- I stopped at the women’s consignment shop today where I’d dropped off a pair of cheap thrift shop Danskos. I was handed $6.74 in cash and helped myself to five free plastic tubular hangers for my son’s dorm room. I noticed that they had a purse that exactly matched my Sopranos-aesthetic wallet. I had to take a photo.
- I bought a cabin filter and a headlight for my 2007 Prius at the auto supply shop. I was able to replace the filter myself, (thank you youtube!) but needed my husband to replace the bulb as it was a super finicky job. The two of us worked in the dark to put in the new light bulb, which was so much more difficult than one would think. But these small DIY auto jobs keep our cars in working order and our money in the bank.
- I did a spontaneous big grocery shopping trip at Safeway this afternoon, which meant my paper coupons were at home. However, I took a few minutes to open the Safeway app and load e-coupons onto my club card. I saved money on onions, navy beans, tortillas, ice cream, bread and a few other staples. (Yes, ice cream is a staple!) Plus there was a $2 (maybe $3?) off a $20 purchase e-coupon! I also found a penny on the ground.
- I promised my 11-year-old niece that we’d see Pitch Perfect 2 together. We ended up going on a $2-Tuesday, plus I had a coupon for free admission to the attached arcade which included $2 in nickels. She didn’t want to play any games, so we ended up keeping the nickels. (My kids would never turn down a chance to play Skee-Ball!) So the movie was free. By the way, the movie was dreadful, and featured an extremely racist depiction of a Guatemalan student whose only lines were about how she had diarrhea or was going to be deported, etc. It amazed us that the script went through however many hands without someone calling out the writers on this bizarrely offensive element. Did anyone else notice this?
- I was treated to a lovely celebration dinner by my aunt Karen and Uncle Jimbo who live in Nebraska. My 72-year-old mother just finished her master’s degree, and now has the official diploma to prove her superiority! My aunt and uncle weren’t able to travel to Portland, but they did arrange for all of us to dine at a lovely restaurant as their guests. I have both a very smart mother and very generous relatives! Thank you!!!
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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{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m a first-time poster here, although I’ve been reading your blog for several weeks.
1. Tomorrow my husband and I will be debt free except our mortgage! We bought a car from a friend and won’t see him until tomorrow to make the final payment. On Friday we made the final payment on our last debt other than the car. This has been a long time coming!
2. We *didn’t* go into town yesterday — where we would have been tempted to spend a bit of money here and there. We went directly to (and from) the supermarket later in the day instead.
3. Hubby and I both took our lunches to work this week, from our stash of homemade batch cooked freezer meals.
4. My oven needed a good cleaning, and instead of buying oven cleaner, I used some degreaser (diluted) that my husband uses for his car, after testing a small patch to ensure that it wouldn’t damage the finish. The oven is sparkly now!
5. All week I’ve been trying to drive carefully, in order to maximize the fuel efficiency of my car. I’m amazed at the difference that it makes when I simply take off slowly. This week, my fuel effiency was 33 mpg instead of my usual 30 mpg.
my frugal things
*worked night shift last night, no time for a break so only nibbled on nuts from home and a yoghurt
* washed sheets, towels and table cloth and line dried in the sun
*ate home made cheese pizza I bought the pizza bases for 32cents they had been marked down twice, I bought all of them so 6 pizza bases with sauce already on them. I froze 4 and made cheese pizza out of 2 and then froze them cut up .
* was invited to a fundraising ball costing $110. while it may have been fun I politely declined, I am just not spending that on a ball.
*havent been out so no money spent.
* tired after night shift last night so going to bed early = less electricity used.
