Author Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?  (Read 8020730 times)

RamonaQ

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7150 on: September 30, 2016, 04:47:02 PM »
I brought an empty water bottle through airport security and filled it up from a water fountain.

horsepoor

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7151 on: September 30, 2016, 10:11:17 PM »
Found some big zucchini in the garden.  Canning quarts of veggie soup and tomato soup right now.

Being.g antisocial and skipped a going away party at a pub downtown.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7152 on: October 01, 2016, 09:27:59 AM »
Did not go out to dinner last night, even though we were very tempted to. Stayed home and had pesto chicken and braised cabbage over rice.

Making our own sofa table instead of buying. Bonus: we can make dimensions that fit to our couch. Anything close in size is $300+ at TJ Maxx even, whereas we bought all the materials yesterday for $55. And $30 of that went on a gift card that was given to us.

Driving to visit friends today. The drive isn't terribly frugal (1.5hrs), but we did get them to agree to a bbq at their house instead of going out once we get there. Legit useful blog post I refer to periodically: http://www.frugalwoods.com/2015/01/20/frugal-friends-and-where-to-find-them/

misshathaway

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7153 on: October 01, 2016, 10:30:55 AM »
Measured the yield in meat from a whole chicken. I also get boneless skinless thighs and am planning to compare later. This was a roaster from Market Basket, which is a local bargain grocery chain. Depending on the grocer more or less water is allowed to be injected.

This chicken was roasted in my counter top rotisserie with nothing added. The rotisserie can only do up to 5 lbs.

So starting weight 5.05lb at $1.09 lb = $5.50

After cooking and cooling I pulled it apart completely. There were no giblets, but I like the skin so I included it in the weight.

Meat yield: 1 lb 11.5 ounces
Skin yield: 2.9 ounces

Actual cost per pound of meat + skin:  $2.89

Chicken thighs at Market Basket and the closest competitor are $1.99 lb. They shrink too, but since there isn't any bone I don't think they are going to come out to $2.89 lb cooked.


frooglepoodle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7154 on: October 01, 2016, 04:50:38 PM »
Measured the yield in meat from a whole chicken. I also get boneless skinless thighs and am planning to compare later. This was a roaster from Market Basket, which is a local bargain grocery chain. Depending on the grocer more or less water is allowed to be injected.

This chicken was roasted in my counter top rotisserie with nothing added. The rotisserie can only do up to 5 lbs.

So starting weight 5.05lb at $1.09 lb = $5.50

After cooking and cooling I pulled it apart completely. There were no giblets, but I like the skin so I included it in the weight.

Meat yield: 1 lb 11.5 ounces
Skin yield: 2.9 ounces

Actual cost per pound of meat + skin:  $2.89

Chicken thighs at Market Basket and the closest competitor are $1.99 lb. They shrink too, but since there isn't any bone I don't think they are going to come out to $2.89 lb cooked.

Do you use your chicken carcass to make stock? That is also worth something and can't be done with the boneless chicken parts.

Today, we meal planned and grocery shopped, took our toddler on a walk and stopped at the playground, decided that it was warm enough to let the kiddo splash in puddles barefoot instead of shelling out $25 for rain boots at Target, DH did a boyweight workout while watching college football, I baked a huge pan of butternut squash lasagna which we served with garlic bread (on homemade sourdough) and leftover wine that DH brought home from a work function. I also did a bunch of reading related to Slow Fashion October project which was very enlightening.

newelljack

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7155 on: October 01, 2016, 06:40:03 PM »
This morning I made sourdough pancakes with my homemade starter. There were a few big ones left over so I froze them for kid breakfasts next week. Then we took the three little ones to OSH for their free Frankenpumpkin activity today.

Kitsune

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7156 on: October 03, 2016, 07:05:58 AM »
Identified the problem wi my non-charging cell phone and fixed it instead of immediately saying "oh, well, it's 2 years old, let's just get another one on contract" like my husband was urging.

Savings: SIGNIFICANT.

