- We were out of milk so I stopped at Fred Meyer on my way home from dropping my son at school. I looked through all the gallons until I found two that had a “pull date” from yesterday, yet don’t actually have an expiration date until April 4th. I found an employee and had him mark them down, which brought the price from $2.59-per-gallon to $1.29-per-gallon. I can always throw one into the freezer if it seems like too much milk. (Note in the above picture the large expiration date, but the smaller sell-by date, which reads Monday the 28th.)
- I worked yesterday and like always, I brought my own lunch (leftover tortellini with red sauce) and drank the free crappy coffee. Someone had brought in leftover Easter chocolate, of which I enjoyed a few.
- I usually give my son $20 towards gasoline for the drive back to college, but instead I told him to cover it himself as we have a $7000 college bill coming up this Thursday. Every dollar counts, people. Every dollar counts.
- I have two Marimekko items that I’ve been meaning to list on eBay, and have decided to schedule them for April 17th when the Marimekko-Target line goes live. There’s likely to be peak Marimekko hype on that day and my items should do well as a result.
- I packed up three things to take the the post office today, (The Jansport backpack, a backpack that I’m selling and my son’s Ugg slippers which he forgot to take back to college.) I didn’t have boxes or big enough envelopes, so I cut open paper grocery bags and turned them inside out to create my own mailing packages. Yes, I used a laughable amount of clear packing tape, but in the end I avoided a purchase and used what I had on hand. Win-win!
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 83 comments… read them below or add one }
I got a good deal on cereal but I need a milk deal like yours now. My faily loves occasional junky cereal.
1.I took the brush out of an empty tube of mascara and cleaned it up to use as an eyebrow brush.
2. Grabbed some reduced boneless skinless chicken for tonight at the grocery store and resisted the urge to go down the markdown Easter candy aisle. I wouldn’t even dare look until it’s at least 75% off anyway. I am collecting all the plastic eggs, baskets, and grass laying around the house to put up in the closet for next year.
3.Made my kids PB with apple butter toast from apple butter we had leftover from the Cracker Barrell. Not frugal to eat out but stretching that take home box helps.
4. I’m reusing a tin that some bakery cinnamon rolls came in by washing and adding some other dessert. Not sure what yet. I got some strawberries reduced that actually taste good so I may do some sort of strawberry shortcake.
5.Skipped a shower this morning because I had one pretty late in the day yesterday. I haven’t really overexerted myself today so sweating isn’t going to be an issue, lol.
I love the idea of using a cleaned, used mascara brush as an eyebrow brush!
My family—note to self, read before hitting submit
1. Brought gardening tools back from our rental house garage (that were left by the last tenant but one and not claimed), that can be used at our current home.
2. Sold 6 items of furniture to a TV company furnishing a house for location shoots (this is prior to moving back to the US with air shipment only).
3. Knocked the liquid detergent bottle off the countertop, but managed to save the spilled liquid by soaking it up with clothing from different loads about to go in the machine.
4. Dried laundry indoors on airers in front of radiators instead of using the dryer.
5. Planned the week’s menu from the freezer and store cupboard, and should only have to buy milk!
No. 3 is smart! Don’t think I would have thought of that.
Me, either! Exactly why I always read all the comments.
If you use a clothes dryer you could leave a big fluffy towel in there and it absorbers some of the moisture for faster drying. And also remove clothes before completely dry and put on a hanger to let it finish air drying. I’ve
used both of these tips for years.
I do the opposite. I air dry clothes most of the way, then throw in the dryer for 5-10 minutes or so to soften up. I don’t like the stiff feeling that air dried clothes get, but I fix it using way less power than I would just drying them all the way in the dryer.
And my detergent bottle often drips down the side when I pour, so I use a piece of clothes from the load to wipe it off.
I didn’t even know there was a Marimekko line for Target. I just went and browsed, then told myself I won’t be buying things I didn’t even know existed four minutes ago. I can’t want them that badly!
1. I found a huge shelf of 50% off Easter candy, but thought $1.99 for a bag of m&ms wasn’t clearance-y enough and left without them.
