What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Called about a flight that was changed beyond the 2 hour window allowed by airlines. Received a $75 credit, and the revised flight time actually works better for me.

Can you explain this a bit? If the airlines changes your flight times you can call and get a $ credit??

Sure! This depends on the airline (and, perhaps country specific regulations?) Here's a good overview of when you can typically get credits. https://thepointsguy.com/2016/08/how-to-get-compensation-flight-issues/

In my case, our preferred domestic airline (Alaska Airlines) offers a $75 credit if they change your flight time by more than 2 hours. They will offer you both a flight change (if there's another flight that works better) for free, plus the $75. You can also get mileage, but I typically take the $75, as I find it easier to use.

Thank you for the explanation and link. I had no idea. And we fly A LOT.  Feeling very thankful you posted this.

Happy to help! We save quite a bit this way.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Stuck to our reasonably priced Christmas
-Upgraded our rental car to an all wheel drive due to the impending snow, but the car rental place had one less car than they expected. They offered us a $75 discount. We weren't happy, but were able to get to my parents before the snow started.
-Found $.11 on the ground at the airport
-Used a gift card purchased on discount to replace my 11 year old's shoes. His feet are growing crazy fast, but this was one of those lucky times where the shoes were falling apart & he'd outgrown them. Typically only one of those is true :-)
-Ate leftovers for breakfast & lunch

[Imma]

We had roast chicken for Christmas (we ate from it several days). Used the carcass today to make chicken stock. Found some chicken carcasses in the freezer that I took home from dinner at my in-laws months ago. Threw those in as well. Pulled all the meat from the bones. Used the stock to make chicken soup and threw in some of the chicken meat. Still two cups of chicken meat left over to use for burrito filling tomorrow.

Today, we're eating a dish that contains brussels sprouts from the freezer. My s/o froze them and I see he didn't blanche them, so we'll see how that turns out.

[Bracken_Joy]

-Eating through leftovers from Christmas. A misunderstanding with a family member means that there was DOUBLE the food that there was supposed to be, and nearly all of it was left with us. Except for a veggie run, I'm not expecting to grocery shop again until 2018.

[Linea_Norway]

I needed a prescription while I am on holiday. I called my travel insurance and I can send them the bill for the prescription and the medicine. At home I would have to pay those things myself.

[Spruit]

Switched out a set of buttons on my trenchcoat, so now it has all buttons again, and they match. Reused buttons from one of my boyfriends old coats for this, so could keep the wallet closed. Seems a bit overdone for a coat that was 15 euros to begin with (bought second hand), but at least I get to keep it around for a while longer now.

[Imma]

Switched out a set of buttons on my trenchcoat, so now it has all buttons again, and they match. Reused buttons from one of my boyfriends old coats for this, so could keep the wallet closed. Seems a bit overdone for a coat that was 15 euros to begin with (bought second hand), but at least I get to keep it around for a while longer now.

I did that too a few years back. I got the coat for free from my sister, she was going to throw it away because it missed half of the buttons. 3 years on I'm still wearing that coat. And especially if the buttons are free, there's really no reason not to do it, the only thing you're investing is an hour of your time.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Not planning to leave the house today
-Took a luxurious hot bath. We're on the Oregon coast (not in a drought, unlike in California). And, there is a minimum water charge & we never hit it, and still pay it every quarter. It was SOOO decadent to take my hot bath. :-) We don't have a ton at our house, so this was such a nice treat.
-Eating leftovers from Christmas for lunch, & dinner stuff from the freezer
-Finally, finally sorted out my property tax situation, & all is now handled.

[alewpanda]

-- Working on leftovers from the holiday weekend.  Gifted the last of the brownies as a thank you to some coworkers to avoid eating too much extra sugar. 

-- Using the space heater in the living room to avoid heating the whole apartment any warmer than necessary. 

-- Listed a couple of items on facebook sites.  Sales will be slower until the holiday crazy is over, but I can wait for them to sell...not too much hurry.

-- Explored the apartment complex's gym today.  Its included with our rent, so hubby and I might as well get some use out it.

-- Drank coffee at home and resisted using part of a gift card while I was out.  I would rather save it for a couple coffee dates with the husband.

