What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[jengod]

No-driving day today: Walked and took bus w 3yo to downtown Santa Monica, shopped the children's book sale at the library, played at a park.

Put leftover chicken carcass in crockpot yesterday, made chicken-noodle soup today, and the bones are back in the crockpot for the remouillage round.

Collected onion seed and borage seeds from the garden; saved some cantaloupe seeds from a grocery store fruit and will bury them shortly in hopes of some late summer canteloupe.

[Luckyvik]

On holiday in New York, waked everywhere saving on transport and also bought water bottles in bulk from Walgreens less tha $1/bottle as opposed to $3+ a bottle in food carts etc, still spent money on some things but was well spent


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[Kitsune]

I hired a housecleaner.

Which allows me to free up a weekday, which allows me to increase the hours I work (instead of cleaning the house and running errands), which means that, after taxes and paying hte housecleaner, I will make an extra 480$/month.

AND I don't have to clean the house. ;)

[Bracken_Joy]

Forget if I posted this, forgive me if I already did! Hold your face punches, please, I know it's expensive. But our dog is our baby... whine.

What we had been doing. Monthly: Bubble bath, with ears, teeth brushing/gel, anal gland expression, nail clipping and grinding, hypoallergenic shampoo, and comes home stuffed full of organic freeze dried liver treats. $25, plus $5 tip, so $30.
I already knew this was expensive, but we kept doing it, because denial our dog loves the place, always comes back so so soft, and they're great with her nails- when we got her (rescue), they were grown in a circle back into her paw pads. They've worked the quick back so they're almost normal, but 3 are still very funky and hard to work with.
Last month when we went in, they told us they were raising her price $10! So now we would be looking at $40 per month. That I just couldn't swallow, so it finally pushed me to change to...

Monthly: just nails, $10. I bathe her at home. Still need to figure out teeth cleaning and anal glands though. Sigh. Her breed is not notorious for cooperation with grooming!

This $30 savings per month will partially offset our $100 rent increase starting July or August. (PS- don't move to Portland guys. I am elated about a $100 increase, since it could have been so much worse. DO NOT MOVE HERE. I beg you).

[Kwill]

Today I went and visited the current tenant in my future flat and agreed to buy his furniture. It's all very sensible, wood, like-new Ikea stuff, and Ł300 for the whole apartment, pre-delivered. It seems like a good deal. I will have to work on making it girlier, but one thing at a time.

[PMG]

I hemmed and made new back pockets for a pair of jeans.  Yeah. These are fancy quick dry travel jeans that I picked up for a dollar at a thrift shop two summers ago. I convinced myself they were snug. No, they were way too small and just languished on my shelf. But now I've lost weight and they fit, but the pockets were too small to be useful and made my butt look pitiful.  I used the extra couple inches I cut off the hem to make new pockets. They've gone from "mom jeans" to "boyfriend jeans".


Edited to add:  10 minutes after I posted this the boyfriend commented that the pocket placement in my jeans was odd.  Haha. Granted he was more referring to the feel of the high waist.  But. Hah. Maybe I'm not as clever as I thought.

[horsepoor]

I was too lazy to leave my hotel room to go get ice cream tonight.

[11ducks]

Forget if I posted this, forgive me if I already did! Hold your face punches, please, I know it's expensive. But our dog is our baby... whine.

What we had been doing. Monthly: Bubble bath, with ears, teeth brushing/gel, anal gland expression, nail clipping and grinding, hypoallergenic shampoo, and comes home stuffed full of organic freeze dried liver treats. $25, plus $5 tip, so $30.
I already knew this was expensive, but we kept doing it, because denial our dog loves the place, always comes back so so soft, and they're great with her nails- when we got her (rescue), they were grown in a circle back into her paw pads. They've worked the quick back so they're almost normal, but 3 are still very funky and hard to work with.
Last month when we went in, they told us they were raising her price $10! So now we would be looking at $40 per month. That I just couldn't swallow, so it finally pushed me to change to...

Monthly: just nails, $10. I bathe her at home. Still need to figure out teeth cleaning and anal glands though. Sigh. Her breed is not notorious for cooperation with grooming!