I am redecorating my humble home with what I have on hand and small thrifting purchases. I turned a rescued old brown chair with a yucky seat cover into something Swedish modern for my dining table. Today I’m painting some baskets I own to better blend with my new lighter decor. I rescued a terra cotta planter someone had put by the dumpster, painted it dove gray and it awaits a lemon tree seedling I have started from seed. I did buy a lamp and shade at Target for $15.00 which really compliments my decor. And I found a lovely None West cotton embroidered raspberry color top at Savers to add to my capsule wardrobe of timeless pieces. Each time I add a piece I remove a piece that is ill fitting or not flattering. I’m down to about 20 timeless, well fitting , flattering pieces of clothing for summer living. In a few months I’ll start with my cold weather capsule wardrobe.
Living large on little!
1. Produce has been abundant for gardeners in our area. My husband brought home (from work) many tomatoes and a large zucchini last week and a friend dropped off several tomatoes from her brother’s garden. The zucchini was shredded and I made two dozen muffins on Friday. Any muffins left tonight will be frozen to use in lunches. I have been eating tomatoes a couple of times a day.
2. Very non-frugal was a trip (airfare and rental car) to visit my MIL. While there we cleaned out a closet and her refrigerator for her (she is not able to get around much these days). I did save some small jam jars that I’ll give to a friend (she uses them when she makes jam) and we brought home a couple of Lara bars that were unwanted. Unwanted boxes of crackers were give to the senior facility where she lives, to be used for movie snacks. I did not buy water in the airport but waited and ordered it on the flight.
3. Staples has $.01 (after printable coupon and on-line rebate) reams of paper again this week. I am generally in that direction so I printed the coupon and will stop during the week. My husband takes the paper to work to save on spending in his department.
4. I was able to get 9 boxes of Nature Valley Nut Crisp bars for $4.00 total the other day. They were on sale, I had coupons, and Catalinas printed ($2 for buying 4 boxes and $3 for buying 5 boxes). At that price I did stock up. They are great to throw in lunches or to grab and go in case you might get hungry while out and about.
5. The weather has been lovely so I have spent time doing yard work. Fresh air, exercise, and accomplishing tasks all for free.
Did the airport not have drinking fountains?
It did and I have used them in the past, but it had been a long day, I was tired, and I truly was not thinking straight.
I sometimes forget to bring my own water bottle, which is a real challenge. Last time, I did remember it, but forgot to empty it before getting to security. Then I had to chug-a-lug the whole thing. 🙂
1. Went to a rummage sale and got a lovely handled basket, a charm bracelet to deconstruct, a clear ruler for crafting, several set of vintage embroidered cocktail napkins and a tea towel to sell in my Etsy vintage store, and a 6X leotard and matching tutu, which will go to the foster care agency for their annual princess party, where each girl gets a costume to keep. Total? $5!
2. Bought a copy of Good Grief for my grief counseling shelf and another mystery for my “read and release” stack (that I take in the car or on trips, read, and then leave with a note saying, “I’m done with this – enjoy!”) from the library sale cart. Cost – ten cents each.
3. Checked our Coinstar when we were at the store – found 11 cents. (Didn’t check underneath, since my husband would have been embarrassed.)
4. Made a pasta salad for today’s church potluck, using 2 boxes of Betty Crocker Suddenly Pasta Salad and a cup of mayo (all bought on sale), and a pumpkin dump cake, using a can of my stockpiled pumpkin, 3 eggs, some sale butter, and a sale spice cake mix. Cut into squares to transfer into a recycled foil pan and they didn’t all fit, so I ate one and stored the rest. Yum!!
4. All of the sale boxed items were Betty Crocker, so I added 4 Boxtop labels to the ones I’ve collected for school, which I keep in a really cute vintage wooden trading stacks box that I thrifted.
5. Watched my husband put together a crockpot of homemade spaghetti sauce, using a bag of romas a friend gave us and some of our homegrown herbs, plus other bits and pieces. Smells great already!
1) My husband is getting on board the frugal bandwagon. He got 4 inner tubes for ride using our points and did not buy the shoes he has been eyeing even though they were on sale.
2) We had company over for dinner last night on our clean out the fridge night and he didn’t mind at all the hodge podge we put together. And he bought dessert.
