Author Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money? (Read 5378338 times)

Rosy · « **Reply #14100 on:** June 20, 2020, 09:08:38 AM »

1. Saving seeds from my favorite plants like Cosmos, Zinnias and Snapdragon.
Plus - one jar full from one plant that cost me $15 - so now I can go crazy with ten more plants next year for nothing:).
... two batches from rare tropical plants - I might even sell some of those seeds.

2. Harvesting veggies and herbs for our chicken dinner today.

3. Will plant the Rue and the Rosemary out into the garden if they grew enough roots in the spice jars in the kitchen window.

4. Will have to fight the Blue Jays, Mocking Birds and Cardinal for the wild Elderberry seeds so I can finally make wine/liquor.

5. Printed $20 worth of coupons for things we routinely purchase, cat food, cheese...
Got free cat food from a store promotion.
Free is good:) and the kitties like it too.

Linea_Norway · « **Reply #14101 on:** June 20, 2020, 09:12:06 AM »

I got registered at the local library a loaned a couple of books. Membership is for free.

CrabbitDutchie · « **Reply #14102 on:** June 20, 2020, 12:11:49 PM »

Found a camping chair with broken arm rest dumped nearby by the street. 10 minutes with a needle and thread and I have a perfect chair for keeping at the allotment. No more perching on a small tree stump when I want a break

MaybeBabyMustache · « **Reply #14103 on:** June 22, 2020, 12:16:04 PM »

-Sold a few things on a local site, while at our vacation house
-Made a menu for the week, focused on optimization of food we still have lingering
-Decluttering our toiletry area, which ensures we don't buy 4x handsoap. Our previous location was too hard to see (tall & deep)

MoolahLula · « **Reply #14104 on:** June 23, 2020, 04:29:26 PM »

I opted to have my prescriptions delivered for free so that saves me the many minutes in the pharmacy’s super-popular drive through plus gas to get there.

I am using up weird odds n ends from the fridge and planning to share some frozen foods with a coworker as I know she likes to keep breakfast food in the work fridge. I bought 2 packages of a Jimmy Dean type roll dealio that was way too salty for my taste.

Trifele · « **Reply #14105 on:** June 24, 2020, 04:40:53 AM »

I needed a new pair of glasses so I decided to try online buying for the first time. It was so easy, I didn't have to go anywhere, and it cost $30. Can't beat that with a stick.

Sugaree · « **Reply #14106 on:** June 24, 2020, 05:13:58 AM »

I don't know if this counts, but I was checking my Internet data usage this morning and noticed that my 600GB plan is now showing that it's a 700GB plan. That's of interest because the kid is home watching Netflix all day and we were on track to go over 600GB this month (and get to pay for the extra data). I'm hoping this isn't a fluke. Sparklight did say that they were going to be making some "enhancements" to their Internet plans this month. Hopefully the price won't be enhanced. I'm already paying about $15/month more than if I switched to AT&T and as much as I hate them, I might be tempted to go back if Sparklight increases their prices by much.

LWYRUP · « **Reply #14107 on:** June 25, 2020, 06:59:30 AM »

Cancelled the "sump pump endorsement" on our homeowner's policy (which I swear was randomly added -- we didn't do it).

Our deductible is already $10k so what sump pump overflow is going to cost more than that?

$63 basically free dollars a year back.

MountainGal · « **Reply #14108 on:** June 25, 2020, 12:36:49 PM »

~On Monday, there was some confusion about one of DH's appointments, so he carpooled with me to the big city the next day
~Paid my business insurance in full which will save installment fees over the next year
~Used value card points at the gas pump which saved .20/gallon
~Used a gift card for lunch Tuesday
~DH used a gift certificate for a free coffee drink also on Tuesday
~Returned a used toner cartridge in exchange for $ rewards towards a future purchase
~As usual, eating leftovers here at the office for breakfast, lunch and snacks, and bringing iced coffee from home
~Continuing to use paper and e-coupons at the grocery store
~Half of DH's birthday presents were 30% off. They were something he'd been wanting to try, and the price dissuade him from doing so last year. Cannot wait for him to open them. :)
~Continuing to eat leftovers and things on hand

