Author Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?  (Read 8392740 times)

nessness

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13050 on: July 09, 2019, 10:07:27 PM »
My daughter has been begging for a guinea pig for a while, and a couple weeks ago I told her okay, but not until her birthday. I wanted to make sure she really wants one (she does) plus give myself the chance to find a cage and piggy for cheaper than PetSmart prices. Well today I found someone close by giving away two 1-year-old, kid-friendly piggies and a large cage for free! So that's $100+ saved, although I guess I'll pay for it in the long run by getting two guinea pigs when I'd only planned on one. I'm going to surprise her with her early birthday present tomorrow; I'm sure she'll be over the moon.

Other, less exciting things today:
- Packed a lunch
- Brought my own bag to Target - I only bought 3 things so I didn't necessarily need a bag but got a 5¢ discount for it
- Ate eggs for dinner - our chickens lay way more than we eat, so I've been trying to up our consumption of them
- Gave some eggs to a co-worker and she's giving me apricots in return

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13051 on: July 10, 2019, 02:43:32 AM »
I couldn't find motivation to do it yesterday, but today I walked to work again and will walk back in the afternoon.

Yesterday we had leftover plums at work. My department is now very empty and no one eats the not yet ripe plums. So I took them home and made jam from it, 1,5 jar.

DH needed some strong netting to make a improvised anchor for his homemade pack raft. He found some at his work, which was sent as a test product to the architects. He just cut off a piece.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13052 on: July 10, 2019, 12:58:31 PM »
Got my blood test drawn for my work wellness incentive--it will be $600 in my HSA!

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13053 on: July 10, 2019, 06:27:26 PM »
Baked a batch of homemade cookies as a thank you gift. I'll pick up a free-with-rebate coffee and deliver it to the recipient. Last time I was done this favor, I got a $20 Starbucks card. This time I'm spending about $1.25! I've got my cookie specialty down to 45 minutes for a full batch of about three dozen cookies. So even if I calculate my hourly wage (ala Your Money or Your Life) I'm still coming about ahead.

chaseboy2010

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13054 on: July 10, 2019, 07:30:48 PM »
Not today, but a couple of weeks ago I was picking plums and peaches from trees (all on public right of ways) on my way home from work. I didn't spend money on fruit (except bananas) for weeks. Home grown blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, & figs plus foraged mulberries & serviceberries kept me from needing to buy fruit, and probably healthier with a lower carbon footprint.

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13055 on: July 11, 2019, 12:11:51 PM »
Not today, but a couple of weeks ago I was picking plums and peaches from trees (all on public right of ways) on my way home from work. I didn't spend money on fruit (except bananas) for weeks. Home grown blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, & figs plus foraged mulberries & serviceberries kept me from needing to buy fruit, and probably healthier with a lower carbon footprint.

Wonderful and as it should be. I wish more edibles were planted in public parks and so forth.

* Saved $7 by arriving early enough to get street parking instead of parking at the lot at the pediatrician’s office.

* Filled up the car at the lower-price debit-only gas station.

* Put the kids’ school photos in frames purchased for next to nothing at Goodwill.



Catbert

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13056 on: July 11, 2019, 01:45:50 PM »
My daughter has been begging for a guinea pig for a while, and a couple weeks ago I told her okay, but not until her birthday. I wanted to make sure she really wants one (she does) plus give myself the chance to find a cage and piggy for cheaper than PetSmart prices. Well today I found someone close by giving away two 1-year-old, kid-friendly piggies and a large cage for free! So that's $100+ saved, although I guess I'll pay for it in the long run by getting two guinea pigs when I'd only planned on one. I'm going to surprise her with her early birthday present tomorrow; I'm sure she'll be over the moon.

Other, less exciting things today:
- Packed a lunch
- Brought my own bag to Target - I only bought 3 things so I didn't necessarily need a bag but got a 5¢ discount for it
- Ate eggs for dinner - our chickens lay way more than we eat, so I've been trying to up our consumption of them
- Gave some eggs to a co-worker and she's giving me apricots in return

I hope those guinea pigs are the same sex or it will really cost you!  :-)

OmahaSteph

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13057 on: July 11, 2019, 01:57:16 PM »
Catching up -

Cashed in some Expedia points to bring down the cost of an already reasonable, pet-friendly hotel while traveling in a couple weeks.

