Frugal Friday

Nick & I are heading to Boulder for move in weekend, which I anticipate to be very pricey! Getting someone set up in a new apartment tends to be that way, even though we've gotten really lucky on a few fronts. His apartment is mostly furnished & my BFF has a few items she's giving him that her daughters don't need. Those will both make a nice dent in our spending needs. I'm also just grateful we don't need to carve out time to try & cobble together furnishings in an apartment, and then figure out what to do with them at the end of the year. 

Saving on things we buy

• Picked up a few things we needed at Trader Joes (my favorite yogurt, mini cucumbers for Nick, and the peanut slaw mentioned below), as well as mini cones for Nick's last week before he heads back to college. I uploaded the receipt to Fetch & iBotta, for the $.25 cash back offer. That's pretty much the only offer I use with iBotta, as we don't buy many brand name items. 

Earning money

• I have a count down on of how many full-time paychecks I have, as well as how many part-time checks I'll be receiving before my employment ends. I'll be very excited to "retire" (I may pick up future part-time work), and have a clear plan for how we will handle our finances until I can tap into my 401k. 
• On a related note, my employer matches the first $1k you put into a college account per year, up to two dependents. Based on my understanding, that match doesn't happen until late January, and I thought I would be ineligible because of the timing of my departure. But, I jumped through a bunch of hoops & filled out the paper work. It turns out that if you are already at $1k by June 30th, they match at that time, and then if not, they match at the end of the year. So, my early planning & saving resulted in a $2k match from my employer for college - which I'm absolutely thrilled about!
• I went to the bank to deal with a CD that was up for renewal. My banker pointed out that if I added a bit from savings to the CD, I would qualify for a higher tiered interest rate. The current CD rates that are paying the highest at my bank are 4 months, so still ample time until I need my savings after my last paycheck. I'll earn another $400 in interest, which is great for no work on my side. 

Avoiding spending

• I attempted to get free car charging at work, but in a frugal fail, my charging app wouldn't log me in & I couldn't reset my password. So, frugal fail on that front. 
• Arranged for M to drop us off at the airport on his way to work today, as Nick & I are headed to Boulder - let the second year of college commence! 
• I was finally successful in getting Nick's health insurance waiver approved for school, saving us close to $3k. This was a multi week journey, and a huge time investment, thanks to some technical hurdles. DONE!
• Took advantage of my 3 free checked bags on United (thanks to status), for all of Nick's stuff. 

Eating what we have

• With the cost of food, we have amped up our attempts to reduce food waste even further. It's not exactly the season in our lives for a lot of elaborate meals, or complicated recipes. But, we have been attempting to stretch our meals further, get creative about incorporating leftovers, etc. On Friday for example, I paired leftover rice with chicken meatballs (TJs) & then topped with a peanut slaw, which really makes the dish. The original "recipe" calls for TJs fried rice, but I preferred M's leftover rice. 
• I found a few small tomatoes that the squirrels somehow missed! So, that makes 4 for the season. ;-)
• I also picked a bunch of fresh herbs for the chicken M made on Saturday (so delicious), and lemons for the chicken. M marinates it for hours before grilling. It's a family favorite. 
• I had leftovers of the rice/meatball/peanut slaw dish above for lunch after my Saturday workout, ensuring no waste. 
• We had eggs that no one was eating, so I made a double batch of egg bites (inspired by Kristen at The Frugal Girl). I included: spinach (had to buy this), cottage cheese (needed to be used), shredded cheddar (purchased for another recipe), diced red peppers (found in the pantry, no idea why it was purchased), green onions (garden) & some salt & pepper. I made a double batch & they were fantastic. Need to work on the cooking time a bit, as they were a PITA to get out of the pan. Sam had some in the late afternoon when they came out of the oven, as he was headed to work. I froze a bunch, and now easy breakfast is in the fridge. They are also really high in protein, and largely used up things we already had on hand. 

For others

• Nick's friend is joining us on our flight to Denver, and then are giving him a ride to where he parked his truck for the summer, to save on transit flights. I will also feed him of course on Friday, as we will be together in transit all day. 
• Hosted one of Nick's friends who doesn't have anywhere to stay for a few days. 
• Offered to check some bags for Nick's friend, who was joining us on our flight, as we still had additional bags we could check for free. 

What about you? Any wins to share?