What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[neonlight]

Yesterday: after car was pronounced DOA by the mechanic, hiked 7 miles to work instead of renting a car.

That's sick! :)

[Linda_Norway]

Today we ate for the second time from a big trout my husband cought 2 days ago.
Yesterday and the day before I have been eating seftpicked mushrooms.

[slappy]

Today, it was about what I didn't buy. Namely, the burrito I was craving after hockey this morning.

Instead, I used up food we had in the pantry and put the money into my savings account. Tiny wins, right?! $10 at a time.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/01/a-millionaire-is-made-ten-bucks-at-a-time/

[ElleFiji]

Went to a big mall, where I usually get a meal, a snack, a drink and a dessert.

I prepared by packing green tea and eating before I went. I bought a $4 snack, no drink, and instead of name brand underwear at 7-10/pair, I got the kind in plastic bags that cost $13/6.

The snack kept me feeling like the outing was a treat, at less than 1/4 of what I usually spend.

[Snow]

My bus pass expired yesterday, so today begins the exciting journey of "how far into winter will I manage to keep biking?"!

I have to do at least one month worth of biking to "break even" (had to buy some tools and do some repairs), but after that, it'll go nowhere but up!

[Vertical Mode]

Today, it was about what I didn't buy. Namely, the burrito I was craving after hockey this morning.

Instead, I used up food we had in the pantry and put the money into my savings account. Tiny wins, right?! $10 at a time.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/01/a-millionaire-is-made-ten-bucks-at-a-time/

Yup! That's one of my favorite MMM articles.

[csprof]

The surround (spongy rubber thing that lets the speaker wiggle) on my 20 y/o subwoofer ripped, probably due to age and having been through too many house moves.

Repaired it, for a grand total of $14.77 (and about an hour and a half of my time).

Bought a repair kit from http://www.speakerworks.com/speaker_repair_kits_s/65.htm  (no affiliation).

- Scrape off old foam, scrape off a bunch of the gunky adhesive.
  (A task well-suited to sitting on the front porch while "keeping an eye" on your kid playing in the front yard).
- Had to cut the replacement surround slightly to fit - trimmed about 1mm off the edge.
- Glue center part.  Let dry.  Glue outer part.  This was a little fidgety to get everything adhered.  Let dry.

Very easy.  Nice lesson in here about how easy it was to fix.

(An alternate and less work approach is that the speaker itself for the sub is available on ebay for about $20, which seems shockingly cheap, but I like that all this approach needed was a little strip of foam, and didn't put much of anything in the dump.)

A full replacement on ebay is about $100.  So - saved $85 and didn't create waste.  Yay!

[sw1tch]

The self-tapping screws holding the little hydraulic piston onto the screen door at the duplex pulled out due to too much force exerted on them (I think it's also due to age and the screen door itself being made out of pressed wood).  The pre-existing holes were enlarged due to the tapping screws being forcefully pulled out.

I Macgyver-ed a quick fix by stuffing the holes with bits of some old socks I had lying around.  I then wrapped the screws in bits of plastic bag (kinda like how you'd wrap Teflon tape - I do have some but was too lazy to go searching for it) and screwed the piston back into the now filled holes.  Currently it's holding pretty dang good.  I think some epoxy or spackling paste on the socks would've worked good as well to completely seal it, but it's good for now.

[4alpacas]

Today, it was about what I didn't buy. Namely, the burrito I was craving after hockey this morning.

Instead, I used up food we had in the pantry and put the money into my savings account. Tiny wins, right?! $10 at a time.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/01/a-millionaire-is-made-ten-bucks-at-a-time/

Yup! That's one of my favorite MMM articles.

My fave!  I reread the article every few weeks to remind myself to avoid the lifestyle creep.

Groomed my dogs
Redeemed a free drink at Starbucks while hanging out with friends after a run
Packed lunch
Planning to hit a free yoga class at work today

[Linda_Norway]

Bought some cheaper shaving gel for my DH. He is sceptic, but is OK with trying it out.

