What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[yogagirl95]

I'm thinking this counts as a small thing, but I'm taking medium-level credit for it.

For Valentine's Day I want to give my girlfriend an amethyst that I've had my entire life, I've decided to place it in a pendant and give that to her.

I went to a jewelry store and was quoted $90 for a sterling silver setting and for them to set my gem in it. I shopped with my middle finger and instead bought the same setting on Etsy for $6 (shipping included). I picked up some jewelry pliers for $7, and set the gem myself. And now, I'm going to return the pliers. (Also bought the chain on Etsy, ~$10).

Return the pliers? But you used them.

[horsepoor]

Bought a Lowe's 10% off coupon for $2.31, which gave me $30 off of my fencing materials purchase.  Also used a $50 credit card points gift card, and $35 from CoinStar, getting my total bill down to $207 from $320ish (of course the Coinstar came from cashing in coins, but it still feels like a discount).  Plus the $207 charge went on my new Amex, pushing me over the spend threshold to get my $400 travel credit.

Now digging out tree roots, the nastiest part of my low-dollar DIY xeriscaping project.

[JuSp02]

I decided to stay home all day so I will be spending zero dollars today, other than utilities costs.

We made smoothies for breakfast and used up two kiwis that were starting to go bad.

Instead of turning up the temperature, I put on a sweater and kept the thermostat at 65 degrees.

[Anti-ComplainyPants]

I'm thinking this counts as a small thing, but I'm taking medium-level credit for it.

For Valentine's Day I want to give my girlfriend an amethyst that I've had my entire life, I've decided to place it in a pendant and give that to her.

I went to a jewelry store and was quoted $90 for a sterling silver setting and for them to set my gem in it. I shopped with my middle finger and instead bought the same setting on Etsy for $6 (shipping included). I picked up some jewelry pliers for $7, and set the gem myself. And now, I'm going to return the pliers. (Also bought the chain on Etsy, ~$10).

Return the pliers? But you used them.

Technically. I carefully removed them from the package without damaging the packaging, used them to close 4 teensy-weensy sterling silver prongs, and placed them right back in the packaging (even placed the original staples back in the original places in the packaging, which is probably excessive). They are, in all but the most literal of translations, still brand new.

Update: She loved it by the way :D

[ShortInSeattle]

I'm thinking this counts as a small thing, but I'm taking medium-level credit for it.

For Valentine's Day I want to give my girlfriend an amethyst that I've had my entire life, I've decided to place it in a pendant and give that to her.

I went to a jewelry store and was quoted $90 for a sterling silver setting and for them to set my gem in it. I shopped with my middle finger and instead bought the same setting on Etsy for $6 (shipping included). I picked up some jewelry pliers for $7, and set the gem myself. And now, I'm going to return the pliers. (Also bought the chain on Etsy, ~$10).

Return the pliers? But you used them.

Technically. I carefully removed them from the package without damaging the packaging, used them to close 4 teensy-weensy sterling silver prongs, and placed them right back in the packaging (even placed the original staples back in the original places in the packaging, which is probably excessive). They are, in all but the most literal of translations, still brand new.

Update: She loved it by the way :D

I admire your frugality, but I hope you'll be mindful of the costs you can push onto others when you use something then return it. You got full utility out of it. The business gets nothing except the costs of labor to sell it and restock it, the time it takes to account for the transactions and tax, and a possible loss of value of an item that went from "new" to "used."

That's a lot of effort expended by others, there is a "cost" even if you didn't pay it.

Not trying to be cranky, just sharing a viewpoint. Glad she liked the gift. Cheers.

[Rural]

Confession time: one of the things I've been letting myself do this semester with a night class to teach is buy those little packets of precooked brown-rice-in-a Baggie. You know, nuke 90 seconds and done. Terrible, I know, and the things cost nearly $2 each for not quite enough rice for two people (we've been making it do because eating two is out of the question at that price!) plus I'm afraid to read the ingredient list.

So, no longer able to face myself and my catheter in the mirror, I cooked up a pound of brown rice from my pantry and bagged it up into slightly bigger packs for the week. They're currently stacked and freezing flat in the deep freezer. I got four recipes' worth, which will last us a week or two depending on what we eat. Cost was the 89 cents for the rice (had it a while; replacement will be $1.29) and a little electricity to cook it.