Took advantage of the impromptu taco bar in the kitchen at work.

Bought, installed, uninstalled, reinstalled, swore at, corrected, and finally set the timers on a hose timer for the gardens. One section is linked to a soaker hose for the tomatoes and peppers in raised beds. The other is snaked under the deck to the other side of the yard to make watering over there easier. Times are in the morning and evening to save on evaporation.

Accidentally left an overflow compost pile in place for a couple years (as one does). It had reverted to mostly soil, so I turned it into a pumpkin bed! There's also a volunteer tomato from last year's cast-offs.

The kids are at Camp Grandma for a couple weeks, so our grocery bill is next to nothing. Lots in the pantry and freezer to use up.

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13058 on: July 11, 2019, 02:44:38 PM »
Not today, but a couple of weeks ago I was picking plums and peaches from trees (all on public right of ways) on my way home from work. I didn't spend money on fruit (except bananas) for weeks. Home grown blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, & figs plus foraged mulberries & serviceberries kept me from needing to buy fruit, and probably healthier with a lower carbon footprint.

There's a website that tracks edibles on public lands:  https://fallingfruit.org/ 

Obviously birds and other wildlife eat some of this food, but I've seen so much bounty go to waste from untended trees.  Even if the tree is on private property, if no one is tending or harvesting it -- ask the landowner if you can take some fruit.  There was a beautiful old apple tree behind our local grocery store that produced bushels of wonderful apples each year.  The store manager told me the tree dated back to when the land used to be farm, decades ago.  He told me to help myself.  We liked the apples so much I took it a step further and took a few twigs from that old tree.  I grafted them and now we have 10 little baby clones of the "Grocery store tree" growing at our place.  Fun!     

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13059 on: July 11, 2019, 09:14:42 PM »
Used a $100 coupon code & $330 in credit for our flights for the holidays. The credit was expiring, so double win.

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13060 on: July 11, 2019, 11:51:02 PM »
I walked to the train station instead of taking the bus.

Poundwise

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13061 on: July 12, 2019, 09:52:31 AM »
Was buying last minute train tickets at Amtrak.  Not sure if this should count as a fail, since I could have gotten 30% off had I bought the tix two weeks ago. On the other hand, I limited the damage by the following:

1. Signing up for an NARP membership to get a 10% discount https://www.amtrak.com/narp-members-discount
2.  Since the discount is good only 3 days in advance, I couldn't apply it for the departure.  Even worse, only expensive seats were left!  Well, we had to go so I sucked it up and got our round trip ticket. I also had trouble getting the NARP discount to show for the return so it was depressing.

 Had a thought about calling about the NARP discount, but while I was looking I realized that there were now cheap seats available for our departure!  Cancelled our first reservation, bought the cheap seats one way. Then got the return trip as a one way reservation and the discount worked!

Saved almost a hundred dollars this way.

chaseboy2010

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13062 on: July 12, 2019, 11:45:42 AM »
I'm gluten intolerant, and GF bread is pretty expensive. I can buy 4 burger buns from a local brand for $5.

My employer (1,000 employees) sometimes caters lunches from a local restaurant that uses these GF buns. If anyone in the catered group selects GF, they just send 20 or so buns. Office management has been throwing the extras out since there are always leftovers. I discovered this, got the OK from office management, and now have a free supply of GF bread. Felt a bit weird walking down the hall at work with 15 GF buns, but oh well, freezer is stocked. I just use the burger buns like regular bread and have round sandwiches and round toast :)

zygote

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13063 on: July 12, 2019, 01:40:13 PM »
What a win-win! Free gluten free bread for you, and less waste for them.

I bought an umbrella two weeks ago, and it broke after the second use. Today I brought it back to the store and got my money back.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13064 on: July 12, 2019, 01:57:24 PM »
I ate free GF bread today! One of my roommates gets to take home food from work that's about to be tossed, and she passes on what she doesn't like.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13065 on: July 12, 2019, 05:21:55 PM »
Free work food for me, too! 
Also found chicken thighs for $0.79/pound at Aldi, and chicken breasts for $1.59/lb. Spent yesterday evening batch cooking and meal prepping it all. Found some tasty recipes on the internet to use ingredients I already had, versus going out to buy one or two things just to make a recipe. Very satisfying to use up little bits of this and that in a tasty meal. Now to use up the giant bag of kale  before it goes bad!

