What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[1967mama]

- a scarf I bought in 1987 is back in style!

- found a Gatorade water bottle on a playground (the green refillable type) and so brought it home and washed it up for my sporty boys (ETA photo)

[dandarc]

Just bought one of those for $4 at Dicks.  Can keep it on the net without worrying about leakage (roller hockey, so water on floor = not good).  So $4 vs. risk of serious leg injury to me or others was the calculus on that one.

[csprof]

Replacing our appliances on our own. I held the old built-in microwave as husband worked the base off the rusted bracket (17 year old microwave!). Made me glad I've been weight lifting all year!

Let's see if I keep feeling this good about myself as we:
-pull out the dishwasher
-pull out the stove
-cut back the counters and cabinets for the new stove
-install new dishwasher, stove, and microwave

Ready, set, go!

Congrats!  I did our dishwasher last year with my father-in-law (and some help from our three year old).  It was surprisingly successful.  (I'm not much for plumbing.  Electrical I like.  Plumbing, not so much.)  I suspect you'll be victorious. :)

[Bracken_Joy]

Replacing our appliances on our own. I held the old built-in microwave as husband worked the base off the rusted bracket (17 year old microwave!). Made me glad I've been weight lifting all year!

Let's see if I keep feeling this good about myself as we:
-pull out the dishwasher
-pull out the stove
-cut back the counters and cabinets for the new stove
-install new dishwasher, stove, and microwave

Ready, set, go!

Congrats!  I did our dishwasher last year with my father-in-law (and some help from our three year old).  It was surprisingly successful.  (I'm not much for plumbing.  Electrical I like.  Plumbing, not so much.)  I suspect you'll be victorious. :)

Thank you for the vote of confidence!

Current update: all appliances are removed, and new appliances delivered and unboxed. Small surprise: old range was direct wired to a junction box vs having a plug. Luckily DH is an electrical engineer haha. So far so good. Had an annoyance with the dishwasher where non-standard size fittings were used, and were bracketed into place on the inside of an enclosed cabinet. Had to pull out the copper water supply to get the old hose out so we could replace it, then run the copper back through. This would be easier if there weren't two cabinets and a corner in between. And now this is on hold, because FIL showed up with tools to cut down the cabinets so we can go from a drop-in range to a slide-in range.

Glad I bought hot dogs and we have a grill! I have a feeling the kitchen will NOT be reassembled for dinnertime, lol.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Home today. Leftovers for lunch and no train travel.

[PMG]

Hung a pretty quilt over my window and rigged up a covering for the bathroom window. I'm in a tiny old rented studio.  The windows are single pane and leak like crazy. I am worried I'll miss daylight too much, but I also want to be warm!  I pinned ribbons to the curtains so I can tie them back easily in the morning. I'm struggling with it a bit. A blanket of the window feels so poor and looks so shabby. Looks like failure.  Ugh!  Why does it matter to me?  Right now I don't have extra money to spend on heat and if I did it would be stupid to spend unnecessarily. Not to mention wasting energy is really bad for the environment. Why am I so emotional about it?

I've been wanting another pillow for propping on the bed, not sleeping. I was using a blanket folded in a pillow case, but it wasn't really big enough (and now it's on the window) so tonight I made a bed sized pillow form out of a piece of an old sheet. I stuffed my big fluffy sleeping bag in it and the put a pillowcase over it.  Perfect and free. As I mentioned, it's a tiny apartment, I am quite fond of nonconventional storage.

[frooglepoodle]

Hung a pretty quilt over my window and rigged up a covering for the bathroom window. I'm in a tiny old rented studio.  The windows are single pane and leak like crazy. I am worried I'll miss daylight too much, but I also want to be warm!  I pinned ribbons to the curtains so I can tie them back easily in the morning. I'm struggling with it a bit. A blanket of the window feels so poor and looks so shabby. Looks like failure.  Ugh!  Why does it matter to me?  Right now I don't have extra money to spend on heat and if I did it would be stupid to spend unnecessarily. Not to mention wasting energy is really bad for the environment. Why am I so emotional about it?