[LaineyAZ]

Paid for 2 years of auto registration instead of one, saving about $60.  We can do this in AZ, and can also take the amount as a tax deduction in our state taxes. 

Topped off the gas tank at Costco ($2.15/gallon) saving $1 over regular gas station prices (various, up to $2.33/gallon)

Christmas items at the 99Cent store were marked down to 25 cents, so I picked up a packet of 3 jingle bell bracelets (.25 for all three), a packet of gift tags, and a packet of Xmas money holders.

[Daisy]

I wanted to buy a flatware set as a gift. I found the best price at BJs, with a $20 off coupon. I am not a BJs member, but my sister and parents are. So I asked my sister to use her card and she told me I was crazy to go to BJs on Saturday, the day before Christmas Eve. So I listened to her and decided to buy it just after Christmas. I went to BJs with my parents on Dec 26. I scoured the coupon books and couldn't find the $20 off coupon. I took like 30 minutes to keep searching. I asked the workers there. No luck. I checked online while at the store and it looks like the $20 coupon had ended the previous week. Damn...I should have gone on Dec 23rd.

Then I went to pay for the gift, and at the checkout register, at the very end, my parents apparently had a $20 reward (not sure why) that I could apply to that purchase. My father was right behind me with his BJs load to purchase. I told the attendant that it should go to him since he was the member. She said I had to use it for that purchase, or it would be lost. I went ahead and took the $20 off for my purchase.

I then mentioned it to my father and said I would pay him $20. But, being a great dad, he said no.

Well, the flatware was a gift for them. So I ended up saving the $20 after all, but mostly because my dad is so awesome.

[Zaga]

Switched out a set of buttons on my trenchcoat, so now it has all buttons again, and they match. Reused buttons from one of my boyfriends old coats for this, so could keep the wallet closed. Seems a bit overdone for a coat that was 15 euros to begin with (bought second hand), but at least I get to keep it around for a while longer now.

I did that too a few years back. I got the coat for free from my sister, she was going to throw it away because it missed half of the buttons. 3 years on I'm still wearing that coat. And especially if the buttons are free, there's really no reason not to do it, the only thing you're investing is an hour of your time.

My trenchcoat is similar, I got it secondhand several years back, and I've replaced I think 4 of the buttons on it.  It has 3 different buttons on it, the originals, and 2 different replacements.  The color of the buttons matches though and literally no one has ever noticed that they aren't all the same until I point it out.

I get more compliments on that coat!  I guess plaid wool trenchcoats aren't that common.

[Botany Bae]

I'm glad it is so cold, because that means I'm not as tempted to leave the house. Instead, I pulled some veggie soup out of the freezer (frozen leftovers from a couple of weeks ago) and made a pot pie for dinner. This also let me use up some wilting veg from the fridge.

No spend day!

[lexde]

I passed on an awesome deal for an instant pot at about half price. Would I have used it? Sure. But I didn’t NEED it. It’s a fancypants gadget. I’m wishy-washy on having passed it up but in the end it’s still $60 that I didn’t spend.

[horsepoor]

https://booklist101.com/kindle-book-credit/

$5 Kindle book credit available here, used it to get some bubble gum fiction to read while it's cold out.

[1967mama]

*Oatmeal for breakfast for the millionth time

*Pulled meat from the freezer to make a stir fry for dinner. Had a giant bag of stir fry veggies int here too. Will make my own delicious sauce and rice in the instant pot. (I bought one the first time they went on sale at Amazon and use it 5-6x a week. When my
Rice cooker bit the dust, I didn't need to replace it. I cook for my large family so this kitchen gadget is a huge help for me! YMMV) - changed dinner plans when I hit the jackpot and found 3 boxes of appies forgotten in the freezer. Will do the stir fry tmw. Meat already thawed and sauce made!

*Rewearing clothes a lot more. Homemade deoderant is fantastic. I air my clothes out at night.

*Got a hair shop freebie from an acquaintance who is new to the field and needed a hair model.

*Started a double batch of "Artisan Bread in 5"

*Warmed day old buns in the oven to freshen them up and save them from the trash

*Using up ham and leftovers for lunches

ETA more things I've done today

[mustachepungoeshere]

We also did really well as far as Christmas gifts.

