What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[marielle]

BrackenJoy - if you share this info, whereabouts do you live in Oregon? I grew up in southwestern Washington, and we have a house on the Oregon coast. LOVE Oregon.

I don't share specifically anymore (since moving back away from Portland), since I don't live in a big place =) I live in the Valley though, I do share that much!

You should totally message next time you're in Oregon! There are a shocking number of mustachians about. Portland has a pretty active potluck group. Also, I just love meeting mustachians, playing tour guide, and not-so-secretly trying to get them to move here. =)

Try to convince me (or, my boyfriend)! I'm really trying to get out of the south, but he's not convinced anywhere else is any different better (or less racist...).

[Jenny Wren]

Welcome, Lichen!

That's a good list!

Thank you! :)

It's funny, the thought of posting on this thread spurred me on to making a more mustachian choice during a moment of weakness earlier -- frugality begets frugality, I guess.

I'm supposed to host a small thanksgiving gathering tomorrow (my family and my mom). Ug. It's been a tough quarter and I. Am. Not. Feeling. It. I was thinking of just going to Trader Joe's for some prepared stuff, like a veggie loaf and microwavable sides. Mom would be judgy, but she would anyway, so I figured no big deal. Of course, this would likely set us back $50, but hey, convenience!

I fought the urge, though! I spent today making a tofu-chickpea veggie loaf, cranberry coleslaw, rolls, and the star of the show -- a pinon & green chile stuffing dish. I'll make mashed potatoes and cinnamon-pecan butternut squash in the morning and everything else can be heated before the main event.

Even better, except for the squash and pinons, I had everything on hand. (Full disclosure -- I also grabbed a six pack of a local brew and a bottle of sparkling cider for the kiddos.) Total cost, with booze? About $20, plus there will be tons of leftovers for a few days. It took two hours of dedicated kitchen time, but I didn't have class today so I can figure it paid me $15/hr to make my own damn Thanksgiving feast!

I also remembered to stop by my doctor's office on the way home to pick up my prescription. It runs out over the holiday. No co-pay at the doctor's office, but $5 at a pharmacy (weird, I know). Dr. would have been closed until Monday and I'd get stuck with the copay.

Our table is getting scruffy and I don't have a table cloth to create a guest-ready table setting tomorrow. I do have sheets that are in lovely solid colors that complement some of our cloth napkins. Good enough!

I was really tempted to convince the spouse to go out for coffee, a beer, something tonight. A bit of cabin fever perhaps. Instead I jumped in the shower (who wants to get ready to go out after a shower?!) and I'm about to head to the basement with a mug of sleepytime tea. We'll play a rousing game of darts in the comfort of our own home, instead!

[Imma]

I went grocery shopping today, bought nearly all of the fresh products at 35% off. Froze the meat. Will use the vegetables and one pack of minced beef for tonight's dinner, as well as some carrots and onions from the pantry and an open can of diced tomatoes from the fridge. I think this will make enough bolognese sauce to last for 3 days. All in all I spent about €20 for groceries for the whole of next week plus about €3 for snacks. I'm sure I could have spent less, but less than €25 for a week full of good quality and healthy food is not bad at all.

[Linea_Norway]

Logged another couple of hours overtime (paid 150%) at my well paid job.

Received a bag of free chocolates at work because we have to work so hard and long days for a project.

I did not buy totally overpriced Finnish design soup bowls, even though SIL had requested bowls with Scandinavian design. I purchased other bowls that cost approx 15% of the price and that I liked a lot. She has a very young child and I think bowls in her house would not be guaranteed a very long life.

[Mrs Hen]

Yesterday
Used public transport or walked for all journeys.
Booked theatre tickets using vouchers given to us by relatives for birthdays.

Today
Took lunch and dinner to work.  Only had time to eat the lunch, so will eat the dinner tomorrow night.
Unsubscribed from a load of marketing emails - less temptation to spend.
I need fuel for the car tomorrow, but am otherwise expecting a No Spend Day tomorrow (Black Friday in the UK)

[mustachepungoeshere]

Ate leftover pizza for dinner last night.

This life is not without its burdens. :D

[nwhiker]

I shopped around for car insurance. I cancelled the data plan on my son's tablet. I finished watching the series on HBO Now and canceled it. Total savings of $848/year.

