What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[Redstone5]

Ate soup at my desk today instead of buying lunch.

[HAPPYINAZ]

Made shrimp tacos at home instead of going to our favorite Mexican place.  And the shrimp at home were given to us for free...bonus!

[Eilonwy]

Rode my bike to the library, and then joined my son after school and persuaded him to ride home with me for an inexpensive treat instead of going to the store.

[PMG]

I walked a mile both ways in the rain to pick up my CSA share. 

I got a free umbrella!  My super was asking if I was going to walk home in the rain.  Yes. I have a rain jacket.  She asked if I had an umbrella. Mine broke a couple months ago.  She was delighted to give me one that has been in the lost and found for a year. She's tried to give it away several times.  I am delighted! and I put it to good use on that CSA walk. Now I can delete it out of my target shopping cart. 

[frooglepoodle]

My son's feet grew again. Kids... He's now the owner of a $4 pair of name-brand sneakers from the thrift store in my preferred color (everything either is, or coordinates with, navy blue. Makes life so much easier).

I used up some random veggies that were sitting in the fridge to make fried rice for lunch. Delicious!

[4alpacas]

I walked a mile both ways in the rain to pick up my CSA share. 

I got a free umbrella!  My super was asking if I was going to walk home in the rain.  Yes. I have a rain jacket.  She asked if I had an umbrella. Mine broke a couple months ago.  She was delighted to give me one that has been in the lost and found for a year. She's tried to give it away several times.  I am delighted! and I put it to good use on that CSA walk. Now I can delete it out of my target shopping cart.

Nice!

I gave away a few items in our neighborhood Buy Nothing Group today.

I hosted my book club this month.  Made tea, people brought wine, had some snacks.  Much cheaper than going out to do happy hour or drinks.

I packed my lunch and snacks.

[horsepoor]

I paid for a horse trainer to come out and school my horse.  Pretty sure it will spare me some medical bills that I would have incurred if I'd continued to DIY the training on my current horse. 

Homemade yogurt for breakfast, leftovers for lunch and dinner, mostly consisting of homegrown veggies.

Just finished listing a bunch of stuff on eBay.

[doug111]

I'm not talking about anything big -- just the little things that add up, things that other people might not consider doing.  Here's something I just did:

Last night I sautéd a yellow squash, a zucchini, and an onion as a side dish.  We had perhaps 2/3 a cup of vegetables leftover.  No one would've eaten those as leftovers.  Knowing I was going to make chili tonight, I saved them, chopped them up finely, and hid them in the chili.  It bulked up the chili, perhaps adding one more serving, and it added some extra veggie-power to the chili.  No one else will even know that last night's vegetables are making a second appearance.

Also, earlier today I took a ziplock of homemade soup to work for lunch.  I made it a month or so ago, and no one else in the family liked it . . . so instead of watching it slowly go bad in the refrigerator, I froze it into individual portions for my own lunches.  Added benefit:  I love having homemade ready-to-go lunches.  Negative:  If I leave them in the refrigerator at work, the night janitors steal them.

I ate dandelion salad fresh picked from my backyard today !!!! lol !!!!

[G-dog]

I'm not talking about anything big -- just the little things that add up, things that other people might not consider doing.  Here's something I just did:

Last night I sautéd a yellow squash, a zucchini, and an onion as a side dish.  We had perhaps 2/3 a cup of vegetables leftover.  No one would've eaten those as leftovers.  Knowing I was going to make chili tonight, I saved them, chopped them up finely, and hid them in the chili.  It bulked up the chili, perhaps adding one more serving, and it added some extra veggie-power to the chili.  No one else will even know that last night's vegetables are making a second appearance.

Also, earlier today I took a ziplock of homemade soup to work for lunch.  I made it a month or so ago, and no one else in the family liked it . . . so instead of watching it slowly go bad in the refrigerator, I froze it into individual portions for my own lunches.  Added benefit:  I love having homemade ready-to-go lunches.  Negative:  If I leave them in the refrigerator at work, the night janitors steal them.

I ate dandelion salad fresh picked from my backyard today !!!! lol !!!!

My parents talked a lot about eating dandelion greens - but never went out and collected them! Fortunately, they never sent me out either. My understanding is that you need to collect before they bloom. It's fall here - so lots of dandelions with no blooms - are those edible (I never see the foliage die back after flowering)

[K-ice]

Yes Dandelion greens are edible as long as you are sure there are no chemicals or pee.

Treat them like spinach or arugula. You can add a bit to spice up a mixed green salad.

But if very bitter they are better cooked & served with oil & lemon. Or baked  in a Greek style spinach pie. Spanakopita.

Enjoy.

[jengod]

Yes Dandelion greens are edible as long as you are sure there are no chemicals or pee.

Treat them like spinach or arugula. You can add a bit to spice up a mixed green salad.

But if very bitter they are better cooked & served with oil & lemon. Or baked  in a Greek style spinach pie. Spanakopita.

Enjoy.

Dandelion is also good in green smoothies.

[Toffeemama]

Mr.T: "Honey, do you want me to pick up a pizza on the way home?"

Me:  "What are you, nuts?  There's bok choy in the fridge, and pasta in the pantry!"

[RamonaQ]

I brought an empty water bottle through airport security and filled it up from a water fountain.

[horsepoor]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Brought lunch to work today (leftover turkey stew). I've got enough leftovers for 2 more lunches.

[marty998]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

I noticed our dryer wasn't working well, so I cleaned out the vent on both ends.

[PMG]

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]

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

mani/pedi - $0

[llorona]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Saved $650 by paying off my uni loans. Finally!

[marty998]

Saved $650 by paying off my uni loans. Finally!

That's not small :O

Must be a good feeling to kick that!

[misshathaway]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.