2. Sold $25 of children’s books today, a vintage crate for another $25, and $12 from some Christmas decorations – all on the local sale boards.
3. My parents are watching my son over his week long Spring Break, so we don’t have to pay any fees to a center.
4. Two different people brought in pies to share with the office, Easter dinner leftovers, I presume.
5. Renewed a bunch of dud ebay listings, so I can use up my free listings before the month ends.
I have had excellent luck shipping things in a feed bag sewn closed with thrift shop thread. You’re not alone, and it saves on weight to not use a box (so the shipping price is lower).
Going out this afternoon with the family, but already put dinner in the crockpot to avoid the temptation to eat out before our 4H meeting.
Remembered to renew my library movie online, instead of accruing late fees! (Hollow Crown, with Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston, as Henry IV and Henry V).
Still eating leftovers from Easter dinner for lunch.
I hope you enjoy Hollow Crown as much as I did!
Be still my beating heart! I didn’t know about the marimekko-target line. Wow! Gonna have to practice some major self-control!
I figure I’ll start seeing it at Goodwill soon enough.
* Covering for a coworker today (half-day), which works great since I am not paid for yesterday or last Friday (off work because of Easter).
* Going to the movies tonight. Cheap night, using a gift card, and not snacking there.
* Trying to get together with a friend for a game night or a walk instead of something like going out for dinner
* Stocking up on cheap(er) cheddar cheese. Still 4$ a pound…. so expensive.
* Tonight will be leftovers (veggies soup, lentils, cheese, tortillas chips, fruit)
Have a great frugal day!
1) $5 off at Petsmart today with my savings card.
2) I picked up another audiobook from the Library at lunch and stopped by the Post Office the next street over. I plan those trips together when I mail bills and such.
3) I’m taking Friday off to pack and plan my weekend trip to a Wildcrafting workshop about 70 miles north of me. The $40 registration and overnight stay was my birthday gift to myself. Lots of fun with friends, good natural food and bringing home natural medicines and probably homemade wine. Yay!!
4) Still eating on weekend leftovers.
5) I didn’t buy a Lear jet.
The class sounds fabulous!
Brilliant with the Marimekko-Target tie-in! I’m rather pleased though, that I had no clue of this since I avoid most advertisements when I don’t need something. Bravo to you!
1. Ate one of the frozen stuffed buns for lunch that I keep in my work’s freezer (they’re $2 each, while the cafeteria meal is $7, and it covers me on days there aren’t any lunchable leftovers).
2. Updated my library requests for books and audio books to keep the free entertainment coming.
3. Bought an egg dying kit for next year for 99 cents.
4. Painted my own nails outside on my lunch break (there’s just never time at home).
5. Rode my bike to work! Exercise + commuting. It’s great.
1) I am home alone for a couple of days, so I have been eating leftovers and simple meals from the refrigerator. It is nice not to spend time cooking and cleaning.
2) I batched errands to save gas yesterday. While out, I dropped off some items at the Goodwill and shipped a “trade-in” book to Amazon.
3) Today was an office day also called a TCB day. I paid bills using my bank’s bill -pay service, saving time and money. I analyzed my expenditures for this month, (Yuck, over budget) and I also did some planning for next month. I balanced my checkbook, filed, and shredded. I finished sorting our tax info. Just too much fun for one day!
4) I am getting a new roof this week. I will arrange for an inspection next week. This will save money on my homeowner’s insurance — several hundred dollars annually. Yippee!
5) I continue to prepare for my garage sale. I also have some new items to list online! Spring cleaning makes my heart lighter and my wallet heavier. Can’t beat that!
4. My new roof saved me over $500 a year!!
That is fabulous! You must be in the Southeast too,
Mississippi
1. Received a medical bill which was impossible to understand. Called the billing people who didn’t really understand it either. They promised to call my insurance company and get back to me. I’m so glad I made this phone call because the bill was not correct and this one phone call saved me $80.