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13066 on: July 12, 2019, 07:37:03 PM »
-Opened a new no fee chase card and cancelled my old one with a $95 fee. Within 30 days of the fee date, so I'll get the $95 back. Already did our big sign up bonus bonanza on that and one for my husband- we did the same for his account, too.

-Not really small savings actually! We're selling our second car (truck). We own it outright, so no car payment, but we'll get cash in pocket (hello IRAs!), and not have the insurance and depreciation cost of it sitting there. Wasn't an easy choice, but with a baby coming a truck with virtually no back seat wasn't going to cut it as a second car anyway. We'll try being a one car family as long as we can- where we live, it shouldn't be a problem in theory!

onward19

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13067 on: July 12, 2019, 09:42:52 PM »
This is a super small savings.

  I had radishes on my shopping list. They are always sold in one pound bag for $2.  We never finish off the whole bag before they start to go bad, either.
 As I picked up the bag of radishes, I admired the pretty bunches of radishes stacked next to them. These always cost more because they're still attached to the leaves. Not today! Today I realized that the bunches were on sale 2/$1, and they had about 10 radishes per bunch. So not only were they presumably fresher, they were cheaper in a few ways than buying the usual product.
 My goal this time is to use all the radishes before they go bad - lots of shaved radishes in our salad future!

Step37

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13068 on: July 12, 2019, 10:00:03 PM »
This is a super small savings.

  I had radishes on my shopping list. They are always sold in one pound bag for $2.  We never finish off the whole bag before they start to go bad, either.
 As I picked up the bag of radishes, I admired the pretty bunches of radishes stacked next to them. These always cost more because they're still attached to the leaves. Not today! Today I realized that the bunches were on sale 2/$1, and they had about 10 radishes per bunch. So not only were they presumably fresher, they were cheaper in a few ways than buying the usual product.
 My goal this time is to use all the radishes before they go bad - lots of shaved radishes in our salad future!

Something interesting to do with radishes is to pickle them! Might solve the problem of using them all up if you do this with some. My husband has been making them for the past few years (quick pickling method/just keep in fridge) and they are awesome in sandwiches, salads or on fish tacos. If you’re interested I can find the recipe for you. :)

SquashingDebt

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13069 on: July 13, 2019, 05:32:40 AM »
I questioned the pharmacist when my prescription rang up more expensive than I thought it should have.  She did some checking and it ended up going down from $40.50 -> $7 or so.

nouveauRiche

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13070 on: July 13, 2019, 07:20:27 AM »
I questioned the pharmacist when my prescription rang up more expensive than I thought it should have.  She did some checking and it ended up going down from $40.50 -> $7 or so.

Wow!  Worth asking!

Zaga

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13071 on: July 13, 2019, 08:32:42 AM »
This is a super small savings.

  I had radishes on my shopping list. They are always sold in one pound bag for $2.  We never finish off the whole bag before they start to go bad, either.
 As I picked up the bag of radishes, I admired the pretty bunches of radishes stacked next to them. These always cost more because they're still attached to the leaves. Not today! Today I realized that the bunches were on sale 2/$1, and they had about 10 radishes per bunch. So not only were they presumably fresher, they were cheaper in a few ways than buying the usual product.
 My goal this time is to use all the radishes before they go bad - lots of shaved radishes in our salad future!

Something interesting to do with radishes is to pickle them! Might solve the problem of using them all up if you do this with some. My husband has been making them for the past few years (quick pickling method/just keep in fridge) and they are awesome in sandwiches, salads or on fish tacos. If you’re interested I can find the recipe for you. :)
Also, roasted radishes are delicious!  Kind of like potatoes, but not.  I can't describe the taste other than it's really good and nothing like raw radish!

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13072 on: July 13, 2019, 10:54:18 AM »
This is a super small savings.

  I had radishes on my shopping list. They are always sold in one pound bag for $2.  We never finish off the whole bag before they start to go bad, either.
 As I picked up the bag of radishes, I admired the pretty bunches of radishes stacked next to them. These always cost more because they're still attached to the leaves. Not today! Today I realized that the bunches were on sale 2/$1, and they had about 10 radishes per bunch. So not only were they presumably fresher, they were cheaper in a few ways than buying the usual product.
 My goal this time is to use all the radishes before they go bad - lots of shaved radishes in our salad future!