[mustachepungoeshere]

I shopped around for car insurance. I cancelled the data plan on my son's tablet. I finished watching the series on HBO Now and canceled it. Total savings of $848/year.

$848 a year is no small thing!

[horsepoor]

Instead of purchasing a specialized saddle pad that I'll hopefully only need for a few months while my horse builds muscle, I sacrificed half of my yoga mat to make one.  That mat was always longer than I needed anyway.

[Step37]

Cooked up some beet stems as a side dish (had already used the leaves in a salad). They were pretty tasty!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Finished all of my holiday shopping (which was a very small list to start with) using 90% gift cards earned through international work travel.
-Bought fun but useful gifts for our kids. (A new basketball, soccer ball, a board game, & water bottle + a couple of books).
-Used eBates to score cash back on all of our holiday shopping.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

BrackenJoy - if you share this info, whereabouts do you live in Oregon? I grew up in southwestern Washington, and we have a house on the Oregon coast. LOVE Oregon.

I don't share specifically anymore (since moving back away from Portland), since I don't live in a big place =) I live in the Valley though, I do share that much!

You should totally message next time you're in Oregon! There are a shocking number of mustachians about. Portland has a pretty active potluck group. Also, I just love meeting mustachians, playing tour guide, and not-so-secretly trying to get them to move here. =)

$ savings.
-Trying to circumvent big spending by turning water off to appliances before we go on vacation
-Going to maximize my gas money by seeing JUST HOW MUCH of my IL's booze I can drink, really maximize my trip value there ;) kidding. Mainly.
-Cut my husband's hair
-Ate leftovers for lunch, instead of leaving earlier and having to stop at fast food somewhere.

Love the area, and would definitely move back. My family is all still near Vancouver, so it would be a big win. My husband & I both work in tech, so we're probably going to stay in the Bay area until the kids are out of school. Then, both Vancouver & Bend are on our retirement list, as well as just keeping the Oregon coast house + a sunnier destination.

Would love to connect sometime!

[Hadilly]

Bought my daughter a new bike on Craigslist, saving a couple of hundred dollars. I really credit a frugalwoods post to always check Craigslist first for big ticket items. I bought our stove that way too and saved a lot.

Went to a local non-profit farm that had a free day today. Ate a picnic, saw the animals and enjoyed time with my and my sister's family. No shopping today!

[frooglepoodle]

Went on a hike instead of shopping.

We did stop at the grocery store on the way home for tortillas and cilantro to make turkey enchiladas for dinner. Should have planned ahead better.

[Jenny Wren]

I'm counting on everyone is this thread to keep me inspired and energized as we enter the season of mass consumption!

* We didn't leave the house yesterday, and thus spent nothing.

* I'm vegetarian and my family is usually veg at home, but I wasn't going to turn down the bone-in turkey breast our neighbors thawed yesterday. They were invited somewhere else for Thanksgiving dinner but didn't want to refreeze the breast because they used the cold water thaw method. Popped that bad boy in the crockpot for 5 hours and it was ready just in time for our feast (much to my family's delight, plus left plenty of veggie loaf for me). I gifted the neighbor two jars of homemade jam to say thanks :)

* After carving the turkey, DW threw the carcass and some onion skins back in the crockpot with a few cups of water. Cooked on low overnight, strained, and stripped off the remaining meat. The family will get a second treat next week in the form of turkey noodle soup.

* Friend offered me brunch if I braved black Friday with her so she could get some fabric at Jo-anns. I covered the tip, but it was still a low-cost outing! Crowds weren't bad either, I'm guessing since just about everything opens on Thursday now.....

* We made one more stop at a drug store that had some deal that you bought one box of fancy shmancy chocolates you got two free. She only wanted two as gifts, and asked if I wanted the third. I said sure and gave her $3 (a third of the price of the box she paid for). Saving it until my wedding anniversary in January, chocolate is the perfect gift. The box is red with Christmas bells in one corner, but they could be wedding bells, right? ;)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Made turkey broth, using carcass from yesterday
-Made everyone yummy sandwiches for lunch from the plethora of Thanksgiving leftovers
-Made turkey enchiladas for dinner (really liked this recipe https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/turkey-enchiladas/), using leftover turkey
-Stocked up on our contribution to the holidays (pomegranate martinis + cash, as we travel & cooking is challenging), using a Black Friday BevMo coupon :-)
-Bought Uber gift cards at the grocery store, earning a $20 store gift card. I'll use the gift cards for my work trip next week, and get reimbursed.