I've been wanting another pillow for propping on the bed, not sleeping. I was using a blanket folded in a pillow case, but it wasn't really big enough (and now it's on the window) so tonight I made a bed sized pillow form out of a piece of an old sheet. I stuffed my big fluffy sleeping bag in it and the put a pillowcase over it.  Perfect and free. As I mentioned, it's a tiny apartment, I am quite fond of nonconventional storage.

For the drafty windows, how about sewing draft blockers? Or we often use rolled up towels to block air from coming in at windows and doorways. But even if the blanket over the window is ugly, I like the idea. I imagine it would be the most effective!

The pillow/sleeping bag storage idea is a great one!

[Kitsune]

I've been sick as a dog this week (REALLY bad cold - like, coughin up chunks of stuff in rainbow colors kind of cold. Epic sore throat. No voice at all for 2 days so far.) and I'm pregnant, so my options for medication are... fairly limited. Normally, this would be a prime excuse to spend money on things that feel better.

- Spent 13$ on the 2 medications I didn't have that I could actually use and did actually make a difference to my well-being (spray decongestant and throat numbing spray, both used VERY sparingly). Worth every damned penny omg.
- Emailed in sick from work and used (paid) sick days to deal with being ill instead of forcing every ounce of energy out of myself and prolonging the illness.
- Asked my husband to do all the at-home work and toddler-care in the evenings while I keeled over in bed at like 7pm (seriously, I feel pathetic about how bad I feel)
- Opened up the stash of freezer meals and avoided any take-out expenses
- Actually reduced the overall grocery bill via use of freezer meals and super super basic meals (like, last night - tossed the last of the carrots, celery, and onions into the food processor, dumped them in a pot with some chicken broth from the freezer and some noodles. Chicken noodle soup for dinner. Anyone wanting anything more complicated is FREE to cook themselves, I'm gonna go lie down because that was enough to make me lightheaded.)

Basically, as far as being completely ineffective and incapacitated for like 50% of the week? I did ok.

And credit to Husband for basically being like 'I've got this, you're sick, go to bed' and doing 100% of everything in the house without a single word of complaint. That helps. A lot.

[G-dog]

@Kitsune - I had a similar cold I caught near the end of October - horrid and tenacious! It took 5 weeks at least to mostly recover. The worst part was a barking cough that would NOT go away. That took me to the doctor twice (codeine cough syrup did nothing). I lost my voice for 2.5 - 3 weeks.  I hope you do not have that cold.

[Kitsune]

@Kitsune - I had a similar cold I caught near the end of October - horrid and tenacious! It took 5 weeks at least to mostly recover. The worst part was a barking cough that would NOT go away. That took me to the doctor twice (codeine cough syrup did nothing). I lost my voice for 2.5 - 3 weeks.  I hope you do not have that cold.

Ugh, sounds miserable...

I don't think that's what I have. I'm ONLY coughing to cough up the mucus that's accumulating in my lungs (... which is to be encouraged, because we like not drowning in mucus, but gawd, so gross). And I'm starting to feel a bit better.

Seriously, though: life would be significantly improved with some decent cough syrup, a fistful of anti-inflammatoires (that'd help with my throat being swollen), and, for night, some Neocitran (to the horror of all pharmacists, I know... but it basically punches your symptoms and knocks you right out and after 12 hours of reasonably restful sleep you feel a bit better!) but I'm all knocked up, so NONE of that is available. I never thought I'd miss Advil so damned much...

[Kitsune]

Amazing discovery from webmd: gargling with salt water helps sore throats. Like, a LOT.

I'm no longer coughing (because it got rid of the gunk that was making me cough). The pain has decreased (so it still hurts but not enough that it aches into my ears). It's something I can do while pregnant.

In conclusion: effective and FREE. effing YES.

[PMG]

For the drafty windows, how about sewing draft blockers? Or we often use rolled up towels to block air from coming in at windows and doorways. But even if the blanket over the window is ugly, I like the idea. I imagine it would be the most effective!

The pillow/sleeping bag storage idea is a great one!

Thanks.  I have rolled up on t-shirts as draft blockers, and I have shrink film over them, but they are still cold and leaky.  I figure, the more layers the better for now.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

The tiny windshield crack grew into a big one before I could fix it. (I was trying! Really! I was going to do it Monday!) So I am getting a new windshield. But by getting 3 quotes, I will save at least $75 off the first place I called. (The higher price did not include disposal fee for the old windshield but the lower one does.) Better than a nail in the foot!

