What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Tami1982]

Canned 20 pints of turkey stock from the Thanksgiving bird. 

[Rural]

Made fried hominy with leftover Thanksgiving ham for supper. Wasn't even my ham, but foisted on us by MIL because she is traveling now, right after the holiday, and didn't want leftovers.

We took our lunches, but I don't think of that as saving; we always do and always have.

Listened to audiobooks downloaded from the library for entertainment, and played board games after supper. Again, though, that's normal. We splurged this weekend on a Redbox movie which I returned in time to pay nothing (got a code online for it), but that's something we do maybe twice a year, sit up in bed together and watch a movie on a laptop (we don't own a TV).

Philosophical question: at what point do things that are usual habit stop being a case of "saving" money? For those of us who are already frugal, at some point acting more like the norm has to become wasting money, right? At that point, I'd think the frugality is the baseline, and so it can't really be considered "saving."

[MoneyCat]

I used an Amazon.com gift card that someone gave me as a gift to buy Christmas presents for my nieces and nephews.  Using the gift card, I ended up paying a grand total of $2.73 out of my own pocket for the Christmas presents and that $2.73 was paid using my Discover card, which I will get 5% cashback on.

[hownowbrowncow]

Took public transportation from the airport to the office today $0 vs. $45 cab
Then leaving work it was cold, rainy, I still had my luggage and the jacket I had packed was not nearly warm enough and lacked a hood.  No umbrella either :-(
I was about to order an UberX for the 1.2 mile journey home but then I borrowed an umbrella from the front desk and walked 7 mins to the bus which dropped me off two doors down from my apartment $0 vs. $8

[nottoolatetostart]

Worked from home.

Made homemade half white/half wheat tortillas and pulled a bag of homemade refried beans out of the freezer for a quick meal of bean burritos for the next couple days.

Returned something that had been nagging at me for months. Finally, went to store to see if I could return it (even though their store policy is 30 days) and they said yes! $100 and change going back on our credit card.

Going to put a few things in our garage on Craigslist. Might even go through the garage and see if there is anything else that I never used/still in packaging that I can return for even partial credit.

Raked up 6 more bags of leaves. Figure savings of $30 for an hour of work.

Sold my old Kindle that was sitting in my drawer with a leather case on Amazon...made $68 between the 2. Probably need to sell either our tablet or my other Kindle since I don't use either one very much (have been just downloading digital books onto my PC and flipping through them there).

I did get a small diet coke from McD's though...bad!

[reginna]

I walked to work today.  And brought lunch.

Saw a glimmer on the street at one point, and spied a penny.  When I got closer, I saw that it was surrounded by 14 OTHERS!!  Then  10 minutes later, I found another penny.  So I actually MADE 16 CENTS on my morning commute.  Yes!!

Great score. Finding pennies makes my day!

[reginna]

I used an Amazon.com gift card that someone gave me as a gift to buy Christmas presents for my nieces and nephews.  Using the gift card, I ended up paying a grand total of $2.73 out of my own pocket for the Christmas presents and that $2.73 was paid using my Discover card, which I will get 5% cashback on.

Money maker! Nice

[CNM]

This past weekend we cancelled cable TV.  We only had the most basic plan, $18/mo, but we hate comcast.  We were able to buy an antenna for $40 and we installed it on Sunday.  Ta-da!  We actually get more channels with the antenna then we did with basic cable. 

[badassprof]

drank horrid work coffee instead of buying spendy coffee bc i was out at home.  the whole point is caffeine anyways.

That's dedication.  What is it with work coffee?  Can't they just spend a few extra bucks a year to give employees some good coffee?  Every job I've ever had has had terrible terrible diesel like coffee, and powdered sadness (aka powdered creamer).

I understand in big companies where if you cut the coffee budget for the entire company, you could save a few grand, but small companies, COMMON! Only maybe a few hundred bucks MAX to make your employees morning just a  little bit nicer.

Of course, ironically, we're talking about how to save money with small things :)

[YK-Phil]

Yesterday, I spent money, so I could save money. In order to make my winter bicycle commute bearable (I can't use the word enjoyable) in Yellowknife where winter temperatures go as low as -40 without windchill factor, I must dress properly. But proper winter biking gear is expensive so thanks to our local trade board (like Craiglist and Kijiji), I got myself a $500 Trek bike for $100, a pair of like-new $240 Scarpa hiking boots for $50 and a $300 North Face tech jacket for $60. With gas prices at $1.40 a litre here, I am saving a lot of money by being car-free, while doing my cardio workout on the bike which saves me the cost of a gym membership.

[4alpacas]

I forgot to pack my lunch, so I ate a can of soup and crackers that I keep in my office.