Something interesting to do with radishes is to pickle them! Might solve the problem of using them all up if you do this with some. My husband has been making them for the past few years (quick pickling method/just keep in fridge) and they are awesome in sandwiches, salads or on fish tacos. If you’re interested I can find the recipe for you. :)
Also, roasted radishes are delicious!  Kind of like potatoes, but not.  I can't describe the taste other than it's really good and nothing like raw radish!

You can roast radishes? I am shooketh.

Savings:
* Saved $6 by making my own coffee and overnight oatmeal
* Made a whole roast chicken for dinner the other night, put the bones in the crockpot and am currently making minestrone soup with the chicken broth, cooking the bones a second time for remouillage to be used cooking wild rice. (Also got a cup of shredded chicken meat off the bones.) The remains will be added to the compost bin in due course.

Roadrunner53

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13073 on: July 13, 2019, 11:18:16 AM »
This is a super small savings.

  I had radishes on my shopping list. They are always sold in one pound bag for $2.  We never finish off the whole bag before they start to go bad, either.
 As I picked up the bag of radishes, I admired the pretty bunches of radishes stacked next to them. These always cost more because they're still attached to the leaves. Not today! Today I realized that the bunches were on sale 2/$1, and they had about 10 radishes per bunch. So not only were they presumably fresher, they were cheaper in a few ways than buying the usual product.
 My goal this time is to use all the radishes before they go bad - lots of shaved radishes in our salad future!

Something interesting to do with radishes is to pickle them! Might solve the problem of using them all up if you do this with some. My husband has been making them for the past few years (quick pickling method/just keep in fridge) and they are awesome in sandwiches, salads or on fish tacos. If you’re interested I can find the recipe for you. :)

Yes, please post recipe!

Step37

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13074 on: July 13, 2019, 07:12:03 PM »
Here’s the link to the yummy pickled radishes:
https://cookieandkate.com/spicy-quick-pickled-radishes/

(Have also tried roasted radishes as someone mentioned - they are really interesting!)

onward19

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13075 on: July 13, 2019, 07:33:52 PM »
This is a super small savings.

  I had radishes on my shopping list. They are always sold in one pound bag for $2.  We never finish off the whole bag before they start to go bad, either.
 As I picked up the bag of radishes, I admired the pretty bunches of radishes stacked next to them. These always cost more because they're still attached to the leaves. Not today! Today I realized that the bunches were on sale 2/$1, and they had about 10 radishes per bunch. So not only were they presumably fresher, they were cheaper in a few ways than buying the usual product.
 My goal this time is to use all the radishes before they go bad - lots of shaved radishes in our salad future!

Something interesting to do with radishes is to pickle them! Might solve the problem of using them all up if you do this with some. My husband has been making them for the past few years (quick pickling method/just keep in fridge) and they are awesome in sandwiches, salads or on fish tacos. If you’re interested I can find the recipe for you. :)
 
  Interesting! I have never heard of pickled radishes. I'd be curious in trying out the recipe just to see what they're like, especially since it sounds simple. Thanks!

onward19

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13076 on: July 13, 2019, 07:41:52 PM »
Not a small thing, but I'm excited and wanted to share.
 We bought a house in early spring and discovered when the snow melted that the yard was a mess i.e. grass was mostly non-existent. We put money into other projects so adding topsoil, grass seed etc had to wait.
 Well, today I stumbled on FREE sod on Craigslist. We jumped on that fast and brought home a truck full of rolled sod. Several hours later we had 600sqft+ of beautiful grass where there was just mud previously. All it required was a lot of work! :) Lots of $$ saved!

Dollar Slice

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13077 on: July 13, 2019, 09:48:46 PM »
Spent 1 hour and 45 minutes trying to get home on the nightmare power-outage transit disaster in Manhattan tonight instead of paying surge pricing or yellow cab pricing to get home. Didn't grab dinner out even though I was really hungry and didn't end up getting home until 11:30PM.

Not sure any of this was worth it, but... I did it.

