Saturday, October 22, 2016

A few frugal things, and splurges too

This is a collection of things that have happened over the past couple of weeks.


  • Sold books the kids are done with - $10 on FB group
  • Made pinto beans for taco meat (from dry - never repeating that again. Such a process ;-))
  • Fed the kids an early lunch to avoid eating out after soccer last weekend
  • Bought 2x$.49 containers of tomatoes. Probably 10 in total. It was so cheap that I had to! Next up - making some sort of fresh tomato sauce with them.
  • Received $2K credit for getting downgraded from flights (used free upgrades) on our way back from Hawaii. Paid $1700 total for the flights, and still getting to fly 1st class on the way there. Flights are now "free", as we can spend the $2K on future flights. ;-) Covered in more detail in a separate post. 
  • Made M an anniversary present vs. buying something. He loved it! I did spend $6 on a card that I really liked, but I'll still call that a win.
  • Picking persimmons in our yard & offering them to a neighbor, who wants to trade for apples. Win/win!
I did treat myself yesterday, in celebration of hitting the two milestones. I went to Starbucks & had a venti passion tea & a breakfast sandwich. I had enough points to cover the sandwich, and used a gift card (gift from Christmas) to cover the tea. Splurges! That said, I used to go to Starbucks all the time, and it never felt like a treat. Now that I never go, it definitely feels like a fun reward.

Also, M bought me cupcakes as my anniversary present. Yum. The famous Sprinkles cupcakes were delicious & thoughtful, but too big, even for a sweet eater like myself. 

We kept our anniversary (today!) very casual, and we are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate with the boys. It will be expensive, but we will bring our own bottle of wine, in a nod to frugality. Next weekend we will celebrate with a little weekend getaway. Can't wait!

And with that, I'm off to get my day started - a hike with the boys, an early lunch, laundry, soccer, persimmon picking, and house cleaning. It's a glam life here. ;-) 

What about you? Any frugal wins for the week?

6 comments:

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  2. Now I would love to know what you made M that was such a hit. Maybe not for the blog though if an anniversary gift. (LOL). I know what you mean about things not feeling like treats when they are so often. When we had a Panera in town, it was nothing to just stop there for bagles, or grab lunch on school relelase days with DD. Now that the closest one is a destination drive away, the meal was so much better (plus having a gift card made it cheap for us.) We've not brought our own wine, but consdering the mark-up in restuarants, even with the corking fee, it has to be better. However, learned from my SIL who tried to bring two bottles on the cruise, not the best idea in a suit case. Of course they broke on her husbands clothes, not hers, requiring all to be cleaned on day one.

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    1. I went through all of our old pictures & cards, and wrote a synopsis of our relationship, matching up all of the milestones, and talking about the adventures, challenges & fun we've had. We haven't had much time together & it's way too easy to forget why you're married when you are caught up in the bustle, and forget how far you've come. I had so much fun making it. We both cried when he opened it, and M is most definitely *not* an emotional guy. :-)

      LOVE Panera & also used to live really close, so I understand! There are multiple high end restaurants near us with no corkage fee - it's glorious. We buy my favorite wine (once a year Costco gets a small shipment) for about $30/bottle. This is not a regular night wine. Anniversary, birthdays, etc, obviously. ;-) It sells for $80/bottle at the restaurant we go to, and we bring our own.

      I'm thinking maybe you could wrap the wine bottles in bubble wrap before packing in the suitcase? But yes, risky move!

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  3. You conquered Starbucks!! Definitely better when it feels like a treat. You did so amazing on those flights, what a huge thing to know that you can plan your next trip after Christmas with that credit. I bought 60 double rolls of toilet paper in our big expensive store that sometimes has meat on sale too - bought nothing else as could find no deals but that was a loss leader so we are good for months! Spent a whole afternoon with Mom thrifting, found one book for .80 cents so cheap day out. I cooked a new meal last night which wasn't a huge hit but was a cheap meal and something different in our diet. I collect vintage but have almost hit capacity there so two boxes I found last year for $4 total I have listed on our Facebook bidding site as I know they are worth much more. I just sold one for $8 and have the other listed as a starting bid for another $8. If they don't sell worst case scenario I keep it. I like that this hobby can start paying for itself (plus the money is going into the liquor fund for our Greece Trip lol)

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    1. Mean to say I tried soaking black beans one time and far too long a process and never came out like canned ones do. I won't go there again either.

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  4. I agree about doing something occasionally vs. regularly. It really does make indulgences special!

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