What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Mrs Hen]

Felt really tired this evening after three morning shifts, and wanted to get a takeaway so badly.  Had a stern word with myself about the food I had bought already, dragged myself into the kitchen, and really enjoyed my Sausages and mash for dinner.

Spent nothing.

Noticed dividends had built up in my ISA (UK tax free investing account). Bought more funds in time to get a bigger dividend in January.  Snowball is starting to move a little.

[Imma]

Had leftovers from the freezer for dinner.
Am going to make my s/o a birthday cake tomorrow, bought ingredients from Aldi. Noticed that our Aldi has extended their opening times and will now also be open during evenings and on Sunday. This allows us to go to Aldi much more often!

[Dicey]

Not today technically, but next week:
Childcare sent an e-mail telling parents that next Friday "Santa" will come to the crèche, so please prepare a present that he will deliver to your child. Now, my child is 1. She doesn't know what's happening, and she won't remember it. So I'll wrap one of the toys she already likes in paper from a present I received, and that will make the deal.

I love this so much!

Me, too. ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ I loves me some practical practicality. ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

[fuzzy math]

Had a really stressful day at work (after 2 straight weeks of stress), convinced myself I was going to hit the coffee cart at lunch because I COULDN'T TAKE IT ONE MORE MINUTE.

Talked myself down from the ledge, and used that work angst to imagine saving $4 extra towards my retirement as the ultimate "HAHA I hate you, job!" . Survived the last 3 hours and went home to make my latte.

[Step37]

Unusually, failed to make a plan for dinner. Husband assumed we had enough leftovers (he didn’t realize I’d taken half of them for lunch). I was ready to stop for a grocery store pizza on the way home (truly not a bad option), but he cooked some rice, thawed some cooked black beans, and we had really tasty rice and bean bowls!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Pretty standard:
-Ate free breakfast, lunch & snacks at work
-Charged my car for free at work
-Unexpectedly had a couple of kid free hours with my husband. Pondered going out. Instead, made cocktails at home, had some laughs, and ate leftovers by candlelight
-Found two more things to list on eBay

[Kwill]

I made a packed lunch for myself for the first time in awhile. I've got to pack a bit more or something with more protein next time; I was a little lightheaded by the end of the day and used 30 minutes leave to go home early and eat. I just need a little more practice. New Year's resolution is to pack lunch daily in 2018.

[ixtap]

I made a packed lunch for myself for the first time in awhile. I've got to pack a bit more or something with more protein next time; I was a little lightheaded by the end of the day and used 30 minutes leave to go home early and eat. I just need a little more practice. New Year's resolution is to pack lunch daily in 2018.

In the meantime, I am using trail mix to get me through the transition.

[Kwill]

I made a packed lunch for myself for the first time in awhile. I've got to pack a bit more or something with more protein next time; I was a little lightheaded by the end of the day and used 30 minutes leave to go home early and eat. I just need a little more practice. New Year's resolution is to pack lunch daily in 2018.

In the meantime, I am using trail mix to get me through the transition.

That's a good idea. I have a bag of trail mix, so I should at least take it to work.

[GardenBaker]

I found a recipe online for this pasta dish I really wanted for dinner tonight. The original recipe would've required me to go buy 3 items at the grocery store. I've decided I'm going to improvise with what I have in the fridge and pantry and hope it works out. The items I needed were going to cost at least $10; so that's $10 saved today on top of what I saved from eating breakfast at home and bringing a sack lunch to work.

[ManlyFather]

Had a really stressful day at work (after 2 straight weeks of stress), convinced myself I was going to hit the coffee cart at lunch because I COULDN'T TAKE IT ONE MORE MINUTE.

Talked myself down from the ledge, and used that work angst to imagine saving $4 extra towards my retirement as the ultimate "HAHA I hate you, job!" . Survived the last 3 hours and went home to make my latte.

This brightened my afternoon quite a bit, thanks for sharing!

[Mrs Hen]

Today I walked to the doctors rather than take the car.

The last payment for my car went out of my account, and cancelled the direct debit straight away (bought the car on interest free finance before I'd discovered MMM.  No plans to replace it any time soon!). £211 per month extra to go into savings - hurrah!!!!

