Author Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?  (Read 8020817 times)

RoostKing

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7450 on: November 18, 2016, 08:26:21 AM »
I live about 40 miles away from work, not bad considering Phoenix and I would downtown. There is an Express bus park and ride about 10 mins from my house and as part of the compensation, I get a free bus/lightrail pass. I figured what the heck, Ill check out the bus ride and see how it goes. Long story short, Im a big fan, but everyone I tell looks at me like I have an alien growing out of my forehead lol. I try to explain these arent your standard mass transit busses, they basically run only in the morning and at night getting working professionals to and from work and only make a few stops while in town, then it never stops again until the park and ride about 30 miles away. I added up my monthly savings and its about $200 a month in gas and parking. So I figure I actually make $2400 more a year, plus possibly more if I can cut my insurance costs since Im not driving near the mileage anymore. Not to mention, I don't have the headache of driving in rush hour 2x a day. That alone is worth it!!

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7451 on: November 18, 2016, 08:53:02 AM »
Picked up a spider plant today! I'm gonna name him Peter. Like Peter Parker. Because... spider plant.

LOL

Thank you for making me laugh today!!!

Spider plant, spider plant, does whatever a spider plant does ...

Haha, I'm glad you guys like it. I sprung that on DH last night (after a 12hr work days that started at 4am for him) and he just kinda stared for a minute, and then said, "I love you". Translation, you are being truly absurd and I am too sleepy to find that as hilarious as I should.

Now I have to figure out how to care for Peter =P And probably repot him. Hmm.

engineermom21

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7452 on: November 18, 2016, 12:32:45 PM »
I used a coupon for a free LED light at a local hardware store to get another stocking stuffer for the husband for Christmas.

No leftovers from dinner last night, so was planning on grabbing lunch out at work today, but remembered I had frozen some pulled pork a few weeks back.  That and one of my frozen hamburger buns worked perfect for lunch today.  Also had some of the leftover pie from our Thanksgiving potluck yesterday, which was a nice treat.


aetherie

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7453 on: November 18, 2016, 01:22:02 PM »
I'm polling my vegetarian friends for dinner recipes. Cutting back on meat to 1-2x/week should help us save money as well as reduce our carbon footprint.

Kitsune

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7454 on: November 18, 2016, 01:44:05 PM »
I'm polling my vegetarian friends for dinner recipes. Cutting back on meat to 1-2x/week should help us save money as well as reduce our carbon footprint.

TACOS.
Homemade mac and cheese (this recipe is the best: https://www.ricardocuisine.com/en/recipes/4265-macaroni-and-cheese)
Soups, curries, etc, obviously.
Smitten Kitchen has a mushroom bourguignon that, swear to god, tastes better than most beef bourguignons. Tasty, super-schancy, actually affordable.

Also, tip: spiced beans and chickpeas can be used to replace meat in most go-to recipes. Like, tonight, we're having chickpea gyros from this recipe: http://honestcooking.com/spiced-chickpea-gyros/
Our the filling for our tacos are basically pan-fried onions, add black beans, add chillin poweder and cumin and paprika and oregano to taste (what you'd do with beef, but... with beans).
My husband likes 'tuna' sandwiches (well, he mostly likes the greek yogurt and parsley and dill and paprika and sald and pepper and a bit of mustard that's mixed in with the tuna). Replace the tuna with smashed chickpeas or white beans. Works FINE in a sandwich, and doesn't stink up a luch box.

Disclaimer: we're not vegetarian; we eat meat 2-3 times/week total, though. For heath reasons, because I'd rather spend less and be more healthy, and because the toddler refuses to let a bite of meat cross her lips, and I'll be damned if I let her be under-nourished (you cannot live on rice+veg and ignore all meat, you need SOMETHING else) OR make 2 meals every night. Balancing act. :)

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7455 on: November 18, 2016, 03:48:41 PM »
Got $10 off my groceries last night.

