What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Jenny Wren]

* Took the bus to school again. Freezing fog and black ice were on the menu, so I'm glad I wasn't driving!

* Fought the urge to go get a coffee when I ended up stuck on campus for longer than initially expected.

* We had a bunch of roasted veg leftover from our NYE dinner, which I tossed together into a bag and froze that night, along with some excess fondue cheese. The cheese and veg were combined with some veggie stock and a few things from the produce drawer that were past their prime to create a surprisingly good cheesy vegetable soup for tonight's dinner.

[mustachedali]

I participated in a short photo shoot and got a free coworking space pass. :) Also where I live has $1USD local lunch.

[Bracken_Joy]

-I had selected to direct pay a company, since I knew my health insurance would reject the test (doctor told me). But they billed anyway! Which was rejected, and they sent me a bill for $388 instead of the $199 I was expecting to pay. I called them and told them (nicely) that they should not have billed insurance, and I wanted to only pay $199. And they did! It was so easy it shocked me. The guy was just like, "oh, okay, hold on, let me change your file then I can take your payment." Relief!

-Have a very spendy drug coming up. I'm waiting on preapproval from my insurance, but I looked up how much it will be for the course through my insurance poral- $730!!! There's no generic alternative yet. So, after the incredible @monstermonster mentioned copay assistance on her podcast, I went and looked and- yes! I should have full coverage by their copay assistance program and pay NOTHING for the med. It seems too good to be true, but I went through the criteria a ton of times. (And I'm *so mad* no one mentioned it to me- doctor or anyone. I wouldn't have known to look for that if not for the podcast! And I'm a nurse!)

[Spruit]

Brackenjoy, medical costs are (made) complicated in your country...

Picked up a free tripod stool, for BF to use while birding. And if he doesn't use it, at least I have a place to sit down and knit, while he looks at geese or whatever. We're one exciting pair, aren't we ;)

Kept the thermostat on low for morning and afternoon, untill 5 min. ago when I had enough of it. Soaking kidney beans. Lunched with leftover pea soup (third day in a row).

[Hirondelle]

New Years party/drinks at work - so free snacks that will count as tonight's dinner :D

[Dollar Slice]

Entered a contest last week for a concert I wanted to attend. Just found out I won two tickets! They would have cost $28 apiece, so I saved that much, plus I get to treat a friend.

[kaypinkHH]

Over this past weekend I "saved" approximately $650-$800 in travel/moving costs.

Due to storms and other craziness my travel plans to go pack up my house got all kerfuffled. I had to book a hotel room, using points, that I then needed to cancel, and "missed the refund period".  A quick phone call got me my money and my points back.

Flight changes ended up being NBD (actually worked out better for us), but still got a $250 voucher for future travel...one for me and one for Mr.HH.

By changing the rental car to be a 1/2 hour LONGER, we saved $30. (Due to a 3 day rental promotion)

Coordinating/asking nicely with the moving company got me a discounted storage pod pick up rate :D. (Savings approximately $100)

...Just ignore the amount of money we spent on parking this weekend and we are all good!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Free breakfast & lunch at work
-Booked my sister's flight (her Christmas/thank you gift for handling 90% of all family stuff due to location). Scoured for a discounted airfare, then moved on to discounted gift cards. Didn't save too much ($20 off of $200), but better than nothing.
-Avoided doing the early seating option, to save another $60 for both of us.
-Leftovers for dinner tonight. We're having Persian beef kebabs, rice & a yogurt/cucumber/dill sauce on the side. One of my favorite meals

I also have an agenda item to talk to my manager about time off in June. If I get the flexibility to work remotely for a few days, and she approves my overall time off, it will save around $300 in back & forth travel costs. We have two events, non-flexible dates, and spread out by only a few weeks.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Received a small pay rise and some backpay to start the year. I dumped the backpay into an account earmarked for CommSec, and increased my super salary sacrifice to offset the raise.

[SimpleCycle]

The baby is eating us out of house and home in those silly little Gerber tubs (daycare only takes sealed food) so I bought baby cereal to go with the fruit and veggie purees.  Since it’s sealed daycare can take it, it has iron, and it’s about 25 cents a serving compared to 76 cents a serving of Gerber tubs.

I went to Target to restock baby food and combined it with my trip home, so no additional cost.  Used a gift card from another deal.

