What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Dr Kidstache]

I ordered a kit to DIY flush/descale my tankless water heater. I'm not sure how much it would be exactly to have a professional service it regularly but I imagine that I'll break even by the second time I do it. The kit cost $125.

[Rosy]

1. Sanded and painted two metal garden chairs that had developed rust on the arm and on the support band. Looks like new.
2. Sanded and painted metal garden items, fancy shepherd hooks, lanterns, metal window box surround, and a couple of garden ornaments.
Cost almost zero - except for a sanding sponge, since we used paint we already had.

Three more items to go, a large metal obelisk, a garden ornament, and a metal outdoor table. Those will require three new cans of spray paint.
Definitely worth it in my book.

3. I even hand re-painted an earthenware goose that my neighbor gave me, she found it in the yard when she moved into the house next door.
Just the orange/yellow bill and web feet and the once green, now blue, festive bow.
Cost zero - free paint (I actually borrowed it) from my new neighbor who does a lot of crafts - it took only a few drops to do, then I returned the paint, because NOPE I'm not a crafter.
It took as much time to fix and remove the paint where it was not supposed to bleed into then it did to actually paint the bill, feet and bow.

I was too cheap to buy the craft paint at Michael's or wherever:).
FWIW this is the first time in my life I painted something like that - but I wanted it for my Spring/Easter Garden display in my garden and it looked a bit too bedraggled and sad.
So there you go - 20 minutes of my life - worth it? Not sure - but hey, it looks good and it was strangely satisfying to do.

4. Researched a couple of my plants and wow,
one is a desirable tropical tree (a mystery garden gift from the birds that is now six/seven feet tall) so I am moving it to become part of my Tropical Garden area.

The other is my umbrella plant, which was part of a Mother's Day gift basket ten years ago that I planted in the Back Forty.
It went wild in the garden, it is a good twelve or more feet tall and wide now. Recently bloomed too - I had no idea, interesting "flowers" - rather exotic looking actually.
We trimmed it recently for the first time ever. On a whim, I kept three branches. I literally threw them into the big cat litter box filled with water that I keep near the outdoor faucet. It comes in handy for placing nursery pots into - so they don't fall over and I can water from below - until I get a chance to plant them.
It already held some extra divided roots from my Ironcross Begonias and then I promptly forgot all about them.....

Turns out you can take cuttings, properly strip the leaves and use rooting powder to encourage new roots. Well, I did neither, but I checked what happened with my branches which were by now in slightly stinky water.
Yup, one is rooting nicely and already sprouted new baby umbrella (palmate) leaves and the other two are beginning to show some roots.
So I rinsed off the stink, stripped all the leaves (my branches were pretty big, so I kept a nice crown intact), and placed them in a vase.
I reckon in two more weeks they will be ready to plant - each is about one meter fifty tall.

Free garden gifts are the best!:) Now I can share one with my neighbor, give one to the kid and plant one of my own in the new tropical garden area.

5. My neighbor gifted us some Tiramisu, more like a huge chunk - that's what I'm enjoying along with some Turkish coffee as I write this.

[nessness]

I've been wanting some new clothes, and was planning to hit up the thrift store, but then I saw someone offering clothing in my size on my Buy Nothing group and scooped it up. I got two GIANT bags of clothes. I only went through about half of it tonight, but I've already found about ten shirts/sweaters and one dress to keep. If there are a couple pairs of pants that work for me, I should be set on clothes for at least a year.

[Dicey]

We needed to buy the appliances for our next reno project. The kitchen is really small, so we had to choose very carefully. The place we usually go was having their annual blowout sale. We found everything we needed. The stove had to be ordered. This morning, someone had the very same stove on NextDoor for less than half the price! It came with their new house, but they wanted something different. We bought it and canceled the one on order, saving $750.

Yesterday, someone offered some brand-new LVP flooring on Craigslist. Today, DH went to the store it came from to get a sample. It was a little different than I had in mind, but for half price, it will be fine. Thing is, it was way more than we needed. He was asking $2500, but agreed to $2000 if we took it all. We think we might be able to use half of it and sell the rest to another buyer in the same complex, driving our final cost way down.