[Ms Ida]

-Cut my own hair today
-Using post Thanksgiving vacation day to batch cook for the freezer. The crock pot is still going and I have a pot of chili on now. My freezer is stocked with carnitas. A  big batch of braised chard and a few containers ratatouille  will head down to my Mom's freezer this weekend to keep her stocked up. Have had the kitchen going at a pretty steady pace today. Took a break to grocery shop and had a bit of black Friday fail on Amazon(ordered an Insta Pot will I use it??? I think I will have been pondering for about a year) otherwise no crazy gift buying.

[Dicey]

The drive to my sister's and back was five hours in traffic yesterday, ugh. It was a good gathering, though. I realized I hadn't been to her house for a year. That's the joy of having a MIL with ALZ under my roof, I guess. My sister has been struggling with serious depression, so I was glad to see her in better spirits.

Today I fought back by going nowhere. Felt good. I didn't buy anything on line either. DH puttered on a landscaping project and cleaned the LR carpet in anticipation of putting up the fake, free tree in a couple of days. I started opening boxes and putting up cheery holiday decor. Fun.

[Imma]

- Made oatmeal with water again for breakfast. Doesn't sound like anything special, but I was always raised with the idea you can only eat any kind of porridge made from milk. We were very frugal at home, but porridge from water was just plain cheap. It was a big mental barrier to try to make oatmeal from water, but it turns out there's not much difference in flavour. I usually mash a banana in my oatmeal, so it's creamy anyway. It's also easier to make because oatmeal with milk tends to burn if you don't pay attention. Now I can turn my back to the stove and make myself a coffee and do some washing up in the mean time.

- put on my PJs when I came home from work yesterday, to celebrate the weekend and also so I didn't have to turn the heating up. My PJs are much warmer than my normal clothes, wish I could wear them to work!

- finished up several home made christmas gifts yesterday, while watching history documentaries on youtube. Some of them were actually things I started last year, but didn't get finished up time. We're going to have a whole load of gifts under the tree this year!  It's just my fiance and I, and we don't normally give any gifts for christmas or birthdays. Instead we treat the other person for dinner, and for birthdays we bake a fancy cake for each other. After all these years we decided to do something different this year: yes to gifts, not to crap. So it's going to be mostly homemade, useful things. I sewed matching pairs of PJ pants, potholders and tree ornaments last night.

[Kwill]

Yesterday, my workplace had free Bike Doctor appointments to promote cycling to work. The Bike Doctor told me that, even if it were his own bicycle and he were doing all the repairs for free, the parts alone would cost more than buying a new bike. I was afraid that he might say something like that -- it's been getting worse and worse lately. So Kwill needs a new bike soon . . .

Meanwhile, I still hadn't purchased the air ticket for the last leg of my Christmas trip. I'm flying UK to Ireland to US in order to take advantage of lower priced flights out of Dublin, but I've been hesitating to buy the last leg from Dublin back to UK because it was more expensive than I expected, 10 times more than the outbound flight. Today I bought railsail tickets to go back from Dublin by ferry and train, saving over £100, which I plan to use on the bike purchase. It's going to be a pain and a lot of extra time to come back by train, but I'm excited about taking the more adventurous option over the sea and through Wales.

[Imma]

Meanwhile, I still hadn't purchased the air ticket for the last leg of my Christmas trip. I'm flying UK to Ireland to US in order to take advantage of lower priced flights out of Dublin, but I've been hesitating to buy the last leg from Dublin back to UK because it was more expensive than I expected, 10 times more than the outbound flight. Today I bought railsail tickets to go back from Dublin by ferry and train, saving over £100, which I plan to use on the bike purchase. It's going to be a pain and a lot of extra time to come back by train, but I'm excited about taking the more adventurous option over the sea and through Wales.

Have fun on the train! The views are gorgeous.