This $30 savings per month will partially offset our $100 rent increase starting July or August. (PS- don't move to Portland guys. I am elated about a $100 increase, since it could have been so much worse. DO NOT MOVE HERE. I beg you).

Teeth brushing is easy enough. Anal gland expression shouldn't be done routinely though- it can cause soft tissue trauma and can stop the gland working effectively on its own. Maybe just have it done if the glands get impacted/blocked? Most dogs are fine without it though.

[Kitsune]

Forget if I posted this, forgive me if I already did! Hold your face punches, please, I know it's expensive. But our dog is our baby... whine.

What we had been doing. Monthly: Bubble bath, with ears, teeth brushing/gel, anal gland expression, nail clipping and grinding, hypoallergenic shampoo, and comes home stuffed full of organic freeze dried liver treats. $25, plus $5 tip, so $30.
I already knew this was expensive, but we kept doing it, because denial our dog loves the place, always comes back so so soft, and they're great with her nails- when we got her (rescue), they were grown in a circle back into her paw pads. They've worked the quick back so they're almost normal, but 3 are still very funky and hard to work with.
Last month when we went in, they told us they were raising her price $10! So now we would be looking at $40 per month. That I just couldn't swallow, so it finally pushed me to change to...

Monthly: just nails, $10. I bathe her at home. Still need to figure out teeth cleaning and anal glands though. Sigh. Her breed is not notorious for cooperation with grooming!

This $30 savings per month will partially offset our $100 rent increase starting July or August. (PS- don't move to Portland guys. I am elated about a $100 increase, since it could have been so much worse. DO NOT MOVE HERE. I beg you).

Teeth brushing is easy enough. Anal gland expression shouldn't be done routinely though- it can cause soft tissue trauma and can stop the gland working effectively on its own. Maybe just have it done if the glands get impacted/blocked? Most dogs are fine without it though.

This. With my old golden retriever, we would know it needed to happen when she'd start dragging her tush over the grass. Looked absolutely ridiculous.

[Ceridwen]

- Sold some baby gear on kijiji

- Walked quite a bit yesterday instead of taking the bus (even though it was unseasonably cold and I was not dressed for it)

- Leftovers for lunch yesterday, today and tomorrow

[Fishinshawn]

I cut my own hair and made left over chicken fajitas and rice for lunch today. Also walked my kiddo to school instead of driving.

[Inaya]

Was pouring when I left the house. Normally, rain = take the bus to the train station because sitting on a freezing train with wet shoes/pants is miserable and I'm not hardcore. Today, however, I just went the long way (subway -> urban commuter bus). It's 2 hours (as opposed to 1:40), but I only paid subway/bus fare ($2.50) instead of bus+train ($2+$5.50). And I stayed much drier.

[jengod]

* Got my free Zippo repair back from the factory; they replaced the insert, returned the old broken one and included two extra flints. I packed the old broken insert (for parts) and all my extra Zippo stuff (fluid, wicks, flints) in an old coffee can and put it away for future fixes.

* Found a like-new Emile Henry dutch oven at the thrift shop for $10. Been hoping to find a second dutch oven so I can make two sourdough boules at the same time (using the ovens as proofing baskets first). Wish me baking luck!

[.x.]

Good luck with your baking, jengod!!

Yesterday I hung laundry on the line instead of using the dryer for a couple of loads.

[Ceridwen]

We only needed produce for groceries this week, so DH walked to our local market instead of driving to the grocery store.

[MoneyCat]

Had to bring my wife's car in to get the rear wheel bearings replaced and the repairs were free since the car is still under warranty. While I was there, I got a free breakfast of coffee and donuts in their waiting room, so basically they paid me to get the car repaired. Going there and back required no gasoline since the car is a plug-in hybrid and I know how to hypermile. The electricity to run the car didn't cost anything either due to our solar panels. Then I got home and cashed out a completely free $10 comp for Caesars Entertainment from Social Rewards to use for our Vegas vacation this summer. That should get us a bit of free food. I like free stuff.

[Inaya]

Out of town for work next week. Today I'm going to WalMart to buy cheap frozen meals for hubs to prevent gratuitous pizza ordering while I'm gone. Will be making him a huge batch of slow cooker pulled pork as well.

