What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Bracken_Joy]

I'm so glad you mentioned that! I have a $30 GC I hadn't used yet, so I whipped up an order. Paid $0.57 and I'm getting a heck of a lot of spices, plus the bonus Embrace Hope box. No shipping since I had the other items on there too!

That's awesome, Bracken Joy - have fun cooking! I always get inspired when I get a new batch of spices.

I had never had Penzey's before I got married, and someone bought us the big "wedding crate" gift. I loved it! Their spice quality is amazing. And their fox point seasoning is sooooo good with fish. So I was excited to order some more of that. I've tried to make a dupe, but haven't found any good cost effective approaches. (Dried shallots cost as much as just buying their blend in the first place!)

Also passed the deal on to a friend who loves real vanilla. Oooh, and there was a thread just a couple weeks ago about vanilla, I'm gonna head that way and let people know =) Yay Penzey's!

[Will]

Saving friends money:
-Friend is replacing appliances (dishwasher and a fridge) after buying a house. Let her use my Costco account to look up pricing there, and told her about Cardpool. She ended up putting a 4% off cardpool card on a 2% cash back card.
-One of my friends is doing IVF at the same time I am. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for this round so I would hit the 50k miles sign up bonus right now. Apparently she had been overwhelmed looking at all the choices, but I explained why I opted for the one I did. She's applying for it this afternoon.

My savings are mainly that I'm being boring and mainly staying at home while my husband is out of town. (Except for going out for a mocktail with my IVF friend this afternoon). And I'm eating leftovers and real foods, not buying deli counter type meals, which is always tempting.
(I guess the rewards card is also how I'm saving money today, since I put $8k on it today. Also, as always, keeping my receipts so we can take the medical cost deduction for the ~$45k we're on track to spend medically this year).

Hopefully you referred your friend so you get some referral points!

I need to see what this CardPool thing is.  Never heard of it.

Oh man! No, I didn't. Can she still get the sign up promo if I refer? I'll see if she's done it yet.

I'm not sure, but I think so.  Maybe call and ask a rep (and then maybe that way you can see if you can still get points if she has already signed up)?

[Hirondelle]

Went to Ikea to enjoy free coffee. Occasionally I take a slice of cake too, but it turns out they don't have my favorite one anymore, so that's another $2.50 saved on no more Ikea cakes!

[Catbert]

Saving friends money:
-Friend is replacing appliances (dishwasher and a fridge) after buying a house. Let her use my Costco account to look up pricing there, and told her about Cardpool. She ended up putting a 4% off cardpool card on a 2% cash back card.
-One of my friends is doing IVF at the same time I am. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for this round so I would hit the 50k miles sign up bonus right now. Apparently she had been overwhelmed looking at all the choices, but I explained why I opted for the one I did. She's applying for it this afternoon.

My savings are mainly that I'm being boring and mainly staying at home while my husband is out of town. (Except for going out for a mocktail with my IVF friend this afternoon). And I'm eating leftovers and real foods, not buying deli counter type meals, which is always tempting.
(I guess the rewards card is also how I'm saving money today, since I put $8k on it today. Also, as always, keeping my receipts so we can take the medical cost deduction for the ~$45k we're on track to spend medically this year).

Hopefully you referred your friend so you get some referral points!

I need to see what this CardPool thing is.  Never heard of it.

Oh man! No, I didn't. Can she still get the sign up promo if I refer? I'll see if she's done it yet.

I'm not sure, but I think so.  Maybe call and ask a rep (and then maybe that way you can see if you can still get points if she has already signed up)?

Yes, she'll get the 50K bonus points using your referral code.  When you go to Chase to get the code and she uses it, the link will take her to bonus page so she can see what she'll get.  It's always this way with Chase on public offers.  (Sometime people will give a special, non-public offer and using a friends link would invalidate the non-public offer.)

