Author Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?  (Read 8029292 times)

JoshJ81

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14150 on: November 09, 2020, 11:57:56 AM »
I bought 6 days worth of groceries, as usual, but bought local store brands as much as I could find. I cut my weekly costs from $180 average to $86. I also focused on the exact amount of food I "REQUIRE" for my clean eating and fitness practices rather than buying "extras" that would possibly spoil and never be used.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14151 on: November 09, 2020, 06:19:50 PM »
Took two bags of food to work today. One of frozen meals and one of shelf-stable snacks and some fruit. Canned soup, granola bars, trail mix, etc. Now I have full meals and breakfasts or snacks whenever I'm hungry. Almost two months of new job and no eating out!

Used a Swagbacks-earned Amazon gift card to help offset a bulk TP and sugar substitute purchase. I should be set for the next year for TP and quite some time for the 'sugar' to use in baking projects.
« Last Edit: November 09, 2020, 06:21:29 PM by okcisok »

Linea_Norway

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14152 on: November 10, 2020, 04:07:28 AM »
We had a couple of bananas that got a bit damaged on the way home. Not attractive to eat anymore. DH suggested to make banana bread. I had just a sourdough dough ready for baking, so I crushed the bananas and folded them through the dough. The bread was baked normally, tastes normal, but feels more fluffy when you hold it.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14153 on: November 11, 2020, 08:08:44 AM »
I have a couple of growing teen boys at home, and finding healthy but convenient snacks for them can be a challenge. Pre-packaged food is really pricey & often not very healthy. I've been making my own protein bars, and my 14 year old loves them. My 13 year old is less sold, so I'll need to keep experimenting to see what might be of interest to him. I'm thinking a granola bar might be a win. Big savings over buying protein bars at the store.

Found an offer for an item I needed, & waited to buy it at the sale price, saving $30.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14154 on: November 11, 2020, 08:18:33 PM »
@MaybeBabyMustache --Did you use a recipe for the protein bars? I've got a granola bar recipe that I like, but not a protein bar one. There's so much trash created with those individual bars and some of them are more than $2 EACH.

Worked out my 2021 budget. I'm trying multiple Capital One Savings accounts to pre-fund annual expenditures like insurance, Mint phone plan, etc. Figured out how much I need to transfer each paycheck (except for those two 'extra' paychecks that go to long-term savings and emergency fund).

Loretta

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14155 on: November 12, 2020, 02:38:06 AM »
I did alot of studying of open season insurance plan material...think I will stick with my GEHA HDHP with HSA and actually start maximizing my HSA this year.  I’ve been using it to reimburse for some pricey medicines I take, but I think I’m going to start really letting the balance grow. 

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14156 on: November 12, 2020, 09:09:37 AM »
@okcisok - the one I like is as follows:
-2 cups quick oats
-1 cup natural peanut butter (we prefer the taste, but also impossible to blend with the non-natural type)
-1/2 cup honey
-2 scoops of protein powder (I'd suggested a neutral flavor like vanilla. Think strawberry or something might be an odd flavor pairing).
-Chocolate chips or mini M&Ms, if desired

I mix this, add parchment paper to an 8x8 pan, and then smooth out. Freeze for an hour, cut into small bars. We store ours in the freezer in a ziplock, and just slide the entire parchment paper into the ziplock. For whatever reason, we prefer frozen. I've had them defrosted & they are fine also.

Enjoy!

Raenia

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14157 on: November 12, 2020, 09:53:14 AM »
This week in our produce delivery box, we were missing an item that I had ordered.  It was on the invoice, but not in the box.  Last night I reached out to let them know and this morning they responded crediting back the value.  It was only 2.25, but still, a good reminder to check the box against the invoice when I put everything away, and not let it slide if there's an error.

ZsaZsa

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14158 on: November 12, 2020, 10:21:51 AM »
Cooked a Hen of the Woods mushroom for supper. If you have never tried one, they are amazing. They are huge, usually the size of a cauliflower, and grow on oak trees in the fall. You can cut or tear them into eating size, I use egg and flour and deep fry them. Their taste and texture is similar to a morel. Gourmet food, free for the finding! I have two more in the fridge, will shred and stir fry one with rice and veggies, and probably slice and deep fry the other for sandwiches.

