What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Luckyvik]

I died my own hair today for the first time in years, I had decided to grow out my 6 month old salon highlights but they had gone yucky yellow so today I attempted to dye them to match my natural colour. I was mostly successful, some bits didn't take as well but they just look like natural highlights now so I'm happy.  $19 spent vs $100 in a salon so I'm very happy.


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[QuirkyNurse]

I needed to fill up my car with gas, and recently, someone commented on how my hair is "two-tone!" (My roots are growing in terribly....) So, I biked a 10 mile round trip to pick up a box of dye rather than go to the salon, and got out off filling my car another day. It's GORGEOUS out for the first time in months - my sandal tan lines are now well underway, haha!

[MVal]

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.

That's my new form of "shopping." I no longer buy things I don't need, but I do sometimes like to go look at them or just hold them a minute and enjoy them and then put them back. I also don't buy things when I still have a similar item at home I've not used up yet.

[Bracken_Joy]

Sunny day, so I put a couple loads of laundry on the drying rack instead of using the dryer.

Ate leftovers for lunch.

Weeded the garden. 90% fun, but 10% gardening can save money. Particularly since I've only bought seeds ($11) and a cast iron sprinkler head ($4).

[frooglepoodle]

Today we went for a family hike. We packed a picnic, ate it by a stream, and took pictures of the spring flowers. On the way home we took a scenic route to let the little guy nap and marvel at some of the absolutely over-the-top houses.

I've got enough leftovers in the fridge for DH to take lunch for the whole week.

[Fudge102]

Hung three loads of clothes outside to dry instead of using the dryer.  First for me.  Does nto feel as soft as a dryer with dryer sheets, that's for sure.  Nice not to heat up the home when it's 90 out though.

[Ceridwen]

- Noticed that the bank was charging me a fee they shouldn't have been.  10 minutes on the phone to get $12 reimbursed and the problem solved for the future. 

- Served bottom-of-the-freezer/oops we still have that! chicken breasts to the family for dinner last night.  No complaints!

- Enjoyed a lovely afternoon at a local nature center thanks to family passes I won in a raffle ($40 value)

[dougules]

I tilled my garden yesterday.  A little bit of money for tiller gas and seeds will save a lot on produce this summer. 

[I'm a red panda]

I had mailed in cards to Victoria's Secret 4 times earlier this year for the "no purchase required" part of one of their promotions, figuring for the price of 8 stamps I could get 4 new pairs of underwear (because holy crap, their underwear is expensive, but I DO like it better than the stuff I normally get from Target).  Well, one of the cards I got back was a surprise $50, instead of the standard $10.

So for $8 I got 10 pairs of underwear for me (10 of the 5 for $27.50), which is about half the price I pay for packs at Target; and then I got 3 pairs that I'm sending to my sister for free (because they came out to $9.18 each, and the GC was for $10.)- I could have just had 13 pairs, but I don't need that many!

To do this I had to go into VS, make a purchase, leave, do a lap around the mall, come back and make another.

Yes, they were really enforcing the "1 per customer per visit" rule.  So I visited 4 times in the span of a half hour.  I didn't have the guts to walk out and turn around and come back in...


I also got 2 new t-shirts at JCP that I really needed to replace old ones for $2; a carefully used "Spend $10, get a $10 discount"- scoured the store for something closest to $10. T-shirt was $12, but had a buy one, get one for a penny sale :)

[esq]

I died my own hair today for the first time in years, I had decided to grow out my 6 month old salon highlights but they had gone yucky yellow so today I attempted to dye them to match my natural colour. I was mostly successful, some bits didn't take as well but they just look like natural highlights now so I'm happy.  $19 spent vs $100 in a salon so I'm very happy.


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I do this every 6 weeks for my roots.  I even buy Nice N Easy with a coupon during a sale, so the box only costs me about $3.

Also, I fired my nail salon.  After some research, I invested in a $17 LED nail dryer and some gel polish.  Boom!  My nails now last almost as long as at the salon, and I save most of the $30 it costs each time.  Sorry, nice nail ladies, but there's more than enough non-mustachian men and women to keep your shop open for years to come.

[LindseyC]

I was tempted this weekend to buy some new fancy shampoo, but I also recognized I am making a huge effort to use up all my toiletries to clean up my stockpile, so instead of buying anything I whipped out my free sample drawer and found some shampoo and conditioner samples. Urge to splurge met and instead of adding to the stockpile I cleaned it up a smudge.