[Bracken_Joy]

Saving friends money:
-Friend is replacing appliances (dishwasher and a fridge) after buying a house. Let her use my Costco account to look up pricing there, and told her about Cardpool. She ended up putting a 4% off cardpool card on a 2% cash back card.
-One of my friends is doing IVF at the same time I am. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for this round so I would hit the 50k miles sign up bonus right now. Apparently she had been overwhelmed looking at all the choices, but I explained why I opted for the one I did. She's applying for it this afternoon.

My savings are mainly that I'm being boring and mainly staying at home while my husband is out of town. (Except for going out for a mocktail with my IVF friend this afternoon). And I'm eating leftovers and real foods, not buying deli counter type meals, which is always tempting.
(I guess the rewards card is also how I'm saving money today, since I put $8k on it today. Also, as always, keeping my receipts so we can take the medical cost deduction for the ~$45k we're on track to spend medically this year).

Hopefully you referred your friend so you get some referral points!

I need to see what this CardPool thing is.  Never heard of it.

Oh man! No, I didn't. Can she still get the sign up promo if I refer? I'll see if she's done it yet.

I'm not sure, but I think so.  Maybe call and ask a rep (and then maybe that way you can see if you can still get points if she has already signed up)?

Yes, she'll get the 50K bonus points using your referral code.  When you go to Chase to get the code and she uses it, the link will take her to bonus page so she can see what she'll get.  It's always this way with Chase on public offers.  (Sometime people will give a special, non-public offer and using a friends link would invalidate the non-public offer.)

Thank you guys! I generated a code and sent it her way in case she hasn't signed up yet. I'll get 10k bonus points if she uses it =) Thanks all!

[Linea_Norway]

Walked to work and will walk back this afternoon.

[Imma]

Went through the freezer and ate some food that had been there for way too long.
Made iced tea.
I'm having a week off work and we're going to spend most of that time doing DIY. So far we've only bought glue, we already have everything else we need. But even if we need to buy some more items later this week, it's far cheaper than going on holiday / expensive day trips or hiring people to do the work. And working, cooking a simple meal together and watching Netflix in the evening is quite fun too.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We dropped the kids off at camp yesterday, and have a tradition of stopping for a glass of wine on our way home, & typically also do a dinner out to celebrate. Instead, had a really nice dinner at home (salmon, corn & salad) & a bottle of champagne by the pool. Still a completely fancy pants afternoon, but saved around $80 or so.

[CintranGhola]

Found a forgotten jar of dried chickpeas at the back of the pantry cupboard yesterday. Cooked them in the instant pot and made enough delicious falafel for lunch for the next few days.

[MountainGal]

This weekend:
~Looked up online peak energy usage costs to refresh my memory.  Off peak cost is .10 less per kWh!
~Added a quarter to my piggy bank
~Continuing to use up frozen leftovers and pantry stockpile
~Made a snack tray for a guest, DH and myself Saturday night using fridge and pantry leftovers
~Cut the top 3/4 off another bottle of pump lotion to use every last drop
~Clipped coupons
~Allergy eye drops are running low, so keeping the bottle upside down to get every last drop to last until payday
~Back on my reduced eating plan, stretching leftovers even further
~Received 4 free tickets to 2 upcoming events after my office donated money toward said event

[jengod]

Checked out an ebook from the library instead of buying a copy from Amazon

[alewpanda]

-- Received and registered my library card tonight.  Looking forward to seeing all that our new library down the street has to offer!

-- Biked to the post office to mail off a birthday present.  Saved gas and got some exercise.

-- Hung a load of laundry to dry, saving 1.70 in our apartment machines.

-- Wrapped up a box of duplos (the above gift that I mailed), with an old roll of meat packaging paper, decorating it with glitter markers and the necessary addresses. 

-- Ate leftovers for lunch, and made a simple dinner of homemade waffles for dinner.

-- Used only reused bags for the dogs today...no store bought ones used. 