PMG

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14159 on: November 12, 2020, 11:18:03 AM »
Ooooh! So jealous! 

parkerk

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14160 on: November 12, 2020, 02:18:31 PM »
My phone's started running low on storage space.  Instead of giving in to the siren song of an upgraded phone I spent a bit of time moving as many apps as I could from my internal phone memory to the SD card, and deleting a handful that I don't use.  My stupid phone doesn't make this easy but I got a couple GB back and I can now quash the urge to look at new phones online.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14161 on: November 13, 2020, 09:12:25 PM »
Got free lunch at work today and a free snack.
Yesterday I helped SO's mother declutter and she gave several items to me that I can use. Several nice toiletries, some good quality clothing pieces and accessories. A pair of warm, comfortable shoes that had on my list to replace this winter--I am most excited about those! I love to declutter and it was a great way to spend two hours helping out and getting great stuff.

Dutch Comfort

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14162 on: November 16, 2020, 05:22:00 AM »
Brought my own lunch today and got free snacks from the company and a colleague who wanted to show her Moroccan baking skills (I never pass on these type of opportunities).
Started (again) with my IF diet, which reduces the need for breakfast (16 hours of fasting, 8 hours window of opportunity for food (NOT EQUAL TO 8 hours of eating)). I now see that this does not really match with the acceptance of the snacks, but I need to start somewhere (and they are within my 8 hour window....)!




Sugaree

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14163 on: November 16, 2020, 06:42:51 AM »
Found one of the video games that my kiddo has been asking for for xmas on FB marketplace.




Also, probably didn't save as much money as frustration, but I've gotten into the habit of locking my credit cards when I'm not actively using them.  Apparently that saved me this weekend because 12 attempts were made Saturday and Sunday to use it. 

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14164 on: November 16, 2020, 06:47:01 AM »
I had a special occasion at work which is normally followed by snacks/drinks. It happened online this time but I still wanted to celebrate, so I brewed a pot of fancy tea for myself and ate a home baked pumpkin-cranberry bread muffins from the freezer. Very nice, very cheap, and a relatively healthy snack (compared to muffins from the bakery) as I always reduce the amount of sugar in recipes.

It's a shame that we can't celebrate this together at work but right now, doing it from home is better than taking an unnecessary risk.

Sugaree

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14165 on: November 17, 2020, 07:10:36 AM »
Used iBotta to get about half of my money back on a grocery order of stuff for Thanksgiving. 

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14166 on: November 17, 2020, 08:00:00 AM »
-Repurposed roasted chicken into another dish, and froze the leftovers. I have to really get on top of our food to avoid waste, so this was a win
-Continue to pick a few tomatoes off of the plants & ripen them indoor
-Line dried the majority of our clothes
-Bought gift cards we need at a 2% discount. It's not much, but it's saving 2%, so I suppose a very minor win

Frugal Lizard

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14167 on: November 17, 2020, 02:48:51 PM »
Cancelled DH's coverage on my CAA membership.  He got a new credit card a couple of months ago that includes roadside assistance $44 bucks!

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14168 on: November 17, 2020, 03:00:58 PM »
Went (on bike, we don't own a car) to the open air market today. Bought 12 bell peppers for €1,50. Not sure what I'm going to cook to use up all if them but we eat quite a lot of them so it will probably be fine.

Also walked by all the stands selling snack foods - only bought vegetables and cheese.

Loretta

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14169 on: November 18, 2020, 06:16:15 AM »
I am investing in an automatic shut-off coffeepot today, because all day yesterday I kept thinking I had possibly left my coffeepot on...  A worthwhile investment I think.  Menopause Brain is real. 

I have saved money this week by having a birthday and having my dear friends buy me a meal and make me cake.   I used my Starbucks free drink reward on my birthday itself.  Will use my Panera birthday reward before it expires too. 

Sugaree

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14170 on: November 18, 2020, 06:19:06 AM »
I am investing in an automatic shut-off coffeepot today, because all day yesterday I kept thinking I had possibly left my coffeepot on...  A worthwhile investment I think.  Menopause Brain is real. 



I put my coffee pot on a smart outlet.  I tell Alexa to make coffee and she turns it on.  After three hours, it turns off if I haven't already asked her to turn it off.  I can also check it from my phone if I have doubts.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14171 on: November 18, 2020, 09:49:06 PM »
Thanks for the recipe @MaybeBabyMustache! I just have to get some protein powder and I'll give the recipe a try.

Ran several errands in a planned loop to save gas. Returned five items to stores and exchanged them for one needed item, one package of consumables, and cash back in my bank account. Got a small grocery shop at Aldi to get me through until next week. Avoided the holiday specialty aisle completely and got basics. 

