Frugal Friday

Merry Christmas, to those of you who celebrate! Happy holidays for those of you taking time off to spend with your families, or who are missing your family celebrations during this wild, wild year.

I'm not sure this has been the most frugal week, with stocking up the beach house with groceries & supplies & then getting here & discovering the dryer was out. But, we've had a few frugal wins to report. 

Saving on things we buy

• We did really well on stops on our way to the beach. We made the best time (limited traffic due to COVID), & spent under $7 on lunch for all of us (Costco, to get gas & then grabbed food that we ate in the car). I used a Starbucks gift card for breakfast (we'd been on the road close to 5 hours by that point) & then we spend a few dollars on fresh ffuit for the kids. Altogether, we spent less than $20 out of pocket on two meals for the car. I picked up snacks at the store earlier in the week. Super cheap road trip food!

Earning money

• I finally sold a pair of outgrown ski boots the day before we left, and made $45 with a contactless pickup. Glad someone will be able to use them, and that they are out of my closet! :-) 

Avoiding spending

• Our artificial tree is 15+ years old, and the lights needed to be replaced. We took the time to remove all of the lights this year (quite a project!) & next year will add our own. It saves the tree from the landfill, and allows us to add lights we already have, vs replacing the full tree. 
• I'm in charge of bringing champagne for mimosas for our Christmas morning brunch. I found multiple bottles of champagne at our vacation house of the preferred brand, so we will bring those. I like getting them out of the house here (people tend to leave but not use up, as they aren't sure who things belong to) & it saves money. Win/win. 
• I needed to wrap up my craft gift while we were at the beach, and unearthed Christmas wrapping paper that we must have bought years ago. Awesome! No need to buy more. 
• I've filed an insurance claim (pass insurance) for our ski passes we purchased this year. We'd normally never have purchased passes for just a few days & instead just bought day of as it got closer, but the passes were required due to the mandatory reservations for COVID. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to go for New Years due to quarantine orders. That is a protected part of the pass insurance. The insurance company has been inundated with claims, but I'll keep on top of it. 
• Rescued Amazon packages for a few things we ordered here, and will take them home with us for future eBay sales. 

For others

• Used all of that time in the car to loom four hats for the homeless. It really helped the time go by quickly (or, slightly quicker perhaps - it's a 12 hour drive after all) & made me feel a bit productive. 
• Finished up a project for my volunteer job, and logged my hours so they will receive a financial match from my employer
• Not me, but the kids volunteered at a trail construction project with my dad. Trails typically require quite a bit of maintenance by volunteers to stay in safe condition (particularly if you live somewhere that gets rainy/muddy), so the volunteers help them stay clear for others. They do this a few times a year, and my dad does it at least monthly. Trail maintenance is a good socially distanced COVID activity. 

And, a few photos from our trip: