It hasn't felt very frugal lately, but a few wins here & there.
Saving on things we buy
- Used a $20 reward at the grocery store, along with a $1 coupon to pick up a few things. Out of pocket was $15.78, for quite a few items (3 packages of sparkling water, taco shells, ice cream, 4 Gatorades, romaine lesson, salad, & breakfast sausage). I also earned another $5 back between Fetch & iBotta.
- On a second trip to the grocery store (you can tell I hadn't been home, and wasn't terribly efficient with my trips. Luckily, the store is 5 minutes from my house), used another $20 reward, & a $1 coupon to pick up some things. (Oat milk, two salads, chicken, protein bars, etc). My out of pocket was $6.46, and I earned $2 via Fetch, and $.25 via iBotta.
- I used flight credits for our summer family trip to Bend. M had a United credit from his cancelled holiday travel, which offset the majority of the cost.
- I used discounted airline gift cards for flights for the rest of us, saving a bit of additional money.
- Nick needed an (almost) entirely new wardrobe: underwear, socks, shoes for tennis x2, shorts, tshirts & a hoodie. He's grown tremendously, and is pretty hard on his clothing. That wasn't cheap (to say the least), but I did shop for offers, used gift cards, and clicked through Rakuten where I could.
Earning money
- Earned $13 from Rakuten
- Sold a jacket on eBay, and made $78. The eBay sales have been glacier like (I haven't spent time on this, so unsurprising). It was nice to have a win.
- Earned/redeemed a $5 Fetch reward
Avoiding spending
- Other than optimizing airline flights, I can't think of anything!
Eating what we have
- We ate all of the leftover lasagna for dinner (could have used one more slice, but the boys filled in with a few snacks after soccer).
- I made a couple of salads, and topped them with dinner leftovers
For others
- I'm volunteering as a judge for a UN girls in tech program, and enjoying the work so much. What a highlight of my day.