What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[nessness]

Got a bunch of free pomegranates from my mom's tree, and spent a while seeding them throughout the week. In addition to all the ones we ate, I was able to freeze about two quarts of seeds to use in smoothies later on.

[sonofsven]

Harvested about five pounds of tomatillas for canning. And two pounds of tomatoes (growing season was not good).

[Frugal Lizard]

Made apple butter for the first time. Doubled the recipe to get 11 cups / 5.5 pints. A pint sized jar from the store is now almost 10 dollars.

[Freedomin5]

Made a large pot of beef stew. That will be dinner for the next few days.

[cool7hand]

Added a needed product to Amazon subscribe and save

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Today I took a look in the refrigerator and decided to skip grocery shopping this week, as we still have perishables like eggs and vegetables.  Fresh fruit is low, but we have some frozen, as well as pomegranates on the tree.  A few weeks ago I bought a case of shelf stable milk to use in things like soup, quiche, etc. so we don't need milk, and the freezer and pantry are both full.

Because of sharing a car with my young adult child, Wednesday mornings are when I can grocery shop most easily.  So skipping today really is skipping for a full week.  This is the third month in a row that I've skipped the last Wednesday of the month, and it definitely has helped bring down the grocery bill, because it challenges me to use things we already have (and already paid for).

[okisok]

Ate a nearly free breakfast at work from leftover event food, then had a completely free lunch and afternoon snack from participating in a program at work.

[Rosy]

1. Something bit me this year and I decided to decorate our gazebo for Halloween.
Since I only have a few Halloween items, to begin with, and I wasn't about to spend beaucoup bucks on store-bought decor...

I pulled a couple of my black-leafed Begonias out of my collection, the leaves are large and impressive looking and have a slight dark purple undertone, the underside has blood-red coloring with distinct thick veins - perfect:).
Added a large black ceramic tile on top of a small outside table - voila - a temporary plant stand for display.
Then I moved my large black spiky plant, which looks like a small palm, to add to the theme.

I had a fall garden flag but no flag holder so I made one from a garden branch and hung it on the back rail of the gazebo by some pretty fall ribbon I already had - flanked by a very old skeleton from the Dollar store on each side. I'm using my existing colorful lights on the gazebo along with fun colorful skeleton lights.
A black wreath with red roses and a gold skeleton head at the entrance, right above the black plants looks perfectly Gothic and Dia de Los Muertos.
My two old garden gargoyles and some upside-down white skeleton bats complete the look.

I really wanted to buy some black spiders and white spiderwebs but our local stores were practically sold out of Halloween items (last week). So I ended up spending a total of ten bucks at the Dollar store which had an already reduced selection of fall items. Like plates and napkins, even a gift for a friend plus some Halloween decor - my five-year-old self came out to play and demanded window clings and my 25-year-old self insisted on pretty wine glasses encased in skeleton hands in purple, orange, or black stems.

Totally worth the time and effort spent since the weather has been great and now we enjoy hanging out in the gazebo with an extra smile and a ghoulish wineglass in hand. Blood red wine of course:).

[Dicey]

1. Something bit me this year and I decided to decorate our gazebo for Halloween.
Since I only have a few Halloween items, to begin with, and I wasn't about to spend beaucoup bucks on store-bought decor...

I pulled a couple of my black-leafed Begonias out of my collection, the leaves are large and impressive looking and have a slight dark purple undertone, the underside has blood-red coloring with distinct thick veins - perfect:).
Added a large black ceramic tile on top of a small outside table - voila - a temporary plant stand for display.
Then I moved my large black spiky plant, which looks like a small palm, to add to the theme.

I had a fall garden flag but no flag holder so I made one from a garden branch and hung it on the back rail of the gazebo by some pretty fall ribbon I already had - flanked by a very old skeleton from the Dollar store on each side. I'm using my existing colorful lights on the gazebo along with fun colorful skeleton lights.
A black wreath with red roses and a gold skeleton head at the entrance, right above the black plants looks perfectly Gothic and Dia de Los Muertos.
My two old garden gargoyles and some upside-down white skeleton bats complete the look.