3) I found a quarter in front of one of the buildings where I work.
4) Another friend came over Friday bearing fruit and chip snacks saving us from buying chocolate bars for sweet snacks. The fruit and chips were leftovers from one of her staff meetings.
5) I am working on getting a new phone system for my office from a freecycler. Will be an upgrade with no cost.
I have been reading about picking up pennies and my rule is find a penny pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck, providing that it’s heads up. I think I made that part up.
You didn’t make that up, and thanks for saving the rest of the pennies for me. 😉
1) I melted the 1/2 inch of remaining wax at the bottom of 2 scented candles (in glass jars) in some water warmed up on the low setting in my crockpot and poured it into a 3rd almost done scented candle jar. Hoping that this way I can use up the rest of those darn candles (why do they all stop burning when there’s about 1/2 inch left of wax?! argh)
2) I needed mulch so I gathered items that we needed to be dropped off at the county dump (old paint cans, lithium battery, CFL bulbs, old TV that no one will take as a donation anymore…) and was hoping to get free mulch at the dump. Sadly they had none. So we bought some but went to the wholesale place where we paid $50 for a huge truckload of it.
3) Before laying down the mulch around my vegetable beds, I gathered all cardboard boxes that I had been piling up in the house, including empty cereal boxes, flattened them, and used them as (free) weed barrier. Then I mulched over them. This helps keep the weeds to a minimum.
4) Then my son asked to keep the thin sheets of polythene that was packing material in one of the box that I had flattened, and it using it to craft “tiles” for our weekly family Dungeons & Dragons game.
5) My teen daughter got a job at a local restaurant and started last week. Right now she works 2 nights a week and she’s allowed to eat anything she wants for free so I don’t feed her dinner on those 2 nights and she gets to “eat out”, which she enjoys… for now.
Two more things: I forgot to congratulate your mom on obtaining her diploma. That is AWESOME!
The main frugal thing I was going to share and completely forgot about is that I was under budget by a little over $200 this month for grocery shopping! I budget $100/wk for 2 adults, 2 teens, and I only spent $286.22 out of pocket (I used 5 weeks for August, based on the day of the week when I go shopping). So I treated us to some take-out last night to celebrate our frugality!
You have a weekly family Dungeons & Dragons game? That is so cool!
I love your post. Katy, what does your mom have a Masters degree in?
Textile studies with a focus on quilting.
How fantastic! I come from quilters on my mom’s side, and the idea of study honoring this ( very female) art form/ craft makes my heart sing!
1. Busy planning this week’s menu. Not sure if hubby will be working second shift or not so I’m planning meals that reheat well so he can eat dinner for lunch the next day before he leaves for work.
2. Spent yesterday on storm prep even tho Erika is pretty much gone. They are still expecting heavy rains for south FL. Our neighbor gave us metal storm panels for the one window that did not have accordian shutters, but they were an inch too long. So we spent some time cutting them down and putting them up. We’ll leave them up until after hurricane season is over.
3. Cleaned out my garage and donated some furniture to get some much needed space. Plugged in my chest freezer, so now I can use it.
4. Will make hubby some banana nut muffins for his snack during the week. The bananas turned too quickly.
5. Didn’t buy a lear jet.
1. Meal planned from fruit on sale at grocery store and shopped my pantry.
2. Ate all meals at home.
3. Fixed my printer, again.
4. Found a way to make a substitution in a recipe with what I had on hand.
5. Gave my new to me dog his first bath, I got a free shower in the process. I’m thinking the $10 bath and nail clip each month will be a bargain.
Congratulations to your mom! That’s a wonderful achievement.
I have been getting over a stomach bug and subsisted on boiled rice and ice water for a few days. That’s really frugal and was really unpleasant. The better frugal things are:
1. Found some way less expensive, made in the USA dog treats suitable for our dog with allergies.
2. Made a loaf of homemade rye bread using a Bob’s Red Mill mix bought on sale. It was a huge hit with my very picky husband. Will be making another today.
