Frugal Friday

Another week of working from home, the last full week of distance learning, and a few frugal wins under our belt.

Saving on things we buy

• Can't really think of anything in particular. We are buying what we need, and few items are on sale these days. I suppose I did pick up two packages of the granola bars Sam & I enjoy, as they were finally on sale at our local (expensive) grocery store. We're limiting our outings to as few places as possible, and a local store has fantastic social distancing options, but is definitely not the cheapest place. 
• Spent 90 minutes with our internet provider to upgrade our wifi. As a bonus, it's $4 less/month. Why it takes 90 minutes to "approve" cheaper & better speed internet is hard to imagine. Why would a customer say no? Anyway, it's done, so I'll take it.

Earning money

• Sold two gift cards on Raise
• Earned another $5 gift card on Microsoft Rewards
• Completed a study at work, earning a $25 gift card
• Sold quite a few items on eBay, including a record six in one day. I've been listing a bunch of items, and it's paying off. 
• Found $.25 in my son's backpack, while washing it. He emptied it, and we found a thermos from one of the last days of (in person) school. It was pretty tragic. I'm hoping the backpack can be saved. :-( 
• Received $25 for a data breach settlement that I'd filled out months ago. 

Avoiding spending 

• Made a very interesting dinner last Friday night. Parsley pesto, using parsley from the garden, lemons from a neighbor & pine nuts that have been on my "use it up" pantry list forever. The pesto became a topper for naan bread we received via our produce box. Topped the naan with a pepper (also from the produce box) & thinly sliced hot dogs. The hot dogs were leftover from another meal. ;-) It was surprisingly quite delicious. The parsley pesto was great, and our plant is enormous, so we will be making it again until the pine nuts run out. 
• Nick & I also went to the store to stock up on road trip snacks. We are planning to leave for the Oregon coast next weekend, and snacks you bring with you are almost always cheaper than what you buy at a restaurant. We will still need to pick up food on the way, but hoping to minimize it as much as possible. 

Frugally optimized, but not for me - I took advantage of a three way matching opportunity for a charity that my work team was supporting. I donated, my employer automatically matched. Because I donated, my leadership team matched it (personally), & my employer then matched their donation as well. It was a small thing to do right now, when things are so challenging, but it did feel good to maximize the power of my donation. Money is not the only way to help, and I also donated cleaning products & toilet paper to a friend's who is collecting it for a school project. It's going to help in homeless shelters, to reduce the spread of COVID. 

How about you? Any frugal wins to report?