What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[jengod]

Cut my own hair, in the time honoured put-into-ponytail-and-hack-at-it method. Worked out surprisingly well.

Have been thinking the last few days that I've totally lost it and seem to only belong in whatever the opposite of this thread is but hooray, I did do this on Sunday. Even spent a while afterwards tidying things up. Ended up with a much shorter cut than I was planning on but it looks really great. And is still long enough to put up, so can have it out of my way when working.

I want to do this next time I'm due for a cut. (I only go two to three times a year anyway.)

My husband is horrified at the thought. I should just do it and not tell him until after...

What scissors did you use?

I use a basic $5 pair of hair cutting scissors I got from a drug store.  They have lasted me several years.

I use regular Fiskars that we use for everything. They seem to do the job fine.

[dorothyc]

When we moved into our apartment, it came with a trash compactor and no place to put a regular trash can. I have been buying the special extra strength compactor bags for it, but with the hot summer weather and needing to take the trash out everyday to discourage ants, I was getting through too many trash bags.

I realized at the weekend after washing the compactor insert that it was the same size as a large kitchen trash bag, so now I have doubled up - I leave one, thick compactor bag in there all the time to keep the insert clean, then line with a standard bag which is cheaper to dispose of every day. I can still use the compacting mode, as the double bagging protects the thinner one from tearing.

I live in LA where most stores no longer provide plastic bags, and the paper ones are 10 cents each, so I need something to take the trash down to the dumpsters in.

[1967mama]

lhamo,

Nice score on the Business Class seats!

[mustachepungoeshere]

Just booked our return flight from Beijing for our Christmas trip using frequent flyer miles.  Business class was only 5000 miles more per ticket than economy -- have never seen that before, so I snatched them up.  Fees and taxes will only be about $65 total.  Helps offset the exploding volcano of spending we've been having to not have to pay out of pocket for the tickets.

DS is stoked.  He's been begging for business class tickets for ages.  I used his miles to get them :)

My husband travels a lot for work so he has a very healthy frequent flyer balance (we've had one trip to Europe this year and he's already replaced the points we used), so I'm always interested in articles on maximising use of points.

It's fairly widely regarded that upgrading gives you the best value for money

http://www.ausbt.com.au/what-is-a-qantas-frequent-flyer-point-worth

[Moonwaves]

Cut my own hair, in the time honoured put-into-ponytail-and-hack-at-it method. Worked out surprisingly well.

Have been thinking the last few days that I've totally lost it and seem to only belong in whatever the opposite of this thread is but hooray, I did do this on Sunday. Even spent a while afterwards tidying things up. Ended up with a much shorter cut than I was planning on but it looks really great. And is still long enough to put up, so can have it out of my way when working.

I want to do this next time I'm due for a cut. (I only go two to three times a year anyway.)

My husband is horrified at the thought. I should just do it and not tell him until after...

What scissors did you use?

I use the ones that came with a Creaclip set (which was recommended on one of the hair-cutting threads here). It was this set - although I am fairly certain I didn't pay as much for them as is listed now. I wanted the small Creaclip to be able to manage my fringe better. But then, since I had the big one anyone, I tried it out. Prefer the ponytail method, to be honest, and then just looking into a mirror (backwards, through another mirror) to straighten things up. Curls allow me to try different things without too much difficulty, though. As a good place to start, I'd definitely recommend the ponytail method.

And, yeah, just do it. Don't even tell him after - wait until he has complimented you on your new haircut. LOL

[Joggernot]

When we moved into our apartment, it came with a trash compactor and no place to put a regular trash can.

We took ours out and replaced it with a wine cooler that was made to fit the space.  Not very mustachian, but very useful for us.

[merlin7676]

I picked up a penny laying on the ground when I went into the grocery store.
Rather than spend it, I invested it into my change jar LOL :)

[PMG]

Did a tricky mend on nice pants last night.  Pleased with the results.  Wearing them today. 

