Author Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?  (Read 8029981 times)

crimwell

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15050 on: June 05, 2022, 05:42:53 AM »
Bought some white spray paint and redid all the intake vents covers. They were all varying degrees of off-white, scratched up, or worn out paint from previous owner paint jobs. Have you seen the prices for new vent covers recently?!
 Spray paint cost less than $10. We'll see how long they hold up.

I did this a long time ago in our last house. Made a huge difference and the improved appearance lasted the whole 6 years we lived there.

You said the output vent covers are different colors, but you might be able to get away with making them all the same clean white you used for the intakes.
 


okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15051 on: June 05, 2022, 09:23:14 PM »
I've been paying attention to the notifications my energy company sends about peak hour rates plan and planning my usage accordingly. Usually peak is 2-7PM, but tomorrow is 2-11PM. I started the very full dishwasher and washing machine tonight and will hang dry the clothes.

I made dinner and tomorrow's lunch out of garden items, pantry ingredients, and substitutions. It came out delicious and I'm looking forward to eating the rest for lunch. My reusable water bottle is next to my lunch bag in the fridge with my keys so that I can't forget them.

Put the freezer bag full of veggie scraps into the crockpot for broth. I put the crockpot on the back porch and used an outdoor outlet to keep the heat and humidity out of the house.

I've cleaned out and reorganized the fridge, freezer, and pantry to reacquaint myself with what I have before I go grocery shopping. I was able to mark two things off my list.

Made laundry detergent with an old bar of soap, washing soda, and borax. I've still got enough ingredients for another batch if I can score another free bar of soap.

Paid a little extra to renew my driver's license for 8 years instead of four. Less hassle and cheaper overall. (Did it a few days ago but forgot until I saw the paperwork in my bag.)

Balanced my checkbook and finished plugging this month's numbers into the budget.






Dollar Slice

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15052 on: June 05, 2022, 10:26:46 PM »
I didn't do any of the cooking I'd been planning to do in the past week (combination of a heat wave, my birthday, and coming down off a bad migraine) so this weekend I did some batch cooking and other prep and saved all of the meat, veg, and fruit in the fridge before it went bad. And now I've got healthy lunches and dinners sorted out for most of the week, plus some semi-healthy snacks.

It was that or going to the store for convenience food, so I flexed the no-waste frugality muscle...

SquashingDebt

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15053 on: June 06, 2022, 05:30:16 AM »
Cut my partner's hair for the fourth or so time.  I'm getting pretty good at it!  Kept catching myself admiring how nice he looked with his new haircut :)

Raenia

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15054 on: June 06, 2022, 07:08:41 AM »
While visiting my mom yesterday, we noticed that gas is 30 cents cheaper near her than by us, so we filled up even though we were on half a tank.  Probably only saved $1.50, but it was on the way so no reason not to.

dignam

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15055 on: June 06, 2022, 07:34:32 AM »
Have been cutting my own hair since it was necessary early in covid.  Even gotten some compliments on it.  Granted I just use a few different clippers length and clean up with scissors.

Runrooster

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15056 on: June 06, 2022, 07:28:04 PM »
I usually walk at lunch and en route stop by a grocery store. This one does not have a produce markdown rack, unlike the 2 near my house. However they have good deals on meat. Today I picked up a package of 4 turkey bacon cheddar burgers marked down from $8 to $1. Tomorrow I plan to pick up the tuna poke for $2 and put it on the salad I already made.

Freedomin5

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15057 on: June 06, 2022, 11:46:45 PM »
Bought a secondhand fan for $8, which means that we can hold off on using the A/C for another month or so.

Sugaree

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15058 on: June 09, 2022, 07:29:05 AM »
Made birthday wrapping paper for my kid's gift by printing off some birthday themed lineart from the Internet and coloring it with colored pencils while on a Teams meeting. 

Rosy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15059 on: June 09, 2022, 11:30:29 AM »
1. Making one more huge batch of various tomato sauces, soups, dips with tomatoes, peppers, celery, bay leaf, oregano, rosemary, thyme, garlic chives, onions, and parsley - all from my herb and veggie garden.
2. Made afternoon tea from tropical fruity pineapple salvia with sweet Aztec herb leaves (instead of sugar) - from my garden.

3. So far - success with the vanilla orchid cutting - this is the plant that produces those expensive vanilla beans - my second attempt:).
It is a huge climber and not exactly easy to get started and cultivate but hey. 