3. Used my Food Lion card to get a crock pot-sized Boston butt pork roast for $5. I haven’t seen a chunk of meat at that price for ages.
4. Used up an almost empty bottle of barbecue sauce to make a sauce for the pork. Swished it with balsamic vinegar and a little water until every drop was used up.
5. Mended a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts for my guys, using some leftover bias tape to reinforce the repair in the seat of the jeans.
Would you share the details on the doggie treats? Please?
We just slice up sweet potatoes and dehydrate them (in a dehydrator, or you can do in the oven). Our pups love them. Great for allergies.
1. I foraged some unclaimed cactus fruit from a parking lot…haven’t bought fruit in several weeks, due to foraging.
2. I’ve been learning about edible wild plants of Southern California…so far have made two small salads from dandelion greens otherwise considered weeds. Healthy, local and free!
3. Walked home from tutoring rather than paying the $1.75 subway fare.
4. Found stuff around the house to use as toys for a child client, rather than buying stuff from the 99 cent store.
5. I walked to the vet (without cat) instead of paying the bus fare.
Non-frugal: We had a party last night, sharing four bottles of nice wine, plus a bunch of snacks from the grocery store. I find it’s great to have “too much” food and wine…it makes people feel more welcome.
1. Went to a frugal party last night. It was my husband’s 55th high school reunion and the invitation said CASUAL several times. It cost us $10 each and they had tons of food. It wasn’t “a meal” it was just “snacks”–like stuffed clams, pizza, some chicken/broccoli/cheese/sauce thing, sausages cut into inch lengths, their herbed bread which they call pizza bread, mini-roast beef sandwiches, olives, peppers, cheeses veggie trays, and fruit trays. Oh, and carafes of white and red wine on each table, plus a cash bar if that wasn’t to your liking. Later they had cookies and coffee, but I couldn’t get near those — we had eaten dinner at home because to me snacks meant maybe chips and pretzels!! The restaurant has darn good food, too–been in business for years and years. They also had a DJ, dancing, karaoke, and someone got some overgrown cheerleaders to do a cheer or two–but no jumps!!
2. Did laundry yesterday as well as mending a pair of husband’s knit underwear shorts, and a sheet of granddaughter’s which her cat ripped trying to
convince her to get out of bed! Then I bleached another sheet for her—she needs instruction on not putting too many clothes into the washer at once.
3. Today should be a no spend day for sure. Yesterday was sort of–we had paid for the tickets in advance, and we had 2 beers that we paid for–a friend bought us two more, and then left before we could reciprocate.
4. Tomorrow might not be a no-spend day. My sister called this morning before I was fully dressed to invite us to a double birthday party—for a 1 year old and a 50 year old. It will be on Labor Day weekend while the 1 year old is visiting–she won’t know the difference. That makes 3 birthday gifts to buy, and I expect a 4th invitation in another month or so. Two of the three are for kids who are not wanting for a thing, so I will be spending little for something clever or cute!! The 50 year old has had some financial tough times lately, so I may spend a little more on something for her.
5. We did not buy a new condo for $400K+ which our friends just did. They are downsizing, but it’s the location that makes this place so expensive–perfect for their age where they can walk to everything–grocery store, entertainment, exercise, etc. They love it. They are selling a 5 bed/4 bath house for about the same price as the condo, but they haven’t finished cleaning and sorting so the house can be staged yet. They will be doing that in a hurry though! They just bought a winter place in Arizona three years ago Buying new houses is not on my agenda at all at this age. (72) Husband doesn’t want to give up his working-on-cars space. I might hire a cleaning lady as a concession to age, but that’s about it!! It would be nice to give all the jobs I dislike to someone else. I don’t mind cooking and laundry and gardening, but I hate doing floors and bathrooms!!