Managed to walk into Target, return the items, drop off plastic bag recycling, and walk right out. Used the money I got back to get a tank of gas at the Sam's Club next door instead of doodads from the Dollar Spot.

Renewed my library book before I got a fine. I can return it tomorrow, but now I'm covered for a few more weeks just in case.


Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14172 on: November 19, 2020, 02:16:20 AM »
In my country, money that you put in company retirement scheme (pension or investment account) is vested immediately, so that money is yours forever, and you can't lose it, and you are automatically enrolled most of the time.

Which is great in theory, you don't get in the situations that I Read about on this forum where people leave jobs and have to leave a part of their retirement savings behind.

But it means the average person has a TON of retirement accounts. The law gives the bank/broker/pension fund the option to consolidate accounts that have hardly any money in them to cut admin costs. Those tiny pensions are automatically transferred to the plan you're currently enrolled in. Sounds great. Except that I'm spending so much time chasing after those transfers to make sure that money really ends up in my account!! Lots of stuff goes wrong there.

BUT it looks like I've been finally able to trace €600! From an employer that didn't contribute to it so it's ALL MY MONEY. Apparantly the previous pension fund just transferred the money to the pension scheme I was enrolled in at that time without adding any kind of reference that linked the money to me.

When this is completely done I'll have only 2 pensions left + my own pre-tax retirement savings. One of the two pensions is basically an investment account where I get to make almost all the decisions, the other is a traditional pension so I don't have a lot to say, but my employer is contributing a LOT.

I started a new job this month, my previous job lasted exactly 3 years and I ended up with 3 seperate small pension pots from that employer because they kept changing the schemes. It's an administrative nightmare. And I have a tax law degree, worked in pensions in the past and have an interest in investing. I don't know how normal people do this.

Dutch Comfort

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14173 on: November 20, 2020, 01:36:49 AM »
@Imma, I feel you....... it took me 10 years to transfer a pension from a previous employer into my current scheme. And in my current job, I already participated in 4-5 schemes, since they keep changing retirement dates and pension providers. It is hard to keep up with those, even with a financial background. Not sure how non financials handle this.

Sold a booster seat for the car today. More space in my house, more money in the kids-travel-savings (my kids can keep all funds from Marketplace sales in a separate account designated for travel, which has a double advantage: they learn to save for experiences and they love to get rid of toys that they outgrow, since any sale will add to their account).

Friends come over this weekend. Asked if they could bring me a present. I suggested to bring some cake to enjoy together with them. Nice win-win situation (I do not have to think about or buy dessert and it avoids any additional clutter in my house!).

Loretta

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14174 on: November 21, 2020, 07:52:31 AM »
This morning I filled out an online form for a deep discount on a drug that I'm going to get for the first time in my gastroenterologist's infusion lab--Injectofer.  Here's hoping the drug itself and the discount work. 

Not 100% sure if I saved money by doing these activities but I got a premptive haircut last night at my favorite barbershop and then at a small Mom-and-Pop shop, I bought a cheerful yet tough dog toy for a new service dog I'll be Zooming with Thanksgiving Weekend.  Servce Dog's owner is a healthcare worker and I'm making them an afghan and sending along a dog toy along with it.  I'm thinking with our increasing COVID numbers in my region, some businesses may be closing down again so I'm trying to think ahead for the next 6 weeks or so.  I also had a grocery delivery bright and early this morning for the same reason.  Stay well, everybody! 

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14175 on: November 21, 2020, 08:23:50 AM »
This morning I filled out an online form for a deep discount on a drug that I'm going to get for the first time in my gastroenterologist's infusion lab--Injectofer.  Here's hoping the drug itself and the discount work. 

Not 100% sure if I saved money by doing these activities but I got a premptive haircut last night at my favorite barbershop and then at a small Mom-and-Pop shop, I bought a cheerful yet tough dog toy for a new service dog I'll be Zooming with Thanksgiving Weekend.  Servce Dog's owner is a healthcare worker and I'm making them an afghan and sending along a dog toy along with it.  I'm thinking with our increasing COVID numbers in my region, some businesses may be closing down again so I'm trying to think ahead for the next 6 weeks or so.  I also had a grocery delivery bright and early this morning for the same reason.  Stay well, everybody!

Hope it works! I get the same medication and for me it works. Much better than the one I had before (venofer). I only need it about 4 times a year now and I have never had any side effects - I've seen people get unwell from it though. Hope you're not one of them!

