Friday, December 2, 2022

Frugal Friday

The weeks are whizzing by, as we enter the home stretch to the end of the year. It felt like a solid frugal week, but maybe that's because I had to purchase a few things. Any time you're purchasing something, there's more of an opportunity to find it for less, or save a bit here & there. I also did so, so much better than previous years, on only buying things on the list! I avoided many impulse purchases, which I've struggled with in previous years. 

Saving on things we buy

  • Bought a Starbucks card I needed on Black Friday, and earned a $5 bonus gift card
  • I bought new running shoes a week or so ago, and noticed that Rakuten hadn't applied the cash back. I filled out a quick form, and earned $4.40 back. Sidenote: running shoes are expensive. I'm on a schedule of buying two pair/year, around the holidays & trying to make them last for at least 6 months. It's a bit hit or miss, whether they last that long.
  • Uploaded a receipt I found in the car (maybe Nick's, or a friend, when they went to the movies) to Fetch, & saved a couple of bucks. 
  • Bought two pair of Nick's tennis shoes, at a large BF discount. He is so hard on the shoes, and plays a lot of tennis, so I'm hoping these will last through the summer.
  • Saved $540 by calling & asking for a price adjustment to our Christmas flights. They were on sale for Cyber Monday, and I was able to get the money added as a credit to our travel account. 

Earning money

  • Listed a few new items on eBay
  • Finally earned enough points on Fetch to cash out a $5 reward. 
  • Made $150 selling furniture we weren't using. I'd kept it for a few months, to make sure we wouldn't change our minds, and then listed it for sale. It sold very quickly, and I had MANY interested folks, so lesson learned for next time - I didn't have it priced quite right. ;-) 

Avoiding spending

  • I picked up a large bag of apples from a neighbor. I'm pretty impressed they are growing apples in our area - we're more of a citrus fruit climate. 
  • Picked up a bag of cranberries from another neighbor. I put it in the freezer for future cranberry muffins. 
  • Used expiring Starbucks points to buy myself a latte, after a very early workout. 

Eating what we have

  • I made a large crockpot of soup on Wednesday, knowing we'd be home late due to Nick's game. We had it for dinner one night, and I had three lunches, & then I froze the rest. 
  • Made Philly cheesesteaks, out of things we had in the fridge/freezer, leftover from last time we made them. We're slowly but surely making freezer progress. 
  • Made a squash soup out of a few different squash varieties we grew, roasted & then froze a few months ago. I added fresh herbs from the garden, and also some celery I had that needed to be used up. It turned out delicious. Froze a small portion for a future lunch. 
  • I also used the last of some bread purchased on Wednesday to make a second batch of goat cheese crostini, which the boys adore. We had that as an appetizer, while decorating the tree. And, when I say "we", I mean, I had one piece, M had zero, & the boys ate the rest. ;-) 
  • Ate the rest of a taco bake over mashed potatoes, for a lunch & a single serving dinner. 
  • Made another loaf of foccacia bread, out of yeast that is not very active. Because the foccacia rises for so long, it still works reasonably well. The boys love it, so it's a win.
  • We used/froze all of the dinner leftovers by Wednesday, which is an accomplishment. We cook on weekends, and then after we're out of prepped meals, we dig into the freezer. 

For others

  • Gave stuff away on Buy Nothing
  • Began what I assume to be the last of a mentoring project at work
What about you? Any wins to share?

10 comments:

  1. You really did have a solid week. The flight credit alone worth the time for the week, but it all adds up. I'm with your boys. I love gist cheese and crostini so together, delicious.

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    1. It's Nick's favorite appetizer for sure. I rarely make it, because in previous days, I would also eat a lot. As teens, there is pretty much zero opportunity for me to drag any away from them. ;-)

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  2. Funny story, back when I was running, I always bought the same style and kind about every 6 months. I came home from my 5 miles and propped my feet up to read the aper and I had one old shoe and one brand new shoe. As they were the same color and style I did not notice when I put them on in the dark. But my knee on the old shoe leg was so sore for about 3 days after. I was very careful to throw old shoes away after that. Or hide them for paint shoes.

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    1. Ha! I have two very similar pairs right now, and had a similar experience. I thought I was wearing the more supportive pair on a run, and I'd grabbed the wrong pair. I could definitely tell the differnece.

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  3. Thank you for your condolences on Beaux Gatsby.

    Bailey goes through her athletic shoes about every 6 months too. If not she’ll end up with foot and hip pain. It’s worth the cost to keep your body healthy.

    Good deal on selling the furniture and getting apple and cranberries from your neighbors. We did soup this week too. It’s the perfect weather for it. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 😊

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    1. It's totally worth the cost for good shoes. I'm with you. I don't mind paying for quality, and just look for good sales on things like that.
      Hope you have a great week!

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  4. From Precious: You did great on all of your savings especially on the flights! I am drooling over your squash soup. YUM!

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    1. The soup was fabulous! M is not a soup fan, but he loves this one.

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