What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[MountainGal]

Big city errands:
-Saved .20 a gallon using my grocery value card.
-Used the rest of a Christmas gift card to buy supper.
-Saved $5K+ by shopping around for a new mattress set.  The first place we went to had King Size sets for $8K+.
-Stuck with my list at several other stores.
-Brought coffee from home.
-Saved supper leftovers for a snack later on.

Currently compiling this month's grocery list to take advantage of sales and electronic coupons.

[lazycow]

Spent the past 4 days gardening, sleeping and reading so didn't leave the house or spend any money. Ate from our fridge and freezer.

[Linea_Norway]

The friendly cook offered me a bowl of free soup in the cafeteria at work.

[MoolahLula]

I moved a shelving unit out of my bedroom closet and behind the shelf was an unopened bottle of $50 iron supplements and a whole bunch of toy mice courtesy of Killer George.  Yay for free found meds and cat toys. 

[LaineyAZ]

Safeway is offering flu shots.  Just need to give them your insurance card and they do the rest, meaning for most people the shot is free. 
Plus you get a 10% off coupon on your grocery bill up to $200, and it's valid until March 31, 2020.
The tech suggested using it for holiday meal shopping  (although alcohol is not included for this coupon.)

[Imma]

I turned some leftover rice from yesterday, 4 wrinkled bellpeppers and a couple of onions into nasi goreng for dinner. We don't waste food in our house!

I've gotten lazy and take buses more often than I should. I have installed a step counter app on my phone for accountability. I already walk more than most people so my goal is 15000 steps. I got to 6000 today on my day off when I didn't go anywhere and 10000 is a normal working day when I take the bus.

[Omy]

DH and I enjoyed a very nice meal at an expensive restaurant  for free. Just had to listen to the nice retirement specialist talk about sequence of returns.

[Step37]

Renewed my car registration for two years in stead of one, thereby saving the agency fee (about $8 I think) on the second year, plus avoiding that errand for an extra year.

[GreenToTheCore]

Short Story:
Repairing my bike myself.
"Rented" some new release movies from the library

Long Story:
My darn shifter cable broke in the shifter handle.
LBS quoted 3hrs labor at $75/hr --> $225. Heck no. I have needle nose pliers, I'll take a wack at it while watching a movie tonight. I just dread having to redo the indexing... 

[11ducks]

Before heading to the discount grocer, I prepped and blanched all the remaining green beans from last weeks haul (20c/lb) - so they are ready to be eaten in the fridge. At the discount grocer, I restricted myself to their loss leaders:
- zucchini at 5c/lb, cucumber at 50c/lb, and tomatoes 75c/lb, and a near expiry milk for cheap. I'll focus on meals and snacks using these this week, along with using up pantry and freezer finds. Its a good way to eat seasonally as their excess/cheap products change each week (last week was strawberries and peppers), and it forces me to fill up on veggies/fruits and find new recipes (hello zucchini slice, fritters, and zucchini muffins this week)!

I'm taking the weekend off exercise - between work, family, study and workouts I've been burning the candle at both ends and feel wiped out (my chest and back both hurt to breathe because of workout muscle soreness) - I know that this is a big warning sign and I'm likely to injure myself if I keep training when i'm this sore. Few days off with lots of sleep will save me a docs visit for a pulled muscle, cracked rib or stress-induced cold sore.


 

[trashtalk]

Harvested some grapes and tomatoes from the backyard. We're in SoCal and it will be interesting to see how long the tomatoes go

[nancyfrank232]

Buy some books

Read them

Return them for refund

Rinse and repeat

[Imma]

Buy some books

Read them

Return them for refund

Rinse and repeat

I think this belongs in the 'unethical ways to save money' thread.

Better alternatieve: get books from the library or a little free library, or buy them for cheap from the charity used bookstore and return them - this is what I do and costs a bit of money, but at 50 cents/book it's very affordable and this allows the charity to make money twice from the same book.

[nancyfrank232]

Bring instance coffee or tea in purse

Go to Starbucks and ask for a large cup of hot water

Make coffee/tea the way you like it

[trashtalk]

Son wanted to see a Percy Jackson movie after reading the books. Saved $3 renting it online with Amazon slow-shipping credits.

[Catbert]

Bring instance coffee or tea in purse

Go to Starbucks and ask for a large cup of hot water

Make coffee/tea the way you like it

Hmmm...this one sounds unethical also.