Sugaree

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14176 on: November 23, 2020, 06:13:01 AM »
Used a gift card that I'd had since at least last xmas (and maybe the year before that) to buy some gifts.

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14177 on: November 23, 2020, 06:39:32 AM »
Listed €300 worth of grad school textbooks online today. Hope they sell quickly because my laptop is on its last legs.

Dollar Slice

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14178 on: November 23, 2020, 06:53:21 AM »
Waited until last season's shoes were on clearance to make way for a new model. Snagged the last pair in my size for $35 off.

Bought a used copy of a CD someone wanted for a gift for only $2 and change. (It's for a kid who I don't think will notice/care if it's brand new or not...)

Other than that I don't think I've spent money since last weekend, since I've been quarantining for Thanksgiving and not going into the grocery store, drug store etc. at all.

Sugaree

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14179 on: November 23, 2020, 11:15:00 AM »
Waited until last season's shoes were on clearance to make way for a new model. Snagged the last pair in my size for $35 off.

Bought a used copy of a CD someone wanted for a gift for only $2 and change. (It's for a kid who I don't think will notice/care if it's brand new or not...)

Other than that I don't think I've spent money since last weekend, since I've been quarantining for Thanksgiving and not going into the grocery store, drug store etc. at all.

I got one of the video games that my kid wants for xmas used.  I'm hoping he won't notice/care either.

ohsnap

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14180 on: November 23, 2020, 11:42:41 AM »
I have an energy & water saving dishwasher (I think they all are these days) that requires 2 hours and 20 minutes for a cycle. I discovered a couple of weeks ago that I could run the "half load" setting which only takes 1:40. Less resources used, and I don't have to wait almost 2.5 hours to unload dishes, AND the dishes are just as clean!  So then just for grins, and because I was low on dishwasher tablets, I cut one in half and did my next load that way.  Wow - again, no discernible difference in the cleanness of the load. The tablets I use are the Finish brand hard tablets; I think this would be trickier if you have pods.  Of course with powder or liquid format you're always in complete control of how much you use, but Costco frequently has the Finish tabs on sale and they are so cheap.  Now that I only use half, they are even cheaper. :)

Disclosure - I'm not someone who washes my dishes before I wash my dishes...but I do give them a decent rinse to get large food particles off.

I'm thrilled about this new money and time saving method :D

kay02

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14181 on: November 23, 2020, 02:38:40 PM »
Trimmed my hair myself today! :)

halftimer

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14182 on: November 23, 2020, 06:47:28 PM »
I sold some boots that were from a fancy brand (one of my only expensive purchases). I had them 3 years and made $200 and the buyer was really happy. I liked them, but the fit was slightly off so I could never make them my daily pair like I planned. Now I have a second hand pair coming in this week from a different brand but that look very similar for $40 and got a few other things I had been considering at the same time to save on shipping costs. I'm still net positive for the transaction and will hopefully end up with more comfortable shoes and money in my pocket.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14183 on: November 24, 2020, 08:34:35 PM »
Used the Krazy Coupon Lady app to get $27 worth of groceries for $5 after coupons and rebates.

Ordered ingredients to make my own laundry soap with a gift card and still have $4 left to use for something else.

Put my dry-clean-only sweater in a pillowcase and washed it with my regular laundry load.
Dried on the drying rack and gave it a quick steam iron to get the wrinkles out. Looks perfect! No more dry cleaning (and by dry cleaning I mean using the Woolite at home dry cleaning sheets, but it still saves money). I've had it for about a year and do like it, but was calculating that it would be cheaper to buy a new non-dry-clean sweater than to keep buying the cleaning sheets. Now it's back in the wardrobe!

Made cookies for a work treat (and accidentally my dinner!) with all pantry ingredients.

Volunteered to bring dessert to our outdoors, socially distanced Thanksgiving celebration because it would be the cheapest course to prepare. Got all the ingredients from Aldi and will feed 15 people dessert for just under $20. They are campfire desserts, so we can take turns making them and then going back to our separate spots versus gathering at a dessert table, sharing serving utensils, etc.

Sold an item on Marketplace and will put the money in my savings account until I sell a few more things and use the total to buy some shares from Fidelity.

Let my dogless friend borrow my dog today while I was at work instead of paying for doggie daycare. He loves it, she loves it, and I get to bring home a tired pup. She does love day care and I don't begrudge the money, but this is a great free option that makes us all happy.