Cut open my toothpaste tube.  I've never done that before.  Why not?  5 or 6 brushings left.

[2ndTimer]

I experimented with making a second Americano with the same coffee grounds I used for the first one.  Not nearly so good.  Won't do it again.

[Gerard]

Made awesome fake souvlaki with leftover roast pork, home made flat bread and sauce made from chopping some garlic into sour cream and letting it sit for a couple of hours.  $25 not spent at our favorite Greek restaurant and one of the best sandwiches of my life.

One of the great things about Greek food is that even when it's so-so, it's really good!

[Bracken_Joy]

After orientation for work, there was an optional survey to fill out about the training. Not only did it enter me for a $50 gift card drawing, but I also got paid for the time filling it out. Seemed silly to leave money on the table when we'd already been there all day, but the other trainees left without filling it out. Into worse traffic, no less, because the extra 30 min pushed us past a lot of traffic.

[Tabitha]

I went with friends last night to view their new house (post purchase pre-closing). The grounds include 2 apple, 1 pear and 1 crab apple tree. I gathered apples and pears while dreaming of a cider press for the hundreds of ground-fallen fruit. This morning I cooked up apple-pear butter in the crockpot. Lots for us; lots for a free and much celebrated house-warming gift.

I would not give up my current walking commute at this time in our life, but the space to grow my own food, with mature food producing trees already in place, is tempting. And if my friends don't take full advantage? Well, there's lots there for me to second harvest.

[Tigerpine]

Since we're talking about small things in this thread, I've done two things today specifically to save money.

1.  I put in a few extra hours of work in today, but made sure to leave before lunchtime.  A coworker was there, and if I was there at lunchtime he would have wanted to go out for lunch together.  I was able to remove myself from the situation and guarantee that I wouldn't have to buy lunch.  I ate lunch at home instead.

2.  I hand-washed my shower curtain in the bathtub.  That saved the dollar the washing machine would have cost.

[kathrynd]

Did a tricky mend on nice pants last night.  Pleased with the results.  Wearing them today. 

Cut open my toothpaste tube.  I've never done that before.  Why not?  5 or 6 brushings left.

We do this all the time with toothpaste.....along with everything else.
Congratulations :)

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Not me, and not that small: I work today (as I do every other Saturday), and Mr. FP (a high school teacher) needed to attend, with some students, an out-of-town conference some 45 minutes away.

Pay $150 for a babysitter? (10 hours--that's an 8 hour work day, 1 hour lunch, 1 hour commuting time) times $15/hour.) Nope.

I packed them all a lunch and snack, and he brought them along! His students were super-excited when they heard the boys (ages 3 and 4) would be coming along.

[1967mama]

*Homemade Egg McMuffins for lunch -- nomnomnom -- and they taste way better than the original!

*Made bacon in the oven -- am I the last person on the planet to realize how easy this is?? Two packages of bacon done to perfection (on foil on cookie sheets @ 400F)  in 20 minutes flat! I've been an anti-baconite for years due to the mess of sizzling bacon on the stovetop.

*Soup for dinner tonight with stock from bones, bits of leftover chicken and a leftover bowl of rice and frozen veggies. Made a double batch of 5 minute a day bread sponge and will pull off 2 loaves for dinner.

*No heat used -- love this shoulder season where I don't have to heat or cool the house! Lots of saved $$$

*Kids are handing down clothes between themselves. 12 year old found 2 shirts in his closet that were practically new and he'd forgotten about. Decided he didn't like the style and handed them up to 14 year old. Love that they think this way!

*Daughter is finishing painting 2 of the 4 walls in my son's bedroom 1970's orange. Looks dreadful, but he loves it and feels very special that we let him choose any colour (except black). Will do the same with the next boys down in the line who share a bedroom. They are talking blue on one wall and red on the other.

*Older boys are also passing down toys to the younger boys today (cleaning out their closets) and the little boys are thrilled!