We also spent the weekend in the city, saw friends, did some necessary shopping (some things can't be had near home, so we save up the list when we go to town...). We were restricted to restaurant meals and treated the friends who gave us a place to stay with our toddler, and even then meals for the weekend were under 120$ for all meals - cheaper than 2 nights hotel, AND we got to see people we miss and buy things we needed for 1/2 the price that they cost near home.

Hideous Hog

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7157 on: October 03, 2016, 07:16:49 AM »
Brought lunch to work today (leftover turkey stew). I've got enough leftovers for 2 more lunches.




marty998

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7158 on: October 03, 2016, 02:28:06 PM »
Cleaned out my bathroom yesterday and found an unused shaving balm from a hotel pack.

guess I won't need to buy one of those in a while :)

choppingwood

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7159 on: October 03, 2016, 04:24:15 PM »
I shopped around for car insurance, before renewing. The new company is charging $248 less per year (a 27.9 per cent reduction).

I hadn't done this in 5 years.  I'll do the same now for my home insurance when it comes due in February, and then tag it for every three years.

alewpanda

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7160 on: October 03, 2016, 05:48:24 PM »
Today's is fun :D

1. Cocktail sauce was getting older and I was worried it would go bad.  Made meatloaf today and normally I toss in some all natural ketchup instead of dividing up cans of tomato paste into small amounts and storing.  Half of the lingering cocktail sauce went in instead...didn't notice a difference in taste, so the rest will go in the next meatloaf.

2. Stopped at the local thrift store.  Saw 2 good solid wooden chairs ready for painting.  I have been mixing chairs with folding chairs at my kitchen table, and the 5.00 price tags on each chair was just right :)  Got to the register and found out they were half off today.  2.50 each!

3. Hubby decided we should be Trump and Hillary for Halloween..no political purpose, except that we find both of them to be frightening, so perfect for the holiday...lol.  Found 2 2.00 blond wigs at goodwill and a 2.00 red tie.  I will give the wigs "haircuts" and will watch for a pantsuit for myself. Easy and cheap and scary....

4. Drove past a pile of construction and misc household trash on the side of the road.  Stopped and trash picked new (in need of a bath) lunch bags for hubby and I, and a partial can of white paint that I will use to feed my art addiction....can't beat free!

5. Limited grocery purchasing, and didn't buy any junk food.  Just fruits, veggies, cheese, and orange juice for the sickly husband.

6. Returned library movies we rented for free.

7. Found out our pet store is starting a loyalty program.  For every 10 bags of dog food you buy, you get the 11th free...in whatever the smallest size is that you have on record.  Um..I buy a 30 lb bag of grain free, and chicken free dog food every month!  I'll take a free bag once every 11 months!

8. Picked up a penny....

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7161 on: October 03, 2016, 11:22:13 PM »
From the past couple of days...

Caught up with friends last night, BBQ at their place instead of going out.

Leftovers became lunch today.

BiL stayed recently and left a heap of food in the fridge so I'm planning recipes around that.

Public holiday here yesterday, so saved $9 on transit.

Line-dried washing over the weekend.

Travelling to attend an event later this week, so I've started packing the little things it's easy to forget for festivals (e.g. suncream) so I don't have to panic-shop when we arrive.

Planning an outdoor event for later this month and I want candles for the tables. I just claimed some gorgeous jars from the kitchen at work, and I have some pillar candles at home (a gift from my birthday last year). Easy.

frooglepoodle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7162 on: October 04, 2016, 05:30:02 AM »
Yesterday evening I was exhausted and coming down with a cold, so I defrosted some chicken and barley soup I made last month and a par-cooked pizza crust. I topped the pizza with garlic, olive oil, and two kinds of cheese, and roasted some broccoli. A healthy meal in less time (and hardly any more effort) than ordering a pizza.

I did some sewing for a neighbor who watches my son for me occasionally.

