Frugal Friday

 

Saving on things we buy

• Both kids were unexpectedly home for dinner last Friday, so I ran to the local store & picked up what we needed for a last minute taco dinner. I really considered doing takeout, but the ground beef in the fridge was a good reminder to not do that. Meat is so expensive these days! I had a $10/$50 purchase, so I also picked up a few other things off of the longer term shopping list, as well as a few spring break treats for the teens (ice cream & popcorn). We were supposed to have a popcorn/movie night, but couldn't get our DVD to work. M has since fixed that, so hopefully we will squeeze in the movie night another day. 
• Used $2 of expiring Rite Aid rewards to pick up a graduation card for Sam. 

Earning money

• I was part of a class action suit & received a settlement in 2022, I believe. After all of the settlements were distributed, there was additional funds left over, and those were then distributed to the remaining folks. I received $524 in this close out round of the settlement. I'm happy to receive this unexpected settlement, but the original reason I received money was because I was underpaid for years (hence the claim/settlement), so not exactly a net win.  
• I sold a jersey, sunglasses & a tennis skirt on eBay, making $116. 
• I redeemed Fetch points for a $10 Amazon gift card. I don't buy many brand name items, so this is a slow & steady process, but eventually adds up. 
• Sold a fan remote on eBay. This is a great example of something I couldn't give away on Buy Nothing, but with a bigger audience on eBay, someone needed exactly that item. I made just under $10, but more than that, I'm thrilled that the fan stayed out of the landfill. 
• Submitted my last two receipts for reimbursement from work (fitness class & pickleball lessons). We have a small personal lessons reimbursement for the year, and I'm hopeful these will get reimbursed before my last day. Fingers crossed. 
• I received my last paycheck today, and my vacation payout + another week of pay. It's hard to remember 10+ years ago, but I believe we are paid in arrears, so the timing of my hire date and our paychecks makes sense that I would have had another week in arrears coming to me. It was a nice surprise to see the size of my last paycheck. (I still haven't received my severance offer, but have a rough sense of how much that will be.)

Avoiding spending

• Nick was helping me with yard work, and I still hadn't purchased groceries post ski trip. I offered to order lunch, if he picked it up. I used a 20% off code, plus all of my gift cards (some had like $3 left on them) on an online order & had just enough to cover the cost plus tip. No money out of pocket.
• This one is a doozy. Remember when we planned to go to Turkey over spring break? When I cancelled those flights, I confirmed multiple times that our credit would be valid and needed to be rebooked by January of 2025. I was planning a trip to Costa Rica with M in November, and we opted to use those credits, to avoid them expiring. When I went to book online, my United app showed the January 2025 date, but upon trying to use them for purchase, it said they were expiring in July 2024. I spent almost an hour with United on the phone getting it resolved (and, the person helping me was absolutely incredible.) It turns out, when I booked the flights (and, this was over $10k for the four of us), I used a $75 credit leftover from something else. That credit expired in July of 2024, and made the expiration of the $10K reset to that, despite the app & my email having a different expiration date! Luckily, United was able to help out, but I'm so grateful that 1) I tried to book a flight ahead of that cancellation, and 2) the person I worked with was so helpful. 
• Speaking of Costa Rica, our all inclusive hotel is covered entirely with hotel points, and the flights are covered by our previously purchased Turkey flights. So, no new out of pocket spending!
• I'm flying my parents to our house to watch Nick when we go to Costa Rica (our final anniversary trip that they will need to supervise, as Nick will be in college next year!). I used Southwest gift cards to cover the cost of their flights. They prefer Alaska Airlines, but those flights were $300+ more expensive, unfortunately. On some routes, Alaska is just not competitive with Southwest. 

Eating what we have

• I had a defrosted Asian themed pasta dish (can't remember what it was originally) for lunch one day, as well as lasagna from the freezer. Being home for lunches means I can make good progress on the freezer leftovers. I sub in sandwiches when I get overly bored with the freezer leftovers.
• I turned leftover taco fixings into a second meal of tacos, and then quesadillas & a taco salad.
• I baked up the last 1/4 bag of pizza bites for Nick, on a day when he needed "dinner" at 3:30, before he left for an event. Don't worry, he also had a protein fruit smoothie & veggies.
• Used up overly ripe bananas from our road trip + freezer bananas to make a double batch of muffins.

For others

• On the above United fiasco, the agent was so helpful that I took the time to track down how to sent a compliment & provided her name & details about why she was so awesome. Her supervisor responded & asked if she could send my feedback more broadly. I agreed, &provided additional information & compliments. It was great. Good service deserves that kind of feedback. 
• Did some additional volunteer work for our soccer club senior night.

What about you? Any wins to share?