[Bracken_Joy]

Continuing our appliance install DIY. Dishwasher, fridge, and micro-hood are done. (I have been corrected on the oh so subtle differences between an 'over the range microwave' and a 'microhood'. Now I know). Still working on the range.

With all the sawing we're doing to convert from a drop in to a slide in, I'm pretty sure we're saving biiiiiiiig money over having a contractor in to do this. We've used: a circular saw, a jig saw, a manual carpenter's saw, needlenose pliers, a hammer, a metal file... uh, I think there's something else too but I'm forgetting. At least I now know that we have VERY well made cabinets, lol.

I'm also back to having no idea what wood our cabinets are. I thought they were white-washed maple, but cutting through them, the wood is that white color throughout. Is there such a thing as white maple? Just curious. We love the color, and it'd be nice to find out it's basically just a clear stain on there for when we need to refinish them.

[Threshkin]

I'm also back to having no idea what wood our cabinets are. I thought they were white-washed maple, but cutting through them, the wood is that white color throughout. Is there such a thing as white maple? Just curious. We love the color, and it'd be nice to find out it's basically just a clear stain on there for when we need to refinish them.

Maple is white.  If it is hard, heavy, but cuts nicely with sharp tools, it is probably maple.

[Bracken_Joy]

I'm also back to having no idea what wood our cabinets are. I thought they were white-washed maple, but cutting through them, the wood is that white color throughout. Is there such a thing as white maple? Just curious. We love the color, and it'd be nice to find out it's basically just a clear stain on there for when we need to refinish them.

Maple is white.  If it is hard, heavy, but cuts nicely with sharp tools, it is probably maple.

I thought it was a bit more yellow/gold/pink?

Can you help me find good pictures? I think most people who tag pictures online have no idea what wood they are talking about. I don't know a lot, but if two pictures side by side are glaringly different color and grain and so on, I can pretty well assume someone is wrong.

[Unique User]

I'm also back to having no idea what wood our cabinets are. I thought they were white-washed maple, but cutting through them, the wood is that white color throughout. Is there such a thing as white maple? Just curious. We love the color, and it'd be nice to find out it's basically just a clear stain on there for when we need to refinish them.

Maple is white.  If it is hard, heavy, but cuts nicely with sharp tools, it is probably maple.

Could be ash, we had gorgeous knotty ash cabinets at one of our houses that we got for CHEAP.  Some second homeowner installed them, did not like how they looked so we got them for 75% off from the cabinet maker.  Most of what we paid was the installation. 

This week we've made all meals at home except for two mystery shops, one a sushi restaurant and one a pizza restaurant.  Keeps the teen happy.  Did a couple grocery shops also this week, but made sure to schedule days I would already be driving by.  Kept the heat down, washed clothes on cold, convinced the teen to make all her friends homemade bath fizzies for Christmas with some Dollar Tree fun stuff added and she brought lunches from home all week. 

[Dollar Slice]

Once a year for Black Friday/Cyber Monday a concert venue I like has a membership sale where they do either half price or two for the price of one. This year I got a friend to split a 2-for-1 deal so I got a $50 membership for only $25. My card came in the mail today and they upgraded me from the $50 membership to the $300 top level membership, which means I can bring a friend for free to any/every event on the free-for-members list, plus free coat check and a few other perks. Score. :-) 

[frooglepoodle]

The chicken I'd planned to cook for dinner didn't thaw all the way. No big deal, I can cook it tomorrow. I briefly considered ordering pizza tonight, then realized I had the ingredients to make shepherds pie. So I thawed a pound of ground beef and made that instead!

[frugalfelicia]

*took tea in a thermos from home (about 0.10 instead of $1.70 at a shop)
*took transit instead of a cab (almost took the cab so I wouldn't be late - was 5 minutes early anyway)
*used up leftovers instead of ordering take out even tho it's Friday and I was exhausted and kid was asking

[MrsTuxedocat]

- purchased a groupon to the local museum that I have been meaning to go and today I went to said museum. I saved 50%.
- took public transit to the museum to save on gas and parking fees
 

[alewpanda]

Picked up new pj pants for hubby and gym pants for myself for 3.50 each at goodwill.  Temps have reached the teens here and gym shorts were not cutting it after a work out, and hubby's pj pants ripped twice (not even where I had patched it the first time either!) 