It turna out that our el cheapo dish washing soap does not work well. Unfortunately I bought 2 bottles at once, so we'll have to use it for some time ahead before I can buy the proper brand again.

[alewpanda]

- Am on the hunt for a cheaper/non prescription option to fix/treat some incontinence in our lab.  She's young, and the vets options are either Proin or estrogen pills for the rest of her life.  I'm hoping I can find something else to use for as long as we can before going the estrogen route.  I found some supplements online and googled a coupon code before ordering.  Rather than 30.00 plus shipping, I paid 25.00 total.

- Commented on a facebook post/contest that our local pet store was having.  Turns out, I won!  25.00 gift card  :)   I see a half off bag of dog food in my future!

- Date night tonight was  BOGO mini custard concretes tonight.  Less than 4.00 for the date.

- Managed a super low grocery buy this week.  63.00.....our "budget" is to keep each week's groceries/hygiene under 100.00

- Found several items cheaper than normal because I happened to be in a different store than normal today.  Got some scrubbies, bleach discs for the toilets, toothbrushes, and vaseline super cheap!

- Cleaning out the cupboards and freezer, so we are eating yummy pork chops for dinner and large quantities of tuna salad sandwiches for the next couple of days lunches.  To avoid overdoing the grains, I'm putting my tuna salad on cucumber slices.  YUM!

[Linda_Norway]

Walked to work, for the second time this week.
Showered and washed my hair at work. Used shampoo and towel provided by work.
Brought my own lunch, as usual.

Yesterday I bought a new sports shirt and sports bra for half price, at the grocery store. Not sure whether that counts as saving, because I actually spent money. But on my last backpack trip in the mountains I noticed that my sports bra wasn't suited for that kind of trips, as it had some plastic things on the shoulder that hurt a lot while hiking. So I had to find something better. What I paid was a very good price for a sports bra.

[Erma]

Today at the grocery store it was possible to buy a gift card and receive a 10% discount so we did that.

[marielle]

Played pool for free because I cleaned the table! The tables are already pretty cheap though.

[KaizenSoze]

Put holds on a number of library books. Probably around $100 worth that I might have brought at some point.

[Bracken_Joy]

-This actually adds up to good money! Husband needs to replace his work computer. Because his employer doesn't want to bother with anything other the reimbursement (he's basically the IT department, so chooses what people get, haha), we ordered it ourselves. And the computer manufacturer actually has an official amazon profile, and was the fastest way to get the model he needed.... PLUS we get 5% rewards on it! On a $2100 computer! We'll get paid back for the laptop and "make" $105 on it!

-A missed opportunity, but I'll post about it here so you can all learn from my mistake: every 2-3 years, we buy DH a week's worth of shirts from H&M. Their cut works really well for him, and at $7-10 per t-shirt, it's a great deal. They've always held up quite well for us too. This is his third "round" of shirt. As we checked out, I noticed they offer 15% off if you bring in ANY textile to donate! Any amount, and condition, any fabric item. So next time I'll just bring one of the old falling apart shirts and donate it at the same time and get 15% off the whole order. (Assuming I remember in another 2 years when we buy more, LOL). Anyway, we would have saved $10 off the order if I had done this!

[fluffmuffin]

I unearthed the instant coffee I got for a backpacking trip last summer, and didn't use up. I'm forcing myself to drink it at work. I don't feel awesome on two cups of coffee a day, so I don't want anything at my desk that's super-appealing...but on afternoons where I'm struggling, I don't want to pay for Starbucks and green tea just doesn't cut it.

So a cup of instant coffee it is. Amazingly, it still tastes like campfire ashes.

[PMG]

Had to make the 3 hr drive from "work week town" to "weekend city" today (midweek, I know...). Didn't eat breakfast... but grabbed a bag of spinach and a zucchini out of fridge before I left. Was so tempted to get a subway egg and spinach breakfast sandwich when I stopped for gas.  I bought one at that stop before and now every time I drive past I think about it... but I munched on fresh veggies because I knew I'd left some eggs in the fridge last time I was in weekend city (a month ago...). Just got here and made myself eggs and spinach and kept that $4.00 in my pocket.