Lunasol

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7163 on: October 04, 2016, 12:29:24 PM »
I had an appointment to see my eye doctor, so I parked on the street and did a 6 min walk to the doctor's office, instead of paying for the medical center's parking fee

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7164 on: October 04, 2016, 12:37:53 PM »
I'm the one that always does Costco trips, so I hadn't bothered adding my husband to the Costco account. But he's been traveling a lot more for work, and staying in hotels. The costco visa gets 4% on gas and 3% on qualifying travel- including hotels. So I went into Costco and got husband set up with a membership number, so that I could add him as an authorized user for the visa. So now we'll be getting 3% on the $1k+ per month in hotels he's racking up right now (and getting reimbursed). Not bad for a 15 min wait in line.

From reading through the details, it looks like it's only the gas that has a rewards cap per year- only 4% on the first $7k per year. But no limit on the 3% on qualifying travel. So that's cool!

Eilonwy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7165 on: October 04, 2016, 05:54:59 PM »
I noticed our dryer wasn't working well, so I cleaned out the vent on both ends.

PMG

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7166 on: October 04, 2016, 08:28:57 PM »
So many deadlines. So little time for food prep.  Beat the odds today and scrounged food to pack for lunch.  Ate my emergency work snacks for dinner.  I got lunch prepped for tomorrow. And have a jar of cold coffee ready to go. Hallelujah.

Had to attend a health fair today. Turned down plastic freebies but accepted some travel toothpaste and sunscreen.  I am almost out of both, so that's $2 or $3 I would have spent soon.


Zikzin

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7167 on: October 04, 2016, 08:34:37 PM »

Hair treatment - coconut oil $0
Hail color - box color $6.99
Haircut - creaclip

mani/pedi - $0







llorona

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7168 on: October 05, 2016, 12:26:46 AM »
I recently rented a car while on a trip. When I checked the credit card bill, the company had charged me for the rental car and separately tacked on a second charge of $17.58. Evil! Although I was tempted to let it slide, I called my credit card company to file a dispute. They just notified me that I won the dispute and my account has been credited. Yay!

Trying to eat my way through a 2.5 lb bag of Costco spinach, so today's lunch was spinach topped with a chopped hard boiled egg and vegetables from the garden, followed by a piece of Irish soda bread made from leftover frozen buttermilk.

Completed $25 worth of work on m-Turk over the past couple months, which will go toward a digital pass for Season 7 of the Walking Dead. (Does this count as saving money?)

Eilonwy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7169 on: October 05, 2016, 03:46:56 PM »
I saved vegetable rinsing water and used it to water plants.

(I do this more for environmental reasons than to save money, but it had an unexpected frugal upside... we're doing a house renovation, and because of our stellar low water use, the water department opted not to make us buy an expensive new water meter!)

Gerard

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7170 on: October 05, 2016, 04:00:23 PM »
Similarly acquired some grass fed liver. We're not fans, but I want to try dehydrating some for dog training treats.

Dog-training friends-of-friends claim this works even better if you can work a little garlic into the recipe.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7171 on: October 05, 2016, 04:50:38 PM »
Similarly acquired some grass fed liver. We're not fans, but I want to try dehydrating some for dog training treats.

Dog-training friends-of-friends claim this works even better if you can work a little garlic into the recipe.

Alliums are a no-no for pets. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/people-foods-avoid-feeding-your-pets

PMG

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7172 on: October 05, 2016, 06:43:49 PM »
I picked a dime up off the floor at the grocery store then used it to give correct change when I paid my bill, this kept a dollar bill intact, instead of a handful of change which makes it feel like it saved me a whole dollar.

Made a baking soda paste and covered my smelly cork sandals, then cleaned them thoroughly.  It refreshed them enough that I can wear them in public again (for a little while anyway).

Picnic date night in the park. Planned to buy fancy bread and cheese but found enough food around the house. No money spent.

Dollar Slice

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7173 on: October 05, 2016, 10:38:43 PM »
Did my laundry tonight and after I started the washers (coin-op, $2/load) I realized I only had 75 cents left for the dryer ($1.75/load). I usually hang dry half my stuff and put half in the dryer, so only one dryer load for 2 washer loads. I was thinking I would have to go out and buy a pack of gum or mints just to break a $20 - but I scoured my apartment for loose change and came up with four more quarters, just enough to run the dryer. So I saved a buck or so on whatever I would have bought to break that $20 bill. And I didn't have to waste 15 minutes on a pointless errand, and I didn't have to go for a walk on my sore ankle.

