Author Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?  (Read 8020801 times)

Mezzie

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11550 on: July 05, 2018, 07:32:38 PM »
Got an annual parking pass to the nature center which will encourage exercise with friends and save me money in individual parking fees over the year.

midweststache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11551 on: July 06, 2018, 08:16:08 AM »
- Took public transit to work; will take public transit home
- Brought my own coffee to work, plus lunch/snacks, including a frozen, homemade breakfast sandwich (rather than spending $5 at the shop downstairs) and a blood orange (on sale at the local market for $3 for a 3lb bag!)
- Leftovers on the menu for dinner
- Exciting Friday night plans: neighborhood park with my kid, followed by cleaning up our condo's outdoor space (better than upping HOAs so we can pay someone to do it), followed by a relaxing bath and a mani/pedi at home

Trifle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11552 on: July 06, 2018, 09:17:08 AM »
Brought my lunch to work today -- leftovers.  I've only bought lunch twice this year so far (co-worker lunches I could not avoid), otherwise I have brought my lunch every day.   

alewpanda

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11553 on: July 06, 2018, 09:49:11 AM »
-- DH wanted ice cream sandwiches the other night.  Would have required a trip to the store and spending money.  I whipped up a box cake and some homemade powdered sugar glaze instead.  By the time it was done, it was a late night snack, but at least we didn't succomb to the ice cream sandwiches...lol.

-- Planned ahead and got free shipping from walmart.com.  There isn't one near us, and some of our basics have come from there for years until our recent move.  If I save up 'wants' and needs or purchase large enough quantities, I can save both on the cost of the items from either of our local grocers, and I can get free shipping to boot. 

-- Brought home more plastic bags destined for the trash from unpacking boxes at work last night.  Free doggie doo bags!

-- Picked up 4 pennies last night.

-- Packed lunch for work. 

-- DH sold a set of headphones he had received for free with a work convention ticket.  95.00 into our account :)

nessness

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11554 on: July 06, 2018, 11:05:33 AM »
Overslept and didn't have time to make breakfast this morning. Grabbed a bag of pumpkin seeds on my way out the door and ate those instead of buying something.

Brought my reusable bags to the grocery store.

Meal planned last night, trying to incorporate what we have on hand as much as possible, which lead to spending only $58 at the grocery store today.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11555 on: July 06, 2018, 04:08:59 PM »
-We drove back from our vacation yesterday (Oregon coast to the bay area) & got caught up in freeway closure due to a wildfire. Explored numerous back road options (that, extended our trip by 5 hours :-(( ), but got home around 3:00 am vs getting a hotel & staying the night on the road
-Used a Subway gift card for dinner out on our road trip
-Bought a few groceries this morning, as our fridge was bare. Used a gift card that fully covered the cost of our groceries
-Defrosted frozen leftovers for lunch today

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11556 on: July 06, 2018, 04:25:09 PM »
Saving friends money:
-Friend is replacing appliances (dishwasher and a fridge) after buying a house. Let her use my Costco account to look up pricing there, and told her about Cardpool. She ended up putting a 4% off cardpool card on a 2% cash back card.
-One of my friends is doing IVF at the same time I am. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for this round so I would hit the 50k miles sign up bonus right now. Apparently she had been overwhelmed looking at all the choices, but I explained why I opted for the one I did. She's applying for it this afternoon.

My savings are mainly that I'm being boring and mainly staying at home while my husband is out of town. (Except for going out for a mocktail with my IVF friend this afternoon). And I'm eating leftovers and real foods, not buying deli counter type meals, which is always tempting.
(I guess the rewards card is also how I'm saving money today, since I put $8k on it today. Also, as always, keeping my receipts so we can take the medical cost deduction for the ~$45k we're on track to spend medically this year).

Dicey

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11557 on: July 06, 2018, 10:51:11 PM »
Got a call today that the refrigerator in the librarian's lunchroom went out. Would the Friends like to buy them a replacement? So a group email goes out to the board and people agree that this would be a good thing. Not so fast, says Dicey. Let's see what CL has.

