Frugal Friday

 There were a few wins this week!

Saving on things we buy

• I used a $20 grocery reward to pick up items for Nick's birthday.
• I used a $15 grocery reward to pick up cupcakes for Nick's tennis team, as they had a match on his birthday
• Used a $3 CVS reward to pick up some Easter treats
• Discovered a $.50 Ibotta "any receipt" offer, and uploaded that. I've also been regularly doing the Fetch receipts, which slowly add up. I try & save my receipts, to unlock the once/day award that goes with the standard 25 points. 
• Used a gift card (purchased to earn grocery rewards, noted above - we always take advantage of the gift card deals, for things we know we will use up) to buy Nick tennis gear he needed. 
• Bought a 3 lb package of ground beef for $4. Made a triple batch of taco meat, keeping out a portion for dinners this week, and freezing the rest. 
• Followed up on a partial refund to a stay over ski week (there was no working bathroom for part of the time & the unit required numerous repairs while we were there) & got $225 back. 

Earning money

• Drove Nick around for his reffing jobs
• Sold a pair of workout pants on eBay
• Earned a bonus at work for a project I work on. I train all of the managers in our large team (500+ managers) on our performance management systems. It definitely has its ups & downs, but I do enjoy the people I collaborate with. 

Avoiding spending

• Picked up more free avocados from a neighbor who has two giant trees. She picks hundreds at a time. It's crazy!
• Returned a few items of clothing I didn't need, after I tried on all of my clothes for our upcoming trip & realized not everything went well together, I had extras, etc. 
• Picked up two unopened containers of toilet cleaner on BN. 
• I had to attend a conference in the city this week, and had a fixed cap for transportation reimbursement. I loathe driving & parking in the city, but I planned to Uber both ways, and cover the difference between the cost & my cap out of pocket. Instead, I drove to our closest office location that's not in the city, parked there for free, and Ubered back & forth between there & the city, coming in almost exactly at cap. Altogether, I saved about $80 vs Ubering from my house. 

Eating what we have

• We rarely have bread at our house, but Sam asked for "sandwich fixings" one day, so I picked up bread, cheese & deli meat. It's a nice treat, and both boys enjoy being able to pull together a quick lunch or snack. (They consider a giant sandwich a snack. They are, after all, teen boys.) ;-) 
• I regularly make protein balls for Sam, as a between sport/school snack. I picked up some flavored oatmeal packets on BN, & added those to the protein ball mix, as I didn't have quite enough oatmeal for the recipe. They turned out great. 
• I used up some really ancient carrots, and a head of cabbage I picked up on sale for St. Patrick's Day, to make coleslaw. I had leftover coleslaw dressing from another recipe, so it was great to get some things out of the fridge. 

For others

• Found a debit card, and tracked down the security of the complex, so it could get returned to its owner.
• Gave away six pair of teen shorts, and one pair of adult shorts on BN. 

What about you? Any wins to share?