2. Worked 2 days out of town last week which means per diem and mileage added to my paycheck. Always nice.
3. Watched a video from the library last weekend (“Meet the Patels”). Snacked on chocolates which a co-worker gave my husband. This co-worker is on a diet and did not want the chocolates in the house.
4. I have become very bored with my usual breakfast of cereal, fruit and toast. Went to the library and found a magazine with a number of breakfast recipes (Woman’s Day – March). Copied several recipes. So far, I have tried one of the berry-yogurt smoothies. A really nice breakfast change for me.
5. Not frugal event: our cell phone provider has notified us that after this year, they can no longer “support” our cell phones. It’s true our phones are more than 10 years old, but they still work. It looks like I will have to buy a new phone this year as well as a new car (the car is 14 years old). Grrrr.
One of my favorite work day breakfasts is baked oatmeal. There are tons of recipes on the Internet. I make the toasted coconut or apple version on Sunday and eat it for several days the next week. Just pop it in the microwave for a minute and it’s ready. Super frugal too.
I love oatmeal, but have never tried it with toasted cocoanut — sounds like a delicious idea.
I eat oatmeal almost ever day for breakfast but I change it up by always putting different fruit/nut combinations in the oatmeal. I microwave the oatmeal them put in the fixings. Super easy and always tastes different.
I recently bought a new phone. It’s my first smart phone and did cost a little more than basic phones. I find because it’s on a modern network calls actually cost less as they are billed more accurately. Over time, assuming nothing happens to my phone, it should work out less than my other phone which was half the price.
I bought a Meizu M2 note online, but would recommend buying from a brick and mortar store. There are now plenty of lower cost, high function phones available.
1. We need new tires on our truck but we don’t want to spend the money, so my hubby yanked out each stud on the tires by hand.
2. Had a leak in one of the tires, so I dropped it off at Les Schwab and they fixed it for free. I was able to use their wifi and snacked on some popcorn while waiting.
3. We canceled Dish network. We’ve been talking about canceling tv for awhile, and looking at our bill over half is for ‘extras’ like dvr protection plan and rental. We upgraded our internet through Hughes, but still saved a ton of $ by ditching tv. We really only watch a couple channels anyway and we won’t miss the mind numbing crapola.
4. I brown bagged lunch every day using up the hard boiled eggs. No one else in the family likes them….lucky me!
5. Went Costco shopping on Friday and ONLY bought the 4 things on my list.
6. Signed my kids up for their own Overdrive accounts so now they can read books on their new Kindle Fires. Library is 50 miles round trip and we are all voracious readers. BTW, I saw an ad today for the Kindles I bought last week…they went up $20 each in price!! Glad I bit the bullet when I did.
It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in 5FTs.
1. Took a road trip with my boys to visit a friend in Pitsburgh for Easter. I think it was my most frugal vacation ever. We took food, ate out once at a local restaurant (called the Zenith if you find yourself in Pittsburgh. They have the best Sunday vegan brunch!) We walked around downtown (free), rode a mountain trolley (less than $5 per person) and took photos. On the way back home, we stopped in at the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV ($3 admission).
2. Today’s spring break activity will be geocaching and a walk at the park (both free).
3. Found some marked down baby Bella mushrooms $1.19 and realized I had an in-store coupon fir 60c off said mushrooms!
4. Making mushroom tacos for dinner.
5. Oh, I did visit a Goodwill in Pittsburgh and found an unused Le Creuset pan for $10. I plan to flip it.
My daughter and I did some geocaching today too! She was mad because she could not find one at a park, and today it was finally found!
Some can really be challenging! 🙂
I had to ship a camera in for repair to the Canon service center, instead of buying a new camera. So yay??
BUT! At the post office, the clerk gave me bubble wrap, saving me $2.98, AND a box, since I was going to have to go up to the larger Priority Mail box. So that’s definitely a yay!
1. On spring break from the school district I work for, but I went in to my office for 4.5 hours – will be paid extra time. (No kids at home)
2. Husband and I eating a lot of leftovers – from the weekend for lunches, dinners.
3. Cleaned under bathroom cabinet and re purposed containers I had on hand
to organize.