Through some careful meal planning and deal shopping my balance of bonus gricery points is currently $30 for the month. Hoping to use that next month to save some money, not to mention I have been cleaning out my freezer. I only have a small apartment sized freezer but its jam packed and it's time for me to clean it out. Free bonus money and freezer eating should save me about $100 in May.

Working lots of overtime in the next few months to help pay down debt accrued while sick. It was getting me down thinking about the debt and the hours I will be working, so I spent a few hours planning some free social events for my friends. I'm now looking forward to the next few months, there are lots if great things coming up.

[Bracken_Joy]

Got a bunch of free mason jars through my local Buy Nothing Group. (God I love that project). More jars = more bulk food storage = less cost. Also pretty. Also eco friendly.

Ate leftovers. My particular favorite was plain yogurt with chia seeds, peanut butter, jelly, and slivered almonds. Delicious, and used up the dregs of the old dry PB (not spreadable) and the chia seeds.

Wrapped a gift for a bridal shower next weekend: beautiful tea pot and cups I got through buy nothing, bag and tissue paper I saved from my own wedding, tea I had received as a gift (still fresh, obviously). Grateful I could do the gift for free, since I have to drive a couple hundred miles for the shower!

My parents are paying for me to fly down and visit, and I put the flight on my card and will have them pay me back, so that I can get meet my spending requirement for the signup bonus.

[infromsea]

Time for new running shoes, I found a pair on amazon and saved an extra 10 bucks by switching the color to the most god awful one but I'm not one for fashion anyway.

Called cell phone provider and turned SO's data plan down, they usually hem and haw and say it has to stay at the old level due to plan options, they changed tunes when I told them we adjust down or shut it all down (we were paying for 5 gig, using 1 gig...). Savings of 10 bucks a month for now, will go deeper when I am done with my upcoming job transfer and turn my line off, can't wait for the freedom!

[Dollar Slice]

Got home late (10PM) and feel like I might be coming down with another head cold. But instead of take-out or a frozen dinner I'm making soup with whatever I've got handy. Chicken stock (watered down a bit - it was really strong homemade stock but I didn't have that much), a tiny bit of leftover brown rice, maybe a cup of black beans, two zucchini that I had meant to saute for another dish but forgot to include, some pasta, and if it looks like I need more stuff to bulk up the soup I'll toss in some frozen veg.

Debating about whether I should rinse the beans or not before putting them in. Muddy vegetable soup? Do I care? Hmm.

[Inaya]

The siren song of spring in Chicago has us out and about and spending money on $6 milkshakes (among other things).

Went to the store and bought 3 quarts of ice cream (on sale!), a bottle of chocolate syrup, heavy cream, and a package of Oreos for the price of 2 milkshakes at our usual place.

[Luckyvik]

I died my own hair today for the first time in years, I had decided to grow out my 6 month old salon highlights but they had gone yucky yellow so today I attempted to dye them to match my natural colour. I was mostly successful, some bits didn't take as well but they just look like natural highlights now so I'm happy.  $19 spent vs $100 in a salon so I'm very happy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do this every 6 weeks for my roots.  I even buy Nice N Easy with a coupon during a sale, so the box only costs me about $3.

Also, I fired my nail salon.  After some research, I invested in a $17 LED nail dryer and some gel polish.  Boom!  My nails now last almost as long as at the salon, and I save most of the $30 it costs each time.  Sorry, nice nail ladies, but there's more than enough non-mustachian men and women to keep your shop open for years to come.

Nice one! I can get a Nice and easy root touch up pack for $10 and it lasts me 4 goes although I'm going to try and go au natural not sure how long I'll last though as greys really stand out on dark hair.

Re: Nails I don't even paint them at all now, I do like the Gel/shellac look but 1. it's pricey and 2. I've developed an allergy to formaldehyde so I've got to be careful otherwise I break out into a rash.

[Giro]

Normally when temps rise above 80 degrees, it's time for the air conditioner.  This year, my husband actually said to wait a few days and open the windows on both sides of the house to allow for flowing air.  Last night, I put my daughters fan in front of the window to pull in some of the outside air.  She went to turn the fan to face her and knocked it off the stand and broke the little plastic thingies that hold the face of the fan in place.  (not describing this well at all) 

Anyway.....I used zip ties to fix the fan and it's sturdier than it was before.  That fan would come apart as soon as anyone touched it.   

[DagobertDuck]

Had a free haircut at our local barber school.

.... and again :-D

[RamonaQ]

The battery in my bike sensor died and I destroyed battery cover trying to get it open.  Instead of buying a new sensor for $48, I emailed the company with a picture of the damage asking if there was a way to just get a new battery cover.  They are sending me a whole new sensor for free!