I find this sweet, smallish number that would be great, for $125. Original selling price, $499.
I ask the seller if it's still available.
She says someone's coming to look at it tomorrow.
Okay, I'll wait.
Come get it if you want it, she says. I don't hold anything for anyone on CL.
I believe in Karma, I say, I'll wait.

I go back to CL and find the same (rather unusual) model for...$30! I go get it and meet a guy who's interesting as hell. Very into Real Estate and teaching veterans how to buy homes. I'm going to turn him on to this site. And tomorrow, DH and I will deliver the $30 refrigerator to the library.

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11558 on: July 06, 2018, 11:56:06 PM »
* Line drying laundry

* Cargo bike the school commute

* Foraged purslane and used in a smoothie

* Picked up pennies

Will

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11559 on: July 07, 2018, 01:41:20 PM »
Saving friends money:
-Friend is replacing appliances (dishwasher and a fridge) after buying a house. Let her use my Costco account to look up pricing there, and told her about Cardpool. She ended up putting a 4% off cardpool card on a 2% cash back card.
-One of my friends is doing IVF at the same time I am. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for this round so I would hit the 50k miles sign up bonus right now. Apparently she had been overwhelmed looking at all the choices, but I explained why I opted for the one I did. She's applying for it this afternoon.

My savings are mainly that I'm being boring and mainly staying at home while my husband is out of town. (Except for going out for a mocktail with my IVF friend this afternoon). And I'm eating leftovers and real foods, not buying deli counter type meals, which is always tempting.
(I guess the rewards card is also how I'm saving money today, since I put $8k on it today. Also, as always, keeping my receipts so we can take the medical cost deduction for the ~$45k we're on track to spend medically this year).

Hopefully you referred your friend so you get some referral points!

I need to see what this CardPool thing is.  Never heard of it.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11560 on: July 07, 2018, 03:47:54 PM »
Saving friends money:
-Friend is replacing appliances (dishwasher and a fridge) after buying a house. Let her use my Costco account to look up pricing there, and told her about Cardpool. She ended up putting a 4% off cardpool card on a 2% cash back card.
-One of my friends is doing IVF at the same time I am. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for this round so I would hit the 50k miles sign up bonus right now. Apparently she had been overwhelmed looking at all the choices, but I explained why I opted for the one I did. She's applying for it this afternoon.

My savings are mainly that I'm being boring and mainly staying at home while my husband is out of town. (Except for going out for a mocktail with my IVF friend this afternoon). And I'm eating leftovers and real foods, not buying deli counter type meals, which is always tempting.
(I guess the rewards card is also how I'm saving money today, since I put $8k on it today. Also, as always, keeping my receipts so we can take the medical cost deduction for the ~$45k we're on track to spend medically this year).

Hopefully you referred your friend so you get some referral points!

I need to see what this CardPool thing is.  Never heard of it.

Oh man! No, I didn't. Can she still get the sign up promo if I refer? I'll see if she's done it yet.

Raymond Reddington

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11561 on: July 07, 2018, 03:53:11 PM »
Turning off the cable box at night and otherwise being more aware of vampire voltage in the home when not using things. Bringing lunch to work more. Next week, will be having the basement dug to create a French drain with sump pump, which will replace the cost of running the dehumidifier constantly with the occasional running of the pump. Also will be putting a bunch more money into the market to grow my income (at approximately 13,500 YTD for the year in that account, and 5500 or so in my 457 account...in addition to the 2200 or so I've put towards paying down the mortgage early.)

Also, cleaning out the house, I found a $50 Amazon gift card I never used.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2018, 04:51:37 PM by Raymond Reddington »

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11562 on: July 07, 2018, 04:23:11 PM »
-Leftovers for lunch
-Used a gift card at Target (plus, found a penny on the ground)
-Went to the library to stock up on more free books
-Sold $15 worth of outgrown kids clothes on our local neighborhood Facebook site

OmahaSteph

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11563 on: July 07, 2018, 04:43:09 PM »
Got mild food poisoning so I've hardly eaten today.
Skipped the farmer's market thanks to aforementioned food poisoning.
Harvested rhubarb, chopped and froze it.
Skipped an extra treatment at the hair salon, saving $20. Needed more gel but they were out of it, so she gave me a sample that will last until next month.
Unsubscribed from a bunch of retailer emails.