4. Downloaded library books to read to my nook.
5. 2 free rice krispie treats from Sams Club for grandsons Easter snack pack –
1. Had lunch at institute today. Have been eating at home as well.
2. I’m striving to eat healthier, so I didn’t eat the cookie nor chips but brought them home for my family.
3. I’m eating a snack of kefir, All Bran, blueberries, and chia seeds, all bought on sale. My breakfast consisted of food bank day old bread warmed up in the toaster oven with some mustard and ham slices, blueberries, and water.
4. Went to my school’s food bank. They give you two bags of food per month, so I went to get the one I still hadn’t gotten.
These are all about food! Jaja!
5. Attended my best friend’s mom citizenship swearing in ceremony yesterday. Great experience! I voiced my opinion on how important voting is. They treated me to lunch at a French bakery.
6. Took two tests in the last two days. I got really good grades. Getting bang for my buck at school.
7. I’m attending a free home-buying workshop at the library later tonight. I’d like to buy properties and rent them out in the future. I have a couple of friends who do that.
8. Answered a couple gig ads. Got an email back from one of them, but they didn’t need any more people, but they added me to their database as a food demonstrator.
9. Bought five self-improvement books at the library book sale for $1. They’re never this cheap here!
I think that’s all for now. 🙂
I am going to start adding things I’ll work on:
1. Had it pay $13 in fines for some books I forgot to return earlier in the month. I’d been so sick I kept forgetting to look for them. I have been getting better at not checking out more than I can read.
2. I will have the rest of the bottle of kefir for breakfast tomorrow morning. I’m the only one that drinks it at home, so I don’t want it to go bad. Probably with some strawberries so they get used up.
3. I continue to track calories. I need to lose weight. I don’t fit into my clothes and don’t want to buy new ones while I have perfectly good ones in my closet.
4. I will call my bank’s customer service phone number to claim my Amazon creditsfor last month.
The library system here will allow one to go online to your account and renew books that are not on a wait list or “new”. Very helpful when weather or health interferes with a library run.
We can renew online as well. Plus, I signed up for “Library Elf” which auto-renews my books (and whatever else I have checked out). I can set it to renew the day it’s due, or a day or two before. The only time it won’t auto-renew is when someone else has a hold on it. (Library Elf is available through both the SLC and SL County library systems, but I don’t know if it’s available in other states.) When I do have fines, I wait until the library has their food drive. They’ll knock off $1 for every can/box of food you donate. Once a year the City also has a “read down your fines” day for adults. $1 off for every 10 minutes reading at the library. It’s a year round opportunity for kids 18 and under.
Thanks, mine does, too, but I had already maxed out the renewals.
I’ve never heard about library elf. I live in Salt Lake City and have cards iwith both the city and coynty library. I’ll look it up. I thought about waiting for the food for fines drive, for the county library, which I think is in the summer, but I really wanted to renew the book about scholarships, which would definitely net me more than what I paid in fines. Thanks!
You can continue to check out items even if you have fines on your card, at least at city libraries. Just click the “pay later” option when that screen comes up.
1. I’m eating Easter leftovers for lunch — and had them for supper last night.
2. I mail packages wrapped in inside-out grocery bags sometimes. Usually I use my own cloth bags for groceries, but my husband brings home paper bags sometimes. I also use an ancient thick roll of heavy brown paper that was leftover from my workplace and which I was allowed to take home, years ago.
3. I’m taking a free online class teaching about wild edibles and medicinal herbs.
4. Supper tomorrow night will feature our home-grown cabbage and onions. Tonight we will have summer squash from the freezer with our meal — it was given to us last summer and we put it up. The egg man gives us his surplus squash because we are steady customers all year long.
5. Our Easter eggs were very easy and cost no extra work or money — our egg man always includes some green and blue eggs from his special chickens in our regular brown egg order, for Easter week, at no extra cost. He’s nice.
