Frugal Friday

We added a teen driver to our car insurance this week, and that was the opposite of frugal in every way! 

Saving on things we buy

• Used a $5 grocery store offer, and picked up a Friday Freebie (trail mix), that Sam will enjoy. 
• Uploaded receipts to Fetch & iBotta, and picked up oat milk for $3, using an iBotta $2 rebate, bringing the price down to a very reasonable $1. Also used a $.10 iBotta offer. 

Earning money

• I sold my running watch on eBay (I can use my every day watch, as it does a fine job on outside runs, although is not the best for indoor/treadmill runs). 

Avoiding spending

• I was starving after a workout class, and thought about buying lunch out, but skipped it & went home & made myself a breakfast burrito. 
• I filled out a few forms, to try & get a status match on our preferred airline. I have status on United, from work travel, but rarely fly them for personal travel. I was pretty surprised the match went through. This is great news, as we get additional bags for free (useful for taking our ski gear, etc), I'm automatically on the waiting list for upgrades to premium economy or first class, and there are a few other perks. I was able to move our seats for our Hawaii flight to premium economy, which means we can have free drinks, and potentially a snack. It's the small stuff. :-) 

Eating what we have

• I saved a bagged salad, that had been pushed aside in the fridge, and made myself a chicken salad for lunch on the day above. 
• Used up the last of coconut shrimp, I found buried in the freezer
• I also took the opportunity to use a can of green beans, which Sam loves, but we rarely eat
• Made dinner for Sam & M, using bacon wrapped chicken I found in the back of the freezer. Nick had the rest of the taco meat. I had some leftover chicken. Everyone got fed, and no food waste. I love a dinner like that!
• Used rice noodles that had been sitting in our pantry for a long time! Made a beef stir fry, which had the bonus of also using up some very old carrots that needed to go. 
• Made a double batch of banana bread, using overly ripe bananas from the counter & freezer. We will take one loaf to Hawaii (M loves muffins/bread in the am, and it's his only carb for the day.) I'll leave the other loaf for my parents. 
• Defrosted the last of my prepped soup & the end of a loaf of bread, for a quick lunch this week. With the weather getting cooler, I'll have to make more soup for the freezer. I love it, but I'm the only one who really eats it, so I typically make a big batch, and freeze it for lunches.
• Made chicken curry, using the rest of the elderly carrots. Made enough for two dinners (x3 diners), froze the other half, plus two lunch sized servings.
• While we were having curry, Nick ate the remaining hot dogs from the freezer. He's not much of a curry fan. 

For others

• The boys & I helped our neighbor with a leaky sprinkler.