What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[mustachepungoeshere]

Probably a couple of hundred dollars, so maybe not small: door lock stopped working, and Mr Happier thought he'd try WD40 as an experiment before calling a locksmith. It worked!!

Great that it worked but please don't make a habit of using WD40 on locks.

It gunks up the mechanism.

Graphite powder is a much better lubricant for locks.

[HappierAtHome]

Probably a couple of hundred dollars, so maybe not small: door lock stopped working, and Mr Happier thought he'd try WD40 as an experiment before calling a locksmith. It worked!!

Great that it worked but please don't make a habit of using WD40 on locks.

It gunks up the mechanism.

Graphite powder is a much better lubricant for locks.

Good to know!! Thank you.

[Imma]

Shredded paper (sensitive documents + newspaper) for my work farms using scissors. Trying to hold off on buying a shredder.

Cooked up batches of tasty meals for the freezer stash.

Used the Pretirement app to convince myself not to spend money!!

We don't have a shredder either. When we need to get rid of sensitive documents, we put them in the BBQ and light it. Paper burns really fast.

[Imma]

We are taking a 4 hour train journey today and we took a small cool box with yoghurts and fruit and drinks so we don't have to buy expensive healthy food at the train station. We had kind of planned to buy a coffee (our thermos broke and we left home at 6 in the morning) but the line was too long for our liking. The trip is taking longer than planned so we might still have that coffee after all. Still, we've only spent €4 so far on our breakfast and snacks so that's not much for a long trip.

[FrugalAussie]

Receive a massive bag of clothes from my Buy Nothing group.  Sorted through them to find some treasures, all drying on the line now.  I'm very happy with what I was gifted, saved me at least $100.

Enjoyed at Indian feast for lunch.  I stash small serves of curry in the freezer, then when I have three or four different ones I take them all out, reheat and serve Thali style.  This time around: Palak Paneer, with home made paneer and the sauce made with greens from the garden instead of the traditional spinach. Cashew Curry containing lots of frugal (and nutritious) frozen peas. Dahl, made with yellow lentils, my favourite.  Black Bean Curry, made with tinned beans, 80c a can here in Australia.  Raita with yogurt made by SO and using a free cucumber. Papadaams that I cook in the microwave (on med/high for 1 minute), purchased on a recent trip to Singapore, cost 50c/25 pack. Naan bread I made myself, not to my liking, too thin and dry.  This is something that I'm trying to perfect so all suggestions for improvement are welcome. Lime pickle made by SO using limes from my father's tree.  Rice, leftover from a function. We usually opt for brown rice but Basmati is so delicious. We had Bollywood tunes playing in the background courtesy of Spotify. A magnificent lunch.

[Imma]

We are taking a 4 hour train journey today and we took a small cool box with yoghurts and fruit and drinks so we don't have to buy expensive healthy food at the train station. We had kind of planned to buy a coffee (our thermos broke and we left home at 6 in the morning) but the line was too long for our liking. The trip is taking longer than planned so we might still have that coffee after all. Still, we've only spent €4 so far on our breakfast and snacks so that's not much for a long trip.

In the end, there was no need to buy a drink: they were handing out free smoothies on the train station from some new shop there!

[marielle]

Shredded paper (sensitive documents + newspaper) for my work farms using scissors. Trying to hold off on buying a shredder.

Cooked up batches of tasty meals for the freezer stash.

Used the Pretirement app to convince myself not to spend money!!

We don't have a shredder either. When we need to get rid of sensitive documents, we put them in the BBQ and light it. Paper burns really fast.

I work at a company that makes packaging material out of recycled paper, so I throw sensitive documents in the pulper.

I also poke fun at the office staff for having shredders when we have the largest shredder ever in the back...

I think it's faster to walk back there if you have a lot of documents versus shredding them individually for 10 minutes.

[I'm a red panda]

Bought a 50 pound bag of flour. It was 10x the size and 2x the cost of the normal flour we buy.  Should last about 4-5 months.
We vacuum sealed it into 8 pound bags for storage.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Made a banana smoothie with breakfast to use up a soft banana (will do the same again tomorrow).