This morning I've been online price checking an Xbox game my husband wants for Christmas. Most places had it for $100, one website had it for $80 with an extra $20 off. So $60 with free postage.

Who says Christmas shopping is hard? :D

Threshkin

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7456 on: November 18, 2016, 11:12:55 PM »
Made another big batch of pumpkin soup today using fresh pumpkin and peppers from the garden.  Got to use these up before they go bad.  Other ingredients were onion and apple.  Makes a delicious soup!

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7457 on: November 19, 2016, 08:36:19 AM »
Was logging into our new smart thermostat thing (had to get a spendy one to handle our weird system setup, but it fixed our HVAC!), and they advertised to me our local energy counsel rebates! $50 back when that goes through! But, MPP, they wanted to proof of having paid the balance to our contractor... uh, we didn't use a contractor, it was an easy DIY. Where's the DIY box??

horsepoor

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7458 on: November 19, 2016, 09:13:46 AM »
Canning homegrown tomatoes  and then doing turkey soup and stock with the giant free turkey I got from Winco last week.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2016, 06:51:05 PM by horsepoor »

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7459 on: November 19, 2016, 10:41:35 AM »
Checked prices of electricity and ordered a better deal. We changed to the best deal last year, but obviously things change fast. And not checking prices makes you pay more than nessecary.
I also ordered a cheaper house insuranse and will save several 100 USD a year with that.

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7460 on: November 19, 2016, 11:20:25 AM »
Read The New Yorker election reaction articles for free via Zinio.

Breakfast was coffee made at home using home-roasted beans ($4/lb green beans via Costco) and steel-cut oats ($0.50/lb from Sprouts).

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7461 on: November 19, 2016, 02:05:59 PM »
Made a batch of taco mince for the freezer.

Called my mum and asked her to check my Christmas paper supplies. As suspected, I have enough for several decades (all bought on sale), and don't need to buy more.

RelaxedGal

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7462 on: November 19, 2016, 06:34:34 PM »
Attended Boston Code Camp 2016 - more free food than I could handle, great networking event (OK, I failed there) and most importantly: a full day of exposure to newer technologies.  Very educational.  I even snagged a leftover sandwich for supper, won a water bottle in the raffle, and scored a Pop Socket as swag.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7463 on: November 19, 2016, 06:51:41 PM »
Cashed in some frequent flyer points for a gift card.

My husband flies for work and racks up hundreds of thousands of points, and we're saving those for travel.

But we have an agreement that I can cash out the points I accumulate through shopping (groceries, eBay, etc) for gift cards.

This way I feel it's actually worth doing all those things, if I have tangible savings on groceries, rather than the points just going into the bottomless pit of frequent flyer points.

Metric Mouse

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7464 on: November 20, 2016, 04:57:14 AM »
Cashed in some frequent flyer points for a gift card.

My husband flies for work and racks up hundreds of thousands of points, and we're saving those for travel.

But we have an agreement that I can cash out the points I accumulate through shopping (groceries, eBay, etc) for gift cards.

This way I feel it's actually worth doing all those things, if I have tangible savings on groceries, rather than the points just going into the bottomless pit of frequent flyer points.

Would it work to put shopping on a different card that does this automatically? Depending on the 'exchange' rate for ff points (since you have so many from your husbands work) it might be more efficient to do a different rewards card. I know for one of the places I shop, their visa card gives me an average over 5% back in gift cards between bonuses and such.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7465 on: November 20, 2016, 12:24:04 PM »
Cashed in some frequent flyer points for a gift card.

My husband flies for work and racks up hundreds of thousands of points, and we're saving those for travel.

But we have an agreement that I can cash out the points I accumulate through shopping (groceries, eBay, etc) for gift cards.

This way I feel it's actually worth doing all those things, if I have tangible savings on groceries, rather than the points just going into the bottomless pit of frequent flyer points.

