What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[lemanfan]

Brought packed lunch. :)

[misshathaway]

Yesterday. Contested a $224 line item on a medical bill that was listed as 100% patient responsibility and got it waived because it turned out to be a billing error. It took a few phone calls and a few days but it was worth it.

[brute]

Restructured my insurance payments, saved $22 a year.

Worked from home, saving wear and tear on the vehicle.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Sold motorbike for $4000, cancelled insurance, got a $77 refund.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

Thank you for the kind words.

But really, husband has plenty of two-wheel and four-wheel toys at his disposal for free, for anything from a track day to a week-long bike trip.

The sale was his call.

[Penny McSave]

I was clearing out some drawers and found a quarter, SCORE! As I was rummaging around I held a handful of trash in one hand and the quarter in the other, then I walked over to the trashcan and promptly threw away the quarter while holding on to the trash. LOL

So, today, I dug around in the trash to literally save 25¢. :D


(If only it were a penny...)

[Kitsune]

Called the fridge-warranty people to get them to fix the damned fridge. For free, 'cause warranty.

AKA: I should not have an inch and a half of ice under my produce drawers. Especially since they 'fixed' it 2 months ago.

[frooglepoodle]

Went to the grocery store and bought only what was on my list.

Made an easy, healthy dinner that yields tons of leftovers = lunch for the rest of the week. Kiddo and I delivered dinner to DH since he was working late. Unnecessary driving but saves the $10 he'd have spent getting (admittedly delicious) BBQ takeout with coworkers.

[SimpleCycle]

Cut my own hair after consulting a bunch of online tutorials.  I feel so empowered!

[1967mama]

Experimenting with cheap-o hair products instead of fancy pants gel from the teaching hair salon (I go once  a year - $16). I've been using up grocery store mousse and stuff. Today I'm trying NO hair products on my freshly washed hair. I have thin, curly, shoulder length hair so it kinda goes frizzy and lifeless without product. (Sigh). Any suggestions?

ETA: I've been wrapping my teapot with a tea towel every morning and it is working to keep the tea sufficiently hot without having to microwave or buy a thermos.

[Bracken_Joy]

Experimenting with cheap-o hair products instead of fancy pants gel from the teaching hair salon (I go once  a year - $16). I've been using up grocery store mousse and stuff. Today I'm trying NO hair products on my freshly washed hair. I have thin, curly, shoulder length hair so it kinda goes frizzy and lifeless without product. (Sigh). Any suggestions?

ETA: I've been wrapping my teapot with a tea towel every morning and it is working to keep the tea sufficiently hot without having to microwave or buy a thermos.

Have you tried "plopping"? One of the keys to no frizz is apparently a snag-free towel- so a jersey shirt instead of a towel, for example.
I find my hair frizzes less when I keep some weight in it- I do a little apricot kernal oil, which is also what I use for lotion. My hair is thick though, so I don't know how that translated to thinner hair.

[frooglepoodle]

Experimenting with cheap-o hair products instead of fancy pants gel from the teaching hair salon (I go once  a year - $16). I've been using up grocery store mousse and stuff. Today I'm trying NO hair products on my freshly washed hair. I have thin, curly, shoulder length hair so it kinda goes frizzy and lifeless without product. (Sigh). Any suggestions?

ETA: I've been wrapping my teapot with a tea towel every morning and it is working to keep the tea sufficiently hot without having to microwave or buy a thermos.

Have you tried "plopping"? One of the keys to no frizz is apparently a snag-free towel- so a jersey shirt instead of a towel, for example.
I find my hair frizzes less when I keep some weight in it- I do a little apricot kernal oil, which is also what I use for lotion. My hair is thick though, so I don't know how that translated to thinner hair.

+1 for plopping. Have you tried homemade flax seed hair gel? I haven't yet since I've been using up the products I have but got the suggestion from someone else here on the forums and I've seen it on homemade/natural beauty blogs too.

[Lagom]

Comcast internet bill, per usual, has been creeping up the last few months. Called today and negotiated down $40/month for the next 12 months! Not that I don't expect them to move the goal posts yet again within that period...