That online class sound great! Mind sharing the info? 🙂
http://www.chestnutherbs.com, three free mini-courses. They are available all month and I think you can still sign up.
Thanks! 🙂
Thanks – I added my name to their mailing list too. Seems like they had interesting resources.
1. We had take out Chinese on Friday night and only had white rice leftover after a few meals so we are having fried rice with dinner tonight – and probably for lunch tomorrow.
2. Went downtown on the bus to meet with our financial planner this AM and kept the meaning short enough I only had to pay the transfer fare on the way home.
3. Was asked to work 2 more days within the next week – we are going to Chicago to visit family next weekend so I will have a bit more $$ on hand to offset expenses.
4. We travel to Chicago from Minneapolis via the Megabus – this fare is $8.00 for the 2 of us round trip. Some people think we are nuts to travel this way but we have had OK experiences-and you can’t beat the price! Yes I do know about the bus fire that a NY Times reporter was on – stuff happens…..
5. The lovely people who fostered our dog before we adopted him will keep him for us while we are in Chicago. We have given them gift certificates in thanks before and will do so again.
Love the paper bag trick! I use that one all the time!
1. Found a crumpled up $20 bill in the bottom of my change purse. Lord only knows how it got there, but it went into the Christmas savings envelope instead of into someone’s cash register.
2. The belt on our dryer broke. My husband did some Googling and attempted to fix it, but it was beyond his skills. It’s covered under our home warranty, but he gets major points for trying hard not to have to pay the $65 charge to get it fixed.
3. Even though it’s perpetually rainy and damp in the Southeast in the spring, we managed to get the laundry dry with some creative arrangements with hangers and a box fan.
4. My husband and I have been brown-bagging our lunch to work every day. He used to eat out with his co-workers quite a bit, but stopped when that “more month than money” after-effect kicked in.
5. Needed to buy a sturdy bookbag to haul all my stuff around at work (parking is often quite a way from the office). Found one on Amazon that would work, used some Amazon credit and picked out one in a less popular color. The credit and the color used together saved me $23.
1. Just yesterday morning, as I was packing 2 books I’d sold on Amazon, I realized my stash of free bubble wrap was almost depleted. Figured I might have to go buy some if none turned up soon. Then late yesterday when I checked my FB yard sale group, I discovered someone was offering lots of packing boxes and bubble wrap for free. Picked up a big trash bag this morning and my stash is no longer depleted!
2. Cleaning out my purse I found a 99¢ ECB from CVS that expired on 3/28. Used it yesterday and got a Lindt egg and a Cadbury egg for 6¢! Love quality chocolate cheap!
3. Picked up 4 mystery shops for today and tomorrow for $20. Quick in and outs around my errands. College fund!
4. Enjoyed a wonderful dinner last night of red beans and rice made with Easter ham bone in the crockpot. When I got home I made rice in my yard sale rice cooker and threw a pan of corn bread in the oven. Yummy and frugal. I love my $5 rice cooker since I don’t have to worry about burning the rice!
5. Going to Aldi’s tonight to pick up more $1.99/ lb. butter for the freezer. I bake a lot!
I’ve never actually noticed the two different dates on milk before! I’ll have to keep an eye out for that.
I cut my husband’s hair this week, and made soy milk from scratch. 🙂
Maybe it is a state by state thing? Never seen two dates in Massachusetts.
I just checked my jug in the fridge and it is stamped with a sell-by date and no other date. I’m in Maryland.
1. Made a ham for Easter, but bought a smaller one this time so we don’t end up throwing it out like last time. Been using it in my omelettes in the morning and with a potato or rice for lunch and dinner.
2. Doing a lot of work on my blanket, which means less time out and about buying food and drinks.
3. Been sewing up a few of my clothes that have suffered wear and tear these past couple of months. They have put me through college plus five years, but I still want to give them one last go around.
4. Re-steeping my teas one more time. I’ve been trying to buy high quality loose leaf tea to get the best bang for the buck.