Katy, I agreed with you on that movie. I thought what they did to the only Latina character there was gross and insulting.
1. I, too, made homemade spaghetti sauce from my tomatoes. Much better than store bought1
2. I went shopping with a friend and her daughter for back to school clothes. I could not believe the shoddy workmanship of the clothing and how expensive it was! My friend is frugal, though. Jeans and undershirts can be bought at thrift stores, so her daughter would u[ with a pair of shoes and 2 shirts, all of which were on sale.
3. I salivated over a sweater I saw until I remembered how many I have at home. Therefore, my money stayed in my wallet.
4, Dog needed her nails trimmed, so we went for a few long walks on cement roads with little traffic. Saved $12 and her nails are perfect.
5. Tallied all my bills for August and found I am doing just fine staying on budget. I did splurge on a new picture for the front room, on sale of course.
Congratulations to your mom!
1. My DH gave my oldest DD a haircut. She’s got short hair and it saved her $10 to have it done at home.
2. We had company over and made a spaghetti dinner instead of going out.
3. Power went out due to a storm. So instead of renting a movie, we played UNO by candlelight and flashlight.
4. Drove past yard sales on my way to an appointment. No cash on hand, no time to stop, don’t need anything and no place to put anything else. I’m looking to make cash from my stash.
5. Combining weekly grocery shopping & back-to-school shopping in one day.
Congrats to your mom and hugs all around!
My frugal things are simple and the norm for most here, I believe.
1) I was given a 5# chicken that I am baking today with rice and green bean casserole in the same oven.
2) I am also baking off some potatoes in the same oven to save money and not heat up the house. Those potatoes will be frozen for now then fried up for breakfast on a camp out later this month instead of buying packaged potatoes O’Brien.
3) I am having a friend over for the chicken dinner, but have menu planned the leftovers to cover this weeks dinners and 3 lunches (lunches are just BBQ chicken sammies. Dinners are enchiladas, curry over leftover rice and soup from the bones).
4) After dinner tonight, if we are not too full, we are making banana splits! I have chocolate sauce, nuts, Carmel sauce and bananas. I bought ice cream, $2.99 on sale. Much less expensive that ice cream shop sundaes!
5) all other foods will also be from my pantry and eaten at home/ taken to work from home.
Not much going out, looking, shopping or buting going on as July and August are long months and short pay checks.
Congratulations to your mom! 🙂
1. Back-to-school clothes shopping at Goodwill has been freakishly good. Luckily my daughter (she’ll be a junior in high school) loves thrift shopping. She found a pair of black Converse sneakers for $5, and a bunch of clothes. I spent $30 for what we figured was over $250 worth of clothes and shoes. Yay!
2. I also found a pair of expensive cords (retail $160+) for myself at Goodwill for $7.99. I posted about this on the Non-consumer Advocate Facebook page because it felt SO EPIC. Hee hee. Thanks for everyone’s “likes” 🙂
3. Batched errands this weekend: bank, grocery, gas, feed store for dog food.
4. All meals were cooked at home this weekend, except for dinner at a friend’s house Friday night. I’ll have them over soon for dinner. It’s a frugal way to stay in touch rather than eat out with two families to feed, and it’s more relaxed and fun anyway.
5. Besides groceries, gas, and dog food, this was a no-spend weekend, even though I didn’t plan it that way. (Goodwill shopping was before the weekend, so I’m not counting it!) I’m used to entertaining myself free, with long dog walks, hanging out at a friend’s house, and doing stuff around the house.
1. Used a gift card that my son gave my husband and I at Christmas to a restaurant we enjoy. We carefully picked our dishes and ended up with a bill of 11.00 for a delicious end of summer dinner out.