[sonofsven]

It was time to clean the wood stove pipe and cap but my old home made roof ladder rotted and broke two years ago.
My roof is a 12/12 pitch metal roof, but with a 3/12 dormer on one side that starts just under the ridge. Once I get up there it's a nice place to work. The cap is removable with two bolts and I already have a 6" brush with 20' of copper pipe extensions. I pull the pipe up off the stove slightly (it's a single wall "telescoping" pipe from stove to ceiling, then double wall) and tape a garbage bag to it and clean from the top down, catching the debris in the bag.
To get up there I took apart an old aluminum extension ladder and cut it to 15'. I wrapped short carpet scraps around the ladder to make three points of contact on each side so it won't scratch the metal roof. I attached a ladder hook that my painter gave me, it has  a little wheel on one side so you roll it up the roof, then flip it over the ridge so the hook is now pressing on the opposite side, and up you go.
Cap cleaned, stove pipe cleaned, wood stove in service.
Then I went fishing :-)

[okisok]

I bought several baskets for an organizing project and didn't need three of them. I took them back to the store instead of holding on to them just in case. I got $30 back.
I got a coupon in the mail for $5 off any item at a nearby auto parts store. A four-pack of batteries I needed was $5.49, so I got them for $0.53 after tax.
A coworker went on leave a day earlier than expected and left lots of packaged food in the communal fridge. They said help ourselves to anything since it would go bad before their return. I had lunch with some of the items today and plan on tomorrow as well. Almost free lunch!

[halftimer]

Bottom section of my dishwasher stopped working a few days ago.  I didn't notice it right away, but when I did, it was the metal underside of the main spinning wheel had detached on one side.  First thought was "oh crap, I need a new dishwasher".  Second thought was "I bet I could just replace the part for a lot less $$", but tracking down the part is going to take time.  Third thought was "Hmm, I wonder if I could just re-attach that metal leg myself?" 

So I grabbed a rubber band and tied it all together, and...... it worked.  I let it run several times over the past few days to make sure it would hold.  But so far so good.  Definitely saved me some money.

I have done a few fixes lately with Sugru (moldable silicone) including a lamp, my charger cables, a broken plate, a laptop stand, and adding grips on hangers. On their ideas page it has a few fixes for inside the dishwasher using it - once it cures it is water-resistant and heat resistant and holds up really well.

[FrugalAussie]

I made Falafel using dried Broad Beans (Fava), very tasty and cheap, less than $2 for 20 (six meals). Here's the recipe: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/20/worlds-best-falafel-recipe-henry-dimbleby-back-to-basics The Garlic Mint Sauce (recipe in article above) is delicious.  I used mint from the garden and home made yogurt.   In my opinion, at least as tasty as the Falafel Kebab I purchased recently from a food van for $16 (my friend and I shared it).

[cool7hand]

Planned an efficient route to run errands necessitating the vehicle.

[Dutch Comfort]

Instead of buying a new bike for our DS (400 plus.....), I spent a few evenings on Craigslist and found a perfect 2nd hand New-to-him bike that he absolutely loves for 150!
DH and DS will spend some quality time together getting it polished and thoroughly cleaned, but then he will be set for the next 2 years.

[Roadrunner53]

I feel like "treat yoself" and "buy a trash can" are basically antithetical. 

I've been a bit spendypants lately, so trying to rein myself back in...

I get CSAs from local farmers, the upside is local produce is super fresh and delicious, and generally less expensive than it normally would be.  The down side is that sometimes you get stuff you don't care for or otherwise have problems with.  One of those things is apples.  I love local apples, but I have a mild food intolerance to them, and raw they can upset my stomach.  My kid decided she was OVER apples, because that's basically all she gets when she's at her dad's.  So we've had a ton of local apples just kind of sitting in the fridge for quite a while.
This weekend, I went through the drawer and cleaned out the not fit for humans (those went in the compost), then sliced up all the rest and cooked them with onions and pork chops.  It was pretty good!  Though I would've liked them to have been caramelized more than they were.  But, at least I kept the waste down to a minimum vs ending up throwing out the whole lot of them.