[Trifele]

We are late on the grocery shopping and boy did I have to scratch to pull together enough food for my lunch at work today.  It cleaned out the fridge and cupboards (literally) and will be a slightly strange lunch:  half a cup of cottage cheese, a sweet potato, a tomato, and a half cup of hot rice cereal (maybe I'll eat that part for dessert).  Actually now that I type it out that sounds just fine -- yummy even. 

Clean out the cupboards + avoid buying lunch -- double win. 

[Imma]

Bought fabric for curtains in the livingroom for €48. I have been looking for used curtains for a while and couldn't find anything we liked / was the right size. We have lived here for 3 years and still have a mix of MIL's old curtains and tablecloths on the curtain rods. It's time for real curtains. The fabric was on discount, it's a really nice quality and I have a matching spool of thread in my stash. All in all, it's really cheap for nice curtains.

I filled up some holes in the wall and expected that I had to paint over the whole wall because of the colour difference. Turns out the stuff I used to fill the holes dries up to be the same shade of white the wall is. After sanding it's hard to spot it if you don't know about it. It's also above a door, in a corner close to the ceiling so not a place people will generally see. No need to paint over the whole wall!

While I was sanding I also sanded some baseboards in the kitchen that I will paint with half a can of paint I found in the shed. A fresh coat of paint will make all the difference. Our kitchen is quite old, but we're not replacing it for a few more years. The dirty brown tiles with missing grout are covered with a piece of vinyl, the walls and ceiling have been painted, I've put up some shelves, a nice curtain, and now I'm painting the baseboards. These small things make me like our old, wornout kitchen a lot more. €200 worth of materials will extend our kitchen's life by 5-10 years. We've already lived here 3 years now and won't be replacing it anytime soon.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

When the kids are at camp, we usually take advantage & go to dinner. But, we've had a lot of house expenses lately, so I made dinner. I planned ahead & bought some convenience options at Trader Joes. More expensive than a normal, well planned dinner, but way cheaper than eating out. We had leftover salmon + gnocchi & salad.

I picked up four books off the freebie table at work, plus ate breakfast & lunch at work (free)

[Linea_Norway]

Investigating the cost and options for selling our house without estate broker. Potentially there is a lot to save there.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Provided feedback about a relatively substantial problem that occurred during part of our vacation & received a $135 refund. I never heard back from the company after my initial query, and almost forgot about it. But, this morning I happened to see the email & sent again & received a quick response. Hurrah!

[Mon€yp€nny]

Investigating the cost and options for selling our house without estate broker. Potentially there is a lot to save there.

We used an internet estate broker. Saved us thousands.

I washed my car a bit before it would start to rain.
Also cleaned 'our second home' (RV) a bit to get it ready for buyers.

[OtherJen]

Accidentally stumbled on a “buy 1, get 1 free” sale on chuck roasts and organic chicken breasts at Kroger. I think both were on special for the past week so they’re trying to clear out stocks before the next round of sales starts tomorrow. I only wish I had more room in my freezer.

[Unique User]

The last two weeks I've:

*bought 15 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.30 a pound.  Packaged them up for the freezer (I cut them in half lengthwise and put enough for one meal, 3 halves, in baggies with marinades and freeze them flat) using up odds and ends in the fridge for marinades.
*our Kroger is shutting down, bought two whole frozen turkeys for 35c a pound.
*commuted to my home office every day which means no lunch costs, clothing costs or commuting costs, but does mean higher utilities
*kept AC between 77 and 80, house with no direct sun that seems like a cave in the winter sure is nice in the summer
*bought as much reduced rack produce as I could use.  It's generally ugly or a bit wrinkled, but perfectly fine. 
*grilled and cut off the cob and froze reduced rack corn (16 for $2)
*made refrigerator pickles with reduced rack cucumbers (7 for $1) and homemade vinegar, scrubbed and cut out seeds to make them last longer.   Used up most of my homemade vinegar so made batches of pineapple vinegar and apple vinegar using frozen scraps I'd saved.
*picked blackberries while walking my dog and made a batch of blackberry vinegar
*went to DC for five days for a mini vacation, while there got free breakfast at the hotel due to elite status and did mystery shops at fancy restaurants three of the four nights to keep food costs down. 
*cooked at home most nights (I was weak, need to be better)
*downloaded ebooks from the library
*local grocery had double coupons - picked up free olives, gluten free pasta, ice cream bars, eggs, biscotti, salad greens, mayo, dog treats and super cheap coffee. 
*got the sign up bonus from Chase Sapphire, had three work trips the last three months, which put me over the spending cap. 
*continued to save 50% of our after tax income

