Friday, March 4, 2022

Frugal Friday

It's been a really challenging week, with the majority of my work time spent dealing with the situation in Russia & Ukraine. Several of my team members have family members directly impacted, and it's hard to focus on anything other than that. It feels pointless to share how I saved a few bucks at the grocery store, but ... focusing on the small things I can do in my own life is something, I suppose. 

Saving on things we buy

  • I redeemed $20 worth of grocery store rewards, and took advantage of a $1 sale, picking up pasta for $1, and a couple of pasta sauces (also $1). I also picked up a few items I needed for dinner during the week. 
  • Uploaded all of our travel receipts to Fetch.
  • Purchased travel gift cards at the grocery store, earning $45 in grocery store rewards

Earning money

  • I earned a $100 bonus randomly at work, which can be used for a meal out. M & I are going to dinner 

Avoiding spending

  • Nothing I can think of 

Eating what we have

  • Before we checked out of our ski condo, I assembled PB&J sandwiches with the rest of the bread, and peanut butter/jelly. I packed those in my backpack, for easy snacks & to avoid waste. 
  • I also packed up the salt & pepper shakers we bought (these can be tricky to find, and are critical for cooking), so we can use them for future trips. I brought home the tiny olive oil container (purchased on another ski trip, and refilled for travel), the leftover coffee I brought from home, a container of mostly full garlic salt I'd purchased, and the remainder of the trail mix. It's almost impossible to use up everything you buy, but we did a pretty good job. And, every meal eaten at the condo definitely paid for itself. Meals out are expensive, particularly when you have four people to feed - two of whom have huge appetites!
  • I used a container of chicken broth (freezer) for an orange chicken dish. I almost used a purchased can, but remembered the homemade broth in the freezer. 

For others

  • Made several large donations to refugees
  • Donated to the school tennis team
  • Arranged several carpools for soccer parents
  • Gave a ride to a tennis game & took a few boys to lunch
Any wins for the week? 

2 comments:

  1. I was wondering how your team might be directly effective. Saving money and then donating is thrifty generosity.

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  2. PB&J sandwiches are one of my best travel hacks with kids. We did a big tour around Cape Breton Island a few years ago. We took trailmix, carrot sticks, apples, some tinned smoked oysters, crackers...and then would make PB&J on the go (I was going GF at the time, so I didn't eat any) by just packing some soft, mini-brioche buns, a jar of PB and a jar of jam. Easiest/best vaca meals ever...and they have become my GO TO travel meal for the kids - especially since they can't have PB at school.

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