What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Bracken_Joy]

Not today, but planning ahead: Friday, meeting up with a friend I haven't seen in years. She's staying downtown, and doesn't have a car while visiting, so naturally, I'm headed there. But truck + downtown + trying to find parking on a Friday night? Ahhh. So DH and I optimized! He will drive me to his school campus where he has a MWF parking pass to meet up for group work (he normally only does MW). I will go early and get my hair cut at the beauty school to overlap these trips ($11 haircut for a woman? Awesome).

Reduce cost, stress, and finally get my dang hair cut like I keep putting off? Win!

[Inaya]

I drink lots of tea. The hot water dispenser is at the  snack bar at the other end of the building and down a floor. It's a bit of a hike and it makes it really easy to buy something because,"Well, I'm here anyway." I also sometimes justify buying coffee in the morning when I wouldn't otherwise (I actually don't really like coffee), because the snack bar is on the way to my desk and, "This way, I won't have to come get hot water."

So today I brought my electric kettle in so that I will never be tempted again. By the snack bar at least.


Last night I didn't want to cook. So I stopped at McDonald's on the way home. (I know, I know!) It meant I wasn't tempted to order delivery, which would have been way more expensive.

[LindseyC]

I have killed it this week.

I buy all our IT stuff at work and despite explaining how rebates work to my boss, he had no interest in letting me setup a paypal business account to collect rebates, so I used my own account (with his blessing) and received just over $70 this month. That's 8 months of free Netflix for me.

I also finally got on a lower cell plan which will save me $36 a month (cost $35) which is amazing in Canada.

I have been very careful with my natural gas (heat) this winter and my monthly bill just dropped from $130 to $87, I'm ahead in my equal billing so I will gave a reduced bill for the next 3 months and hopefully in August when it resets for the year I will have no bill for the month.

Two more!

I have been working lots of overtime after being sick for a few years. Finally seeing a big pay cheque in my account was so awesome I had tears in my eyes. It all went to bills and sick debt, but at least it was a big chunk towards debt.

To celebrate I went through all my clothes, donated huge quantities and completely downsized my clothing. Then I bought two shirts and two tank tops, for four different layered looks. They were inexpensive clothes, but after years of very low spending it felt like a real splurge. The simplified, streamlined closet was the real celebration and in a few more months I will have lost more weight and be ready for another clean out.

[Inaya]

Craving something sweet, I was going to go buy a cookie or something at the snack bar. Decided to cruise the floor on the off chance somebody'd had dessert catered. Indeed, somebody'd gotten sandwiches and cookies from Potbelly. Nabbed a big delicious chocolate chip cookie.

[mashrach]

Just switched from a Verizon cell plan at $70/month (close to 80 after all of their fees) to Republic Wireless at $25/month with the possibility it will be less with their data refund. Hopefully the service is at least decent.
Sold my boys old wooden train tracks on CraigsList and made $40.
Increased my 401K contribution to 10%. Trying to work out ways to increase this further in the next few months.

[Bracken_Joy]

Was willing to clean up a cooler my neighbor didn't want to deal with, so now I have a nice camping cooler. Bonus: dealing with it helped out the neighbor who is really overwhelmed right now. Community building plus free stuff? Sounds mustachian to me!

Spring is in the air! Using the weather as an excuse to turn off the thermostat, even when it gets a bit colder at night than we've been letting it get over the winter. Hope we can keep it up! Have only done maybe 2-3 hrs of heat total in a week or more.

Saving our eggshells and coffee grounds for gardening.

Saving up boxes for Brother's move- technically that saves HIM money, not us. But it's also eco friendly, so hey, it saves us all in the long run ;)

[dandypandys]

husband fixed the dryer yeah yeah yeah! all he did was whack the switch, but hey :) <3

[RamonaQ]

A couple of days ago I cut up a cucumber and put it in a jar of pickle juice (after all the pickles had been eaten).  Today I tried some and - pickles!  I am amazed.  I'd always just pitch the leftover juice and never thought about re-using it for batch of homemade pickles.

[Dollar Slice]

A couple of days ago I cut up a cucumber and put it in a jar of pickle juice (after all the pickles had been eaten).  Today I tried some and - pickles!  I am amazed.  I'd always just pitch the leftover juice and never thought about re-using it for batch of homemade pickles.