We got some cash and gift cards (about $500 all up), some practical things (good quality socks for husband, expensive running socks for me), and a heap of consumables: three bottles of spirits, fancy salt and pepper, chilli sauce, jalapeno jam, liquid smoke, chocolate, aftershave, and a scented candle.

We got home yesterday after a week away and the fastest Christmas unpack ever because so much of it went straight into the pantry.

Dinner was quesadillas thanks to salsa chicken and flat bread from the freezer. Today I will grocery shop and batch-cook a couple of things to stock up freezer before I go back to work.

[kaypinkHH]

Over the holidays learned how to hem pants! $10 saved every time I buy pants now! 

[gypsy79]

I ate a banana that was on its last leg instead of the popcorn that I really wanted to eat.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Over the holidays learned how to hem pants! $10 saved every time I buy pants now!

My mum saves me an absolute fortune on hemming.

Over Christmas she hemmed a pair of jeans, shortened the straps on a running top, and patched a hole in my pillow case. (She did suggest I just buy new pillow cases.)

[alewpanda]

-- Found 11 cents on the ground while walking the dogs

-- Packed lunches for DH and I

-- Snacked on additional calories at work...leftover donuts and candy....um....it was free and sugary?

-- Went to a friends house to hang out this afternoon instead of going out for coffee together. 

-- Made chicken and rice for dinner

-- Set up some of next month's payments for bills received in the mail and went over next months budget numbers.  Looking good so far ;)

-- Patching a pocket in husband's dress pants and a seam in his pjs....he's rough on clothes...

[1967mama]

Marcela: once you get the hang of it, you won't believe how fast and easy the IP makes things that usually require long cooking times. Things that have been great for me are rice, quinoa, various dried beans (so far I've done navy, black, pinto and garbanzo), soup stock from bones and frozen meat with sauce that magically turns into a meal!

[Daisy]

I passed on an awesome deal for an instant pot at about half price. Would I have used it? Sure. But I didn’t NEED it. It’s a fancypants gadget. I’m wishy-washy on having passed it up but in the end it’s still $60 that I didn’t spend.

I think I found your instant pot deal and bought it. Hopefully this will help us curb our eating out in the new year as we have been getting worse and worse about cooking on nights we both get home late.

Please share where you found this deal!

[PMG]

I passed on an awesome deal for an instant pot at about half price. Would I have used it? Sure. But I didn’t NEED it. It’s a fancypants gadget. I’m wishy-washy on having passed it up but in the end it’s still $60 that I didn’t spend.

yay for not spending money on something you don't really need!!

I bought it last year, similar deal. It's ...nice... but not life changing.

Maybe if I ate more meat?

I used it a lot to bulk cook dried legumes. I used it when I spent a few months in a suite without a kitchen. I haven't missed it at all since moving abroad.  It's actually really nice and simple just to cook on the stove top and not have to juggle that bulky and somewhat fragile thing around.

[clarkai]

Used left over grains to bulk up a crockpot lentil stew.

[nessness]

I've been wanting to get my daughter a wooden train set, but didn't want to spend $30+ on one. I found one in like-new condition on Craigslist for $15 and haggled down to $13.

I was planning to go to Costco this weekend but the place where I picked up the train set was near Costco so I forced myself to go this evening to save gas.

[Spruit]

Almost forgot my winter harvest: got a laundry basket full of Brussel sprouts, broccoli and cabbage from the allotment. Made a curry with part of the broccoli yesterday, roasted sprouts coming up this evening.

Took home a gifted used plastic greenhouse, which means tomatoes for next year. I was going to stop growing them after last years blight fiasco (allthough to be fair, I say that every season and get soft in the knees when spring comes around again).

Finally get to hung a load of laundry out again as the sun was actually shining. It's always so moist and grey here from Nov-Feb, this was pretty unique.

[Sun Hat]

It's been very cold here, which means that the air is painfully dry. Rather than putting a humidifier on, I strung up a clothesline in the basement and hung one load of washing there, and dried another load on a rack upstairs. Moisture in the air + no use of the dryer!