Would it work to put shopping on a different card that does this automatically? Depending on the 'exchange' rate for ff points (since you have so many from your husbands work) it might be more efficient to do a different rewards card. I know for one of the places I shop, their visa card gives me an average over 5% back in gift cards between bonuses and such.

They're not actually credit card reward points.

Qantas has a website called Q Mall which allows you to earn QFF points for shopping online at dozens of websites: eBay, Nike, Net-a-Porter, David Jones, etc.

I've also accumulated points for our phone bills (the telco has since ended that promotion), and for restaurant bookings (at my old job I was responsible for organising birthday and farewell lunches, so I would earn points for the booking and work would pay the bill).

Moonwaves

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7466 on: November 20, 2016, 01:06:24 PM »
I cooked all the vegetables before they went bad and am all set for meals for the next week by just needing to add a little something every day.

Two parsley roots that I picked up from foodsharing were roasted with two sweet potatoes that I bought probably two months ago. Used Middle East type spices and had once portion with some salad for dinner with another two portions gone into the fridge.

The two courgettes and ten cherry tomatoes on the vine that I bought from the little local shop a week and a half ago were sinking fast. I managed to rescue most of them however, and roasted them along with some shallots and garlic and herbes de provence. Two decent portions out of that gone into the fridge now.

I sauteed a leek that I bought as well as the green half of a leek from foodsharing (why did someone cut the bottom off a leek and leave the rest behind? Who knows!) and about a third of a smallish pumpkin to make the filling for some cheesy leek and pumpkin danishes. Since the filling is done, it's far more likely that I'll just quickly make the dough and bake them during the week.

I used the rest of the pumpkin to make soup, used a bit of curry paste and ginger with it and have two big portions of soup ready to go.

And I peeled and chopped the six apples I also picked up from foodsharing and stewed them. Particularly proud of this as most of them were bruised or a bit soft and would not have lasted very long. But as it is, that's a couple of days worth of a sweet treat for me, too.

Feeling all sorts of pleased with myself now, especially since I also did all the washing up immediately.

Kwill

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7467 on: November 20, 2016, 01:22:47 PM »
Leftover curry from the freezer for dinner, and I packed up the last of it for tomorrow's lunch.

laka

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7468 on: November 20, 2016, 04:26:29 PM »
Small thing: we helped my MIL with her fall clean up and ended up with a 5 gallon bucket of green tomatoes. We pickled 6 quarts - never done it before, so I don't know for sure that it will even be edible, but theoretically it will save us money.

Medium things: finally set up the Mr.'s IRA deductions. He's in a union and automatically contributes to a pension, but we haven't been contributing to an IRA. (His employer doesn't offer a match - I'd have been ALL OVER that day one if so.) Finally looked through the options and set it up.

Finally filled out the forms to roll over my old pension from when I worked for the state (left about 13 years ago). I didn't have enough time in to fully vest, and there were only a few thousand dollars in there, but it's just been sitting there for years and I know it could be earning so much more. Filled out all the paperwork for the state (so. much.), got it notarized (such a PITA with no car during the week), and it should be deposited into my shiny new Betterment account (which I chose because it is *easy*, and clearly that's what I needed since I've put this off for so long) within a couple of weeks.

Metric Mouse

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7469 on: November 20, 2016, 05:45:45 PM »
Cashed in some frequent flyer points for a gift card.

My husband flies for work and racks up hundreds of thousands of points, and we're saving those for travel.

But we have an agreement that I can cash out the points I accumulate through shopping (groceries, eBay, etc) for gift cards.

This way I feel it's actually worth doing all those things, if I have tangible savings on groceries, rather than the points just going into the bottomless pit of frequent flyer points.

Would it work to put shopping on a different card that does this automatically? Depending on the 'exchange' rate for ff points (since you have so many from your husbands work) it might be more efficient to do a different rewards card. I know for one of the places I shop, their visa card gives me an average over 5% back in gift cards between bonuses and such.