[frooglepoodle]

Resisted the temptation to stop for coffee and a bagel after yoga today. Waited until I got back to my in-laws' house and made myself some delicious breakfast tacos instead.

[Step37]

It turna out that our el cheapo dish washing soap does not work well. Unfortunately I bought 2 bottles at once, so we'll have to use it for some time ahead before I can buy the proper brand again.

Linda, maybe you could use up half the bottle of the cheap dish soap, then combine with good stuff so it's better? You'd still use it up, but it would be less painful:)

[mustachepungoeshere]

Got a $10 iTunes gift card from our telco. Some sort of customer loyalty reward.

[neonlight]

Cleaned my unit yesterday instead of calling the cleaner. Saved ~8USD.

Was at business partner's place and they bought lunch and tea, so saved maybe ~4USD.

Had broth for dinner, so save ~1USD.

I felt cheap.;)
 
PS: Not in US, price are cheaper.

[Linda_Norway]

Walked to work again.
Repaired my handbag yesterday evening so that I don't need to replace it yet.

[neonlight]

Walked to work again.
Repaired my handbag yesterday evening so that I don't need to replace it yet.

Norwegian cities are so scenic it's a waste not to enjoy it slolwer :)

[Linda_Norway]

Walked to work again.
Repaired my handbag yesterday evening so that I don't need to replace it yet.

Norwegian cities are so scenic it's a waste not to enjoy it slolwer :)

I live and work outside a city. But I am taking the most scenic of the possible routes. About 1/2 of my route is through a green area, while the other half is along normal roads.
But you are right, cities like Oslo have some nice scenic areas.

[SweetLife]

Made my own tea (coffee is up to $2.00 a large at Tim Hortons ... ever since they raised their prices - for the second time this year- I stopped going) ... bring milk from home.
Made banana muffins from scratch ... brought one for snack
(Face punch worthy) Drove to work today - but I get off at midnight and I am a little freaked out riding my bike home at night at midnight. (In fact when I walk home I get a little freaked out... )

[pbkmaine]

Made my own tea (coffee is up to $2.00 a large at Tim Hortons ... ever since they raised their prices - for the second time this year- I stopped going) ... bring milk from home.
Made banana muffins from scratch ... brought one for snack
(Face punch worthy) Drove to work today - but I get off at midnight and I am a little freaked out riding my bike home at night at midnight. (In fact when I walk home I get a little freaked out... )

Safety first! No punches needed.

[dreams_and_discoveries]

Washed the car - my neighbours do tend to stare, as my car is in banger territory, and my running clothes/clogs outfit was a bit strange...

[neonlight]

Walked home from museum, took me an hour but it's exercise and mustachian  :)

[Jaayse]

Took my car to a new car wash in town that had sent me a free coupon since I live close by.  I needed to wash it in preparation for shipping it overseas (my work is moving me to Europe).  I took full advantage of their vacuum since mine broke about a month ago and even though I had to press that little green button at least 12 times since it didn't run long, my car is the cleanest since I got it almost 9 years ago.  All for free.

[Linda_Norway]

Friday afternoon I took leftover apples home from work and made chunky apple sauce that we used as vegetable at yesterday's dinner.
Today I picked a lot of edible mushroom. After cutting away the larva infested parts, there are still enough left to have 3 trays full to dry. And we have a bunch of cantarels to have for dinner tonight.

[FrugalAussie]

We won tickets for a local concert and so thought it would be a good idea to go into town and have a restaurant dinner before the concert.  After having a think about it we then decided to buy some seafood and cook a special meal at home - Italian style Mussels with Pasta.  5 serves = $10, $2 per serve so a huge saving as eating out in Australia is VERY expensive.  The same meal (a larger serve that we would have overeaten) + 2 beers would cost approx $70.  We still went into town early, brought hot chocolate and drank it as we walked through town.  Lovely!