JLee

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13078 on: July 14, 2019, 09:22:01 AM »
The cardboard-ish backing on my Ikea dresser was starting to fall apart and the dresser was getting wobbly as a result. I recently bought a mirror that was packed with a large piece of thin MDF-ish sheeting, so I cut that to size and nailed it to the dresser (replacing the thinner material that was there). Fixed for free!

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13079 on: July 14, 2019, 10:28:09 AM »
We will need some paint later this summer to re-paint our gate and I noticed it was 30% off today so I already bought it. Saved €10 by planning ahead! Also redeemed a €0,50 coupon I had for that store. It's not much but every little bit counts.

nessness

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13080 on: July 14, 2019, 08:30:22 PM »
My daughter has been begging for a guinea pig for a while, and a couple weeks ago I told her okay, but not until her birthday. I wanted to make sure she really wants one (she does) plus give myself the chance to find a cage and piggy for cheaper than PetSmart prices. Well today I found someone close by giving away two 1-year-old, kid-friendly piggies and a large cage for free! So that's $100+ saved, although I guess I'll pay for it in the long run by getting two guinea pigs when I'd only planned on one. I'm going to surprise her with her early birthday present tomorrow; I'm sure she'll be over the moon.

Other, less exciting things today:
- Packed a lunch
- Brought my own bag to Target - I only bought 3 things so I didn't necessarily need a bag but got a 5¢ discount for it
- Ate eggs for dinner - our chickens lay way more than we eat, so I've been trying to up our consumption of them
- Gave some eggs to a co-worker and she's giving me apricots in return

I hope those guinea pigs are the same sex or it will really cost you!  :-)
Haha, yes, they are! Well, at least she told me they are; I didn't verify. But no behavior that makes me think otherwise. :)

Sugaree

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13081 on: July 15, 2019, 05:30:04 AM »
This is a super small savings.

  I had radishes on my shopping list. They are always sold in one pound bag for $2.  We never finish off the whole bag before they start to go bad, either.
 As I picked up the bag of radishes, I admired the pretty bunches of radishes stacked next to them. These always cost more because they're still attached to the leaves. Not today! Today I realized that the bunches were on sale 2/$1, and they had about 10 radishes per bunch. So not only were they presumably fresher, they were cheaper in a few ways than buying the usual product.
 My goal this time is to use all the radishes before they go bad - lots of shaved radishes in our salad future!

Something interesting to do with radishes is to pickle them! Might solve the problem of using them all up if you do this with some. My husband has been making them for the past few years (quick pickling method/just keep in fridge) and they are awesome in sandwiches, salads or on fish tacos. If you’re interested I can find the recipe for you. :)
Also, roasted radishes are delicious!  Kind of like potatoes, but not.  I can't describe the taste other than it's really good and nothing like raw radish!


Yes!  It cooks the peppery flavor out and the texture is like potatoes.  I hate raw radishes, but have started using cooked ones in the place of potatoes in beef stew and roast beef.  I need to try it in some keema to see if it works.




Today, I'm staying off Amazon and trying to ignore the guys in my office geeking out about Prime Day sales. 

I don't need more stuff.  I don't need more stuff.  I don't need more stuff.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2019, 05:40:13 AM by Sugaree »

FIRE_guy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13082 on: July 15, 2019, 11:51:13 PM »
Yesterday's victory:

Had a business trip and brought a sandwich for the flight. Now I'll have more of that daily per diem in my pocket.

chaseboy2010

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13083 on: July 16, 2019, 09:37:52 AM »
Replaced the headlight in my vehicle. $8 instead of taking it to the shop. Most vehicles have YouTube videos to show you how. Make sure not to touch the bulb itself with your oily fingers.

Lady Stash

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13084 on: July 16, 2019, 02:00:08 PM »
I've been wanting a water feature in my backyard for a while but the ones at Armstrong's run from a couple hundred up to 1k, plus I wanted on with plants and fish.  Got an estimate to build a pond in my yard: ~3K. 

So a couple weeks ago I lucked out and got a free pond pump from a neighbor on the local Buy Nothing group on Facebook.  Found a barrel on sale at Costco for $10.  Found a ceramic turtle at Home Depot for $18, $1 for tubing, $5 for hardware and I got the turtle mounted on the barrel, hooked up to the pump and spitting water into my barrel pond.  Added in a couple cheap fancy guppies, some cheap water hyacinths and one $30 water lily.   Voila, I have a little water garden.