[ShortInSeattle]

My mini-victory for the week is that I've been getting pretty good at avoiding food waste. Cooked up half a spaghetti squash for dinner on Friday and immediately made plans to use the other half for tonight's dinner. A small thing I know, but I used to throw out quite a bit of uneaten food due to poor planning.

[nikki]

Yesterday I bought some new-to-me kitchen appliances from someone leaving the country, and got a lot of spices and baking ingredients thrown in for free--some unopened! I'm picking up the oven next weekend and have been told there are even more spices coming my way. This is pretty spectacular because I'm such a simple cook that I have a hard time justifying the expense of spices that will sit around forever. Before picking up these things yesterday, I only had salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, and thyme (the thyme wasn't even mine--left by boyfriend).

I'm hoping that this will be a nice kick in the butt to get me to actually buy more spices so I can cook different kinds of foods. I'd really like to learn a lot more in the kitchen.

Today I'm going to visit someone else leaving the country to get a fitted sheet and take a peek at her clothes. I might be able to talk her into giving me any leftover spices, too, now that I think about it...

Scavenging! Fun when expats leave.

[wordygirl]

The neighbour's kid called and wanted to come over to play. BUT his Dad "didn't feel like going out" and wondered if we could pick him up and then take him home. This kids lives 1 kilometer down a country, dead-end road. He's 11 years old, why couldn't he walk? (I think his parent - single Dad - is a bit overprotective maybe).

Well, I didn't feel like having to go outside in the freezing rain either, as I had nothing planned for today that required me to leave the comforts of home. Nor did I think it my job to be this kid's chauffeur and pay for the gas and expense, albeit small, of two short and very unnecessary car trips.

So I sorta-lied and said two family members were sick and maybe he shouldn't come over.

(turns out one kid was sick and now has a fever, so clearly Karma was on my side).

[SAHD]

I hung the cloths up to dry instead of using the dryer and I went through the boy's cloths to make sure the cloths that were in the hamper were actually dirty, I saved one whole load.

[rocksinmyhead]

I've done three loads of laundry this weekend and haven't used the dryer once.  yay for beautiful, sunny weather!

[warfreak2]

Oats £0.75/kg, Sultanas £1.68/kg, Milk £0.50/l: breakfast ~21p/day. Just started recently, and it's actually better than boxed cereal anyway.

Got a tray of 30 eggs reduced for £2.40, only one was broken.

Food for this month should be under £40.

[MrsPete]

Snatched my free greek yogurt coupon from Kroger, printed store list with coupons for each items based off the meal plan. Put cabbage in the crock pot this morning for cabbage and polish sausage for supper. Saved mashed potatoes that I almost threw away last night for potato cakes (to go with said cabbage and polish sausage). Prep work on fridays is a must - after work I have a tendency to run home, pour a glass of wine and order takeout.

We are eating more cabbage.  It's SO cheap, and have you made homemade sauerkraut?  Seriously, it's about 30 minutes work for all you can eat all winter, and it only has three ingredients.  And don't say you don't like sauerkraut if you've never had REAL, HOMEMADE stuff.  It bears no resemblance to the stuff from a can or bag. 

it is CRAZY cheap! we made a crockpot cabbage, hominy, and chorizo stew a couple weeks ago. it sounds kind of weird (or it did to me) but it was really good. I had never had hominy before... yum.

I've always been surprised at how expensive cabbage is.  Maybe it's not grown locally here.

Wow, when it's on sale I can get a head for a quarter.

[MrsPete]

I just made vegetable stock from freezer scraps, but then I accidentally poured 2/3 of it down the kitchen drain. Oops.

At least I didn't buy all new vegetables to make the stock with...?

Thread hijack:  How do you make vegetable stock from scraps?  All of the recipes that I found on the internet start from full vegetables.  How much stuff do you need?  How long to cook it?  Do you avoid putting anything in it? 

I brewed tea in my office instead of buying it from loose leaf tea that was a gift.

I usually have a bag in the freezer going of veggie scraps to throw in the next time we make stock.  Doesn't add a whole lot, but I like the idea of actually getting use out of what would have been just tossed.

I save up the half an onion, the bit of potatoes that weren't finished at dinner, the corn that didn't make it into the enchiladas . . . All in a freezer bag, but I don't use it for stock -- I consider it "soup waiting to be made".  I do put meat in the bag too.  I almost always have to add a can of tomatoes because those rarely make it into the bag, and I like tomatoes so much.  And always some pasta or barley.  The soup is never the same twice, but it's always good. 