I have like five empty pickle jars in my fridge waiting for me to do this (but I've been too busy/lazy/preoccupied). It works great!

Also my mom thinks I'm crazy because my fridge is full of empty (and some half-empty) pickle jars. Whatever.

[Zaga]

Another great use for pickle juice, make your own cheese with it!  You have to add additional vinegar as it's not quite acidic enough to curdle the milk, but in the end you end up with pickle flavored cheese which is to die for!

[roadtrippers]

My son and I made homemade pizza instead of our usual 27 dollar Friday night habit (punch away!). Whole wheat dough, Caesar salad dressing, jarred garlic, broccoli, cheese. Delicious and healthier.

[Tenlha]

How do you have pickle juice left over? I just drink it. I also drink the jalapeno juice!

[G-dog]

How do you have pickle juice left over? I just drink it. I also drink the jalapeno juice!

I don't think I could! Vinegar makes my throat tighten up. OK as a small amount as a salad dressing, but not sure what would happen trying to drink a big slug of it!  I tried doing the drink the miracle apple cider vinegar - which is really a wee bit of ACV in water. Nope - not happening.

[Tigerpine]

Today I resisted the siren call of Killian's Irish Red on the way home as I drove by the store.

I need to save money.  I've already gone out to eat twice this month!  Argh.  So weak have I become...  I think having a good month in the stock market in March gave me some irrational exuberance of my own!

[Dollar Slice]

How do you have pickle juice left over? I just drink it. I also drink the jalapeno juice!

I don't think my body could handle that much salt all at once.

I put pickling cucumbers on my grocery list today because of this thread, and then failed to buy them because I got distracted by the really good sale on chicken, which I hadn't planned to buy.

[EcoCanuck]

I'm sick (cold) and had run out of fresh food and staple items in pantry. Instead of ordering food I went downstairs to get groceries (20min walk each way). I waited five minutes to get a taxi with no luck so forced myself to walk and get some fresh air. Got all of my groceries and then with the extra weight decided to wait for a taxi. After 15 minutes and no taxi I sucked it up again and walked with all of the extra weight. I took a lot of breaks (sick) but made it home and had a jolt of joy from my accomplishment while sick. Reward: On sale apple crumble pie which I mumbled to myself the entire walk to stay motivated. The applecrumble pie was delicious.

Exercise + saved money + hopefully healthy food option will help beat this cold.

[forumname123]

I'm sick (cold) and had run out of fresh food and staple items in pantry. Instead of ordering food I went downstairs to get groceries (20min walk each way). I waited five minutes to get a taxi with no luck so forced myself to walk and get some fresh air. Got all of my groceries and then with the extra weight decided to wait for a taxi. After 15 minutes and no taxi I sucked it up again and walked with all of the extra weight. I took a lot of breaks (sick) but made it home and had a jolt of joy from my accomplishment while sick. Reward: On sale apple crumble pie which I mumbled to myself the entire walk to stay motivated. The applecrumble pie was delicious.

Exercise + saved money + hopefully healthy food option will help beat this cold.

People still take taxi's?!

Nice work here, but do yourself a favor and use a modern alternative (uber/lyft). There's no waiting around wondering if one is coming, and it will be one more thing to save a few bucks on. Of course walking is even better, so good call on that one!

[Primm]

I'm sick (cold) and had run out of fresh food and staple items in pantry. Instead of ordering food I went downstairs to get groceries (20min walk each way). I waited five minutes to get a taxi with no luck so forced myself to walk and get some fresh air. Got all of my groceries and then with the extra weight decided to wait for a taxi. After 15 minutes and no taxi I sucked it up again and walked with all of the extra weight. I took a lot of breaks (sick) but made it home and had a jolt of joy from my accomplishment while sick. Reward: On sale apple crumble pie which I mumbled to myself the entire walk to stay motivated. The applecrumble pie was delicious.

Exercise + saved money + hopefully healthy food option will help beat this cold.

People still take taxi's?!

Nice work here, but do yourself a favor and use a modern alternative (uber/lyft). There's no waiting around wondering if one is coming, and it will be one more thing to save a few bucks on. Of course walking is even better, so good call on that one!