Fails:
Lots of library fines this year for no good reason. Been trying to put the due dates in my planner as often as possible.
Not using my free meal during work. It’s not the healthiest stuff, but it would have saved a few weekday lunches for dinners.
Our library now sends out an email 3 days in advance if you sign up for it. Makes a huge difference for me. Many have it available now.
Yes! Mine does this too. I love it because as soon as I get the email I log in online to see if I can renew them
I just mentioned this in a reply a few messages above. I renew online when I need to, but now I’m signed up for Library Elf which auto-renews my books.
Leftovers make the world go round, uses up some stuff before it goes bad, and feeds us!
1) Made a frittata for breakfast out of leftover asparagus and served it over the leftover heels of last week’s bread
2) Packed leftover lasagna for my husband’s lunch at work, along with a needed-to-be-used orange and a cookie leftover from Easter.
3) Today’s coffee left over in the pot is put in the fridge for my husband’s iced coffee to take to work tomorrow
4) The leftover coffee grounds, banana peel, and orange peels were hand delivered to the worms and bugs in our compost pile.
5) Chickens feasted on leftovers, including a few squishy grapes, the remainder of the toddler’s oatmeal, asparagus ends, and slimy salad greens
1. Mended two pairs of jeans that had been sitting in a pile for a few months. Now have 5 options for jeans and I am feeling spoiled.
2. Found myself with an extra $300+ for March. Realizing it was from selling things, adjusting my tax withholding and a work reimbursement I had already paid, I stashed it into the vacation fund and didn’t spend a dime out of it.
3. Walked to my volunteer ever today–so sunny. Saved gas, wear and tear on my aging car.
4. Working extra and have set next months budget to reflect that. Vacation savings!
5. Kept lights off today and turned down thermostat. So sunny in Seattle.
Five pair of jeans? I know I’ve never reached that point myself!
I definitely did when I was much younger and more foolish and cared about labels 😉 3 of these pairs were Goodwill purchased, one consignment (used a credit) and one free from clothing swap. Now that I do the limited “Capsule” wardrobe, 5 is mega luxurious, ha! Luckily I only have to wear non jeans about 3 weeks combined a year for work, so I only have about 3 “board meeting” outfits.
I have exactly ONE pair of jeans! I don’t find jeans comfortable, despite everyone saying so. What can I say, I live in yoga pants!!
1. Stayed home to day and snacked on popcorn and leftover chocolate bunny.
2.Made firm resolution to stay within tight April budget – March was expensive due to birthdays and Easter .
3. Gift son with mandated investment income withdrawal. He will use it for his IRA which = tax benefits for h
3. Meant to say gifted son with $$ from mandated investment income withdrawal. He will use it for his IRA which = tax benefits for him
We have 4 birthdays in March – the 8th, 12th, 13th and15th!! Two are sisters (the only 2 of my 6 sisters that I exchange gifts with) and the other are daughter-in-law and about to be son-in-law that I want to gift to – being the welcoming-type mother-in-law that I hope they recognize. So far, so good!
Four birthdays in March would give me anxiety. Gift of something they could plant in the yard , maybe? I once purchased a nice big plant that I broke down into 4 different smaller plants and repotted them in cheap glass containers. It was frugal, useful, and pretty. Good job on the good mother in law thing, lol.
We have 5 birthdays in August! My twin sons and my brother (all on the same day), my father-in-law two days later, and my husband mid-month. It takes lots of planning!
1. I have been transplanting lots of ground cover and hostas I have in my yard to fill up empty flower beds. I have a mostly shady yard and after trying multiple other types of shady plants in these beds with fail, I am just going with what grows best. And its free!
2. For the very few sunny spots in my yard, the tiger lily bulbs a friend gave me that I planted at the end of last summer are coming up. So no money spent on filling in flower beds. Will only buy a few annuals for a couple of pots on the porch.
3. I referred a friend to my dentist and she got her check up there. Last week I got $50 off of my dental visit/work with their referral program.
4. My local grocery store had a great buy this week on eggs, boneless chicken breast and detergent and stocked up on them. Did not buy anything else.