[OmahaSteph]

The last two weeks I've:

*bought 15 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.30 a pound.  Packaged them up for the freezer (I cut them in half lengthwise and put enough for one meal, 3 halves, in baggies with marinades and freeze them flat) using up odds and ends in the fridge for marinades.
*our Kroger is shutting down, bought two whole frozen turkeys for 35c a pound.
*commuted to my home office every day which means no lunch costs, clothing costs or commuting costs, but does mean higher utilities
*kept AC between 77 and 80, house with no direct sun that seems like a cave in the winter sure is nice in the summer
*bought as much reduced rack produce as I could use.  It's generally ugly or a bit wrinkled, but perfectly fine. 
*grilled and cut off the cob and froze reduced rack corn (16 for $2)
*made refrigerator pickles with reduced rack cucumbers (7 for $1) and homemade vinegar, scrubbed and cut out seeds to make them last longer.   Used up most of my homemade vinegar so made batches of pineapple vinegar and apple vinegar using frozen scraps I'd saved.
*picked blackberries while walking my dog and made a batch of blackberry vinegar
*went to DC for five days for a mini vacation, while there got free breakfast at the hotel due to elite status and did mystery shops at fancy restaurants three of the four nights to keep food costs down. 
*cooked at home most nights (I was weak, need to be better)
*downloaded ebooks from the library
*local grocery had double coupons - picked up free olives, gluten free pasta, ice cream bars, eggs, biscotti, salad greens, mayo, dog treats and super cheap coffee. 
*got the sign up bonus from Chase Sapphire, had three work trips the last three months, which put me over the spending cap. 
*continued to save 50% of our after tax income

Um, wow.

Wish we had "ugly" produce sections.


I bought local corn (YASSSS) and cooked it in the IP to prevent heating the house. Ate a little and shaved off the rest for other recipes/freezing.
Ate two aging eggs for dinner while the corn was cooking. Finished off a bottle of ketchup, too, so now there's only one bottle in the fridge. (Kids.)
I spent to save, too. Stopped at a Salvation Army I'd not yet explored and scored a bunch of canning jars (tomatoes are coming!) and Pampered Chef stoneware - two large baking bowls and a deep-dish baker. The bowls were $6 each and the deep-dish was $3 but the nice guy gave me all three for $6. Also picked up some small Pyrex glass baking dishes, a glass juicer and two unused bread pans. All things we need and will absolutely use. Anyway, got out of there for under $23.

[Raenia]

A few from yesterday:
 - rode my bike to the library
 - showered in cold water
 - didn't turn the AC on while I was the only one home

I usually walk to the library, so that's not a huge win, but I need to start biking short trips to get back in shape so I can start doing groceries via bike soon, and hopefully by fall bike the longer trip to work.

[Stachetastic]

~Hung two loads of laundry yesterday.
~Brought leftovers for lunch, as usual.
~Took a great looking zucchini from the neighbor's free produce table and will make zucchini boats for dinner tonight with some            leftover ground sausage.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We've gone the week without eating out. Normally not a challenge, but with the kids at summer camp, it's very tempting & has been an area we've gone off track previously. We're leaving for a long weekend this evening, which helped us stay focused on not spending this week. Quick & easy Trader Joes meals to the rescue!