[horsepoor]

Repaired the webbing part on my horse's slow feeder instead of buying a replacement for $25+ shipping.

It took all summer, but I've lost 10# and now I fit back into 5 nice pairs of pants I was going to donate if they still didn't fit by winter.

Pulled out all my winter sweaters, hats, etc. and realized I definitely do not need any new winter stuff.

Put some auto-ship things on hold so I still get the 5% perk of being an auto-ship member while deciding if I will keep using the products.

Hit Natural Grocer today for their $5 off $65 offer - picked up stuff that was already on sale, or had a members discount ($1.99 locally raised eggs).

[lazycow]

Dried 2 loads of washing on indoor clothes racks as the weather was foul.
Made white chocolate and raspberry muffins for school lunches.
Only left the house to walk the dogs with my son. Which was lovely for all of us!
Husband is away so we are having baked potatoes (son) and baked sweet potato (me) with whatever toppings we have on hand. Sadly, no sour cream,  but Greek yogurt is a good substitute.

[Imma]

Friday night after a long day in the office I went home really tired and had to cook for myself as my s/o was away. I picked up one of those artisanal pizzas from the grocery store that come with a bagged salad. When I opened the bag at home I was met by a really foul smell, but the pizza was perfect. So I walked back to the grocery store the next day and got a refund. Free pizza! I don't often eat readymade food a lot but when I do, about once a month, I usually pick up one of those pizza's because they taste similar to homemade.

I got some really cheap butternut squash on Friday as well and will use them to make my favourite soup (with onion, garlic, ginger and ras el hanout) which will be my work lunch for the rest of the week.

[trashtalk]

Replaced a burned-out CFL lightbulb with an LED from our stockpile.

Harvested apples and oregano from the yard

[Imma]

I returned a thermos I bought about 3 months ago because it started leaking recently. It's apparantly a very odd thing to return a faulty item as they had to call the manager and she didn't really know how to handle it either. She eventually suggested exchanging it for a new one but that took about 5 minutes of thinking and discussing. Hopefully I just had bad luck and this one will last me longer. These days I always return faulty stuff because I just hate spending money on something that's designed to fail within a short period of time.

We had chili sin carne today for dinner and there's just enough leftover for my s/o for lunch tomorrow. I'll get a free lunch at work.

[zygote]

I got a free salad at sweetgreen for lunch because they're previewing a new store near my work.

I used to get it for lunch every day before MMM (yiiiiiikes). I miss it, because salads I try to make for myself just aren't the same. But they're certainly good enough for how much less they cost.

[Raenia]

Had a work event with food this afternoon, lots of food left over, so I brought home an unopened half-gallon of apple cider (after stuffing myself with treats, of course).

Went to the library to pick up a book I've been wanting to read, but didn't want to buy.  It's been on hold quite a while, but I've been (im)patiently waiting!

[Linea_Norway]

I bought a Kindle book on Amazon, which was not cheap (not Mustachian, but my library doesn't have it). But then I got a credit to buy more non fiction books. I bought two cheap, free books. And for each book I got a new small credit. Therefore the third book was also free.

Only, a Mustachian people problem appeared. The last book gave me a half a dollar credit and I didn't find any books that cost half a dollar. And I don't want to spend an extra half dollar to buy a one dollar book.

[tomita]

I just got a rate hike for Rogers (internet in Canada) and was determined to move to the competition , actually contacted them and had a firm quote.
I called Rogers to cancel and they got me an even better deal (better than competition), having my homework done put me in a position of strength.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Used Walgreens rewards earned from wearing a FitBit I already had around. Bought two bottles of body wash for nearly free.
-Used up a free container of sunflower butter in protein balls
-Sent our property tax check in by the date, in order to earn a 3% discount
-Bought a few discounted ready to eat items for when my parents visit. More expensive than making things from scratch, but significantly cheaper than the alternative, which is eating out.
-Husband replaced the brakes himself on our car. After factoring in parts, I'd say we saved a few thousand dollars on the markup/labor.

[Imma]

Used rewards points from the grocery store to get a €5 discount on our purchases.

[nancyfrank232]

Hmmm...this one sounds unethical also.

Why? Starbucks gladly gives customers ice water or hot water for free

[11ducks]

Hmmm...this one sounds unethical also.

