What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[jnw]

Picked up Free & Clear Tide Pods (16 ct) from CVS for free.  They were normally $7.99 marked down to $5.99 (a more reasonable yet still expensive price lol).  I used the free $5 coupon I get from using CVS as my pharmacy -- I get one of these about every 3 months.  They also had a $1.50 off coupon.  So it came to $0.  Total with tax it came to $0.13  -- I have no clue of the math involved but am happy it cost me less than a penny per pod.

[GuitarStv]

Picked up Free & Clear Tide Pods (16 ct) from CVS for free.  They were normally $7.99 marked down to $5.99 (a more reasonable yet still expensive price lol).  I used the free $5 coupon I get from using CVS as my pharmacy -- I get one of these about every 3 months.  They also had a $1.50 off coupon.  So it came to $0.  Total with tax it came to $0.13  -- I have no clue of the math involved but am happy it cost me less than a penny per pod.

Do they free and clear pods taste as good as the regular ones?

[Josiecat22222]

Picked up Free & Clear Tide Pods (16 ct) from CVS for free.  They were normally $7.99 marked down to $5.99 (a more reasonable yet still expensive price lol).  I used the free $5 coupon I get from using CVS as my pharmacy -- I get one of these about every 3 months.  They also had a $1.50 off coupon.  So it came to $0.  Total with tax it came to $0.13  -- I have no clue of the math involved but am happy it cost me less than a penny per pod.

Do they free and clear pods taste as good as the regular ones?

No, but they dump just as much unnecessary plastic into the water supply, so yeah. They suck.

[jnw]

Do they free and clear pods taste as good as the regular ones?

Lemme go sample, I'll get back to ya! :)

[Dollar Slice]

Once again offered to take home the Thanksgiving turkey carcass "if no one else is going to use it..." No better soup stock out there! Don't worry, I spooned all the little scraps and juices from the carving board, tons of good flavor in there...

[jnw]

Once again offered to take home the Thanksgiving turkey carcass "if no one else is going to use it..." No better soup stock out there! Don't worry, I spooned all the little scraps and juices from the carving board, tons of good flavor in there...

I did this as well. I had over a gallon of stock. After refrigerating, the stock was so thick, it formed like jello :)  So very good.  I reheated the next day and poured into silicone muffin pan and threw in the freezer.  Then put the stock muffins in a gallon zip lock. I just pull out a muffin or two for whatever recipe I am working on which needs a stock base.

[Dicey]

I made turkey soup too! DH says it's good, which is nice, because he'll be the only one eating it.

[10dollarsatatime]

Picked up the millionaire next door from a neighborhood little free library while on a walk with the hubs after a lunch of leftovers.  I'll have to do my part to keep it stocked as we're purging or own library.

[Roadrunner53]

The turkey I purchased for Thanksgiving is my money saver! I purchasesd a 19 lb turkey at $.049 a pound! A whopping $9.31 total. Since then, Mr. Roadrunner and I have had two full turkey dinners each. I put the carcass, drumsticks, wings and other scraps into the slow cooker and cooked them for about 20 hours. Let that cool and picked the bones clean of dark meat and set aside then strained broth. Refrigerated all over night. Scrapped off the fat layer off the turkey broth and used the broth for turkey soup. Had soup for diinner and still have more soup to go, more leftover turkey slices too. PLUS, I didn't mention, when the turkey was carved, Mr. Roadrunner cut off one half of the breast as one big hunk and I froze it with a little broth. Down the road, we will have more turkey sammies! This turkey was massively huge and normally I buy a 15 lb. turkey. I did a home delivery and this is what the shopper selected for me. So far, 6 total dinners consumed, more leftover soup, more leftover slices and a half a turkey breast in the freezer. How can you beat a $0.49 cent turkey?

My greed factor was in full gear and was so tempted to buy MORE turkey's at that price. However, reality set in and remembered my freezer is pretty full and turkey's take up so much room. Alas, one bargain a year!

[Josiecat22222]

I noticed that some of my spices are running low.  Then I remembered my bestie sent me a generous gift card to Penzey's for my birthday that I hadn't redeemed yet....so I placed a large order, taking advantage of multiple holiday promotions and got more than 50 dollars of spices for 1.16 out of pocket!!!  Super excited to cook/bake with these amazing blends.