There are plenty of places both in and out of capital cities in The Rest Of The World where neither Uber not Lyft is an option.

[Prairie Gal]

Boiled up some eggs to make egg salad for lunches, and will have a big green salad with hard boiled egg tonight for dinner.

Just using the furnace for about half an hour now in the mornings to take the chill off. Opening up the curtains for passive solar heat during the day.

[PMG]

Just in from a date. We walked around the city and had serious (and hilariously fun) discussion of architecture.  Then went into a little dive bar and listened to a band for free. Didn't buy anything. Then walked some more to admire the houses all lit up and glistening in a little mist of rain. It sounds cheesy but in real life it was lovely!

I really like this guy. 

We've gone out four or five times in the past two weeks (3 in the past 5 days!) and it's usually almost free.  Art shows. Or a pub or coffee shop where we spend all evening sipping one drink and talking. Lots of walking around town just to see what's around the next corner.

We haven't gotten deep into finances in conversation but our habits seems to be aligned.

Keep your fingers crossed for me y'all!  I have found a good one.

[Dollar Slice]

Sounds like a winner, PMG!

Today I rolled the dice on some Instant Pot innovation... I put a Pyrex dish of black beans + water with seasonings nestled atop a chicken carcass + water + seasonings and cooked it all at once. Didn't know if it would work out but I figured it was worth a shot and the ingredients are so cheap it's not a huge loss if I fail in some spectacular manner. But it worked great and now I have black beans AND homemade chicken stock in under 2 hours, and used less energy than if I cooked them separately. They both cooked up nicely and didn't mix at all.

[Bracken_Joy]

Sounds like a winner, PMG!

Today I rolled the dice on some Instant Pot innovation... I put a Pyrex dish of black beans + water with seasonings nestled atop a chicken carcass + water + seasonings and cooked it all at once. Didn't know if it would work out but I figured it was worth a shot and the ingredients are so cheap it's not a huge loss if I fail in some spectacular manner. But it worked great and now I have black beans AND homemade chicken stock in under 2 hours, and used less energy than if I cooked them separately. They both cooked up nicely and didn't mix at all.

I haven't played with PIP (pot in pot) at all, but I've heard you can heat up leftovers in glass really well that way (as long as the glass is room temp). Since our microwave shuts off all the lights in the house if we try and use it, I think that'd be a nice option! Have you played around with that at all?
-------

Saving money: I posted the following musing in my journal, about how little choices cascade into other spending/saving.

How Sharing a Full-Size Bed Ups My Badassity


In helping Brother move, I have been reflecting on some of the random choices I have made that have saved us lot of money in unexpected ways.

Case in point: out bed. I'll start by saying, cost isn't *why* we have a full. Basically, I always had fulls, and that was all that fit in my apartments for a long time. And I just never sized up. DH and I like the cozier quarters, and so we never saw the need to change. With that being said-

Brother has a king sized bed. This means:
-It was more expensive in the first place. (Especially because I bought our full for $30 off a relative that was clearing out their house, from their guest room- barely used).
-Brother hated this place because the room was "too small" for him because the bed took up too much room. With our full, I think we've been far more open to renting smaller places.
-He had to rent a trailer to move his bed. Our full fits easily in the back of my truck, even with the canopy on. Cost savings there.
-Sheets cost less. Laundry costs less. We use less soap on the sheets. They don't take as long to dry.
-(Non$$) Annoyance factor: it is easy to reach across and make my full. I do it in ~1.5min each morning. Quick quick. Brother never makes his bed, and after helping him put the sheets on a few times, I can see why! It is awful.

[Dollar Slice]

I haven't played with PIP (pot in pot) at all, but I've heard you can heat up leftovers in glass really well that way (as long as the glass is room temp). Since our microwave shuts off all the lights in the house if we try and use it, I think that'd be a nice option! Have you played around with that at all?