[CloserToFree]

-cut our son's hair (badly needed!)
-ate Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch yesterday instead of stopping at a restaurant for something overpriced (FIL would have paid, but still)
-100% resisted shopping of any sort yesterday (Black Friday)
-unsubscribed from about 10 retailers/promotional emails to avoid temptation
-ordered holiday cards from Vistaprint for a mere $50 for 250 2-sided postcards (go to marketing materials --> postcards --> small postcards if you want to do this too) - they arrived today and look amazing, I'm so pleased.  Best of all no need for envelopes and we can use cheaper postcard postage for our list of about 150 ppl (had to get 250 bc choice was btw 100 or 250).  (In past years I've spent as much as $400-500 just on the cards/envelopes alone...worthy of major face punching)
-got requisite documentation from my doctor so I can seek FSA reimbursement for a few vitamins/supplements I'm on for medical reasons (am in a high tax bracket this year so the savings are real!)
-finally submitted an insurance claim worth about $300 dating back to July (hadn't been covered initially but will be now)

[Stachetastic]

We spent yesterday putting up our thirty year old, hand me down Christmas tree and our thrift store outdoor decor. Looks great!

Husband went out yesterday (Black Friday) to buy a ping pong table we've had our eye on for the kids. I ventured out late in the evening to pick up a few things and an Aldi take and bake pizza for dinner.

Leftovers for lunch today for kid and I, while husband is at a friend's house cutting some more firewood to bring home.

[TheWifeHalf]

I sew (very very well)  and started the outfit I'm going to wear to my son's wedding.

[Kwill]

...Today I bought railsail tickets to go back from Dublin by ferry and train, saving over £100, which I plan to use on the bike purchase. It's going to be a pain and a lot of extra time to come back by train, but I'm excited about taking the more adventurous option over the sea and through Wales.

Have fun on the train! The views are gorgeous.

Thank you! I hope it all goes OK.

I bought a new bicycle today. I went to one of the cheapest shops and got one of the bikes that was on sale for the weekend plus a new lock, which was 15% off with the purchase of a bike. Some savings there. Altogether it was £185. It's amazing to ride a bike with properly functioning brakes and gears and so forth. I didn't realise how bad the old bike had gotten.

While I was waiting for the bike to be serviced, I wandered into a charity shop. I saw they had a lot of foreign language books but nothing in the language I'm studying, so I asked about that language. The lady working there went down to the basement and brought up a stack of brand new children's books in the language, hard cover with beautiful illustrations. I took six of them for £6.50 total. Hopefully it will help me work a little harder on the language study.

[wordnerd]

-ordered holiday cards from Vistaprint for a mere $50 for 250 2-sided postcards (go to marketing materials --> postcards --> small postcards if you want to do this too) - they arrived today and look amazing, I'm so pleased.  Best of all no need for envelopes and we can use cheaper postcard postage for our list of about 150 ppl (had to get 250 bc choice was btw 100 or 250).  (In past years I've spent as much as $400-500 just on the cards/envelopes alone...worthy of major face punching)

Came to this thread to say I resisted buying holiday cards even though I love them, and then I saw your post. Now, I'm getting 50 postcards for $11 (rather than 25 cards for $40 on another site). So, counterintuitively, this thread ended up costing me money, but I'm pretty excited about it. Thanks for the tip!

[Tom Bri]

Filled the car with diesel and did NOT buy cigarettes. That's 2 weeks now.

Good on you!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Walked to the grocery store to pick up a couple of ingredients for dinner (a kale, squash, feta, pomegranate salad - incredible!)
-Ran errands for shops further away in electric car
-Used a gift card to finish up the rest of my Christmas shopping
-Avoided buying Brussels sprouts at Costco, even though it's more convenient. Went to the produce stand & bought just the amount I needed.
-Made Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch

[CloserToFree]

-ordered holiday cards from Vistaprint for a mere $50 for 250 2-sided postcards (go to marketing materials --> postcards --> small postcards if you want to do this too) - they arrived today and look amazing, I'm so pleased.  Best of all no need for envelopes and we can use cheaper postcard postage for our list of about 150 ppl (had to get 250 bc choice was btw 100 or 250).  (In past years I've spent as much as $400-500 just on the cards/envelopes alone...worthy of major face punching)

Came to this thread to say I resisted buying holiday cards even though I love them, and then I saw your post. Now, I'm getting 50 postcards for $11 (rather than 25 cards for $40 on another site). So, counterintuitively, this thread ended up costing me money, but I'm pretty excited about it. Thanks for the tip!

