have more money for better food. Foregoing one bag of chips frees up the dollar or 2 to buy the colorful bell peppers at no "extra" cost compared to green peppers.
4. Bought 2 old video games from the Playstation store. If you wait a little, old games become more affordable and provide countless hours of fun.
5. Did a minimal amount of research and saved $75 on my husband's combined (bigger than usual) Christmas gift from my mom and I.
1. Reorganized my daughters room and found a new unopened gift that she doesn't want that will be regifted at a birthday party.
2. Found a store that salvages merchandise from various stores. Went on dollar day and found current style clothing for my teen. I then returned the Christmas present jeans and she got five more pieces of clothing as well.
3. As we adopted a rescue dog, the vet gave us an exam for free at Rosie's appointment.
4. We have a new vegetarian at our house that has resulted in learning a whole new way of cooking here. It's amazing how I plan around meat! Our food bill is going down as a result.
5. Found some great ibotta deals which resulted in some free giftable Starbucks cards
1) Avoided buying drinks or snacks at the airport yesterday, which is always a win when you have two teens to keep fed/hydrated. The timing worked out well, and my mom sent snacks & Christmas cookies, we refilled our water bottles, etc.
2) Pre booked airport parking way back in November, and saved about $40 over the cost of an Uber.
3) There was a big ice storm in Portland, so my husband & I weren't able to really take advantage of his Christmas gift (two nights at a hotel, before we met up for the big family Christmas). They have cute wineries & restaurants around this stretch, but everything was closed due to the storm. It inadvertently saved money. We ate at the hotel (much cheaper), & had a waiter who kept making us laugh. He normally doesn't work in a customer facing role, but because of the ice storm, was one of the few employees who could get to work. They also put them all up in the hotel overnight. He kept us super entertained.
4) We also skipped lunch on the way home from the airport, because one of the teens had big plans with friends & was anxious to bail on the parents. 😉
5) I won big in our family "saran wrap" game & somehow ended up with a lot of gift cards. We don't typically buy the kids Starbucks (so expensive), but with the gift cards, I'll help them get the app, and they can then load the gift cards on for a free treat. We also have gift cards for a few lunches & other surprises, which I'll space out.
And, happy birthday to Kristin at Going Country! Hope your trip is amazing!
Nice deal on the chicken!
1. I picked up a brand new Tangled DVD and brand new Erector Set off Buy Nothing. These will be presents for my kids for Valentine's Day. I also picked up a pair of shoes off Buy Nothing for my daughter, although they won't fit her for a year or 2.
2. I signed my son up for summer camp. There will be days he will not be attending, because we will be camping. So, I didn't sign him up for "before care" on those days. It saved us about $15 for the summer.
3. We purchased a few hams that were on sale for the holiday that went into our deep freezer. We used homemade salsa, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade pulled pork, and homemade tomato sauce, that we had frozen earlier in the year, to feed our guests for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner (along with other items).
4. My kids are home from school with my husband this week. I signed them up for some free classes at the library during the week, which will prevent us from spending extra money on entertainment. They are also using gift cards they received to go paint pottery this week.
5. I signed my daughter up for kindergarten for September. This is exciting, but will also save us a ton of money in daycare expenses ($14,000!!!!).
I'm a huge Snoopy fan & that is the cutest ever!! Though I agree $2,000 for mini fridge is not worth it--sorry Snoopy.
My five frugal things---
1. My gas station rewards are finally coming through & stacking up. Total savings $0.50/gallon (got 20 gallon limit) @ $2.54/gallon because other station $2.49/gallon was shut down when arrived so had to go down road to other station. Every other gas station $3+/gallon.
2. Decided to use up apples & oats I had lots of & made apple crisp for neighbors instead of making bread mix jars.
3. Free store did not have any baking dishes so decided to get aluminum disposable. Sam's club had 20 pack bread loaf pan w/lid (around) $5 & I found 2 pack medium rectangle baking pans $1.25 each, so picked up 2. Families of 4+ got medium & 1-2 people got bread sized. Unfortunately since snow storm coming I decided not to bake & instead drop off with baking directions. Some ended up becoming frozen (mailman) but absolutely no complaints. Some even where grateful for future use dessert.
4. Stopped by Sam's club to get thick sliced apple wood bacon on sale #11/3 pounds. Cut package in half & froze in ziploc bags. Cook 1 1/2 at time for few meals, keeping already cooked in fridge until needed.
5. While at Sam's club noticed that Birt Bees Lip Balm Advent calendar was marked down from $18 to $11 (& I had purchased on sale $15) so returned & rebought & got another.
6. Found local store that has farm eggs $3 & $4/dozen & picked up 3 dozen ($10) since forgot to look for any on sale at grocery (which don't care for but if only option what do you do). Higher than normal cost I pay from farmer but their chickens stopped laying since cold. And better price than grocery store (cheapest is Save-a-lot $6/dozen white eggs).
Frugal (kind of) fail--
After storm teen outside (& everything has inches of ice under snow) playing around slid across ice (with current boots that have flat smooth sole) & fell. Teen decided needed new snow boots. Of course I had already anticipated & checked availability. Teen picked same ones I anticipated but did not get because I overlooked that had same exact smooth sole. Decided on nice insulated heavy duty sole boot (similar style). Only $20 more but still having sticker shock as teen currently wears size 10 men's boots. $222 for good leather insulated waterproof winter boots. Did get additional free replacement laces from store.
Awesome chicken deal! Wish I could find chicken at that price. Or affordable eggs. Eggs were $8 for an 18 pack last weekend. And that is at the "cheap" grocery store. Ugh.
Anyway -
1. I implemented a "cooling off" period before spending an Amazon gift card I got for Christmas. I want to be very intentional about what I bring into the house in 2023. Both because I intend to do a major declutter and also because I want to save for some major purchases. So taking the time to really consider all the the things- including storing and caring for what I buy, environmental impact, how much I will use and enjoy the item, if the money would be better spent elsewhere, etc. etc. Since I am a born spender, I usually spend my gift cards right away, without much thought.
2. Placed a hold on a library book.
3. Saved money by not going after Christmas shopping since I am well stocked on the things I typically buy on Christmas clearance - wrapping supplies, decorations, treats.
4. Accepted leftover ham from Christmas dinner and making sandwiches all week.
5. Made due with the tools I have instead of buying new ones for a cartonage project I was working on.
@Lorraine, eggs are super high at the "cheap" grocery store in Central California, not quite $8 2 weeks ago, but maybe they are by now! Something smells fishy, and it ain't tuna. . .
A lot of my winter clothing is too big (I lose a lot of weight during covid!) and what does fit has holes in it! So I made a spur of moment trip to fave consignment store and low and behold it was 50% off day!! Yikes !I got 10 ,yes 10 new-to-me tops to go with all my jeans,slacks,etc..and all half price. I paid $4-8 for most. Good brands,too! Tahari,Peck and Peck,some European boutique brands, Chicos, and J Crew. Love this store!
FOOD: Eggs went to $6. a dozen in reg. grocery but my Trade Joe still has them at 2.99 a dozen.. got 2 dozen.
Eating more vegetarian meals!