BZB

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11564 on: July 07, 2018, 05:47:39 PM »
Used a free coupon from Penzey's Spices to pick up the Embrace Hope box - salsa & pico mix and Mexican vanilla extract. I love the political message about kindness that the owner included in the box, and I love that Penzey's business is doing better, despite the boycott.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11565 on: July 07, 2018, 06:11:28 PM »
Used a free coupon from Penzey's Spices to pick up the Embrace Hope box - salsa & pico mix and Mexican vanilla extract. I love the political message about kindness that the owner included in the box, and I love that Penzey's business is doing better, despite the boycott.

I'm so glad you mentioned that! I have a $30 GC I hadn't used yet, so I whipped up an order. Paid $0.57 and I'm getting a heck of a lot of spices, plus the bonus Embrace Hope box. No shipping since I had the other items on there too!

BZB

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11566 on: July 07, 2018, 07:34:54 PM »
I'm so glad you mentioned that! I have a $30 GC I hadn't used yet, so I whipped up an order. Paid $0.57 and I'm getting a heck of a lot of spices, plus the bonus Embrace Hope box. No shipping since I had the other items on there too!
That's awesome, Bracken Joy - have fun cooking! I always get inspired when I get a new batch of spices.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11567 on: July 07, 2018, 07:59:35 PM »
I'm so glad you mentioned that! I have a $30 GC I hadn't used yet, so I whipped up an order. Paid $0.57 and I'm getting a heck of a lot of spices, plus the bonus Embrace Hope box. No shipping since I had the other items on there too!
That's awesome, Bracken Joy - have fun cooking! I always get inspired when I get a new batch of spices.

I had never had Penzey's before I got married, and someone bought us the big "wedding crate" gift. I loved it! Their spice quality is amazing. And their fox point seasoning is sooooo good with fish. So I was excited to order some more of that. I've tried to make a dupe, but haven't found any good cost effective approaches. (Dried shallots cost as much as just buying their blend in the first place!)

Also passed the deal on to a friend who loves real vanilla. Oooh, and there was a thread just a couple weeks ago about vanilla, I'm gonna head that way and let people know =) Yay Penzey's!

Will

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11568 on: July 08, 2018, 12:14:56 AM »
Saving friends money:
-Friend is replacing appliances (dishwasher and a fridge) after buying a house. Let her use my Costco account to look up pricing there, and told her about Cardpool. She ended up putting a 4% off cardpool card on a 2% cash back card.
-One of my friends is doing IVF at the same time I am. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for this round so I would hit the 50k miles sign up bonus right now. Apparently she had been overwhelmed looking at all the choices, but I explained why I opted for the one I did. She's applying for it this afternoon.

My savings are mainly that I'm being boring and mainly staying at home while my husband is out of town. (Except for going out for a mocktail with my IVF friend this afternoon). And I'm eating leftovers and real foods, not buying deli counter type meals, which is always tempting.
(I guess the rewards card is also how I'm saving money today, since I put $8k on it today. Also, as always, keeping my receipts so we can take the medical cost deduction for the ~$45k we're on track to spend medically this year).

Hopefully you referred your friend so you get some referral points!

I need to see what this CardPool thing is.  Never heard of it.

Oh man! No, I didn't. Can she still get the sign up promo if I refer? I'll see if she's done it yet.

I'm not sure, but I think so.  Maybe call and ask a rep (and then maybe that way you can see if you can still get points if she has already signed up)?

Hirondelle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11569 on: July 08, 2018, 09:57:22 AM »
Went to Ikea to enjoy free coffee. Occasionally I take a slice of cake too, but it turns out they don't have my favorite one anymore, so that's another $2.50 saved on no more Ikea cakes!