Filled up the car, but otherwise, no spending.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Ate breakfast & lunch out of the freezer stash today
-Avoided going shopping for an outfit for a work event. I leave tomorrow & don't feel great about any of the options. I'm presenting an award during a televised event. Everything I have is "okay", but not great. In reality, I don't feel great because of my weight, so a new outfit isn't going to help that. Gave myself a pep talk & worked out instead of blowing a bunch of money on a one time use outfit.
-Dug up $25 (USD equivalent) of money leftover from other business trips. Had no idea I had that much. Will spend this & get reimbursed from work.
-Paid off our car. We took out a loan in order to secure the best price, and were required to keep the financing for 90 days. All done & paid off!
-Making tacos for dinner, using prepared taco meat (freezer).

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Should have added that there was work involved in this one. I'm going to both Japan & Korea, and can't visually distinguish the coin currency without investigation. So, spent about 10-15 minutes looking up pictures of each, and separated/sorted for the trip.

-Dug up $25 (USD equivalent) of money leftover from other business trips. Had no idea I had that much. Will spend this & get reimbursed from work.

[Lichen]

Two good days :)

-Yesterday was a no spend day. Only left the house to go to class, stayed in and watched a library movie with the family. Also, continued to put off grocery shopping. Made a french toast bake with the bread ends I stash in the freezer. Served it with apples we have stored that we picked back in September.

Today:
- I discovered that in my state contacts prescriptions are good for three years, not two, and that mine doesn't expire for another two months. Stacked a free shipping promo, first time customer promo, and student discount to get four boxes - a 1 year supply - for $70 instead of $100. (My scrip hasn't changed in 15 years and I notice no eyesight changes, so not concerned.) This will let me stretch it to 4 years so I also save on the exam fee.

- Took younger son out for a mom date. Used a $6.99 coupon for a foot long meal at his favorite treat place, Subway. We split the sub, he had the chips and drink, I enjoyed free water. ;) Cheap bonding time is well worth the cost!

- Managed to put off groceries one more day, again! Potato and cabbage hash, with some pesto zucchini noodles on the side. The zuke was noodled and dehydrated from our garden this last summer. I don't think I can put off the grocery shop any longer, though!

-Thanks to something I read on this forum, I installed the pretirement app on my phone. Very motivating!

-Another night in watching a library movie. I also stacked all the library goodies by the door and clipped my keys to the handle of the library bag so I don't forget to grab it and return it tomorrow while I am out, thus avoiding late fees!

[Eucalyptus]

Put an old phone with a dodgy screen up on ebay. I should get at least $50 for it.

As its cool weather today I have all my windows and doors open, cooling down the thermal mass of my house and the floor as much as possible before it gets hot again. This will reduce the amount i need to use the airconditioner as much as possible.

Continued working in the garden on removing a Bougenvillia. I think I've managed to cut off all the branches from the stump now, the top which is over our powerline is dyeing. Once I get this all out, I can start the spot as a veggie patch, the spot gets the most sun. This will help me save $$$ for years to come.

Discovered behind the other four units that the tree there, which is covered in rampant Ivy at its base, is in fact a Mulberry, and is producing tons of fruit! This will probably save me at least $15 a year in nice fruit at this time of year. I'll get to work on removing the Ivy from it soon so that it can continue to prosper.

[horsepoor]

I just finished making 3 quarts of Kim Chi and one quart each of green fermented Tabasco and green fermented habanero hot sauce.  I already made a pint each of red cayenne hot sauce and chocolate habanero hot sauce, so shouldn't need to buy any this year (we are hot sauce junkies). 

[Imma]

- We're going away for a few days next week and I'm trying to empty the fridge so we can unplug it while we're gone. I made a cheese sauce and threw in a few scraps of cheese I had lying around. Tomorrow I will make egg salad to use up all the eggs and smoothies to use up yoghurt, bananas and berries.
- Went somewhere where we got free cans of soda. Didn't drink them there but took them home.
- Girl at the grocery store made a mistake while ringing up my purchases. Went to the customer service desk and got €3,50 back.
- All health care products were buy 1, get 1 free. Plasters and vitamin D were on my shopping list and I only buy them once a year anyway. I won't have to buy them for a long time now.