Why? Starbucks gladly gives customers ice water or hot water for free

If you aren’t buying anything, technically you aren’t a customer. You are just saving yourself money by taking from someone else.

[11ducks]

Resisted the urge to stop for a sweet treat, made something at home instead.

Identified a list of skills to develop, working on my first two for free
Academic writing: found a free online course
Public speaking: got two library books on the topic

Over the past few months I’ve developed a bit of an energy drink problem (not ideal, but I do long, intense multi-hour workouts starting early, and I’ve found these really help). After spending $20 over the past two weeks at the service station on these awful things, I bought a multi pack from
The grocery store instead- still not healthy, but at least cheaper.

[nancyfrank232]

If you aren’t buying anything, technically you aren’t a customer. You are just saving yourself money by taking from someone else.

Would it qualify if I bought a scone and then asked to get a large cup of hot water?

[11ducks]

If you aren’t buying anything, technically you aren’t a customer. You are just saving yourself money by taking from someone else.

Would it qualify if I bought a scone and then asked to get a large cup of hot water?

For me, I would think that is fine?

[slappy]

If you aren’t buying anything, technically you aren’t a customer. You are just saving yourself money by taking from someone else.

Would it qualify if I bought a scone and then asked to get a large cup of hot water?

Well then you wouldn't be saving as much money! ;)

[slappy]

Hmmm...this one sounds unethical also.

Why? Starbucks gladly gives customers ice water or hot water for free

If you aren’t buying anything, technically you aren’t a customer. You are just saving yourself money by taking from someone else.

Exactly what would you be taking from someone else? The water? That seems minimal enough to not be a consideration.

[mm1970]

My work shoes (aka my old running shoes) have finally given up the ghost.  They have holes.  I was thinking that I'd need to buy a new pair of shoes.

But I looked through my small pile of old running shoes, and found a pair that will work.  Basically, they need to be presentable AND have enough cushion for walking 2 miles.  They only need to work until my current pair of running shoes dies, in about 4 months..

[mountain mustache]

Brought home 2 pounds of organic baby greens, and 1 pound of organic arugula that the restaurant near my work was giving away! It was from our local farmer, and probably about $20 worth of free produce, because his stuff is $$$. That is a week (at least) worth of dinner salads, woohoo!

[msbutterbean]

Last week I declined the free holiday turkey that my company provides (I'm a vegetarian), and today the H.R. guy gave me a check for $20 to spend on whatever I plan to serve instead. Not really something I was responsible for doing myself, but it definitely made me smile.

[Linea_Norway]

For the first time since ages I walked to work again, and will walk back this afternoon. My motivation was that I wanted to catch up with my podcasts, and that my trousers were sitting a bit tighter lately.
I had a bit of a painful knee for a couple of days, but I didn't feel it when walking. I feel it mostly when I am sitting. So I hope the walking will do it good.

[Omy]

Got paid $150 to attend a focus group for 2 hours - and they provided a lovely appetizer bar so no dinner costs. Got a free taco from Taco Bell World Series promotion yesterday. Though that may "cost" me in other ways...

[horsepoor]

I'm driving 7 hours to attend a workshop this weekend.  I have the cooler packed so I should only need to go out to eat 1-2x over 4 days (one night I'm meeting an old friend for dinner).  The workshop will hopefully pay for itself over time by giving me skills to do at least part of some horse stuff I've been paying for monthly.

[MissNancyPryor]

Feeling proud of myself!

I grew a pumpkin in the garden this year, sowing 3 seeds taken from a pumpkin someone else bought for Halloween in 2018.  From the seeds I got 100% germination but only one good sized fruit from the 3 vines, a beauty about 15" diameter.

I carved it Wednesday to put out last night for Halloween, then roasted the seeds.  Today I am roasting the flesh and will freeze the pureed pumpkin in 2-cup allotments so I can do pumpkin pie, breads, muffins, and soups.  2 cups seems to be the standard need for most recipes so that is a convenient portion and I think I will get maybe 10 cups of puree for the freezer when done. 

Cost:  $0

I am absolutely doing this again.  A unexpected benefit is that the pumpkin was so incredibly crisp and easy to carve, it made me realize just how long those store bought pumpkins have been sitting around by the time we buy them in October.  A lesson learned is to start more seeds to see if I can get additional pumpkins either to give away or process for the freezer.  I now have heirloom organic seeds to start next year's patch from this 2nd generation grow.   