2. Took a bunch of stuff to an online auction house in town that I just became aware of when my Mom scored a beautiful Pennsylvania House sofa, (for $4.74!) last week and needed me to help her pickup. They are mostly things I have acquired for free and thus any money for them would be great. I have tried to CL most of the items but I think my too rural location prevented their sale…
3. Sadly, I made the trip to Northern Virginia with my beautiful dressage saddle to consign to a well-known saddle shop in the heart of horse country. My days of showing horses are pretty much done and this saddle has been sitting unused for 2+ years…I hope I make enough money on it to help with the heartache…
4. Sent my youngest child off to college, (sob!) and was able to keep his dorm purchases down to linens only…anything else was from home or hand-me-downs from his sister who is starting her sophomore year and realized she had too much to fit in any dorm room!
5. Purchased online and administered vaccines to all 5, (5!) of our cats…I only do vaccines every three years and remembered half-way through why I always feel like this is false economy! LOL! It takes a few days to regain their trust.
1. Went through all my kids school supplies and was able to fill their pencil cases and backpacks with minimal new purchases required.
2. My 2 boys are reusing their Roots backpacks we bought them last year. I had bought my daughter her first new one this year and discovered a hole in it. Took it back to Costco and they refunded me the full price of $22 even though I bought it on sale for $15. She is just as happy to use a new to her bag that’s in great shape, and it was free. Washed all 3 backpacks yesterday and hung them outside to dry.
3. My daughter doesn’t need any new shoes right now. She’s the one who suggested cleaning her old ones and using them for school. Smart girl! So all the kids shoes went in the washer and were hung out to dry today.
4. A friend’s mother gave us a set of vertical blinds to hang over our patio door. She replaced hers and our old ones that came with the house were broken. Now we have privacy again and it didn’t cost us anything.
5. I’m continuing to sell and donate things we don’t need. Trying to bring peace and organization to our house. Brought 6 toys to the consignment store on Friday and one has already sold. An extra $2 will be in my pocket 🙂
Congrats to your mother!! How inspiring to all, especially this (hopefully) future grad student!
1. For entertainment (& in order to maintain our sanity!) in this 100* heat LA is getting, instead of going to the movies we opted to workout/lounge at the nearby college pool. I get a free pass for working there & my boyfriend signed up through me for a small fee.
2. I really wanted to go buy some sweet pomegranate limeade from Trader Joe’s but am finding that a little lime squeeze and sugar in my water is just as satisfying.
3. Cooked rice, beans, tempeh, & a blueberry bread earlier so we’ll have ready-made stuff to grab easily in the time after work/before evening commitments.
4. Bought a cat tree for my cat, though costly up front, it will save our new couch from any further damage.
Katy,
Thought you Would appreciate this…I’m the person who commented about the 2 sets of sheets last week. Suggested checking the laundry situation since both of my sons just washed & remade their beds with the same set.
Yesterday my son headed off for his sophomore year. Today my husband and I drove to his college to take him a truck load of stuff he couldn’t fit in his car. I looked at his dorm room bed and realized he sheets looked odd. He has 2 sets of twin XL sheets, but somehow managed to find a set of full size sheets and made his bed up with those! I guarantee those will be he sheets he uses all year. Sigh…
Pitch Perfect 2 was baaaaaaaaad!!!!
My 5 frugal things:
* Picked-up cans of the ground during my morning walks all last week, for a total of about 2.30$. Used it on groceries.
* Bought organic milk for half-price
* Used a 5$ off coupon for a family activity and skipped the 5$ poney tour. Still was an expensive day at about 85$, but I am generally frugal so that it’s not a problem to do such activities from time to time
* We needed a tool to turn grass into garden material. I tried borrowing one at first. When that didn’t work out, we rented one for 20$ instead of buying one.
* Bought 4 boxes of cereals for 8.96$ (on special+50% off extra), and on the boxes was an offer for a 10$ gas gift card, so the cereals ended up being free because we buy gas anyways.
Have a great frugal day!
1) we had a friend and her family over last night for dinner. I made salpicon (Mexican shredded cold beef). After pulling the meat out of the pot, I tasted the liquid left in the pot – tasty! Basically a light beef broth. So I strained it (gave the veg to the hens) and used it to make chili today.