4. Drying bundles of mint and different herbs and freezing Elderberries for the next two weeks.
I plan to try at least three different recipes from Elderberry Elixir to syrup, to tea to compote with whipping cream, elderberry wine and a fried sweet treat from dunking fresh elderberry flowers into a sweet batter.
This is my Elderberry year.
I finally have enough - a very long row along the ditch that provides plenty of fruit for the birds and us to enjoy.

5. My lovely neighbor is making the best jam ever with the passion fruit I grow, it is the kind that tastes like Maracuja. I have it growing along our shared fence and there is a bumper crop harvest for us both to play with.
When I get to feeling better I plan to try a Hawaiian recipe for passion fruit pie - maybe I'll skip the pie crust and just serve up the filling in a glass dessert dish instead.
The filling is always the best part, right?:)

6. Making a list of which herbs I need/want to propagate asap and which herb and veggie seeds I have to save. This isn't just for the joy of saving money or getting free plants.
Some herbs are difficult to find and expensive. If you have a big garden like I do you can't really afford to spend $7.50 to $9.99 on one single plant.
Seeds are not always reliable and often harder to grow than you think although worth it in the long run, but it is not exactly my forte. Weather and insect infestations wreak havoc... or maybe you started too early or too late...
Heirloom plants reproduce true and if you were lucky enough to find a particular pepper that you really like it's infuriating if you can't get it again next year.
This year I have a volunteer pepper plant from the compost with just the right amount of spiciness. A hint of heat that doesn't destroy the flavor of everything else you eat or flames igniting in your throat.

Bummer
I failed to get cuttings from the different basil plants incl. holy Tulsi and worst of all the African Blue basil which the bees are crazy about this past year. My basil seeds did not take this year and I haven't been able to find African Blue Basil anywhere (it cannot be grown from seed) - it makes a nice big bush and lives about three years, bees practically set up house in it.

I discovered that the new pepper variety I tried this year is really only suited for fresh snacking or at best a quick kiss of the pan, but they do freeze well.
Those are the sorts of things I wish they'd tell you so you can plan for it. It has been producing like crazy for many weeks now.
A winner if you like to just snack fresh from the garden or whip up a pepper stir-fry, and great if you like the convenience of fresh frozen from your own garden...

Thankfully I picked up one other pepper on a whim which has a solid strong flavor and is perfect for grilling and sauces - I'm definitely saving seeds from it as well even though it is not a heavy producer but it makes up for it in flavor.

At the plant festival, I found a Costa Rica plant booth that had sweet pepper, in a sea of spicy peppers. The leaves don't even look like any peppers I've seen before but the plant is fat and happy, actually, it looks positively lusty if one can apply that term to a plant:).
Always a little thrill to successfully grow, a new to you plant, without knowing how it will taste or what to expect.
(I bought a lemon verbena plant there but it turns out it is a different variety popular in Costa Rica, medicinal and a taller bush - I don't mind but I wish I'd paid better attention because yeah, obviously the leaves are quite different, I should have seen that, duh.)

Found an heirloom Gorbachi pepper there too - the curly cues shape of them is a treat for the eyes. Makes me wish I had a grandkid to enjoy it with. It is going to town now growing strong but it took its own sweet time to get there. 
I'd tried these before from seed but the results were longer but straight and thin peppers, this plant has those fun curley cues - so now it is just a question of flavor.

Sorry guys, I didn't mean to ramble on so.
My garden - the never-ending experiment makes me smile every day.
Today I saw a Blue Jay burying a peanut in one of my planters - I always thought it was only the squirrels that buried their food.

Since I counted more than fifteen peanut plants all over my garden I guess now I should look up whether we can safely harvest these for human consumption or is there a peanut variety only for the birds? 

Poundwise

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15060 on: June 09, 2022, 02:44:20 PM »
Making a custard style rice pudding using leftover rice from Chinese takeout, the cartons of milk from Meals on Wheels that my mother saves for us, some vanilla that I salvaged when she moved out, and eggs, the only thing I actually paid for.

sonofsven

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15061 on: June 09, 2022, 08:16:21 PM »
Making a custard style rice pudding using leftover rice from Chinese takeout, the cartons of milk from Meals on Wheels that my mother saves for us, some vanilla that I salvaged when she moved out, and eggs, the only thing I actually paid for.
That's great! If your mom is like my mom you should check the date on the vanilla...and if you want to add a little sugar just stop by the coffee shop and grab a few packets.