I had a tiny dish of pasta left over that I wanted to bring for lunch today but it wasn't a full portion so I steamed a cup of broccoli to bulk it out.

Got my power bill and, while it is up slightly as a result of the ongoing energy market battles - the two of us are using 68 per cent of the electricity used by the average single-person dwelling.

[frooglepoodle]

Reworked the meal plan to put off going to the grocery store. I made my own Italian sausage by seasoning ground pork (no cost savings, but tastier for the same cost), and threw some extra cooked veggies that were in the fridge into the pasta sauce.

No driving today. Walked to the library with my son for story time and to get books.

Cleaned up some things to sell online. It was too cloudy to take pictures but everything is ready to go for the next sunny day.

[pbkmaine]

Took a bunch of vegetable odds and ends and made gigantic chef's salads for DH and me. Delicious!

[Thinkum]

Finally couldn't put off buying gasoline. Since we had to go to Costco, we waited in the long line to fill up. If I can keep this to filling up every 3 weeks or more, it shouldn't be too bad. Saved at least $2.40.

[Cressida]

Enjoyed at Indian feast for lunch.  I stash small serves of curry in the freezer, then when I have three or four different ones I take them all out, reheat and serve Thali style.  This time around: Palak Paneer, with home made paneer and the sauce made with greens from the garden instead of the traditional spinach. Cashew Curry containing lots of frugal (and nutritious) frozen peas. Dahl, made with yellow lentils, my favourite.  Black Bean Curry, made with tinned beans, 80c a can here in Australia.  Raita with yogurt made by SO and using a free cucumber. Papadaams that I cook in the microwave (on med/high for 1 minute), purchased on a recent trip to Singapore, cost 50c/25 pack. Naan bread I made myself, not to my liking, too thin and dry.  This is something that I'm trying to perfect so all suggestions for improvement are welcome. Lime pickle made by SO using limes from my father's tree.  Rice, leftover from a function. We usually opt for brown rice but Basmati is so delicious. We had Bollywood tunes playing in the background courtesy of Spotify. A magnificent lunch.

Wow, impressive!

[marielle]

Paid my initial move in rent + ridiculous pet fee of $600 with a credit card to get $20 in cash back. I'm surprised they let me use a credit card with no extra fee.

If I do this every month it pays for about half of my monthly pet rent. Need to figure out the best way to split the rent with my roommate though...

[4alpacas]

After a long day, I proposed stopping by the Whole Foods (we were running an errand across the street) to pick up stuff from the hot food bar.  My DH thought it seemed like a hassle because we could just make eggs and toast for dinner in the time that we'd wait in line to buy the food.

This is HUGE!  My DH was a fan of fast casual/fast food for dinner, and I've been pushing eating at home.  We've now realized that even waiting in line at a grocery store takes more time than just heating something up at home.

I packed my breakfast and lunch today for work. 
I have snacks at work, so I'm not tempted by the vending machine. 

[engineermom21]

Went to Costco to grab a few groceries on my lunch hour, and had several samples as I browsed through the aisles.  Realized I probably munched enough to count as lunch, so saving my packed lunch for tomorrow.  Free lunch counts as saving money, right? :)

[Bracken_Joy]

-Equifax waived their credit freeze fee after I'd already done mine. Requested a refund, we'll see if that happens. Worth trying. (I just emailed customer service).

-Harvested a metric ton of green beans out of the garden, and a moderate ton of cucumbers.

-Made our own sparkling mineral water with the soda stream (indefinitely borrowed from MIL- borrowed as a trial and she "doesn't want it back yet") and mineral drops.

-Bought broccoli rather than brussel sprouts since it was $0.70/lb less and they sounded equivalently tasty. Plus they're the same plant technically, haha.

[Hadilly]

FINALLY, had a chance to sit my husband down to take a critical look at our TIAACREF account, not well allocated and high fees. He put in the Vanguard transfer order last night. Yay for data.

Also, there was a big party at our pool and I walked away with a couple of pounds of sliced chicken breast. It has already graced lunches and pizza, but I foresee tacos and nachos in the near future.

Sadly, our old car stalled in an intersection but then restarted. Currently getting a new battery which will cost some money. The silver lining is that I think we will sell the car. Not using it much and good to get rid of it before things get worse. It's something I thought about for a while, but this is the push we need to do so.