I'd planned to side-hustle enough money to pay for a specific laptop I wanted to get so it wouldn't impact my SR, but the hustling went so well that I will end up increasing my SR even in spite of a new laptop. Today I put $10.50 in the side-hustle fund.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7174 on: October 06, 2016, 05:04:11 AM »
Saved $650 by paying off my uni loans. Finally!

marty998

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7175 on: October 06, 2016, 05:50:40 AM »
Saved $650 by paying off my uni loans. Finally!

That's not small :O

Must be a good feeling to kick that!

misshathaway

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7176 on: October 06, 2016, 07:13:04 AM »
Cooked and recorded the meat yield from boneless, skinless chicken thighs to contrast against the meat yield from a whole chicken. Popular wisdom wins. The whole chicken came out cheaper.

Whole chicken from last week yield:  $2.89 per lb.
Skinless, boneless thighs yield: $4.68 per lb.

Whole Chicken

This chicken was roasted in my counter top rotisserie with nothing added. The rotisserie can only do up to 5 lbs.

So starting weight 5.05lb at $1.09 lb = $5.50
Meat/skin yield: 1.9 lbs
Actual cost per pound of meat + skin:  $2.89 lb.

---------------------
Skinless Boneless Thighs

Basted with olive oil and sprinkled with Adobo. Baked to the point that fat forms a crust like fried chicken.

4.85 lbs at $1.69 = $8.20
Meat yield 1.75 lbs
Cost of meat: $4.68 lb.
-------------------------

FrugalFarmer

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7177 on: October 06, 2016, 07:48:46 AM »
My usual car pool partners were unavailable today, so I asked around until I found one person who could drive me to work in the morning, and another person who could drive me home in the evening.  The schedules don't line up perfectly, so I packed my laptop to facilitate working on my side hustle during the wait time.  Also, I packed breakfast, lunch, and dinner so I wouldn't have to eat out!  Saved 50 miles of car driving (I know, I know!  That's why I car pool with 2 other people!) and about $25 on food.  I'm amazed at how many times I am able to save car miles simply by being a little flexible with my schedule.

4alpacas

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7178 on: October 06, 2016, 10:30:35 AM »
Hair treatment - coconut oil $0
Hail color - box color $6.99
Haircut - creaclip
mani/pedi - $0
I was feeling the urge for pampering, so I made a coconut oil and sugar scrub for the shower.  I also made a shea butter, cocoa butter, and coconut oil "lotion."  I had the shea butter and cocoa butter leftover from making hydration bars for Christmas presents last year.

I also cooked dinner from a lot of random items in our freezer with leftovers from lunch. 

Inaya

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7179 on: October 06, 2016, 12:32:56 PM »
Friend of mine ended his long-term relationship with Wells Fargo due to their recent questionable business practices. He asked me for a Discover card referral (worth $100 to him and $50 to me). But I remembered that hubs is still on his Double Cash Back year, and I got the referral from his account so it'll be worth $50 now and $50 next August when the year ends.


Got $16 in mixed mushrooms at the farmers market. Saved all of the stems and inedible bits (instead of tossing them, which I usually do and will never do again) and made 8 cups of mushroom broth, which I then made into mushroom soup with half of the mushrooms and a half cup of rice. Tasty!

FrugalFarmer

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7180 on: October 06, 2016, 01:10:03 PM »
Friend of mine ended his long-term relationship with Wells Fargo due to their recent questionable business practices. He asked me for a Discover card referral (worth $100 to him and $50 to me). But I remembered that hubs is still on his Double Cash Back year, and I got the referral from his account so it'll be worth $50 now and $50 next August when the year ends.