Sorrynotsorry for derailing your resolve :)  I felt the same way - I had made up my mind to give them up because not worth the $$, but I just didn't realize I could get them for so cheap.  I really enjoy giving and receiving paper cards so I'm chalking this one up to spending money on things we truly value, which is consistent with Mustachianism, right? ;-)

[Dicey]

-Walked to the grocery store to pick up a couple of ingredients for dinner (a kale, squash, feta, pomegranate salad - incredible!)
-Ran errands for shops further away in electric car
-Used a gift card to finish up the rest of my Christmas shopping
-Avoided buying Brussels sprouts at Costco, even though it's more convenient. Went to the produce stand & bought just the amount I needed.
-Made Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch

I've noticed those Costco Brussels Sprouts last really well, so I go for the Costco pack with no fear. More BS per dollar, I say!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Walked to the grocery store to pick up a couple of ingredients for dinner (a kale, squash, feta, pomegranate salad - incredible!)
-Ran errands for shops further away in electric car
-Used a gift card to finish up the rest of my Christmas shopping
-Avoided buying Brussels sprouts at Costco, even though it's more convenient. Went to the produce stand & bought just the amount I needed.
-Made Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch

I've noticed those Costco Brussels Sprouts last really well, so I go for the Costco pack with no fear. More BS per dollar, I say!

They actually last incredibly well & I love them sauteed or roasted (plan for tomorrow). Not buying the larger pack is part of my evil plan. . . My husband, a crazy salad eater, would like every vegetable that Costco sells in the nightly salad. If I get the Brussels sprouts, it's yet another vegetable to cut every night until the package is empty. Standard salad = lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, radishes, cauliflower, and anything else in the fridge. I won't start on how much fruit we keep in the fridge. I love the guy, but he's produce obsessed. It's a good problem to have, but gotta limit the veggies, or my salad prep takes 15+ minutes in the evening.

[Dicey]

-Walked to the grocery store to pick up a couple of ingredients for dinner (a kale, squash, feta, pomegranate salad - incredible!)
-Ran errands for shops further away in electric car
-Used a gift card to finish up the rest of my Christmas shopping
-Avoided buying Brussels sprouts at Costco, even though it's more convenient. Went to the produce stand & bought just the amount I needed.
-Made Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch

I've noticed those Costco Brussels Sprouts last really well, so I go for the Costco pack with no fear. More BS per dollar, I say!

They actually last incredibly well & I love them sauteed or roasted (plan for tomorrow). Not buying the larger pack is part of my evil plan. . . My husband, a crazy salad eater, would like every vegetable that Costco sells in the nightly salad. If I get the Brussels sprouts, it's yet another vegetable to cut every night until the package is empty. Standard salad = lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, radishes, cauliflower, and anything else in the fridge. I won't start on how much fruit we keep in the fridge. I love the guy, but he's produce obsessed. It's a good problem to have, but gotta limit the veggies, or my salad prep takes 15+ minutes in the evening.

Whoa, I didn't see that one coming! He really likes RAW Brussels Sprouts in his salads? BTW, does your Costco carry riced cauliflower? It's great in salads and virtually no work!

When I have to make a giant salad for an event (50+ servings), Costco is my friend. I buy the mixed salad greens (3-4), the Super Kale Salad Kit (2) and the riced cauliflower (1 bag). Dump it all in a giant ice bucket. Add about 1/4 bag of Craisins in and give it a good mixing. Serve the dressing(s) on the side.  Easy, relatively cheap and they'll think you slaved over it.

[Dollar Slice]

Speaking of salads... I bought stuff to make a bunch of salads this week and I forgot to buy walnuts, which I like to put in this particular salad. I had 10 minutes to kill today and there happened to be a grocery store a block away, so I popped in to see if they had a good price on walnuts. They were an OK price (for Manhattan) so I picked up one of the 1 lb bags. And then it rang up for $7 less than the price tag. Awwww, yeah! The cheapest walnuts I ever bought. I think it makes them taste even better.

[Sunnysof]

Visited our local toy library to borrow toys and have some fun. We decorated a beautiful Christmas tree there, so the kids fulfilled their wish to decorate a tree, without having to buy one. (We do have a smaller one but it's very quick to decorate, so not as much fun to put up).
We also went to a repair cafe for the first time where I got my pants mended for free. It was so cool and frugal! People fixing small appliances, sewing, furniture repair...I'd love to be able to offer a repair skill but can't think of one. Maybe I could polish shoes?
Also baked bread for the first time in a long while. Need to cut down costs on my current bread consumption.

