What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Loretta]

I remember my dad washing our cars when they had major bird crap on them as that could have damaged the paint, so I take my car thru the wash as needed with salt and literal crap. 

[Michael in ABQ]

Do cars need to be washed now?  I mean, I'll hose the salt off ours in the winter every once in a while . . . but why would you care about the protective layer of dirt they accumulate?

Because my kids start writing "Wash Me" in all the dust and dirt on the back window.

[Taran Wanderer]

I did that once to my dad’s car. Let’s just say the car got washed, but not by my dad…

[crocheted_stache]

Accepted a load of mason jars from a Buy Nothing neighbor who remembered that I'd asked for jars during last year's harvest season. They're a mix of weird sizes and weird colors.  The blue and purple glass is pretty, but I can't picture tomatoes in it. I may end up regifting some of them.

They must have come from someone who retired from canning, though, because they came with a huge stack of unused seals, which should save nearly a hundred dollars over the next few seasons.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

DH & I had overlapping trips (I was landing, he was flying out) within a couple of hours of each other. Rather than using a ride share service x2, he dropped the car off at the airport long term lot & I picked it up with the spare key. The total for parking was $18, which was about 1/3 of the cost of two ride shares.

[crocheted_stache]

DH & I had overlapping trips (I was landing, he was flying out) within a couple of hours of each other. Rather than using a ride share service x2, he dropped the car off at the airport long term lot & I picked it up with the spare key. The total for parking was $18, which was about 1/3 of the cost of two ride shares.

Years ago, my parents decided that they could drive to the airport for their oh-dark-thirty flight and leave their car in long term parking for the $15 day rate, and I could go bail it out during daylight. I'm not sure they had thought through how I was supposed to get there. It was pouring that day, and even if I'd known how to get there on a bike (not what US airports are typically designed for), I wasn't interested in biking in that much rain and wind. I put on my rain gear, walked to the bus stop, and got there that way.

I still get there that way.

[alewpanda]

Baked a loaf of bread rather than buying a loaf.

Designed and built a storage solution for outdoor furniture cushions from scrap wood rather than buying a bin or leaving them out in the elements consistently.

The weather is shifting dramatically day to day, and it was already stuffy and overly warm in the bedroom last night.  Pulled the fan out of the closet in the middle of the night.  Saying no to the AC for at least another month!!

Ate leftovers for lunch. 

Finally realized that I can get the medicated dog paw wipes for bacterial and fungal infections on amazon instead of through the vet. Saved some money, and hoping to be more consistent in the dog's paw treatments since they won't depend on vet visits so regularly. 

[Michael in ABQ]

DH & I had overlapping trips (I was landing, he was flying out) within a couple of hours of each other. Rather than using a ride share service x2, he dropped the car off at the airport long term lot & I picked it up with the spare key. The total for parking was $18, which was about 1/3 of the cost of two ride shares.

Years ago, my parents decided that they could drive to the airport for their oh-dark-thirty flight and leave their car in long term parking for the $15 day rate, and I could go bail it out during daylight. I'm not sure they had thought through how I was supposed to get there. It was pouring that day, and even if I'd known how to get there on a bike (not what US airports are typically designed for), I wasn't interested in biking in that much rain and wind. I put on my rain gear, walked to the bus stop, and got there that way.

I still get there that way.

Reminds me how I used to rent a car sometimes if I had a work trip that involved driving hundreds of miles across the state as a new rental car would get 30-40 mpg vs. my vehicle at 20-25 - plus less wear and tear. The airport rental car complex was made to be primary accessible by a shuttle bus from the airport. So, I would park at an office building a few blocks away and walk in along the edge of the road as there were no sidewalks of any kind, just steep rock walls that came right up to the curb.

Last year my family decided to walk from LAX during a layover to an In-N-Out about a half-mile away. Needless to say, the infrastructure/design of the area was not conducive to pedestrians - especially a family of 8 with young kids.

