A few frugal things and catching up

I feel like I'm always saying this, but it's been a busy two weeks. I had a bunch of team offsite activities last week (meetings all day + evening events), and a few events this week as well. That means I'm both behind on my day to day work, and also behind on life more generally! I have been finding time for work outs, and trying to maintain my healthier eating. So far, no progress on the scale, but normally weeks like these throw me way off track.

I haven't been terribly frugal lately, but here are a few things I've managed to accomplish. Alaska Airlines is my primary airline for personal flights, and they've recently started guaranteeing pricing. Meaning, if you buy in December & the price drops in February, you can quickly go online & request a credit. The credit can be used for future travel.

• I was able to get a $39 credit on my trip to Portland in August for Hood to Coast
• And, an $84 credit on my parents trip (I paid for the trip) in August when they are watching the boys as an alternative to summer camp
• I also accidentally checked my sister's flight (her itinerary was in my inbox) & noticed that her flight to come to visit me was cheaper, so I requested a credit for her & saved her $90. 
• I used a $150 United credit for a work trip, so I will get reimbursed for that. Yes, a work trip. Heading back to Seoul. Not jazzed, but c'est la vie.
• Bought a $100 Southwest gift card for $80, to offset a trip my husband is taking. 
• Found my absolute favorite "nice" wine at Costco. They have never carried it before, and the wine person said they had one pallet & don't expect to receive any more. The wine retails for around $45/bottle, and it was at Costco for $29. We bought a case. This is not the wine we drink on normal weekends, but is a special occasion wine, and appropriate for nicer hostess gifts, etc. It should last us between 12-18 months. 
• I was also able to use frequent flier miles for our trip to visit family in December, saving about $1200.
• And, I used hotel points to cover most of our trip to Hawaii, saving about $2500.

Not a bad few weeks, although the opportunities presented themselves because I was in high planning/booking travel mode to get us sorted out for the rest of the year. As I'll cover in another post, the actual spend on travel was very high. But, budgeted as part of our yearly travel budget. I just happened to book it all at once.

What about you? Any big frugal wins lately?