My friend gave me her backyard furniture set last week because it doesn't fit at her new place.  Added in some new pillows from Costco.

So I have a new backyard sofa & table facing a turtle spouting water into a barrel pond and the entire setup cost me under $80.  It's a perfect outdoor place to relax and listen to the water.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13085 on: July 16, 2019, 07:46:18 PM »
Replaced the headlight in my vehicle. $8 instead of taking it to the shop. Most vehicles have YouTube videos to show you how. Make sure not to touch the bulb itself with your oily fingers.

Did this for the first time this weekend! Would never have thought to DIY if not for this forum (facepunch dodged). My SO reckons a garage would've charged about $75 dollars, and we spent about $8. It ended up being a bit of fun bonding time, too.

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13086 on: July 17, 2019, 02:25:22 AM »
Two things: painting the kitchen and patio chairs and as a family been picking from the abundance of berries that have been growing in our yard. It has been a good year for our strawberry, honey berry plant and now blackberry. It’s nostalgic and brings me back to being in my grandfather’s garden with my brother picking raspberries.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13087 on: July 17, 2019, 02:36:24 AM »
Two things: painting the kitchen and patio chairs and as a family been picking from the abundance of berries that have been growing in our yard. It has been a good year for our strawberry, honey berry plant and now blackberry. It’s nostalgic and brings me back to being in my grandfather’s garden with my brother picking raspberries.

I have been picking so many blackberries! I've barely had to dip into my trail mix. Had a bunch for dessert tonight. On hikes I've picked thimbleberries, red huckleberry, Oregon grapes, salmonberry, and salal. In my neighborhood I'll grab a raspberry or blueberry, and I have my eye on a grapevine.

I also picked up a camping chair from a free pile. I had been thinking about getting one. I'm leaving it outside, and I'm gonna disinfect everything tomorrow.

A Fella from Stella

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13088 on: July 17, 2019, 07:39:11 PM »
I bought prepaid meals. They aren't cheaper than I could spend, but they keep me out of the grocery store where I spend about 2x over the course of the week. Now, it's just milk, fruit and vegetables.

Trifle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13089 on: July 18, 2019, 02:31:59 AM »
We're in the home stretch of our kitchen remodel and needed some counter-height stools for the new island.  I found some great used ones on Craigslist for cheap. 

Slow&Steady

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13090 on: July 18, 2019, 07:08:46 AM »
We need a brush hog for the farm.  I have been watching FB marketplace and this morning saw one listed with a busted gear box with "make an offer" and then like 3 ads down I found a gear box for a brush hog listed for $80.  I sent them both to SO to try to get them for a fraction of the price (but a little DIY work required) of what I can get a used working or a new one for!

chaseboy2010

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13091 on: July 18, 2019, 08:23:12 AM »
Unclogged pipes by using vinegar and baking soda after the store-bought drain cleaner didn't work.

I unscrewed the trap to try to manually clear the pipes, but the clog was higher (hair from shaving and cutting my own hair). So I filled the trap with baking soda before replacing it. Once replaced, I poured vinegar down the sink and then plugged the drain. The reaction (remember the volcano from grade school?) was enough to fill up all the empty space, grab the hair, and since the sink was plugged, had nowhere else to go but down. Cleared it completely with a very satisfactory audible sound.

Going to return the extra drain cleaner I just bought last week.

Omy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13092 on: July 18, 2019, 08:46:35 AM »
Awesome! There is also a handy dollar store "snake" that is perfect for those kind of clogs when vinegar and baking soda doesn't work. It's a flexible piece of plastic that is about .5 inches wide and 18 inches long with spines to grab the hair. You just stick it down the drain and pull the disgusting goop up. And you don't even need to remove the stopper or trap!

Step37

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13093 on: July 18, 2019, 08:27:47 PM »
Discovered that the five zucchinis in my fridge were not looking so good. Cleaned them up, chopped and roasted them. Had some in my salad and will have more tomorrow. HATE food waste!