Unfortunately I left the headlights on (we have a 14 year old car), we returned to a car that wouldn't start so had to then spend $20 on a taxi ride. Thankfully we got help to jump start the battery the next morning so not such an expensive mistake.

Spent well over an hour fixing our fence in the hope it won't fall down!

[jengod]

* picked up $0.07 in a parking lot

* cut my son's hair

* returned two pairs of unneeded backup tights for $18 refund. (It's been years since I bought hosiery and wasn't sure I had the sizing right but the first pair worked fine.)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[llorona]

Read a book from the library that presented a new concept: My time is worth exactly zero unless someone is paying me for it. So, this weekend I got off my lazy bum and:

-Plucked tomatoes and made a large batch of sauce to freeze
-Traded some of aforementioned tomatoes with a neighbor for squash and cucumbers
-Picked up ugly fallen apples from the tree, cut out the bad parts for compost, and placed sliced apples in fridge for snacks
-Rescued basil from the bottom of the fridge, blended it with some walnuts lying around, and made two jars of pesto
-Denied DH's request for ice cream and made bread pudding from a half loaf of rock hard bread
-Sliced remaining bread into slices, brushed with olive oil, and popped in the oven until brown
-Harvested, chopped, and froze green onions
-Lasagna layered fruit/vegetable scraps and brown material (leaves, kraft paper, etc.) in a raised bed (saves money on compost & fertilizer)

[mustachepungoeshere]

I made my first vegetable lasagna on the weekend. It worked out much cheaper than a traditional beef lasagna, and was such a hit I'll definitely be making it again.

Also scored another free clip-top jar from work. Am now drowning in jars. I tried to give some to Marty but he just looked bewildered at my very generous offer.

Oh well...

[jengod]

Read a book from the library that presented a new concept: My time is worth exactly zero unless someone is paying me for it.

What is this book? I am intrigued!

[Snow]

Cooked and canned a small batch of red currant jelly. I haven't done that in years and it felt so good to revive gran's old recipe. Got to call her and make her happy by asking about it as well. Red currants have technically been blacklisted in Norway now because they go rogue, and where I live it's easy to see why!

[llorona]

@jengod: The book is "Eco-Thrifty: Cheaper, Greener Choices for a Happier, Healthy Life" by Deborah Neimann. It didn't have much information that would be novel to Mustachians, but that one particular idea about time and money struck me.

[Trifele]

Had a no-spend weekend, staying home and working around the house.  Pre-made my lunch for today and tomorrow at work.  DH fixed a broken window on our farm truck with some $35 plexiglass he bought online.  Looks great and saved us big bucks over taking it to the repair shop.   

[Raenia]

This weekend was a nice stay-in, no spend weekend.
 - made a batch of canned peaches
 - made a test batch of pickles
 - went to the library and picked up some books
 - got my SO his new library card
 - watched a movie for free off amazon prime

[Linda_Norway]

We are already half way August. First today, thanks to reading the title of this thread, I remembered to buy my free Samsung Kindle deal. As I don't travel 2 hours a day by train anymore, I don't read as much as before. So these free Samsung deals now cover a good part of the book I am reading. It also prevents me from browsing the Amazon site, which always makes me want to buy new books. No, I don't do library. In Norway libraries don't support Kindle books, otherwise I would get them there.

[Bracken_Joy]

-Husband had to replace his work computer, but the old one isn't *that* bad. For his work it was beyond dead- blue screen 4-10 times per day. But he wiped it and restored it and we're trialing it as a 'new' computer for me. This one is only ~18 months old, whereas my computer is going on 6 years old =)

-Checked out books from the library. (Which reminds me, I need to return one today or get a late fee).

-After our cilantro bolted, I let it stay until the seed pods browned. I'm now drying them over boxes and will collect the coriander seeds. Not sure if I'll just use them to re-seed next season, or if I'll use some as spices- would need a way to grind them.