Poundwise

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15062 on: June 09, 2022, 09:23:40 PM »
Does vanilla go bad? I assumed that since it's in alcohol that it lasts forever. This bottle is probably no more than 5 years old... so pretty good for her.
I did forget to mention that I used sugar! So okay, I paid for two things.
The four cartons of milk and 2 cups of rice made a surprisingly large pudding. It was pretty good.

More savings, I mentioned to my son that buses are free this month and he decided to take the bus to his internship.  So, less gas used and less wear and tear on the car.

cool7hand

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15063 on: June 10, 2022, 05:34:50 AM »
Found some grassfed ground beef on sale

Dicey

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15064 on: June 10, 2022, 07:27:42 AM »
Found some grassfed ground beef on sale
How much did you buy?

cool7hand

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15065 on: June 10, 2022, 08:53:19 AM »
Found some grassfed ground beef on sale
How much did you buy?
What we needed to fill the freezer back up. About 20 pounds.

Dicey

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15066 on: June 10, 2022, 07:29:47 PM »
Found some grassfed ground beef on sale
How much did you buy?
What we needed to fill the freezer back up. About 20 pounds.
Sweet! That's how a mustachian gets it done!

Runrooster

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15067 on: June 11, 2022, 08:22:01 PM »
I had a nice haul from the produce rack today.  The following was marked down to .25 each - $4.25 total
-2 butternut squash noodles
-2 zucchini squash noodles
-broccoli slaw
-3 sour cream onion dip
-4 lettuce, spring mix
-iceberg lettuce
-4 pineapple, grape, cantalope medley (1 lb each)
-2 green apple slices (2 lb each)

at the asian store I also picked up for $2 each
3-2-lb bag of blood oranges
-5 yellow peppers
-2 large pomegranate
-5 lb bag red potatoes
-3 small Korean melon

plus the regularly priced mango, cherry, peach, blueberries- I can't resist the cheap prices and excellent quality of fruit all summer.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2022, 06:18:27 PM by Runrooster »

Catbert

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15068 on: June 12, 2022, 01:06:23 PM »
While DH was having a 4 hour medical test on Friday which I couldn't sit in on, I went to both my favorite local discount store and "the good" middle eastern store.  I scored frozen hot Italian Sausage $1.81 lb with a coupon (3 lbs max); canned coconut milk for 99 cents; ginger for 99 cents lb; bulgarian feta for $2.99 lb; and a huge made in their bakery flat bread for $1.99.

The other things I got (e.g., canned goods, persian cucumbers, olives) were at a cheaper-than-the-grocery-store price but not spectacularly cheap.  I also bought a "Russian style" eggplant dip/spread that wasn't cheap but looked interesting.   

Dutch Comfort

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15069 on: June 12, 2022, 11:41:26 PM »
Went out with friends for lunch yesterday. Had to park in the (not familiair to me) city, but checked the city's website beforehand. Instead of EUR 4 per hour for parking in the city, I took another parking lot (just outside the city), which only charged EUR 4.50 per DAY and free use of city bikes to get into the city. Saved me at least 8-10 EUR!


okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15070 on: June 13, 2022, 05:53:08 PM »
Took my lunch and snacks to work. Brought home a bag of fresh fruit left over from an event that will be great for oatmeal, smoothies, muffins, etc.

Altered one of DP's dress shirts from long-sleeved to short. He tends to rip out elbows so much that the patches wear out and they aren't work-worthy anymore. Now he has a summer dress shirt and I have some fabric scraps to add to the pile. Then I got on a roll and did some small alterations on two of my items so that they're back in rotation and off the sewing chair.

Made more homemade cleaning solution with rubbing alcohol and vinegar (1 c rubbing alcohol, 1 c water, 1 tsp vinegar). It's great for windows, counters, anything that's not raw wood or granite.

Did a batch cook while DH finished up the yard work I'd started in the morning. If I have to turn the oven on in this heat, I want it to be worth it!

Paying attention to the energy company alerts and timing my appliance use around the peak hours. The difference can be over $0.40 per kwh.

Imma

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15071 on: June 14, 2022, 03:52:03 AM »
Not actually a small thing!! My phone had stopped making calls sometime over the last couple of weeks. I don't actually make calls a lot so I hadn't noticed before. Everything else still worked, including sound, so nothing really seemed wrong with it. Since it's 2,5 years old and getting slower, I had already picked out a new (refurbished) phone and was a bit excited about it because maybe it would work with the hand-me-down bluetooth headphones I'd gotten that can't seem to connect to my current phone.