[midweststache]

- Skipped breakfast (besides coffee) this morning. Veggies (brussel sprouts, carrots, radishes) roasting in the oven, which will pair with some leftovers for today's and tomorrows (healthy! cheap!) lunch.
- Saw a small rip in Kiddo 1's puffer coat today. I couldn't talk them into wearing a different coat to school, but I'm going to sew up the hole tonight to keep it wearable for this winter.
- Sat down with DH last night (not TECHNICALLY today) to go over where we landed fiscally for 2023 and our goals for 2024. Some very easy things to automate, some moderately easy non-automated things to hit, and some clear stretch goals that will challenge us. Quick (small) conversation, big impact.

[Josiecat22222]

just found out our local pharmacy is closing in 10 days.  DS and I ran out and took advantage of 50% off sales on the mouthwash and shampoo we use (don't need it yet, but will need it this year and it's not like it goes bad that fast....or at all...) Also bought a bunch of 50% off candy for the stocking stuffers.  I always stick sweets in the fellas' stockings, but half off is a nice "xmas bonus" for the family!

[la Condessa]

Made a big batch of homemade laundry detergent last night, two half-gallon jars, so we’re all set for probably a couple of months (and we go through a ton of laundry).

[halfling]

Mr. Halfling has been down with a knee injury these last couple of weeks. Since he's the chef of the house and I usually just clean up, this has led to an embarrassing amount of takeout. But I've been cooking up a storm this week and it's been very rewarding! Win for the wallet and our health probably, lol.

[Freedomin5]

We are away from home and living out of a hotel for the next three weeks. I brought oatmeal from home and we bought fruit from the local supermarket for cheap, easy breakfasts.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Sold a few things on eBay, and used all recycled materials (minus the tape) - paper, tissue paper & mailing envelopes.
-Used a grocery store gift card for an item I needed for Christmas baking
-Gave away a jacket on BN. Same neighbor asked if I wanted a Chipotle order that inadvertently had meat (they are veg), so we exchanged. Lovely lunch, doctored up at home with homemade salsa & sour cream.

[Loretta]

I procured 2 free lamps from Freecycle!  Woot!  Last weekend I procured 2 free African violet houseplants from Craigslist!  Woohoo!

[Dicey]

We are away from home and living out of a hotel for the next three weeks. I brought oatmeal from home and we bought fruit from the local supermarket for cheap, easy breakfasts.

There's a thread in the archives about cooking in hotel rooms. Lots of good suggestions were posted.

[Trifle]

We are away from home and living out of a hotel for the next three weeks. I brought oatmeal from home and we bought fruit from the local supermarket for cheap, easy breakfasts.

There's a thread in the archives about cooking in hotel rooms. Lots of good suggestions were posted.

+1.  I remember that thread, but can't lay my hands on it at the moment.

@Freedomin5 -- if you have a microwave, a fridge, or a kettle in the room (or all three for the win) there are lots of things you can do.  My personal favorites:

-- Microwaving eggs in a glass bowl or coffee cup (whisk them first) and adding veg to make breakfast burritos
-- Microwaving a potato (stab it first) and adding toppings
-- Anything that requires hot water (noodles, soup, etc.)

[Freedomin5]

We are away from home and living out of a hotel for the next three weeks. I brought oatmeal from home and we bought fruit from the local supermarket for cheap, easy breakfasts.

There's a thread in the archives about cooking in hotel rooms. Lots of good suggestions were posted.

+1.  I remember that thread, but can't lay my hands on it at the moment.

@Freedomin5 -- if you have a microwave, a fridge, or a kettle in the room (or all three for the win) there are lots of things you can do.  My personal favorites:

-- Microwaving eggs in a glass bowl or coffee cup (whisk them first) and adding veg to make breakfast burritos
-- Microwaving a potato (stab it first) and adding toppings
-- Anything that requires hot water (noodles, soup, etc.)

I found this: Ultimate Mustachian Food Guide

Wow! Had no idea this thread existed.

[FrugalShrew]

I found this: Ultimate Mustachian Food Guide

Wow! Had no idea this thread existed.

That food guide is epic!

[Trifle]

Holy shit that food guide is impressive!

[Just Joe]

Our house has a whole house generator. It self-tests weekly. Would not start. Deduced that the fuel solenoid is sticking closed. May have to replace it at ~$225 but maybe tapping on the metal fuel line jarred it loose and it is only sticky? Anyhow, I've dodged the service call fees. I can replace it myself if required.

