What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Gone_Hiking]

I went car shopping with a friend and saved her a few hundred bucks!

Wow, good for you!  How did your friend help you save?

[horsepoor]

I was out running this morning and found a pair of work gloves on the side of the road.  I will run them through the washing machine and use them when trimming my horses' hooves.  This is quite funny to me because I just threw away the previous pair that I found in the road and have been using for the past year. I almost passed up this glove because it appeared to be solo, but I stopped and looked around and saw its partner about 10' away.

Later today I'm getting a my truck loaded up with free manure for the veggie garden.

Carefully inventorying food in the house before grocery shopping.

Drying several pounds of free Italian plums, which will be nice mixed into oatmeal all winter.

Making stock with a chicken carcass, lamb bone and celery ribs that were too tough to eat raw

[mustachepungoeshere]

Saved $28 on a bottle of champagne for my in-laws for Christmas.

[lexde]

I was out running this morning and found a pair of work gloves on the side of the road.  I will run them through the washing machine and use them when trimming my horses' hooves.  This is quite funny to me because I just threw away the previous pair that I found in the road and have been using for the past year. I almost passed up this glove because it appeared to be solo, but I stopped and looked around and saw its partner about 10' away.

Later today I'm getting a my truck loaded up with free manure for the veggie garden.

Carefully inventorying food in the house before grocery shopping.

Drying several pounds of free Italian plums, which will be nice mixed into oatmeal all winter.

Making stock with a chicken carcass, lamb bone and celery ribs that were too tough to eat raw

Do you have any ferrier training? Or did you just learn as you go? I was always terrified to trim my horses' hooves, but one of them had gait issues so I always just left it to the ferrier. It's been years since I've had a horse, though.

[Off the Wheel]

I was out running this morning and found a pair of work gloves on the side of the road.  I will run them through the washing machine and use them when trimming my horses' hooves.  This is quite funny to me because I just threw away the previous pair that I found in the road and have been using for the past year. I almost passed up this glove because it appeared to be solo, but I stopped and looked around and saw its partner about 10' away.

Later today I'm getting a my truck loaded up with free manure for the veggie garden.

Carefully inventorying food in the house before grocery shopping.

Drying several pounds of free Italian plums, which will be nice mixed into oatmeal all winter.

Making stock with a chicken carcass, lamb bone and celery ribs that were too tough to eat raw

Do you have a dehydrator for the plums? Otherwise, how are you doing it?

[Off the Wheel]

This is so tiny, but small things! DH and I always go for a long walk with the pup to the best bakery in our hood on the weekends. We get a pastry and a coffee. Today I chose the cheaper pastry and the cheaper coffee, about $2 in savings and just as satisfying. Also cooked at home for lunch and planning to for dinner, and harvested some more veg from the garden (the last of the tomatoes, some carrots and the beans) - though discovered someone stole my cabbage!

Bigger impact long-term might be the fervour with which I'm getting into the MMM forums. ;)

[lexde]

Trimmed my own hair - $12
Trimmed my dog's nails - $9

We look fab.

Also made some extra money from a bank bonus today, $300, although I don't know if that counts for this thread.

[horsepoor]

Do you have a dehydrator for the plums? Otherwise, how are you doing it?

Yes, I have a little dehydrator.  It is getting quite a workout lately.

I also used a tip learned here:  dehydrate tomato skins and buzz them up for tomato powder to add flavor to dishes.

[Raenia]

Yesterday we finally stopped by the little local farmer's market that we've been meaning to visit, and one of the vendors had a section for seconds!  Great prices, I picked up enough pears and tomatoes to make 3 quarts each of brandied pears for holiday gifts, and a mild salsa for us.  Next week I want to go back for more pears and tomatoes, and possibly some hot peppers to make a spicy salsa as well, and maybe even some blemished apples for applesauce!  Need to get more canning jars before then, though, so not a total money-saver :)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Line dryed clothes
-Used two free coupons for cheese (from providing feedback about a bad product), saving $18
-Made all meals at home, & tried two ingredient cookies. Yum! Added vanilla & chocolate chips. Really wanted to go out last night (got home late from soccer), but informed everyone it would be a slightly later meal, & got going!
-Made an extra meal for the freezer
-Signed up for a free one month carpool service for work. SO excited! Traffic is terrible here, so cost savings aside, getting rid of the need to drive to & from work will be a huge stress relief
-Made homemade rolls to go with dinner
-Brought water bottles with us to all of our activities, saving money on buying

[Imma]

- Line dried three loads of laundry
- Went grocery shopping and bought only produce and meat that was reduced in price. We don't eat a lot of meat so I froze most of it.
- Partner likes to buy expensive italian bread with eggsalad at the local bakery. I knew he was going to want that on Sunday, so I made it myself on Saturday night when he was out.
- Cleared out a drawer and found two travel adapters that I thought we'd forgotten on our last trip. Now we don't have to buy a new one for our next trip.