[Inaya]

I don't drink a lot of coffee, but I sometimes buy some at work ($1.09 for 24 oz) for a little extra pick me up--but it takes a packet of hot chocolate mix to make it drinkable. So instead of buying marked up hot chocolate packets at work, I brought in some cheapo store-brand packets.

[jenn_ifer]

Biked to work, saving the $4.50 in public transit (I do this as often as I can weather-permitting).  Also brought a peanut butter sandwich and a salad for lunch.  Today is looking like a no-spend day!

[Bettis]

For a few years now, I've kept instant coffee in my work drawer.  I alternate between what's on sale but it is usually NesCafe, Folgers, or Maxwell House.  It's really not bad tasting though all my coworkers seem to think it is.  Oh well, I won't be sharing then.  Why spend $1.30 each day on a cup for decent but not great coffee when i can spend... 10 cents?  I get a Coffeemate chocolate powder that lasts a few months and bulk sugar packets.

I also never buy lunch at work.  I either bring leftovers or make myself a PBJ.  My old boss told me I'd be rich someday and I jokingly told him "That's the plan".  It'd be all the nicer if I were near FI but I'm making progress.

[MVal]

For a few years now, I've kept instant coffee in my work drawer.  I alternate between what's on sale but it is usually NesCafe, Folgers, or Maxwell House.  It's really not bad tasting though all my coworkers seem to think it is.  Oh well, I won't be sharing then.  Why spend $1.30 each day on a cup for decent but not great coffee when i can spend... 10 cents?  I get a Coffeemate chocolate powder that lasts a few months and bulk sugar packets.

I also never buy lunch at work.  I either bring leftovers or make myself a PBJ.  My old boss told me I'd be rich someday and I jokingly told him "That's the plan".  It'd be all the nicer if I were near FI but I'm making progress.

Our office supplies our coffee, so even though it's plain ol' Folgers, it's totally free for me. We also have quite a few catered lunches and breakfasts, so when there's leftovers, I make good use of them and can often go all week without buying lunch, especially during the holidays.

[jengod]

* Got a free desk-size photocopier from a couple who were trying to clear out the rest of a home after an estate sale. The couple wanted everything gone so I took a kid’s fishing pole, three wooden hangers and a desk lamp while I was there.

* Made baking powder from scratch (2:1 cream of tartar-baking soda) to replace the supply used over the weekend by my kids in a “potion.”

* Took my reusable bags to Sprouts and got a $0.25 credit.

* Came home from a weekend trip to discover that Goblinchief’s excellent advice on starting seeds had worked. I bought 2015 tomato seeds at half-price (+20% off on a special day) and it looks like they almost all came up. Whee!

[G-dog]

* Got a free desk-size photocopier from a couple who were trying to clear out the rest of a home after an estate sale. The couple wanted everything gone so I took a kid’s fishing pole, three wooden hangers and a desk lamp while I was there.

* Made baking powder from scratch (2:1 cream of tartar-baking soda) to replace the supply used over the weekend by my kids in a “potion.”

* Took my reusable bags to Sprouts and got a $0.25 credit.

* Came home from a weekend trip to discover that Goblinchief’s excellent advice on starting seeds had worked. I bought 2015 tomato seeds at half-price (+20% off on a special day) and it looks like they almost all came up. Whee!

I get last year's tomato seeds at about half price (at Seed Savers). I've had some for several years and germination is just fine so far. I do keep the seeds in the fridge. We don't have enough garden space (or stomach space or freezer space) for the yield from all the plants from a whole package of tomato seeds.

[RamonaQ]

I had saved up $500 to get a mountain bike.  (I already have a fancy tri bike, but it's not something that's appropriate for running errands or riding downtown on trails.)  Instead of spending the $500 on a new bike, I asked around and found a friend who was selling her old mountain bike for $100.  So, saved money on the planned purchase, and will save gas money on small trips throughout the summer.

[Inaya]

Inspired by the above post about instant coffee, I picked up a $2 jar of the stuff at Aldi. I have no palate for coffee other than "bitter" and "not bitter," so I don't care if it's bad quality--and it's getting mixed with a hot cocoa packet anyway so who cares. Drinking it right now and it's not bitter, so that's a success in my book.

Aldi is an amazing place. I wish I had one nearby instead of an awful expensive downtown Jewel. I will say I went hungry and almost got a bag of cheese puffs, but I put it back after carrying it around for a while. Being limited to what you can carry home on the El definitely has its advantages sometimes.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I bought a whole chicken on sale yesterday and dumped it on the crockpot. When it was "falling off the bone," I removed the good meat and left all the bones and nastiness in the crockpot. Dumped in some veggie scraps and water, and this morning, I had homemade broth! This is a new trick for me!