Catbert

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11570 on: July 08, 2018, 12:51:34 PM »
Saving friends money:
-Friend is replacing appliances (dishwasher and a fridge) after buying a house. Let her use my Costco account to look up pricing there, and told her about Cardpool. She ended up putting a 4% off cardpool card on a 2% cash back card.
-One of my friends is doing IVF at the same time I am. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for this round so I would hit the 50k miles sign up bonus right now. Apparently she had been overwhelmed looking at all the choices, but I explained why I opted for the one I did. She's applying for it this afternoon.

My savings are mainly that I'm being boring and mainly staying at home while my husband is out of town. (Except for going out for a mocktail with my IVF friend this afternoon). And I'm eating leftovers and real foods, not buying deli counter type meals, which is always tempting.
(I guess the rewards card is also how I'm saving money today, since I put $8k on it today. Also, as always, keeping my receipts so we can take the medical cost deduction for the ~$45k we're on track to spend medically this year).

Hopefully you referred your friend so you get some referral points!

I need to see what this CardPool thing is.  Never heard of it.

Oh man! No, I didn't. Can she still get the sign up promo if I refer? I'll see if she's done it yet.

I'm not sure, but I think so.  Maybe call and ask a rep (and then maybe that way you can see if you can still get points if she has already signed up)?

Yes, she'll get the 50K bonus points using your referral code.  When you go to Chase to get the code and she uses it, the link will take her to bonus page so she can see what she'll get.  It's always this way with Chase on public offers.  (Sometime people will give a special, non-public offer and using a friends link would invalidate the non-public offer.)

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11571 on: July 08, 2018, 01:14:12 PM »
Saving friends money:
-Friend is replacing appliances (dishwasher and a fridge) after buying a house. Let her use my Costco account to look up pricing there, and told her about Cardpool. She ended up putting a 4% off cardpool card on a 2% cash back card.
-One of my friends is doing IVF at the same time I am. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for this round so I would hit the 50k miles sign up bonus right now. Apparently she had been overwhelmed looking at all the choices, but I explained why I opted for the one I did. She's applying for it this afternoon.

My savings are mainly that I'm being boring and mainly staying at home while my husband is out of town. (Except for going out for a mocktail with my IVF friend this afternoon). And I'm eating leftovers and real foods, not buying deli counter type meals, which is always tempting.
(I guess the rewards card is also how I'm saving money today, since I put $8k on it today. Also, as always, keeping my receipts so we can take the medical cost deduction for the ~$45k we're on track to spend medically this year).

Hopefully you referred your friend so you get some referral points!

I need to see what this CardPool thing is.  Never heard of it.

Oh man! No, I didn't. Can she still get the sign up promo if I refer? I'll see if she's done it yet.

I'm not sure, but I think so.  Maybe call and ask a rep (and then maybe that way you can see if you can still get points if she has already signed up)?

Yes, she'll get the 50K bonus points using your referral code.  When you go to Chase to get the code and she uses it, the link will take her to bonus page so she can see what she'll get.  It's always this way with Chase on public offers.  (Sometime people will give a special, non-public offer and using a friends link would invalidate the non-public offer.)

Thank you guys! I generated a code and sent it her way in case she hasn't signed up yet. I'll get 10k bonus points if she uses it =) Thanks all!

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11572 on: July 09, 2018, 12:30:35 AM »
Walked to work and will walk back this afternoon.

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11573 on: July 09, 2018, 03:27:23 AM »
Went through the freezer and ate some food that had been there for way too long.
Made iced tea.
I'm having a week off work and we're going to spend most of that time doing DIY. So far we've only bought glue, we already have everything else we need. But even if we need to buy some more items later this week, it's far cheaper than going on holiday / expensive day trips or hiring people to do the work. And working, cooking a simple meal together and watching Netflix in the evening is quite fun too.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11574 on: July 09, 2018, 07:29:06 AM »
We dropped the kids off at camp yesterday, and have a tradition of stopping for a glass of wine on our way home, & typically also do a dinner out to celebrate. Instead, had a really nice dinner at home (salmon, corn & salad) & a bottle of champagne by the pool. Still a completely fancy pants afternoon, but saved around $80 or so.