5. I have been trying to watch what I eat and resisted buying ice cream when in the before mentioned store. It was even on sale. Ha. So trying to eat healthier is saving money too!
1. Used Cartwheel and coupons to buy 3 items at Target for a 35% savings.
2. Using up Easter weekend leftovers this week, and probably have enough for a couple more days.
3. Bought two lampshades for thrift store purchased lamps at Ross on the senior discount day today, also paid with a gift card. Discount and no cost to me.
4. Worked prep hour and will be paid overtime.
5. Didn’t succumb to buying discounted Easter candy or a Leer Jet.
Lear, of course.
1. Had to pick up an attachment for our hose and found a bunch of plants for 75 percent off. I love finding these if they are in reasonable condition. I found pansies, violas, red cabbages, lemongrass and bok choy – all in season plants so worth it for me to give them a shot.
2. I avoided the half price Easter chocolate. I may get some when it’s cheaper again and toss it in the freezer for baking, but I really don’t need it.
3. Brought my homemade vegetable soup and a homemade cheese and bacon roll in for lunch today.
4. Almost my whole outfit was thrifted.
5. I have started interval training daily, forcing myself to get up at 5:45 to fit it in. I figure I only have one body; need to take care of it.
1. Sold a PA system on Letgo. Not only do I need to declutter in a MAJOR way, but I’m getting serious about paying off debts. Plus I sold it local to a friend, so no shipping charges!
2. Been successful at bringing my lunch to work for two weeks now!
3. Recently I’ve purchased some top quality 70 and 80’s Tupperware at great prices on Etsy and decided to try one of my purchases as my “teamaker”. At our police station we have a commercial coffee pot that has a hot water spout. I brought tea bags and a Tupperware orange juice pitcher and I brewed my own iced tea tonight! Our Safety award last month was a Yeti tumbler (large) and we have an ice machine too, so brewing my own tea saves me money and keeps me from drinking carbonated drinks!
4. My 13 yr old daughter has recently said she’s very appreciative that I have encouraged her to learn things like sewing and taking care of a house and cooking, so I’m now starting to show her how to mend her own clothes. For some reason she always gets holes in the armpits of her tshirts…so I’m teaching her how to mend them.
5. I called my cell phone provider and evaluated my plan. I switched to a plan that cuts my bill by $100!
-We had a total NCA fail this whole past weekend. We have 3 kids showing animals with FFA and our state fair show was this weekend. My plan was to bring sandwiches, snacks and drinks so we didn’t have to buy any food at all because we have five kids to feed. But with everything we had to do to prepare and me working full shifts all week before, I didn’t have time to pack anything. So we spent A PRETTY PENNY on food. But the kids did well and we sold all our animals and the experience is what really counts.
And I didn’t buy a lear jet!
1. Shopped at Aldi & Lidl and stuck to list & budget
2. Ate at home all week and used up leftovers for lunch
3. Airdryed clothes on line and on clothes horse & finished in dryer
4. Got out books from library & went to free toddlers morning with son
5. Bought drug store make up on 3 for 2 offer instead of buying Mac studio fix..worked out same price for 3 as 1 Mac..happy days;-)
1. My birthday was yesterday, so I enjoyed free birthday coffees from two different coffee shops this week.
2. Successfully used up some cream cheese leftover from a recipe by making homemade chocolate truffles. I brought some of the truffles as a hostess gift on Easter, then gave the rest to some friends at work for a treat.
3. Eating Easter leftovers all week.
4. Batching errands on the opposite end of town.
5. Reading only books from the library. This requires some planning ahead for my two different book clubs to make sure I get the books in time, but I was quite successful in the month of March. We’ll see how April goes!
1. Called our medical insurer about a dental visit that has never been processed. Turns out if was, the check was mailed and despite our having lived in this house for 18 1/2 years the post office said it was undeliverable. They are going to reissue the check.