Polaria

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13094 on: July 20, 2019, 11:34:17 AM »
My daughter has been begging for a guinea pig for a while, and a couple weeks ago I told her okay, but not until her birthday. I wanted to make sure she really wants one (she does) plus give myself the chance to find a cage and piggy for cheaper than PetSmart prices. Well today I found someone close by giving away two 1-year-old, kid-friendly piggies and a large cage for free! So that's $100+ saved, although I guess I'll pay for it in the long run by getting two guinea pigs when I'd only planned on one. I'm going to surprise her with her early birthday present tomorrow; I'm sure she'll be over the moon.

Other, less exciting things today:
- Packed a lunch
- Brought my own bag to Target - I only bought 3 things so I didn't necessarily need a bag but got a 5¢ discount for it
- Ate eggs for dinner - our chickens lay way more than we eat, so I've been trying to up our consumption of them
- Gave some eggs to a co-worker and she's giving me apricots in return

I hope those guinea pigs are the same sex or it will really cost you!  :-)
Haha, yes, they are! Well, at least she told me they are; I didn't verify. But no behavior that makes me think otherwise. :)
If they’ve been in the same cage for the last few months it should be fine.
(Baby guinea pigs are sooo cute though!)

Related story: https://www.itv.com/news/2014-06-06/guinea-pig-to-become-father-to-400-after-breaking-into-female-enclosure/

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13095 on: July 20, 2019, 12:28:56 PM »
We're on holiday and I'm spending the evening in our room because I'm tired from walking the entire day.

I visited two free museums that were both really great. We had breakfast from the supermarket. Portion sizes are much bigger in here than at home, so we shared a baguette for lunch. Dinner was especially frugal: we went to a restaurant yesterday and took the leftovers with us and microwaved them today.

I have a healthy appetite and have never had leftovers in a restaurant before, but this place served a mountain of pasta. I was quite hungry but by the time I was full I had barely made a dent in it. I asked for a takeaway container and what was left completely filled a standard size container.

I don't mind spending a little bit more on vacation but I'm still not spending mindlessly and I still hate waste. And we just really like walking, hanging out in parks, visiting museums and other cheap/free activities. We get supermarket food a lot. When we do eat out we try to go for quality - that doesn't necessarily mean expensive though.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2019, 01:17:44 PM by Imma »

Candace

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13096 on: July 20, 2019, 12:32:19 PM »
Great job Imma! That's a fantastic way to blunt the costs of traveling. We love eating from supermarkets when traveling. It's actually a relief after eating in restaurants.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13097 on: July 23, 2019, 06:26:22 PM »
Took my car in for preventative maintenance, to a trusted garage. Luckily, the garage is blocks from work, so I didn't have to pay for parking today. Although the maintenance did cost into the two figures, this kind of care should keep my car running into the 6 figures, mileage-wise. They found what could have been a dangerous situation and remedied it before I was stranded, or worse, involved someone else in an accident.

Ate two meals at work, came home and had a snack of homemade jam bars that I've tweaked to be low-carb, no white flour, no white sugar. Quite proud of self for that feat, since they are tasty and made completely from panty ingredients. The jam was home-made from my pear tree, and the flours were bulk-purchased. Much cheaper than any store-bought bar-shaped snack.

dblaace

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13098 on: July 23, 2019, 07:18:41 PM »
Reading the Playing with FIRE eBook that I checked out from my library.

Rosy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #13099 on: July 24, 2019, 09:00:59 AM »
1. I killed my fat little piggy:)
It was so full I had to wiggle the last few coins inside.
So I optimized it - straight into my holiday club account @2.5% - $97~~~ extra savings.

2. This morning I cashed in $50 in rewards points.
$50 extra savings - that holiday club acct may make it to $1K yet - via nothing but bonus pmts, coupons, rewards and little savings here and there.

3. Today - requesting two finance books from another library - ours NEVER has any worthwhile books about money, but for whatever reason the little beach town 25 minutes away has an excellent selection of finance and retirement and general money books.
I always wonder why that is - maybe the snowbirds are all MMMr's who read and donate finance books?

4. Yesterday - resisted the urge to spend $15 on a book.

Then I discovered Amazon has six books by my favorite author that I have not read - she passed away years ago. I'll see if I can get them from the library and if not, maybe get a used copy.
No damn MMM is going to keep me from reading or buying those books if I have to, now that I know they exist:).
Catherine Cookson - UK author.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!