Frugal Friday

 Can't believe we're almost to April! Here are a few wins for the week, frugal & otherwise.  

Saving on things we buy

• I combined a Safeway coupon for grapes with a $1 off produce coupon, and bought 2+ lbs of grapes for $2, which was a reasonable deal. I used a gift card for that + on sale pretzels (snack of the week), spending $0 out of pocket. However, my Safeway gift card is down to $.93, so almost out!
• I converted some spare change that was rattling around in my bags to a $9 Starbucks voucher. Given I've been doing coffee meet ups & networking, happy to have the extra coffee money on hand. 
• Redeemed the last $20 of my grocery store rewards to pick up 5 cases of sparkling water (it was on sale) + a few other things we needed. All told, I spent $9.60 after my reward.

Earning money

• M & I received our annual bonuses. I tucked most of the money into a couple of CDs, each ear marked for the boys college expenses. Because we need the money over a short time horizon, investments don't make sense. Luckily, CDs are paying very good rates at the moment. We also maxed out our 401Ks, which is great news for me, as I was able to secure the full company 2024 match ahead of my layoff. 
• Sold a heart rate monitor on eBay, and made $20, and also sold a poster I received in Japan, earning $16.

Avoiding spending

• One of my neighbors had free tangerines from their tree out & available for taking, so I picked up four.

Eating what we have

• Met a coworker for lunch, and she bought me lunch as a "goodbye". There were enough leftovers that I also had a large salad for dinner. 
• Had a "use it up" smorgasbord lunch on Saturday, mixing several small portions of leftovers for myself, and the boys. It was nice to empty the fridge of lots of little options.
• Made the boys the last of the corn dogs! One more item checked off of my freezer/pantry clean out.
• Picked fresh thyme, rosemary & oregano for M's grilled chicken recipe. 
• Our very lovely neighbor brought over a gift for us, as a thank you to M for all of his work on her car. Totally unnecessary, but she always wants to make sure she thanks us. She purchased a Hickory Farms pack. I've put aside some of the shelf stable meat & cheese, and will take it to Sedona for my hiking trip with my mom. It will make a nice treat to have in the room. 
• On Monday, I saw we had leftover rice from Sunday's dinner, so I changed up our plan a bit. I took out the Korean beef (freezer) & we had that over rice. For M, I sauteed cabbage & onions in sesame oil, and he had his beef over that.
• I made Nick pizza rolls for a quick meal before a tennis match, and now am down to just one bag of pizza rolls. Hurrah. 
• Met another friend for lunch, and took half of my sandwich home. Sam ate that as a quick bite ahead of leaving for a school event.
• And, I used the last two cans of green beans! This have been on my pantry target list forever. 
• Had the remainder of the Korean beef over salad greens for lunch one day.

For others

• Put grocery carts back, picked up trash at the school tennis match, & started on my volunteer project for Nick's soccer club

What about you? Any wins to share?