ZsaZsa · « **Reply #14109 on:** July 02, 2020, 07:30:35 AM »

Harvested some of my basil, and made my first batch of homemade pesto!
Picked lettuce and assorted peppers from the garden.
Gave Mr. Z a haircut.

okcisok · « **Reply #14110 on:** July 03, 2020, 06:33:14 PM »

Had homemade cornbread and gifted jams for breakfast/lunch. Not the healthiest of meals, but delicious!
Worked from home. One work errand combined with a personal errand, and found two pennies in the parking lot.
Talked myself out of buying a Kindle book, got on the library website instead. Didn't find what I wanted, but saved the cost of the book.
Found an item I needed on Amazon for buy one get one 50% off. It bumped me over the free shipping limit and it's a toiletry I use every day. I'm still going to use up some gifted versions, to keep the purchasing to a minimum.

Linea_Norway · « **Reply #14111 on:** July 05, 2020, 02:40:16 AM »

DH caught a trout that we can have for dinner.

horsepoor · « **Reply #14112 on:** July 05, 2020, 12:05:36 PM »

Harvested what I could from my lettuce before pulling up the rest of the plants.

Also picked chard, potatoes and carrots, and now have enough room to replant the volunteer onions that I dug up from the garden walkways and stuffed in a pot a couple weeks ago.

I've been wanting to get cellular shades for the basement windows, because I telework down there now and the sun can be pretty harsh right behind my desk (when I'm on video calls it looks like I'm an interviewee in the witness protection program). Realized today that I have some outdoor shade sails sitting around and I could use one of them to block the sun for outside. Still might spring for the cellular shades before winter, but at least the purchase is delayed a few months.

Went through all my horse equipment and identified a bunch that can be sold. In the process of cleaning it up to post on local FaceBook group.

Made some seed crackers using up pepitas that were left from a bag of trail mix after high-grading all the more choice bits.

Arbitrage · « **Reply #14113 on:** July 05, 2020, 03:44:32 PM »

Replaced the air filter and cabin filter on my wife's car with filters I purchased online for ~$25 total. Took 10 minutes, but most of that was pulling the car out of the garage to get access and watching a couple of short youtube videos. Ridiculous that the mechanic wanted to charge us $150 for that.

FrugalAussie · « **Reply #14114 on:** July 05, 2020, 05:24:50 PM »

Some of our young adult kids and their partners are coming for lunch next weekend. One wanted to play board games and suggested Cluedo which none of us own. I was going to search it out at thrift stores, it was a good excuse to get bargain hunting but first I put up a request on my Buy Nothing Group. I pick up the game for free today. So I saved the cost of the game and as well as the other treasures I would have found at the Thrift Store.

pbkmaine · « **Reply #14115 on:** July 05, 2020, 05:54:36 PM »

We were low on bread, so I made Irish soda bread using this recipe:

https://rbandmindy.com/irish-soda-bread-made-easy-self-rising-flour/

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

ZsaZsa · « **Reply #14116 on:** July 06, 2020, 09:22:08 AM »

Tore some old shorts of Mr. Z's into rags for the workshop, added a bucket of food scrap to the compost bin, made dog treats out of the ham trimmings and tough bits.

Frugal Lizard · « **Reply #14117 on:** July 06, 2020, 10:29:51 AM »

Spent another hour on the phone with telecom giant trying to restore our internet service to previous speed, without losing the discount that I thought we were getting when I phoned last month.

mm1970 · « **Reply #14118 on:** July 06, 2020, 11:21:09 AM »

Yesterday, pre-made some pizza shells so that we could start using the big Costco-sizes bag of mozzarella for lunches. Also made refried black beans (from dried), that got 2 thumbs of from the little kid. I think I need more dried black beans now. This pandemic makes getting dried beans difficult. I've been doing a lot of online ordering.