[alewpanda]

Had to drive into the city for tires -- had scheduled at Costco, but really didn't need much as far as groceries.  Also had the toddler with me and an hour or so to kill.  I packed shortbread cookies that DH and the toddler made over the weekend, plus a matching game into my purse. We dropped off the car, walked across the street to the habitat for humanity store to browse (much less temptation I felt), fed cookies periodically to the toddler, walked back to Costco, picked up the one item I had decided I 'needed', and was about to settle in at the Costco food court tables with the matching game when I got the call about the tires being done.  Preparation for the win!  No unplanned money spent.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@alewpanda - that is super impressive planning & execution. Well done.

I rebooked a bunch of travel to take advantage of credits on one airline. It's a bit of a hassle, but the credit I got back from the cancelled flights have much longer expiration & can be used for anyone, vs tied to a specific traveler. It bought us a bunch of extra flexibility, so was worth the time.

[Gerard]

Sat through Retention Hell to cancel my NYT/Athletic subscription (now that all the signup offers have expired).

Man, I've submitted grant applications that required less effort than that!

[crocheted_stache]

Sat through Retention Hell to cancel my NYT/Athletic subscription (now that all the signup offers have expired).

Man, I've submitted grant applications that required less effort than that!

Bravo.

Sometimes, you can shorten the "retention" part of a process by refusing to give an answer to "but why?"

"Because I've decided to cancel."
"Let's get that cancelled, and then I'd be happy to explain."

It also works if the reason is something you'd rather not disclose.

[Gerard]

Sometimes, you can shorten the "retention" part of a process by refusing to give an answer to "but why?"

I got there eventually, responding to every question with "No. Please cancel."

And I got to practice in the afternoon on some poor lad trying to sell me a cell phone plan in the produce department at the supermarket.

Oh, which reminds me, I went to the big cheap Asian supermarket! Red peppers and chicken wings, both under a dollar (Canadian) a pound! Take that, Galen Weston!

[Dollar Slice]

Went to a free concert tonight at Carnegie Hall after sending a friend a link to enter a contest to win tickets, and he won - he invited me to go with him. Normally would be like $75/ea and it was a great concert.

Spent some extra time rescuing a roast whole chicken that I think hadn't been butchered correctly - after roasting, I carved it and one of the breasts had a lot of blood still in it. Drained out everywhere when I cut it. Unpleasant to look at and smell but safe to eat as far as I can figure out. I made the carcass into stock in the Instant Pot (tastes and smells fine) and tossed the bloody bits of meat and rinsed the rest. Made it all into a heavily spiced soup and recooked the chicken well in it just to make sure everything is copacetic and there's no trace of weird flavor or smell. (I live alone so no one has to eat it but me... And I hate food waste!)

[Freedomin5]

Prepaid a bit of my mortgage. Saved $6000 in interest over the life of the mortgage.

[Dicey]

We're in CO this week, helping DH's daughter and her family settle into their new home.  Two trips to the Motherlode Mercantile (aka the Aspen Dump) has yielded some incredible deals. I found two Ikea countertops and a ton of shelving for $20. Today, I spent another $10. For that $30 total, I also got eight ten New Yorker puzzles in pristine condition, a pair of outdoor planters, with a bunch of garden netting tucked inside, a Simple Human compact dish rack with cutlery holder, a cutting board, a cute basket, 2 plant stands, 2 decorative dishes (one of them art glass) the go under some potted plants, a shoe rack, an under shelf basket, a bike jump, a snake-in-a-basket toy for our granddaughter and a few other things I can't recall. I've already put much of it to use. I love that all of this was diverted from the landfill. Anything we don't end up needing will be donated back before we leave.

Oops, it turns out I got ten puzzles, not eight. I also forgot to mention 14-10" and 2-8" shelf brackets from yesterday's spelunking.

Today's haul: five shelves, some wood, some melamine, plus a baggie full of the right size shelf clips. My granddaughter, who came along for the treasure hunt, came home with a cute butterfly pillow and a Special Edition Monopoly game for the town in which she lives. Total outlay: $7. Prices for the Monopoly game start at $49.99 on ebay and go up considerably from there. Score!!

If you're keeping track, that's $37 so far. I still have $30 earmarked for dump shopping, so we'll see what happens.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Toddler is aging out of her hiking carrier and we love hiking and also use the carrier on walks, so investing in a larger one seemed like a good decision.