Then I remembered that about a week ago my phone had an update. I had since rebooted the phone but just in case I decided to reboot it again. And now I can make calls again!! My phone will get security updates until 2023 I think, so in time I will have to buy a new one. But right now I'm saving money and I can live with a phone that's a bit on the slow side, that needs to be charged twice a day (already replaced the battery when it broke but the replacement part seems lower quality than the original) and where I need to use the wired headphones that came with it instead of the fancy bluetooth one that I got for free.

Dutch Comfort

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15072 on: June 15, 2022, 12:10:55 AM »
Husband brought home a few (high quality beef) burgers that were leftover from the office lunch. Made an excellent addition to our dinner yesterday evening instead of meat from our freezer which can now be used for another dinner and have enough left for my (WFH) lunch today!




mm1970

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15073 on: June 16, 2022, 03:50:20 PM »
Packed up a couple of lunches this morning for DS2 and I to eat instead of going out.

Don't give me too much credit, but...when DH told me the cleaning ladies were coming at noon, I thought "hey, we can go get lunch!"
Instead, I made up sandwiches, fruit, veg, and put in the fridge.
When they showed up, we went out to the backyard/patio and had our little picnic.
And he drew pretty pictures in chalk on the flagstones (he's 9).

I get even less credit because DH took DS1 to go volunteer today, and they bought lunch.  But the teenager is a bottomless pit.  He was out of the house for several hours, so it makes me happy anyway.

Dreamer40

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15074 on: June 16, 2022, 04:19:37 PM »
A family member wanted to hang out today. Instead of going out somewhere and spending money, we played bocce in my backyard for free and enjoyed the sunshine.

Also, I found a French language meetup that takes place at a nearby coffee shop. Sounds like the owner is a native French speaker and trying to drum up business. Yes, I will buy a cup of your coffee in exchange for French conversation practice! Cheaper than working with an online tutor.

boardCertifried

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15075 on: June 16, 2022, 05:13:29 PM »
I had peanut butter toast and a banana for breakfast instead of a 7/11 donut and diet coke (I am a garbage 25 y.o. living in a studio). I'm really liking this combo when it doesn't set off my overzealous smoke alarm.

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15076 on: June 16, 2022, 05:20:02 PM »
Also, I found a French language meetup that takes place at a nearby coffee shop. Sounds like the owner is a native French speaker and trying to drum up business. Yes, I will buy a cup of your coffee in exchange for French conversation practice! Cheaper than working with an online tutor.

I've read that's a much better way to learn a language, anyway!

Ysera

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15077 on: June 16, 2022, 10:28:16 PM »
I haven't had the heat on in the house even though it's been <55 inside for several weeks. I sleep with an extra fleece blanket, and it has been fine. Hubby will have all the space heaters on when he gets back from his trip! This has been a very cool summer so far.

I made a way-too-big pot of beans earlier in the week, and some rice. I finally froze the bean leftovers today after having it all week at work for lunch. I fried the remaining rice with some eggs and veggies and made several meals of it, too.

I wanted to go hiking today before work, but decided to go in a few days when I will have time to do errands on the same trip.

Dollar Slice

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15078 on: June 18, 2022, 11:18:07 AM »
Filed a refund request with the grocery delivery service when they delivered one single carrot instead of one bunch of carrots, but still charged me for the whole bunch. They were the fancy organic ones with the tops on so it was a whole two dollars.

Loretta

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15079 on: June 18, 2022, 01:22:56 PM »
I am putting off grocery shopping until Sunday evening to use up some stuff in the fridge.  I used my HSA for my chiropractor appt this morning and redeemed points for my Starbucks iced tea this morning.  I did a free walk around my neighborhood in the sunshine while drinking the tea!

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15080 on: June 18, 2022, 05:26:11 PM »
I had peanut butter toast and a banana for breakfast instead of a 7/11 donut and diet coke (I am a garbage 25 y.o. living in a studio). I'm really liking this combo when it doesn't set off my overzealous smoke alarm.

Do you have a venting hood over your stove? I had an overzealous smoke alarm in my last place, so I'd put the toaster on the (cold) stovetop and turn on the fan to suck up any heat/moisture that might trigger the alarm.