I really wanted to buy some black spiders and white spiderwebs but our local stores were practically sold out of Halloween items (last week). So I ended up spending a total of ten bucks at the Dollar store which had an already reduced selection of fall items. Like plates and napkins, even a gift for a friend plus some Halloween decor - my five-year-old self came out to play and demanded window clings and my 25-year-old self insisted on pretty wine glasses encased in skeleton hands in purple, orange, or black stems.

Totally worth the time and effort spent since the weather has been great and now we enjoy hanging out in the gazebo with an extra smile and a ghoulish wineglass in hand. Blood red wine of course:).

🖤

[K_in_the_kitchen]

My kid's college had a power outage, so the students were fed a meal that was prepared for a canceled event.

We picked up 3 free limes while on our neighborhood walk at lunch.  Another neighbor has been giving away thai limes for a few weeks, but these are regular limes.  We have access to a lot of free backyard citrus in the coming months and we'll eat it, cook with it, and also add it to sparkling water.

Lunch (our main meal on weekdays) was leftovers. Yesterday when I did the fridge cleanout I realized we had more leftovers that I'd thought.  So yesterday was leftovers too.  That's two main meals I didn't have to cook, saving money by stretching the food we have and not needing as much energy to cook.  Every time we have leftovers I remind myself to be thankful for them, even if I'm not thrilled, because at least I have leftover food.  Growing up we almost never had leftovers, other than Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I found 4 strawberry Chobani less sugar yogurts that the kid decided not to eat, so I put those front and center and will use them in smoothies.

[okisok]

Walked to my first appointment of the day. Took the route home that brought me to CVS where I used some ECB to get a bottle of vinegar for 50c. Got $3 in ECB on the purchase.

I had to drive to my next appointment, so I took the dog with me and visited our old neighborhood dog park. She had a great time and we walked around the old hood for a bit, too. On the way home I stopped at the library for a huge stack of books. I stopped at a different CVS to use the $3. Then I stopped at Target to drop off ink recycling and get some Shopkick points but didn't buy anything.

[halftimer]

Visited family and we went for a geocache walk together looking at public art all the way to a senior's centre bazaar sale. I bought them a puzzle and a few $0.25 decks of cards for me. I was already planning to buy cards and a gift for them so that worked out perfectly.

[Freedomin5]

Enjoying a free employee appreciation lunch at work today.

[GardenBaker]

Our grocery store had coupons for $2 off $8 spent on Klondike cones and Fetch offered a 75% rebate. Bought 4 boxes that ended up being completely free with both offers. Those will be nice occasional treats in our house and will likely be eaten when we have lots of overnight family in for the upcoming holidays.

[okisok]

I was so disappointed that my store didn't have the Fetch offer Klondike cones. It sounds like you got a great deal! That is a great way to get fun treats without damaging the grocery budget (I'm looking at you, $5 box of Pop-Tarts).

[Freedomin5]

DH makes his own all natural sugar free peanut butter. It costs a fraction of what it would cost at the import store.

[okisok]

Yesterday, DP drove past our local Indian restaurant and decided he wanted to eat there as we haven't in a while. (We haven't because we always spend at least $30.) Luckily, I had leftovers of the vaguely Indian dish I made with jarred sauce and random veggies. I nuked it and handed him a bowl in less than 3 minutes. He said it was delicious and the whole thing (four meals worth) cost less than $5, including some tortillas I crisped on the stove burner and tucked in to replace the naan bread. It wasn't as delicious as the real thing, but it was more than 1/6 as good.

Today, I'm baking Halloween treats to take to work tomorrow for about $2 versus buying decorated cupcakes/cookies at the store. For tomorrow's breakfast, I got a code for a free breakfast sandwich from a receipt I picked up on my walk to scan into my Fetch app. Lunch will be leftover casserole I made Saturday morning and portioned out. The casserole will last for several meals.

Entertainment lately has been library books and card games.