They're not actually credit card reward points.

Qantas has a website called Q Mall which allows you to earn QFF points for shopping online at dozens of websites: eBay, Nike, Net-a-Porter, David Jones, etc.

I've also accumulated points for our phone bills (the telco has since ended that promotion), and for restaurant bookings (at my old job I was responsible for organising birthday and farewell lunches, so I would earn points for the booking and work would pay the bill).

Ahh. Well, shoot.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7470 on: November 20, 2016, 06:21:28 PM »
Cashed in some frequent flyer points for a gift card.

My husband flies for work and racks up hundreds of thousands of points, and we're saving those for travel.

But we have an agreement that I can cash out the points I accumulate through shopping (groceries, eBay, etc) for gift cards.

This way I feel it's actually worth doing all those things, if I have tangible savings on groceries, rather than the points just going into the bottomless pit of frequent flyer points.

Would it work to put shopping on a different card that does this automatically? Depending on the 'exchange' rate for ff points (since you have so many from your husbands work) it might be more efficient to do a different rewards card. I know for one of the places I shop, their visa card gives me an average over 5% back in gift cards between bonuses and such.

They're not actually credit card reward points.

Qantas has a website called Q Mall which allows you to earn QFF points for shopping online at dozens of websites: eBay, Nike, Net-a-Porter, David Jones, etc.

I've also accumulated points for our phone bills (the telco has since ended that promotion), and for restaurant bookings (at my old job I was responsible for organising birthday and farewell lunches, so I would earn points for the booking and work would pay the bill).

Ahh. Well, shoot.

No drama. :)

If I had a rewards credit card, I would basically get double points, but I don't spend enough to warrant a rewards card.

Eco_eco

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7471 on: November 20, 2016, 06:32:23 PM »
A very small thing I did today was not buy an instant sugary drink at the supermarket. Usually I would have on my way home (as I really wanted one). But we've spent our food money this week and there is perfectly good water in the tap at home. So no drink for me.

It was a nice moment - remembering to think about the budget, remembering there was an alternative just as refreshing, not giving in to the impulse to spend - yay.

frooglepoodle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7472 on: November 20, 2016, 07:09:06 PM »
I baked bread for Thanksgiving (will freeze and defrost that morning) and cornbread to be used for the dressing. I also made a batch of crockpot yogurt that will set overnight.

Bought a toddler chair from a buy/sell Facebook group to be our kiddo's Christmas present. It's meant to be an outdoor chair but he won't care, and for $3 neither do I.

Cut my husband's hair.

Gerard

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7473 on: November 21, 2016, 12:00:30 AM »
We're on vacation, so saving is relative... picked up snacks/cheese/bread/fruit for the train today, so avoided buying bad expensive amtrak food.

Then we researched cheap big Mexican supermarkets near our LA airbnb, and walked there (in the light rain), got 4 meals X 2 people's worth of excellent groceries for $17. It was just pouring down rain when we were leaving, so a cashier called us a $7 uber ride, but we're still well ahead.

(The store is part of a chain called Northgate Gonzalez, if you're interested...)
http://www.northgatemarkets.com/en-us/our-stores/

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7474 on: November 21, 2016, 12:08:37 AM »
Bringing enough lunch from home that I don't need to buy lunch at work.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7475 on: November 21, 2016, 02:14:31 AM »
I have a family member staying tonight and a different family member staying tomorrow night.

Very easy to suggest takeaway, but instead I'm feeling more confident about just suggesting, "Hey, why don't we have tacos?" No-one says no to tacos. :)

Toffeemama

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7476 on: November 21, 2016, 10:54:48 AM »
I realized that the grocery store had ground pork for nearly $3 per pound cheaper than ground beef.  Three dollars PER POUND!  I got 3 lbs worth, and am going to use 1 lb to contribute dirty rice for Thanksgiving dinner.