I also disconnected the dryer vent line and plugged the hole with a rolled towel to keep the cold air from coming in via the vent.

[slappy]

Marcela: once you get the hang of it, you won't believe how fast and easy the IP makes things that usually require long cooking times. Things that have been great for me are rice, quinoa, various dried beans (so far I've done navy, black, pinto and garbanzo), soup stock from bones and frozen meat with sauce that magically turns into a meal!

I bought an instant pot last year and I have yet to turn frozen meat magically into a meal. :( I mostly use it for steel cut oats and rice.

[BabyShark]

Drove right by Sonic even though I was desperately craving a breakfast burrito and indulged in the free, less tasty breakfast at work

[Teachstache]

I passed on an awesome deal for an instant pot at about half price. Would I have used it? Sure. But I didn’t NEED it. It’s a fancypants gadget. I’m wishy-washy on having passed it up but in the end it’s still $60 that I didn’t spend.

I think I found your instant pot deal and bought it. Hopefully this will help us curb our eating out in the new year as we have been getting worse and worse about cooking on nights we both get home late.

Please share where you found this deal!

Amazon has a couple of the 6 qt instant potduo (not plus) for $63 as warehouse deals. The one I ordered had " large cosmetic imperfections". I figured it would be worth a try and the cosmetic damage wouldn't really bug me.

Had been wanting one of these for 6 months. Found an Instant pot duo plus 6 qt 9 function for $69.99 on Amazon warehouse deals yesterday. Tried to talk spouse out of buying it, saying that we needed to think about it more. He replied that $69 was low compared to hearing me debate it's merits out loud for 6 more months. So, we compromised and we bought it as a birthday gift to me. Hope it's as good as the reviews. We use our crockpots at least 3 times per week, so hopefully we'll get extra use out of the yogurt, egg & sterilizing features.

I do realize the irony of posting this purchase of $74.99 including tax to a "how did you save $$ today" thread. It was an expense...so I should move this to the Instant pot threads, I'm just unsure of how to do that. Sorry!

2nd edit: using our STARZ 7 day free trial to binge watch American Gods & Outlander during this extremely cold week off work for spouse and myself. Plan to cancel it tonight & not renew, that is, until American Gods season 2 & Outlander season 4 are all available.

3rd edit: had a top to bottom crack in my windshield for 4 years. Quoted a new windshield 4 years ago at $250 at the cheapest. Found a $10 Groupon on sale for an auto glass place & replaced my windshield in my 2006 Camry (with only 76k miles!) for $150, including Groupon cost.

[lexde]

I’m (embarrassed to admit that I am) doing the slim fast plan for a while until I get my weight back down and establish good exercise habits again. This is actually saving me quite a bit of money, surprisingly.

Breakfasts and Lunches are a shake ($.71 per serving).
Snack is a fiber drink to keep me full. $.25 per serving).
Sometimes I’ll pack veggies, but I used to do intermittent fasting so I’m used to not really heating until dinner anyway.

It’s all liquid until dinner, but $1.67 for two meals per day is doing wonders for my grocery budget. Sure beats the $4-5 per lunch (if I go out and save half) I was spending and the $8-12 my coworkers are paying.

My coworkers are giving me a very hard time, but I don’t care. They are eating 1,200-calorie, $11.00 Caesar salads thinking they’re being healthy while sharply criticizing my lunch habit. (I drink the breakfast shake and fiber drink in my office where no one will bug me!) I get plenty of calories and nutrients at dinner, so I’m certainly not starving myself. Just saving time and money and calories.

Estimated monthly savings: $51.60 over packed or split meals for lunch. Not much, but still better than nothing. (I didn’t eat breakfast to begin with, which is why it’s not a huge number.)

[Imma]

Almost forgot my winter harvest: got a laundry basket full of Brussel sprouts, broccoli and cabbage from the allotment. Made a curry with part of the broccoli yesterday, roasted sprouts coming up this evening.

Took home a gifted used plastic greenhouse, which means tomatoes for next year. I was going to stop growing them after last years blight fiasco (allthough to be fair, I say that every season and get soft in the knees when spring comes around again).