A good toddler-sized soft carrier is $150, or $300 or up for a good frame backpack style.

I remembered having one for my older kids that had foot straps/stirrups. That brand no longer has the stirrups. After some frustrating research, I realized... I can just get the same kind I had in 2013, for $40 on eBay and I will be happier because I already know how to use it!

[Catbert]

Toddler is aging out of her hiking carrier and we love hiking and also use the carrier on walks, so investing in a larger one seemed like a good decision.

A good toddler-sized soft carrier is $150, or $300 or up for a good frame backpack style.

I remembered having one for my older kids that had foot straps/stirrups. That brand no longer has the stirrups. After some frustrating research, I realized... I can just get the same kind I had in 2013, for $40 on eBay and I will be happier because I already know how to use it!

Yay.  I always forget about ebay. 

[Jade]

Hubby wanted some Chino shorts, £2p approx in a high street store and we found 4 pairs in clgood condition and his size for £1 each.

[Loretta]

I trimmed cat claws, on a not very happy cat.  We do this routine every couple weeks. 

[smisk]

I trimmed cat claws, on a not very happy cat.  We do this routine every couple weeks.

Do you have a strategy for it? Typically I try to wait until my cats are very sleepy and get a couple claws at a time. But this week I realized that if I take them out on the front porch they're so distracted by the birds/grass etc (they're normally indoor cats) that I can do all of them at once without much trouble.

[Arbitrage]

Didn't own a car for the 1400th consecutive day, give or take. 

Rode my e-bike to do some errands. 

Guess those aren't particularly noteworthy, but have saved me so much more money than the various one-off things I think of.  Also benefited my mental and physical health, my neighbors and my city. 

I do sometimes think of each carless day as another small victory, another $25 or so earned, so in that sense it fits the spirit of the thread. 

[oneday]

I know this is not for everyone, but today I picked up some groceries from a bag someone left beside the dumpster. They are all sealed and current or only recently expired. Retail value about $15.

[JLee]

I know this is not for everyone, but today I picked up some groceries from a bag someone left beside the dumpster. They are all sealed and current or only recently expired. Retail value about $15.

We've started dumpster diving an Aldi near our house.  The amount of perfectly good stuff thrown away is absolutely astonishing.

[Roadrunner53]

Mr. Roadrunner is a worry wart on expiration dates. I am not so much concerned about it. However, I discovered some canned soup that was expired about 3 days ago. Not a big deal but I decided to open the soup cans and dump them into freezer bags and freeze till needed. It is cream of chicken soup so no veggies to get mushy. I know I could just use them up in the next month or so, but it makes Mr. RR feel better and I don't have to waste money tossing it out. I did the same thing with a cheddar cheese soup and when I used the soup it was perfect!

[Dollar Slice]

Mr. Roadrunner is a worry wart on expiration dates. I am not so much concerned about it. However, I discovered some canned soup that was expired about 3 days ago.

My dad is one of those "same breakfast every day" people and recently stopped eating the same cereal he has been going through mountains of and switched to toast with peanut butter and jam. They have had three boxes of cereal languishing in the pantry for months, he won't touch it. I was visiting for Mother's Day and was going to take some home to do them a favor, but it turned out they were all expired. I think this kind of cereal must have short expiration dates because it has things in it that go rancid (nuts, whole wheat, brown rice, etc.). My dad heard us talking and got all mad about it and said he would eat it and put it back in the cabinet. I guess he is in the "doesn't care about expiration dates" camp. 😂

[Dicey]

I know this is not for everyone, but today I picked up some groceries from a bag someone left beside the dumpster. They are all sealed and current or only recently expired. Retail value about $15.

Badass!

[Arbitrage]

Mr. Roadrunner is a worry wart on expiration dates. I am not so much concerned about it. However, I discovered some canned soup that was expired about 3 days ago.