CintranGhola

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11575 on: July 09, 2018, 08:53:32 AM »
Found a forgotten jar of dried chickpeas at the back of the pantry cupboard yesterday. Cooked them in the instant pot and made enough delicious falafel for lunch for the next few days.

MountainGal

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11576 on: July 09, 2018, 01:37:27 PM »
This weekend:
~Looked up online peak energy usage costs to refresh my memory.  Off peak cost is .10 less per kWh!
~Added a quarter to my piggy bank
~Continuing to use up frozen leftovers and pantry stockpile
~Made a snack tray for a guest, DH and myself Saturday night using fridge and pantry leftovers
~Cut the top 3/4 off another bottle of pump lotion to use every last drop
~Clipped coupons
~Allergy eye drops are running low, so keeping the bottle upside down to get every last drop to last until payday
~Back on my reduced eating plan, stretching leftovers even further
~Received 4 free tickets to 2 upcoming events after my office donated money toward said event

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11577 on: July 09, 2018, 03:11:20 PM »
Checked out an ebook from the library instead of buying a copy from Amazon

alewpanda

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11578 on: July 09, 2018, 09:09:26 PM »
-- Received and registered my library card tonight.  Looking forward to seeing all that our new library down the street has to offer!

-- Biked to the post office to mail off a birthday present.  Saved gas and got some exercise.

-- Hung a load of laundry to dry, saving 1.70 in our apartment machines.

-- Wrapped up a box of duplos (the above gift that I mailed), with an old roll of meat packaging paper, decorating it with glitter markers and the necessary addresses. 

-- Ate leftovers for lunch, and made a simple dinner of homemade waffles for dinner.

-- Used only reused bags for the dogs today...no store bought ones used. 

Trifle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11579 on: July 10, 2018, 05:32:24 AM »
We are late on the grocery shopping and boy did I have to scratch to pull together enough food for my lunch at work today.  It cleaned out the fridge and cupboards (literally) and will be a slightly strange lunch:  half a cup of cottage cheese, a sweet potato, a tomato, and a half cup of hot rice cereal (maybe I'll eat that part for dessert).  Actually now that I type it out that sounds just fine -- yummy even. 

Clean out the cupboards + avoid buying lunch -- double win. 

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11580 on: July 10, 2018, 06:26:07 AM »
Bought fabric for curtains in the livingroom for €48. I have been looking for used curtains for a while and couldn't find anything we liked / was the right size. We have lived here for 3 years and still have a mix of MIL's old curtains and tablecloths on the curtain rods. It's time for real curtains. The fabric was on discount, it's a really nice quality and I have a matching spool of thread in my stash. All in all, it's really cheap for nice curtains.

I filled up some holes in the wall and expected that I had to paint over the whole wall because of the colour difference. Turns out the stuff I used to fill the holes dries up to be the same shade of white the wall is. After sanding it's hard to spot it if you don't know about it. It's also above a door, in a corner close to the ceiling so not a place people will generally see. No need to paint over the whole wall!

While I was sanding I also sanded some baseboards in the kitchen that I will paint with half a can of paint I found in the shed. A fresh coat of paint will make all the difference. Our kitchen is quite old, but we're not replacing it for a few more years. The dirty brown tiles with missing grout are covered with a piece of vinyl, the walls and ceiling have been painted, I've put up some shelves, a nice curtain, and now I'm painting the baseboards. These small things make me like our old, wornout kitchen a lot more. €200 worth of materials will extend our kitchen's life by 5-10 years. We've already lived here 3 years now and won't be replacing it anytime soon.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11581 on: July 10, 2018, 07:35:13 AM »
When the kids are at camp, we usually take advantage & go to dinner. But, we've had a lot of house expenses lately, so I made dinner. I planned ahead & bought some convenience options at Trader Joes. More expensive than a normal, well planned dinner, but way cheaper than eating out. We had leftover salmon + gnocchi & salad.