[reginna]

Yesterday, I spent money, so I could save money. In order to make my winter bicycle commute bearable (I can't use the word enjoyable) in Yellowknife where winter temperatures go as low as -40 without windchill factor, I must dress properly. But proper winter biking gear is expensive so thanks to our local trade board (like Craiglist and Kijiji), I got myself a $500 Trek bike for $100, a pair of like-new $240 Scarpa hiking boots for $50 and a $300 North Face tech jacket for $60. With gas prices at $1.40 a litre here, I am saving a lot of money by being car-free, while doing my cardio workout on the bike which saves me the cost of a gym membership.

Great scores and just being outside at -40 makes you completely badass!

[huadpe]

Yesterday, I spent money, so I could save money. In order to make my winter bicycle commute bearable (I can't use the word enjoyable) in Yellowknife where winter temperatures go as low as -40 without windchill factor, I must dress properly. But proper winter biking gear is expensive so thanks to our local trade board (like Craiglist and Kijiji), I got myself a $500 Trek bike for $100, a pair of like-new $240 Scarpa hiking boots for $50 and a $300 North Face tech jacket for $60. With gas prices at $1.40 a litre here, I am saving a lot of money by being car-free, while doing my cardio workout on the bike which saves me the cost of a gym membership.

Great scores and just being outside at -40 makes you completely badass!

Living in Yellowknife in general is pretty badass.  What brought you all the way up there?

[YK-Phil]

Yesterday, I spent money, so I could save money. In order to make my winter bicycle commute bearable (I can't use the word enjoyable) in Yellowknife where winter temperatures go as low as -40 without windchill factor, I must dress properly. But proper winter biking gear is expensive so thanks to our local trade board (like Craiglist and Kijiji), I got myself a $500 Trek bike for $100, a pair of like-new $240 Scarpa hiking boots for $50 and a $300 North Face tech jacket for $60. With gas prices at $1.40 a litre here, I am saving a lot of money by being car-free, while doing my cardio workout on the bike which saves me the cost of a gym membership.

Great scores and just being outside at -40 makes you completely badass!

Living in Yellowknife in general is pretty badass.  What brought you all the way up there?

I spent the first 10 years of my life with my feet in the blue Mediterranean sea, dreaming about living among the "Eskimos", eventually realizing my dream. I worked and lived in the Canadian Arctic since graduating as an environmental scientist in 1982...In 2009 I changed careers to become a flight attendant (another of my dream, yes, I had every little girl's dream job LOL), but a month ago went back to my original career in Yellowknife, just in time for winter...Not sure what I was thinking, it must have been altitude sickness...Now I am just dreaming of the Mediterranean and the smell of grilled sardines...

[RootofGood]

Avoided a $700 auto repair bill to replace a leaking seal ($685 labor, $15 parts).  On the way to the shop to get the service done, I started thinking about how the car is already 13 years old and it isn't leaking really fast (a quart every few months).  There's decent odds we will sell the car in a few years when Mrs. RootofGood quits working.  It will be a good purchase for a shadetree mechanic (honda accord, runs well other than the oil leak, 1 owner, 150k miles). 

We may eventually have to spend the $$$ to fix the leak if it gets worse.  For now it's fine. 

So I diverted from going to the auto shop and picked up 2 20 packs of batteries at officemax for free (well, I had to pay tax only on them).  And bought a couple quarts of oil. 

Yesterday I dropped the comprehensive coverage for our cars.  Saved another $50 on insurance.  I feel dumb not dropping it a few years ago. 

[Norrie]

We've been really retentive about making all meals and snacks at home, which is a bit place that we used to hemorrhage money. Today we were out of leftovers and I didn't have time to put anything together before work, so I had a hearty breakfast at home, had a snack at work, and then just skipped lunch and had an early dinner. I'm not usually one for skipping a meal, but I realized that missing one meal was not going to hurt me, and that the grumbling belly would be a good reminder to think ahead in the future.

And it was a total miracle, but I survived until I got home and was able to have dinner.

[NinetyFour]

Did errands on my bike this morning.  And again, I MADE money while doing so.  Found a quarter and 4 pennies in the street.  And my errands did not involve spending money, so, so far today, I am PLUS $.29 !!

[CNM]

We've been really retentive about making all meals and snacks at home, which is a bit place that we used to hemorrhage money. Today we were out of leftovers and I didn't have time to put anything together before work, so I had a hearty breakfast at home, had a snack at work, and then just skipped lunch and had an early dinner. I'm not usually one for skipping a meal, but I realized that missing one meal was not going to hurt me, and that the grumbling belly would be a good reminder to think ahead in the future.

And it was a total miracle, but I survived until I got home and was able to have dinner.