Haven't tried that - this was my first PIP adventure. I have only used the IP for long-cooking things like stock and beans and stew so far. It never seemed like it would be very helpful for things that cook just a short time, due to the time it takes to come to pressure and depressurize. I can heat up pretty much everything in under 15 minutes on the stove or in the toaster oven... but I'll keep it in mind in case I have something I want to heat up in a moist environment :-)

[Bracken_Joy]

I haven't played with PIP (pot in pot) at all, but I've heard you can heat up leftovers in glass really well that way (as long as the glass is room temp). Since our microwave shuts off all the lights in the house if we try and use it, I think that'd be a nice option! Have you played around with that at all?

Haven't tried that - this was my first PIP adventure. I have only used the IP for long-cooking things like stock and beans and stew so far. It never seemed like it would be very helpful for things that cook just a short time, due to the time it takes to come to pressure and depressurize. I can heat up pretty much everything in under 15 minutes on the stove or in the toaster oven... but I'll keep it in mind in case I have something I want to heat up in a moist environment :-)

I agree. I still do rice in a pot on the stove. No time savings. People's argument is the IP is foolproof, but we make rice so much so is our stovetop method. We pretty much do the IP for whole chickens, stock, chickpeas, and homemade dog food. I should probably expand my cooking repertoire a bit! 

[MVal]

I ate my coworker's leftovers for lunch when he tried to throw them away. I took the milk that soured from the fridge and leftover fruit salad and made tropical bread. I took a dog-sitting/house-sitting gig over the weekend and ate the food in their fridge instead of bringing my own (they always encourage me to do this anyway, and I try to just use up the food they have that might go bad before they return).

My roommate constantly abandons her leftovers to me or wants to throw things out right after the "sell-by" date, so I'm always rescuing that stuff and getting free meals out of it.

[Dollar Slice]

I agree. I still do rice in a pot on the stove. No time savings. People's argument is the IP is foolproof, but we make rice so much so is our stovetop method. We pretty much do the IP for whole chickens, stock, chickpeas, and homemade dog food. I should probably expand my cooking repertoire a bit!

I wouldn't mind trying brown rice since it does take a long time to cook, but I don't tend to eat a lot of rice (I love it, but it doesn't really agree with me/my metabolism). I do like the foolproofiness of making stock and beans in the IP. No foaming, no skimming, no adding liquid, no checking the temperature. But the time savings is the real reason to do it. Especially for stock! I can't get over having real, good-quality stock in such abundance. Although I suspect I'll get sick of it at some point when the weather is warm and I won't want soup four days a week. (I know there is such a thing as chilled soup, but I'm not sure the chicken stock I make would work, what with the jello-like consistency when cold.)

I branched out of my stock-and-beans rut and made pulled pork a couple of weeks ago. That came out beautifully.

[Inaya]

I took the milk that soured from the fridge and leftover fruit salad and made tropical bread.

Please, tell me more. I have some sour milk in the fridge as we speak.

[MVal]

I took the milk that soured from the fridge and leftover fruit salad and made tropical bread.

Please, tell me more. I have some sour milk in the fridge as we speak.

It's easy! Just google "sour milk bread recipes" and choose one that you like. Nearly any sweet bread recipe like banana, pumpkin, etc. can substitute sour milk for any water and it will make a much richer, flavorful bread.

[Inaya]

I took the milk that soured from the fridge and leftover fruit salad and made tropical bread.

Please, tell me more. I have some sour milk in the fridge as we speak.

It's easy! Just google "sour milk bread recipes" and choose one that you like. Nearly any sweet bread recipe like banana, pumpkin, etc. can substitute sour milk for any water and it will make a much richer, flavorful bread.

Huh. Who knew? Thanks!

[Cognitive Miser]

I got a long overdue gmail account.  I had been with Earthlink for 15 years, paying $2/month for the privilege of keeping the same email address so all my friends and family would be able to keep in touch.  But Earthlink wants to raise their price to $40/year for 500 MB of email storage, and gmail is 15GB for free.  And at this point, I communicate with most everyone by Facebook, cell phone, Skype, or text message.  Those who really want to email me will be close enough friends or family members that they'll make changing over to my new address a priority, or they'll have an alternate way to contact me to ask me to remind them of my new email.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I got a long overdue gmail account.  I had been with Earthlink for 15 years, paying $2/month for the privilege of keeping the same email address so all my friends and family would be able to keep in touch.  But Earthlink wants to raise their price to $40/year for 500 MB of email storage, and gmail is 15GB for free.  And at this point, I communicate with most everyone by Facebook, cell phone, Skype, or text message.  Those who really want to email me will be close enough friends or family members that they'll make changing over to my new address a priority, or they'll have an alternate way to contact me to ask me to remind them of my new email.