I picked up four books off the freebie table at work, plus ate breakfast & lunch at work (free)

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11582 on: July 10, 2018, 01:05:33 PM »
Investigating the cost and options for selling our house without estate broker. Potentially there is a lot to save there.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11583 on: July 10, 2018, 02:16:32 PM »
Provided feedback about a relatively substantial problem that occurred during part of our vacation & received a $135 refund. I never heard back from the company after my initial query, and almost forgot about it. But, this morning I happened to see the email & sent again & received a quick response. Hurrah!

Mon€yp€nny

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11584 on: July 10, 2018, 04:20:23 PM »
Investigating the cost and options for selling our house without estate broker. Potentially there is a lot to save there.

We used an internet estate broker. Saved us thousands.

I washed my car a bit before it would start to rain.
Also cleaned 'our second home' (RV) a bit to get it ready for buyers.

OtherJen

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11585 on: July 10, 2018, 05:30:19 PM »
Accidentally stumbled on a “buy 1, get 1 free” sale on chuck roasts and organic chicken breasts at Kroger. I think both were on special for the past week so they’re trying to clear out stocks before the next round of sales starts tomorrow. I only wish I had more room in my freezer.

Unique User

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11586 on: July 11, 2018, 10:44:46 AM »
The last two weeks I've:

*bought 15 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.30 a pound.  Packaged them up for the freezer (I cut them in half lengthwise and put enough for one meal, 3 halves, in baggies with marinades and freeze them flat) using up odds and ends in the fridge for marinades.
*our Kroger is shutting down, bought two whole frozen turkeys for 35c a pound.
*commuted to my home office every day which means no lunch costs, clothing costs or commuting costs, but does mean higher utilities
*kept AC between 77 and 80, house with no direct sun that seems like a cave in the winter sure is nice in the summer
*bought as much reduced rack produce as I could use.  It's generally ugly or a bit wrinkled, but perfectly fine. 
*grilled and cut off the cob and froze reduced rack corn (16 for $2)
*made refrigerator pickles with reduced rack cucumbers (7 for $1) and homemade vinegar, scrubbed and cut out seeds to make them last longer.   Used up most of my homemade vinegar so made batches of pineapple vinegar and apple vinegar using frozen scraps I'd saved.
*picked blackberries while walking my dog and made a batch of blackberry vinegar
*went to DC for five days for a mini vacation, while there got free breakfast at the hotel due to elite status and did mystery shops at fancy restaurants three of the four nights to keep food costs down. 
*cooked at home most nights (I was weak, need to be better)
*downloaded ebooks from the library
*local grocery had double coupons - picked up free olives, gluten free pasta, ice cream bars, eggs, biscotti, salad greens, mayo, dog treats and super cheap coffee. 
*got the sign up bonus from Chase Sapphire, had three work trips the last three months, which put me over the spending cap. 
*continued to save 50% of our after tax income

OmahaSteph

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11587 on: July 11, 2018, 11:35:34 AM »
The last two weeks I've:

*bought 15 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.30 a pound.  Packaged them up for the freezer (I cut them in half lengthwise and put enough for one meal, 3 halves, in baggies with marinades and freeze them flat) using up odds and ends in the fridge for marinades.
*our Kroger is shutting down, bought two whole frozen turkeys for 35c a pound.
*commuted to my home office every day which means no lunch costs, clothing costs or commuting costs, but does mean higher utilities
*kept AC between 77 and 80, house with no direct sun that seems like a cave in the winter sure is nice in the summer
*bought as much reduced rack produce as I could use.  It's generally ugly or a bit wrinkled, but perfectly fine. 
*grilled and cut off the cob and froze reduced rack corn (16 for $2)
*made refrigerator pickles with reduced rack cucumbers (7 for $1) and homemade vinegar, scrubbed and cut out seeds to make them last longer.   Used up most of my homemade vinegar so made batches of pineapple vinegar and apple vinegar using frozen scraps I'd saved.
*picked blackberries while walking my dog and made a batch of blackberry vinegar
*went to DC for five days for a mini vacation, while there got free breakfast at the hotel due to elite status and did mystery shops at fancy restaurants three of the four nights to keep food costs down. 
*cooked at home most nights (I was weak, need to be better)
*downloaded ebooks from the library
*local grocery had double coupons - picked up free olives, gluten free pasta, ice cream bars, eggs, biscotti, salad greens, mayo, dog treats and super cheap coffee. 
*got the sign up bonus from Chase Sapphire, had three work trips the last three months, which put me over the spending cap. 
*continued to save 50% of our after tax income