So, really, realizing a couple of long-held financially related goals that will help us long term.

[mc6]

I have continued bus-ing it up but noticed today that WMATA is charging $2 per ride vice the old $1.75.  I took advantage of my lodging's  free laundry facility today.  Will return some stuff to Amazon tomorrow that does not fit.

[ElleFiji]

Still mostly choosing $3 transit over $7

[mustachepungoeshere]

... I foresee tacos and nachos in the near future.

Mmmmmm, tacos.

I've been putting off cooking a big batch of taco mince for the freezer but you've just inspired me.

[11ducks]

-Cancelled my fee=bearing credit card, which I have been meaning to do for ages - had the $59 annual fee refunded
-Downloaded and printed an email for 5% off the holiday house we are staying at next week
-Talked myself out of $15 takeaway on Monday night, by stopping  at the grocery store for something else I wanted instead (gnocchi - $3)
- Researching free things to do in the city we are visiting next week.
- Batch cooked  meals for work this week - lentil potato curry!

Late addition
-Read through this thread, and was inspired to go freeze a batch of soup I had made (and forgotten about) in the back of my fridge - made 7x lunch serves that i'll take to work over the next few weeks.

[HappierAtHome]

Was late to my mums' group meeting, which meant I missed out on picking up a coffee and/or donut - so that's up to $9 saved!

Made a big batch of bolognese in the slow cooker, stretching the meat with veges.

Going to soak beans overnight tonight!

[Trifele]

I've been doing a bit of online window shopping over the past couple of weeks, looking at things for my balcony. Lanterns, boho prints, glassware, etc.

Spring is here, and I want it to be beautiful when friends come over for dinner, drinks, barbecues, etc.

Instead of spending money, I got out there and cleaned it. Scrubbed the balcony railings, cleaned the barbecue, threw a few things out, wiped down the furniture.

I went through my stash of empty jars and found a few that will be perfect with 6mm Ikea tea lights, and I'll string up my copper wire fairy lights.

It was a great example of the importance of identifying the trigger behind the desire to spend.

+1000.   This is so, so true. I've noticed when I get the urge to buy something, a very effective way to deal with it is to clean and organize what I already have.  9 times out of 10, the itch is gone as I appreciate what I already have. 

[Hula Hoop]

Scored some free furniture from a friend.  We're going to get rid of a larger item but the two smaller IKEA shelves are perfect for storing some things around the house.

Researched home insurance for when we refinance our mortgage later this month and found a plan that's significantly cheaper.

Decided to bring a coffee maker that we never use into the office to avoid my daily bought coffee habit.  Should save me around Euro 30 a month minus buying coffee and milk to bring to the office.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Forgot this one from a couple of days ago.

I don't wear lipstick. Never bought it, and the few times it's been applied professionally, I've wiped it off at the first opportunity and reverted to tinted lip balm.

I found out that my preferred lip balm brand was releasing a new colour and I was a bit interested in buying it. We're talking $3.20 for something that will last four or five months.

I went to three different shops and couldn't find it. Looked online and it was $12!

Finally found it at my local pharmacy and, rather than buy one for myself (I decided I didn't need it after all), I bought five and listed them on eBay for a profit.

Made $15.

[kaypinkHH]

Went to the pharmacy to pick up some needed vitamins (generic brand for the win), and decided to quickly check if they had tinfoil (as we needed some, had agreed that if it was too expensive we would wait until groceries later this week to pick it up)...It was significantly ON SALE!!! I got way too excited about that.

[marty998]

Forgot this one from a couple of days ago.

I don't wear lipstick. Never bought it, and the few times it's been applied professionally, I've wiped it off at the first opportunity and reverted to tinted lip balm.

I found out that my preferred lip balm brand was releasing a new colour and I was a bit interested in buying it. We're talking $3.20 for something that will last four or five months.

I went to three different shops and couldn't find it. Looked online and it was $12!

Finally found it at my local pharmacy and, rather than buy one for myself (I decided I didn't need it after all), I bought five and listed them on eBay for a profit.

Made $15.