Combined coupons to get a pound of smokehouse almonds for $5.65.

[Jenny Wren]

Not sure if this counts. I try to stay in touch with past professors. I recently asked one for a recommendation on some reference material in his field of specialty. It caught me in the hallway today and gave me a copy of the text he recommended! It sells for $90+ on Amazon, so this saves me quite a bit.

*Took the bus even though I was tempted to get a day parking pass. It was pouring down rain, but I persevered!

*Made burritos for dinner using leftover beans and rice leftover from previous meals that I had tossed into the freezer.

[eliza]

Added a $10 off 1 ride (expires May 1, 2018) to my uber account.  Will need to use a few uber/lyfts on my trip this weekend, so sweet bonus.

Code is localfavorite.  Seems like it's working for some, but not all Uber users, ymmv.

[alewpanda]

I had a kohls gift card left from christmas that I had no plans for.  I had browsed clearance once or twice, but never saw anything i needed, and I don't shop there typically.  Remembered tonight that DH has been compaining about his 4 year old slippers being uncomfortable and falling apart.  We like to ask for the nice ones with real soles on the bottom for morning and nighttime doggie runs for christmas every few years, but didn't this year.  So I used my swagbucks link to earn 2 bucks per dollar, found a pair on clearance for less than half normal cost, and applied my 20.00 gift card.  I paid 8 dollars and some change for a new pair of fancy slippers...which will make him very happy all the way around :)

Made dinners at home the last few days, even though schedules this week keep throwing us for loops and forcing us to rush around till late in the evenings.  We can use every penny we can saved, because part of that rushing around and changing of schedules included 2 dogs in the vets office on Monday morning...to the tune of 300.00 ...yuck!  But, seeing improvements already on the meds, so phew!

DH has never been one for the financial talk/details, but he has gotten very interested in some of the new technology advances and has been doing specific research on investment opportunities that he is very interested in.  Its exciting to see his interest and enthusiasm!

Got some cash for the birthday this weekend from family.  Am keeping a twenty in my wallet to use at the thrift stores to replace some jeans in the next month or so, but the rest is becoming an extra payment towards the car loan tomorrow :) 

Used a gift card from christmas for my birthday takeout lunch.  That and ice cream at the house was plenty on an icy, wet birthday Sunday. 

[Wings5]

Re-purposed a thermos from when my son was little. We used it for warm water for his formula. Now I use it to make fancy coffee and bring it to work. I drink out of the cap and look ridiculous, but I don't care!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Free breakfast & lunch at work
-Booked my sister's flight (her Christmas/thank you gift for handling 90% of all family stuff due to location). Scoured for a discounted airfare, then moved on to discounted gift cards. Didn't save too much ($20 off of $200), but better than nothing.
-Avoided doing the early seating option, to save another $60 for both of us.
-Leftovers for dinner tonight. We're having Persian beef kebabs, rice & a yogurt/cucumber/dill sauce on the side. One of my favorite meals

I also have an agenda item to talk to my manager about time off in June. If I get the flexibility to work remotely for a few days, and she approves my overall time off, it will save around $300 in back & forth travel costs. We have two events, non-flexible dates, and spread out by only a few weeks.

-Talked to my manager about working remotely for a few days in June, and she approved. That will save me the $300ish in an additional round trip airfare. It also allows me to combine a bunch of personal trips, which could have each individually turned into flights. Yay!
-Booked flights for 3 (me + the kids) for above vacation, and paid $0 out of pocket. Used mileage for the majority, and had just enough in my airline credit account (like, to the penny) to cover the tax on the tickets. Saved $905!
-Ate breakfast, lunch & snacks at work.
-Dinner from leftovers at home. It may be a bit of a smorgasbord, where we all eat different leftovers.

It's that time of the year where I plan, budget & try to book travel, so you'll see more travel related things from me.

[11ducks]

- Visited the library for books
- Found a birthday present  for my sister - marked down to $7! Was expecting to pay $20 so was happily surprised.
- Cobbled together a lunch of leftovers from the fridge
- Cleaned out a cabinet with plans to sell it
- Spending some of my holiday time prepping for work, to reduce the stress/business of going back.

[Jenny Wren]

* Took the bus! (My goal is for this to become so normal I no longer feel the urge to post it here!)