Finally get to hung a load of laundry out again as the sun was actually shining. It's always so moist and grey here from Nov-Feb, this was pretty unique.

Then you certainly don't live in my part of NL (south) ... weather was awful in here today. As long as it's dry, you can actually dry laundry outside when it's freezing. I learned that trick from my grandma who had winter babies in the 1950s and not enough coal to get the house dry enough to be able to dry cloth diapers. I haven't been able to dry my laundry outside in months, I'm going to be so happy when I can do that again. Autumn and winter are always grey and wet in here, but it seems we've had very little sun the past couple of months even for this country.

[Sun Hat]

Then you certainly don't live in my part of NL (south) ... weather was awful in here today. As long as it's dry, you can actually dry laundry outside when it's freezing. I learned that trick from my grandma who had winter babies in the 1950s and not enough coal to get the house dry enough to be able to dry cloth diapers. I haven't been able to dry my laundry outside in months, I'm going to be so happy when I can do that again. Autumn and winter are always grey and wet in here, but it seems we've had very little sun the past couple of months even for this country.

Imma, I know that you were responding to someone else's comment, but having lived where it's mild and wet all winter, I was hesitant to try drying my clothes indoors since I was concerned about the extra moisture... until I saw the lines in my grandma's basement. She's been drying her clothes there since the 50's without a problem. Here it's so dry and cold in the winter that laundry moisture isn't a problem (thank goodness for central heating and the wealth to use it!). On really cold days, it's good for me to remember that there's a perk to living in central Canada! Now to put on 1000 layers to go walk the dog!

[Botany Bae]

I've discovered it's really easy to save money when it's been snowing since Christmas day. We've lounged around, played games, worked, cooked at home, and did all the normal frugal stuff!

Today I had to venture out to a dental appointment. Cracked filling, so I didn't want to put it off. Decided to do the big grocery shop for January I had been planning afterward, since there's supposed to be a million more feet of snow falling this weekend...

First -- my Google spreadsheet grocery list/planner is awesome!!! I put a lot of work into it, and it has paid off. I was able to get a month's supply of stuff at the discount grocery store I hate going to but that has awesome bulk bins without the usual hassle of messing with a handwritten list. Grab, tap to highlight so I know I got it, grab the next thing. I was in and out pretty quickly.

Second -- I spent only $154 on the majority of what we eat in a month. We'll top up produce, milk, and bread at the co-op each week, but that should be no more than $30-$50 a week. My goal for January is to bring our grocery bill under $400, and I think it is doable. I've been avoiding the discount store because I hate it so much, but I can buck up and deal with it once a month.

[Poundwise]

Prepaid our mortgage three days earlier than I usually do. The January payment is for the past month of December, so the interest is for 2017 and rightfully can be deducted this year.  Since I probably won't itemize in 2018, this could save us a couple of hundred bucks.

Played board games with our houseguests instead of taking them to Manhattan.  They didn't mind... it was 7 degrees outside and they've been there a zillion times anyway.

[Bracken_Joy]

Froze some Christmas leftovers that we won't make it through in a reasonable timeframe. (Cooked chicken, and cooked smoked turkey). Even if it diminishes the texture, they'll still work well in soups.

[Botany Bae]

Prepaid our mortgage three days earlier than I usually do. The January payment is for the past month of December, so the interest is for 2017 and rightfully can be deducted this year.  Since I probably won't itemize in 2018, this could save us a couple of hundred bucks.

Thank you! I didn't realize this and just checked on my mortgage. Payment sent in early to make life easier!

[Thinkum]

Made a Poke Salad at home rather than buy takeaway.

[frooglepoodle]

Found the exact same day planner I'd been looking at on Amazon, for $8 less at Target (the opposite of how it usually goes!)

DH wanted to watch Dr. Strange. We checked it out of the library instead of renting it through iTunes.

Working through eating up the holiday leftovers.

Spent an hour making phone calls to deal with a $1600 medical bill I've been fighting with the insurance for over a year, that we should not need to pay. Another hour or so once I have all the promised paperwork in hand, and it should be taken care of.