[Linea_Norway]

Agreed with DH that we both just bought a new tool each (iPad and DIY packraft material) and therefore don`t need to give eachother another Christmas present.

[Imma]

-ordered holiday cards from Vistaprint for a mere $50 for 250 2-sided postcards (go to marketing materials --> postcards --> small postcards if you want to do this too) - they arrived today and look amazing, I'm so pleased.  Best of all no need for envelopes and we can use cheaper postcard postage for our list of about 150 ppl (had to get 250 bc choice was btw 100 or 250).  (In past years I've spent as much as $400-500 just on the cards/envelopes alone...worthy of major face punching)

Came to this thread to say I resisted buying holiday cards even though I love them, and then I saw your post. Now, I'm getting 50 postcards for $11 (rather than 25 cards for $40 on another site). So, counterintuitively, this thread ended up costing me money, but I'm pretty excited about it. Thanks for the tip!

Sorrynotsorry for derailing your resolve :)  I felt the same way - I had made up my mind to give them up because not worth the $$, but I just didn't realize I could get them for so cheap.  I really enjoy giving and receiving paper cards so I'm chalking this one up to spending money on things we truly value, which is consistent with Mustachianism, right? ;-)

I like sending and receiving card as well, but I only send about 25 cards now. Most people don't really like them anymore and I don't send cards to people I know will throw them away five minutes after they get them. The majority of my cards go to elderly relatives now. My fiance think it's a bit silly to send a card to a great aunt or uncle you're not really close to and only see once a year at a family gathering, but I know they will be so happy receiving them. A great uncle actually told me once that he sends birthday and christmas cards to everyone in the entire family and his wife's family (must be hundreds of cards every year.....)  and that I'm the only one in the youngest generation who always sends one back. This small, €2 and 5 minute gesture on my side makes this old man's day.

I try to make cards myself for the people I know will appreciate them (elderly people and crafty friends) and I try to buy some kind of charity card for the other people.

[Jenny Wren]

Thanks to this forum, I decided to check out our libraries movie selection when I was online reserving some books. It had been about 5 years since we checked out a movie, and back then the selection was awful (mainly kids cartoons and really old documentaries) and you couldn't reserve movies. They've updated both movies and hold policy! I got on the hold lists for many new releases from the past 1.5 years we've wanted to see but have never showed up on Netflix. They'll be trickling in every couple days over the holidays -- perfect cold weather family entertainment!

We also cut costs on our weekly date night. Dinner out and pub afterward to the tune of at least $50. Instead, we ate fancy tofu wraps and coffee at a local natural foods deli that has live music on Saturdays ($10) and then came home for drinks and several loud and rousing games of darts (about $5 for the half six pack of fancy microbrews. The other half is for next Saturday). I even threw together a bar snack tray from some nice cheese, olives, and pretzels that were already in the house.

Much fun, we made plans to host similar nights with slightly better food at home for friends once a month to scratch the "get out, drink, and socialize itch."

Entertainment  is our biggest family money leak, so these two discoveries/plans are huge!

[Mrs Hen]

In the last few days:

We used a discount railcard to get train tickets for a visit to the in-laws. 

While on the train (saving fuel, depreciation and stress), I crocheted a string bag using a load of string I found in a box.

Resisted the call of the restaurants near us and ate out of the freezer.

Spent nothing on Black Friday. Took advantage of a free delivery offer on Saturday to order a couple of Xmas gifts.

Made it to 3 weeks without smoking.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I'm prepared for facepunches, so here goes. . . When I travel internationally for work, I hire someone to clean the house the week I'm gone. It reduces stress for my husband, and saves me from coming back, insanely jet lagged, to a messy house. However, I spent the weekend deep cleaning the house, and it's clear I'm not getting my money's worth. So, texted our cleaning lady today to cancel the service. Will find other ways to work around this when I'm traveling, but it will also be just sucking it up more. Now that I'm starting off with a super clean base, I feel like I can stay on top of it more. Which is good, since I have a trip coming up on Saturday.