Good for you! I suspect that bleeding people who want to keep their address is pretty much Earthlink's business model. And gmail is great once you get used to it.

[Bracken_Joy]

Picked up a bulk purchase of ground beef. Straight from farmer. Not cheap (local, grass fed =/= cheap), but cheaper for better sourcing than I can get elsewhere. Saving money within the structure of our priorities =)

[Inaya]

Ugh, hubs threw out the sour milk so no sour milk bread. But for some reason whole gallons cost less than half gallons today, so I'm sure I'll have more sour milk soon. (It was a half gallon that went bad in the first place.)


Was going to make chili for my work "soup" this week, but ground beef has gotten super expensive--like comparable to steak expensive. So instead I picked up a package of smoked pig tails for $1.50/lb and will have pork chili instead.

[frooglepoodle]

I ate leftovers all day.

And I went into Home Goods when I was our running errands, picked up a candle from the clearance section, then put it back after walking around the store a bit. I love candles but I have a few that aren't used up yet.

[Dollar Slice]

Sifted through 1/4 of a container of baby spinach to make a salad out of the leaves that hadn't started going off yet. I think I rescued about a dollar's worth.

Gotta love produce that is already starting to rot on the "best by" date... grrr. I stopped buying produce at the store closest to my home because of the inexplicable tendency of their vegetables to rot prematurely, but they started carrying a whole new line of organic greens and they looked good and fresh. Won't make that mistake again. I don't know what they DO to produce in that place!

[Ceridwen]

Sifted through 1/4 of a container of baby spinach to make a salad out of the leaves that hadn't started going off yet. I think I rescued about a dollar's worth.

Gotta love produce that is already starting to rot on the "best by" date... grrr. I stopped buying produce at the store closest to my home because of the inexplicable tendency of their vegetables to rot prematurely, but they started carrying a whole new line of organic greens and they looked good and fresh. Won't make that mistake again. I don't know what they DO to produce in that place!

That is my pet peeve! I love spring mix (mesculun mix) but it always spoils so quickly.  I can't wait for our local farmer's market to start back up in May.  Their mixes last for 1 week +!

[Inaya]

Was going to make chili for my work "soup" this week, but ground beef has gotten super expensive--like comparable to steak expensive. So instead I picked up a package of smoked pig tails for $1.50/lb and will have pork chili instead.

Turns out in addition to meat, pig tails also have lots of bones, skin, and fat. Bones got frozen for broth later, skin got oven roasted into pork rinds, and fat got rendered for cooking with later.

Sifted through 1/4 of a container of baby spinach to make a salad out of the leaves that hadn't started going off yet. I think I rescued about a dollar's worth.
Gotta love produce that is already starting to rot on the "best by" date... grrr. I stopped buying produce at the store closest to my home because of the inexplicable tendency of their vegetables to rot prematurely, but they started carrying a whole new line of organic greens and they looked good and fresh. Won't make that mistake again. I don't know what they DO to produce in that place!

That is my pet peeve! I love spring mix (mesculun mix) but it always spoils so quickly.  I can't wait for our local farmer's market to start back up in May.  Their mixes last for 1 week +!

Ugh this so much. I am counting down the days to the farmers market. Organic Girl greens stay fresh a long time, if you have a place that carries it.

[PMG]

Sifted through 1/4 of a container of baby spinach to make a salad out of the leaves that hadn't started going off yet. I think I rescued about a dollar's worth.

Gotta love produce that is already starting to rot on the "best by" date... grrr. I stopped buying produce at the store closest to my home because of the inexplicable tendency of their vegetables to rot prematurely, but they started carrying a whole new line of organic greens and they looked good and fresh. Won't make that mistake again. I don't know what they DO to produce in that place!

That is my pet peeve! I love spring mix (mesculun mix) but it always spoils so quickly.  I can't wait for our local farmer's market to start back up in May.  Their mixes last for 1 week +!