[jordanread]

[...]Made baking powder from scratch (2:1 cream of tartar-baking soda) to replace the supply used over the weekend by my kids in a “potion.”
[...]

I'm more interested in the potion.

[By the River]

Biked to work for the first time...7.2 miles.  Probably won't be an everyday thing until my schedule changes.   

[Ceridwen]

- Stretched a cream blush that I normally would have thrown out weeks ago, but instead used daily up until this morning by scraping the sides of the container with a q-tip

- Successfully working my way through some long-forgotten frozen foods this week.  Lunch today is a white chicken chili - forgot how good it was!

[Bettis]

Inspired by the above post about instant coffee, I picked up a $2 jar of the stuff at Aldi. I have no palate for coffee other than "bitter" and "not bitter," so I don't care if it's bad quality--and it's getting mixed with a hot cocoa packet anyway so who cares. Drinking it right now and it's not bitter, so that's a success in my book.

Thanks, I don't typically inspire people :)  But yes, instant coffee is not that bad and it keeps for quite a while so it's good in a pinch.  Mix in some powdered creamer or cocoa and you're good to go.  It helps that I have a hot water dispenser near my cube so this may not work as well for others in the workplace.

[Inaya]

Inspired by the above post about instant coffee, I picked up a $2 jar of the stuff at Aldi. I have no palate for coffee other than "bitter" and "not bitter," so I don't care if it's bad quality--and it's getting mixed with a hot cocoa packet anyway so who cares. Drinking it right now and it's not bitter, so that's a success in my book.

Thanks, I don't typically inspire people :)  But yes, instant coffee is not that bad and it keeps for quite a while so it's good in a pinch.  Mix in some powdered creamer or cocoa and you're good to go.  It helps that I have a hot water dispenser near my cube so this may not work as well for others in the workplace.

I smuggled in my electric kettle. We're not supposed to have appliances in our cubicles, but for some reason our floor doesn't have a hot water dispenser.

[ragesinggoddess]

I have gotten a ton of great cat stuff for free on Freecycle/Craigslist/Buy Nothing lately, including a water fountain, cat litter, an automatic laser toy thingy, and some cat trees. Not sure how to disinfect those properly, though.

Let's not talk about how much BigCat's vet bills totaled this month...

[JetBlast]

Not really saving money as I'll net zero, but still worth it in my opinion. Got my home internet bill reduced after a five minute conversation with a Comcast rep, then immediately went to the website of the local food bank and set up a monthly donation for an equal amount. Based on the food bank's numbers, my less than ten minutes of work results in Comcast buying approximately 600 meals over the next year.

[Primm]

[...]Made baking powder from scratch (2:1 cream of tartar-baking soda) to replace the supply used over the weekend by my kids in a “potion.”
[...]

I'm more interested in the potion.

My kids (and me before them) were forever making "potions". Mix together whatever you can find and see what happens, basically. If you can get away with something you know you probably shouldn't, the exotic ingredients make them so much better. Leaves and twigs out of the garden if you're desperate, makeup and kitchen supplies if mum isn't looking...

[frooglepoodle]

No spend day today.

Sewed a t-shirt during naptime (not necessarily a money saver as this particular fabric was on the pricier side, but still skill building), walked to the park for a playdate, ate leftovers, started next week's meal plan and grocery list, and did a workout in our garage gym.

[chesebert]

Watched youtube videos and fixed my slow flow faucet. Turned out to be clogged aerator. There is also a minor leak that will be fixed when I get the parts - after watching more youtube videos...

[Inaya]

Went to a networking dinner last night. It was buffet style and they provided take-out boxes at the end. I loaded up, so today's lunch and dinner are set.

[Bracken_Joy]

I checked my payslip. Always good to do, but annoying, as I get paid weekly. But this week, they missed my gas bonus ($50). Emailed, will be on the next paycheck.

Very good reminder for why I always check!

[esq]

[...]Made baking powder from scratch (2:1 cream of tartar-baking soda) to replace the supply used over the weekend by my kids in a “potion.”
[...]

I'm more interested in the potion.

My kids (and me before them) were forever making "potions". Mix together whatever you can find and see what happens, basically. If you can get away with something you know you probably shouldn't, the exotic ingredients make them so much better. Leaves and twigs out of the garden if you're desperate, makeup and kitchen supplies if mum isn't looking...