[mc6]

She bought me a delicious pizza lunch!  I owe her big for various favors she did for me this summer.  I was happy to help her on a car buying adventure.   

I went car shopping with a friend and saved her a few hundred bucks!

Wow, good for you!  How did your friend help you save?

[radram]

Made 14 quarts of grape juice.... out of garbage.

Pressed 3 bushels of grapes for wine. I usually just take the skins and stems and spread them out in the garden. This year I added some water and warmed them on the stove. I let them drain overnight, added a little sugar and canned it into a 50/50 concentrate. The stems and skins still made their way to the garden.

[Step37]

Yesterday we finally stopped by the little local farmer's market that we've been meaning to visit, and one of the vendors had a section for seconds!  Great prices, I picked up enough pears and tomatoes to make 3 quarts each of brandied pears for holiday gifts, and a mild salsa for us.  Next week I want to go back for more pears and tomatoes, and possibly some hot peppers to make a spicy salsa as well, and maybe even some blemished apples for applesauce!  Need to get more canning jars before then, though, so not a total money-saver :)

Do you can your applesauce? I’ve had great luck with freezing mine (reusing plastic containers from sour cream, yogurt, etc.). Assuming you have the freezer space, of course. The brandied pears sound delicious!

For saving money today, I’ll read my library book and cook at home, as usual. Last Sunday I made a batch of pasta sauce that made 12 servings. Delicious, and roughly only $5 I am sure.

[Off the Wheel]

Dug into my banking and automated fees. Realized I was paying $20/month for accounting software I no longer used, and about $10/month in overdraft fees since DH and I hadn't adjusted our automatic transfers into our joint account since our mortgage rate went up.

[Raenia]

Yesterday we finally stopped by the little local farmer's market that we've been meaning to visit, and one of the vendors had a section for seconds!  Great prices, I picked up enough pears and tomatoes to make 3 quarts each of brandied pears for holiday gifts, and a mild salsa for us.  Next week I want to go back for more pears and tomatoes, and possibly some hot peppers to make a spicy salsa as well, and maybe even some blemished apples for applesauce!  Need to get more canning jars before then, though, so not a total money-saver :)

Do you can your applesauce? I’ve had great luck with freezing mine (reusing plastic containers from sour cream, yogurt, etc.). Assuming you have the freezer space, of course. The brandied pears sound delicious!

For saving money today, I’ll read my library book and cook at home, as usual. Last Sunday I made a batch of pasta sauce that made 12 servings. Delicious, and roughly only $5 I am sure.

I do can my applesauce.  I'm sure it would freeze great, but my freezer space is currently full of soup, chili, pizza crusts, and many other things.  My plastic containers have already been pressed into service for soup, homemade veggie broth, and homemade yoghurt :)

Today I hung a load of laundry to dry, baked a loaf of break, read my library book, and ate leftovers to clear out the fridge.

[frooglepoodle]

Didn't spend anything today!

Cut up a slightly stale loaf of (homemade) bread and made croutons to serve with soup.

Used the carcass from tonight's roast chicken and the bag of veggie scraps I save in the freezer to make stock in the Instant Pot. Tomorrow morning I'll strain it and make a batch of chicken soup to freeze.

Did a bunch of small fix-it projects around the house. The drill got a workout this weekend!

[MrsTuxedocat]

This is combining yesterday and today's money saving activities:
- friend gave us two squash from her garden
- went to potluck for Saturday night fun
- used thrift store birthday card for nephew's birthday
- found three beer cans to return for deposit
- made soup with dried chickpeas (usually I use canned beans)

[Linea_Norway]

- found three beer cans to return for deposit

Yes, people leave too many beer cans and other rubbish out in the forest. Maybe I should also be better at picking stuff up. I pick up rubbish sometimes on my way out of a national park, but do not always want to carry it with me on a long trip. At least beer cans have a return value.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Reviewed interest on accounts, and moved large chunk of savings to another bank. Increased my interest by over $100 last month!
-Used up a few lingering fridge items in our dinner recipe
-Planned ahead for the week, making most dinners in advance
-Arranged for a carpool for a birthday that was 30 minutes away
-Line dried all clothes

[honeybbq]

Not sure it's exactly saving money, but it's making something out of nothing.