[bananas]

A few weeks ago I saw a cookbook I was tempted to buy, but instead I placed a hold through the library and figured when it comes around, I'll check it out, and if I like it enough I can still buy it.

Well, the hold finally came through this weekend, I grabbed the book, and after spending 5 minutes flipping through I was ready to take it back. Feeling quite pleased that I saved $20 by not buying it.

[baconschteam]

Walked across London

[NaN]

Walked across London

Awesome. One of my favorite memories was running 18 miles around London when I was training for a marathon.

[PMG]

Walked across London

Awesome. One of my favorite memories was running 18 miles around London when I was training for a marathon.

I one time had to get from one train station to another in Paris. I forget which ones now. I looked at the map and it was only 5-7 miles and what else was I going to do with my day but walk around and look at things. I was unused to carrying my full backpack that far but I made it.

[oneday]

Walked to the pet store instead of drove. It's a bit of a slog, so it was nice that BF went, too.

[snic]

DH makes his own all natural sugar free peanut butter. It costs a fraction of what it would cost at the import store.

Where does he get the peanuts? If I remember right, a jar of "peanuts and salt only" peanut butter is about $5 for 16 ounces, so the peanuts would have to be less than about $5/lb. And how does he make the peanut butter? In a food processor?

[Sugaree]

Booked some travel as a birthday present for my parents using some points.

[Freedomin5]

DH makes his own all natural sugar free peanut butter. It costs a fraction of what it would cost at the import store.

Where does he get the peanuts? If I remember right, a jar of "peanuts and salt only" peanut butter is about $5 for 16 ounces, so the peanuts would have to be less than about $5/lb. And how does he make the peanut butter? In a food processor?

He buys them in bulk from Metro, which is like Costco here. Metro sells in bulk and supplies many of the restaurants in the area. A jar of pure all natural peanut butter here costs around 80 rmb which is around USD$11. He can make it for less than USD$4.

We have a Blendtec blender that we bought over ten years ago that is still going strong. It’s great for making nut butters.

[oneday]

Walked to the grocery store.

Also, scraped aaaaaaaall the peanut butter out of the nearly-empty jar.

[snic]

DH makes his own all natural sugar free peanut butter. It costs a fraction of what it would cost at the import store.

Where does he get the peanuts? If I remember right, a jar of "peanuts and salt only" peanut butter is about $5 for 16 ounces, so the peanuts would have to be less than about $5/lb. And how does he make the peanut butter? In a food processor?

He buys them in bulk from Metro, which is like Costco here. Metro sells in bulk and supplies many of the restaurants in the area. A jar of pure all natural peanut butter here costs around 80 rmb which is around USD$11. He can make it for less than USD$4.

We have a Blendtec blender that we bought over ten years ago that is still going strong. It’s great for making nut butters.

I noticed yesterday that peanut butter at Trader Joe was remarkably cheap at $2.19 for a 16 oz jar, but roasted peanuts were $2.79/lb. Go figure.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

We ate leftover pozole blanco for our lunch main meal, and then for supper I scrambled eggs to have with our homemade whole wheat bread toast (I grind the wheat which makes the bread cheap to bake).  The loaf is stale now and pretty much only good for toasting, but I wasn't in the mood for grilled cheese again, and we have plenty of eggs since I stocked up at Costco to get the lowest price available.

Our neighbor brought us a bag of pineapple guavas, along with a small loaf of guava bread she baked.  I'm not a fan, but DH likes them.  We take free fruit whenever we can get it.

Today is our first really cold day of fall, and I'm wearing a warm sweater instead of turning on the heat.  It's going to warm up a little in the next few days, so we'll be able to push out the first heater day of the season.  I heard my wise and frugal neighbor outside today, talking about sitting in the sun to warm up, so I did that too, while tossing a ball for the puppy.

[oneday]

Today is our first really cold day of fall, and I'm wearing a warm sweater instead of turning on the heat.  It's going to warm up a little in the next few days, so we'll be able to push out the first heater day of the season.  I heard my wise and frugal neighbor outside today, talking about sitting in the sun to warm up, so I did that too, while tossing a ball for the puppy.