Accrual

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14184 on: November 25, 2020, 05:56:22 AM »
Made coffee instead of buying at a coffee shop. Will eat breakfast at home as well.

Sugaree

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14185 on: December 02, 2020, 06:47:31 AM »
Bought tires through my car insurance website, saving 25% on four (Works out to one of them being free).  Should also qualify for their mail-in rebate on top of that.  At least it lessens the sting of dropping several hundred dollars on tires, even though I had a "tire fund." 

Loretta

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14186 on: December 04, 2020, 02:56:07 AM »
I took my change purse to Safeway with me and when I used the self checkout I had like $6.10 in coins so I only had to use my debit card for $25.  I bought coffee creamers, ice cream, and a dessert to supplement the groceries already in my fridge. 

I ate my first attempt at overnight oats for breakfast.  Cheap and pretty tasty.  At lunch at my desk I ate some baby carrots and olives that I sometimes forget I have in the work fridge. 

SimpleCycle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14187 on: December 04, 2020, 02:11:43 PM »
I have an energy & water saving dishwasher (I think they all are these days) that requires 2 hours and 20 minutes for a cycle. I discovered a couple of weeks ago that I could run the "half load" setting which only takes 1:40. Less resources used, and I don't have to wait almost 2.5 hours to unload dishes, AND the dishes are just as clean!  So then just for grins, and because I was low on dishwasher tablets, I cut one in half and did my next load that way.  Wow - again, no discernible difference in the cleanness of the load. The tablets I use are the Finish brand hard tablets; I think this would be trickier if you have pods.  Of course with powder or liquid format you're always in complete control of how much you use, but Costco frequently has the Finish tabs on sale and they are so cheap.  Now that I only use half, they are even cheaper. :)

Disclosure - I'm not someone who washes my dishes before I wash my dishes...but I do give them a decent rinse to get large food particles off.

I'm thrilled about this new money and time saving method :D

I think we have the same dishwasher.  It's 2 hours and 9 minutes if you load in rinse aid. :)

A few years ago I stopped pre-rinsing most dishes, opting to scrape large food particles into the compost instead.  Dishwasher still gets everything clean and less water used, to the extent that we noticed a decrease in our water bill.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14188 on: December 04, 2020, 03:11:13 PM »
Have not felt well the past day or so, and was really craving some sort of chicken soup. Planned a trip to (pickup) Panera today for lunch. Remembered I had two servings of chicken & dumplings frozen, & heated that up instead. Totally hit the spot, and no out of pocket spending. Plus, in double win news, helped move something out of the freezer.

Trifle

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14189 on: December 05, 2020, 02:09:01 AM »
So I haven't been tracking our spending this year in detail.  I sense that overall it's lower than average -- no travel -- but our grocery spending has crept up.  Logically it should have gone DOWN with the pandemic (unlimited time to meal plan, cook, optimize shopping).  We eat out rarely, and haven't been buying lots of junk or convenience foods, so I can't explain it.  We do have two teenagers who eat like horses, but I don't think that's it . . .

So my New Year's resolutions to dial the grocery spending back down are:

-- Starting January 1, I'll track all spending again to the penny;

-- I'll re-do our grocery store price book to update all the data and optimize the shopping between the three stores we use.   

Freedomin5

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14190 on: December 05, 2020, 03:22:33 AM »
Biked to an appointment today. Saved $10 in taxi fare.

Made a tray of KIND nut bars. Those normally cost $1.50 per bar. I made about 24 bars for a fraction of the cost. Next time I may add a couple scoops of protein powder and use them as a cheap lunch.

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14191 on: December 05, 2020, 03:16:46 PM »
We ate chicken today (a whole chicken from the oven). We have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow. Roasted sprouts, carrots and potatoes at the same time to make the most of the heat.

I took the carcass and made stock from it. Will make soup from it tomorrow. Stockpot didn't fit in the fridge (countertop size) so I put it outside to cool. It's just over freezing outside, so it's the perfect temperature.

MudPuppy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14192 on: December 05, 2020, 06:49:40 PM »
Took advantage of the free food they provide in the breakroom of the covid unit for all three meals today at work. They may be only doing it partly as the bread and circus to keep us too distracted to revolt and partly so we don’t get tempted to make a trip to the vending machines in the “clean” part of the hospital, but what can I say, free is my favorite flavor!
« Last Edit: December 05, 2020, 06:51:40 PM by MudPuppy »

Roadrunner53

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14193 on: December 06, 2020, 05:49:46 AM »
We ate chicken today (a whole chicken from the oven). We have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow. Roasted sprouts, carrots and potatoes at the same time to make the most of the heat.