-Realized my dryer can dry larger loads then I thought, for the same amount of run time. (Yes, yes, I know, line dry. I hang some things, but it's just not worth it to me most of the time- winter it's too humid, right now there's too much smoke from wildfire, spring DH has seasonal allergies. Always feels like a losing proposition compared to a quick tumble! haha)

[kaypinkHH]

Had a road trip this weekend:
-Packed food for a road trip vs buying convenience/take out. Felt like a BOSS with my picnic basket and pre-made food.
- Used old gift cards to buy starbucks on route, but bought less than normally would, and used a refillable container.
-Stayed with friends for free
-Did a free walking tour instead of a fancy bus tour thing
-Drove the prius to save gas

[Trifele]

-After our cilantro bolted, I let it stay until the seed pods browned. I'm now drying them over boxes and will collect the coriander seeds. Not sure if I'll just use them to re-seed next season, or if I'll use some as spices- would need a way to grind them.

Not sure if the texture would be as fine as you want, but I have processed coriander by putting it in a bag and smashing it with a rolling pin. 

[Bracken_Joy]

-After our cilantro bolted, I let it stay until the seed pods browned. I'm now drying them over boxes and will collect the coriander seeds. Not sure if I'll just use them to re-seed next season, or if I'll use some as spices- would need a way to grind them.

Not sure if the texture would be as fine as you want, but I have processed coriander by putting it in a bag and smashing it with a rolling pin.

Oh, now there's an idea =) What did you use it in?

[sw1tch]

-After our cilantro bolted, I let it stay until the seed pods browned. I'm now drying them over boxes and will collect the coriander seeds. Not sure if I'll just use them to re-seed next season, or if I'll use some as spices- would need a way to grind them.

Not sure if the texture would be as fine as you want, but I have processed coriander by putting it in a bag and smashing it with a rolling pin.

Oh, now there's an idea =) What did you use it in?

I just grind mine in a mortar and pestle.  They are awesome in curries and other Thai dishes.

[Bracken_Joy]

-After our cilantro bolted, I let it stay until the seed pods browned. I'm now drying them over boxes and will collect the coriander seeds. Not sure if I'll just use them to re-seed next season, or if I'll use some as spices- would need a way to grind them.

Not sure if the texture would be as fine as you want, but I have processed coriander by putting it in a bag and smashing it with a rolling pin.

Oh, now there's an idea =) What did you use it in?

I just grind mine in a mortar and pestle.  They are awesome in curries and other Thai dishes.

I don't have a mortar and pestle, haha.

[Catbert]

-After our cilantro bolted, I let it stay until the seed pods browned. I'm now drying them over boxes and will collect the coriander seeds. Not sure if I'll just use them to re-seed next season, or if I'll use some as spices- would need a way to grind them.

Not sure if the texture would be as fine as you want, but I have processed coriander by putting it in a bag and smashing it with a rolling pin.

Oh, now there's an idea =) What did you use it in?

I just grind mine in a mortar and pestle.  They are awesome in curries and other Thai dishes.

or an old coffee grinder.  Tip:  Husbands get grouchy when you use their coffee grinder to grind spices. 

[jordanread]

I don't have a mortar and pestle, haha.

I thought you got one once you crossed the state line? I think my idea of what Oregon is is probably way cooler than what it actually is.

[Bracken_Joy]

I don't have a mortar and pestle, haha.

I thought you got one once you crossed the state line? I think my idea of what Oregon is is probably way cooler than what it actually is.

Well, Portland does send a string of Tibetan prayer flags via bike messenger as soon as you have a Portland address. I live in a far less hip part of the state though ;) Think less "microroaster and microbrews" and more "rye fields and partial sets of teeth".

I do have a manual coffee burr grinder, but I don't think I will ever go long enough between cups of coffee to use it for anything else. Plus I wouldn't want to risk flavor changes!