Doing that, too! Plus opening the blinds to get passive solar heating. These are the same blinds that have been perma-shut for the summer months to keep the house at a bearable temp. Funny how much mental effort has to go into changing this habit. I'm sure it will be the same (effortful) in 6months when it starts warming up again.

[Dollar Slice]

RSVPed for a free event next week in Brooklyn with some friends... to see our favorite musician. I got invited by Eventbrite to do a pair of surveys about it before and afterwards and get paid $25. He's performing again the next night at a small club, and the ticket is $20. So I can see him two nights in a row and I'll still be in the black by five bucks :-)

[Dutch Comfort]

Mended my DH trousers myself instead of taking them to the tailor. Saved 20 bucks!

[Catbert]

Gave my neighbor a large sack of homegrown oranges.  I've previously offered zucchini, basil, limes and rosemary which he turned down.  The savings?  Earlier this year he gave me homegrown peaches and avocados.  I need to keep the goodwill.  (Plus he's a nice neighbor.)

[dandarc]

Cleaned the solar panels. Probably should do this monthly, certainly at least quarterly. I've done it twice since they turned the system on in January. On pace to be at least 25% higher total production than yesterday and yesterday the sun was actually better than today. Already have the stuff needed to do a good job of it in the shed, so the immediate cost is maybe 10 minutes of leaf blower electricity and however much water I used (Probably 50 - 100 gallons considering the thorough rinse to actually get the dirt removed after the scrubbing - maybe less. I don't really know how to estimate this well). So $1.25 and I've already made back at least $0.30 of that in additional electricity just today.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Picked up free pumpkins at the grocery store. I'm now roasting them, and will puree them for the freezer.

[Freedomin5]

It’s starting to get chilly, and DD’s room is particularly drafty. Instead of turning on the heat, I stuffed three summer duvets inside her duvet cover to make a thick, puffy, warm winter comforter.

[cool7hand]

Don't have a yardstick. Found a piece of scrapwood to draw a long line.

[oneday]

Biked to the farther grocery store to use the $4 coupon I got the last time I was there. Using up pantry ingredients and needed two things for the recipe. Paid $0.43! 😀

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Made pumpkin muffins with the free pumpkins I picked up yesterday. I also made pesto out of basil from the garden. I didn't have pine nuts, so swapped walnuts I found in the back of the pantry. Didn't have much parmesan, but found a small bag leftover from some sort of salad, and that gave me just enough.

Picked up two containers of oat milk, and used the $2 iBotta offer for each. It brings the cost down to an affordable $1.50, and they last much, much longer than milk. I use it in my coffee, and in other recipes that call for milk.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

I woke up the sourdough starter I'd ignored in the refrigerator for 8 months, made an overnight dough, and baked some excellent loaves of sourdough sandwich bread.  This afternoon I plan to make sourdough crackers with some of the "discard" from feeding the starter (I saved all of the so-call discard to use in crackers and pancakes).  I'll also make chicken broth with the carcass from our main meal lunch chicken, and get started on processing the two pumpkins I bought for Halloween decor into puree and roasted seeds.  I find the basic pumpkins make good enough puree if I drain it before freezing.  I didn't cut into the pumpkins, so they could go longer, but with rain forecast I'd rather bring them in and do the work, with the bonus of the oven helping to heat the house.

I'm pushing off turning on the heater for one more day, although I expect that tomorrow I might have to give in.

[TheFixer]

1. hung laundry to dry on the solar powered drying system (backyard line).
2. The annual shopping of home & auto insurance before they renew this month.

[Sugaree]

I revisited the thermostat programming now that our schedule has changed drastically. 

[cool7hand]

worked out at our home gym, received from a good friend for being just that. sweet.

[Arbitrage]

Cancelled our Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.  They have upgraded Prime Music and we'll give that a shot.  Hopefully we don't lose too many features or too much access, but at least it's worth a shot.  We do use it a lot, so I'm not going to claim victory just yet, but I'd love to save that chunk of change. 