On topic, I went to a family birthday with a gift we found months ago for a great price, wrapped in paper I got for free at work, with a ribbon from the 'party' tub. (We keep all the wrapping paper, banners, tissue, ribbons, paper plates, etc that aren't holiday themed in one tub so we can find them when it's birthday party time. Which I guess is a small way to save money, too, since we always check the tub before we buy a bow, gift bag, etc.)

Following along in the "Eat Everything in Your House" thread is helping me save a lot of money by sharing creative recipes and reminding me of what I need to use up. This morning's breakfast was a delicious smoothie made with leftover frozen fruit, frozen and thawed plant milk, and some yogurt.

cool7hand

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15081 on: June 22, 2022, 08:11:36 AM »
Updated Amazon subscribe and save to maximize savings

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15082 on: June 22, 2022, 08:17:51 AM »
-Froze berries before they could go bad. We will use them in smoothies
-Made dinner from largely garden ingredients (tomato basil chicken). Served over roasted spaghetti squash (from the garden)
-Gave away a ton of stuff on Buy Nothing (frugal for others). I'm rarely on the site, but while posting my offerings, happened to see my neighbor down the street was giving away unopened almonds. Stopped by and picked those up. It's a huge tub, and my husband eats a lot of almonds. Win/win.

Rosy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15083 on: June 22, 2022, 11:48:36 AM »
Not really a good thing but shrug...
Doc sent me to the ER on Fri, they kept me over the weekend - so I ended up with two good size bottles of Bodywash and Shampoo, got an extra set from my bed neighbor, a big tube of lotion along with a nice pen and notepad plus the usual mysterious things and tubs they give you at the hospital incl a set of headphones that work with our tablet and phones. Brought home a couple of bananas and yogurt plus juice too - waste not, want not.
Eyeroll - I don't even want to think about what this little trip to the ER will cost me, regardless of having good insurance coverage plus Medicare.

Freebies
Our neighbor gifted me with a nice new tank top and some nice, refillable gel pens for our support of her cat rescue - promotional but nice and useful and that tank top actually fits great - you can't have enough tank tops if you live in Florida:).
She also concocted some great passion fruit juice.

Plant sourcing for our perennial veggie garden
Got two healthy Chaya small trees/bushes from a FB marketplace lady in my neighborhood for five bucks each - beats the $30 I've seen for a larger one and $10 for a starter plant. It is perennial tree spinach that grows into a good-looking landscape plant - looks a bit like a marijuana plant.
We had a nice chat while she toured my garden and I found a great new source for cheap plants some of them hard to find.

I'm slowly building a tropical perennial semi-permaculture veggie garden that will be a lot easier to manage than traditional veggie gardens.
Also a way to assure that I can garden longer into my old age:) since it is not as physically demanding and definitely less work in the long run - you plant once and have spinach forever.

Priceless - having a great neighbor.
She helped me this morning to permanently attach the top of the concrete Celtic birdbath with construction adhesive since the raccoons keep knocking it off at night. Took just 1o minutes to do but it would have been hard for me to do by myself - concrete is heavy.
The summer heat is here and the resident birds have come to rely on their water source and enjoy their baths, so I didn't want to wait until Mr. R. has time this weekend.
Dang raccoons may be cute, but they can be a nuisance.
In fact, once we get a new paver as a base, (the top of the birdbath broke the existing paver as it fell off) we may just attach it to the paver too.
Hopefully, that will withstand further trash panda assaults.

nessness

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15084 on: June 22, 2022, 12:38:04 PM »
Saved $70 on my Washington Post subscription with just a few clicks.

My subscription auto-renewed at $100 for the year, which I was annoyed about since they didn't warn me it was up for renewal. I decided to cancel, even though I read it often, but when I went to cancel, they offered me a $70 refund for the current subscription period if I continue. Now I just have to make a note on my calendar to cancel it before it it auto-renews next year...

Dicey

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15085 on: June 23, 2022, 08:39:12 AM »
Hope everything is okay now @Rosy.

Rosy

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15086 on: June 23, 2022, 10:04:45 AM »
Hope everything is okay now @Rosy.

Thx @Dicey - not really but for now it is no better and no worse... Angina

Dutch Comfort

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15087 on: June 24, 2022, 01:55:56 AM »
Talked DH and DD out of getting a snack from a takeout and made homemade milkshakes for them instead, using up all kind of fruit/icecream that was already here! (both healthier and cheaper option.... double win!). 

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15088 on: June 24, 2022, 05:41:29 PM »
Now i'm craving a milkshake! I like the homemade milkshake idea and wouldn't have though of that. Off to try it!