* Packaged up trail mix and stuck it into my backpack so I don't forget it. This way we have a snack upon arrival tomorrow. It's a short flight followed by a 90 minute drive. We'll have lunch before we leave for the airport, but we'll probably get peckish and this will hopefully save us from overpriced airport temptations.

* Also tossed the assorted chargers into my backpack. I hate it when we go on a trip and forget a charger, thus having to purchase yet another new one. Cords and assorted car and wall plugs are packaged and packed.

* Grabbed our national parks and state parks passes to take with us. We are planning to do some hiking on the trip, so this way we won't get pegged with day use fees if we end up at a trail head that charges.

* Mentioned my umbrella debacle to my mom, along with my task to go purchase a new one before our trip. Mom gave me an extra brand new umbrella she had, saving me the expense.

* renewed a library book online to avoid an imminent fine.

[halftimer]

...I didn't plan to replace them, but when I checked my clothing capsule app I realized that they are my most versatile item and because they are maroon add a lot of color and variety. (They go with work outfits and casual outfits in more than 30+ combinations.)...

@halftimer which clothing capsule app do you use?

@HappierAtHome  I use StyleBook on my iOS device - it cost $4.99 I think but has been really great for the last 4 years. I use the calendar feature all the time, know that my clothes are all essentially pennies per wear at this point (except my most recent boots), and use the packing feature when needed. I also like taking it with me when clothes shopping to make sure the impulse purchase at the thrift store will match at least 3-5 other items and is not too similar to what I already have.

I'm retiring my iOS devices soon, so testing out the Android app Smart Closet for the last few weeks.  It's not as comprehensive as Stylebook, but it's free and still has a calendar feature, stats to track usage vs price, and a neat area in the LookBook where you can create your own rules for making Random outfits, plus it can suggest an outfit for the day based on the season.  So far I think it's going to be the replacement I use (earlier test with Stylicious app for Android was not nearly as impressive). 

Hack: I find the standard clothing categories way too specific. I use the bare minimum number of categories for in season clothes (tops, bottoms, accessories, outer layers, dresses) for using the random outfit generator and saving the ones I like to the Season set.  I move all out of season to a big category called 'out of season - warm' or 'out of season - cold'.

*edit - spelling. Stylicious  not Sylicious

[mustachepungoeshere]

...I didn't plan to replace them, but when I checked my clothing capsule app I realized that they are my most versatile item and because they are maroon add a lot of color and variety. (They go with work outfits and casual outfits in more than 30+ combinations.)...

@halftimer which clothing capsule app do you use?

@HappierAtHome  I use StyleBook on my iOS device - it cost $4.99 I think but has been really great for the last 4 years. I use the calendar feature all the time, know that my clothes are all essentially pennies per wear at this point (except my most recent boots), and use the packing feature when needed. I also like taking it with me when clothes shopping to make sure the impulse purchase at the thrift store will match at least 3-5 other items and is not too similar to what I already have.

I'm retiring my iOS devices soon, so testing out the Android app Smart Closet for the last few weeks.  It's not as comprehensive as Stylebook, but it's free and still has a calendar feature, stats to track usage vs price, and a neat area in the LookBook where you can create your own rules for making Random outfits, plus it can suggest an outfit for the day based on the season.  So far I think it's going to be the replacement I use (earlier test with Sylicious app for Android was not nearly as impressive). 

Hack: I find the standard clothing categories way too specific. I use the bare minimum number of categories for in season clothes (tops, bottoms, accessories, outer layers, dresses) for using the random outfit generator and saving the ones I like to the Season set.  I move all out of season to a big category called 'out of season - warm' or 'out of season - cold'.

Intrigued by this!

I'm going to have to look into the app.

[HappierAtHome]

Thanks @halftimer !

[SimpleCycle]

Signed up for our transit FSA at work.

Made a “use up” dinner with stuff in the house otherwise not planned for.

@halftimer, thanks for the reviews!  I think an app like that probably would help me a lot.