Have you tried making apple sauce with those apples? I do it every so often. I put the cored apples, cut into wedges (with skins on), and put them in the crockpot. Depending on how sweet you like it, you can add white or brown sugar to it. I usually try to stay away from sugar. I add some cinnamon to it too and let it cook till all the apples are mushy. Once you can squish the apples with a fork, put them in a blender. I have a Vita Mix. You might like to do small batches as to not overload the machine to guarantee the skins get incorporated. At this point you can add it all to a bowl and if it needs sugar you can add it or add more to your liking. I then freeze it in small portions for dinner meals. So good! So easy!

[Poundwise]

@FragglesRock666  ^^what Roadrunner53 said! Also, an even faster way to eat a cooked apple is to peel, core, and slice the apple into a bowl. Add a slice of butter, a spoonful of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Then cook in the microwave for a minute or two for a nice compote.

[Dutch Comfort]

I feel like "treat yoself" and "buy a trash can" are basically antithetical. 

I've been a bit spendypants lately, so trying to rein myself back in...

I get CSAs from local farmers, the upside is local produce is super fresh and delicious, and generally less expensive than it normally would be.  The down side is that sometimes you get stuff you don't care for or otherwise have problems with.  One of those things is apples.  I love local apples, but I have a mild food intolerance to them, and raw they can upset my stomach.  My kid decided she was OVER apples, because that's basically all she gets when she's at her dad's.  So we've had a ton of local apples just kind of sitting in the fridge for quite a while.
This weekend, I went through the drawer and cleaned out the not fit for humans (those went in the compost), then sliced up all the rest and cooked them with onions and pork chops.  It was pretty good!  Though I would've liked them to have been caramelized more than they were.  But, at least I kept the waste down to a minimum vs ending up throwing out the whole lot of them.

Have you tried making apple sauce with those apples? I do it every so often. I put the cored apples, cut into wedges (with skins on), and put them in the crockpot. Depending on how sweet you like it, you can add white or brown sugar to it. I usually try to stay away from sugar. I add some cinnamon to it too and let it cook till all the apples are mushy. Once you can squish the apples with a fork, put them in a blender. I have a Vita Mix. You might like to do small batches as to not overload the machine to guarantee the skins get incorporated. At this point you can add it all to a bowl and if it needs sugar you can add it or add more to your liking. I then freeze it in small portions for dinner meals. So good! So easy!

You can also cook apples (peeled and cored) for 10-15 minutes in small parts with water, cinnamon, bit of lemon juice, sugar and some cornstarch. Freeze it and you have the stuffing for a delicious apple-pie ready to use!

[cool7hand]

We dug around in the freezer for some leg of lamb we bought on sale and mapped out some meals.

[RetiredAt63]

Also, finding more gifts left by the previous homeowners in the form of damaged door brackets that were nailed in place.

My SiL keeps finding gifts like that from the previous owner of their new house.  Previous owner thought he was a handyman.   No, he wasn't.

[cool7hand]

Borrowed a book from the library.

[Poundwise]

I'm not sure whether this is a save, but I bought a new, $44 ink cartridge for my ink-guzzling HP Envy color printer.  Although it physically fit in the printer, it was the wrong model and its chip couldn't communicate with my printer. Unfortunately, I found this out while my daughter was trying to print out graphics for her school project due tomorrow, and it was too late to go to the shop.

After much dismay, I went burrowing into my hoard and turned up some printer ink and syringes that I bought for my last color printer (decluttered three years ago.) It was such a hassle to refill those cartridges that I assumed it would be the same for this printer.

Well, it took me 5 minutes to find instructions on Youtube, then 5 minutes to jab the syringe through the sticker on the cartridge and refill it.  It worked!!

So, I wasted $44, but on the other hand, from now on refills will cost me less than 50 cents.

So awesome!  50 cents! What a deal :)

I refilled another ink cartridge: another $44 saved!  Plus I was doing so in order to print out ID photos for our passports instead of getting our pictures taken somewhere, so another $45 saved.

