Frugal Friday

 

Saving on things we buy

• Stopped at Costco for some inexpensive gas & lunch for five on our way home. 

Earning money

• Made $20 doing a focus group on honey, of all things.
• Cashed out $32 from the survey site I use
• Got an offer for a side hustle/part time job. I'm still looking for a full-time option, but this part-time one would be fun, and is something I'm interested in doing full-time in the future. I would start in April. 

Avoiding spending

• Went through the boys room (the teens had an adjoining room to us) after they left for skiing. Gathered up the garbage scattered throughout to make things easier for the cleaning lady (and, of course left a tip!) & found: a few snacks, two sealed drinks still in the fridge, a glove (will try to pair this up with someone's lost glove) & an unopened container of toothpaste. Brought it all home with us, minus a few of the snacks & drinks that the teens were thrilled to see on the car ride home.
• Booked a flight to visit Sam using an airline gift card (bought at a discount at Costco around the holidays) + two nights of a hotel stay, using hotel points. 
• Booked a college tour trip with Nick. Staying with a friend, and used Southwest gift cards (bought at a discount at Costco as well), and a small travel voucher that Nick had. 

Eating what we have:

• Got home after a relatively long drive from Lake Tahoe, and then unpacked the car. No one was particularly in the mood to make dinner, but I threw together a quick salad, baked some coconut shrimp, and heated up edamame (my favorite way is with a little sesame oil & kosher salt.) 
• I've been phoning it in with menu planning, so we've been eating a lot from the freezer. We had chicken teriyaki one night (freezer leftovers), as well as grilled burgers (from the freezer as well). We had the burgers over salads.
• For lunches, I've also been taking advantage of the soups I made & froze earlier in the month.
• I used overly ripe bananas to make banana bread for an event Nick is going to, and also banana muffins for our freezer. 

For others

• Planned and coordinated a social event for the soccer team. Nick is the captain, so some of this fun work falls to me. ;-) 

What about you? Any wins to share?