*Dishes, dishes, dishes. I always feel like I'm doing dishes (large family + scratch cooking) but I'm trying to keep a positive mindset and remind myself how much $$$ I'm saving. Having a cup of tea in between cooking Egg McMuffins and cleaning up!

[1967mama]

Not me, and not that small: I work today (as I do every other Saturday), and Mr. FP (a high school teacher) needed to attend, with some students, an out-of-town conference some 45 minutes away.

Pay $150 for a babysitter? (10 hours--that's an 8 hour work day, 1 hour lunch, 1 hour commuting time) times $15/hour.) Nope.

I packed them all a lunch and snack, and he brought them along! His students were super-excited when they heard the boys (ages 3 and 4) would be coming along.

This is awesome!

[FrugalWad]

Instead of sitting around the house bored and wanting to snack on several dollar's worth of food, I went to the gym instead and got a great workout. I left my wallet at home to prevent the temptation of stopping at the handful of fast food places in the plaza with the gym.

[Prairie Gal]

Somebody at work brought a box of apples from their tree. Brought several home and made an apple crisp. Yum!

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Not me, and not that small: I work today (as I do every other Saturday), and Mr. FP (a high school teacher) needed to attend, with some students, an out-of-town conference some 45 minutes away.

Pay $150 for a babysitter? (10 hours--that's an 8 hour work day, 1 hour lunch, 1 hour commuting time) times $15/hour.) Nope.

I packed them all a lunch and snack, and he brought them along! His students were super-excited when they heard the boys (ages 3 and 4) would be coming along.

This is awesome!

I'll tell him you said so! I wasn't sure it would be a success but apparently the boys were delightful, the big kids loved them, and they kind of livened up the event by serving as ice breaker and mascots.

[Bracken_Joy]

-Nice home weekend with DH. Cheap and a good recharge chance.

-Lots of home cooking. It's been getting colder here, which really opens up more cooking to me. I'm a lazy summer cook, and what I make tends to be more expensive (avocados, etc), vs our more carrots and cabbage winter fare.

-Line dried 2 loads of laundry. Brother is out of town for the weekend, and he hates when I line dry, so I capitalize on his travels when I can.

-Nothing to do with saving money, but we switched out for flannel sheets! It really is fall! (have 2 sets sheets: light cotton for summer, flannel for the rest of the time).

-Reposted a bunch of craigslist postings. Slowly but surely I'll get Brother's clutter under control. It'll be good for his mental health (and mine!) and ensure he can pay his share of bills not covered by disability.

-DH is getting more comfortable with our local discount grocer. Made a trip yesterday and picked up a few things- came to $9, with $22 saved over standard retail pricing.

[Kaikou]

Resisted the urge to get coffee or a fountain drink for morning caffeine boost. Realized I have can make coffee at home (bought creamer) and I bought club soda to contain my fizzy urge.

[Shinplaster]

Mixed up a big batch of home-made detergent.  I mentioned to my son that I was doing this, and he asked if I could make them some for Christmas so they could try it.  (He is married, and lives a couple of hours away).  I will put it in a pretty container I already have, with a big bow.  I love that he's looking forward to getting this as a present.

[2ndTimer]

Packed coffee and sandwiches and hiked into the bird sanctuary.  Now back home listening to $0.50 Cd on yard sale audio system and cooking beans in the crockpot while the washer churns away on our thrift store clothing and home made laundry soap.

[jengod]

DS2.5 has been wearing underwear at day and night for about 10 days now. I'm declaring him potty trained, selling a box of leftover pullups on eBay, and using some leftover Pampers vouchers (long story) to buy some extra wet wipes and diapers for DH's work friend's baby.

Diapers is a nice line item to permanently remove from the budget. Whee!

[PMG]

I played with my neighbors tabby cat instead of getting my own.