And, Dicey - yes, raw sprouts! He's a crazy man with the vegetables. I've never tried the riced cauliflower. We usually buy it at the produce stand, as we can get it for under $2. I love the Costco salads - particularly the kale one. My family makes it for holidays, etc, but my husband is a purist. No dressing, no nuts, no dried fruits. For the "dressing", it's lemon juice, a tiny dash of olive oil, & salt & pepper. (I tracked our grocery shopping, by category, for a year, and we spend 47% of our healthy budget on produce. I guess that's good?)

[Goldielocks]

I'm prepared for facepunches, so here goes. . . When I travel internationally for work, I hire someone to clean the house the week I'm gone. It reduces stress for my husband, and saves me from coming back, insanely jet lagged, to a messy house. However, I spent the weekend deep cleaning the house, and it's clear I'm not getting my money's worth. So, texted our cleaning lady today to cancel the service. Will find other ways to work around this when I'm traveling, but it will also be just sucking it up more. Now that I'm starting off with a super clean base, I feel like I can stay on top of it more. Which is good, since I have a trip coming up on Saturday.

First, your DH should be paying for the cleaning when you are out of town, even if you arrange it yourself.
   
We had joint everything and I was sole income when I started to pay for housecleaning help, and I had the same issue you did.  (And I would have loved to have DH do it or pay for it, but the money was "ours").   Getting help was an excuse for my DH to do even less, not me, then when I went to set up the spare room for company, and straightening up a few areas, I realized how NOT clean the cleaning service was.  Good bye service.

[Imma]

I'm on the other side of this debate. My fiance is away from home very often, and while I normally do most of the domestic chores on my own (it's only the 2 of us and we don't own a large home) he pays for a cleaner when I am working overtime. She and I usually clean together, so I know she's doing a good job and we're always done very quickly.

Even if we'd pay the cleaner together it'd still be value for money, because she works faster than I do and I earn more per hour than she does, but I think it's the right thing for him to pay for the service. He's the one not being able to do his part of the chores. Just because I'm home a bit more than he is, doesn't mean I should spend all my time at home doing domestic work. My mother and MIL are shocked by this point of view, but thank god we're not living in the 1950s anymore.

[Jenny Wren]

Made it to 3 weeks without smoking.

This is amazing, great job! I wouldn't consider it a small thing to save money, but a huge momentous thing that makes every part of your life better ;)

I quit just shy of three years ago, so I speak from experience when I say you are awesome!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I'm prepared for facepunches, so here goes. . . When I travel internationally for work, I hire someone to clean the house the week I'm gone. It reduces stress for my husband, and saves me from coming back, insanely jet lagged, to a messy house. However, I spent the weekend deep cleaning the house, and it's clear I'm not getting my money's worth. So, texted our cleaning lady today to cancel the service. Will find other ways to work around this when I'm traveling, but it will also be just sucking it up more. Now that I'm starting off with a super clean base, I feel like I can stay on top of it more. Which is good, since I have a trip coming up on Saturday.

First, your DH should be paying for the cleaning when you are out of town, even if you arrange it yourself.
   
We had joint everything and I was sole income when I started to pay for housecleaning help, and I had the same issue you did.  (And I would have loved to have DH do it or pay for it, but the money was "ours").   Getting help was an excuse for my DH to do even less, not me, then when I went to set up the spare room for company, and straightening up a few areas, I realized how NOT clean the cleaning service was.  Good bye service.

My husband does a tremendous amount around the house, so the cleaning service doesn't really have an impact on that. And, we have shared expenses, so the money is coming out of the joint account either way.

But yes, super clear to me after really digging in this weekend that the cleaning service wasn't adding enough value to justify it.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I'm on the other side of this debate. My fiance is away from home very often, and while I normally do most of the domestic chores on my own (it's only the 2 of us and we don't own a large home) he pays for a cleaner when I am working overtime. She and I usually clean together, so I know she's doing a good job and we're always done very quickly.

Even if we'd pay the cleaner together it'd still be value for money, because she works faster than I do and I earn more per hour than she does, but I think it's the right thing for him to pay for the service. He's the one not being able to do his part of the chores. Just because I'm home a bit more than he is, doesn't mean I should spend all my time at home doing domestic work. My mother and MIL are shocked by this point of view, but thank god we're not living in the 1950s anymore.