BookLoverL · « **Reply #14119 on:** July 06, 2020, 03:26:15 PM »

This isn't today, but I haven't been on the forum for a while and it was... last week I think. I've recently moved and didn't have a dustpan and brush or anything to sweep the kitchen floor with, and didn't want to buy one. So I made one out of an empty cardboard supermarket pizza box for free, and it actually works pretty well. Since I already paid the £1.25 to eat the pizza, and the box would have just ended up in recycling, I think that's pretty good.

okcisok · « **Reply #14120 on:** July 06, 2020, 08:12:15 PM »

Picked up my first curbside order from the public library today! I'm so excited to have two physical books to read. I do love my Kindle, but sometimes I like a real book.

ZsaZsa · « **Reply #14121 on:** July 07, 2020, 08:57:03 AM »

Mr. Z and I bagged and froze 5 bags of zucchini and yellow squash for stir fry this winter. Yum!

MaybeBabyMustache · « **Reply #14122 on:** July 07, 2020, 09:40:13 AM »

Over the last few days:
-Sold three items on eBay
-Returned an unnecessary router
-Line dried the majority of our laundry
-Picked the first items from our garden, and used them in our dinner salad

Frugal Lizard · « **Reply #14123 on:** July 07, 2020, 09:52:21 AM »

renewed almost over due library books

Linea_Norway · « **Reply #14124 on:** July 10, 2020, 11:48:41 PM »

DH came home with another big trout that he caught himself (in a clean river). That is the third one and we are filling up the freezer.

I picked up an empty aluminium drinking can with some return money on it.

MaybeBabyMustache · « **Reply #14125 on:** July 11, 2020, 11:45:20 AM »

-Sold two items on eBay. Packaged using repurposed shipping bags.
-Found a netflix DVD in the return mailing envelope, on the ground in our neighborhood. The kids were fascinated (they've only ever streamed via netflix). Returned to the closest mail drop, saving unknown neighbor money.
-Listed a bunch of other items on eBay.
-Planned ahead for an easy meal for dinner, since our kitchen is being demolished today (part of a remodel).
-Picked a few more garden items, for tonight's dinner

GermanStache · « **Reply #14126 on:** July 11, 2020, 12:08:52 PM »

Today I coincidentally found two orange vests that everyonee is required to have in the car in case of an accident. I thought I would need to buy them when we discovered we did not have them in our car as we thought we did.... But I had two from our other car that we sold in the fall.. I threw everything from that car in a bag and put it in the basement.. Also found my favourite sunglasses that I thought I left in that car.

MyAlterEgoIsTaller · « **Reply #14127 on:** July 11, 2020, 12:50:00 PM »

I saw the town road crew guys working on replacing a culvert, and I went out and talked to them about how some of the water that was causing the problems runs down through a corner of my yard and across my driveway I told them I was planning to hire somebody to put in a perforated pipe in my yard there, but the road crew guys said they'd just dig me a drainage ditch directed to their new culvert and fill the ditch in with gravel - they said that was ok for them to do as part of the town work since it was all fixing the road icing problem. Problem fixed and chunk of money saved by happening to be there and having a friendly conversation.

MudPuppy · « **Reply #14128 on:** July 11, 2020, 12:54:54 PM »

Quick pickled some bulbils from my walking onions. They’ll be lovely additions to cheese plates, etc.

Trifele · « **Reply #14129 on:** July 12, 2020, 05:04:14 AM »

Quote from: MyAlterEgoIsTaller on July 11, 2020, 12:50:00 PM

I saw the town road crew guys working on replacing a culvert, and I went out and talked to them about how some of the water that was causing the problems runs down through a corner of my yard and across my driveway I told them I was planning to hire somebody to put in a perforated pipe in my yard there, but the road crew guys said they'd just dig me a drainage ditch directed to their new culvert and fill the ditch in with gravel - they said that was ok for them to do as part of the town work since it was all fixing the road icing problem. Problem fixed and chunk of money saved by happening to be there and having a friendly conversation.