I took the carcass and made stock from it. Will make soup from it tomorrow. Stockpot didn't fit in the fridge (countertop size) so I put it outside to cool. It's just over freezing outside, so it's the perfect temperature.

I use my deck in the winter for putting large pots out to cool overnight. I have a pot with a locking top to prevent animals from tipping it over. I call it my alternate refrigerator!

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14194 on: December 06, 2020, 11:21:02 AM »
-Used scraps of old wrapping paper to wrap new gifts
-Used packaging from a work desk we ordered to mail a few fragile eBay sales
-Continue to re-purpose all Amazon packaging/mailing for future sales
-Making dinner at home, line drying clothes, keeping our house slightly below comfortable & bundling up, the usual

horsepoor

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14195 on: December 06, 2020, 01:00:39 PM »
Before ordering spices this morning, I took everything out of my spice cupboard, and the basket of bulk bags I refill from, and took inventory. It prevented me from buying any duplicates of stuff I already had, and ensured that I got all the stuff that really was low/out in one order to meet the free shipping threshold. Paid for the spice order with PayPal using a CC that is doing 5% cash back on PP currently.

Yesterday I repurposed our old recycling bin by making a lid for it out of a scrap of siding. It fits perfectly in the giant deck box in front of my horse's stall and is perfect for stowing an extra horse blanket and also providing a platform for smaller totes and buckets on top.

Gave DH coupons to use for our minimal shopping list for the week.

Made stock from a chicken carcass and some ugly carrots and celery stalks. It will be used for a black bean soup tomorrow along with a bag of  beans I bought this spring when shelves were being emptied with the panic shopping.


Jenny Wren

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14196 on: December 06, 2020, 02:10:42 PM »
- Made a huge pot of lentil soup this morning for our lunches this week.

- Cut out five stockings from fabric I already had, will sew them tonight. (We're adding a stocking for my adult son's partner, and we are downsizing the stocking size for everyone since none of them are young children anymore and they only get a bit of candy in their stockings these days.)

- DW and I are bored, so we are heading out for a walk in a few minutes even though it's cloudy and might rain. Free entertainment!

- We are both craving Indian food. I just checked and we have all the ingredients for me to make butter tofu this evening, yay!

MountainGal

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14197 on: December 07, 2020, 12:23:23 PM »
Recently:
~Balanced two checkbooks and found $31.61 in my favor.
~Needed a tire repair for $15, much less than buying a new tire. I'll call this an essential expenditure.
~Been watching old episodes of Til Debt Do Us Part during lunch breaks. I love that show.

And, because of a continued reduction in commissions, for the upcoming year:
~Cancelled my life insurance policy, as my IRA will take care of my final expenses.  $81 per month saving.
~Cancelled an optional supplemental policy.  Annual savings $77.
~Cancelled the umbrella policy.  $571 annual savings.
~Will reduce the amount of hair salon trips in 2021. $200 a year savings.  I'll go back to doing my own hair if necessary.
~Because I've been ordering groceries and HBAs online for pickup this year, I have a ballpark figure on what the total will be.  I'll use this to reduce expenditures.  Potential annual savings $1,800.
~Reduce travel and gifts.

Office:
~Cancelled the window art folks for 2021.  $400 a year savings.
~Cancelled one of the extra office numbers.  $844 a year in savings.
~While on the phone doing the above, I signed up for another 2 year contract for the other land lines.  $317 a year in savings.
~Further reduce client entertainment
« Last Edit: December 07, 2020, 12:25:03 PM by MountainGal »

vand

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14198 on: December 08, 2020, 09:42:52 AM »
Inflated my car tyres to the proper amount.

Nicer to drive and improves my fuel economy.


MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #14199 on: December 08, 2020, 01:11:32 PM »
Awesome collection of savings @MountainGal .


For me:
-Provided feedback about a food delivery service (I was awaiting a COVID test, so wanted to be extra cautious & was looking forward to soup). It was a disaster, so they sent me a promo code that I was able to redeem for 3 free meal kits (think a slightly easier version of Hello Fresh) that serve 3-4/each. I was out $3 after tax, and still included a generous tip.
-Clicked through Rakuten for the last stragglers of my holiday purchases
-Used a coupon at Rite Aid for a few toiletries we need

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!