[Raenia]

Cooked dinner even though I was tired and headachey when I got home, and packed my lunch for tomorrow ahead of time so I don't forget.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Switched to microfibre cloths (have a stash from my optom) to clean the windows. Part of cutting down on paper towel use.

[SimpleCycle]

Reshopped our home insurance and switched carriers to save $80/year.

[jengod]

* Got $15 recycling deposit back for returning our old car battery to Pep Boys
* Brought bags into the supermarket and saved $0.20
* Unplugged the whole sprinkler system for the time being since we've had an excellently rainy winter so far

[1967mama]

Curly hair method and product update:

I think my hair is too short for plopping?? Been to a few websites to learn the technique.

I made the flax hair gel with some lavender EO. I cannot actually believe how well this worked! Even I wouldn't believe me if I hadn't seen if for myself!

Thank you for the tips!

Edit: typo

[Well Respected Man]

Cancelled my temporary Dropbox Pro account, for $9.99/month.

I'm debating firing my insurance company (house + auto), which we have had through a local agent for maybe 20 years. It's kind of like breaking up, though. I don't really want to call the person I've been dealing with all these years and tell her, "well, I switched to xxx, please cancel my policies." I have two teen drivers, though, and I think the difference will be substantial on the auto portion. Anyone else been through this?

[RetiredAt63]

I'm debating firing my insurance company (house + auto), which we have had through a local agent for maybe 20 years. It's kind of like breaking up, though. I don't really want to call the person I've been dealing with all these years and tell her, "well, I switched to xxx, please cancel my policies." I have two teen drivers, though, and I think the difference will be substantial on the auto portion. Anyone else been through this?

I go through a broker.  She finds the best insurance for the situation and suggests policy changes as needed.  No angst.  Can you find a broker and get them to do the leg work and the emotional labour?

[misshathaway]

Cancelled my temporary Dropbox Pro account, for $9.99/month.

I'm debating firing my insurance company (house + auto), which we have had through a local agent for maybe 20 years. It's kind of like breaking up, though. I don't really want to call the person I've been dealing with all these years and tell her, "well, I switched to xxx, please cancel my policies." I have two teen drivers, though, and I think the difference will be substantial on the auto portion. Anyone else been through this?

Be careful to vet the new house insurance company. I almost switched on price last year and then started reading the reviews for the new company. The complaints centered around the company offering a low rate, then after signing, doing a home inspection and asking for extensive repairs or offering a more expensive policy. At that point you are stuck b/c if you go back to your original insurer you will also be offered a higher rate. A few of the complaints were from people who had just bought the house and had just gone through a good inspection. Also make sure that the big national company offering the insurance is the underwriter and not farming it out to someone else. I could barely get the name of the real underwriter from the big national, after I found out that this situation was possible.

[Bracken_Joy]

From my journal, ways to keep your sponge going longer:

Axecleaver's home making tip for the day: wet your sponge, wring it out so it's damp, then microwave for exactly two minutes. Let it cool and run under water again. Mildew fixed. Repeat weekly and sponges last forever.

I've found that tossing it in with a load of laundry every couple of weeks does the same thing.

[sw1tch]

posting to follow.

[dandypandys]

Curly hair method and product update:

I think my hair is too short for plopping?? Been to a few websites to learn the technique.

I made the flax hair gel with some lavender EO. I cannot actually believe how well this worked! Even I wouldn't believe me if I hadn't seen if for myself!

Thank you for the tips!

Edit: typo

I love Flax gel, so cheap! I make it then freeze it in smaller batches. I also plop, works for me great but I have long hair.

[Bracken_Joy]

Curly hair method and product update:

I think my hair is too short for plopping?? Been to a few websites to learn the technique.

I made the flax hair gel with some lavender EO. I cannot actually believe how well this worked! Even I wouldn't believe me if I hadn't seen if for myself!

Thank you for the tips!

Edit: typo

Depends on how short is short! From my reading, it sound like anything past ~chin length is fair game. Shorter than that and yeah, probably wouldn't hold well. But the bright side is short hair doesn't have the same issues with weight on the curl structure, which is what plopping/plunking is working to fix. This lady has relatively short hair and has a tutorial: https://youtu.be/yghmI6TVHrs

Discussion about it: http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/general-discussion-about-curly-hair/62535-short-hair-plopping.html

[Mel70]

Returned a bunch of things to Home Depot left over from a bathroom renovation project. Didn't have the receipt, but the cash card was over $50! I have some other projects in mind.