So clever, well done my friend. Why didn't you buy 50? :D

[Sixof1]

Coworkers were going to an expensive sporting event today. I really wanted to go. But I t meant using PTO and spending at the least $40. So I passed

Shopped on thrive market. This is technically spending but that have good prices on things we use regularly (i price compared before buying- they can be sneaky with listing the original and then the "thrive market" discount price)

Will make tomato sauce with all the tomatoes that are starting to go bad from the garden

I'm buying a new to me car (debated about how mustashian this is but that's another post...), instead of getting my old car detailed before selling (for hopefully a better price) I'm going to just clean the hell out of it myself with cleaning supplies I have around.

[jengod]

* parked on the street instead of in the paid lot for my daughter's doctor appointment

* picked up a penny

* took the cargo bike instead of the car to go grocery shopping

* picked up replacement bulbs for our can lights at an estate sale for <$1 each.

[Raenia]

My HSA finally verified all my information, so last night I was able to set up the deposit and set it to auto-invest.  That's a big one off my to-do list for the year, finally.

[Poundwise]

My preschooler spilled a basket of berries in the dirt in our yard.  Though initially I thought I'd just throw them away, we picked them up and washed them many many times. She is eating them now.

[horsepoor]

Turned off the A/C this morning; hopefully it won't be on again until next summer.  It would have been off sooner, but the smoke pollution has been making fans and open windows at night a no-go the last couple weeks.

Watching free horse training videos on YouTube.  I found a whole series that previously never came up in my searches, and I'm mining that seam it for all it's got.

Bought a gallon jug of rice vinegar and 1/2 gallon of sesame oil at the Asian market yesterday.  WAY cheaper by the ounce than smaller containers at the grocery store.

Coworker brought me feed store coupons good for $20; I have her trained well (and have given her homemade chile paste and heirloom tomatoes)

[Bracken_Joy]

Turned off climate control completely. It's getting cool at night and a perfect 72F during the day, so we just open up a lot =) Hope the wildfire smoke stays at bay and we can keep doing this! Last month was insane for electric bill.

Drinking through a coffee we really didn't like much that I tried from costco. It was cheap, so we're just trucking through. Waste not, want not. (OTOH, kinda using it as an excuse to drink lots of coffee... oh well!)

Going to go buy more cheap canning grade tomatoes and make even more salsa today. My goal is to put up enough for the year. Given how much we eat mexican, this is a LOT of salsa. Like, a pint a week of red and green each. I'm about 1/3-1/2 the way there for red, 1/4 the way there for green. =o

[Hadilly]

Mustachepungoeshere: I borrowed your idea and chopped up the rest of the chicken to freeze. Highly recommend tacos!

Today I did a heath apt which gives us $280 a year in health care bonus $. Coincidentally my husband did his too at the same time so we had a quasi medical date, ended by biking to free breakfast at his work. Not bad!

And, this is SO non mustachian, but I only did Botox today instead of Botox and filler. Saved several hundred dollars. <ducks the face punches>

[Dollar Slice]

And, this is SO non mustachian, but I only did Botox today instead of Botox and filler. Saved several hundred dollars. <ducks the face punches>

How many days did the doctor say you have to avoid facepunches after the procedure? :-P

[FrugalAussie]

More frugal food and parental pride: My daughter found bargain pre-made pasta at the supermarket and made us dinner. Cost of tortellini down from $7 (I can't believe people pay that!) to $1.25. Actually, we don't eat much of this type of food and was reminded why, it's very bland BUT it's great that DD is hunting for bargains.  As most of the ingredients for the sauce were from the garden, added to a can of tomatoes, she also learned to cook a healthy frugal meal.  Win/win.

SO and I made 15 jars of marmalade last night, made with gifted Seville oranges.  YUM! We doubled the recipe so we'd have jars to give away as we like to share.  Total cost, about $5.

[Rural]

Refrained from full frankness in a meeting. :)

[KelStache]

Rural that made me laugh, awesome!

I usually walk home for lunch, but I was having a busy day at work, and instead of grabbing takeout I asked husband if he could drop me off a sandwich. I was lucky it was his day off :)

[Cressida]

Refrained from full frankness in a meeting. :)

haha, I hear you.

