Five Frugal Things -- Spa Treatments for Me & My Coach Bag!
1. I drove across town for my free Supercuts Training Center haircut, which as always was a 100% positive experience. The certified hairdressers are closely guided by their manager and it barely no more time than a standard salon cut. If anything it's faster, as there are no added services that extend a traditional salon appointment. I tipped five bucks and enjoyed the experience of being a wee bit pampered.
2. I was close to Clackamas Town Center, so I popped into the Coach store to have them clean and condition the small leather pouch that I pulled out of a Goodwill bin last week. This is a free service for all their leather goods and now I just need to get it photographed and listed on eBay for my $100 Goodwill Gift Card Challenge.
As a reminder, here's how it looked when I found it -- all dry and scratched up:
3. Clackamas Town Center Mall is just a couple blocks away from Costco, so I drove over and grabbed honey, frozen chicken breasts and a rotisserie chicken. Sadly it was kind of late in the day and there were only a few sample stations.
The original designer bag!
4. I was hungry at this point and actually walked into the food court to grab a $1.50 hotdog, but instead talked myself into heading to the car, as "We have food at home!" plays constantly in my head. Dinner was a combination of the last of some leftover rice and beans, plus half an avocado and a handful of fresh warm rotisserie chicken. Perfect for a cold January evening!
5. I stopped into a regular Goodwill store on my way to get my hair cut, but didn't find anything worth buying for resale. The best bargain is money not spent.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
I need to post your quote on my refrigerator....or maybe in my billfold: "The best bargain is money not spent." Brilliant!
Speaking of, I worked last night and was mightily tempted to purchase some really nice Christmas items for gift-giving next December. However, even at half-price on clearance, the item were priced too high, so I didn't buy them. They'll likely be bought before the manager slashes the prices again.
Despite my back hurting, I managed to work the entire 5 hour shift. (It wasn't easy. I was in pain.) I'm headed to the chiropractor in an hour, so hopefully they can do something.
Instead of bringing meds from home, I used the break room first aid cabinet's products to slather on some arthritis rub and take some powdered aspirin (that's all they had; it tastes horrible) during my work break.
Once more, I got complimented on my earring studs. Since I'm at work, where we sell earrings, I'm not able to tell people that mine come from Walmart -- I buy one of those cards that contain 20 pair for $9.99. They look fancy, some even look like pearls or gold, but they're really just painted plastic. And they last almost forever until/unless I lose one.(The ones our store sells cost $7.99 or more just for one pair. Although those are made of real metal and real costume jewelry "gems", not painted plastic. Being a cheapskate, I'll stick with what I have.)
1. Besides gas for my car I spent no money yesterday.
2. I thawed a smoked sausage from our freezer and cooked that up with some beans in the pantry.
3. It was my turn for carpool last night so I took my daughter and my nephew to swim practice. My nephew only lives 2 streets over and they’re on the same team.
4. My husband eats a frozen pizza every Friday so I had him stop on his way home to take advantage of a 3 for $10 deal and also use a $1 off coupon I clipped in the grocery app.
5. My grocery store has a free $7 coupon in their app. I had my husband download the app as well so we can save $14 total on separate transactions. I’m just picking up some odds and ends I need to complete meals.
1. Heading on a 10 day tour of the Northeast Kingdom - Vermont and NH here we come! All accommodation was booked either on discount or on gift cards + some work payments and staying with friends. Also, 3 of the 5 places we are staying have kitchens and laundry, which will save us on eating out.
2. Packed up all extras for the trip out of the pantry, cutting down on buying snacks and sundries. Zip loc bags, paper towels, cereal, peanut butter, protein bars, and trail mix all went in a bag alongside a monster bag of potato chips.
Pro tip for those traveling by car to your rental house: Bring a knife wrapped in a dish towel from home. Knives at rentals are notoriously dull and there are never enough towels. Your dinner prep will thank you!
3. Forgot my water bottle at home, argh. DH is traveling north tomorrow and will bring it. Thought about quick solutions and remembered I packed a coffee travel mug, so I'm sipping out of that at the office instead of buying a disposable one. I contemplated stopping by Marshalls for a replacement then shuddered at storing yet ANOTHER water bottle at home!
4. We had a work team building night where a few of us went night skiing together 🙂 we got one run in and then the power went out! We received full refunds for our tickets. It was an adventure!
5. Charging my EV at work for free and at the hotel for very cheap. Avoiding costs at faster chargers which has been great.
I am very envious of your SuperCuts training center; we haven't got one where I live, and even SuperCuts and Great Clips are now very expensive for haircuts IMO!
Frugal things, temporary snowbird in Florida edition:
--We are here mostly for DH's conference in Orlando. A good friend of mine rents out her house to us, and it's an absolute bargain compared to either a hotel room, where we wouldn't be able to cook our own food, or an AirBnB.
--We brought our bikes so we've been mostly biking around, to the grocery store, to the parks, or walking to the free access beach 4 minutes away.
--Food is more expensive here, but so far our most expensive (overall) meal has been Publix subs, a first for us, bought on the way to a park for a picnic. Otherwise it's been groceries that make enough for dinner and lunch for four people.
--I haven't souvenir shopped, or shopped for anything really aside from groceries! I did poke my head into a little thrift shop, but saw nothing I needed or wanted.
--On our way back the plan is to stay one night at a hotel on an Air Force base--DH is a civilian government employee--which is much cheaper than a standard hotel.
1. I have a sparkly purse that I often carry over the winter. The pull tab for the zipper came off and I lost it. This made opening and closing the purse a real pain. I have pulled some fancy sparky key chains out of the Goodwill bins. I picked a nice one and clipped it in to the zipper. Instant pull tab! Now I can keep using my purse!
2. It’s my birthday month! I picked up my free Arby’s dessert (cherry turnover) and brought it home. It was delish with coffee for breakfast this AM.
3. I was able to get a big bag of Grinch Hershey kisses marked down to $4.87 at CVS. I clipped enough of my CVS cash back to get the bag for free! This is how I fuel my love of chocolate. I buy after the holidays when the special holiday wrapped kisses go on sale. It’s the same chocolate, just different foil wrapping.
4. Also at CVS I got 2 Burts Bees lip balm for $1.00 using CVS coupons and cash back. I also got a $4 cash back for buying 2 Burts Bees products. Win win win! And now my daughter is stocked for the winter with her favorite lip balm!
5. Made Mexican chicken taco soup with ingredients I already had. Froze the leftovers for later. Came out more the consistency of chicken chili but it’s yummy and filling.
Didn’t sell my soul to the devil by joining ICE, or deny the truth told by Epstein survivors.