[Threshkin]

Reduced my internet expense by about 57%.  Moved from Comcast cable to a Sprint WiFi hot spot.  We loose TV but that is no big deal.  We do not watch much anyway and can move to streaming if necessary.

Edit: My actual saving is much more as long as I keep working because they reimburse part of my internet expense.  The reimbursement is capped and only covered about half of my Comcast bill.  It will cover 100% of my new bill.

[horsepoor]

I've been in a hotel all week for work and brought my own coffee making supplies, but ran low on grounds for this morning's last cup, so I opened up a Keurig pod and added it to my grounds instead of hitting g Starbucks to get a reasonably strong cup.  Also brought food and have only been out to eat twice since Sunday night.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Babysat a neighbor's kid. She paid me, so I guess it's not exactly "saving," but I deposit all checks directly into my Ally account, so it kind of is!

Argues (politely) with the tire place when they tried to charge me $70 instead of the $20 they quoted me in the fall to move Mr. FP's TPMS sensors from one set of rims to the other.

[TootTootBeepBeep]

You guys! I'm so stoked! I just replaced my passenger mirror on my car door with the help of YouTube! It involved ordering the new mirror and taking apart my car door to install, but it was no problem! It took a total of 30 minutes and i feel like a freaking superhero! MMM has empowered me to ask "why can't it do this myself?" and with all these awesome YouTube videos I totally can... AND SO CAN YOU!!!

[RamonaQ]

I picked up a dollar I found on the ground.

I ate free breakfast at a work meeting.

[PMG]

My prof has been bringing in snacks to share. I skipped then the first week. I'm eating well and losing weight. No need for snack food.  Then I remembered I have two big trips coming up when snack packages will be desirable. Now I'm working on building a little collection of cookies and crackers!  Today he had raisins out along with cookies.  They were in my grocery list. I brought 2 packets home and made a nice batch of granola. May put off grocery shopping another week. 

[Prairie Gal]

Took my lunch to work every day this week.

[sistastache]

You guys! I'm so stoked! I just replaced my passenger mirror on my car door with the help of YouTube! It involved ordering the new mirror and taking apart my car door to install, but it was no problem! It took a total of 30 minutes and i feel like a freaking superhero! MMM has empowered me to ask "why can't it do this myself?" and with all these awesome YouTube videos I totally can... AND SO CAN YOU!!!

That hella rocks TootTootBeepBeep! MMM has been similarly inspirating for me, but this fix is badass!

[PMG]

mixed up some single acting baking powder from baking soda and cream of tartar I had already instead of buying a new container. This cream of tartar expires this year and I only use it for one occasional recipe.  Happy to use it instead of having to toss it out.

[hiker_girl]

My housemate is out of town so I unplugged the modem and water heater. I shower at the gym anyway so I don't need hot water at home. I plug the modem in only in the evenings. The refrigerator, the microwave, the stove and my alarm clock are the only appliances that are still plugged in.

I packed a big container of hearty vegetable soup and brought it to work on Monday. I ate from that bowl all week and didn't eat lunch out.

I focused on eating down my pantry and avoiding grocery stores.  I love cooking and I often think of new combinations that require "just one" more ingredient, which often leads me to stopping at a grocery store on weeknights and leaving with a whole grocery bag instead of that one item. Yesterday, Saturday, I did stop by the grocery store but left with only green beans and one jalapeno, for a total grocery bill of $3.49 for the week.   

The freezer is now half empty. Half of that is beans that I cooked from scratch and froze this week.  Today, Sunday, I made an Indian chickpea dish called channa masala for work lunches. For dinner, I am stretching a canning jar of pasta meat sauce by adding black beans, sriracha sauce, and high fiber white whole grain pasta to turn it into a spicy, meaty, and filling soup.

[horsepoor]

Remembered to use our 2x fuel points coupon at Fred Meyer today.  Limited vegetable purchases based on veggies starting to come in from the garden.

I'm cooking a turkey breast sous vide, and using the carcass part to make stock for green soup from various garden veg, so almost free pot of soup.

Opened the house up and turned on fans last night instead of turning on the A/C.

Did much of our grocery shopping at CostCo, which was cheaper for capers, cottage cheese, artichoke hearts and butternut squash, none of which I've bought there before.