[halftimer]

Thanks all. Glad my capsule nerdiness is helpful to others. Local friends seem to marvel at the usefulness of the app, but (like Mustachianism) very few get into it themselves. Of course they also see my list-making, excel-sheet tendencies and assume it will require that type of mindset. Not really. I take photos of the clothes currently in season while at home, then edit out the background and make 'looks' and add to calendar while on my short bus commute. A month worth of clothing decision making is done for me on just 2 x 20 minute bus trips. The rest of the month I read books or just stare out the window on the bus.  A few times per year when I get 'new' stuff I take pictures of those few items and everything else just stays on the app accumulating wears. (I made a 'new to shuffle' category for new items so they can be quickly mixed with everything else using the random generator. If the new items are tops, I shuffle them with everything but tops to get fast ideas. Then I move them into the correct clothing category once I've made enough looks)

Today's money saving: staying inside on my day off to catch up on projects and chores instead of shopping errands like last week. I'm making rice and beans with the leftover mushroom gravy from tourtiere dinner. That will be lunch today and tomorrow back at work.

[Mrs Hen]

Hello All,

I've been away from here over the festive period, so a summary:

- Used vouchers and a workplace discount scheme to get a toaster for 30% less than the sale price.
- Bought a bag of porridge oats instead of the pre-packaged microwave ones.
- Bought bags of individual dried fruits and seeds to make a mix for the porridge.  I now have enough to last the winter for way less £    than the pre-packaged ones.
- Tried using 1/2 a cap of fabric softener in the laundry (dried on the airer of course). Worked fine.
- Have taken all meals into work.
- 4 no spend days so far this year

And the big one - Since I quit smoking in November, I've been transferring the money I would have spent every day into savings.  Today I broke the £1000 barrier.

[Roadrunner53]

Mrs. Hen,

Of all the money saving things you did I applaud putting away the cig money in the bank! Congrats are in order of 1. giving up the cigs and 2. saving the moola! What does that equal in US money?

[Mrs Hen]

Hi Roadrunner53,

About $1350 at todays rates

Mrs Hen

[Roadrunner53]

Two thumbs up Mrs. Hen! Good work! Keep it up!

My Mom was a big, big cig smoker and it was horrible. She got sick a lot and ended up in the hospital with pneumonia many times. I begged her, I cried, I stomped my feet but she wouldn't give it up. It was a terrible addiction. She smoked Pall Mall, no filter. Finally, she asked for the Patch and she stopped and for her to give it up, it was totally shocking! She had something like 10 cartons of cigs she had hidden away...just in case and like a security blanket. She never touched them and after she passed, I found them while cleaning out her house. She was so addicted to them like a heroin addict. One of my girlfriends was a big cig smoker, nothing like Mom, but she knew how addicted my Mom was so she put her feet to the fire and gave it up too. She told me my Mom was her hero and if she could do it my friend said she could do it. I urge anyone reading this and smokes give it up and do what Mrs. Hen is doing!

[Trifle]

Nice job, Mrs. Hen!  Great work.  :)

[Dollar Slice]

Entered a contest last week for a concert I wanted to attend. Just found out I won two tickets! They would have cost $28 apiece, so I saved that much, plus I get to treat a friend.

I just won another concert ticket for a different night of the same festival. This one would have been $57.75 retail price.

Despite what certain presidents have suggested, I am not yet tired of winning :-)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-I was so happy with yesterday's dinner. We didn't have enough leftovers for a full meal for everyone. So, I turned the taco meat into cheesey taco quesadillas for the kids. My husband had tortellini from an open package in the fridge, plus the remains of a takeout chicken from Saturday date night. I finished off the leftover kebabs & most of the rice. The kids surprised me with how much they ate, so I found a hot dog in the fridge & they split that. (We also had a big salad with dinner, and fruit for dessert, so it wasn't quite the nutritional wasteland it might sound like). Basically, used up all of the fridge leftovers, save for a small amount of rice, and some yogurt sauce. Winning! I love it when you can use up all of the bits & bobs that are never quite enough for a meal.

-However, date night on Saturday means I didn't do my standard weekend cooking (typically only cook full meals on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, and then we eat leftovers during the work week). So, tonight will be something from the freezer.

-Other than that, bumped up my monthly mortgage payment by $10/month (I know, I'm not supposed to pay off the mortgage early), but I got all excited about considering the possibilities.