My dad is one of those "same breakfast every day" people and recently stopped eating the same cereal he has been going through mountains of and switched to toast with peanut butter and jam. They have had three boxes of cereal languishing in the pantry for months, he won't touch it. I was visiting for Mother's Day and was going to take some home to do them a favor, but it turned out they were all expired. I think this kind of cereal must have short expiration dates because it has things in it that go rancid (nuts, whole wheat, brown rice, etc.). My dad heard us talking and got all mad about it and said he would eat it and put it back in the cabinet. I guess he is in the "doesn't care about expiration dates" camp. 😂

We never bought Grape Nuts cereal growing up, but I remember seeing the commercials and thinking that it looked good (with the loads of fresh fruit they always heaped on it).  I had the opportunity to try some while visiting some relatives...and was disappointed.  Crunchy but pretty bland.

Three years later, we visited the same relatives and noticed they had Grape Nuts again.  I figured I'd give them another go, as maybe my memory didn't do them justice.  Oh my lord, were they a foul mushy mess this time around.  Turns out, it was the same damn box, now expired for 2.5 years. 

I'm not a stickler for expiration dates on most things, but I do not recommend that experience to anyone.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I've been collecting game pieces at the local grocery store. Turns out, I haven't been getting properly credited when I've redeemed them. Talked to a cashier, who encouraged me to write to the company. Took five minutes. Emailed, provided my account number and they credited me back $5.

[sonofsven]

I'm demolishing part of a structure on my property, I separated the materials.
Metal roofing went to a scrap buyer ($31 credit)
Plywood and structural wood with nails went to a special section of our transfer station, apart from standard garbage ($17 debit)
I have one more load that will be mixed wood and trash.

Like many municipalities, mine does not allow dumping any potential asbestos, which can unclude tar paper, insulation, and flooring, without proof that it contains no asbestos.
This is easy to test for, I mailed a small sample in a ziplock bag to a testing facility and received the good news that no asbestos was present, and have that paperwork on file at the transfer station so I can dump all my tar paper from the roof legally.

[oneday]

Last week, the apartment water was shut down for maintenance. I was advised to stockpile some for flushing, etc. Since I WFH, I stockpiled a lot! Instead of sending the excess down the the drain when the water came back on, I've been using it mainly to soak and wash dishes. Maybe I saved $0.02! 😆

[Dicey]

Last week, the apartment water was shut down for maintenance. I was advised to stockpile some for flushing, etc. Since I WFH, I stockpiled a lot! Instead of sending the excess down the the drain when the water came back on, I've been using it mainly to soak and wash dishes. Maybe I saved $0.02! 😆

In our frequently parched state, flexing your frugal water conservation muscles is always worth far more than that. Go, you!

[crocheted_stache]

Last week, the apartment water was shut down for maintenance. I was advised to stockpile some for flushing, etc. Since I WFH, I stockpiled a lot! Instead of sending the excess down the the drain when the water came back on, I've been using it mainly to soak and wash dishes. Maybe I saved $0.02! 😆

In our frequently parched state, flexing your frugal water conservation muscles is always worth far more than that. Go, you!

I keep a bucket in the shower and a bowl in the kitchen sink so I can collect "waiting water," any water I run while waiting for it to get warm. The kitchen also collects water from rinsing veggies. I mostly use it to water plants, and just as importantly, to remind myself to water plants.

During the last drought, California got pretty good at saving water, and I read somewhere that the corresponding energy savings was also significant. All the water that wasn't treated, pumped, heated, pumped again as sewage, and then cleaned, really added up.
 

[Arbitrage]

Last week, the apartment water was shut down for maintenance. I was advised to stockpile some for flushing, etc. Since I WFH, I stockpiled a lot! Instead of sending the excess down the the drain when the water came back on, I've been using it mainly to soak and wash dishes. Maybe I saved $0.02! 😆

In our frequently parched state, flexing your frugal water conservation muscles is always worth far more than that. Go, you!

The strange thing is, my water bills are much higher in rainy Washington than they ever were in drought-stricken southern CA. This is despite using even less water in WA in a bigger house and plot of land (since we do almost no outdoor watering).  Agree that the value is much more than the monetary savings in those areas where water security is a big deal. 

The water bill up north is all in the fixed costs; water usage is literally 10% of my bill, so there's basically zero financial incentive to conserve.  We still use very little.

[crocheted_stache]

Mr. Roadrunner is a worry wart on expiration dates. I am not so much concerned about it. However, I discovered some canned soup that was expired about 3 days ago.

