Frugal Friday

It was a lovely weekend away, but we are now back to our regularly scheduled life. Here are a few wins we've had, in the frugal department.

Saving money on things we buy

• I noticed that the hotel didn't apply the $50/night food credit that was supposed to be included, so asked about it at check out. It was applied to the bill as one total, which worked out perfectly, as we had spend just less than $50 on one of the days. 

Earning money

• On the work front, I received another high score for the last six months of work, which will translate into a higher bonus, salary & stock. More than exceeds all of my other frugal wins for the year, but not as fun as the daily wins. ;-) 
• I paused my eBay sales while I was traveling, but sold a hoodie

Avoiding spending

• Tried to mostly eat at home, despite our guests. We did pretty well, and I had leftovers for lunch a few days. 
• Took my parents to the airport, & used the electric car, saving fuel costs. 
• Picked tomatoes & jalapenos from our garden.

Eating what we have

• We didn't end up having the one pan chicken rice on Wednesday, so I made it on Sunday. It used more of the long peppers, as well as two bags of chicken from the freezer. I was also able to substitute garden jalapenos for the recipe indicated canned chiles. 
• We also had the two bags of Korean beef I prepped & froze a couple of weekends ago, and had that with rice for dinner one night
• We also picked our first pomegranate from our tree! We all love them, so we're excited to try them. We have A LOT of pomegranates. 
• We continue to pick tomatoes (bringing them inside to ripen) off of our plants.
• Nick made a loaf of French bread to share with our neighbor, and for our dinner on Sunday

For others

• Our neighbor lost power, so we brought her several meals, called the power department for her, got a hold of her daughter (our neighbor is elderly), charged her small electronics, loaned her our charging unit, and checked in on her throughout the days.
• Donated to a fundraiser, as my coworker lost her infant baby
• Bought a meal service for another coworker going through a challenging time
• Gave away three pair of jeans that Nick outgrew. 
• Dropped off a bottle of champagne to a coworker who was promoted (I volunteered to do this on behalf of our mutual manager, who doesn't live in the area)
• Took my parents to lunch as a thank you for all of their help this week.
• Checked in with my volunteer/non-profit role

That's it for me. What about you? Any wins to share?