-Sold & mailed 4 items on eBay. Cleared around $5, so huge money. ;-)

[mustachepungoeshere]

-I was so happy with yesterday's dinner. We didn't have enough leftovers for a full meal for everyone. So, I turned the taco meat into cheesey taco quesadillas for the kids. My husband had tortellini from an open package in the fridge, plus the remains of a takeout chicken from Saturday date night. I finished off the leftover kebabs & most of the rice. The kids surprised me with how much they ate, so I found a hot dog in the fridge & they split that. (We also had a big salad with dinner, and fruit for dessert, so it wasn't quite the nutritional wasteland it might sound like). Basically, used up all of the fridge leftovers, save for a small amount of rice, and some yogurt sauce. Winning! I love it when you can use up all of the bits & bobs that are never quite enough for a meal.

-However, date night on Saturday means I didn't do my standard weekend cooking (typically only cook full meals on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, and then we eat leftovers during the work week). So, tonight will be something from the freezer.

-Other than that, bumped up my monthly mortgage payment by $10/month (I know, I'm not supposed to pay off the mortgage early), but I got all excited about considering the possibilities.

-Sold & mailed 4 items on eBay. Cleared around $5, so huge money. ;-)

I like you.

This post is both awesome and funny.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-I was so happy with yesterday's dinner. We didn't have enough leftovers for a full meal for everyone. So, I turned the taco meat into cheesey taco quesadillas for the kids. My husband had tortellini from an open package in the fridge, plus the remains of a takeout chicken from Saturday date night. I finished off the leftover kebabs & most of the rice. The kids surprised me with how much they ate, so I found a hot dog in the fridge & they split that. (We also had a big salad with dinner, and fruit for dessert, so it wasn't quite the nutritional wasteland it might sound like). Basically, used up all of the fridge leftovers, save for a small amount of rice, and some yogurt sauce. Winning! I love it when you can use up all of the bits & bobs that are never quite enough for a meal.

-However, date night on Saturday means I didn't do my standard weekend cooking (typically only cook full meals on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, and then we eat leftovers during the work week). So, tonight will be something from the freezer.

-Other than that, bumped up my monthly mortgage payment by $10/month (I know, I'm not supposed to pay off the mortgage early), but I got all excited about considering the possibilities.

-Sold & mailed 4 items on eBay. Cleared around $5, so huge money. ;-)

I like you.

This post is both awesome and funny.

This post is one of the highlights of my day. LOVE all of the awesome people & their continuous ideas that inspire me.

[alewpanda]

Committed to staying home all day today.  So far I've painted, done laundry, dishes, walked the dogs twice, and changed the bed sheets.  I have plans yet to paint some more, finish more laundry, clean the bathroom and vacuum the apartment.  I also have a couple mending projects I'm hoping to finish.  No gas used or money spent for me today!

Last night I made 35.00 off of two sales of unused items around the apartment.  I'm down to only a few small items that are currently listed and the items at the house that are being used for staging or care of the yard currently.  I've cleaned out the rest of the stock to sell...which is motivating me to find some other side hustle options for the next couple of months.  We downsized from 1700 square feet into 650...so we have sold thousands of dollars worth of items so far...

On our walks I found 13 cents.

I reused a cellophane bag from a christmas gift basket in the bathroom trash can.

I'm wearing warm clothes, slippers and running the space heater to avoid running the main furnace.

Breakfast was coffee with milk and honey.  Lunch was a single baking potato, bought on sale, cubed and fried in olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper.  Serve with ketchup and its better than a plate full of fries... declicious, cheap, and whole food based too.

Used leftover rice and some chicken stock to bribe my pup into eating some food this morning (current meds are stealing her appetite -- just a couple more days on them!)

Hoping to continue my productiveness into tonight and tomorrow :)

[Kwill]

I haven't bought lunch at work all year! I made one mammoth pan of baked ziti (aka pasta bake) Sunday, and got four lunches and three dinners out of it so far. There's at least two lunches worth of it in the freezer for next week. Last night I made tuna noodle casserole for dinner with planned leftovers for lunch today and a lunch for next week in the freezer. I'm hoping I can keep this up but maybe eventually find some different things to make.

[Mrs Hen]

Well, it really didn't feel like saving money when the total came up in the supermarket today, BUT...