My dad is one of those "same breakfast every day" people and recently stopped eating the same cereal he has been going through mountains of and switched to toast with peanut butter and jam. They have had three boxes of cereal languishing in the pantry for months, he won't touch it. I was visiting for Mother's Day and was going to take some home to do them a favor, but it turned out they were all expired. I think this kind of cereal must have short expiration dates because it has things in it that go rancid (nuts, whole wheat, brown rice, etc.). My dad heard us talking and got all mad about it and said he would eat it and put it back in the cabinet. I guess he is in the "doesn't care about expiration dates" camp. 😂

We never bought Grape Nuts cereal growing up, but I remember seeing the commercials and thinking that it looked good (with the loads of fresh fruit they always heaped on it).  I had the opportunity to try some while visiting some relatives...and was disappointed.  Crunchy but pretty bland.

Three years later, we visited the same relatives and noticed they had Grape Nuts again.  I figured I'd give them another go, as maybe my memory didn't do them justice.  Oh my lord, were they a foul mushy mess this time around.  Turns out, it was the same damn box, now expired for 2.5 years. 

I'm not a stickler for expiration dates on most things, but I do not recommend that experience to anyone.

Most "best by" or "sell by" dates aren't expiration dates, more like a guideline for when stuff starts to be slightly less fresh. For meats, especially sliced sandwich meats, take the date seriously. Otherwise, look, smell, and taste. Stale crackers don't taste great, but they won't kill you, and dairy that's off smells off.

I also dislike Grape Nuts as a cereal. For those not familiar, they contain neither grapes nor nuts. Should you find yourself with some* again, however, I highly recommend sprinkling a layer at a time onto any fruity yogurt.

*Reasonably fresh, of course.

[Roadrunner53]

Yes, I am very aware of expiration dates and that the food is good for a while longer. The nutritional percentages may go down but the food is still edible, and flavors can decrease. But Mr. Roadrunner is not convinced. To ease his mind, I freeze things and he is okay with that. I have told him a million times but he still cringes. I worked in the food industry, and I know about nutritional values and flavors being a little off on expired items.

Eggs are one thing I don't use too far after expiration. Sometimes I might have a dozen expired eggs and rather than toss them out I will scramble the whole dozen eggs up. Another trick I found to use up a lot of eggs. In your crockpot put in two cups of water. Find a large bowl or dish that will fit into the crockpot. Butter the bowl/dish then crack open eggs into the bowl/dish. Don't whisk eggs, leave them whole. Put bowl/dish into the crockpot, put lid on it. Set crockpot on high for 90 minutes to 2 hours. Once cooled, you can make egg salad.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Yes, I am very aware of expiration dates and that the food is good for a while longer. The nutritional percentages may go down but the food is still edible, and flavors can decrease. But Mr. Roadrunner is not convinced. To ease his mind, I freeze things and he is okay with that. I have told him a million times but he still cringes. I worked in the food industry, and I know about nutritional values and flavors being a little off on expired items.

Eggs are one thing I don't use too far after expiration. Sometimes I might have a dozen expired eggs and rather than toss them out I will scramble the whole dozen eggs up. Another trick I found to use up a lot of eggs. In your crockpot put in two cups of water. Find a large bowl or dish that will fit into the crockpot. Butter the bowl/dish then crack open eggs into the bowl/dish. Don't whisk eggs, leave them whole. Put bowl/dish into the crockpot, put lid on it. Set crockpot on high for 90 minutes to 2 hours. Once cooled, you can make egg salad.

Why eggs? I always read that they are good for several weeks after the date on the package.

My little win this week is I had my husband help me loosen the pinch bolt so that I could tighten the brake cable on my bike. I had the knowledge, he had the grip strength. My RadRunner has manual disc brakes that have to be tightened about every 300 miles. Last time I got away with using the little turny thing by the handles but this time I had to tighten the cable itself.

[Sanitary Stache]

@La Bibliotecaria Feroz  i have decided that if I am trying to tighten the cable on my Rad Runner that usually means I need to replace the brake pads. I find it very difficult to tighten that cable and I don’t look forward to having to replace it someday.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

@La Bibliotecaria Feroz  i have decided that if I am trying to tighten the cable on my Rad Runner that usually means I need to replace the brake pads. I find it very difficult to tighten that cable and I don’t look forward to having to replace it someday.