We have a huge plum tree in our backyard and finally harvested it (my dog was eating too many that fell on the ground!). Got probably 10 lbs worth?  Made:
- one plum crisp
- prepared the plums for another one and froze it, will probably make another around thanksgiving
- boiled down the rest into a compote for meat or ice cream

[GilbertB]

Saved 28€ by going to the hospital at 13:00...
... Apparently in small town hospitals in Morocco, if the cashier is having a post lunch nap, the staff usher you out with a shrug and raise of the eyebrows!

(That said, the service was great, the doctor thorough and spoke better French than most Frenchmen, the x ray cristal clear and no waiting to be had, so 28€ was really no problem. I was actually a bit embarrassed to not pay.)

[10dollarsatatime]

Brought lunch to work.  As per usual.

The office assistant (and person who earns the least) keeps trying to institute a Monday group going out to lunch thing.  I keep bringing my lunch.  So does my assistant.  So does the general manager.  And the box office manager.  So only the part timers go out...

[Luckyvik]

Free hospital stay- Australia

I'm having practically free nose surgery (deviated septum) as my health insurance doesn't cover it (as I'm on the cheapy plan to just save on tax), so had to wait almost a year for it but now I've had it, same surgeon, public hospital in a shared room for one night  but I didn't have to share as they haven't brought anyone else in, you do have to pay for tv but I choose not to as browsing forums is more fun.


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[Linea_Norway]

Free hospital stay- Australia

I'm having practically free nose surgery (deviated septum) as my health insurance doesn't cover it (as I'm on the cheapy plan to just save on tax), so had to wait almost a year for it but now I've had it, same surgeon, public hospital in a shared room for one night  but I didn't have to share as they haven't brought anyone else in, you do have to pay for tv but I choose not to as browsing forums is more fun.


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I wish you to get well soon. Smart move skipping the TV.

Free or practically free healthcare is great. But the waiting times are very long. Same here in Norway. That is why many companies still buy an extra insurance to treat you faster at private places. I'm not sure what we will do when we are FIREd. Having such an incurance privately is expensive (although nothing compared to US insurances). The alternative, risking to wait for year for treatment when you have something serious is a long time. For small things, it is not critical and it is worth the savings.

[frooglepoodle]

Made a pot of chicken soup using leftover meat and homemade broth. Split into two freezer bags to keep on hand for the next time one of us gets a cold.

Combining several errands into one trip to save on gas.

[Luckyvik]

Free hospital stay- Australia

I'm having practically free nose surgery (deviated septum) as my health insurance doesn't cover it (as I'm on the cheapy plan to just save on tax), so had to wait almost a year for it but now I've had it, same surgeon, public hospital in a shared room for one night  but I didn't have to share as they haven't brought anyone else in, you do have to pay for tv but I choose not to as browsing forums is more fun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wish you to get well soon. Smart move skipping the TV.

Free or practically free healthcare is great. But the waiting times are very long. Same here in Norway. That is why many companies still buy an extra insurance to treat you faster at private places. I'm not sure what we will do when we are FIREd. Having such an incurance privately is expensive (although nothing compared to US insurances). The alternative, risking to wait for year for treatment when you have something serious is a long time. For small things, it is not critical and it is worth the savings.

Yes, I think about this too, I had priced it out and I could have had it done privately for about $4,000 straight away but as it wasn't serious and I had lived with it  this long I figured I would wait.
To have insurance that would actually cover me for hospital procedures for my husband and I would cost an additional $1000 on what we pay now per year, not that much but given that we haven't needed the extra cover for 10 years, that's a savings of $10k plus interest etc. I might need to reconsider as we get older.



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[Cadman]

Took the left over Mexican casserole and made myself burritos to freeze for lunch down the road.

Used my personal CC to pay for an E-Room visit bill to get the 2% cash back, then wrote myself a check from my HSA.

Used the invisipon app at the grocery store where I bought two boxes of cereal, two cans of black beans, a loaf of bread and two tubes of refrigerated biscuits. Total bill: $3.71, which I put on my new promo checking/debit card (need ten >$3 transactions this month).

