Frugal Friday

I've been continuing to look for deals, selling things here & there, & making progress on our freezer meals. 

Saving on things we buy

• I used a $20 reward for a grocery purchase. I picked up mini ice cream bars that were clearanced out, and had both an iBotta & Fetch offer (rare to be able to combine), making each box about $.25. 
• I also used a $4 CVS reward, and picked up some candy to go with a birthday gift. Teen gifts are typically cash or gift cards, so it's nice to have a bag/box of candy to go with it. 
• Used another $8.50 in CVS rewards (they keep sending them) to buy two giant bags of popcorn & two boxes of tea, for a $1.45. (That includes 2 bags, which I didn't purchase, but was somehow charged for. That's the second time it's happened to me on self checkout, so I obviously need to pay more attention.) 

Earning money

• I sold two pair of sandals on eBay. 

Avoiding spending

• I've given up coffee, as it's been causing me some stomach issues. Although M still has coffee, I'm saving the cost of one espresso (made at home) per day, as well as the almond/oat/soy milk that I'd buy to go in it. I'll use up my remaining stash of alternative milk in smoothies. 
• I picked up the Friday Freebie (plain Greek yogurt), which happened to be on our shopping list for a recipe. Love it when that happens. 
• I belong to a workout studio that charges a monthly fee. You sign up for classes, and if you cancel with less than 8 hours until the class, you get charged a missed class fee. I've only missed once (when our garage was flooding), and I almost overslept on Monday. I was attending the 7 am class, and got almost no sleep, as M has been sick. I really, really thought about skipping, but pushed myself & went! I got in a workout, and avoided the fee. 
• Called United & got the boys seats for our Dubai flight upgraded. (I get complimentary upgrades for everyone on our reservation, as a part of my status, but I'd split the reservations, and needed to have it done manually. It saved $2k in upgrades.) We're still waiting to see if M & I will be upgraded to business class, so fingers crossed. 

Eating what we have

• I'm continuing to eat up random leftovers for lunches, and typically fast in the mornings (no breakfast). By the time lunch rolls around, I'm willingly to almost anything. 
• I've been making smoothies, when we don't have obvious leftovers. I like a small scoop of peanut butter in the smoothie, both for the taste, and for the extra protein.
• We've been doing great eating things from the freezer, and have whittled our freezer stash way down (our goal for February). 
• I used up two freebie yogurts in a muffin recipe, as well as almond milk (vs regular milk). I'm trying to use up almond milk purchased for my coffee, as I'm not drinking it any more. 
• Finished off the last of the ham & bean soup I made for the freezer in January. 
• Had another two freezer meals, rounding out our menu on a busy week (fiesta chicken + the last of the pulled pork)
• Out of probably 25 freezer meals when we started the year, we're now down to: 
• 1 single serving soup container
• 1 serving of taco meat
• 1 serving of chicken tikka masala

For others

• Volunteered at work
• Gave away a bunch of ski gear on Buy Nothing

What about you? Any wins to share?