Got $16 in mixed mushrooms at the farmers market. Saved all of the stems and inedible bits (instead of tossing them, which I usually do and will never do again) and made 8 cups of mushroom broth, which I then made into mushroom soup with half of the mushrooms and a half cup of rice. Tasty!

Great job!  You may already know this, but you can do this with leftover bits of all kinds of vegetables!  Onion and celery ends, carrot and potato peels, etc make great broth, and you can make a really fantastic soup out of artichoke stems.  I keep a gallon sized plastic bag (this can be rinsed and reused over and over until it gets a hole) in my freezer to collect all these little scraps.  When the bag gets full, I make stock!  The spent veggies from the stock can be composted to further reduce waste.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7181 on: October 06, 2016, 01:23:42 PM »
Friend of mine ended his long-term relationship with Wells Fargo due to their recent questionable business practices. He asked me for a Discover card referral (worth $100 to him and $50 to me). But I remembered that hubs is still on his Double Cash Back year, and I got the referral from his account so it'll be worth $50 now and $50 next August when the year ends.


Got $16 in mixed mushrooms at the farmers market. Saved all of the stems and inedible bits (instead of tossing them, which I usually do and will never do again) and made 8 cups of mushroom broth, which I then made into mushroom soup with half of the mushrooms and a half cup of rice. Tasty!

Great job!  You may already know this, but you can do this with leftover bits of all kinds of vegetables!  Onion and celery ends, carrot and potato peels, etc make great broth, and you can make a really fantastic soup out of artichoke stems.  I keep a gallon sized plastic bag (this can be rinsed and reused over and over until it gets a hole) in my freezer to collect all these little scraps.  When the bag gets full, I make stock!  The spent veggies from the stock can be composted to further reduce waste.

I knew the rest (and do it) but the artichoke stems thing was a revelation! Expand on this please? =)

choppingwood

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7182 on: October 06, 2016, 02:49:55 PM »
I headed to the library at the next town over to get the book for my book club and renew my membership.

Stopped at the library's free produce table (where extra garden produce goes to find a home with gardenless people).  Got carrots and onions to use in the base of some chicken stock and two kinds of squash. When I said I was making soup, the librarian helped me select squash varieties, just the way she helps me pick books and movies.  (I can pick all of these things myself, but it is so nice that she wants to help.)

Stopped at the grocery store and bought butter on at a great price, 1 for now and 1 for the freezer for X-mas baking, and fresh fish, which isn't available in my village (unless you go catch it).

Stopped at the discount department store to get wrappers for dimes, which were out of stock at home.

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7183 on: October 06, 2016, 05:39:02 PM »
Parked in the city lot for free yesterday instead of paying $12 for hospital parking; parked on the street today for $2 instead of paying for the $20 medical plaza parking.

Sold a book on Amazon; the $12 profit will be deposited in an investment account.

Used the library to order my son a particular book he wanted (a graphic novel about history) instead of paying $8 or more to buy it.

Avast Antivirus used an "automatic authorization" to "renew" an antivirus service that hasn't been active in years (for one thing we haven't had a PC in years!), so am disputing via the company website and PayPal to get $40 back.

Kitsune

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7184 on: October 06, 2016, 06:19:53 PM »
A payment came out of the wrong account and caused a 45$ overdraft fee UGH - I called the bank and they waived it.

And while I was at it I called my cell company (who are already cheaper than any other option I have) and convinced them to double my available data for the same price I was already paying. Now I won't run out 2/3 of the way through the month... :)

Moonwaves

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7185 on: October 07, 2016, 04:10:19 AM »
Yesterday not today but still...I found the local foodsharing collection point. Had heard about this when I first moved here but never did anything about it. So glad I finally did. Volunteers go to local supermarkets or shops and pick up stuff that is otherwise about to be thrown out and you can basically help yourself. So, for the price of a ten-minute walk from my house to there and a please and thank you, I came home with 1.7kg tomatoes, a huge butternut squash (1.8kg), a bunch of scallions, two lots of salad (the type where there are two small lettuces with roots still attached in a soil plug that you can keep moist to prolong the life a bit), 3 passion fruit, 3 bananas, and a basil plant. The bananas were barely starting to turn brown but in a couple of days they'll be perfect for making banana bread and one or two of the tomatoes were starting to get a bit soft so I'll cook them today. Otherwise, the only thing remotely wrong with any of it was that the basil plant had a few black leaves. But loads of perfectly good ones, too and the smell in my kitchen now is divine. I suspect I may start getting an awful lot of my fresh fruit and veg here in the future. I know supermarkets throw out masses of food but when you're actually confronted with it before your eyes, the waste is just astounding!