Walked into the thrift store to look for a crib mattress for a dog bed.  Walked out without ANYTHING else (huge...seriously)

Almost lost my(admittedly dying) phone tonight at a middle school bball game.  Thankfully realized it was missing, went back, and found it with the help of a kind janitor.  He even let me use his phone to call it and pulled out the machine to pull out the bleachers again when we figured out where it was.  No replacement needed yet!

Redeemed a 15.00 swagbucks amazon card.  Ordered a vacuum filter with free shipping.  Couldn't think of anything else we needed.  Still have 6 or so bucks credit.

Watched christmas movies in bed because it was warm and I didn't want to turn the heat up (I'm weak right now because of recovering from a cold...)

Drinking tea from my stash and instant latte mixes that were gifted.

Did a better job with my cheap walmart paste on nails this go around.  They have lasted all week with only one that popped off and then glued back on.  I'm trying to kick a nail biting habit...and 6.00 for 2 sets (if you can manage to get 2 out of a box) is soooo much better than 35.00 a pop every 2 weeks!  Also, people have complimented me on them and didn't realize they weren't professionally done!  Score!

Paid off student loans (finally!).  Send extra funds to towards the vehicle. 

[Bracken_Joy]

Self install of appliances was a success! We did end up having to buy three additional tools for converting from a drop-in to a slide-in than we had starting out: a jigsaw, a carpenter's hand saw, and an oscillating grinder. Luckily I know at a minimum the jigsaw will get a lot of use in the future. Still, even with all these tools, it was WAY cheaper than paying for install. Even if we *hadn't* had to cut down cupboards, it was going to be $300+ for installs. Add the cupboards? I have no idea how much contractors cost, but I'd venture a guess we saved $800 or so on the whole deal.

Followed up the day with some frugal fun: friends came over to have a big ol' mess of taco salads and we watched Grand Tour on amazon prime. We didn't even drink. Cheap cheap.

Today, because I guess we're not tired of home repair (lol), we're going to turn off our water main and replace all our supply taps with 1/4 turn ones. Get rid of those old leaky gasket little bastards... We will also flush the hot water line for my sink in the master, since it's been clogged since the last time we turned off the main. (Related: replacing hot water heater is on the to-do list... sediment clogging tap on it, plus it's 22 years old) We bought the taps on amazon like 2 months ago, where they were $0.25 less per than at Home Depot. Yay planning ahead!

[mustachepungoeshere]

Had lunch with friends yesterday, including our white elephant secret santa.

One friend gave me a bag of clothes for my nephews.

Had other friends over for dinner last night, I cooked, they brought fresh herbs from their garden.

One also brought me a bag of workout gear, mostly BNWT.

Not sure if I should be proud or embarrassed that I was given two lots of free clothes in a single day...

[Bracken_Joy]

More house DIY: Replaced shut-off valves under sinks- we still have more to do tomorrow, but going steadily. Also fixed my hot water supply! And didn't have to replace the cartridge, so that was awesome.

Put up our own christmas lights- amazing how many people in our neighborhood hired it out!

Remembered to return a type of saw and replacement blades to Home Depot when we went, that we didn't end up using on the stove swap project. $19 back.

Decided a 50ft extension cord would suit our needs instead of 100ft. $8 less and was plenty long.

Forgot to add: we ended up with free haul away on our old appliances that wouldn't be re-sellable. Just asked the guys when they did the delivery if they had room on the truck. Since we hadn't paid for install, it would normally have cost some $ per (don't recall how much). They had plenty of room though and happily loaded them up. The old fridge will be going to my parents, who are thrilled- oddly enough, my mother is particular about the shape of ice cubes her machines make, and this has the "right" ice cubes. *shrugs*. Not sure how much they'll pay us for it, but I'm not fussed if not- they've given us plenty over the years.

