- I used a $10-off-$50 Safeway coupon, Just4U coupons and paper coupons yesterday for a huge grocery shopping trip. I spent $56.65 and saved $38.03. (Six bags of groceries, bay-bee!) And best of all, I bought nothing that wasn’t on my list.
- I dropped a big box of my younger son’s outgrown clothes at the children’s consignment shop. She took almost everything and even handed me $5.20 in cash for a small amount of stuff I’d brought in last year. Of course I put the $5.20 in the college fund as it was completely unexpected.
- I dropped a couple boxes of miscellaneous stuff at Goodwill and then browsed around. I fell in love with an overpriced $70 groovy vintage chair, but only bought a sweet little $1.99 vintage burlap lampshade. (I used a Christmas gift card to pay for it.)
- I was getting frustrated with the messy and chronically unorganized basket of soccer gear in my living room, but I was able to figure out a solution without having to buy anything. I brought down zip-up mesh laundry bags, (leftover from my son’s summer in Japan) and created categories. Because everything is nylon and slippery, nothing stays folded, but now all soccer socks are in a single bag, all jerseys are in a single bag and all shorts have, wait for it . . . their own bag! With three people playing in four different leagues, some of which require different stuff for practice vs. games, I think I’ve found a workable solution.
- We had planned on the four of us seeing a movie last Saturday, (my birthday!) but not one current release drew me in. We had three free movie tickets from a study my husband is participating in, so we would’ve had to buy one $9 ticket. Instead, we rented Silver Linings Playbook for $1.20 through Redbox, which I’d been wanting to see since last year. And now we can save those movie tickets until we have four of them!
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Saving Mr. Banks was really good 🙂
It looked like emotionally manipulative Oscar-bait. Plus, Walt Disney was a terrible anti-Semite, so I’m not too interested in his back story.
According to Snopes and the LA Times, Walt Disney was not anti-Semitic. That was a rumor spread by union organizers during a strike. Read about it on Snopes.
Hmm . . . this is something my father has always talked about, so I’ll have to look that up. I’d be more than happy to be wrong in this case.
It’s been too cold to go anywhere so I am saving money by refusing to leave the house and making do with whatever we had on hand! Made my sons birthday dinner at home – BBQ ribs (his favorite) and a homemade ice cream cake. Spending my time stuck in the house decluttering and organizing and now have several bags to take to Goodwill when we thaw out!
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was great! I would see it again and there are very few movies I would watch more than once.
I saw Walter Mitty with my husband for our anniversary (with a gift card) and it was wonderful. I second the recommendation. Substantial enough to discuss later, yet not horribly depressing and sad like so many “serious” films.
Yes, hubby and I had a great discussion later that led to us talking about what he really wants to do about how unhappy he is with his job and taking chances on something new etc. Serious thoughts in the movie but handled in an uplifting way.
Hmm . . . I’m starting to think I should give it a try. The commercials are just so awful with overdone CGI and tacky broad humor.
Katy
Definitely some CGI and some tacky humor (not as much as I expected out of Ben Stiller) but it surprised me with how much heart it had and the challenge to take a chance and get out of your comfort zone. At least that’s what I took from it.
I have one frugal tip I’ve been saving up for a post like this:
I have a pair of oldish black flats from Target and it had gotten to the point that their soles were so thin that it hurt to walk any sort of distance in them. I was contemplating having to throw them out, but before I did I, thankfully, remembered that I had a set of old gel insoles in my closet. I put those in the flats and not only can I keep wearing them for what will likely be a few more years, but they’re the most comfortable they’ve ever been!
I have a pair of Birkenstock brand comfort insoles that have outlast a couple pair of shoes. So comfy!
Katy
Here’s mine:
1. We’re pursuing a home exchange for summer vacation. Travel isn’t cheap but exchanging houses and cars with another family allows us to reap all the benefits for a much reduced cost.
2. We came back this week to a fridge full of food left by our weekend renters. I picked up some milk and mixed greens at Costco for a cheap “clean out the fridge” week.
