Frugal Friday

 Another week is flying by! Here are a few things we've been up to. 

Saving on things we buy:

• Used a $20 grocery store to pick up items we needed. As a bonus, they also had $1 off peelie stickers for the oat milk I was buying, so total saved on the trip was $22. 
• As noted in my travel post earlier this week, I was able to use very old British Airways miles to cover two premium economy tickets to Greece (for myself + my sister) for next June. Although it's a long way out, they had limited availability. We're pretty fixed on dates, given my BFF's job at a school, so these dates seem likely. If not, I've checked, and we can adjust to other dates with availability with no penalty. 

Earning money:

• Nothing out of the ordinary here. Sam is finishing his last week of work for the summer, as his job supports summer interns. He was so lucky to find a job that paid well for someone with his experience, and was full time. He was able to save quite a bit of money. On the flip side, the restaurant where Nick works was supposed to undergo a couple of weeks worth of renovations. Instead, they have been closed unexpectedly for five weeks. He had a limited number of weeks to work in the summer anyway, so his savings has taken a major hit. He's enjoyed the time with friends, but is stressed about his college savings & is considering getting a job first semester. We would like him to put that off until at least second semester, so he can get used to college & classes - he's taking very challenging classes as a freshman. We shall see. I like the independence. :-) We will probably provide him a bit more support than planned for his first semester, to dial down the pressure for him. 

Avoiding spending:

• Drove our electric car to our mini vacation getaway in Napa, and charged for free at the hotel, thus eliminating the cost of gas. 

Eating what we have:

• I had a very eclectic dinner that used up a lot of tiny bites in the fridge. Leftover beef kebab with a tiny portion of Mediterranean takeout lunch. One small scoop of remaining tzatziki & hummus. One naan bread. It was delicious all together, and allowed me to clean up the fridge & reduce waste. Always a win. 
• Had unexpected guests for dinner again (oh, teens ;-)), so rather than our planned leftovers, I turned to the hot dogs & buns in the freezer, and we had that with potato salad & fruit. DH also made gyozas, which was Sam's request, despite them not quite fitting with the rest of the menu. Everyone was pleased & full after, which I suppose is the only real goal. It was nice to get the buns & gyozas out of the freezer, and create a bit more space as well. 
• Made banana blueberry muffins for M, using 6 freezer bananas, +1 overly ripe banana from the counter. He requested the addition of blueberries, so I used a combination of fresh, and a small amount of frozen I found in the freezer. 
• Nick's friend's family went fishing in Alaska, and brought some fresh halibut & salmon for us. What a tasty gift! M is the big salmon lover, so he's been working his way through that, and I've had the halibut. 
• I finished up the last of the fruit I cut up with our unexpected guests earlier in the week. Sam wrapped up the gyozas for another lunch. 

For others:

• Booked a flight for my sister for Greece, but in reality, this is a gift for myself, because I absolutely want her to be on the birthday trip!

What about you? Any wins to share?