Frugal Friday

 Here's what we've been up to over the past week. The holidays are always expensive, and we try to use January to buckle down, where possible. 

Saving on things we buy

• We were able to find shoes for Sam that were $20 off. He only has one pair of daily shoes (not including soccer cleats), but his feet are growing quickly. Luckily, he's not picky, & chose a reasonably priced shoe, and it was also on sale.
• Returned a cart from the parking lot (this is something I try to do each time I go through the lot, and encourage the boys as well. ) & saw a receipt. Uploaded it to Fetch, & earned $.50. I also noticed it had an item with a Box Top code, so uploaded that as well, and earned $.10 for our local school, then recycled the receipt. 
• Combined a $5 reward, free shipping & a sale to get glove liners for skiing. Sam lost one of his liners at some point during our last trip. 

Earning money

• Sold ski pants on eBay, & listed a new item. 
• I received the first part of my annual bonus (largest chunk). I put money in the boys college accounts & maxed out my 401K for the year. The rest will go into savings for my job change. 

Avoiding spending

• Picked up the Friday freebie at the store, which was a sugar free Chobani yogurt. I'll likely add it to a muffin recipe, if one of the teens doesn't eat it first. 
• Picked up four free razors in sealed packages (3 of which are my preferred brand, & one for the boys) on Buy Nothing, and picked up a bag of chocolate marshmallow snacks (for Sam) from another neighbor
• Ate breakfast & lunch (3x) at work, and charged our car for free. We get free meals at work.

Eating what we have

• We brought some bread home from our ski trip, and froze most of it. The boys ate the rest for breakfast.
• I ate leftovers for "brunch" after my workout class. Random selections have included: mac & cheese, fried rice, chicken, & carrots/hummus. Not all at once. ;-) 
• Used up the last of the potatoes (from Thanksgiving mashed potatoes) in a chicken curry dish
• I defrosted a couple of grilled chicken sausages, & kept them in the fridge for easy lunch options (sliced over a salad). I also used up leftover salad dressings, & a bit of holiday cheeses, for a few different salad varieties this week. 
• Made protein bars for Sam, who requested them as a pre-gym snack
• We keep hamburger buns in the freezer, and have been defrosting them a couple at a time, for the kids. I'm trying to have my protein over salad, which is better for me, & helps me eat more produce. 
• One of my 2023 goals is to set a monthly target for items I want to use up from our freezer or pantry. I chose part of a bag of frozen corn. I do not enjoy corn off the cob, so I'm not sure why I have this (a taco soup recipe, maybe)? I added a bit of it to fried rice. It will take at least a few versions of this to use up the rest of the bag, as too much ruins the fried rice for me. ;-) Slow, but steady progress!

For others

• I've been cleaning out a couple of closets (hall & coat) & given away a ton of stuff on Buy Nothing. I'm loving the improved organization, and it's nice to pass things along. The theme of this week was largely ski/winter stuff, which the kids have outgrown. Those are always very in demand, as they are expensive but necessary, and kids don't wear them long enough to create much wear before they outgrow them. 

That's it from my side. What about you? Any wins to share?