4alpacas

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7477 on: November 21, 2016, 11:03:01 AM »
Used the gym at work.  I've just started using it, and it's a lot less expensive (right now it's free through the end of the year) than my local options. 
Showered at work. 
Packed breakfast--mini egg muffins made using leftover stuff that was about to go bad--a few chicken sausages, shredded zucchini in the freezer, a little goat cheese, and a little feta. 
Packed my lunch
Made tea in my office

ohsnap

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7478 on: November 21, 2016, 03:03:59 PM »
...Then we researched cheap big Mexican supermarkets near our LA airbnb, and walked there (in the light rain), got 4 meals X 2 people's worth of excellent groceries for $17. It was just pouring down rain when we were leaving, so a cashier called us a $7 uber ride, but we're still well ahead.

(The store is part of a chain called Northgate Gonzalez, if you're interested...)
http://www.northgatemarkets.com/en-us/our-stores/

Nice find!  I love Northgate Markets.  There is one about 20 minutes from me, so I stop by whenever I'm in that area.  Best prices on produce and some packaged goods, and of course, Mexican specialties.  I'm always the only Anglo in the place - my suburban neighbors don't know what they are missing out on.

ohsnap

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7479 on: November 21, 2016, 03:20:54 PM »
We are leaving town for a few days for the holiday later this week, so I'm trying to draw down the refrigerator inventory to avoid waste and so we don't come home to rotten produce.  So here are some things I've already done and have yet to do related to that:

Yesterday I needed to make a big pot of spaghetti sauce to serve 10 people.  I put in all my traditional ingredients (tomato paste, diced tomatoes, cheap red wine, onion, garlic, and spices) but then I added in some stuff to stretch it further - and it was stuff that would have been tossed in another couple of days. Half a bell pepper, about 4 oz of mushrooms, and about 2/3 cup of leftover pumpkin puree.  My son saw me scraping the pumpkin into the pot and questioned it, but I assured him he'd never notice it.  And he didn't.  The sauce was delicious, and there was enough leftover for the three of us for dinner tonight, too!

Then said son tried to take some of the spaghetti & sauce for lunch today, which was very mustachian of him.  But then there wouldn't have been 3 servings left for dinner, and I didn't want to figure out how to stretch that any further!  So we dug around in the fridge & found a package of tofu he opened on Friday - again, something that might go unused before we leave for our holiday - so he took a package of ramen with a container of diced tofu & a baggy of spinach.

Husband wanted Swiss cheese with his lunch today, but the package was unopened, so I convinced him to use the open package of cheddar instead.  (cheese lasts a while, but once it's open it develops mold spots much faster)

Later today I'll go through the fridge & start tossing stuff in the freezer unless I know we'll eat it tomorrow!

Rubic

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7480 on: November 21, 2016, 04:43:05 PM »
Husband wanted Swiss cheese with his lunch today, but the package was unopened, so I convinced him to use the open package of cheddar instead.  (cheese lasts a while, but once it's open it develops mold spots much faster)

Keep in mind that you can always freeze cheese if you'll be away
for a while.

ohsnap

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7481 on: November 21, 2016, 06:46:52 PM »
Husband wanted Swiss cheese with his lunch today, but the package was unopened, so I convinced him to use the open package of cheddar instead.  (cheese lasts a while, but once it's open it develops mold spots much faster)

Keep in mind that you can always freeze cheese if you'll be away
for a while.

Yes, I'll do that.  But the texture changes. It's fine for cheeses like my Costco pack of feta, but it makes cheddar impossible to slice.  Still good for shreds/crumbles, of course.  Thanks for the reminder. :)

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7482 on: November 21, 2016, 11:58:01 PM »
Cut my son's hair tonight. (The Wahl clippers have now paid for themselves.)

marty998

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7483 on: November 22, 2016, 02:25:13 AM »
Husband wanted Swiss cheese with his lunch today, but the package was unopened, so I convinced him to use the open package of cheddar instead.  (cheese lasts a while, but once it's open it develops mold spots much faster)

Keep in mind that you can always freeze cheese if you'll be away
for a while.