[Rural]

Cooked down a turkey carcass from the deep freezer for bone broth. It's cooling now and will be the base for chicken and barley stew tomorrow, plus enough broth for another meal, plus softened bones and etc for the dogs - I add apple cider vinegar to leach the bones and boil in the crockpot until they crumble, not splinter, in my hand, so safe for the dogs.


Ate my newest "creation," Ramen in a chili-lime-peanut sauce, for supper. One pack chili flavor Ramen, add a tsp soy sauce, a spoonful of crunchy PB, and a dash of lime juice. It's quite good if delightfully unhealthy.

[1967mama]

*Had a 90 minute budget meeting with my husband today - it went well (ok, well it went well by the end!)

*Spanish rice for dinner -- browned ground beef, a few cups of uncooked brown rice and a few cans of diced tomatoes and a few cans of water, 2 peppers, 1 onion. Also made a double apple crisp.

*Filled up with American gas -- so much cheaper than my HCOL area in Canada. Picked up cheap dairy while we were down there.

*So frustrated with my high cell phone bill and am seriously considering getting a flip phone when this contract runs out in a year. GRRRR! Such a cash grab.

*Mixing up cookies while the crisp is cooking in the oven.

[SingleMomDebt]

Bought whole heads of lettuce and cabbage to shred myself. Saved at $2 by not buying preshredded bagged.

[Mikila]

I resisted the compulsion to go to Walmart!  I was hungry and always buy too much at Wally World.  Better to avoid going in until the pantry is really low.

[Bracken_Joy]

I made a second cottage pie to use up leftover beef broth, tomato paste, and peas from my first cottage pie. (Although I've been calling it "hunter's pie" since I'm using game meat. Quite yummy, perfect for the weather turning chill)

[TravelJunkyQC]

Yesterday:
1. Defrosted a chuck roast bought on sale, threw it in the slow-cooker with some onions, potatoes and carrots - there's our lunch for the next few days.

Today:
1. Carpooled to work with two coworkers (I drive on alternating weeks, and the coworker who doesn't drive gives us each 20$ a month for the service).

[jengod]

* Finally made aebleskiver (Danish pancake balls) with a vintage Griswold aebleskiver pan I found at a yard sale last year. I hereby declare them to be delicious but I can drive up to Solvang if I really have a craving. I can now list the pan on EBay without guilt that I never tried the stuff.

* I also got diapers for free using some unrepeatable coupon mojo that I stumbled into quite by accident. Of course DS2 is potty trained as of last week so one box will go to DH's coworker's kid and one will be sold to build our cash stash.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[1967mama]

*Hung a load of laundry in the free air today

*Did dry black beans in the crockpot this morning and they were ready to make into burritos by dinner

*Watching a cool NOVA video from the library called, "Secrets Beneath the Ice" -- love having no cable when I know we can do something free like this as a family. I'd bet if we had cable, we'd all be off in separate rooms watching individual shows.

[1967mama]

Today, so far:

*Made a loaf of "5 minutes a day" bread

*Reading new book I bought! Buyers remorse setting in already .. must read this book that I actually purchased. Not available in the library. ::face punch::

*Continuing to enjoy no heating/no cooling season. Warm and sunny and 16C today; so lovely out! Apparently, tomorrow is the first day of fall!

Edit: typo

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Went to Costco, topped off my gas tank, AND resisted the urge to buy a hot dog to share with Little Brother.

Came in $100 under my initial guesstimate for fixing up the children's play area out back. Found landscape fabric in garage, salvaged some that was already down, and decided I could just reuse the rubber mulch.

[jengod]

* Used a traditional safety razor for the first time, in hopes of reducing my use of shitty disposable plastic razors. #zerowastehome
* Listed a couple more items on eBay.

[Melody]

Dried tomatoe to store some of the bounty

Made banana bread

Made no bake protein energy bites - passed the DH taste test

Harvested tomatoes from the garden

Tested sandals repaired with Shoe Goo - low stress test, but so far holding together

Froze leftover brownie before it spoils/stales anymore

I save butter wrappers to grease baking pans. Recently I started using them as parchment squares too.