[alewpanda]

My back has been suffering and it is apparent that the hours at my desk are the culprit.  Rather than buying a cheap standing desk with no storage, we are building one ourselves.  Pipe and pine.  I'm not handy, but I did manage to sand and stain the desktop and shelves this afternoon.  :)  Baby steps. 

Equivalent desks cost 800.00 (similiar style and materials).

[horsepoor]

From my journal, ways to keep your sponge going longer:

Axecleaver's home making tip for the day: wet your sponge, wring it out so it's damp, then microwave for exactly two minutes. Let it cool and run under water again. Mildew fixed. Repeat weekly and sponges last forever.

I've found that tossing it in with a load of laundry every couple of weeks does the same thing.

Leave the sponge pretty wet, and the humidity will soften any dried gunk in the microwave, so it's easy to wipe out.  Win win!

[Metric Mouse]

From my journal, ways to keep your sponge going longer:

Axecleaver's home making tip for the day: wet your sponge, wring it out so it's damp, then microwave for exactly two minutes. Let it cool and run under water again. Mildew fixed. Repeat weekly and sponges last forever.

I've found that tossing it in with a load of laundry every couple of weeks does the same thing.

Leave the sponge pretty wet, and the humidity will soften any dried gunk in the microwave, so it's easy to wipe out.  Win win!

This is exactly how I clean my microwave.

[pbkmaine]

Experimenting with cheap-o hair products instead of fancy pants gel from the teaching hair salon (I go once  a year - $16). I've been using up grocery store mousse and stuff. Today I'm trying NO hair products on my freshly washed hair. I have thin, curly, shoulder length hair so it kinda goes frizzy and lifeless without product. (Sigh). Any suggestions?

ETA: I've been wrapping my teapot with a tea towel every morning and it is working to keep the tea sufficiently hot without having to microwave or buy a thermos.

John Frieda Frizz Ease from the drugstore works just as well as the salon stuff. Watch for coupons and BOGOs.

[1967mama]

Thanks for the tips on freezing flax geland also the Frizz Ease. I'm fascinated by this plopping and have never heard of it. The videos and tutorials have been super helpful. I think I will try this weekend.

Today I made 10 loaves of whole wheat bread for the freezer and 2 huge pans of granola. Should keep us in business for a while!

[Kwill]

Experimenting with cheap-o hair products instead of fancy pants gel from the teaching hair salon (I go once  a year - $16). I've been using up grocery store mousse and stuff. Today I'm trying NO hair products on my freshly washed hair. I have thin, curly, shoulder length hair so it kinda goes frizzy and lifeless without product. (Sigh). Any suggestions?

ETA: I've been wrapping my teapot with a tea towel every morning and it is working to keep the tea sufficiently hot without having to microwave or buy a thermos.

My hair is long and straight, but I've found just switching the type of shampoo and conditioner within the cheapest brand makes a big difference. V05 makes an 'Extra body' version of both the shampoo and conditioner. Suave probably has something like that, too. When I use that version consistently, the little bit of wave in my hair comes out more, and my hair looks nicer. I imagine there must be other varieties of the cheap shampoos that would be good for curly hair. . . . Actually, I should look for it again . . . it's been awhile.

The tea towel sounds like a good idea. I make coffee in a French press every morning and pour the extra hot water from the kettle into my mug to warm the mug while the coffee is steeping.

[SimpleCycle]

Needed postcards for an event we are hosting.  The only official postcards the store had (printable Avery ones) were $27 for 200.  Bought a pack of heavy cardstock for $6 instead, which yielded 120 postcards and was quick work with a paper cutter.

[LindseyC]

Using a GC I picked up a combination lint brush and defuzzer. Came home and defuzzed my five year old winter wool purse (designer from the thrift store for $4) and it looked like a million bucks again. So I defuzzed a tired black hoodie also looks great, then I tested the lint brush on a black T-shirt. It works amazing too! I don't use a clothes dryer so occasionally items get lint on them in the wash, this brush is the perfect solution. I will just use it while folding laundry and for about five minutes worth of effort my clothes will look much better.