2) went to cuisinart up some stew meat this morning for the chili mentioned above and discovered the lid of my cuisinart bowl had shattered. Since it’s over 10 years old, I guess it lasted well. Found a replacement part ‘used – very good’ on Amazon for $8.
3) moved some plants around in our front yard to fill in some gaps and am very happy with how it looks. Love using the plants we have!
4) speaking of free plants, my friend gave me a TON of succulents she took from her massive collection. I came home with a box full of all different kinds and planted them in our backyard and out by our cherry trees, two places where succulents should absolutely thrive. Plus they won’t need much water when they’re established! Yeehaw.
5) moved bark/mulch from under the cherry trees where it was too deep to the bare patches in the rest of the yard – no having to buy mulch!
6) one more – my new dog (I’m a failed foster mom) had an abscess on his neck that just wasn’t healing even with antibiotics. We were putting a hot compress on it (it had an open sore) when my husband saw something. Ended up pulling out a fox tail that was over an inch long. Poor little dude!! No wonder it wasn’t healing. The dog had been to the vet TWICE and they hadn’t found that. Go husband.
I did buy a Lear jet, but it was half price so really it’s like saving money 😉
1. The shopping center where I went for groceries was having a “Safety Fair” and I spun a wheel and won a $10 Target card.
2. Was able to find a pair of running shorts for my son and spandex shorts for my daughter to wear under her soccer uniform at Goodwill.
3. Bought bread and cereal at the Dollar Store
4. Bought an antenna to see if we can go without Cable TV. We hardly ever watch shows, just sports. We’ll see.
5. The only money I found was a plastic penny.
I’ve found a plastic penny before. Such an odd find.
1. I’ve been super busy combining full time work with a part time masters, but last week I managed to bring lunch to work every day.
2. I rode my bike to and from university on Saturday and Sunday, avoiding using the car or paying for public transport. (Bonus, even more exercise!)
3. I took my re-useable cup with me to university both weekend days (you can tell I had a fun weekend :-/) and when I got my to-go espresso coffee each day, I used it, instead of a take-away paper cup. This saves two cups for landfill, plus I got 20c off each coffee as a bonus. (I’m mostly motivated by the zero waste part, so the little saving is a nice bonus)
4. I was tempted to grab take-away dinner on Saturday night after studying all day, but instead whipped up some home-made pizzas with ingredients I already had on hand, especially using the last of some leftover kangaroo roast.
5. I filled my car with gas last week. It runs on duel fuel (LPG and normal gas) so there are two fill nozzles. It’s been so long between needing to fill the car that I momentarily forgot which was the right nozzle.
I had two lovely freebies last week that were frugal by default as we were going to pay for them but ended up not having to do so.
1. The clerk at Trader Joe’s decided the flowers I was buying were past their prime so gave them to me for free and then insisted I get a 2nd bunch for free too!
2. We went out for my birthday and shot pool after dinner. They forgot to start the timer for the table so said it was free.
Other things were:
3. Washed and did a bit of trimming on our mini poodle to extend the time between grooming appointments.
4. Made chicken broth and chicken noodle soup. Froze the remainder of the broth.
5. Found a penny in my own yard. Not one of ours as it is quite corroded.
Congrats! Congrats to your mom! That is wonderful to hear!
My frugal things last week:
1. A few free dinners at work
(work provides dinners if someone stays past 7:30pm) I stayed 3 times. Took leftovers home to share with the HH.
2. Got cvs $5 beauty bucks, $6.5 from Ebates and got a $10 gift card for Dunkin Donuts from a co-worker
3. Went to a couple of events (last 2 weekends) and got some great gift bags
4. My friend trimmed my hair for free
5. Free weekend entertainment – including a boat ride on a friends boat and a great outdoors BDay dinner party
Congrats to your Mum!!!!! That is inspiring and awesome!!!