[Gerard]

Rode my bike down to the supermarket before the tropical storm hits. Chickens for way cheaper than usual! Bought three, breaking them down now.

Also super-cheap mushrooms, for some reason. I know somebody here buys marked-down mushrooms in huge volumes and dries them in the oven, but I didn't get that far... frying them all makes them wilt down small enough to pop in jars and freeze for later use.

[Mezzie]

Was invited out to eat, but cooked for people instead.

[alewpanda]

-- Considered going in for a haircut as I have a coupon. The coupon is good till mid-september, and I've been wearing my hair up in the heat (hiding all the random layers that are growing out).  I trimmed my bangs myself and put the coupon away again for later. 

-- Cut DH's hair at home.

-- Made enchiladas for lunch, using up some random ingredients in the filling and avoiding using meat altogether.  Made enough for DH and I and several meals worth of leftovers.

-- Walked to the work and picked up a couple of extra hours this weekend. 

-- May get a bit of a promotion at work.  Its just a shift lead and has some extra responsibility, but it has the potential for more hours and will include a raise. 

-- Sewed the sleeves of a shirt that were an awkward length.  They are shorter now and a much more flattering length. 

-- Hung laundry to dry.

-- Used re-used bags instead of the bought doggie doo ones.

[10dollarsatatime]

-Accidentally logged in to Bing and realized I had enough points for a $5 Amazon certificate.  So I logged in with my work account... and there was enough in there for another one!  And only a couple of days worth of points from another for each account.  Yay for free money!

-Work provided lunch today.  Went home for dinner and nap before my evening shift instead of going out.

-Collected a few months worth of cell phone reimbursement checks from finance today (and promised to deposit them in a timely manner).

[Imma]

- Bought fruit and veggies from the ethnic grocery store which is much cheaper than any other store in the area. Plus also supporting small local businesses this way.
- Skipped dinner yesterday because I had cake and snacks in the afternoon and wasn't hungry.
- Bought a large supply of shampoo and toothpaste with a buy one, get one free deal. I buy these things once or twice a year when I come across a good deal. I like to have a couple of spare bottles so I don't suddely run out of toothpaste when I have an important appointment in the morning or something (this is not a hypothetical example of what could go wrong).
- Will have a busy couple of weeks coming up, so I'm going to spend some time in the kitchen today and tomorrow to cook some freezer meals.
- Doing laundry and line-drying, as always.
- I complained about a dress I bought recently because I'm not happy with the quality. I'm going to send the dress back and they're refunding it and all shipping costs as well. I was also offered the option of keeping it and receiving a gift voucher for 25% of the sales price, but since the colour of the sleeves has bled onto the body of the dress, I'm not going to wear it anymore. It's a shame, because it was a lovely dress. This is why I normally buy secondhand: clothes are pre-washed so I know they're not going to be ruined in the machine.

[Mon€yp€nny]

The kids had their last day of school today.
- Their Eastpak bags have been washed and are now drying on the rack outside. The popular schoolbags wouldn't last a year, let alone a good wash in the machine.
- I'm going to make an activity book for Summer for them by printing (I refill our cartridges myself) educational and fun things from internet. A Summer activity book from a popular character can cost €8 - €15.
My 5 yr old has to work on numbers 1 -20 and my 8 yr old has to keep reading during Summer.
- have to make a frugal Summer bucket with them (salt dough art, petting zoo, free museum, picnic, making a hut, etc etc.)

[JLee]

I had a car on an AZ insurance policy that has since been moved to NJ -- I increased coverages from 50/100/50 to 100/300/100 and moved the AZ car over to NJ...to net savings of $400/year. :D

[Raymond Reddington]

Not entirely today, but I'm proud to say I've been on vacation for the past week and have not eaten one single meal out nor moved my car other than from the driveway to right in front of the house.