3. I am blessed with an abundant milk supply. The home made washable pads I used when I nursed our older son are worn out and were really too small anyway. I briefly considered buying new washable pads, but then did a little research and now I am working on new and improved pads made out of stuff I already had on hand.
4. I returned a couple of Christmas gifts that were well-intentioned but just not us. I was temped to buy more clothes that I don’t need but instead bought towels to replace our current worn ones.
5. I’m making hamburger and hotdog buns in my bread machine using Frugal Girl’s recipe to accompany the hotdogs and hamburgers left by our renters.
1. As in the rest of the NE U.S., it’s freakin’ cold today here in Central NY (0 degrees F plus -16 degrees wind chill at 7 this morning–and other places north of us have had much worse). Time to bundle up, chow down, stay home, and not spend any money.
2. We’re using plastic bags that formerly held wood pellets (given to us by friends out in the country who have a pellet stove) as trash bags for tonight’s garbage set-out. No cost to us, and better for the environment than if the friends were burning them on their trash pile (which they would otherwise do!).
3. We’re also enjoying beef/barley/leek soup (made with home-produced beef stock and homegrown leeks) for dinner. This is some consolation for the possibility that the leeks still out in the garden may not survive the deep freeze.
4. And we’re burning trashpicked or donated wood (i.e., hardwood rescued from curbside brush piles or given to us by neighbors who have had trees taken out) in our own conventional wood stove.
Stay warm, everybody!
I went to high school in rochester new york and now live in FL. My friends are trying to convince me to move back there. Don’t think I could handle it at this age. It’s been 35 degrees for 2 days here in FL, but tomorrow back to 80. Trying to figure out a way to live in upstate ny for the summer and fl in the winter. Stay warm!!
I use whatever bags that somehow snuck into my house for our garbage, which are often the paper one from New Seasons. (My husband often forgets a bag.) Because we compost and use rags instead of paper towels, there really isn’t anything wet that goes into the garbage.
Katy
Resisting the urge to grocery shop and using up what I have on hand. Baked spaghetti tonight with Italian sausage meatballs, 5 cheese blend and parmesan on top. Tasty filling meal and some sauce and sausage leftover for a pizza tomorrow.
I’m tightening my belt fiscally and physically, so need to be judicious in how much I spend on food.
Brought my lunch.
Used the dishwasher–but with no heat dry!
Hung my laundry.
Cooked everything I could from the fridge so I wouldn’t waste any food.
Checked out DVDs and a book from the library. Love my library.
Same old same old, but hey that’s okay.
We took our own tour through Goodwill this weekend (we had five bags of items to donate, but we also wanted to do a loop in the store to see what deals they had), and DH found two like-new suits and some jeans. I didn’t find any clothes for myself this time around, but then I didn’t need anything, anyway (he really did need some new suits and jeans), so it worked out. 🙂
I’ve also listed a few DVDs on eBay for the heck of it — they’re taking up space, so why not try to get them out of the house? 🙂
I miss the jars!
This is some kind of computer glitch.
Katy
Yes, I know Florida isn’t having the extreme cold other parts of the US are, but for us high temps in the 50s are cold. Too frugal to turn on the heat I rely on layers of clothing, even so my hands get cold … I knit up a pair of fingerless gloves from yarn I bought for $.50 with enough left over to make another pair.
Made fingerless gloves from thrift store yarn – with enough leftover to make another pair.
I went to Goodwill for the first time in quite a while and was very happy with what I bought (kids’ clothes and ceramic cereal bowls). I too am trying to eat up what’s in the fridge. I just used up some leftover bacon and an about-to-expire can of biscuits in an interesting recipe that smoked up my whole kitchen to the point I had to open doors and windows, letting in the 12 degree air. Ooops 🙂 Tasty though.
You are my frugal inspiration! I wish I could figure out coupons.
I have been using my library like crazy and finding fun stuff to do with the kids that cost nothing 🙂
There is always great free stuff to do with little kids here in Portland.
Katy