[Mrs Hen]

Resisted the Fish and Chip run at work, and enjoyed the dinner I'd brought in with me.

No Spend Day.

[soccerluvof4]

Was gonna toss some leftover Pork Chops and Brown Rice and instead turned it into pork fried rice. Turned out delicious. Pleasant surprise as the family loved it better than the dinner the night I made the Pork chops!

[Goldielocks]

Went to a bake sale / lunch event and managed not to buy anything, just did my volunteer shift.   The baking did look good, though!

[mustachepungoeshere]

This weekend: cut my hair, Netflix and running for free entertainment, cleaned jars for re-use, dug out some saved gift bags for Christmas, and started writing Christmas cards using the boxes I bought on sale in January.

I don't think I will buy any cards after this Christmas. I'm not feeling it as much this year-  writing them out of obligation (and sunk cost) rather than anything - so I'll play it by ear after this.

[Imma]

Got up early (on a Sunday!) and baked a banana-berry bread and made egg salad for breakfast, all from ingredients I want to use up before we are away for a week.
Found a fried rice-ish dish in the freezer which we are going to eat tonight.

[Kwill]

Went home after church to eat leftovers instead of going to brunch. Usually that's a treat I allow for, but today it would have been rushed in any case.

[Linda_Norway]

Filled up the diesel tank of the big car. We are going on a long drive next weekend en the fuel will probably become more expensive later in the week. We haven't made this trip since September, while in other years we go there once a month. I guess that saved something...

[Hirondelle]

- Got the group tickets for the train again to get from hometown to current city for 1/3th of the price.

- Went to a conference and subsequently to Belgium to visit a friend. As uni reimburses my travel costs, I hope they'll reimburse the trip to Brussels as I didn't have a 'normal' return trip home (the bus to Brussels was cheaper than the train home would've been anyways..).

[Hula Hoop]

Took the kids to a free museum as entertainment.  Ate lunch at home and packed snacks/water.  Am now making bean soup in the pressure cooker to eat this week for lunch.

[Trifele]

-- Made pumpkin soup for dinner with three pumpkins a friend gave us
-- Did the weekly grocery shopping and stuck exactly to the list, no extras or impulse buys

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Used Uber credits (purchase yielded grocery store reward) to take transportation to airport for work trip. Will get reimbursed.
-Made lunch, snacks & water for the boys to take to a soccer tournament. Got up at the crack of dawn to get this sorted before my flight.
-Spending $0 on myself, as I'm out of the country on a work trip.

[marielle]

Didn't go grocery shopping today. I still have a lot of food in the fridge and it's probably a good idea to downsize the pantry and freezera bit. I just found out I need tires for my car so I'm going to try to make it a lean couple of months budget-wise.

[ChipmunkSavings]

I went to the Apple store. I have an old Macbook from 2009 that was no longer working (did not support current iOs). Was looking to update current replacement laptop (hand-me-down Asus) with a newer version. Turns out they can do a full factory setting reset on the computer and put it as good as new. The 8-years-old computer is now as fast as any other on the market, and I was surprised that they did it for free!

[tomita]

sold unused mini fridge,
repair linen shirt,
no shopping today, needed bread but we made do with  potatoes or oatmeal

[Imma]

Due to all kinds of circumstances, both me and my s/o needed on-the-go food for lunch today. We didn't have anything homemade in the freezer or fridge. I went to the grocery store to get something readymade so at least we didn't have to buy lunch somewhere. Pasta salads were on discount and I found some that were marked 35% off as well. Pre-packed pasta salads sell for 3,50 each. The deal for this week was 2 for €4, which is itself a massive discount. And it seems the cash registries are programmed so they take the 35% off the original price, so in the end we paid about €1 each for our lunch salads.

[Hirondelle]

^ That's probably even cheaper than making them yourself!