[PMG]

I figured out how to use supplies on hand to reinforce and bulk up the aging weather stripping around the front door.  Woohoo!

[1967mama]

Made a huge batch of pancakes (gluten free and sugarfree for me - Whole 30/Paleo) for the family tonite and found some sausages in the deep freeze to cook too. It was perfect and satisfying.

Was at a gift exchange thing last night. My mom offered to knit something for me to take since that is her hobby. Cost me $0. Received a gift basket of "practical" items that I'm almost certain were regifted or taken from a stash in the bathroom cupboard.  I was delighted because I hope it didn't cost her much and she was able to get rid of some unused items. The items were: Qtips, a Christmas hand towel, 3 hairbands (my Daughter guessed that she bought a five pack but didn't like these three colours), hair dye (?), soap, hand cream, body scrub (these three were in a gift pack
inside the bigger box she'd assembled everything in).

Husband and I are checking with each other before almost all spending is done right now. So easy to go overboard at Christmas.

[Squirrel away]

I was looking at some lovely Christmas wall stickers I saw advertised and then decided against buying any! :)

I've decided not to buy any books in January until I have read the ones I have. I'm making a list on paper later and putting it somewhere so I can cross them off as I read each one.

[misshathaway]

My town decided to put meters in the town center that are minimum $1 and cost $1 an hour. At the same time they are concerned about empty storefronts in the center. Does not compute.

Had to buy a gift certificate to a restaurant in the center for a Xmas gift. It was 21 degrees, but I found a space outside the meter zone and walked.

The center is dead to me. The library and the post office are there, but fortunately I can go to both in a neighboring town. In warmer weather I can walk.

[Linda_Norway]

I invested in index fund on the asian marked. They made 2 % profit in a couple of days. Let's continue that way. :-)

[frooglepoodle]

Yesterday we made huge batches of caramels and hot cocoa mix for neighbor/coworker gifts. A fair amount of effort, but it was fun and will make a great gift for low cost.

The past few years I've purchased precut wax paper sheets for wrapping the caramels. This year I switched back to cutting my own sheets using a rotary cutter and cutting mat. It was way less of an annoyance than I remembered and cost less than $1 to wrap a quadruple batch of caramels instead of $5 and change per 100 wrappers.

Roasted chicken for dinner last night, simmered the carcass overnight with veggie scraps to make stock. Will make chicken and barley soup for dinner tonight.

Continuing to use the whey from straining homemade yogurt as a buttermilk substitute. I mix it 50/50 with whole milk and so far it has made delightful biscuits, muffins, and coffeecake.

[Bracken_Joy]

Last night, after a long day of home improvement type work, prepping the fish and tortillas for fish tacos seemed like waaaay too much work. Rather than going to the store to pick up grab and go soup or something like that, I pulled together quick cooking items we had on hand, and made sausage sandwiches. DH then followed up with making leftover tuna cake into a tuna melt. Satisfying dinner for *way* less effort.

[rachellynn99]

Today was church. Got up and had eggs ( from our chickens) and home made sausage from a boar my husband got earlier this year.

I assist with the children's program at church and we had all day practice today for the upcoming Christmas play. We had lunch there. Dinner tonight was leftovers from the week. Packed lunch for my husband tomorrow. I'm off until January 9th so I'll be around the house. We didn't spend any money today, minimal gas and prepped a bit for the week.

[1967mama]

Made vanilla out of cheap vodka on sale today. I have 3 big canning jars going now.

Made a huge beef stew with 4lbs of stew beef from our freezer beef

Shopped for fruit and veggies at a produce stand

Borrowing current artist cd's from library.

[Bracken_Joy]

-Lots of meal prep for me working 14's and DH being on nights the next 3 days.

-Had friends over for a meal and hanging out instead of going out to eat. Glad we seem to be reaching an age where this is becoming more typical in our peer group.

-Compared rice methods for our new range for efficiency purposes. We eat rice a lot, so figuring out the most time and energy efficient method will pay off over the years. Plus, sometimes your electrical engineer husband just wants an excuse to do a lot of math. Whatever keeps the man happy.

