What small things did you do TODAY to save money?

[sonofsven]

Removed DD from my auto insurance policy since she will be out of the country for two years, saved $400/yr.

[Michael in ABQ]

I checked YouTube to see how to remove a pressure-assist system on the toilet in our commercial office space for our business. It has been spraying water out the back of the pressure vessel into the tank and leaking on the floor. I figured I would just replace it myself with a replacement system costing maybe $200. One of the comments mentioned a recall on that model. I called up the manufacturer and sure enough our system qualified so they're sending a free replacement. Also, a plumber would probably charge a couple hundred dollars more as replacing the system means partially disassembling the toilet. Albeit the labor will probably be 30-45 minutes.

[Trifle]

I checked YouTube to see how to remove a pressure-assist system on the toilet in our commercial office space for our business. It has been spraying water out the back of the pressure vessel into the tank and leaking on the floor. I figured I would just replace it myself with a replacement system costing maybe $200. One of the comments mentioned a recall on that model. I called up the manufacturer and sure enough our system qualified so they're sending a free replacement. Also, a plumber would probably charge a couple hundred dollars more as replacing the system means partially disassembling the toilet. Albeit the labor will probably be 30-45 minutes.

Well done to chase down the replacement parts!  YouTube how-to videos are an amazing resource. 

[Taran Wanderer]

Work travel… all expenses covered…

[Tigerpine]

Finished with the baseboards, now I'm working on trim in the basement instead of hiring it out.

[sonofsven]

I got a bill from the hospital for $194.
I've had, to date, over $64,000 worth of bills in 2024, all in network.
My OPP max is $2,200.
I knew I was close so I called my insurer and they confirmed that I was $19.73 from hitting $2,200.
I called the hospital billing department and they are going to change my bill.
Keep my spending (thus income) low, do Roth conversion as income, ACA silver plan costs $1.03/mo.
Thanks, Obama.

[Frugal Lizard]

I brought lunch and snacks for my day in the big city office.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Received an Amazon gift card, and added it to my account before I could forget about it.
-Called the bank to update my CDs before they roll over to a much less favorable rate. Combined a few to hit the threshold for a much better APR.
-Ate leftovers from the fridge for breakfast & lunch. Defrosted leftovers for dinner. It will likely be just be for most of the weekend, and I'm a flexible eater. When everyone is gone, I try to go hard at the fridge & freezer clean out.

[Tigerpine]

Still working on the basement trim, but today I also fixed a hinge on a cabinet that actually cannot be fixed.  Whenever this cabinet was installed, the vertical piece of wood that the hinge connects to was cut at an angle.  The only true way to fix it would be to replace it.  My solution was to cut wedge of wood that I placed between the hinge and the angled cabinet wall.  This wedge straightens out the door so that at least I can close the door and keep it shut.

Also started working on a trim project for some skylights we had replaced earlier this year.  I have to have all the trim pieces ready at the same time because I will rent the nail gun from Home Depot.

These projects seem rather trivial, but comparing it to the quote we got for replacing some baseboards earlier ($1000 for half a room!), these projects really get costly if you hire them out.

[Freedomin5]

Ate leftovers instead of eating out for lunch.

[AMandM]

I need to replace some pots because some of mine don't work on my new (but bought on 40% discount) induction stove. I went to a friend's house, who is helping her elderly neighbors downsize to move into a retirement home. They gave me two pots in just the sizes I need, one a combo pasta pot/steamer that was still in its original wrapper.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Picked up just a small number of groceries this week, as we were in & out for most of last week doing college drop off & other various things.
-Still eating lots from the garden (lettuce & tomatoes)
-Finished fruit that a friend dropped off

[oneday]

Took advantage of a coupon code to save $40 on expensive flea medication.

[Freedomin5]

Lots of leftovers at a work function yesterday. I packed some of it home and it was my lunch today.

[crocheted_stache]

Lots of leftovers at a work function yesterday. I packed some of it home and it was my lunch today.

Once upon a time, we had more frequent work functions, and I brought home a blob of sour cream and a bunch of shredded cheese from a catered taco bar thing, plus a mess of leftover broccoli, carrots, celery, and mushrooms from a different event's enormous crudité platter that turned out to be more ambitious than it was popular. Some excellent (if I say so myself) broccoli cheese soup resulted. I'll eat cooked broccoli, but I've never cared for it raw.

[FrugalShrew]

Took advantage of a coupon code to save $40 on expensive flea medication.

Well done! (why *is* flea medication so darn expensive anyway??)

[Dicey]

I have to wear surgical support stockings every day (thanks, Covid). They're hella uncomfortable under pants, so I've taken to wearing skirts and dresses. I do this even for hiking. I was looking on eBay for another walking skirt (not skort). I found one that would go with several tops I have. I noticed one seller had the lowest price, because the pattern had a slight misprint in one place. It was a small section where the pattern hadn't transferred, so it was white. I made a lowball offer and the seller accepted. When it arrived, I filled in the white section with a Sharpie marker. I just added random dots until it was less obvious. Now, I can barely find the spot. New With Tags Nomadic Traders skirt for $8.00, plus a small amount of shipping? Yes. please. Moab, here I come...