[Raenia]

Last night I persuaded my guests to let me cook dinner instead of ordering out.  Double win, since I'm pretty sure my from scratch potato gnocchi are way better than take-out Chinese.

[FrugalAussie]

More frugalness today:  Cleaned out our bookcase and shared outgoing books at a local community book exchange so collected some books that I'll store away for holiday reading. Once read the books can then be left behind. One book I'm particularly thrilled to receive is The monk who sold his Ferrari.

I made a resolution at the start of this year not to buy any books, so far I've managed very well by ordering books (and DVDs) from my library. I've stored some more books in the boot of the car so have them on hand next time I come across another book exchange.

[Thinkum]

We walked to the market, about 2 miles RT. The market is literally right across from a really good local fast food place. Walking up to the market we smelled glorious bacon and we had not had breakfast. Well, we stayed resolved and did our shopping and walked home. So saved the small amount on gas, got exercise and saved money and calories by eating at home!

[Bracken_Joy]

Wanted to give thank you cards to the vets and staff that helped with our dog's medical crisis before she passed this week. Still had some nice, all purpose thank you cards from our wedding, so we used those. Also printed some photos at a walgreens to include. Did a search online and they had a 40% coupon code, so it was like $2-3 to print 20 pictures.

Using up potatoes since they're starting to soften, and some to sprout.

Opened up overnight and got the house nice and cold. Hopefully that'll help carry us through the next couple smokey days when we can't open up.

[Bracken_Joy]

Did the vet and staff enjoy their cards with included potatoes?

Hahaha. Line breaks, they're important ;) Well, my dog occasionally would tuck all her limbs in and resemble a potato, so I suppose that's not too far off.

If I had more energy/time/inclination I would have baked them something to take in. Didn't happen though.

[Imma]

After a long day of DIY, my boyfriend wanted to go buy a frozen pizza at the supermarket. I convinced him to eat soup and vegetarian meatballs from the freezer. It did help that it suddenly started raining really badly and we don't have a car. Afterwards he actually complimented me about how nice the spicy lentil soup was.

We also considered buying hollow plinths to hide a bunch of cables behind, but in the end we decided the cables weren't that visible beneath a large piece of furniture and will use ty-raps to tie them together instead.

We are also re-using an old set of speakers as night stands (boyfriend is a musician, so that's a nice personal touch in our interior as well).

[jengod]

* Cloth diapered the baby, dressed her in hand-me-downs and fed her defrosted homemade carrot puree.

* The thrift store was kind today: three pieces of Revereware (1 qt combination pan w lid, 3 qt saucepan, 1 c measuring cup), an electric meat grinder/sausage stuffer, two colorful dresses for our upcoming trip, an unopened box set of Little House books I will save for a forthcoming children's birthday party, and a vintage eyeglasses case to replace my decade-old dinged-up glasses case.

[4alpacas]

Did the vet and staff enjoy their cards with included potatoes?

Hahaha. Line breaks, they're important ;) Well, my dog occasionally would tuck all her limbs in and resemble a potato, so I suppose that's not too far off.

If I had more energy/time/inclination I would have baked them something to take in. Didn't happen though.

I've found baked goods are always welcomed.  I've never gifted baked potatoes though. 

I am open to any forum members who would like to give me baked potatoes.  I love free food.  And prepared free food is even better.  I <3 leftovers.

[horsepoor]

Did the vet and staff enjoy their cards with included potatoes?

Hahaha. Line breaks, they're important ;) Well, my dog occasionally would tuck all her limbs in and resemble a potato, so I suppose that's not too far off.

If I had more energy/time/inclination I would have baked them something to take in. Didn't happen though.

I've found baked goods are always welcomed.  I've never gifted baked potatoes though. 

I am open to any forum members who would like to give me baked potatoes.  I love free food.  And prepared free food is even better.  I <3 leftovers.

Mmm, now I want baked potatoes for dinner.  Gonna eat the lentil/kale/ham soup that's been in the slow cooker all day though.

[FireHiker]

I went to Costco and didn't buy any alcohol, snacks (except for kids' school lunches), or desserts.