The kitchen renovation continues. Just about to hang the cabinets. DW and I have been alternating sicknesses. She'd get sick and recover, then I'd get sick and recover, repeat. We're almost 100% again. Odd b/c we seldom get sick. Back on the project. The final cost of new flooring, cabinets and appliances is probably 1/3 what it would cost to hire it out. Our offspring have been a HUGE help. Resuming tonight.

Teenager's water pump failed in their aged car. No worries. ~$150 in parts. Couple hours. Will prob do a bit of preventative maintenance too (hoses and thermostat). A shop charges 4 hours at some cost. No idea what shop rates are in 2023 here. $100-$125 an hour? This weekend. 

And the list continues. There is always something that needs attention at our house. ;)

[Freedomin5]

Instead of going to Ocean Park with DD, she went with grandma. Grandma (who is very spry and healthy) gets in for free as a senior, and DD is half price. Saved about $100 in admission fees. They are going to Disney today. Again, both grandma and DD get a discount. They get to spend fun quality time together. I get to recover from surgery in peace and quiet.

[midweststache]

Meal planned yesterday to eat down the fridge, freezer & pantry in advance of our holiday travels.

Today, we had a grocery list of ~5-7 items to get us through to next weekend. KIDDO 1 and I walked to Aldi, despite it being kinda rainy, and I walked him through shopping the list and looking for red tags/sale items when we didn't have something specific (e.g. we need 1-2 things of fruit for breakfasts & lunches) so we picked up oranges and green grapes, both of which were on sale.

[Josiecat22222]

replaced the water pump on our sailboat by ourselves today.  Got to do some minor plumbing and electrical work.  So satisfying-- calling in a pro would've been over 500 dollars!!

[LD_TAndK]

Made some artisanal bread, cost probably less than $0.75. A comparable loaf from say Wegman's is six bucks, a cheap aldi Italian loaf is about tree fiddy!

[Dicey]

I have been making cookies for various events and ended up with quite a surplus. I wanted to get them out of my kitchen. We were meeting a group of friends last night so I decided to make up cookie plates. I used real holiday plates that I'd purchased from a thrift shop for $1.00 a couple of years ago. I wrapped them in sheets of clear cooking "foil" that I purchased for $1.00 at the Aspen Dump (new in box) last summer. I closed them up with metallic twist ties scrounged from a kitchen drawer. Boom! Five gifts for virtually nothing, and cookies out of the house.

Related: The thrift shop where I volunteer closed for the season yesterday.  On Tuesday, a team of us will go in and take down anything holiday that's left over. Reward: we can have whatever we want, free! It seems like there's nothing left, but when it's all gathered together, there are always some overlooked gems.

[ixtap]

Today is a travel day, so "saving money" is relative. But we have enough food with us for the whole 14 hours. DH has already finished off the hard boiled eggs, lest anyone be offended by their odor once we are in enclosed public spaces.

[Loretta]

A friend bought my lunch for my birthday that was last month.  She also gave me some good smellin’ hand lotion which my dry winter skin is in bad need of. 

I ordered some walmart+ grocery delivery and did not order unnecessary food that I won’t eat.  I’m working on this area of waste.

[Arbitrage]

Made a big batch of pasta sauce and froze most of it for future use.  Actually doesn’t save a ton over the bargain basement sauce you can find on sale (maybe 30-40%) but is so much tastier and healthier.  Not full of a bunch of unnecessary added sugar.

[jnw]

Made a big batch of pasta sauce and froze most of it for future use.  Actually doesn’t save a ton over the bargain basement sauce you can find on sale (maybe 30-40%) but is so much tastier and healthier.  Not full of a bunch of unnecessary added sugar.

How do you make your pasta sauce?  I just fry the ground beef (or whatever), pour in some crushed tomato sauce I bought form Aldi, sprinkle in some oregano, put in a good amount basil.  Also garlic powder, black pepper & salt.   I fry the ground beef (or whatever meat) with onions and sometimes bell pepper or celery.  Occasionally mushrooms.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I chased down $50 of lost property from a state we lived in 10+ years ago. Took some time to find the right papers proving addresses, etc, but got it all uploaded to the property site yesterday.

[GuitarStv]

Our dog got a rabbit in the yard this morning.  I was able to get her to drop it right away, but she had already shaken it and broken it's neck.  So I've skinned and cleaned it and we'll be having rabbit stew from the crock pot tonight.