[MrsPete]

I'm thinking this counts as a small thing, but I'm taking medium-level credit for it.

For Valentine's Day I want to give my girlfriend an amethyst that I've had my entire life, I've decided to place it in a pendant and give that to her.

I went to a jewelry store and was quoted $90 for a sterling silver setting and for them to set my gem in it. I shopped with my middle finger and instead bought the same setting on Etsy for $6 (shipping included). I picked up some jewelry pliers for $7, and set the gem myself. And now, I'm going to return the pliers. (Also bought the chain on Etsy, ~$10).

Return the pliers? But you used them.

Technically. I carefully removed them from the package without damaging the packaging, used them to close 4 teensy-weensy sterling silver prongs, and placed them right back in the packaging (even placed the original staples back in the original places in the packaging, which is probably excessive). They are, in all but the most literal of translations, still brand new.

Update: She loved it by the way :D

Technically, you're justifying something you shouldn't have done. 

[pac_NW]

President's Day made for a 3 day weekend. Spent the morning by the fire listening to iTunes Radio - the indie rock station.  It's very good. Love finding new bands. Reserved several CDs from the library. All free.

[Russ]

inb4 everybody getting judgemental without asking questions / trying to understand ACP's point of view.

oh wait...

[4alpacas]

I went for a hike with my dog in the morning.

I was craving something sweet.  Instead of walking to the store and buying candy, I made a chocolate mug cake http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/06/the-one-chocolate-mug-cake/. Yes, I'm trying to avoid sweets, so this wasn't the best decision (but not the worst either). 

[wordygirl]

I was craving something sweet.  Instead of walking to the store and buying candy, I made a chocolate mug cake http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/06/the-one-chocolate-mug-cake/. Yes, I'm trying to avoid sweets, so this wasn't the best decision (but not the worst either).

That may have been the cheaper option, but at about 800 calories per mug you would probably have been better off walking to the store and buying a chocolate bar (~ 240 calories). ;-)

I'm with you on the hiking-with-dog part though. It's one of my favourite things to do (besides running and cycling with said dog).

[Russ]

800 calories per mug

??

I'd guess 300-350, going by the linked recipe

plus I bet this doesn't taste like wax like a corner store candy bar

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Sorry, never been on this 9-page thread before, but I rented an Audi R8 as opposed to buying one.  Definitely a small thing but saved a lot- As I see it, it cost me $269 with a Groupon, vs. the almost 100k plus frickin insurance, gas, maintenance...  I just feel bad for my son when I've had all my fun in my 20's, riding a used CBR600 and buying a used Supra when I was doing really well.  Sold them when he was born (at a profit) and now drive the MiniCooper S my Dad sold me (for 7k).  Love it, but it's not exactly R8 material.  We had an awesome day together in Houston, with the top down, driving through McDonald's and the Memorial Loop.  This is how superficial America can be - love it or hate it.  Truly a life lesson, that I look forward to revisiting with him over the years.  I was happy as hell to return that damn thing, without insurance or credit cards being called into action, but I can totally understand why people will always want these things.  And when I get older, I wonder if it will be harder to resist?  For now I am quite happy with who I am, how healthy I feel, etc.  But what if one of these things starts to go? 

[wordygirl]

My bad. :-0

The one (and only) time I tried to make "chocolate cake in a mug" I used a different recipe that called for more sugar, more oil, and an egg. It was 777 calories for a 180 gram serving (I lost a bunch of weight using a calorie-tracking program so I do such calculations often). I didn't think the recipe could be altered that much and still work so I didn't look closely at the recipe 4alpacas linked to.

I'll go eat my words now. Luckily they have 0 calories! ;-)

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Sorry Wordy, I'm just talking to myself a bit I guess.  I do small calculations all the time to save money, I guess I got all excited when I did something big, when I paid a few dollars and managed to feel like I'd spent a fortune.  I really thought they were going to charge me extra at the end of the rental, since I felt like I was ripping them off.  But I also now better understand the motivation of this thread, sorry I kinda charged in here like a bull in a China shop.  I'd love our families to share a cake in a mug sometime :)  I've lived in Brockville, if that's anywhere near you.  Beautiful city, in the summer :)

[wordygirl]

Hi Escape, you posted while I was composing my reply to Russ and 4alpacas and I didn't see it until just now.