Um, wow.

Wish we had "ugly" produce sections.


I bought local corn (YASSSS) and cooked it in the IP to prevent heating the house. Ate a little and shaved off the rest for other recipes/freezing.
Ate two aging eggs for dinner while the corn was cooking. Finished off a bottle of ketchup, too, so now there's only one bottle in the fridge. (Kids.)
I spent to save, too. Stopped at a Salvation Army I'd not yet explored and scored a bunch of canning jars (tomatoes are coming!) and Pampered Chef stoneware - two large baking bowls and a deep-dish baker. The bowls were $6 each and the deep-dish was $3 but the nice guy gave me all three for $6. Also picked up some small Pyrex glass baking dishes, a glass juicer and two unused bread pans. All things we need and will absolutely use. Anyway, got out of there for under $23.

Raenia

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11588 on: July 12, 2018, 07:59:05 AM »
A few from yesterday:
 - rode my bike to the library
 - showered in cold water
 - didn't turn the AC on while I was the only one home

I usually walk to the library, so that's not a huge win, but I need to start biking short trips to get back in shape so I can start doing groceries via bike soon, and hopefully by fall bike the longer trip to work.

Stachetastic

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11589 on: July 12, 2018, 08:31:16 AM »
~Hung two loads of laundry yesterday.
~Brought leftovers for lunch, as usual.
~Took a great looking zucchini from the neighbor's free produce table and will make zucchini boats for dinner tonight with some            leftover ground sausage.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11590 on: July 12, 2018, 11:42:51 AM »
We've gone the week without eating out. Normally not a challenge, but with the kids at summer camp, it's very tempting & has been an area we've gone off track previously. We're leaving for a long weekend this evening, which helped us stay focused on not spending this week. Quick & easy Trader Joes meals to the rescue!

Gerard

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11591 on: July 12, 2018, 03:30:15 PM »
Rode my bike down to the supermarket before the tropical storm hits. Chickens for way cheaper than usual! Bought three, breaking them down now.

Also super-cheap mushrooms, for some reason. I know somebody here buys marked-down mushrooms in huge volumes and dries them in the oven, but I didn't get that far... frying them all makes them wilt down small enough to pop in jars and freeze for later use.

Mezzie

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11592 on: July 12, 2018, 05:08:46 PM »
Was invited out to eat, but cooked for people instead.

alewpanda

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11593 on: July 12, 2018, 07:29:10 PM »
-- Considered going in for a haircut as I have a coupon. The coupon is good till mid-september, and I've been wearing my hair up in the heat (hiding all the random layers that are growing out).  I trimmed my bangs myself and put the coupon away again for later. 

-- Cut DH's hair at home.

-- Made enchiladas for lunch, using up some random ingredients in the filling and avoiding using meat altogether.  Made enough for DH and I and several meals worth of leftovers.

-- Walked to the work and picked up a couple of extra hours this weekend. 

-- May get a bit of a promotion at work.  Its just a shift lead and has some extra responsibility, but it has the potential for more hours and will include a raise. 

-- Sewed the sleeves of a shirt that were an awkward length.  They are shorter now and a much more flattering length. 

-- Hung laundry to dry.

-- Used re-used bags instead of the bought doggie doo ones.

10dollarsatatime

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11594 on: July 12, 2018, 08:10:19 PM »
-Accidentally logged in to Bing and realized I had enough points for a $5 Amazon certificate.  So I logged in with my work account... and there was enough in there for another one!  And only a couple of days worth of points from another for each account.  Yay for free money!