Tomorrow: New snow tires for the plow truck. Cross shopped for the cheapest price, found they were on sale, and a $50 Visa gift card if you sign up and use their CC.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Arranged for a free carpool to & from work (vs driving), through a trial my employer is running. Definitely took longer, but may be able to work it out. Or, better yet, I should be biking. But, no gas/car usage for today.
-Ate free breakfast & lunch at work
-Picked up a new free hoodie on the giveaway table at work. I've been looking for a good "around the house" hoodie, and this is perfect.
-Having leftovers for dinner

[Dollar Slice]

I can't take the subway for a little while post-op, and round trip taxi to work is in the $50-$70 range. Lyft/Uber maybe $40. I managed to keep costs down today by taking a ride share one way ($8) and a taxi ($15) to a bus stop (free with my monthly pass) in the other direction. The bus drops me at my front door so I can use that without hurting myself. (In theory I could do the ride share both ways, but it's really difficult to get a car to come pick you up on demand at my office at rush hour - my boss does it and there are frequently long waits and delays and the drivers hate it. But it's no problem being picked up at home in the mornings.)

I also inadvertently had surgery right before my monthly transit pass expired, so I didn't waste any time on my pass. Probably saved $30-$40 by not renewing it for those 10+ days when I couldn't use it.

[Mariposa]

Used 50,000 Merrill points and ~30,000 Chase points to book 3 plane tickets (with all of us sitting together!) to see my family over Thanksgiving. We both work and are traveling with a toddler, so we need to travel on specific dates at specific times. These tickets would have been around $1500 on the open market.

[FrugalAussie]

Loquats are in season here so foraged some from a tree on a vacant block near our library.  Stewed them to have with our morning porridge. Currently have Red Onion Jam (onions brought cheap) cooking on the stove.  Yesterday SO made Beetroot Relish.  Our house smells divine.

Exploring yearly membership to our recreation centre.  We currently go to water aerobics twice a week, new membership will give us seven day access to water classes and gym for the same price. It's a no brainer but I'm reluctant to pay 12 months in advance instead of monthly. 

[marielle]

Rode my bike to the pool hall yesterday. Joined the club there which is $50 for a year ($30/year after first), for unlimited free pool. That's dirt cheap considering the next nearest pool hall is $10 an hour to play and I'd like to play at least 10 hours a week.

[Stachetastic]

I normally go home or lunch on days I don't telecommute (I live 2 miles from the office), but yesterday was out in the field all day. Packed my lunch and ate it at a really nice rest stop while I got to people-watch. Almost doubled my daily salary due to mileage reimbursement.

Today, starting the day telecommuting, which means hanging some laundry to dry. Then back out into the field, which means more mileage.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Feeling so inspired & happy that I found this thread!
-Ate free breakfast (and will eat free lunch/snacks) at work
-Ran/walk the 7 miles to my office! First time ever. :-) Feeling a little sore, but pretty badass. Will take free carpool home.
-Making dinner out of leftovers in the fridge. (I only cook Friday, Saturday & Sunday, and we eat leftovers on the other days). Today 1/2 of us will eat potato soup & homemade rolls, & the others will eat chicken burritos.
-Line dried the entire load of laundry. (Typically I cave & use the dryer for our cloth napkins, towels, socks & undergarments).

[I'm a red panda]

Noticed the daycare has a sign for a discount for biotech employees.
Asked if that was only for new registrations, and apparently it isn't.
Had my husband send an email that will save us $1,300 a year :)

[Step37]

I rescued a veggie platter that was languishing in the fridge at work and used the still good broccoli and carrots in a chicken stir fry tonight. Also used the (reasonably healthy yogurt-based) dip in falafel sandwiches for lunch. Yum!

[Linea_Norway]

I just ordered to get paid out 22 hours of official overtime. Usually I would have chosen time off. Now I see it as an extra source of income. I have enough flexible (not possible to be paid out) overtime hours left to cover my other needs to take days off.

[Erma]

This will save money in the future. I got a coupon for a calendar at the grocery store and unlike last year I decided to look for it seconds after receiving the coupon. The calendar has coupons in it for every month like 10% off of everything. Last year I could never find this calendar even though I had the coupon.

[Tyson]

Learning to make beans in my instant pot.  I've got a 20 pound sack of pinto beans from Sam's club that's just been sitting around waiting for me to get going. 

So far I've learned that 35 minutes high pressure is not long enough.  Close, but not quite.  I'll do it 40 next time.  And use a bit more stock/water.

[PMG]

Learning to make beans in my instant pot.  I've got a 20 pound sack of pinto beans from Sam's club that's just been sitting around waiting for me to get going. 

So far I've learned that 35 minutes high pressure is not long enough.  Close, but not quite.  I'll do it 40 next time.  And use a bit more stock/water.

wow.  Each bean is different, but I do black beans all the time in my instant pot.  Soak for about an hour, rinse, then 2 minutes on high with a natural release.