[Arbitrage]

Made a big batch of pasta sauce and froze most of it for future use.  Actually doesn’t save a ton over the bargain basement sauce you can find on sale (maybe 30-40%) but is so much tastier and healthier.  Not full of a bunch of unnecessary added sugar.

How do you make your pasta sauce?  I just fry the ground beef (or whatever), pour in some crushed tomato sauce I bought form Aldi, sprinkle in some oregano, put in a good amount basil.  Also garlic powder, black pepper & salt.   I fry the ground beef (or whatever meat) with onions and sometimes bell pepper or celery.  Occasionally mushrooms.

I make a little more generic sauce that I subsequently mix into various dishes; it’s almost never used as just a straight sauce over pasta, since my kids don’t like pasta that way.  Mostly cans of tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and whole tomatoes (squished down), then added onions, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, red pepper.

[Dicey]

DH and I just cranked out our Holiday Cards, a little late, but the majority are local and will get there on time. I used cards purchased at very deep discount several years ago. I printed our card insert on pretty holiday paper I bought at least five years ago at post-holiday prices. I buy scrapbook paper, cut it to size, then give the scraps to my favorite teacher. I liked the holiday stamps the PO put out about five years ago, so I bought a ton of them several price increases ago. We're old school and still like to send cards without pictures of us on them, lol. Best of all, I had everything on hand, so no extra shopping, whee! Gotta run to the Main PO now...

[fuzzy math]

Here's a quick time saving coupon trick which works out well for me:

Say you need body wash, razors or toothpaste.   And say you are already headed to Walmart to buy some groceries.

Click on this bookmarked link to see all the recent Walmart couponing hauls on youtube -- ignore ones several days old as the coupons expire fairly quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=walmart+couponing+haul&sp=CAI%253D

You'll get a list of recent youtube videos related to a Walmart coupon haul.  In this video list are usually video thumbnails of their current hauls.  If you say see the body wash, razors or toothpaste you need, click on video and see how they got it for free, or near free. 

Just install Ibotta and Shopmium and that covers most of these deals.

OHHHHH that's where all the coupon bloggers went! I used to read local blogs for weekly store match ups. I'm not on tik tok and I don't think I'd ever have found the theme on youtube. Hadn't heard of Shopmium either. Thanks!

[Chaplin]

Our dog got a rabbit in the yard this morning.  I was able to get her to drop it right away, but she had already shaken it and broken it's neck.  So I've skinned and cleaned it and we'll be having rabbit stew from the crock pot tonight.

I smell a rat.

[GuitarStv]

Our dog got a rabbit in the yard this morning.  I was able to get her to drop it right away, but she had already shaken it and broken it's neck.  So I've skinned and cleaned it and we'll be having rabbit stew from the crock pot tonight.

I smell a rat.

Different fur.  :P

[EchoStache]

We've had a bit of a tradition in recent years of prime rib for Christmas dinner.  The year, someone suggested that we have breakfast for Christmas dinner.  So we had eggs, bacon, home made hash browns, French toast casserole, toast, English muffins.  Everyone loved it, was pretty easy to prepare, and probably saved $100.

[RWTL]

We've had a bit of a tradition in recent years of prime rib for Christmas dinner.  The year, someone suggested that we have breakfast for Christmas dinner.  So we had eggs, bacon, home made hash browns, French toast casserole, toast, English muffins.  Everyone loved it, was pretty easy to prepare, and probably saved $100.

Great idea.  I love breakfast for dinner.

[PMG]

We baked cookies today. While I was rolling them out and cutting them I remember my grandma throwing away the scrap cookie dough instead of rolling it again. She said it got difficult to work a second time. I always protested and re-rolled what I could. It was so wasteful to toss it. My grandma
Is a generally quite frugal person. I guess she just was tired by that point of cookie baking day? She often baked many many dozen and has a journal handed down from my great grandma tracking how many dozen and batches baked each Christmas since the 40s. Today I split the recipe in half and rerolled my dough. It does get a little difficult to work with when it gets warm but it’s easy to mix fresh in or to pop it in the fridge for a bit. I didn’t throw any out. And that’s how I saved money, I used it all. I also made decorating sugar out of turbinado sugar and food coloring instead of buying store bought. I used my great grandma’s cookie cutters and rolled the dough on my grandma’s pastry board with a marble rolling pin I bought at the thrift shop. Then my spouse and kid decorated. It was a good way to spend Christmas afternoon.