So fun!     

[Arbitrage]

Someone smashed the driver's side mirror of the family car while she was parked on the street at a kid's birthday party.  Presumably just hit it with their own mirror while driving too close, without the common decency to even leave a note.

That in itself certainly didn't save us money, but I found a used replacement off of eBay for $70 and did the repair myself rather than paying $400 to the dealer (plus wasting time and gas driving there). 

Got to add a new skill to my toolkit, too!

[lemanfan]

Saw a book that I wanted. Checked price new.  Not to bad.  Checked used books at various sites.  No luck.  Found it a distant library but still within my own country, so I remoted ordered it to my own library, which is free of charge in my neck of the woods.  Score. :)

Also planning for some refurnishing and design change of my home office.  Need to plan, almost bought a laser distance meter to assist, since they are on sale at a local store.  But wait, one of my friends has one.  Borrow please?    :)

[Trifele]

I had to make a trip yesterday involving multiple airline connections which resulted in a long travel day.  Ticket was paid for with miles, and I packed my own food and drank water from the airport drinking fountains.  Total cost for the whole trip -- $6 in fees on the points-bought ticket.

[Imma]

Found some apples that were getting brown and wrinkled, so I baked an apple cake using only ingredients I already had at home. As a bonus the heat from the oven warmed up the house. It was a little chilly but not enough to turn the heating on, now it's nice and cosy and the house smells like apple cake.

[Dicey]

Hmmm...this one sounds unethical also.

Why? Starbucks gladly gives customers ice water or hot water for free

If you aren’t buying anything, technically you aren’t a customer. You are just saving yourself money by taking from someone else.

Exactly what would you be taking from someone else? The water? That seems minimal enough to not be a consideration.

Assuming no purchase:
Cup
Water
Energy to heat the water
Staff to heat and serve water
Space where water is heated/served i.e. rent
Cost of keeping place clean
Other overhead such as stocking and maintaining bathrooms
Napkin (if used) + dispenser + staff to source and fill dispenser and napkin
Permits
Insurance
ETA: Lid, if taken

Sure, your portion of these costs is minimal, but it ain't free.

[PMG]

Hmmm...this one sounds unethical also.

Why? Starbucks gladly gives customers ice water or hot water for free

If you aren’t buying anything, technically you aren’t a customer. You are just saving yourself money by taking from someone else.

Exactly what would you be taking from someone else? The water? That seems minimal enough to not be a consideration.

Assuming no purchase:
Cup
Water
Energy to heat the water
Staff to heat and serve water
Space where water is heated/served i.e. rent
Cost of keeping place clean
Other overhead such as stocking and maintaining bathrooms
Napkin (if used) + dispenser + staff to source and fill dispenser and napkin
Permits
Insurance

Sure, your portion of these costs is minimal, but it ain't free.

I agree this is unethical for the reasons Dicey lists, but I would take it further. I'm not directly familiar with Starbuck policy, but when I see this in local shops often it is implied, if not stated, that free water is for customers with a blind eye toward, or direct generosity toward those in need. I see those in need being the homeless, or someone near or at rock bottom. If so many frugal people take free water that the cost becomes too much for the business, then they will no longer offer it and those truly in need will no longer receive.  There are so few places where homeless people can spend time and be treated with respect. During a hot summer free water could be life saving.  Taking away from someone truly in need is unethical to me.

At the same time, I've heard people use that same argument to avoid shopping second hand. That is silliness!  The market for second hand goods is saturated and so much goes into the landfill.  I feel some moral obligation to slow the stream by shopping second hand! 

Our world is really messed up. 

[Trifele]

Yesterday I bought a beautiful fleece vest for my brother's birthday at the thrift store -- looks like it's never been worn -- for $8.  He's a thrift shopper himself, so he loves that it's second-hand. 

[abbuyt]

Going to take my friend to a movie tonight. I will use my points for both our tickets which will save $20.00.

[MyAlterEgoIsTaller]

I had an umbrella on my wish list because mine broke recently.  At today's free product lunch they were giving out free umbrellas (in addition to the usual free lunch and free continuing education points that I need for maintaining my professional license).  I like when stuff I need magically provides itself, and it's a better umbrella than I would probably have bought...even though it's orange and has advertising on it.