[dandypandys]

About to buy this steam mop brand new in box -- http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Professional-Steam-Pocket-S3601D/dp/B00ESP4J6O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463423757&sr=8-1&keywords=shark+professional+steam+pocket+mop

but getting it on craigstlist or 45$  yippeee

[Kwill]

I added my UK accounts on Mint so I can see my total spending better. It doesn't do currency conversion, but still good to see where things are going.

Lunch was leftover cheese, sausage, and crackers that I bought for a potluck picnic over a week ago. That's been lunch a lot of days lately, and I've had omelets with leftover cheese and sausage. I'm getting a little tired of it, but it's still nice, filling, and quick.

[LindseyC]

I'm celebrating! Through a combination of using a rebate site at work for office purchases (with my bosses permission) as well as signing up for a new credit card using the same site, I have earned just over $140 dollars the past few months. I'm leaving it in my PayPal account to pay for the next 14 months of Netflix! I'm going to keep working the rebates and hopefully without any cost to me, I will be able to get free Netflix permanently.

I also picked up a ridiculous deal on extra lean ground beef. Packages that were marked $11 originally were marked down to $4.$$ and then had a further 30% off because they were dated to expire in two days. Add to that I got an additional 20% off using my grocery points card. I bought quite a few to freeze, the grocery clerk that was stocking the shelf told me it was a crazy deal because they had accidentally ordered way too much. Score for me!

[AlwaysLearningToSave]

I biked to work today.  I was running late and in a rush to get out the door and realized that I did not have time to pack my lunch as I usually do.  So I grabbed a few snack items from the fridge and called it good enough, hoping there would be random food in the break room at lunch and figuring that if it came down to it I could buy a sandwich from the little lunch counter in the neighboring building.  Obviously that would not be saving money but I do it rarely enough that I was going to let it slide today.

But my Mustachian subconscious was there to protect me from making a stupid prepared lunch purchase!  I got to work and realized I had also forgotten my wallet.  Thus, what easily could have been a non-mustachian spendy day became an unexpectedly more-mustachian-than-usual day of mostly fasting. 

[DeltaBond]

I didn't go to my office, so I didn't pay $6 to park. :)

[lunahsol]

Dug a container of previously frozen curry lentils out of the freezer to have over rice for lunch today.  Also packed an extra homemade smoothie for an afternoon snack.  Free coffee, as usual . . . and free gym tonight.  Should get away with no money spent today :)

[TravelJunkyQC]

Biked to work for the first time today (changed jobs in February to a closer office and today was the first day that it was over 0 degrees when I woke up). Got lost a little on the way, but it only took 50 minutes. Going home should be all downhill or flat so should be even quicker. Yay!

[Kitsune]

Planted 5 sugar maples and 3 hickory trees: free.

Having a forestry tech in the family means phone calls along the lines of "hey, we have too many trees for this project. Want any?" It's great, especially since we built our house and are in the process of doing landscaping... :)

[RamonaQ]

I accidentally wore a pair of jeans that have a hole worn through in the inner thigh/crotch area to work today.  (I kept them for working in the yard, etc.)  Thought about driving home and changing, but instead improvised a fix with duct tape so I wouldn't end up mooning people.  So I saved time and gas money! 

I should write a book: "Mending your clothes with office supplies"

[Dollar Slice]

I should write a book: "Mending your clothes with office supplies"

Here's a tip for your book, free of charge: fixing a black leather belt with electrical tape works, but only for a couple of days.

[I'm a red panda]

I'm taking an Ed2Go class. I was looking at my local community college, but googled for reviews and found out prices vary. I searched a bunch of CCs until I found one with a price nearly half that of mine.

Pretty happy about that. Made the class go from questionable value to probably worth it.

[Tamster]

I'm finally getting into the swing of things again. Applied for my bank's cash back credit card today, which will save money going forward. Finalized which health insurance I am selecting -- increase in monthly payment, but so happy to have access to health care. Worked on my weekly grocery list.

[AlwaysLearningToSave]

I should write a book: "Mending your clothes with office supplies"

Here's a tip for your book, free of charge: fixing a black leather belt with electrical tape works, but only for a couple of days.

My tip:  You can fix a tie that is losing its stitching with a stapler.  Also only a temporary solution.