No kidding? Seriously? You can freeze cheese?

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7484 on: November 22, 2016, 02:33:50 AM »
Husband wanted Swiss cheese with his lunch today, but the package was unopened, so I convinced him to use the open package of cheddar instead.  (cheese lasts a while, but once it's open it develops mold spots much faster)

Keep in mind that you can always freeze cheese if you'll be away
for a while.

No kidding? Seriously? You can freeze cheese?

... Seriously? You didn't know???

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7485 on: November 22, 2016, 06:58:03 AM »
Husband wanted Swiss cheese with his lunch today, but the package was unopened, so I convinced him to use the open package of cheddar instead.  (cheese lasts a while, but once it's open it develops mold spots much faster)

Keep in mind that you can always freeze cheese if you'll be away
for a while.

No kidding? Seriously? You can freeze cheese?

... Seriously? You didn't know???

That's the beauty of this thread! You learn a million little ways to save. =) And it's hard to find stuff like this on your own sometimes- you don't know what you don't know!

Kitsunegari

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7486 on: November 22, 2016, 10:37:19 AM »
Husband wanted Swiss cheese with his lunch today, but the package was unopened, so I convinced him to use the open package of cheddar instead.  (cheese lasts a while, but once it's open it develops mold spots much faster)

Keep in mind that you can always freeze cheese if you'll be away
for a while.

No kidding? Seriously? You can freeze cheese?

... Seriously? You didn't know???

Wouldn't it ruin the texture? as it does with milk?

lil_miss_frugal

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7487 on: November 22, 2016, 10:39:24 AM »
Husband wanted Swiss cheese with his lunch today, but the package was unopened, so I convinced him to use the open package of cheddar instead.  (cheese lasts a while, but once it's open it develops mold spots much faster)

Keep in mind that you can always freeze cheese if you'll be away
for a while.

No kidding? Seriously? You can freeze cheese?

... Seriously? You didn't know???

Wouldn't it ruin the texture? as it does with milk?

I've had to freeze cheese plenty of times and I honestly couldn't tell the difference in texture nor taste.

Rubic

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7488 on: November 22, 2016, 10:43:17 AM »
Keep in mind that you can always freeze cheese if you'll be away
for a while.

Yes, I'll do that.  But the texture changes. It's fine for cheeses like my Costco pack of feta, but it makes cheddar impossible to slice.  Still good for shreds/crumbles, of course.  Thanks for the reminder. :)

When you thaw the cheddar, let it thaw slowly in the refrigerator rather than
bringing it out of the freezer directly up to room temperature.

Catbert

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7489 on: November 22, 2016, 10:49:16 AM »
It wouldn't freeze really good cheese.  The French would probably stop speaking to you. ;-)

IME it affects textures and would kill any live bacteria, enzymes (whatever turns milk to cheese).  It works fine on grocery store cheese, especially things like a packet of shredded cheddar or mozzarella.

OmahaSteph

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7490 on: November 22, 2016, 11:16:15 AM »
Instead of buying a new LBD or taking my all-over lace one to a tailor, I used some rudimentary sewing skills to shorten the flesh-colored liner on the skirt part so it no longer hangs lower than the lace.

Successfully replaced the battery in my car key fob.

I plan to make the crust for my Thanksgiving pies (already have all the ingredients) instead of buying ready-made crust. This will either be awesome or a baking disaster :D

My parents and ex's parents bought Cub Scout popcorn from my son and told us to keep it, so I brought in several individual packages of microwaveable popcorn to work for my emergency snack stash, thereby avoiding the evil vending machine.