Encouraged by my brush success I sewed two bras with loose straps, fixed a missing button on a shirt and sewed a small tear in some pj pants.

Next up I cooked a giant batch of veggie soup in the slow cooker to use up a ton of veggies frozen and fresh, that were kicking around. I also made a giant batch of herbed chickpea patties to freeze - again using up a bunch of spinach and feta.   

I realized after cooking that I could use the lint brush on my mid century (thrifted) velvet couch that my cat loves to shed on. Again this thing totally impressed me, in 3 minutes the couch and matching chair were spotless. Much easier then hauling out the vacuum and upholstery attachment. This will be a new nightly task to quickly perform while dinner is cooking or I am watching a movie.

One more: I would love to repaint my entire house but the cost of paint is not in the budget right now. So I grabbed my leftover paint in the current colours (stored in small Masson jars, with wax paper under the lid for easy opening) and started touching up scratches and marks in my living and dining room. I realized quickly that I love my current paint colours, the marks were what were bugging me. I have no idea why I didn't touch them up sooner because my walls really look refreshed now. So this week I will be touching up all the walls in my house that I have extra paint for. Such a simple 30 minute task and it really made such a difference. Maybe only something I will notice, but it's enough to make me feel satisfied.

[1967mama]

*Did a batch of navy beans in the InstantPot this morning and then crockpotted them into baked beans to go with our meatloaf and veggies for dinner.

*Streaming "Victoria" -- great series!

*The flax seed gel is working wonderfully!!!! I'm so happy! I actually go the no-poo route for washing my hair, and its working well. Been using this for almost 2 years now, IIRC.

*Picked up a bunch of library books that I'd ordered in online and dropped off the ones due today or very soon.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Cut my hair for the first time!

I had been getting a few split ends, so decided to give it a trim.

Saved myself $25, two hours, and the torture of the sitting and the waiting.

I'm converted.

[I'm a red panda]

Spent an hour repair dog toys that had been destroyed. Some of them look pretty rough, but the holes are repaired and they are safe for him to play with again.  Toys that will last him even a few minutes aren't cheap, so it is worth repairing them. Having engaging toys saves our house and furniture!

[frooglepoodle]

Patched a hole in one of my husband's uniform shirts using a piece of fabric cut from another badly worn and stained shirt.

Made macarons as a culinary experiment with my brother yesterday. They aren't perfect, but are good enough to take as a hostess gift for the family member we are visiting this week.

[Bracken_Joy]

A cost-saving saga of a washing machine's death:
-Husband did the trouble shooting on the old washer, preventing a service call. Confirmed the transmission is RIP dead. 27 year old unit- repair is not an option. Cost: $0
-Using ILs W&D while we figure out replacement options. They live a mile away, so pretty convenient. Not a long term solution, but keeps us from having to use a laundromat or replace washer RIGHT NOW.
-Explored our CL options. Sadly, none in Hometown. Big City is a couple hours away but we go up regularly- currently working through their listings.
-Also going to check with a place in Big City that does scratch and dent and refurbs.
-Barring all this, if we go with Home Depot to buy a replacement, we will use the $100 gift card we got for Christmas towards the replacement.

On the bright side, now *everything* in the damn house except the heat pump and dryer will have been replaced this year. Expensive year though, lol.

[NV Teacher]

Took apart the free standing TP holder and tightened up the loose connections in the base so that it stands straight and tall again.  It's been leaning more and more to the side.  When I checked out the price of a new one I thought phooey on that and pulled out a few tools and took care of it myself.  So grateful that I grew up with a dad that made us help fix things around the farm because those skills come in handy all the time.

[PMG]

I fixed the boxspring with some scavenged wood. Hoping to put off purchase of a new one for quite a while.

Then I made a tp holder from random bits I had around. I was going for functional but it turned out rather nice in a shabby chic way.

[Tyson]

Was out and about while really, really hungry.  Finished up the errands, came home and ate oatmeal (which was delicious) rather than spring for a burger or pho or chinese food. 