What is a no bake protein energy bar? This sounds awesome!!!!

[G-dog]

Dried tomatoe to store some of the bounty

Made banana bread

Made no bake protein energy bites - passed the DH taste test

Harvested tomatoes from the garden

Tested sandals repaired with Shoe Goo - low stress test, but so far holding together

Froze leftover brownie before it spoils/stales anymore

I save butter wrappers to grease baking pans. Recently I started using them as parchment squares too.

What is a no bake protein energy bar? This sounds awesome!!!!

I mistyped - these are balls, not bars, though you could press this out onto parchment and cut. I found this via Google, I don't remember the source:

I did not have all the exact ingredients, so I improvised.
Substitutions/changes: added about 2 T chia seeds, used Kashi 7 grain puff cereal, used Skippy chocolate peanut butter, Hyvee chocolate soy/whey protein powder.

makes: 12 balls
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)
½ cup almond butter
¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon honey
¼ cup chocolate protein powder
½ cup chocolate chips
⅓ cup puffed brown rice
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients with a wooden spoon. Form into balls (see note) and store in an air tight container in the fridge between snacking.

[Squirrel away]

I used a money off voucher for a purchase, I walked instead of getting a taxi and I got something for free.:)

[Melody]

Dried tomatoe to store some of the bounty

Made banana bread

Made no bake protein energy bites - passed the DH taste test

Harvested tomatoes from the garden

Tested sandals repaired with Shoe Goo - low stress test, but so far holding together

Froze leftover brownie before it spoils/stales anymore

I save butter wrappers to grease baking pans. Recently I started using them as parchment squares too.

What is a no bake protein energy bar? This sounds awesome!!!!

I mistyped - these are balls, not bars, though you could press this out onto parchment and cut. I found this via Google, I don't remember the source:

I did not have all the exact ingredients, so I improvised.
Substitutions/changes: added about 2 T chia seeds, used Kashi 7 grain puff cereal, used Skippy chocolate peanut butter, Hyvee chocolate soy/whey protein powder.

makes: 12 balls
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)
½ cup almond butter
¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon honey
¼ cup chocolate protein powder
½ cup chocolate chips
⅓ cup puffed brown rice
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients with a wooden spoon. Form into balls (see note) and store in an air tight container in the fridge between snacking.

I like this... Gonna give it a try. I made a Chia pod tonight and it was tasty :-)

[Prairie Gal]

Got some more free apples from work. No-one else seems to be taking them.

Used up some bananas that were getting brown in a smoothie rather than throwing them out.

[G-dog]

Dried tomatoe to store some of the bounty

Made banana bread

Made no bake protein energy bites - passed the DH taste test

Harvested tomatoes from the garden

Tested sandals repaired with Shoe Goo - low stress test, but so far holding together

Froze leftover brownie before it spoils/stales anymore

I save butter wrappers to grease baking pans. Recently I started using them as parchment squares too.

What is a no bake protein energy bar? This sounds awesome!!!!

I mistyped - these are balls, not bars, though you could press this out onto parchment and cut. I found this via Google, I don't remember the source:

I did not have all the exact ingredients, so I improvised.
Substitutions/changes: added about 2 T chia seeds, used Kashi 7 grain puff cereal, used Skippy chocolate peanut butter, Hyvee chocolate soy/whey protein powder.

makes: 12 balls
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)
½ cup almond butter
¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon honey
¼ cup chocolate protein powder
½ cup chocolate chips
⅓ cup puffed brown rice
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients with a wooden spoon. Form into balls (see note) and store in an air tight container in the fridge between snacking.