-Work provided lunch today.  Went home for dinner and nap before my evening shift instead of going out.

-Collected a few months worth of cell phone reimbursement checks from finance today (and promised to deposit them in a timely manner).

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11595 on: July 13, 2018, 03:20:14 AM »
- Bought fruit and veggies from the ethnic grocery store which is much cheaper than any other store in the area. Plus also supporting small local businesses this way.
- Skipped dinner yesterday because I had cake and snacks in the afternoon and wasn't hungry.
- Bought a large supply of shampoo and toothpaste with a buy one, get one free deal. I buy these things once or twice a year when I come across a good deal. I like to have a couple of spare bottles so I don't suddely run out of toothpaste when I have an important appointment in the morning or something (this is not a hypothetical example of what could go wrong).
- Will have a busy couple of weeks coming up, so I'm going to spend some time in the kitchen today and tomorrow to cook some freezer meals.
- Doing laundry and line-drying, as always.
- I complained about a dress I bought recently because I'm not happy with the quality. I'm going to send the dress back and they're refunding it and all shipping costs as well. I was also offered the option of keeping it and receiving a gift voucher for 25% of the sales price, but since the colour of the sleeves has bled onto the body of the dress, I'm not going to wear it anymore. It's a shame, because it was a lovely dress. This is why I normally buy secondhand: clothes are pre-washed so I know they're not going to be ruined in the machine.

Mon€yp€nny

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11596 on: July 13, 2018, 01:30:31 PM »
The kids had their last day of school today.
- Their Eastpak bags have been washed and are now drying on the rack outside. The popular schoolbags wouldn't last a year, let alone a good wash in the machine.
- I'm going to make an activity book for Summer for them by printing (I refill our cartridges myself) educational and fun things from internet. A Summer activity book from a popular character can cost €8 - €15.
My 5 yr old has to work on numbers 1 -20 and my 8 yr old has to keep reading during Summer.
- have to make a frugal Summer bucket with them (salt dough art, petting zoo, free museum, picnic, making a hut, etc etc.)


JLee

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11597 on: July 13, 2018, 03:47:59 PM »
I had a car on an AZ insurance policy that has since been moved to NJ -- I increased coverages from 50/100/50 to 100/300/100 and moved the AZ car over to NJ...to net savings of $400/year. :D

Raymond Reddington

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11598 on: July 13, 2018, 06:47:44 PM »
Not entirely today, but I'm proud to say I've been on vacation for the past week and have not eaten one single meal out nor moved my car other than from the driveway to right in front of the house.

My only expenses have been contractors making money-saving improvements to the house, utilities, and mortgage. And the AC has been running a fraction of the time it usually is, and we've been leaving more lights off throughout the day and evening.

Now me and the wife just gotta find time to take the defensive driving online course to save $230 a year on our car insurance for the next 3 years, at a cost of $50, for total savings of ~$600.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2018, 01:43:02 AM by Raymond Reddington »

Jenny Wren

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #11599 on: July 13, 2018, 06:57:55 PM »
* The spouse flies out tomorrow to go sit with her mom in hospice. We made sure to stock her suitcase with plenty of granola bars and a refillable water bottle to tide her over during a long layover on her flight there. There are many unexpected expenses and lost income as a result of this sad turn of events, but we still save where we can. I'm glad we are financially at a place where she can do this.

* Six months ago, Keen gave me a $150 credit due to a small defect on a pair of trail runners I purchased. They told me to toss instead of return the runners, but I kept them and used them. After the last week in Glacier NPS, they are starting to get too much mileage on them for rough terrain which they weren't even designed for. I cashed in the credit today for a pair of proper lightweight hiking boots, a new pair of trail runners, and a pair of fancy Mt. Hood socks. I shopped their sale items except for the socks, who cares if the shoes are last year's colors? The total came up to $148.97 (I had to use the entire credit at once). Shipping was also free!