I forgot to bring my lunch to the animal facility at work. However, they apparently always have free soup for lunch there, so I just had two mugs of soup instead! Gotta spend more hours there around lunch time :p

[mustachepungoeshere]

I went to the Apple store. I have an old Macbook from 2009 that was no longer working (did not support current iOs). Was looking to update current replacement laptop (hand-me-down Asus) with a newer version. Turns out they can do a full factory setting reset on the computer and put it as good as new. The 8-years-old computer is now as fast as any other on the market, and I was surprised that they did it for free!

Excellent!

[mustachepungoeshere]

Today for work I'm wearing a lightweight black knit top a friend gave me (BNWT).

It's really pretty, and perfect for a cool, drizzly December day (what the fuck, Sydney?).

I wasn't familiar with the brand but I just looked it up - dresses are $239.

Got my power bill - down on last quarter, and also this time last year.

[gypsy79]

Canceled HBO and my second DVR today.

For a few years, we really found entertainment value in HBO, but in the past few months, we haven't watched it enough to justify keeping it. The second DVR was in the workout room and kept me motivated for a long time, but now I tend to listen to podcasts in there, so no point in paying for the extra equipment or service.

I would like to cancel our cable TV altogether, but DH isn't on board. We don't watch a lot of TV, but he loves the NHL and is not impressed with the options for streaming. Baby steps.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Registered for a double points promotion for the hotel I'm staying at (work trip)
-Found a credit card reward for Panera, which is where my son had his end of the soccer season party, after their finals. Also, packed a huge lunch for everyone, so the total spend at Panera was really small, as the kids just had a snack vs a full lunch. Saved about $30 that way. Will probably save about $1 on the credit card reward.
-Declined the offer to shop with my coworkers while we're in Tokyo. I don't need anything, and would rather save my $$.

[Lichen]

Ug, must preface by saying we were awful Saturday night. Blew almost every cent in our entertainment budget on one pub night with friends. But, this lead to some good Sunday morning conversations:

1) We need to rethink how we enjoy our Saturdays. Both wife and I work from home. I have the benefit of getting out of the house for school, though. Wife gets cabin fever and then we splurge (too much) come our night out. This isn't a summer problem, since long days and warm nights lead to hiking, camping, and backyard entertaining. We need solutions for winter, though! So, we sat down and made up some plans for entertaining at home as well as some winter outside fun -- all inexpensive or free.

2) Wife is going to get back into brewing (an old hobby that fell by the wayside, but she still has the equipment). We are much more likely to invite friends over for a cheap night in when there is a new home brew to tap!

3) We decided that we just have to buckle down and accept we have only $30 left of our December entertainment budget to last till January first. No filching from the savings account to pad it out!

On to today's frugals:

- Lentil stew in the slow cooker and homemade rolls on the side. Most of the veg in the stew was from our summer garden and preserved for winter meals.

-Thawing out some rice and premaking a tray of vegetarian enchiladas for tomorrow's dinner. It's the start of finals for me, so I want food ready to eat when I get home in the afternoon so we aren't tempted by outside options.

- Decided not to get a parking pass at the school next quarter. Going to use the bus pass that student's receive for free. It's silly I haven't. The bus stop is literally 8 houses down from my house and the bus comes by every 15 minutes - half the time I am driving behind it to the campus! I have 4 remaining quarters, so this will save me $140.

-Eldest son made some repairs to our artificial holiday tree. We got it at a garage sale when the same son was 2 years old, he is now 17. With the new repairs, it still looks very nice!

-Staying home, studying, and decorating the tree this evening. Probably some holiday music on the free Spotify and cocoa from a bulk-purchased mix, as well!

[Linda_Norway]

Despite the road being snowy and the lack of daylight, I walked to work. Took the way through the forest and used a headlight. Showered and washed my hair at work, using the shampoo and towel provided by my employer. Brought my own sandwiches to work as almost always this year. Ate a banana provided by my employer.

[Linda_Norway]

Despite the road being snowy and the lack of daylight, I walked to work. Took the way through the forest and used a headlight. Showered and washed my hair at work, using the shampoo and towel provided by my employer. Brought my own sandwiches to work as almost always this year. Ate a banana provided by my empoloyer.