I like this... Gonna give it a try. I made a Chia pod tonight and it was tasty :-)

These were a little too sweet, likely due to the chocolate peanut butter. I used mini chocolate chips as I expected it would be easier to mix in. I will freely use chunky peanut butter or other nut butters in the recipe.  I also made the balls smaller and got 18 out of the batch. There wasn't a nutritional or calorie breakdown in the recipe that I could find, in case that is of interest. Based on the texture, I think one could increase the dry ingredients slightly and still get the mixture to stick together. I thought about substituting some coconut oil for the nut butter, especially until I use up the chocolate peanut butter!

[2ndTimer]

It's 62 F in my house right now.  Wearing wool socks, hat and sweater under my sweatshirt rather than turning on the heat.  Drinking a home made latte before I pack my lunch for my free-with-college-ID bus ride to the community college for piano lesson. 

[Bracken_Joy]

I'm with 2nd timer- it's 62F in our house right now. Actually not too bad- I'm not even feeling the urge to bundle up in a blanket. We'll see how long we can hold out without heat, particularly since we had to block so many vents that we won't be able to use the gas heating without rearranging a lot of furniture.

[2ndTimer]

It's 62 F in my house right now.  Wearing wool socks, hat and sweater under my sweatshirt rather than turning on the heat. 

One of the nice things about living in a smallish apartment in the middle of the building is that we're pretty well insulated.  We only got really uncomfortable a couple of days in the summer when the temps were 90+ for several days in a row.  That was the only time my DS pushed me to buy a fan (which I ended up not doing).  I was actually going to open the screen door this morning because I feel a bit too warm.  Hopefully it bodes well for low electricity use this winter!

I remember those days.  We had an apartment in the middle of the building and everybody else heated it for us.  Lovely!

[mustachepungoeshere]

Just booked our return flight from Beijing for our Christmas trip using frequent flyer miles.  Business class was only 5000 miles more per ticket than economy -- have never seen that before, so I snatched them up.  Fees and taxes will only be about $65 total.  Helps offset the exploding volcano of spending we've been having to not have to pay out of pocket for the tickets.

DS is stoked.  He's been begging for business class tickets for ages.  I used his miles to get them :)

My husband travels a lot for work so he has a very healthy frequent flyer balance (we've had one trip to Europe this year and he's already replaced the points we used), so I'm always interested in articles on maximising use of points.

It's fairly widely regarded that upgrading gives you the best value for money

http://www.ausbt.com.au/what-is-a-qantas-frequent-flyer-point-worth

While that approach may be true in general, in this case it wasn't an optino.

I just checked the fares.  On the date of our flight, one way seats would have been $1234 each to  purchase in regular Economy class, and $2392 to purchase in business class.  The economy class seats would not have been upgradable at that fare (L class -- Delta only allows international upgrades on Y, B or M fares).  There is no easy way for me to compare what an upgradable flight would have cost.

My options for booking with miles were 65,000 miles + $31.50 in fees for an economy class seat (.019/mile), or 70,0000 miles + $31.50 in business (.034/mile).

For only 5000 extra miles each, I got an extra $1158 worth of seat (x2 = $2316).  And I'm paying less than $65 out of pocket. 

This is for a direct flight.  Flying the other airline I have points for (United) would have involved two plane changes, would have extended the duration of the trip by 7-8 hours minimum, and would have taken more miles (80,000/person).

Sorry lhamo, that wasn't intended as criticism, just trivia.

[mustachepungoeshere]

I played with my neighbors tabby cat instead of getting my own.

Sorry, I'm having a little giggle at this one.

"Whatcha doing?"
"Saving money." *pats cat*

[plainjane]

Asked the tailor if he could revisit the price on the items I picked up this evening.  He took a look at what was done and dropped the cost by 45%.  (It likely doesn't hurt that I've been a loyal customer for several years and they really were quick fixes for someone with a machine.)

A client lunch was postponed at the last minute, so I had some instant oatmeal with peanut butter instead of going for takeout.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Cut my husband's hair for the first time.

The agreement was that if I did a terrible job he would go and get it tidied up at the barber.

I think it could do with some tidying up but he's happy with it. And we've learnt for next time.