(Caveat: some dough might get tough if handless too much. I’ve not noticed that being an issue with ye olde sugar cookies).

[Dreamer40]

There’s a writing workshop I want to take in the new year so I emailed the teacher a question and found out that she will be offering a discount on it if I sign up next week instead of now. And I got the book list so I could order the books used, well ahead of time with slow free shipping. Finally, I paid for some of the used books with a class action settlement debit card that had been sitting my email inbox for a few months. I kept forgetting to spend it.

[Roadrunner53]

I recently unsubscribed from HULU and Starz streaming services. I still have a couple others. But yesterday we watched San Andreas on TUBI. It is a FREE streaming service. San Andreas was from 2015 and starred Dwyane Johnson. We have never seen it and WOW was it action packed. If some of you are unfamiliar with TUBI, it is free, has some commercials and has a lot of really old movies but newer ones too. I noticed a lot of weird horror flicks from the 1950's and I am sure they are pretty terrible but they could be good for some laughs! We have found a few movies we liked on TUBI. They claim they have 8 minutes of commercials per hour which isn't too bad. I try to have something to read during commercials like a cookbook I can put down that requires little concentration. There are lots of movies on TUBI I have never seen, so lots of free entertainment!

Does anyone know of any other free streaming services?

I also got rid of my daily newspaper that cost me around $42 a month. Our delivery guy was okay but he takes time off and has a sub do the job and the sub is useless. We had a newspaper tube on our mailbox but the sub would throw it here, there and every where. Every day was hide and seek with the newspaper. Just a careless dolt. We tried to get the situation corrected but the newspaper people never fixed the problem with the carrier. I miss the paper but ching, ching in my pocket, not theirs.

[midweststache]

I recently unsubscribed from HULU and Starz streaming services. I still have a couple others. But yesterday we watched San Andreas on TUBI. It is a FREE streaming service. San Andreas was from 2015 and starred Dwyane Johnson. We have never seen it and WOW was it action packed. If some of you are unfamiliar with TUBI, it is free, has some commercials and has a lot of really old movies but newer ones too. I noticed a lot of weird horror flicks from the 1950's and I am sure they are pretty terrible but they could be good for some laughs! We have found a few movies we liked on TUBI. They claim they have 8 minutes of commercials per hour which isn't too bad. I try to have something to read during commercials like a cookbook I can put down that requires little concentration. There are lots of movies on TUBI I have never seen, so lots of free entertainment!

Does anyone know of any other free streaming services?

I also got rid of my daily newspaper that cost me around $42 a month. Our delivery guy was okay but he takes time off and has a sub do the job and the sub is useless. We had a newspaper tube on our mailbox but the sub would throw it here, there and every where. Every day was hide and seek with the newspaper. Just a careless dolt. We tried to get the situation corrected but the newspaper people never fixed the problem with the carrier. I miss the paper but ching, ching in my pocket, not theirs.

Your local library probably has access to Kanopy or hoopla - ours has Kanopy. For grown-up shows, there's usually a monthly limit on how much a library patron can use (ours is 3 or 5?) but for kids' stuff most libraries offer unlimited access to Kanopy programs.

[Loretta]

I spent cash money on my late lunch/early dinner and managed to pick up 3 random receipts for scanning into Fetch.  I normally order online and pick it up but I need to remember that small mom and pop places need cash business too.  The peoplewatching was also good this afternoon and the temps were such that I could go coat-less eating al fresco under a heat lamp.  So yeah I got a lot for about $15 cash. 

[pasadenafr]

I paid off my credit cards for the month. I normally do this on the last day of the month, but I randomly decided to go on a "no spend week-end" until Tuesday morning, and eat out of the cupboards and freezer - mostly because I ate way too much over Xmas and because I've been really bad at cooking real meals this month, which means I've spent way too much on food. I definitely could use a few days of eating light, resetting my eating habits to where they're supposed to be, and save a little money in the process.

[WayDownSouth]

Cooked a couple chicken breasts at home and ate them while reading the forum and making a few posts instead of going out for wings and a couple of beers.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Used a CVS coupon to save $4, and bought a bag of inexpensive pistachios for $.65 total.

[Freedomin5]

Visited a tourist village today. Walked about 10 minutes off the main tourist street and had lunch for approximately 60% of what it would’ve cost if we had eaten at a restaurant on the main drag.