2. Used a coupon to get a car was at a discount. We have such heavy pollen right now that my car is yellow not silver.
3. Made another donation of decluttered items and entered them into Itsdeductible so I have an accurate record for this year’s tax return.
4. Braved the pollen and raked/swept up oak seeds from our sidewalks and street. Was a bit jealous of the neighbor’s gardening service LOL.
5. Last Sunday we took a morning walk and came home for lunch instead of stopping on the way as usual.
Your #2 is mine too! I’ll have to do that this weekend, we have free coupons from our windshield replacement. Our car is red with yellow cracks at the moment.
#1 — I feel your pain! I mailed an envelope with enclosures to my sister across the state, and put extra postage on the envelope to be sure I had enough (it was weighed and measured at my work mail room, then I supplied the postage). The envelope went all the way across the state through multiple postal centers, to the post office four blocks from my sister’s house, which returned the envelope all the way back across the state to me for “insufficient postage.”
My local Aldi had skim milk for $0.99/gallon this week, as they were close to the sell-by date. We aren’t skim fans, but I grabbed three. And I finally convinced my husband to let me use the clippers on his hair. I saved the cost of two haircuts by buzzing him and our son last night.
I had no idea about the milk code! I don’t drink dairy milk but that’s still a cool tip!
1. Didn’t leave home today so no money spent on gas.
2. Am using up excess food in the freezer and pantry which means I’m not spending any money on groceries this week.
3. Made my own almond milk yesterday and it was so good! I did the math and it’s not necessarily frugal, but it does have some benefits– one, it has no preservatives or chemicals, two, it creates less waste in the landfill since I buy almonds in bulk, and three, I can make small batches so I won’t necessarily waste any which does sometimes happen with storebought. I am going to try some other non dairy milks like oat and rice which would be much cheaper.
4. Made a smoothie of frozen coffee ice cubes, my fresh almond milk. banana, and cocoa powder with some agave and made the best mocha/frosty type thing EVER. And, it was made from coffee I would normally have poured out. NEVER AGAIN!
5. Found a coupon for a free DD travel mug and called my neighbor and asked for his coupon (it was in a mass market mailing). Now I can get one for each of us and while we have mugs, I think these would be good to just keep in our cars for when we forget our water bottles or coffee carriers. OR, we might decide to put them in for gifts.
I made my own almond milk for a little while. Personally, I find soy milk better in drinks as a non-dairy milk substitute. I find I can tolerate a little normal milk at the moment which is great! Anyway, I was going to suggest that you use the nut meal left over from the nut milk. Either add herbs and oil for a nutritious topping to toast, add to a cake mix, make vegetable burgers with the almond to add taste, protein and nutrition.
Thanks! I was wondering what I could do with the almond meal! I think the toast idea will be wonderful since I am trying to go butter free!
Thanks!
My pleasure. Apparently I have inherited the DIY and do-not-waste-food genes. I was thinking it would be good on top of hummus or avocado on toast or in healthy rum balls (dates, nuts etc).
1. I had to work in a different office for a couple of days. I’ll be getting an extra $280 so mileage!
2. bringing Easter leftovers to work every day
3. Did not go out for a drink with the hubby while our son had baseball practice
4. Reading free nook books instead of buying the next on in a series I’m reading
5. No smoking still!
1. Been sick for almost a week and a half, so haven’t done much going out and the grocery trip on Wed. was in and out. I skipped Aldi, since I felt so bad, but it was senior day at Kroger, so I didn’t spend much more and it was worth getting home earlier to lay down.
2. I like to give my kids (all grown now) chocolate for Easter, but since I didn’t see any of them that day, I waited and bought it at a discount. Score!
3. Been making sure to download the Friday Freebies, even the ones I can’t use, which I donate to the food pantry.
4. My husband loves a dense chewy (and expensive) bread he discovered, but I recently found some that is similar – he likes it, it’s half the price and is often discounted.
5. Trying to only buy produce, dairy, and odds and ends that make meals out of what’s in the pantry and freezer. When it gets warm, I want the freezer empty, so I can thaw and clean it out.
I hope you feel better soon!