How long did you rent the Audi for? I'm assuming it was for a short time, although I wasn't aware you could do that. My guess is that, by avoiding the depreciation factor, you probably saved a mint over buying and selling in close succession.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Although I only had the Audi for 2 hours, and 35 miles, it still cost 269 bucks.  Got me to realize what a different league I was in.  My retired Dad splurged on a Mercedes when he retired, and I recalled him shaking his head repeatedly over the repair bills and maintenance. Before that, he had always worked on his own car and bought used.  It was a crazy rental, but maybe worth it just for all the thoughts it has stirred up!

[4alpacas]

800 calories per mug

??

I'd guess 300-350, going by the linked recipe

plus I bet this doesn't taste like wax like a corner store candy bar

The recipe has 392 calories (just worked it out).  For the record, I'm not trying to lose weight.  I'm trying to control my sugar intake because I spend too much on desserts (cupcakes at the neighborhood coffee shop are amazing and $3).   

Today I made a breakfast sandwich at home and brewed my tea at home, so I wasn't tempted to pick up breakfast on the way to work.  I also removed collision coverage from my car and cancelled my Amazon prime account. 

[warfreak2]

You buy cupcakes for $3 each?

I'll sell you as many cupcakes as you want for $3 each.

[4alpacas]

You buy cupcakes for $3 each?

I'll sell you as many cupcakes as you want for $3 each.

I haven't bought one since December.  But yes.  I buy cupcakes for $3. 

[RootofGood]

I haven't bought one since December.  But yes.  I buy cupcakes for $3.

My brother recently started a cupcake shop that sells $3 cupcakes.  They're located in the fancy part of town, not where I live.  Amazingly, lots of people buy $3 cupcakes.  Sometimes a dozen of them. 

The cupcakes are good, but not $3 good. 

[4alpacas]

I haven't bought one since December.  But yes.  I buy cupcakes for $3.

My brother recently started a cupcake shop that sells $3 cupcakes.  They're located in the fancy part of town, not where I live.  Amazingly, lots of people buy $3 cupcakes.  Sometimes a dozen of them. 

The cupcakes are good, but not $3 good.

Very true!  I'm breaking the habit!

[Fireman]

I once paid $13 to park, walked for 15 minutes each way, stood in line for 2.5 hours, and paid $12 for 4 cupcakes.  Factoring in opportunity costs and parking, I paid $100 for 4 cupcakes.  Fuck.

/antimustachian rant

[C. K.]

Had a cold and no appetite. Does that count?

[bogart]

Had a cold and no appetite. Does that count?

Sure, if I can get credit for not driving last week when my car was snowbound and everything was closed.

Hope you feel better soon.

[MustacheWantaBe]

So far I’ve been replacing all our light bulbs to LED and have lowered our car and home insurance

[C. K.]

Had a cold and no appetite. Does that count?

Sure, if I can get credit for not driving last week when my car was snowbound and everything was closed.

Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks.

[4alpacas]

Leftovers for lunch.  Drinking only water and tea (which I brewed).

[RootofGood]

Made my own sushi for lunch.  I used up most of some krab meat that was nearing the expiration date and some leftover rice.  We keep seaweed wrappers, wasabi, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame seeds on hand so we can whip up sushi (and other asian cuisine) whenever.  Before the sushi purist police show up, I don't like raw seafood (texture = ewww) so krab roll is good enough for me. 

[jhartt3]

Well if bringing lunch counts i guess i'll throw that up but i do that daily.

I DIDNT buy a wakesurf board off ebay today that was a good deal.  I have a friend who owns one but wanted one of my own this summer.  Savings 280 bucks

[sheepstache]

I haven't brought lunch in days because I befriended a person in facilities who knows a guy with a pizza parlor who gives them leftovers.

[4alpacas]

I haven't brought lunch in days because I befriended a person in facilities who knows a guy with a pizza parlor who gives them leftovers.

I want to be your friend.  Awesome! 

[1967mama]

Today, I am:

-boiling 2 chicken carcasses with onions, garlic, celery, carrots and salt/spices (basil, oregano, poultry seasoning, rosemary, peppercorns) to make stock for the freezer. Will pour into freezer bags when cool. Could also put in jars or leftover containers.

-cooking black beans in the crockpot to bag up into 2 cup portions for instant beans that will be in the freezer -- first, will make black bean burritos (from "Tammy's Recipes" blog) which my family LOVES!