Toffeemama

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7491 on: November 22, 2016, 12:06:44 PM »
Instead of buying a new LBD or taking my all-over lace one to a tailor, I used some rudimentary sewing skills to shorten the flesh-colored liner on the skirt part so it no longer hangs lower than the lace.

Successfully replaced the battery in my car key fob.

I plan to make the crust for my Thanksgiving pies (already have all the ingredients) instead of buying ready-made crust. This will either be awesome or a baking disaster :D

My parents and ex's parents bought Cub Scout popcorn from my son and told us to keep it, so I brought in several individual packages of microwaveable popcorn to work for my emergency snack stash, thereby avoiding the evil vending machine.

I was going to use pre-made dough for my pie crusts, but your post is driving me to make my own.  Mustachian peer pressure?

Kitsunegari

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7492 on: November 22, 2016, 12:28:25 PM »
Not going outside at all.

mc6

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7493 on: November 22, 2016, 12:54:16 PM »
Resisted turning on my heat another day. 

Kwill

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7494 on: November 22, 2016, 01:00:12 PM »
Making soup from various things that were getting old: chicken from the freezer, ugly carrots, sprouting potatoes. While waiting for it to cook, I had a stale, broken cookie that was languishing at the bottom of a cookie package I'd forgotten (plus a more recent cookie and some decaf tea to keep the sad cookie company). I also had leftovers at work for lunch and had coffee packets from home instead of buying coffee.

The big savings was yesterday, though. Last week I wrote to the admissions office at the grad school where I'm doing an online degree and asked if the unused semester of my scholarship could be applied to next semester -- I'd missed it because I had to take a one-semester leave of absence. And last night I heard back that the change was approved. That will cover about 40% of the remaining cost of my degree and make a big difference now that I'm paid in pounds and paying tuition in dollars. So yay! It was worth asking.

4alpacas

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7495 on: November 22, 2016, 01:00:56 PM »
Instead of buying a new LBD or taking my all-over lace one to a tailor, I used some rudimentary sewing skills to shorten the flesh-colored liner on the skirt part so it no longer hangs lower than the lace.

Successfully replaced the battery in my car key fob.

I plan to make the crust for my Thanksgiving pies (already have all the ingredients) instead of buying ready-made crust. This will either be awesome or a baking disaster :D

My parents and ex's parents bought Cub Scout popcorn from my son and told us to keep it, so I brought in several individual packages of microwaveable popcorn to work for my emergency snack stash, thereby avoiding the evil vending machine.

I was going to use pre-made dough for my pie crusts, but your post is driving me to make my own.  Mustachian peer pressure?
OmahaSteph, You're amazing. 
Toffeemama, I'm impressed you're considering making your own crust!

I was just about to pat myself on the back for making my own pie (with a storebought crust), but you both are so impressive!

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7496 on: November 22, 2016, 02:19:05 PM »
Power was out last for most of our suburb last night.

Husband suggested we go for a drive and find somewhere that was open for dinner.

Where's the fun in that?

Instead, I poured a drink and cooked dinner on the barbecue from things we had on hand. Power was back on before it got dark anyway.


Toffeemama

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7497 on: November 22, 2016, 02:33:29 PM »

OmahaSteph, You're amazing. 
Toffeemama, I'm impressed you're considering making your own crust!

I was just about to pat myself on the back for making my own pie (with a storebought crust), but you both are so impressive!

Oh jeez.... Now I have to make my own crust! :O

Half-Borg

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7498 on: November 22, 2016, 02:39:24 PM »
Used up flour that's about to expire (not sure if it actually goes bad) and sugar that starts to become lumpy and baked cookies for work.
Good karma for a buck (had to add eggs and butter).

frooglepoodle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7499 on: November 22, 2016, 05:47:07 PM »
Fed visiting family a home cooked dinner and stretched a pound of ground beef into taco meat for 6 by adding a diced onion and a diced zucchini to bulk it up. Served with quick soaked black beans cooked in the pressure cooker since I forgot to start them in the crockpot this morning.