[Spruit]

Had a bad morning, little time to make my own lunch. But I refuse to buy lunch at the cafetaria when there is actually bread in the house, so just grabbed a jar of peanut butter to bring along with some slices of bread. Worked out just fine.

Used up some yellowing cauliflower just in time to avoid tossing it. Made use of a windy day with cheap energy to do a lot of laundry.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Similar to a previous poster, I was really craving a specific sandwich (Turkey with sharp cheddar on sourdough, with tomatoes & mayo). I almost stopped at a deli near my house, but powered on & went to the grocery store. I bought ingredients to make the sandwich myself, which was cheaper than the sandwich from the deli. And, of course there's plenty for additional sandwiches. It wasn't as cheap as digging something out of the freezer, but it was much better than my original plan.

[Kwill]

I remembered to cancel my Amazon Prime trial today, a few days before I would have been charged for the subscription. I'd needed some specific work clothes at the last minute at the beginning of September, and a Prime trial seemed like the best way to get everything in time. I didn't mean to wait so long to cancel, but I'm glad I remembered.

[crocheted_stache]

California is having a pretty typical encore of summer weather, so I took advantage of the abundant hot, dry air to hang dry a couple loads of laundry. I also happened to notice whatever (food?) DH apparently sat in, last time he wore his tan shorts. I pretreated the spot and it came out completely. Whew!

[Freedomin5]

I’m traveling today. I got a free 2-hour pass to the VIP lounge, which provides a free buffet. I ate a late breakfast upon entry to the lounge and an early lunch before departing the lounge. I should get a light snack on board my flight, which I will save (if possible) for tomorrow lunch. Fasting for the rest of the day, and I normally don’t eat breakfast. Basically, all my meals today and most of my meals tomorrow are covered. Will likely just need to purchase one meal on my trip.

[midweststache]

TODAY:

- Made coffee/breakfast at home, using up discount-bin English muffins. Most other elements of groceries came from Aldi, the cheapest grocery option near us.
- DH and KIDDO2 will carpool to school/work, saving gas; I will WFH and KIDDO1 will walk to school.
- KIDDO1 will take a simple lunch to school, priced out probably slightly less than the $3.25 we pay when he eats school lunch.
- Lunch for me will be leftover pizza from a pizza-and-cupcake birthday party this weekend; DH also took leftovers to work for his lunch.
- KIDDO1 will walk to sports practice tonight.
- Dinner will be grilled tenderloin (our splurge for the week at ~$10), green beans, and sweet potatoes.
- Borrowed a crib from our local BN group for visiting family, rather than purchase something cheap from Target or Amazon to make it through a brief stay.

Nothing ground-breaking here. Just a reminder that we make little choices everyday on how to structure our lives to spend less!

[BECABECA]

Bought my GF my favorite brand of trail running shoes (Altra) for our upcoming Moab meetup. But I got them used on Poshmark (a terrible app for people that get tempted by impulse buys, but great for mustachians who are trying to find one high end specialty item) basically in open box condition for 1/3 of the price of new. They will save on healthcare in the long run. I absolutely love my pair (that I also got used and are still going strong on year 2 after quite a few hiking trips).

[Tyson]

Bought my GF my favorite brand of trail running shoes (Altra) for our upcoming Moab meetup. But I got them used on Poshmark (a terrible app for people that get tempted by impulse buys, but great for mustachians who are trying to find one high end specialty item) basically in open box condition for 1/3 of the price of new. They will save on healthcare in the long run. I absolutely love my pair (that I also got used and are still going strong on year 2 after quite a few hiking trips).

Altra's are awesome.  I have a wide toe box and Altra's are the only thing that really fit me.  My first pair lasted 4 years and I abused the hell out of those shoes. 

[Arbitrage]

Took advantage of a coupon code to save $40 on expensive flea medication.

Well done! (why *is* flea medication so darn expensive anyway??)

Because it's worth it.

[Dicey]

On our way to Moab via Yosemite,  we used my "America the Beautiful" pass to get in the park free. Camping for 2 nights was 50% off, total $36. En route to Moab, we boondocked behind a gas station for $00.00. The place where we stay in Moab ain't cheap, but we reserved on a Black Friday deal, and paid for it months ago.

[Freedomin5]

Taking the cheap but slower subway home for ~$1 instead of the ~$10 Maglev. It’ll add about 30 minutes to my journey.

[crocheted_stache]

Used a gift card that I've had for awhile for a store that's a bit out of my way, to get a fresh bike helmet and gloves. The old ones had many happy years and miles on them and were getting a little too well-loved.

[crocheted_stache]

Continued to pop and eat the jar of popcorn I bought from a scout fundraiser. I'm sure it cost more than an equivalent amount of unpopped popcorn from the store, but now that I've got some, I might as well use it.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I learned that if you bring stuff to sell to the kids' consignment store, you can shop tax free for that day only! (I realize that yard sales or whatever are cheaper, but this works best for my schedule and temperament.)