-At home workout

-Detailed our house after our 3 day home improvement bender. Money savings because there was a moment when we *seriously* discussed bringing someone in to do a one time cleaning.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Bought a work dress on eBay for $17. It's identical to one I already own, just a different colour.

[10dollarsatatime]

Found five 8oz bags of Walnuts on clearance for 25 cents each.  Their best buy date was the day I bought them.  Divided them out into small foodsaver bags and vacuum sealed them.  They'll last ages in the freezer.

[Linda_Norway]

Just printed out an online bought pattern that my husband is going to use to sew me a nice blazer from some left over cloth we have at home.

[Erma]

When we moved here, we got a chocolate with a voucher for a bag filled with things at the local store. Today I was at the store to get this bag, it was filled with an orange soft drink, a pack of noodles, two different packs of sweets, one box of cornflakes and a lot of tissues. I think we can use all of these things.

[misshathaway]

Found five 8oz bags of Walnuts on clearance for 25 cents each.  Their best buy date was the day I bought them.  Divided them out into small foodsaver bags and vacuum sealed them.  They'll last ages in the freezer.

What an unbelievable deal. Wegmans had them at 4.99 a pound and I thought that was reason enough to stock up.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Saved $198 (compared with Aus prices) by putting in an Amazon order to be sent to my husband's hotel while he's in the US for work next week.

That time of year again.

This Amazon order saves me 70+ per cent compared with buying my preferred foundation, eyeliner and mascara here in Australia.

[CloserToFree]

Treated myself to a rest day instead of paying people to pamper me

Thank you for posting this!  I often get caught in the trap of scheduling spa treatments and massages "to help me relax" -- only to find myself more stressed out by schlepping out to an appointment, finding parking, shelling out $100+ (plus tip), etc. I honestly think staying at home and just lazing around on the couch, doing a short yoga program, or taking a long bath would be so much more relaxing.  Next time I'm going to do that instead!

[csprof]

In posting to someone else's thread about cell phone plans, I updated my spreadsheet / living chart blog post comparing cell phone plan costs vs. data used, and realized that I could switch my wife's plan from Cricket's $35/2.5gb to their $30/1GB plan.  (I'm on Fi, but she's got an iPhone).

Switched.  Wahoo!

Unfortunately, I shared this with two of my colleagues who looked blankly at me for being excited about saving $5/month. :p

Hrumph.

Also started leaving cellular data off on my phone unless I want it.  This turns out to have cut my data use about in half, which probably amounts to a whopping $0.15/day.

I'm still going to be happy about it.

[1967mama]

Made a simple chicken vegetable soup from bone broth I made yesterday.

Cooked another chicken from the deep freeze.

Started a Christmas puzzle on the table with the kids. We do this every year.

Daughter is making cream cheese mints with the younger kids tonite.

[jengod]

* Made chicken fried rice to use up some shredded chicken.
* Canceled a domain renewal, this will save a $15 charge in January
* Sold $30 of clutter on eBay.

[Mustacean]

Signed up for my company sponsored FSA. I elected to withhold $1500 for the year so this should save me $225 in taxes in 2017.

[NV Teacher]

I baked the whole bag of potatoes yesterday.  When they are about 90% baked I turn off the heat and leave them in the oven for another 15-20 minutes to finish cooking.  I like to bake them all at once and I then peel and grate or dice the leftovers to put in the freezer. 

[Dicey]

Made vanilla out of cheap vodka on sale today. I have 3 big canning jars going now.

I make vanilla too. I'm lazy though. I split the beans and drop them right into the vodka bottles. Is there an advantage to using canning jars? Last year, someone gave me a bottle of dark rum. I did the same thing with that and it is delicious. Yummy vanilla for the price of a few beans? Yes, please.

[1967mama]

I split the beans and drop them right into the vodka bottles. Is there an advantage to using canning jars?

You can use canning jars if you don't want to take a slurp of the vodka before adding the beans <wink>.

It will overflow in the bottle but not in the jar. ☺️

[nessness]

I was really tempted to toss my stainless steel pot after accidentally leaving a pot of chili on the stove overnight, resulting in a 1/2" layer of charcoal stuck on the bottom. But after a ton of scrubbing and several rounds of boiling water with baking soda, it's almost as good as new!