This is great! Congratulations @MyAlterEgoIsTaller!

Trifele · « **Reply #14130 on:** July 12, 2020, 08:54:47 AM »

Processed and froze 20 quarts of kale from our garden.

MoolahLula · « **Reply #14131 on:** July 12, 2020, 03:20:20 PM »

I did a post-breakfast stroll through my local botanic garden which has, than heavens, reopened. I bought a $38 annual pass and so far have been there 4 times this year even with their COVID closure. I took lots of photos today and might print and frame some of them.

I have been eating up odds n ends from the fridge. Iced tea is chilling in the fridge now. I bought some lemons for it to be extra fancypants.

okcisok · « **Reply #14132 on:** July 12, 2020, 09:40:14 PM »

Made a Sesame Beef recipe with a venison round steak that was given to me by a local hunter. It made several meals and I ate every bit without any waste. It was a total pantry meal that I didn't need to buy any ingredients for. Frugal win, because I've got three more round steaks in the freezer and now I know how to prepare them.

Had tomatoes from the neighbors garden, sliced and sprinkle with Tajin, for a snack. Just had a thought--I should cook another round steak with the rest of the tomatoes and have some squash I just pulled from the garden for a totally local meal!

Ate dinner at work.

This is ongoing, but gradually losing the quarantine weight gained so that I fit back into work clothes without having to buy new. Fit back into a pair of pants and a skirt this week!

MaybeBabyMustache · « **Reply #14133 on:** July 13, 2020, 10:00:50 AM »

@okcisok - way to go on dropping the quarantine weight!

Over the past few days:
-Used a grocery store gift card (earned through buying Home Depot gift cards that we needed for our remodel) to buy a few essential & treats this week
-Listed a bunch of items on eBay
-Every meal we are making at home this week is a true victory. We have no oven, stove or dishwasher, due to a kitchen remodel. Meals are pricier (frozen options, easier prep), but much cheaper than takeout.
-Using tomatoes from the garden

Linea_Norway · « **Reply #14134 on:** July 14, 2020, 06:03:37 AM »

DH threw leftover worms from fishing into our worm bin at the cabin where we also added the kitchen scraps. We hope they will thrive and multiply.

Imma · « **Reply #14135 on:** July 14, 2020, 06:29:05 AM »

Ate leftovers from the freezer for dinner last night and will do the same tonight. We like to call it dining a la carte because we each get to choose a different meal and we have leftovers of all our staple meals in the freezer. We'll probably have some home grown salad with dinner too.

MountainGal · « **Reply #14136 on:** July 14, 2020, 02:20:47 PM »

Used a gift card to buy some much needed organizer bins.

Used the remaining restaurant gift card. It's one I've had for several years and was about to throw it out. Glad I didn't-when I checked the balance online, it had $24+!

Dropped off some items for a donation write off.

Refrained from stopping by the bakery and chocolate factory when in the big city. O:)

okcisok · « **Reply #14137 on:** July 18, 2020, 10:11:26 PM »

Re-used decorations from last birthday car parade for today's, so didn't need to buy anything new to celebrate.
Found out company food options are back, so I got a very filling high protein high fat lunch for $2.

Step37 · « **Reply #14138 on:** July 20, 2020, 09:02:18 AM »

Just spent five minutes on the phone to cancel a credit card that I’d only gotten for the opening rewards bonus. They offered to waive the annual fee ($120) for the coming year instead, so I guess I now have really good travel insurance coverage if travel becomes appealing again...

Dutch Comfort · « **Reply #14139 on:** July 20, 2020, 09:04:29 AM »

- Made a big lasagna yesterday with leftover veggies and two mozzarella who were close to expiry date. Enough to feed 4 yesterday + 2 lunch today.
- Have my husband use my company car to drive to work while I'm working from home for the last couple of weeks (this is allowed!)
- Brought my own lunch + snacks to the office today!

okcisok · « **Reply #14140 on:** July 20, 2020, 03:59:40 PM »

Really wanted takeout today but waited until I got home to eat. Then I made some healthy snacks to have the rest of the week.
Resisted getting a manicure. Work has been really stressful lately. That's the only time I start thinking about those kind of treatments. I stepped back, realized that's what why I wanted to get one, and thought of free options that are relaxing.