Interesting! I didn't actually find it that difficult to tighten with a little help. I'm not very accomplished as a bike mechanic. There are only about 700 miles on the bike but I overused the back brakes (long story). I think they will be good for a while now. Feel free to DM me if you decide to give it a shot!

[Dollar Slice]

Spent some extra time rescuing a roast whole chicken that I think hadn't been butchered correctly - after roasting, I carved it and one of the breasts had a lot of blood still in it. Drained out everywhere when I cut it. Unpleasant to look at and smell but safe to eat as far as I can figure out. I made the carcass into stock in the Instant Pot (tastes and smells fine) and tossed the bloody bits of meat and rinsed the rest. Made it all into a heavily spiced soup and recooked the chicken well in it just to make sure everything is copacetic and there's no trace of weird flavor or smell. (I live alone so no one has to eat it but me... And I hate food waste!)

I ended up e-mailing the chicken... manufacturer? What word am I looking for? farmer? about this the next morning because I figured they should know they had butchering issues and I kinda wanted to be 100% sure it was OK to eat, and while they didn't answer my questions (I ate it anyway) they responded immediately and did seem concerned with their process - asked me to identify where I bought it, the expiry date and so on - and sent me $20+ worth of coupons. I'm going to be eating a lot of chicken this year.

[crocheted_stache]

Spent some extra time rescuing a roast whole chicken that I think hadn't been butchered correctly - after roasting, I carved it and one of the breasts had a lot of blood still in it. Drained out everywhere when I cut it. Unpleasant to look at and smell but safe to eat as far as I can figure out. I made the carcass into stock in the Instant Pot (tastes and smells fine) and tossed the bloody bits of meat and rinsed the rest. Made it all into a heavily spiced soup and recooked the chicken well in it just to make sure everything is copacetic and there's no trace of weird flavor or smell. (I live alone so no one has to eat it but me... And I hate food waste!)

I ended up e-mailing the chicken... manufacturer? What word am I looking for? farmer? about this the next morning because I figured they should know they had butchering issues and I kinda wanted to be 100% sure it was OK to eat, and while they didn't answer my questions (I ate it anyway) they responded immediately and did seem concerned with their process - asked me to identify where I bought it, the expiry date and so on - and sent me $20+ worth of coupons. I'm going to be eating a lot of chicken this year.

Distributor, perhaps? They probably got off cheap sending a pile of coupons to an alarmed customer instead of hearing about it from the USDA or the alarmed customer's lawyer. From what I've read, the USDA isn't always the neutral defender of good health and hygiene we might like them to be, but I'll bet they can make it rain paperwork when the occasion calls for it.

Enjoy your chicken!

[Dollar Slice]

Distributor, perhaps? They probably got off cheap sending a pile of coupons to an alarmed customer instead of hearing about it from the USDA or the alarmed customer's lawyer. From what I've read, the USDA isn't always the neutral defender of good health and hygiene we might like them to be, but I'll bet they can make it rain paperwork when the occasion calls for it.

Against all odds, I have a pretty good friend who works for the company (doing IT) so I'm definitely not going out of my way to cause trouble :-) They're a small sort of boutique chicken producer in the grand scheme of things.

[crocheted_stache]

Against all odds, I have a pretty good friend who works for the company (doing IT) so I'm definitely not going out of my way to cause trouble :-) They're a small sort of boutique chicken producer in the grand scheme of things.

Well, maybe at least they'll follow up on your report. I was imagining a Tyson-or-somebody with a rep whose job is to attempt to placate upset customers with coupons.

It's a different problem than inept butchery, but spoiled meats can have toxins that no amount of cooking will remove, so I'm glad that wasn't the situation for the chicken you rescued. If you suspect it sat out for too long, you're better off wasting it.

[crocheted_stache]

Car miles today: 0
Bike miles today: 26 (for two people).

The car did move earlier this week. It was due for the biannual smog check. It's happened before that the only time it moved in May was down the street to the smog check place and back. We may end up with two or three car trips this month.