We both travel, but I'm gone longer (international vs domestic) & have a slightly different division of chores. When I'm home, I handle most of the inside, standard chores (laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc). My husband has a ton of his own chores, and is constantly working on the house (we have a fixer upper), handles all of the yard work, the pool maintenance, etc. When I'm gone, he picks up all of the stuff that can't wait (laundry, cooking, kid transportation, homework, etc), but doesn't get to all of it. The workload is quite full with two of us, but things have to give when one of us is gone.

[Mele]

My crazy goal is to get through December on $100 groceries.  (We have a well-stocked pantry, so this should be totally feasible). 

Today I walked to the store (1 mile) with bouncy 7 year old.  Bought macaroni noodles and fulfilled husband's request for pumpkin cookies (he likes Albertsons better than mine, BOO).

Then I made a yummy dinner of leftover ham, green beans, and butternut squash mac and cheese.

The pasta dish was so delicious!  And it had some awesome ingredients:

--I added 1/4 cups of the cheese from the leftover grated cheese packets a guest ordered with pizza a few days ago.  Saved 1/4 cup of 'real' cheese
--Butternut squash was from my garden
--raw milk from new fresh milk source, super cheap!
--Sauteed onions came from a jar of caramelized onions I made last summer when, while traveling on the freeway, I stopped to pick up 12 stray onions (we live in onion country for sure).  This yielded several jars of rich, delicious carmelized onions that I can occasionally add to a dish and which give it a yummy depth.  For free!

[Jenny Wren]

Mele: That butternut squash mac n cheese sounds intriguing! I have an extra one on the counter right now, hmm....

Stuck around the house today, hiding from the cold and rain. DW ventured outside between rain showers to fix a piece of flashing the wind tore off the eaves on the back of the house. I busted out the sewing machine and mended younger son's holey jeans, two towels that were starting to fray, and a busted seam on a cushion cover. I also made a pen quiver from supplies I had to hold a couple of pens to the cover of my planner, thus successfully satisfying my urge to buy the expensive quiver I saw online.

[horsepoor]

Dug up and transplanted volunteer strawberry plants.  I'm hoping they'll work as a ground cover between the asparagus.

Also planted shallots.  WholePaycheck had giant red shallots when I went before Thanksgiving, so I selected some of the smallest ones to see if they'll sprout and grow. 

Picked a homegrown cabbage and threw the outer leaves to the chickens.  We'll have slaw instead of salad one night this week.

Also, not sure what we did differently, but our power bill was about $10 less than usual this month.

ETA:  how could I forget that I canned 20 pints of turkey stock?  I always do this and we ran out several weeks ago and bought some of the organic stuff in cartons at CostCo.  Forgot how horrid and salty it is, and that a $2 quart of stock really drives up the price of a pot of soup. 

[kaypinkHH]

Thursday: Celebrated American Thanksgiving with friends at Swiss Chalet, found a black friday coupon to save me and Mr.HH monies on a "night out".
 
Friday: Spent 1 hour+ on black friday at the mall, but only to haggle for a new cellphone plan. There are no cheap phone plan options here, but Mr.HH and I have hacked the system to get 2 "plans" for a total of $70. Normal plans here are $70 each minimum. Muhahaha. The kiosk girl was impressed with our skills.

[Mrs Hen]

Made it to 3 weeks without smoking.

This is amazing, great job! I wouldn't consider it a small thing to save money, but a huge momentous thing that makes every part of your life better ;)

I quit just shy of three years ago, so I speak from experience when I say you are awesome!

Thanks!

All these things really add up. I thought I was pretty frugal already, but now I'm really thinking about how I spend, I've saved over £300 in November. AMAZING!

Today I did my weekly grocery shop, and it came to £8.01.  For the WEEK. Should have bought a smaller apple to get it under £8.00

Also downloaded a free pattern for another string bag.  Guess what people are getting for Xmas.

Set up electronic payments so that money goes into savings accounts on 1st December

[frooglepoodle]

I've been deleting all the Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday emails that have been flooding my inbox without opening them. I'm sure some of them would save me money on things that I may end up buying eventually, but I'll save more money by not buying things I don't need. :-)

I've cut my caffeine intake way back, largely by drinking half-caff coffee. Mixing the unremarkable $2.99/can decaf grounds from Aldi with nicer coffee still makes a pretty decent tasting cup of coffee and cuts the cost per cup as well.

Made a freezer inventory and meal planned for the next two weeks with an eye towards eating it down.