I get caught like this, too, sometimes.  I keep a stash of canned soup for these emergencies.  In fact, I'm having a can of soup for lunch today because I didn't make a large enough dinner last night to have leftovers!

[Rural]

Made crockpot stew with leftover turkey and homemade broth (from the freeer, not left out since Thanksgiving), plus veggies and barley. Made an apple cobbler for a work party and muffins for us using up the leftover cranberry sauce. Worked from home while it all cooked, saving gas.

[nikki]

I forgot to bring my usual snack of mandarins to work, so I suppose I'm saving money by not eating as much!

For breakfast, I had french toast, which used up the rest of my stale bread (including the butt).

And yesterday, some of my students surprised me with a box of Korean snacks as a going-away gift (in a couple  months, but still! SO SWEET!).

So my savings today involve eating less, eating thoughtfully, and being gifted edible treats.

[Russ]

sharpened my kitchen knives and pocketknife by myself instead of sending them out. Been doing this for a while, but I did it today too so I thought I'd share!

[fmzip]

Opened up the back of my watch myself. Ordered a $1.60 battery off Ebay.

Normally, this is a trip to the mall and a $30 bill (premium for the Movado nameplate!)

[NinetyFour]

Biked to the ice rink and back.  I'm not sure how cold it was on the way there, but on the way home it was about 5 degrees F.  My hockey teammates thought I was crazy stupid.  (But I actually think their practice of drinking beers and then driving home after the games is crazy stupid.)

And I still have the same half tank of gasoline I ended up with the last time I drove my truck--on Thanksgiving day.  I don't plan to drive it again until December 19th, when I will be heading out of town.  I love not being a clown car driver!!

[NW Girl]

Today was my son's 9th birthday and he wanted a Minecraft-themed birthday cake.  Instead of custom ordering from a bakery, we did some Internet research and created one together with brownies and coconut frosting colored green, rice krispie treats, and licorice TNT.  My son hand drew creepers and other characters and we pinned them around the cake with toothpicks.  It turned out not professional quality, but cute, and we had a fun time creating it together! 

Also, today I finalized details in renting out our townhouse to some friend's parents over Christmas for a few days...which should pay for all of our modest Christmas and maybe even some of next month's mortgage. 

[MicroRN]

I had a baby shower to go to, and no wrapping paper in the house.  Rather than buy some, I remembered I had a stack of receiving blankets in my fabric stash.  I picked out one and wrapped up the present furoshiki style.  It looked super cute, cleared some clutter, cost nothing (unless you consider the long-ago sunk cost of the blanket), didn't put more trash into the landfill, and gave the mom-to-be another blanket to use.  Instead of getting a specific card, I used one of my generic stationary cards.  Love giving people presents, but I hate wasting money on wrapping and cards.

I had leftover spinach-garlic-brie dip, and tossed it with leftover plain pasta for dinner.     

[AtlStash]

I forgot to pack my lunch, so I ate a can of soup and crackers that I keep in my office.

That is a great idea. Keep a can of soup or something in the office if needed so I don't need to go out to eat if I forget my lunch. It is like an little badassity insurance.

[4alpacas]

I forgot to pack my lunch, so I ate a can of soup and crackers that I keep in my office.

That is a great idea. Keep a can of soup or something in the office if needed so I don't need to go out to eat if I forget my lunch. It is like an little badassity insurance.

I had a can of soup for lunch today!  I also had a granola bar for breakfast from my office food stash. 

Another inexpensive (and more filling) option are the Trader Joe's packets.  They come in cardboard boxes.  I like to use them while camping (toss the packet in boiling water to cook it), and I had a few left over.  I'm a big fan of the juniper vegetables and the red curry. 

[MicroRN]

Another inexpensive (and more filling) option are the Trader Joe's packets.  They come in cardboard boxes.  I like to use them while camping (toss the packet in boiling water to cook it), and I had a few left over.  I'm a big fan of the juniper vegetables and the red curry.

Costco sells TastyBite Indian food, 4-6 envelopes in a box.  Love the Channa Masala, but the madras lentils are good too.  It comes to about 0.75-1.00/packet.  I try to keep one in my locker at work in case I forget food.  It's better with rice or naan, but perfectly acceptable alone. 

[MoneyCat]

After buying gifts for my nieces and nephews, I needed to buy Christmas gifts for my parents, brothers, and sisters and I decided to get everyone gift cards since my family is kind of struggling.  I bought the gift cards from Amazon.com using my Discover card so I got 5% cashback on everything, then I cashed out the cashback I saved up on the card over the past couple of months to pay for the purchases.  In essence, I paid nothing for the gift cards and got an additional 5% back on the purchase.  Discover is one of my favorite credit cards.

[ichangedmyname]

Took the bus from the Hilton instead of a taxi.

