Friday, March 3, 2023

Frugal Friday

I've been continuing to look for deals, selling things here & there, & making progress on our freezer meals. 

Saving on things we buy

  • I used a $20 reward for a grocery purchase. I picked up mini ice cream bars that were clearanced out, and had both an iBotta & Fetch offer (rare to be able to combine), making each box about $.25. 
  • I also used a $4 CVS reward, and picked up some candy to go with a birthday gift. Teen gifts are typically cash or gift cards, so it's nice to have a bag/box of candy to go with it. 
  • Used another $8.50 in CVS rewards (they keep sending them) to buy two giant bags of popcorn & two boxes of tea, for a $1.45. (That includes 2 bags, which I didn't purchase, but was somehow charged for. That's the second time it's happened to me on self checkout, so I obviously need to pay more attention.) 

Earning money

  • I sold two pair of sandals on eBay. 

Avoiding spending

  • I've given up coffee, as it's been causing me some stomach issues. Although M still has coffee, I'm saving the cost of one espresso (made at home) per day, as well as the almond/oat/soy milk that I'd buy to go in it. I'll use up my remaining stash of alternative milk in smoothies. 
  • I picked up the Friday Freebie (plain Greek yogurt), which happened to be on our shopping list for a recipe. Love it when that happens. 
  • I belong to a workout studio that charges a monthly fee. You sign up for classes, and if you cancel with less than 8 hours until the class, you get charged a missed class fee. I've only missed once (when our garage was flooding), and I almost overslept on Monday. I was attending the 7 am class, and got almost no sleep, as M has been sick. I really, really thought about skipping, but pushed myself & went! I got in a workout, and avoided the fee. 
  • Called United & got the boys seats for our Dubai flight upgraded. (I get complimentary upgrades for everyone on our reservation, as a part of my status, but I'd split the reservations, and needed to have it done manually. It saved $2k in upgrades.) We're still waiting to see if M & I will be upgraded to business class, so fingers crossed. 

Eating what we have

  • I'm continuing to eat up random leftovers for lunches, and typically fast in the mornings (no breakfast). By the time lunch rolls around, I'm willingly to almost anything. 
  • I've been making smoothies, when we don't have obvious leftovers. I like a small scoop of peanut butter in the smoothie, both for the taste, and for the extra protein.
  • We've been doing great eating things from the freezer, and have whittled our freezer stash way down (our goal for February). 
  • I used up two freebie yogurts in a muffin recipe, as well as almond milk (vs regular milk). I'm trying to use up almond milk purchased for my coffee, as I'm not drinking it any more. 
  • Finished off the last of the ham & bean soup I made for the freezer in January. 
  • Had another two freezer meals, rounding out our menu on a busy week (fiesta chicken + the last of the pulled pork)
  • Out of probably 25 freezer meals when we started the year, we're now down to: 
    • 1 single serving soup container
    • 1 serving of taco meat
    • 1 serving of chicken tikka masala

For others

  • Volunteered at work
  • Gave away a bunch of ski gear on Buy Nothing
What about you? Any wins to share?

5 comments:

  1. Nice job, and even more than impressive given how demanding I imagine your job, and busy your household.

    Over here we've been in training for our walk across Spain, which in conjunction with our 'normal' busy lives, has left us to tired to go shopping or spend money. We do enjoy lunch out after our training walks, but we share and drink water, so that keeps the spend pretty modest.

    Tamara R

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    1. It's been a huge gift to have another driver. This is the first soccer season in 12 years where we haven't needed to drive Sam to/from practice 3x/week. That alone is a huge tiem saver.

      Your walk training sounds amazing! Nick was telling me yesterday that the person who tops the leaderboard at the ski resort we go to is 70. He's skied 100 days this season & is super hard core. I loved it! They had an entire profile on him yesterday, and he is so living his best life.

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  2. My wins are more the staying out of stores variety. I need to try selling items a bit more.

    God bless.

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  3. You had a really great week! Well done! I must be doing something wrong, cause CVS only sends me a $4 Q every week...lol. I can't complain about that though. Hope you & your family have a great weekend.

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    1. I think it's part of the "new customer" allure. I'm guessing it will slow down. But, I do love all of the extras!

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