[FrugalAussie]

We've had some good wins at our house in the last few days:
- Purchased a new blue velvet occasional chair on MarketPlace for $30. Pick-up was only 8kms away.
- Refurbished two vintage (probably about 1940s) dining chairs that I got for free off my Buy Nothing Group.
- Playing around with my indoor plants.  I have approx 40. We've only purchased about 8 of them, others have been gifts, babies of existing plants or cuttings from friends. I often take cuttings myself and pass them on to other plant lovin' people.
- Meal planning as usual.  Tonight's dinner is a roast lamb out of the freezer, bought on clearance in Oct last year. We cook it Greek style, for about 6 hours, with potatoes in the pan to soak up the lamb flavours. I'll freeze the chicken carcass from a recent roast chicken to make Chicken, Mushroom and Almond Risotto next week.
- The award for 'best money saving' goes to my husband this week.  He contacted our builder to have an electrical fault fixed, something we thought we'd have to get organised and pay for ourselves. 

[cool7hand]

We convinced an old friend to stay in, instead of going out!

[okisok]

Hosted my monthly group at my house instead of eating out. Everyone brought their own food, and I made a dessert from ingredients I already had on hand.
DP brought over some tools and we worked on some projects. I did have to buy a few things, but I spent much less than if I'd had to buy what he brought.
Realized my entire outfit was secondhand, from hand-me-downs and the thrift store!

[Poundwise]

We've had some good wins at our house in the last few days:
- Purchased a new blue velvet occasional chair on MarketPlace for $30. Pick-up was only 8kms away.
- Refurbished two vintage (probably about 1940s) dining chairs that I got for free off my Buy Nothing Group.
- Playing around with my indoor plants.  I have approx 40. We've only purchased about 8 of them, others have been gifts, babies of existing plants or cuttings from friends. I often take cuttings myself and pass them on to other plant lovin' people.
- Meal planning as usual.  Tonight's dinner is a roast lamb out of the freezer, bought on clearance in Oct last year. We cook it Greek style, for about 6 hours, with potatoes in the pan to soak up the lamb flavours. I'll freeze the chicken carcass from a recent roast chicken to make Chicken, Mushroom and Almond Risotto next week.
- The award for 'best money saving' goes to my husband this week.  He contacted our builder to have an electrical fault fixed, something we thought we'd have to get organised and pay for ourselves.

Wow, some major savings, especially on the chairs and the electrical fault!

[cool7hand]

Planned out an efficient route for errands that require a vehicle

[okisok]

Work bought our lunch today so I brought my lunch home to have for dinner. The weather is yucky so I'm happy to put off going to the grocery store another night or two.

[cool7hand]

We're identifying business and medical expenses we might deduct when filing our income taxes.

[Sugaree]

I'm not sure it counts a saving money exactly, but maybe it will work out eventually.  I bought an Instant Pot on FB marketplace.  Paid about half the retail price.  I'm hoping that this will allow me to cut out some of the convenience foods that I've been buying (canned beans, steamable frozen sweet potatoes, etc.) and still get dinner on the table in a reasonable time frame.

[cool7hand]

Found a reasonably priced comfort food place for lunch with a non-FIRE-world friend

[cool7hand]

Carpooled to a family gathering last weekend

[cool7hand]

Delayed a purchase until this morning when there was a flash discount of 20% between 10 and 12

[cool7hand]

Borrowed some DVDs from the library. Researched and added an item we need soon to Amazon subscribe and save for the extra savings.

[JamBaguettes]

Today I pushed back when my most recent landlord wanted to keep part of my deposit for wear and tear. I got them to return all of my deposit!

[okisok]

@smarshall , that is a big deal, congrats!

I parked in the paid-for garage that's farther away even though I wasn't feeling well v. parking in front of the office and paying.

I had to dress up for a work event. I was tempted to buy something new but came up with a great outfit based on hand me downs, thrift store jewelry, and other items from my closet. I felt very stylish and I saved about $70. 

Last night I bought groceries and saved over $30 with rebates and Ibotta.

[Gerard]

Last meal in our airbnb, so I made Use Every Leftover Soup.

[JamBaguettes]

Last meal in our airbnb, so I made Use Every Leftover Soup.

Every Leftover Soup! Way to not be wasteful. I hope it was delicious?