My only expenses have been contractors making money-saving improvements to the house, utilities, and mortgage. And the AC has been running a fraction of the time it usually is, and we've been leaving more lights off throughout the day and evening.

Now me and the wife just gotta find time to take the defensive driving online course to save $230 a year on our car insurance for the next 3 years, at a cost of $50, for total savings of ~$600.

[Botany Bae]

* The spouse flies out tomorrow to go sit with her mom in hospice. We made sure to stock her suitcase with plenty of granola bars and a refillable water bottle to tide her over during a long layover on her flight there. There are many unexpected expenses and lost income as a result of this sad turn of events, but we still save where we can. I'm glad we are financially at a place where she can do this.

* Six months ago, Keen gave me a $150 credit due to a small defect on a pair of trail runners I purchased. They told me to toss instead of return the runners, but I kept them and used them. After the last week in Glacier NPS, they are starting to get too much mileage on them for rough terrain which they weren't even designed for. I cashed in the credit today for a pair of proper lightweight hiking boots, a new pair of trail runners, and a pair of fancy Mt. Hood socks. I shopped their sale items except for the socks, who cares if the shoes are last year's colors? The total came up to $148.97 (I had to use the entire credit at once). Shipping was also free!

[Igelfreundin]

I bought a new bike. My $25 garage-sale special finally bit the dust. I managed to find a nicer, used bike on Craigslist. I paid $250, but I'm sure it was originally double or triple that. Of course, I would never have bought it at the original price, so I'm not sure if that counts.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Linea_Norway]

On our road trip to the north of Norway we drove through Sweden and Finland. Bought cheaper hiking food in Sweden, cookies etc. And cheap beer for later this vacation. And we camped wild a little off the road.

[lemanfan]

On our road trip to the north of Norway we drove through Sweden and Finland. Bought cheaper hiking food in Sweden, cookies etc. And cheap beer for later this vacation. And we camped wild a little off the road.

Oh wow, you must be very very far up north!

[Dollar Slice]

Through the New York Public Library's online services today, I got two sets of museum passes, watched two short films, and read a book on my Kindle app. All free!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Yesterday I: ate breakfast & lunch at work (free), drove the electric car to work, and made leftovers for dinner. A regular day, and one I plan to repeat today!

[Hirondelle]

I noticed some of my zucchinis were about to go bad, so chopped them up and froze them.

[MountainGal]

Just saved $15 on ink cartridges for the office from what I usually pay at Sam's Club using my $18 Office Depot Reward Certificate from recycling ink earlier this year, and the current Office Depot ink special of buy one get one for 30% off.  Free shipping, tomorrow delivery.  Nice!

Saved another 23% at the store last night = $74.27.  Highlights include 3 free items, $5 off my order for downloading the store's ap onto my phone, and almonds for $2.49.

With a $5 coupon toward a twin pack, my allergy eye drops were essentially BOGO at Walmart yesterday.

Making a huge payment toward my CC last month saved me about $30 in interest on this month's bill.  I made another large payment yesterday to knock it down even more.  I hope to have it paid off by September.

Continuing to bring breakfast, iced coffee, lunch, and snacks from home to the office.

[daverobev]

Got a crazy ebay coupon for $10 US of anything priced $10.01 or more. So I got a $25 CAD gift card for $12.

Went to lovely No Frills. Spent $28, used $20 of points, got $3 back in points. Price matched sweetcorn with Walmart.

Made a nice pot of chili, using some beans from the garden amongst other things (some of which were paid for with a different set of points).

Life is good.

[frooglepoodle]

For dinner tonight I cooked a freezer meal that my past self had thoughtfully prepared to make healthy eating easier in the last weeks of pregnancy. It made enough leftovers to pack 3 hearty portions for my husband's lunches.

Accepted some hand-me-downs for the upcoming baby.

Line dried laundry to save energy and so the clothes last longer.

Mended a tear in my husband’s workout shorts.