- I now have enough (discounted) porridge oats to last the rest of the winter.
- I won't have to buy toilet paper for a long time - stocked up while its on offer.
- freezer is stocked with meat from offers.
- huge pot of minestrone soup has been made from reduced veggies.
- I'll be batch baking tomorrow with the rest, which should get me at least 12 more meals in the freezer.

I don't plan on spending any more this month apart from milk and maybe some more fresh veg, so plenty of no spend days to come.

Thanks for all the nice comments and continued inspiration. Holding myself "accountable" to this thread is really keeping me on track.

[HappierAtHome]

Yesterday: made a double batch of chicken teriyaki in the slow cooker and a big batch of vegan chilli on the stove top. Mr Happier has an insane month coming up at work, so the more we can eat from the freezer, the less we will resort to takeaway.

[Teachstache]

Nice job, Mrs. Hen!  Great work.  :)

Yes, nice work, Mrs Hen!

[Teachstache]

I took kid to the library after work/daycare as a way of apologizing for an emotional outburst that I made this morning. We got 5 movies to watch over the long weekend.

Came home after an hour & used frozen ground beef, tomatoes canned from our garden & garlic in the fridge to make spaghetti sauce in the instant pot for dinner. Ate sauce over basmati brown rice made with turkey stock.

Playing with son & watching Jack & the Cuckoo clock heart from the library this evening. Great Friday night after a long work week!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Breakfast & lunch from the freezer (worked from home, no free work food)
-Sold 2 items on eBay for $40! If you'd asked me a few months ago if we had anything left to sell on eBay, you'd have gotten a firm "no". And yet, there are so many things!
-Used a Redbox code I saw on slickdeals for a free movie rental for tonight. The kids chose ("Captain Underpants" - oh boy), but we are having movie night, with air popped popcorn. Doesn't get more frugal than that.
-Dinner was a freezer dish for myself & the husband. Kids made themselves wraps for dinner, out of fridge/freezer ingredients.
-Discovered that the ski area we're planning on going to in February has free passes for 5th graders! They only give out a limited number, but I happen to have a 5th grader, so I registered. That will save $40 off of the cost of our trip. The trip has already been scaled down from a three day trip to Tahoe, so excited to find another way to save on the day trip. Sidenote - there's still not enough snow at this ski area. :-( Fingers crossed it will snow before ski break in February.

[Gerard]

We got a warm spell here, so I walked the long scenic bird-filled route to the supermarket and stocked up on sale-price bacon and a pork shoulder roast. Tempted by some marked down bowls but realized I don't need them.

Working my way through the cheap grocery items I brought back from Toronto after Christmas (what, doesn't everyone transport lard across provincial boundaries?).

Went to work late and came home regular time, so I needed only snacks at work, rather than a full meal.

Didn't turn the heat on for the day until I got home from work.

[Spruit]

Yesterday, shopped at Aldi right after work instead of the expensive grocery store in my own town. Trying to make a new habit out of this. Asked for the receipt to get my pricebook up to date.
This week: gave away a bunch of buttons, some clothes and bodylotion, and got back a mirror and an excellent desk chair. Not a penny exchanged hands.

[Astatine]

Found cheap cat crystals for kitty litter at the Reject Shop. $9 for a 10 litre bag. So we got 3 bags.

[alewpanda]

Stitched a backpack strap tight that was starting to separate.  It wasn't as hard as I thought, although I did break a needle in the process.

Stitched a patch onto the inside of a bed sheet to prevent further tearing. 

Got up and made french toast from a loaf of french bread out of the freezer instead of going out for waffles.  DH had been in the habit of convincing me approximately once a month to go out on Saturday morning, meaning 20ish dollars for the two of us to eat waffles and drink someone else's coffee.  I have used the same loaf of 0.78 cent french bread from the freezer for 3 weeks now, and I think I have one more week out of it.  I just thaw the night before on the counter, slice off 6 slices and pop it back into the freezer for the next time.  A couple of eggs, vanilla, splash of milk and real maple syrup makes for a way, way better (and cheaper!) breakfast IMHO.

[horsepoor]

The insoles in my new boots felt weird, so I was going to buy new insoles.  Then I remembered that I had a pair of running shoes in the To Donate box; pulled them out and swapped the insoles.  Now my new boots are perfect, and who knows, maybe the other insoles will be better for whoever ends up with the running shoes.

[Rowellen]

Went out for dinner and a movie with my husband and made $5.