[Gerard]

I got some cheap butter and made my own ghee for the first time. It was easier than I thought, and it freed up fridge/freezer shelf space.

Plus, the brown stuff that's left over (basically the "brown butter" from classical French cooking) is really good on cooked veg!

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I turned a weirdly shaped piece of scrap fabric that a coworker gave me into a cloak for a toddler's Halloween costume!

[crocheted_stache]

We polished off a few more helpings of leftovers. DH didn't take them for lunch last week because he was working at a different location where lunches were provided.

DH harvested 30 pounds of butternut squash, which we may have to find some extra recipes for. We like the recipes we have, but if we do them every week for the next 3 months, that may be a bit much.

And we did a bit of needed housekeeping.

[Dollar Slice]

DH harvested 30 pounds of butternut squash, which we may have to find some extra recipes for. We like the recipes we have, but if we do them every week for the next 3 months, that may be a bit much.

If you look a few posts down, someone else recently posted a thread asking for squash recipes. Seems like a common problem this time of year :-)

[Omy]

Went to see a spendy tourist attraction with friends. Their website said you could get the 2nd ticket half off if you had a grocery store discount card. We didn't have that discount card, so we downloaded the grocery card app and saved $15.

[crocheted_stache]

DH harvested 30 pounds of butternut squash, which we may have to find some extra recipes for. We like the recipes we have, but if we do them every week for the next 3 months, that may be a bit much.

If you look a few posts down, someone else recently posted a thread asking for squash recipes. Seems like a common problem this time of year :-)

Thanks! I found it and added some of my own suggestions.

[Loretta]

I added heavy cream and shredded cheddar to a bit of leftover bisque for lunch.  I am not feeling well at all, needing iron infusions as soon as my insurance will approve them.  Feeling crappy with no energy makes it easy to stay home at least.

[Frugal Lizard]

@Loretta I hope you feel better soon.

Today I canned soup stock in the electric pressure canner.  10 1 cup jars.  I did 4 quart sized jars before but thought smaller servings would be convenient to have on hand.

[Dicey]

I mentioned somewhere that I took the food that the Food Bank couldn't accept after a city-wide food drive. They can't re-distribute anything that doesn't have have nutrition labelling, even if it's sealed. I made Tiramisu with three sealed but unlabeled packages of ladyfingers. I made meringue cookies with the leftover egg whites. Yesterday, I made a veggie alfredo pasta with unlabeled dry pasta. Today, I'm prepping for a board meeting I'm hosting in the morning. I made applesauce muffins using up three individual containers of Mott's Unsweetened Applesauce. I'm also making a peach cake using several individual single-serving containers of peaches. It feels good to put things to use that someone else might have thrown away.

[MountainGal]

-I've been comparing cost per units/ounces of supplies/food at Walmart vs. Sam's and buying in bulk whenever possible
-Been buying more store brand items vs. name brand
-Found two unused electronic coffee gift cards in my email and transferred them to an old card to use on vacation
-Used CC points to buy gift cards for stocking stuffers
-Been having success with the Upside ap when buying fuel
-Batch cooked two pasta dishes and put in the freezer for when recovering from the flu and I don't feel like cooking

[Roadrunner53]

Not sure if it is saving money but I used to sell on ebay and have not for several years now. Anyway, I have a paypal account and there was still $51 in the account so I transferred it to my regular bank checking account. Funny how paypal never sends out  any statements on what your account has in it. I bet a lot of people forget they have money in their account!

[LD_TAndK]

Instead of spending $4 to stream Ghostbusters once on amazon prime, I used my patience and spent $4 to have a DVD triple feature (ghostbusters, groundhog day, stripes) mailed from Abebooks.com. If I was truly patient I could have waited for it from our library.

[Loretta]

I went to the dentist for a cleaning. $165 with my good federal employee health insurance.  I try to go 3 times per year to head off problems. 

[crocheted_stache]

Read a pretty good section of a library book I have checked out.

Cooked a batch of taco stuff for today's lunch and packed a couple meal's worth of leftovers.

Planning to attend a bike ride this afternoon.

[oneday]

Made a Fancy Drink at home & took it to the leasing office/clubhouse to enjoy it while tooling around on the computer. Cheaper than a coffee shop with all the same amenities!

[Jade]

We're having some friends around for coffee who are diabetic. We were trying to find diabetic biscuits for them but due to lack of inspiring choices I've made date brownies instead.

[Freedomin5]

Walked home from an event today. Killed two birds with one stone - saved the subway fare and had a lovely walk by a canal and through a park.

[Raenia]

Walked to my flu shot appointment at CVS. Didn't buy anything while I was there.

[crocheted_stache]

Biked today's grocery restock. My turn to pull the trailer. Note for future reference: inflate the trailer tires!

Currently in the process of baking bread. I'll be away from home for an event tomorrow that extends across a meal time (by a lot) and there isn't a fridge or microwave, so I try to take a sandwich with an ice pack in an insulated lunch bag. This bread will be part of that sandwich.