[Botany Bae]

~ Nearly 100 F here, so took the boys kayaking at a local no-motor lake with a nice swimming area.

~ Took snacks and our big camping cooler jug full of water for free water bottle refills.

~ Came home exhausted and hot, with starving teens begging for Subway. Mixed a can of Trader Joe's jackfruit and a can of black beans with a bottle of barbecue sauce, and within five minutes had mock barbecue chicken sandwiches ready for dinner. Served with random fruit and raw veg from fridge.

~ Harvest garlic, walking onions, a handful of green beans, and a pepper today. Tomatoes and zucchini should be ready soon!

[OtherJen]

We’ve done a much better job of clearing out our fridge/freezer/pantry lately. Tonight’s meal was:

*Slow Cooker Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken, which used up a few leftover scallions and the fresh pineapple from last weekend’s Hungry Harvest box, as well as a pack of chicken thighs from the freezer (we always have the other sauce ingredients on hand)
*Brown rice (pantry staple)
*Frozen broccoli (purchased on sale a while ago and taking up room in the freezer)

It was very easy, very tasty, and didn’t require any extra time or money at the grocery store.

[Botany Bae]

- Scored a free charcoal/propane grill with smoker this weekend. New neighbors put it out on the curb with a sign saying Free to a Good Home. Apparently it was too big for their new patio. Luckily we expanded our patio with 88 cent pavers over the course of a couple weekends and were able to scoop up the deal. A bit of elbow grease and we got it all cleaned up and had delicious smoked chicken for dinner last night

Awesome! I've found that outdoor cooking appliances can almost always be had for free (sans propane tanks). People don't want to clean them or they fall into upgrade fever every summer when the new models roll out!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Fridge is beyond empty, but made leftovers for dinner last night. The kids come back from summer camp on Friday (12 days at sleepaway camp), and I'm at a work event today/tomorrow, so we'll restock the fridge on Thursday. We need pretty much everything, so expecting a big stock up grocery bill.

[Imma]

Took iced tea to work today in a thermos and when it was empty, I filled the bottle with tap water so I would have a nice bottle of cold water with me on the way to an appointment after work.

I will make iced tea or coffee again tonight to do the same thing tomorrow.

[Lauran75]

~ Nearly 100 F here, so took the boys kayaking at a local no-motor lake with a nice swimming area.

~ Took snacks and our big camping cooler jug full of water for free water bottle refills.

~ Came home exhausted and hot, with starving teens begging for Subway. Mixed a can of Trader Joe's jackfruit and a can of black beans with a bottle of barbecue sauce, and within five minutes had mock barbecue chicken sandwiches ready for dinner. Served with random fruit and raw veg from fridge.

~ Harvest garlic, walking onions, a handful of green beans, and a pepper today. Tomatoes and zucchini should be ready soon!

Could I have the recipe for the jackfruit/black bean dinner please? Or at least how you did it? Thanks!

[jengod]

* Got free mulch for our graywater-irrigated herb bed by using the leaf litter and dryer lint from under the neighbor's boxwood hedge

* Hung out two loads of laundry to dry

* Went to the debit-only gas station and saved about two-fiddy

* Used a Starbucks reward to feed a kid for free while out and about (I know I know I know why am I even in Starbucks ever but still)

* Used some accumulated "slow shipping" digital credits to rent a movie on Amazon

[Botany Bae]

@Lauran75

It's not even really a recipe :) I get the cans of Jackfruit at Trader Joes. Drain and shred. Dump the jackfruit and a can of beans in a pot (I mash the beans a little bit because it makes it a bit thicker) and add as much BBQ sauce as you like and bring to a simmer for a few minutes. Serve on the buns of your choice. Quicker, cheaper, and healthier than fast food.

We've done teriyaki wrap versions using a similar theory -- jackfruit and vegetables of choice simmered in bottled low sodium teriyaki sauce, then combine with bean sprouts in a wrap or tortilla.