Here are a few frugal things that we did over the past week!
- Used a gift card to buy flowers for a friend. Her father passed away. I also made pumpkin bread & found a card in my stash. It felt good to be able to quickly pull that together & not be out much money, but still let her know I was thinking of her.
- Used Rite Aid credit to pick up a few essentials (toilet bowl cleaner, etc) & also found really cute gift card holders for Christmas, at 75% off. Picked up enough for next Christmas
- Turned tomatoes (froze before we headed out of town) into tomato sauce for the freezer
- M solved two home issues that turned out to be related. (Our pool was leaking water through the pump filter, which caused a short in an electrical unit.) This was going to be several thousand dollars for the pool issue alone, so I'm grateful I have a handy husband. I'm incredibly grateful that we discovered the issue, because the short could have started a fire.
- I made cranberry muffins for the kids to have as snacks, and used cream in place of some of the milk. It made them incredible (of course!), but I also used cream that was about to expire & go to waste.
- M used a coupon & a $10 reward for the dinner out with the kids.
I'm insanely jet lagged & hope to stock up on sleep over the weekend. That's how that works, right? ;-) What about you? Any frugal wins this week?
If you travel to Tokyo while we're there (2/15 - 5/15), I'd love to see if we can arrange a meet-up. I know you're busy, busy, busy, but if it's possible I hope we can find the time.
ReplyDeleteWould love to see you! Nothing currently booked, but it's totally possible I'll add another trip before my sabbatical. I'll let you know!
DeleteSounds like a good week. That was a thoughtful thing to do for your friend whose father passed away.
ReplyDeleteThank you. She surprised me with movies & snacks when I had to have surgery a few years back & it was a good reminder that it's just so nice to know that someone is thinking of you when you are going through a hard time.
DeleteYep, that's exactly how jet lag works ;-).
ReplyDeleteVisiting with our granddaughters, and staying precisely on budget with regard to the amount I allocated. It helps that much of our time together is spent literally just giving them one-on-one time. That goes so farfar, and costs nothing. I will say also that we've eaten enough mediocre meals this triptrip, including airport food, the free meal Delta now provides on domestic coast-to-coast travel, to remind me how well we eat at home. We eat like kings for relatively little money compared to the cost of dining out. Although I will say I'm a big fan of the new fine dining, fast casual niche. Great food without a great big bill simply because I'm willing to stand in line and order my food at a counter - works for me!
I like to pack my food, even if work is paying. I just generally enjoy it so much more than airport food! Sometimes I'll pack a sandwich & fruit, and fill in with a salad or something from the airport.
DeleteI'll have to think of something, because I'm off again tomorrow!
I appreciate that with all you have going on in your life, you dhow regular gestures of kindness. We forgot our movie gift card last night do paid for tickets.
ReplyDeleteI laugh at the forgetting gift cards. To be fair, it was my fault. Before I travel, I always lay out the coupon + gift cards for a restaurant the kids really like. (It's a salad bar, so super casual). I don't know why I was carrying around a gift card with a zero balance, but what can you do?
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