Our local cinema had a special of $100 for a book of 10 tickets. I bought one. Use 2 for the movie $22.70. (Stupid online booking fee.)

Brought popcorn from home. About 60c. Bought a drink and choccies from the supermarket instead of the cinema. $5.90.

Walked to the restaurant I had been gifted a voucher for. It's the most expensive restaurant in the area so we rarely go there. The voucher was for $250 so we ordered things we wouldn't normally get like bread, desserts and cocktails. The total came to $200. They gave us the balance in cash.

Taxi home cost $15. (FIL gave us a lift there and free babysitting for the night)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Found super cheap cauliflower & stocked up. Anything less than $3/head here is great in the winter.

-Used a gift card to buy a whole chicken. Roasting my first ever chicken tonight! Tried my first turkey breast over Thanksgiving, and was planning to get another one, but the store didn't have the turkey & the whole chickens were $.88/lb. I've never bought one, so assuming this is a good/decent price? I will roast over veggies, and then use the leftover chicken for dinner tomorrow, and the veggies/chicken in a soup on Monday.

-Made pistachio/cashew butter out of stale nuts that had been sitting in the pantry for too long. I haven't tried it yet, but the husband says it's incredible.

-Made cranberry muffins for quick breakfast options

[Roadrunner53]

Buy oven roaster chickens like 6-8lbs or more and have the butcher butterfly them. Place on a rack on a flat baking pan sprinkle spices and bake in oven. Put onion and celery under rack.  Look up Spatchcock chicken on internet for instructions. Comes out perfect every time and delicious. If you can and the chickens are on sale, hoard up on them. Freeze them flat in plastic and foil. Hub and I have made them a ton of times and they are AWESOME!

OH, and tell the butcher you want the backbone, neck and innards like heart, liver and gizzards. You can make broth with the bones and if you don't want to eat the innards, feed them to your cat or dog. If you don't ask the butcher for this stuff, they will keep it. No idea if they sell it or chuck it but you are paying for it!

88 cents a lb is a GREAT price!

[Brother Esau]

It was raining here yesterday and when I pulled out the umbrella from the back of my car I had a flashback from when I first obtained the umbrella....a golf tournament in 1986. Didn't save money TODAY but I may NEVER buy another umbrella ever again.

[RetiredAt63]

We got a warm spell here, so I walked the long scenic bird-filled route to the supermarket and stocked up on sale-price bacon and a pork shoulder roast. Tempted by some marked down bowls but realized I don't need them.

Working my way through the cheap grocery items I brought back from Toronto after Christmas (what, doesn't everyone transport lard across provincial boundaries?).

You got better weather than we did - it was 10, but pouring.  Now we have many cm of snow and it is super cold.

Around here it is not lard, it is booze - we bring stuff back from the SAQ, and the Quebeckers hit up the LCBO.  ;-)  What kind of lard?  All I ever see in the stores is Tenderflake, and it is ubiquitous.

[Teachstache]

Buy oven roaster chickens like 6-8lbs or more and have the butcher butterfly them. Place on a rack on a flat baking pan sprinkle spices and bake in oven. Put onion and celery under rack.  Look up Spatchcock chicken on internet for instructions. Comes out perfect every time and delicious. If you can and the chickens are on sale, hoard up on them. Freeze them flat in plastic and foil. Hub and I have made them a ton of times and they are AWESOME!

OH, and tell the butcher you want the backbone, neck and innards like heart, liver and gizzards. You can make broth with the bones and if you don't want to eat the innards, feed them to your cat or dog. If you don't ask the butcher for this stuff, they will keep it. No idea if they sell it or chuck it but you are paying for it!

88 cents a lb is a GREAT price!

Chicken soup sounds amazing right now. Unfortunately I came down with what I believe is influenza. But I guess I'm saving money by having contracted it over the long weekend, so hopefully no lost work.

[Off the Wheel]

Wanted to meet up with friends, went for a walk with the doggies instead of going out.

Lunch and dinner from the fridge and pantry.

Craving a cozy night in, so we're renting Goonies on Google Play for $3.99. (I suppose pirating would be cheaper, but I feel strongly about paying for the entertainment we consume. Still way cheaper than going out to the movies! Also, the no people is a huge bonus. :D)