[judgemebymyusername]

Swapped out our kitchen incandescent lights with LED's. They are the most used lights in our house.

[aglassman]

Shoveled 6'' of snow rather than using the snow blower.

[nikki]

This morning I put my breakfast plain yogurt in an "empty" jam jar to scoop up all of the last bits of blueberry jam I could.

Now that I'm out of jam, I'm going to experiment with some strawberry syrup left over from making ice cream with my students this past summer. It's not the healthiest, but I need to use up what's in my fridge before I move at the end of February!

[BlueMR2]

Today I took a half day off work, which let me make 3 out of my 4 errands into a walking trip.  Still needed the car for the first one though.  Was tempted to do a biking trip, but we've got patchy ice under the snow.  I enjoy biking in the snow, and don't mind on the ice on the backroads, but I had to take main roads...

[NinetyFour]

I walked to work (not out of the ordinary)  this morning in sub-zero (F) temps.  It was awesome.  Left work at about 5pm. A colleague offered to drive me home.  I declined, though it was nice of her.  On the way home, I found 2 quarters on a trail.  Boy am I glad I didn't take that clown car ride!!

[Samsam]

Today I was forced to save money....The hair dresser cut my hair shorter than it has ever been...that's like +3 mo more time than usual I have until I need to go back....haha

[NinetyFour]

Hmm...even cheaper to cut it yourself!!

[mm1970]

Yesterday - did not drive anywhere.  Walked to the grocery store when I needed to go (3 miles RT).  Didn't even shower (sorry if TMI, saved water!)

Today - did not drive anywhere.  Baby home sick.  Walked to the store again (out of milk) and walked to school to pick up my older son instead of driving (0.75 miles each way to school).  Normally I have two stops to pick up 4 kids after work, but the neighbors are on a trip for the next 2 weeks so it seemed silly to drive.

Of course, my husband had jury duty today so he's making up for my driving.

[Bruised_Pepper]

I died.  That knocked out most of my bills right there. 

[mm31]

baked bread again.

kept thermostat at 56F to save on gas.

[Ian]

Question for people in this thread: how many days out of an average month do you spend no money?

Now, obviously you'll use up some things that cost money (unless you don't eat or use electricity). I just mean making a purchase in some form.

[nikki]

Question for people in this thread: how many days out of an average month do you spend no money?

Now, obviously you'll use up some things that cost money (unless you don't eat or use electricity). I just mean making a purchase in some form.

Days per month I gave no money to someone:

October: 10/31 = 32.2%
November: 15/30 = 50%
December so far: 8/10 = 80%

October included two out-of-town trips, so maybe it's not exactly an average month. November seems about average, though. I don't have a car or a bike, so all of my errands are handled on foot. Maybe that means I make more frequent trips? I don't know! I bought food (and cranberry juice once) 7 different days in November. Put money on my transportation card 3 times. Health check-up (for a job--just need the documentation) and birth control purchase on different days. Post office a couple times. Daiso (dollar store kinda place) for dish detergent. Nothing crazy here, but the frequency is high.

[anastrophe]

Going after work to return a $20 sweater that didn't fit, I can only get store credit, but they sell socks too:)

A previous me would have let the 7-day return period lapse and then given the sweater away for free.

Update: I am wearing the new socks today and they are wonderful, cozy, and warm. Much better than the sweater I returned. It's silly, but my toes feel smug.

[CNM]

Today I brought my lunch and I submitted a medical receipt for reimbursement from my employer.

[Maltipoomoney]

Bruised Pepper, that is badass. You are amazing. I just added my teen daughter to my policy; so I am going the wrong way .....

[TrMama]

Tis the season of secret santa gift exchanges. Oh how I hate these. However, my kids' Girl Guide troupes are each doing one as part of their Christmas parties. I really didn't want to buy a toy, but I also didn't want to not have my kids participate. I figured out that we can just wrap up a book from the girls extensive collection and call it good.

$20 saved.

Also, biked to work in the snow. I think that saves $10 in gas.

[anastrophe]

I died.  That knocked out most of my bills right there.

Except I'm not sure "death" counts as small, and this is the small things thread;)

Hopefully you did not actually die?

[reginna]

Passed on to someone else the seed catalogs that have started arriving. My kryptonite!

[Samsam]

Hmm...even cheaper to cut it yourself!!

When I am no longer customer facing I definitely plan to do this :) 

[pachnik]

We went to the wine-making place and ordered a batch of 31 bottles for $162.00.  Each bottle costs $5.22 compared to the cost of wine in the liquor store - between $8.50 and $10.00 - here in British Columbia.

If you've never done it, the wine is pretty good and bottling it, putting the corks in and the labels on is quite fun.