[2Birds1Stone]

I got a flat on my MTB, and instead of replacing the tube and chucking the old one, I patched it and put it back on the bike. #score

[marielle]

My boyfriend has to book a flight for work overseas, so we are using my new Chase card. Now I can meet my minimum spend no problem and get $150+ cash back since you essentially get 4.5% back to use for travel.

[horsepoor]

Finally sold a saddle I purchased with intent to flip this spring.  Profit was more modest than I'd hoped - just over $100 after eBay fees, but at least it's a profit (and I got some use out of it in the meantime).

I'll pack it up and get an official weight at the post office, then purchase postage from home to get the discount.

Going back to Fred Meyer today to get refunded for the $2 coupon the checker and I both failed to see stuck to a package.

Drinking tea instead of wine on weeknights

Lowering the thermostat another 2 degrees (down to 60 in evenings and 56 the rest of the time)

ETA:  this weekend picked a cabbage, parsley, small heads of broccoli and a huge armful of collards before temps started dropping too much.
Got tipped off that feed store coupons ($10 off) regularly come with emails from the local stadium/event center, and finally got and used one this weekend.  Will test re-printing and using it again.

[Mele]

Skimmed cream from raw milk that I treated. I can't do anything with it this week (too busy) but I'm going to pop it in the freezer and make some butter.  Youtube + heavy cream+ Christmas vacation down time = homemade butter.  Hopefully.

Ate leftovers, made a delicious salad out of odds and ends, including a strawberry sauce I pulled from frozen garden strawberries.

Salad for the adventuresome:  mixed greens topped with ground beef, bacon, sauteed strawberry mush, green onions, a little peanut butter, and a dash of balsamic.  Super yummy!

[Mrs Hen]

The last few days haven't been particularly spendy or savey - just average.

Mr Hen and I will be spending Xmas with friends this year, and we've been asked to supply the fizz.  I spent 5 minutes googling discount vouchers for a wine selling chain here in the UK, and found one that gives £20 off orders of £60.  That's ON TOP of the 25% discount for ordering 6 bottles or more.

Result:  £160 worth of fizz (12 bottles) for £98.  Happy dance!!!
Then went and made breakfast and lunch for work tomorrow.

And I've now passed a month of no smoking - VERY proud of that.

[jengod]

And I've now passed a month of no smoking - VERY proud of that.

Terrific! Well-done, you.


* Line-dried a couple of loads of clothing.
* Vacuumed out the car at home instead of using the vacuum at the service station (we didn't own a real vacuum until this summer so this is a new habit).
* Made coffee at home.
* Took the kids to a doctor's appointment via cargo bike rather than driving.

[Bracken_Joy]

The last few days haven't been particularly spendy or savey - just average.

Mr Hen and I will be spending Xmas with friends this year, and we've been asked to supply the fizz.  I spent 5 minutes googling discount vouchers for a wine selling chain here in the UK, and found one that gives £20 off orders of £60.  That's ON TOP of the 25% discount for ordering 6 bottles or more.

Result:  £160 worth of fizz (12 bottles) for £98.  Happy dance!!!
Then went and made breakfast and lunch for work tomorrow.

And I've now passed a month of no smoking - VERY proud of that.

Ha, I was super confused about the fizz- that's what my husband and I call sparkling water/club soda ("fizzy"). And I was like... why would it cost so much!? Then I realized you probably mean a sparkling wine, like champagne or prosecco?

Also, SUPER congrats on 1 month of not smoking! This will pay off in SO many more ways than just money. Wow! What an incredible gift to your future health and financial health.

----
Over here, just floating on. Boarding some dogs, cooking at home, spending obscene amounts on doctors and on husband's professional certs. Not really any savings over regular ones. (I guess *not* buying extra xmas decor counts, and trying to shop some sales for gifts?)

[Erma]

Yesterday during my lunch walk I got cold and decided to visit the library for some warmth and the gave away free hot chocolate.

[Linda_Norway]

Walked to work today, for the second time this week. Saving diesel and the environment.