[I'm a red panda]

I should write a book: "Mending your clothes with office supplies"

Here's a tip for your book, free of charge: fixing a black leather belt with electrical tape works, but only for a couple of days.

Electrical tape also works when the sole of your shoe falls off at a wedding and your BIL is an electrician and has a role of tape in his car.  But it turns your foot black and sticky.

[Kitsunegari]

Technically it was yesterday, but here we go:
I was craving, CRAVING sugars, and I entered in 2 dépanneurs to buy a Twix or an ice cream sandwich, but I couldn't accept their exploitative prices, so I waited until I was home and I ate a mango, and it was sweet and delicious and perfect. 

[RetiredAt63]

Totally off topic - how did you get the é?  Copy from Word?  Something easier?  So nice to see dépanneur spelled properly.

Technically it was yesterday, but here we go:
I was craving, CRAVING sugars, and I entered in 2 dépanneurs to buy a Twix or an ice cream sandwich, but I couldn't accept their exploitative prices, so I waited until I was home and I ate a mango, and it was sweet and delicious and perfect.

[jordanread]

Totally off topic - how did you get the é?  Copy from Word?  Something easier?  So nice to see dépanneur spelled properly.

Technically it was yesterday, but here we go:
I was craving, CRAVING sugars, and I entered in 2 dépanneurs to buy a Twix or an ice cream sandwich, but I couldn't accept their exploitative prices, so I waited until I was home and I ate a mango, and it was sweet and delicious and perfect.

Try this. And I have no idea what a dépanneur  is.

[Kitsune]

Totally off topic - how did you get the é?  Copy from Word?  Something easier?  So nice to see dépanneur spelled properly.

Technically it was yesterday, but here we go:
I was craving, CRAVING sugars, and I entered in 2 dépanneurs to buy a Twix or an ice cream sandwich, but I couldn't accept their exploitative prices, so I waited until I was home and I ate a mango, and it was sweet and delicious and perfect.

The Quebecois equivalent of a bodega? I have no idea outside of NYC-based references.

Like, the store that's open earlier and later than all the other stores and where you stop by to get milk or bread or chips or beer or soda or emergency supplies at like 11pm when all the other stores are out and you realize you're out of coffee and milk and cat food.

Try this. And I have no idea what a dépanneur  is.

[RetiredAt63]

Well I would have said depp.  I had no frame of reference when I moved to Ontario - what is a 7-11?  Listening to students use 3 languages in one sentence does things to the brain (I taught CEGEP for many years).

Thanks for the link.

Totally off topic - how did you get the é?  Copy from Word?  Something easier?  So nice to see dépanneur spelled properly.

Technically it was yesterday, but here we go:
I was craving, CRAVING sugars, and I entered in 2 dépanneurs to buy a Twix or an ice cream sandwich, but I couldn't accept their exploitative prices, so I waited until I was home and I ate a mango, and it was sweet and delicious and perfect.

The Quebecois equivalent of a bodega? I have no idea outside of NYC-based references.

Like, the store that's open earlier and later than all the other stores and where you stop by to get milk or bread or chips or beer or soda or emergency supplies at like 11pm when all the other stores are out and you realize you're out of coffee and milk and cat food.

Try this. And I have no idea what a dépanneur  is.

[Rural]

I should write a book: "Mending your clothes with office supplies"

Here's a tip for your book, free of charge: fixing a black leather belt with electrical tape works, but only for a couple of days.

My tip:  You can fix a tie that is losing its stitching with a stapler.  Also only a temporary solution.

Staples also work on a falling hem on pants. They look better if you staple with the top of the stapler on the inside - bottoms of staples look a little like stitches. Lasts until you wash the garment, but garment will survive better if you remember to remove the staples prior to washing machine.


Also, a sharpie solves a deep scuff on black shoes and similar.

[10dollarsatatime]

I bought a wifi sprinkler timer with the watersense feature.  It cost $100.  But my local water conservatory district is offering a $100 rebate.  So free!  Also.  It will kill the sprinklers/garden irrigation if it's been raining anyway.  So I'll save money on my utilities as well!

[FIRE me]

Today I DIY replaced my house water heater. Saved about $500 compared to paying a plumber.