[cool7hand]

Turned some leftover steak into steak and eggs breakfast

[Erma]

Made bandages from an old t-shirt for my toddler so she can play doctor.

[cool7hand]

Found a part to repair an old yard power tool

[Dicey]

I need to bring a savory appetizer to a thing tonight. I'm determined to concoct something from ingredients on hand. I have plenty of eggs. I brought a fritatta last month, so perhaps I'll do Deviled Eggs via the Instant Pot. Whatever I come up with, no money will come OOP. Hmmm, I also have plenty of broccoli. I could make a quiche. Too close to fritatta?

[Loretta]

I returned 4 things to Amazon. 

I opted NOT to wash my car just yet, though it is covered in pollen and bird doo.  It’s supposed to rain later :)

[cool7hand]

We're buying some post-Easter egg coloring kits for some inner-child fund

[Sandi_k]

I ate bad pizza for lunch rather than leave work and buy my own (I am running an event this evening, so I get free hors d'oeuvres *and* a free dinner; lunch doesn't need to be big or fancy).

[okisok]

I dropped off donations at the place that only accepts donations, not the thrift store itself. No temptations to buy replacements for the stuff I just got rid of.

Cross-posted in the Eat Everything In Your House thread, I made a list of all the food items I have and what can be made with them. Then I estimated how many meals I can get out of each loose recipe. For instance, 'chicken salad x 4', 'stir fry & rice x 3', etc. So far I've got over a week's worth of meals and only need to get one item.

I'm researching wood stoves to try to keep next winter's heating bill out of the triple digits.

[FrugalAussie]

- I spent a few minutes this morning downloading free Kindle books to have available for my flight/trip to see my daughter
- Still planting out generous gift of cuttings and plants from a friend who sold her house.  The site is being bulldozed tomorrow.
- Found a three metre high Ficus Benjamina on the side of the road, without a pot.  We managed to fit it into our Corolla (didn't leave husband behind, he sat in the back seat) and repotted it into a pot found on a different verge a few years ago. It's been with us for about 2 weeks and is looking very happy.

[lemanfan]

- Found a three metre high Ficus Benjamina on the side of the road, without a pot.  We managed to fit it into our Corolla (didn't leave husband behind, he sat in the back seat) and repotted it into a pot found on a different verge a few years ago. It's been with us for about 2 weeks and is looking very happy.

Swapping out the husband for a potted plant may be a big money saver sometimes I guess.  But perhaps not a small thing.  :)

[cool7hand]

We had some bad luck and water got into a toolbox that was closed askew. Yesterday we cleaned the rust off the affected tools. Thank you Bar Keeper's Friend!

[Poundwise]

Bought a Costco rotisserie chicken, had it for dinner on Night #1, boiled it down with veggie scraps to make a potpie on Night #2, used some of the broth to make a pea soup on Night #3, and will use the rest of the broth and chicken to make chicken soup on Night #4.

Also not exactly a savings, but I accidentally burnt the bottom of the pea soup, but we were able to eat most of it because we didn't try to mix or scrape the soup after we realized it was burnt...

[cool7hand]

Found a reasonably priced place for dinner with a non-FIRE world old friend

[Tester]

Finally got the time to correctly tighten the wiring for a bathroom light fixture.
Changed one faucet as it was leaking. Luckily the existing piping was compatible so I did not have to replace the whole set, I only changed the one which was leaking.
So saving money on the water leak and saving money on paying someone to do the replacement, the kitchen faucet replacement was 350 USD in work.....
Now I have the rest of the parts if the other one fails.

[sonofsven]

Installed a trailer hitch and wiring onto my truck that I ordered from etrailer. Bolting the hitch to the frame took 30 minutes, and doing the wiring another 30. The wiring was plug and play but the access was behind the passenger footwell kick panel.
I spent more time re-installing the panel than the wiring.
Saved about $500

[cool7hand]

Making dinner to bring to a friend's house instead of going out

[sonofsven]

Put the clothes out on the clothesline for the first time this year. It's been unseasonably cold, and snowy, which is rare here. Snow on a rhodie's first blooming??
Love me some crunchy towels!