[NV Teacher]

I’ve been staying with my elderly mother during the holiday break.  She loves to get out of the house and go for a drive so I’ve been taking her around different parts of the valley to look at Christmas lights every other night.  She loves ice cream and there is a place that makes great shakes but even the small is a lot for her to eat.  So today I brought an empty cup and an extra spoon and we split a shake during our drive. 

[Anon in Alaska]

It's 12 degrees [-11 C] outside, and 58 [14 C] inside, but I haven't turned on the heat.

[Imma]

I went to the shop this morning to buy an electric shaver, something I've wanted for a long time but postponed until I had used up all the disposable razors I still had & was able to find the one I wanted on discount. I found it at 25% off.

After that I went grocery shopping and I hadn't had breakfast yet, because I wanted to be in the electronics store right as it opened when it was still quiet. Staff in the grocery store were handing out all kinds of food to try. By the time I was outside I wasn't hungry anymore.

Had yoghurt with fruit and jam for lunch. All of them needed to be used up.

Asked the friend we're visiting on NYE if she minded if I brought all the spreads we have left over from Christmas. Turns out she already bought French bread but didn't prepare any spreads yet, so this is helpful for both of us.

[1967mama]

*Came home from a morning and afternoon event and made dinner for the family even though I was tuckered out.

*Rewore an old dress to a wedding

*Trying to think of something to make for a New Year's Eve party we are invited to

*Trying to use up tea bags before buying new ones - or at least waiting till I can use my tea shop gc from Christmas to buy my fave loose leaf tea

*Cooking some quinoa in IP to keep the container in the fridge going

ETA more things I've done today

[mustachepungoeshere]

Yesterday: went for a run with @marty998, cut my hair, and did most of my NYE food shopping at Aldi.

All day I wanted to eat creamy, cheesy potato or pasta, so I made a four-cheese macaroni from scratch for dinner. (The best tip I’ve heard for this is to freeze any odds and ends of cheese leftover from other things.)

[1967mama]

Yesterday: went for a run with @marty998, cut my hair, and did most of my NYE food shopping at Aldi.

All day I wanted to eat creamy, cheesy potato or pasta, so I made a four-cheese macaroni from scratch for dinner. (The best tip I’ve heard for this is to freeze any odds and ends of cheese leftover from other things.)

Hmmmm....good idea on the cheesy pasta!

[marty998]

Yesterday: went for a run with @marty998,

We both had to drive to the start line, so that was a little unmustachian... but otherwise it was free :)

[horsepoor]

I bought masa and corn husks yesterday.  Cooked turkey quarters in the Instant Pot, making a stock at the same time.  Used the stock to mix up the masa, along with saved up tallow and duck fat.  Now to assemble ~100 tamales to freeze for easy dinners during busy times of the year.  Using up random items from the fridge as tamale fillings, along with the turkey and last year's homemade salsas.  All in, probably less than $20 for more than 20 dinners for two.

Made salad dressing out of homemade tahini and chili paste

Heating the house with firewood since last night.

Trimmed horses' feet myself, as always.

Keeping on doing groundwork with my horse in the snow instead of trailering up to the indoor arena (gas and arena use fee saved)

Yesterday I picked up the freezer lambs, and saved a friend some gas by also picking hers up, since she lives ~1 mile from me, but the butcher is almost 20 miles away.  Cost per # of the lambs is a fraction of the cost for lamb or grass fed beef at Whole Foods, etc.

[mm1970]

Did the grocery shopping and managed to keep it under the 2017 budget.

Avoided going out for pizza.  I really want pizza.  But I'm going to cook instead.

Made muffins yesterday from things we already had (I have some leftover buttermilk) and had my spouse make pancakes today too.

Needed to get the kids outside (we live in So Cal, they've been indoors a lot because we like to hang at home AND there's a lot of ash outside).  Took them to the beach (free), let them dig/ build/ search in the tidepools.

Have had the heat off (it gets down in the 40s at night), but that's just because the heater is sort of broken because of the ash.  We have a new filter on order, that should help fix it.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Yesterday: went for a run with @marty998,

We both had to drive to the start line, so that was a little unmustachian... but otherwise it was free :)

You forget I don’t pay for fuel. :D