[Dollar Slice]

Learning to make beans in my instant pot.  I've got a 20 pound sack of pinto beans from Sam's club that's just been sitting around waiting for me to get going. 

So far I've learned that 35 minutes high pressure is not long enough.  Close, but not quite.  I'll do it 40 next time.  And use a bit more stock/water.

Pintos always take longer than I expect (45+ min unsoaked). And it varies depending on how much you make, I think (if you're doing natural release, anyway - more volume = longer release = more time under heat). 

PMG, are you cooking canned beans or something? :-/ 2 minutes seems crazy!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Took free carpool to & from work today (via my employer)
-Ate free breakfast, lunch & snacks at work
-I've given a lot of thought to our vacation next week, and have started compiling snacks & healthy options to bring with us for breakfast, eliminating the need to eat out for at least that meal. (We'll also pick up lunch stuff at the store when we arrive).
-I've been researching vacation options for a girls trip, and figured out that by swapping months, we can get 3 free nights & a $400 credit at the resort. (Las Vegas). Done & booked!
-Defrosted taco meat before I left the house, so we can have "Taco Thursday". The kids love it, and we'll be using up the remaining guacamole, sour cream, & shredded cheese.

[horsepoor]

PMG, are you cooking canned beans or something? :-/ 2 minutes seems crazy!

IDK about 2 minutes, but after suffering through a batch of apparently old black beans, (where it seemed like 10% stayed crunchy no matter how long they cooked) I just got a fresh package from Natural Grocer.  Soaked about 18 hours and they were totally cooked after 90 minutes on medium slow cook in the IP.  I'm guessing 15-20 under pressure will do it for these if they're soaked.

[Linea_Norway]

It is nice autumn weather, so I walked to work for 75 minutes, while listening to a podcast. Will eat my homemade sandwiches for lunch and the free bananas provided by my employer. As it is Friday and autumn holiday for school children, a lot of colleagues have the week off. Therefore there is a lot of fruit left. I might take some apples home if they are still there at the end of the day. Otherwise they will be thrown away on Monday. I can make apple stew that I can use for an apple cake of just as a vegetable serving for dinner.

We are not going to our cabin this weekend as planned, because DH currently has so much pain in his leg when he sits that it is not possible for him to sit in a car for 5 hours. Therefore we will save a lot of fuel, time and toll money and can eat the leftovers in the fridge before they perish.

Apropos: DH has been seeing a doctor a few times since May without his leg improving, but he managed to google himself to a very plausible diagnosis. He will soon get an MRI that might confirm it (Paid for by his health insurance).

[gutts]

If I don't swipe my credit card (which I treat like a debit one and always keep positive balance) anywhere tomorrow, it will be 5 days without spending a penny.

[Stachetastic]

Teamwork: I remembered to send the $5 dog food coupon with DH last night, AND he remembered to use it.

Eggs were .48/dozen this week at Aldi, so we have been eating lots of them. I hard boiled 9 earlier this week and made tuna salad for lunches and left a bunch for breakfasts on the go. All of them have been consumed as of yesterday. I have 2.5 dozen left in the fridge, so I will be boiling some more. And also baking lots this weekend.

[Bracken_Joy]

If I don't swipe my credit card (which I treat like a debit one and always keep positive balance) anywhere tomorrow, it will be 5 days without spending a penny.

Wait. So are you prepaying on your credit card?

...why? You're basically giving the CC company a loan. Just pay off the balance in full each month when the statement comes in, and you'll never accrue interest. It doesn't instantly start charging you interest! It's not until after the statement period comes to a close.

[Imma]

If I don't swipe my credit card (which I treat like a debit one and always keep positive balance) anywhere tomorrow, it will be 5 days without spending a penny.

Wait. So are you prepaying on your credit card?

...why? You're basically giving the CC company a loan. Just pay off the balance in full each month when the statement comes in, and you'll never accrue interest. It doesn't instantly start charging you interest! It's not until after the statement period comes to a close.

I don't pre-pay on my credit card, but my credit card company pays me interest if I keep a positive balance! And while I get 0,05% on my savings account, my credit card company pays me 0,3%  (interest rates are crazy low in here).

[mm1970]

Yesterday was really craving chips and dip.  Did not go buy any.  Went home and ate random bits of leftovers.  Later made myself nachos.

Today basically the same.  Made a weird lunch salad concoction when I realized I only had 2 lettuce leaves.