At my house this was called "Disgusting Soup"!  After a couple of rounds of using up my expensive vanilla extract and whatnot, they learned to ask.  A few shakes of cinnamon, cloves, Comet, shampoo, pebbles, pinecones, catfood, and a few others I can't remember (because they're slouchy, moody teenagers now and those lovely days are long gone), and they were good to go!

Smiling at the sweet memories of those days.......

[Tuskalusa]

I went to a party last night. Rather than buying a dessert, I went through my pantry and found the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. One our later, I had one of the best desserts there!  (Cuz really...who can turn down a homemade cookie?)

[.x.]

Put back the $10 bag of chickpea flour at the grocery store, once I got to the till.  I'm gluten-free, so thought I could use it to bake/cook something, as GF products are expensive. But rather than buy it and have it sit around until I learn a recipe or how to use it, put it back until I know I can use it.

[Kitsune]

Put back the $10 bag of chickpea flour at the grocery store, once I got to the till.  I'm gluten-free, so thought I could use it to bake/cook something, as GF products are expensive. But rather than buy it and have it sit around until I learn a recipe or how to use it, put it back until I know I can use it.

Onion bahji! (With I made last night, with chickpea flour). Also Amazon ships bags for 4-5$, not 10$, which makes experimentation more affordable.

Also, socca is a great pizza alternative.

[dandypandys]

i love making Onion bahji@@@ so easy too. Best thing everrrrrrrr
We just ran out of chick pea flower too, so thanks for the tip. last time we made them, we tried it with coconut flour in lieu of the chickpea- didn't work.
We love them with dahl, so cheap, but the best thing everrrrrr too

[.x.]

Put back the $10 bag of chickpea flour at the grocery store, once I got to the till.  I'm gluten-free, so thought I could use it to bake/cook something, as GF products are expensive. But rather than buy it and have it sit around until I learn a recipe or how to use it, put it back until I know I can use it.

Onion bahji! (With I made last night, with chickpea flour). Also Amazon ships bags for 4-5$, not 10$, which makes experimentation more affordable.

Also, socca is a great pizza alternative.

A quick trip to check for chickpea flour on Canadian Amazon also introduced me to a couple of cookbooks for using chickpea flour - requested from library.  And your suggestion of onion bahji looks delicious!  Thanks. :)

[Bracken_Joy]

Got free tomato starts at the MMM meetup Friday, from a mustachian who had seeded too many =) Greatful! 3 brandywine, 3 oregon spring. I tranferred them into planters I had on hand from my squirrel-murdered herbs last year, and have them by a window in my living room. Free!

Dryer started squeaking quite badly. DH and I looked up a guide on youtube and took it apart. All glide strips except one on the side were so worn they were split into pieces. Pulled the pieces out, and moved the one remaining glide to the top where the most stress is. Ordered replacements for the 3 other glides ($4.70 per) on amazon. Dryer reassembled. Small intermittent noise now, but pretty sure we found the problem. Bonus: cleared out metric tons of dust and lint, so I am sure it will dry much more effectively now. A $15 solution? Awesome. Especially because we had this dryer as a hand-me-down in the first place.

Meal planned. We do not usually do this. I'm trying to be a little more proactive with the food, especially since DH currently has pretty specific nutrition needs for a fitness goal he's working on.

[geekinprogress]

Ooooooo - I'm in the process of removing wheat from my diet, so the onion bahji suggestion is well-timed and super helpful! 

Re: money saving tips, there are a handful of asian grocery stores on my side of town, and I've discovered that they have some very reasonably priced exotic (for WI) produce - i.e. I can get kumquats there reliably and cheaply.  Since I'm phasing out wheat and refined sugar from my diet, interesting produce is really important to me. 

They also tend to have cheap staples, i.e. I can get a can of coconut milk there for $1.25 that would be $2-$3.50 at one of the regular grocery stores (same brand, too).  Going to have to check and see what the price of chickpea flour is next time I'm at the Indian grocery store down the street from me.  :) 

[PMG]

My electric kettle wore out.  Sad.  I'll likely replace it with a stovetop kettle but I'm going to just use a saucepan for a while.  Kettles are more efficient, but it would be really nice not to have to buy another, and store it, and move it.

I just used up the last of my curry spices and added them to my shopping list, then took them off again.  I'll be traveling most of the summer. I have other things to eat before I leave. Curry spices can wait. 

I returned some rancid pecans to the grocery intending to replace them, instead I just took the refund.  I prefer pecans in granola, but I have walnuts that I should eat before leaving for the summer.  Pecans can wait!

[FerrumB5]

Electric kettles are way more efficient than boiling water in a pot/pan/or even a proper kettle.