Erma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7186 on: October 07, 2016, 07:19:20 AM »
I fixed my laptop for the third or fourth time. I can't even remember when I bought it. This time it always shut down when I moved it a little bit too much, but after some work it seems fine again.

oldtoyota

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7187 on: October 07, 2016, 07:36:55 AM »
Instead of taking kidlet to breakfast at a restaurant on her day off from school, we're having breakfast in.

Instead of going to tea with a friend yesterday, we went for a free walk instead.

Loving this thread.

FrugalFarmer

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7188 on: October 07, 2016, 09:23:31 AM »
Friend of mine ended his long-term relationship with Wells Fargo due to their recent questionable business practices. He asked me for a Discover card referral (worth $100 to him and $50 to me). But I remembered that hubs is still on his Double Cash Back year, and I got the referral from his account so it'll be worth $50 now and $50 next August when the year ends.


Got $16 in mixed mushrooms at the farmers market. Saved all of the stems and inedible bits (instead of tossing them, which I usually do and will never do again) and made 8 cups of mushroom broth, which I then made into mushroom soup with half of the mushrooms and a half cup of rice. Tasty!

Great job!  You may already know this, but you can do this with leftover bits of all kinds of vegetables!  Onion and celery ends, carrot and potato peels, etc make great broth, and you can make a really fantastic soup out of artichoke stems.  I keep a gallon sized plastic bag (this can be rinsed and reused over and over until it gets a hole) in my freezer to collect all these little scraps.  When the bag gets full, I make stock!  The spent veggies from the stock can be composted to further reduce waste.

I knew the rest (and do it) but the artichoke stems thing was a revelation! Expand on this please? =)

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Duartes-Cream-Artichoke
You can straight up replace all the blended artichoke hearts in this soup with cooked stems!  Here's what I do: at the same time I'm cooking the artichokes, I throw in the peeled and trimmed stems.  After they're cooked, I put them in their own bag in the freezer.  The stems taste the same as the hearts, but their stringy texture makes them unpleasant to eat.  But since they're pureed, you totally can't tell the difference in the soup!  I do like to garnish it with some rough chopped hearts.

I also use milk blended with some cooked white rice instead of the cream (better on the arteries as well as the budget!)
« Last Edit: October 07, 2016, 09:27:25 AM by FrugalFarmer »

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7189 on: October 07, 2016, 09:30:54 AM »
Friend of mine ended his long-term relationship with Wells Fargo due to their recent questionable business practices. He asked me for a Discover card referral (worth $100 to him and $50 to me). But I remembered that hubs is still on his Double Cash Back year, and I got the referral from his account so it'll be worth $50 now and $50 next August when the year ends.


Got $16 in mixed mushrooms at the farmers market. Saved all of the stems and inedible bits (instead of tossing them, which I usually do and will never do again) and made 8 cups of mushroom broth, which I then made into mushroom soup with half of the mushrooms and a half cup of rice. Tasty!

Great job!  You may already know this, but you can do this with leftover bits of all kinds of vegetables!  Onion and celery ends, carrot and potato peels, etc make great broth, and you can make a really fantastic soup out of artichoke stems.  I keep a gallon sized plastic bag (this can be rinsed and reused over and over until it gets a hole) in my freezer to collect all these little scraps.  When the bag gets full, I make stock!  The spent veggies from the stock can be composted to further reduce waste.