[geekette]

Right now DH is installing the heating element for our Samsung dryer.  It's 5 years old and this is the second time it's failed (seems common, from what we've read). 

The first time, a mere two years ago, we hired someone to fix it (at a cost $180, including the part).  I watched and thought "that doesn't look so hard".  DH watched and though "glad I don't have to do that".  Well, grousing aside, he's doing it. 

The part was <$20 on Amazon.  We ordered two because a) that gave us free Sunday delivery, and b) the damn thing's gonna break again in a couple years anyway...

My part in this was research (finding youtube videos on how to take apart the dryer), keeping track of the screws, ordering the part, and cleaning up behind the dryer.  He did all the crawling, thank goodness!

[Mezzie]

1. Froze some chicken that was nearing its spoilage date for later use.
2. Went shopping in my pantry and now only have four (cheap) things to buy at the grocery store to get through the week. Should save me about $20.
3. Picked some lemons from my tree and froze the juice for cooking with when there aren't lemons available. I also filled a jar with the rinds and some vinegar so my house smells nicer when I clean with my vinegar-based cleaning concoctions.

[Poundwise]

Persuaded Amazon to give me a refund for return of an Amazon Echo that I received as a gift, even though I didn't have the order number.

[HappierAtHome]

On the bright side, now *everything* in the damn house except the heat pump and dryer will have been replaced this year. Expensive year though, lol.

This is what I have experienced so far: make things last as long as possible. Keep repairing, keep making do. Then everything breaks at once and is no longer repairable thanks to years of 'making it work'. Source new or second-hand good quality replacements. Feel shitty about Spending All The Money. I assume the next stage is several years of enjoyment of things working well, followed by about a decade of making do, before everything breaks again?

[Bracken_Joy]

On the bright side, now *everything* in the damn house except the heat pump and dryer will have been replaced this year. Expensive year though, lol.

This is what I have experienced so far: make things last as long as possible. Keep repairing, keep making do. Then everything breaks at once and is no longer repairable thanks to years of 'making it work'. Source new or second-hand good quality replacements. Feel shitty about Spending All The Money. I assume the next stage is several years of enjoyment of things working well, followed by about a decade of making do, before everything breaks again?

This is certainly what I'm hoping for. The house was built 21 years ago, and nothing has been replaced since it was built, so it's all wearing out all at once. Luckily, our local RE market has continued to appreciate at a healthy clip, so while we don't plan to go anywhere like... ever... if we do opt to sell, we should be on good footing anyway.

Have done the vast majority of things ourselves- all the plumbing, supply valve changes, faucet changes, caulking, etc. We also installed all the appliances ourselves, and DH even installed and configured the thermostat for us. Only thing we've outsourced are the garage spring replacement (kills you if you mess up) and the gas water heater replacement (scares me, and so many permits and inspections if you DIY here). Roof and siding were replaced right before we bought.

Hoping for a good long stretch of lower maintenance!

[MBot]

Went to the drugstore for mineral oil (a cheap option to finish some very expensive cutting boards my brother gave to me, I just have to finish sanding them and oil them. They'll see frequent enough use we won't need a fancier finish.).

Also found President's Choice black pepper all-butter shortbread for $0.79 instead of $4.79 a box, the very nice Black Label kind that makes a lovely hostess gift, and we frequently visit people and bring small items.

Except they happened to show up as "PCP Biscuits" on the receipt... hmm...

[1967mama]

Today my daughter made a nice iced vanilla cake from scratch for her brothers. They will be so happy when they get home from their outing with dad!

[Linea_Norway]

I just eat homemade lunch for a whole week last week. No money spent at work.

[andreamac]

Lol awesome !

Went to the drugstore for mineral oil (a cheap option to finish some very expensive cutting boards my brother gave to me, I just have to finish sanding them and oil them. They'll see frequent enough use we won't need a fancier finish.).

Also found President's Choice black pepper all-butter shortbread for $0.79 instead of $4.79 a box, the very nice Black Label kind that makes a lovely hostess gift, and we frequently visit people and bring small items.

Except they happened to show up as "PCP Biscuits" on the receipt... hmm...