Also found a second subscription hiding amongst the weeds at Amazon, and cancelled that.  Was just a few bucks a month, but it all adds up!

[Sugaree]

Cancelled our Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.  They have upgraded Prime Music and we'll give that a shot.  Hopefully we don't lose too many features or too much access, but at least it's worth a shot.  We do use it a lot, so I'm not going to claim victory just yet, but I'd love to save that chunk of change. 

Also found a second subscription hiding amongst the weeds at Amazon, and cancelled that.  Was just a few bucks a month, but it all adds up!

The new Prime Music fucking sucks.  You can no longer request a particular song or artist, but instead will get "[Requested Artist] and similar."  I guess they are trying to drive people to Music Unlimited, but it's really just one more con on the Prime list when I decide whether to renew next year.

[oneday]

Eating leftovers packed for lunches...even though I WFH.

[Arbitrage]

Cancelled our Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.  They have upgraded Prime Music and we'll give that a shot.  Hopefully we don't lose too many features or too much access, but at least it's worth a shot.  We do use it a lot, so I'm not going to claim victory just yet, but I'd love to save that chunk of change. 

Also found a second subscription hiding amongst the weeds at Amazon, and cancelled that.  Was just a few bucks a month, but it all adds up!

The new Prime Music fucking sucks.  You can no longer request a particular song or artist, but instead will get "[Requested Artist] and similar."  I guess they are trying to drive people to Music Unlimited, but it's really just one more con on the Prime list when I decide whether to renew next year.

Ah, too bad.  Well, we're currently subscribed to Unlimited through the end of the month, so we'll try it out then.  I suspect that we won't have access to our playlists and we'll get sick of that and re-subscribe...or perhaps explore other options as well.

[oneday]

Cancelled our Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.  They have upgraded Prime Music and we'll give that a shot.  Hopefully we don't lose too many features or too much access, but at least it's worth a shot.  We do use it a lot, so I'm not going to claim victory just yet, but I'd love to save that chunk of change. 

Also found a second subscription hiding amongst the weeds at Amazon, and cancelled that.  Was just a few bucks a month, but it all adds up!

The new Prime Music fucking sucks.  You can no longer request a particular song or artist, but instead will get "[Requested Artist] and similar."  I guess they are trying to drive people to Music Unlimited, but it's really just one more con on the Prime list when I decide whether to renew next year.

Ah, too bad.  Well, we're currently subscribed to Unlimited through the end of the month, so we'll try it out then.  I suspect that we won't have access to our playlists and we'll get sick of that and re-subscribe...or perhaps explore other options as well.

You might take some time to try all the no-cost ad-free trials before settling on Spotify. None are perfect, but something about the different interfaces...I tried them until finding one that fit me best.

[Taran Wanderer]

Fixed my own clothes dryer. Heater element, thermistor, and moisture sensor. Fortunately one of those did it and I didn’t have to buy the more expensive thermostat.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Leashed the dog, grabbed my stroller wagon from the garage, and walked to Trader Joes for groceries -- we saved the gas + wear and tear on the car, got some sunshine, exercised the people and the dog (dog and husband did more walking while I shopped), and I bought several items that are cheaper at TJs than other places.  Came home tired and tempted by takeout, but decided a 15 minute rest would put me back into form and I made ravioli as planned.

Trader Joe's had a $20 made in Nepal felted wool ball holiday wreath, and I made the decision to buy that versus ordering our usual Della Robbia wreath from Boys Republic, something we've done since 2007.  While it is a fundraising product, last year the wreath arrived really late despite ordering early, it was smaller than previous years, and the quality just wasn't up there.  I'd been thinking I would switch to something we could use from year to year, and the TJ's wreath is simple and well-made.  That's $65 saved this year, and then it will keep on saving us money.

[Freedomin5]

Batch cooking Macau-style Portuguese chicken, which freezes nicely. Should be enough for at least 3 to 4 dinners.