Anette

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15089 on: June 25, 2022, 08:59:53 AM »
My Dad wanted to buy me a birthday present. I had no idea what I would want/need. He insisted I should choose something on a trip downtown and I thought I'd go along with this and probably find something at the book store. As we walked around downtown I saw a fabric store. Inside I found a beautiful linen with embroidery. My Dad bought enough for a plain and an embroidered skirt plus cuff fabric ( not certain that's the right word as it is for the waist :)
My Mom used my favourite summer skirt pattern and made the embroidered skirt which I am wearing on this warm day. So I feel happy and this is a win for me!

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15090 on: June 25, 2022, 10:41:43 PM »
What a great gift! I'm storing that idea away for when someone insists on buying me something. I love fabric!

Today DP and I had a quiet day at home. He suggested I pick up dinner, but I made a picnic-type dinner for each of us out of what was in the fridge. Sandwiches, fresh veggies, olives, etc. We watched our favorite shows and read books. Tomorrow is Scrabble and more cooking at home.

Tempname23

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15091 on: June 26, 2022, 09:35:46 AM »
Stole my coworkers lunch.. Its actually kinda true.....:)

Frank

 Careful, lots of internet stories about catching the lunch thief, they don't end well for the thief, but they are funny!

okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15092 on: June 26, 2022, 06:32:58 PM »
Did a big batch cook of pantry and freezer items. I'm trying to get through another week without going to the grocery store, but I'm almost out of fresh veggies and fruit.

Did some catching up on reading the Frugalwoods site to give me more ideas on how to navigate inflation.

Josiecat22222

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15093 on: June 26, 2022, 09:01:35 PM »
-did laundry w homemade detergent
-dried clothes on line
-ordered a 6$ part from Amazon and watched YouTube videos to attempt a repair on a large appliance
-eating out of our freezer (vegan Bolognese and a hot dog bun made in to garlic bread anyone???)
-open windows, no a/c despite 86 degrees


okisok

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15094 on: June 27, 2022, 06:16:55 PM »
Did four loads of laundry with homemade detergent and hung 3/4 of it on the line. The curtains are draped across the drying rack in the living room. The box fan is blowing the cool air from the wet curtains across me so I can keep the A/C off.

Used Ibotta and Fetch to get some free groceries on my way home from work.

Cleaned out the fireplace ashes for the season and made a nice decorative stack with the free wood I've been cutting myself. It will be ready to set a match to this fall.


Sugaree

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15095 on: June 28, 2022, 05:33:21 AM »
Unloaded my grocery order yesterday to find that 6 out my 18 eggs were broken and the lid on the shampoo had come loose.  Luckily each was in it's own bag and the mess was mostly contained.  I just submitted a refund request for the eggs because eggs aren't cheap anymore.  I'm leaving the shampoo alone because I already got the big bottle for the small bottle price since the smaller one that I ordered was out of stock.  I've been ordering groceries weekly to bi-weekly since 2018 and this is maybe the 4th refund I've had to request.  I'd call that pretty good.

Dutch Comfort

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15096 on: June 28, 2022, 08:24:44 AM »
Making kitchen scrub sponges from old socks.... no need to buy the plastic ones!

Gronnie

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15097 on: June 28, 2022, 08:36:42 AM »
Did a bunch of work around the house and yard.  I think my wife knows how to motivate me, by casually dropping the line, "Maybe we should just pay someone to do ____."

That would probably work on me too -- but she also knows what else motivates me!

GardenBaker

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15098 on: June 28, 2022, 12:50:51 PM »
- Did 2 full loads of laundry in cold water; hung 1 load to air dry
- Eating out of the pantry and freezer this week; will only need to buy some fresh produce and fruit to round out the meals
- Waiting on some planned purchases to see if the retailer will have a July 4th promo code
- Staying at the office during lunch hours instead of running a few errands each day; waiting to combine all errands on one day to save gas

Poundwise

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Re: What small things did you do TODAY to save money?
« Reply #15099 on: June 29, 2022, 10:08:53 AM »
Presoaked some bean seeds to improve germination, and planted them. Hopefully these seeds (packed for 2018) will still be viable! Likewise, I put a damp paper towel in a ziplock bag, and scattered basil seeds from last year on them. After two days, they all have germinated and today I should put them in soil. If the seeds work, I'll donate the extras to the library's new "seed library".

My strategy to fight inflation is not only to spend less, but produce more: grow more food, mend useful things and give them away.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!