I knew the rest (and do it) but the artichoke stems thing was a revelation! Expand on this please? =)

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Duartes-Cream-Artichoke
You can straight up replace all the blended artichoke hearts in this soup with cooked stems!  Here's what I do: at the same time I'm cooking the artichokes, I throw in the peeled and trimmed stems.  After they're cooked, I put them in their own bag in the freezer.  The stems taste the same as the hearts, but their stringy texture makes them unpleasant to eat.  But since they're pureed, you totally can't tell the difference in the soup!  I do like to garnish it with some rough chopped hearts.

I also use milk blended with some cooked white rice instead of the cream (better on the arteries as well as the budget!)

I do believe this is a game changer for me. You just dropped my food waste quite a bit. Artichokes are my FAVORITE. Thank you!

dignam

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7190 on: October 07, 2016, 10:44:27 AM »
Brown bagged it and biked to work today.

Eilonwy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7191 on: October 07, 2016, 12:54:46 PM »
Oooo! I am also a big artichoke fan. And they're quite reasonably priced at our farmer's market. (I used to grow them, which was always amazing... it was like having my own creme brulee tree.)

PMG

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7192 on: October 07, 2016, 09:12:17 PM »
Crazy date night. Walked to the grocery store to get marked down groceries (bf has found all the places where discount items are stashed) and redeem several coupons for free items. Then we cut his hair. Team effort.  Not bad. 2 more times will cover the cost of the clippers and the rest will be savings for him.

frooglepoodle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7193 on: October 08, 2016, 12:28:52 PM »
Friday "date" night was Scrabble and Aldi pale ale (surprisingly good, and $3 less per six-pack than the local craft brews). Tonight's will be working on our furniture refinishing projects.

I only ever reload my Starbucks card with "found" money (Swagbucks rewards, spare change taken to coinstar) or groupon-type offers, but we'd accumulated enough rewards for a free drink. We ordered a large fancy drink and split it while running errands this morning.

Made homemade granola and sourdough bread yesterday, and mini empanadas this morning. If I'd realized before just how easy they are, I'd have made them years ago!

Thanks to these forums, I learned that active duty military can have annual fees waived on their credit cards. DH called and got the fee waived on the new card we just opened, big savings for just a few minutes!
« Last Edit: October 08, 2016, 12:32:34 PM by frooglepoodle »

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7194 on: October 08, 2016, 02:56:23 PM »
Saved $650 by paying off my uni loans. Finally!

That's not small :O

Must be a good feeling to kick that!

Thank you! $13k gone!

Kitsune

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7195 on: October 08, 2016, 03:25:14 PM »
Got the lambs butchered and got 4 off to people who put dibs in... Low-priced enough to be appealing, priced high enough that we off-set the cost of the one we raised for ourselves. Free leg of lamb, omnomnom. :)

Traded my husbands help painting my sisters new apartment for her help painting the walls and furniture I'm building for the new baby's room -paint fumes ain't great for me, so that works! Also we can build nice pine bookcases/cubbies (think the IKEA Expedit units) for about 1/3 of what ikea charges for pressed wood and crap veneer, so, doing that. Yay nicer furniture AND saving money. Yay skills. :)

Started building a dollhouse for my daughter for Christmas. We wanted something durable that would hold up to Toddler and be thin enough to store easily and not take over a room. Apparently the second requirement can't be find, and a dollhouse that would hold up (without furniture or dolls!!) is around 200$CAD. Um, no, 10 hours and 30$ will do, and be much cuter AND storable.

Oh, and I took the toddler shopping for winter boots and snowsuit that would hold up to playing outside in a Quebec winter (aka: it's effing cold, this is not the place to cheap out). Discount warehouse-type places got us excellent quality snowsuit and boots for about 60$ cheaper than I'd have paid in nicer places, and we came out with cute and gender-neutral clothing (I'm pregnant with a boy and NOT keen on setting myself up to re-buy all this gar just for colour purposes, because that's nonsense). A planned expense, but we got great quality for lowest price. Win?