-cooking navy beans in the crockpot to also bag up for freezer beans -- first will make homemade brown beans with part of the batch

-turned off the furnace during the day while it was warm and sunny (Vancouver)

**For anyone who doesn't know how easy it is to cook beans in the crockpot, this is what I do:

Put 1 inch of dry, uncooked beans in the bottom of your crockpot. Rinse well. Then fill crockpot to the very top with hot water. Cook on high 4-6 hours (or low if you're going to be out all day).  You will know they are done when you blow on a bean and the skin peels back. Also, you can easily squish a bean on the roof of your mouth.  These freeze very well. To thaw quickly for a dish, just rinse them in hot water in a colander.  Works like a charm!

Susan in Vancouver

[C. K.]

Overcooked the asparagus.; it's slimy now. Ate most of it anyway. Compost pile...

[mollyjade]

There's a weird quirk in my prescription insurance. If I buy two prescriptions commonly purchased together (drug A and drug B) at the same time, AND drug A is put into the computer first, drug B is free. If I buy them at separate times or if drug B is put into the computer first, I pay my usual $35 copay for drug B.

Anyway, today, I had the pharmacy tech rerun the prescriptions in the right order. I had to stand around ten minutes waiting, but that's a pretty good return.

[swick]

Overcooked the asparagus.; it's slimy now. Ate most of it anyway. Compost pile...

Overcooked asparagus tastes great pureed and blended into soup!

[C. K.]

Overcooked the asparagus.; it's slimy now. Ate most of it anyway. Compost pile...

Overcooked asparagus tastes great pureed and blended into soup!

Thanks.

[The knitter]

Ran out of meat early this week (two dinner parties), so instead of going back to the store or getting takeout, I put together a really tasty lentil and black bean soup. It was probably better than anything else I could have made with meat! (And there are leftovers for lunch tomorrow)

I've been trying to cook whatever is in my kitchen rather than make mid week grocery runs, and it's been saving me a ton!

[zinethstache]

Monitored our data usage the last two months and today bit the bullet on dropping to the new verizon more everything plan to 1 gig. Saving an additional $20 / month. Now our monthly cell costs are less than half than what they were in November. We are on a corporate plan and also have a business write off for some of it. Were now just under $40/ month for our part versus $85 EACH We'd paid for years.

[horsepoor]

Moved my Republic Wireless bill to Discover, since they were offering $10 cash back for setting up an auto-bill on the card.

Had a small horse emergency that caused a veto of dinner plans, so we simply had breakfast for dinner instead of getting takeout.  Oh, and no vet bills associated with the horse issue so far (she simply has a cold but the stable owners were overly concerned due to her pasture buddy being really sick a few weeks ago).  *knock wood*

[MrsPete]

I cooked Bourbon Chicken (doesn't contain booze; rather, it's named for Bourbon St in New Orleans) for dinner tonight, and instead of just mixing up one recipe of the sauce, I made ten . . . and froze nine.  This is a small way to save money because

- it took about 30 extra minutes tonight, but I now have NINE sauce packets frozen.  I just have to cook chicken in my pan and pour in my prepared sauce.  That's time well spent. 

- the recipe requires that I buy apple juice and fresh ginger -- both things that would just sit my refrigerator 'til they went bad.  So by making a bunch of sauce at once, I'm able to use up all my ingredients. 

And this meal is a HUGE favorite of my husband's.  It's kind of like Chinese food, but not exactly.  We like it on the low-end of the spice scale, but you can add more red  pepper flakes.  Do not cheap out on the fresh ginger root -- dried ginger is not as good. 

Here's the recipe for ONE recipe of sauce -- I buy quart-sized ziplock bags: 

2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger root, crushed in the food processor
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (adjust up or down to suit your taste)
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
2/3 cup soy sauce

When you're ready to use the sauce, chop your chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown it in a bit of oil.  Add your prepared sauce along with 1 cup of water, and simmer the whole thing 15-20 minutes.  Serve over rice.  DELICIOUS, and so quick to fix -- if you've reaching into the freezer for your home-prepared sauce.

[rocksinmyhead]

thanks for the recipe, MrsPete! I'm OBSESSED with freezing homemade stuff to make cooking easier... will definitely try this one. on that note, you can totally freeze fresh ginger and then when you need to use it, just pull it out and grate it frozen. I started doing this because I too struggled to use up fresh ginger, plus it's nice to have some on hand for impromptu use.