FrugalAussie · « **Reply #14141 on:** July 20, 2020, 04:49:16 PM »

I only have three weeks of my usual work until I retire again and have negotiated working from home one day a week. This is something I should have done a lot earlier, long before the COVID lockdown. I'll save two + hours of commuting at $10 per trip (in a Corolla Hybrid) and the price of a coffee that I often buy on my way in. You might be interested to know a latte costs between $4.50 and $5.15 for a medium sized take away in Western Australia. "Daylight Robbery"!! (as my Uncle would say) Unleaded fuel is about $1.09 per litre.

rivendale · « **Reply #14142 on:** July 20, 2020, 10:14:49 PM »

Picked plums and peaches from the neighbor's trees. It was the last of the harvest. I had previously picked bushelfuls and canned jam and sauces. The neighbor got some thank you jars.

MaybeBabyMustache · « **Reply #14143 on:** July 21, 2020, 10:29:24 AM »

@FrugalAussie - home stretch! Congrats.

For me:
-Continued using gift cards at the grocery store to buy easier food options (read, $$) during our kitchen remodel
-Listed a few new items on eBay
-As part of the remodel, continue to work our way through freezer leftovers. Avoiding takeout + cleaning out the freezer = win/win
-Used garden tomatoes & basil in a caprese salad to spice up leftovers for dinners

Dutch Comfort · « **Reply #14144 on:** July 21, 2020, 02:21:43 PM »

Used up some lemons and some other goods and made a starbucks-like lemon loaf. Enough for the whole family at just a fraction of the cost (and it turned out being delicious) No need for take-out.

314159 · « **Reply #14145 on:** July 21, 2020, 04:19:25 PM »

Recently there was a BOGO on hand-rolled local butter at my food co-op. Normally $6.30/lb, but now it costs the same as Aldi butter! I bought 6 pounds.

okcisok · « **Reply #14146 on:** July 21, 2020, 10:48:57 PM »

Didn't spend any money on anything. Did a kitchen inventory to plan meals for the next two weeks without buying any groceries.
Got on the phone to straighten out a $100 rebate that had been delayed since March. Finally got the confirmation email!

ZsaZsa · « **Reply #14147 on:** July 23, 2020, 07:41:42 PM »

Made one pint, plus a bag of frozen tablespoon portions, of homemade pesto. Harvested todays portion of zucchini, squash, cucumber and tomatoes.
Made granddaughter #3 a cute cross-body bag from an old pair of bluejeans (following the directions in the Complete Tightwad Gazette.)
Repaired a shirt of mine, and 3 pairs of Mr. Z's pants.

Dutch Comfort · « **Reply #14148 on:** July 24, 2020, 01:20:46 AM »

Took the kids out for a walk and picked a pound of blackberries. Perfect desert (I noticed blackberries at the supermarket for 8 EUR per pound!).
Watered the plants with water from the barrel.
Made sponges from old socks (google Tawashi - they are great cleaners!)

MountainGal · « **Reply #14149 on:** July 24, 2020, 12:12:54 PM »

Lately:

~Keeping food waste to nearly zero
~Bundling errands to save on fuel
~Saved $16+ on last night's grocery pickup using the store value card, this included 2 free items
~Continuing to buy double the amount of berries while they are in season and freezing half for winter
~Bought a roll of stamps for here at the office to reduce future post office stops
~Paid my business insurance in full to save future installment fees
~Turning off the AC unit and opening the door and windows for fresh air when it's cool enough outside
~Avoiding using the oven so it doesn't heat up the house reducing use of the AC units
~Unused post-it notes from home are being used here in the office
~Eagerly awaiting the first harvest from DH's garden :)

News:

Author Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money? (Read 5378338 times)