And that's all today: I'm exhausted and about to keel over, so we're making pizza and spinach salad for dinner (all available ingredients in the fridge) and then we're gonna stay in and have an early bedtime - cheap evening too. ;)

« Last Edit: October 08, 2016, 03:27:07 PM by Kitsune »

jengod

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7196 on: October 08, 2016, 08:49:18 PM »
Harvested 1kg of quasi-perennial Japanese sweet potatoes, 1.5kg of self-seeded sunchokes and the rest of the apples on the tree.

I think I'm going to make and freeze sunchoke soup, and use the sweet potatoes for my lunches at home with the baby. I might use the apples to make a rustic tarte tatin for a Cub Scout bake sale fundraiser that will support a scholarship in the name of a young Boy Scout who recently died suddenly.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7197 on: October 08, 2016, 08:53:02 PM »
Went to a baby shower today. Wore a dress I got for free from my (former... I moved... *tears*) Buy Nothing Project group. Bought gift card from Cardpool from registry, so it was 11% off. Bought clearance wrapping paper from Target, $1.50 for the roll. (Would have used a gift bag I got from Buy Nothing but the gift was too big). Took the little commuter car instead of the truck to save on gas (1.5hr drive). Made myself coffee to go before leaving so I wouldn't be tempted to buy. Did NOT speed, which may have saved me a ticket because SO many cops were out today in places they don't normally speed trap.

Nords

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7198 on: October 08, 2016, 09:46:09 PM »
I saw this mentioned on two threads so I'll comment on this one.

Thanks to these forums, I learned that active duty military can have annual fees waived on their credit cards. DH called and got the fee waived on the new card we just opened, big savings for just a few minutes!
DH called and got the annual fee waived for the Sapphire Reserve card, so that's pretty awesome. I had no idea about the SCRA, so big thanks, Engineer Yogi!
Just to be excruciatingly technically correct, this has nothing to do with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. *

The credit card companies are jumping on the "Thank You For Your Service" bandwagon (in the spirit of the SCRA) and waiving all sorts of fees.  Many of those companies are also reducing interest rates and even rebating previously-paid fees and interest.  They're doing it because they really like their military customers, or because they can see what a valuable feel-good marketing tool it is, or for some even more cynical reason.  It's voluntary and not a requirement of the SCRA.  Frankly I don't understand their business model but it's a great deal for active-duty military servicemembers and, in some cases, even their spouses.

The card companies could change their minds at any minute, and these great deals won't last forever.  Everyone who's active-duty military (or married to one) should get on the phone and ask their credit-card company what they're willing to do.  Here's a post to get you started:
http://the-military-guide.com/credit-card-companies-support-scra/ (again, some terms may have changed since this article was written)

If you're a travel/rewards card hacker on active duty, this could be even more valuable.  Sign up for your cards, meet the manufactured spending thresholds, claim the rewards, and then see whether the card company will waive any additional fees.

Keep in mind that this is a benefit given to the military by the card companies (for whatever reason) and not an entitlement.  If they say "No thanks" because you're not actually on active duty or for some other nitpicky reason, then that's their policy and not an SCRA issue.

[* The SCRA applies to debts and some contracts incurred before active duty, and it has a number of very powerful uses for those situations regarding interest rates, canceling contracts, and terminating leases.  Any readers with more questions about the SCRA can ask me in a separate thread or send me a PM.]
« Last Edit: October 08, 2016, 09:49:49 PM by Nords »

llorona

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #7199 on: October 08, 2016, 10:46:30 PM »
DH and I were invited to a birthday luncheon. In lieu of a gift, I offered to make a cake from scratch, a suggestion that the hostess and birthday honoree enthusiastically accepted. It cost $6 to buy the ingredients that I didn't already have on hand.

The bad part is, I had planned to buy a disposable 9" x 13" aluminium pan for the cake. I had it my head that maybe it would cost a dollar. However, the grocery store was charging close to $5 for two pans. Really? For something that's going to be thrown away? Uh, NO! Since I needed a baking pan anyway, I ended up buying a metal one for $7.99 and using a $5 coupon to defray the cost.

The upshot is that twelve people will enjoy tres leches cake tomorrow, I've got a new pan, and it only cost $9.