Little brother told me that the farmers market vendor told him to breath (aka blow carbon dioxide) into his bag of greens before twist tying it shut. Works best with "soft" bags.  Less oxygen, less breaking down?  I've not verified this.

[Inaya]

That is my pet peeve! I love spring mix (mesculun mix) but it always spoils so quickly.  I can't wait for our local farmer's market to start back up in May.  Their mixes last for 1 week +!

Little brother told me that the farmers market vendor told him to breath (aka blow carbon dioxide) into his bag of greens before twist tying it shut. Works best with "soft" bags.  Less oxygen, less breaking down?  I've not verified this.

Putting a dry paper towel in with greens, and replacing it when it gets damp, helps a lot. Keeps the slime from building up as quickly.

[Dollar Slice]

Greens are one of those things where you waste money by being single. I can never finish a package of greens before it starts to rot, even if I eat a salad every day. They only seem to last 3-4 days in the fridge.

[Erma]

Got free cake at work.

[Vanguards and Lentils]

Greens are one of those things where you waste money by being single. I can never finish a package of greens before it starts to rot, even if I eat a salad every day. They only seem to last 3-4 days in the fridge.

This really sucks. The only fresh vegetables I can keep "on hand" are a bag of onions, and even those sometimes start sprouting towards the end. I've just been stocking up on those steam-in-bag frozen vegetables when they go on sale.

[dorothyc]

Filing my student son's tax return with Turbotax - state e-file costs $19.99, although up to 5 Federal e-files are free from the CD version I bought, so I printed and mailed his state tax return for the cost of a couple of stamps instead.

I'll do the same with ours when I finish it up in a couple of days.

[jengod]

* Used a coupon for a free large pizza. Am pregnant and tired and after the school run and an afterschool activity I didn't have dinner in me.
* Hung a load of laundry on the clothesline instead of using the dryer.

[Bracken_Joy]

Embraced the soup weather! Cool days again, so I used the frame of a chicken and some veggie scraps I had saved up in the freezer to make stock. Used some thyme from the yard as well. Also let me use up some old shredded chicken.

Got a free iPhone charging cable through a company I found through the forums (Francois et Mimi). Very nifty retractable little thing, which will be perfect for my work bag. I was days from ordering another cable so I had one at work, so this truly was saving me money- would have spent it anyway! And not on one so compact.

[mashrach]

Adjusted the number of exemptions on my W-4 based on my tax rebate. This will put more money into my account every month so I can add it to my 401K or emergency fund or...

[jengod]

* Roasted another batch of green coffee beans ($4/lb from Costco) to keep myself out of the Starbucks drive-thru.
* Bought a box of mason jars for $0.25 each at a thrift store.
* Saved some borage seeds from the garden

[MrsTuxedocat]

Mr. Tuxedocat wanted to go out for Greek food or ice cream for a date tonight, he is the spendy pants in our relationship. Instead we brought ice cream sandwiches from home, which he didn't even know we had, to the local garden park. It was full of tulips, daffs and more!

[Kitsune]

Greens are one of those things where you waste money by being single. I can never finish a package of greens before it starts to rot, even if I eat a salad every day. They only seem to last 3-4 days in the fridge.

This really sucks. The only fresh vegetables I can keep "on hand" are a bag of onions, and even those sometimes start sprouting towards the end. I've just been stocking up on those steam-in-bag frozen vegetables when they go on sale.

For greens: spinach lasts longer than mesclun mix, makes lovely fresh salads (balsamic vinaigrette!), and then you can pan-fry it with a bit of olive oil OR put it in smoothies when it starts getting a bit iffy but is still good to eat. Or freeze it and toss it in soup/risotto/pasta, for that matter.

Or, for fresh salad-type things, I'm a fan of shredded carrots with a few capers and a lemon vinaigrette. Carrots keep for weeks in the fridge, but it still feels like a 'fresh' thing to have for supper, as opposed to steamed/roasted veggies.

[aetherie]

Page Plus just started offering a discount on their phone plans if you do auto-refill every month! I had to cancel my current auto-refill and set it up again to get the discount applied, but now my phone bill is $3.18 lower.