Frugal Friday, or Saturday

I hope everyone had an absolutely lovely holiday for those who celebrate, and the rest enjoyed a quieter week. 

 In the non-saving category, I extended Nick's trip by one day, which cost $15. A pretty great deal for the revised flight. He asked to not fly back until the day before classes, and originally was planning to fly back the day the dorms open. Turns out his friends won't be back, and he's likely to be able to work the day he was planning to fly back. He's also more likely to be able to share an Uber with a friend, if the weather is terrible. 

Our flight yesterday was delayed by close to 5 hours (weather challenges, with lots of wind in San Francisco), so we had a very non-fun time at the airport. On the frugality front, we paid for the boys to join us in the lounge, and we all had a reasonably comfortable place to hang out & eat lots of snacks & drinks. Given the length of our delay, I'd say this was cheaper than buying food at the airport. On the flip side, we had to pay extra for parking, as we'd gone over our pre-paid limit. 

Saving on things we buy

• Uploaded a Costco receipt to iBotta, where they had a $.10 towards any receipt offer. 

Earning money

• The boys continue to work lots of hours, and one of my friends actually had a holiday dinner at the restaurant they work at on Saturday. She sent me pictures of Nick with her son (they played soccer together for years) & Sam was her server's assistant. So cute. 
• I held on & got through some really crazy days at my work, and am on call for about half of the days until I go back to work. Technically, my office is closed. In reality, our job is associated with a retail online business, and there is no such thing. 
• I "earned" $60 in meal vouchers for the flight delays, and we had eaten at the lounge. Did you know you can add those vouchers to different food apps? I've only tried Starbucks, but I've also heard it works for other locations. You add the form of payment, then "top up" your account for the exact amount of your voucher. Then delete the payment, as it's now empty. This helps when you won't use the voucher, as they are good only the day of your flight, typically. 

Avoiding spending

• We re-use gift bags & bows for many, many holidays & did the same this year. Sam also got a gift bag from his GF that we saved, so that's now in the mix. 

Eating what we have

• Cut up a rotisserie chicken from Costco (so inexpensive!) & took a small amount of the meat for dinner with myself & M. The rest of the chicken is in the fridge, and the bones our in the freezer, awaiting my next broth making opportunity. 
• With the rotisserie chicken, I also roasted a bunch of vegetables, including some that were about to go off. Two large peppers + carrots, into the mix. I now have roasted vegetable leftovers to use for future lunches. 
• Defrosted chicken noodle soup for lunch after a long hike. 

For others

• Put together a few last minute donations. 

What about you? Any frugal wins to share?