Frugal Friday

 It's been a very busy week, but I'm looking forward to spending time with my sister & BFF, who are in town for the weekend. 

Saving on things we buy

• Can't think of anything in this category for the week. 

Earning money:

• I got paid $1200 for the last of the class I taught (I missed two classes due to senior events for Nick, so smaller than the previous paycheck). They have asked me to teach again in September, but I'm leaning towards not doing it, and just being available as a sub. My work schedule has me traveling a lot for the first few months, and I'm also pretty tuckered out by the end of the day. Running a class from 6-8 pm is not particularly appealing after a long day of work. But, on the flip side, the huge time investment was the first class, and after that, it takes so much less time for each subsequent class. We'll see.
• I also received my first paycheck, & my sign on bonus. The paycheck was quite small, as it was for just one week of work, and I have an extra $500/check withheld for taxes, particularly because of DH's severance, which isn't taxed nearly high enough to avoid a large bill. I'm also trying to max my 401k, and I'm about 1/2 way there, after the sign on bonus & first check. I'll need to run the math, but I think I'm on track to max at this level of withholding. 
• Received $200 back as a credit card bonus, plus another $10 in rewards for the spending required to earn the bonus (Chase Freedom Unlimited card). The $150 earned through Rakuten is still pending, but will also be credited. (Insert standard disclaimer that you should never open a credit card for rewards unless you are capable of paying it in full each month, & will not be tempted to spend more than normal.)

Avoiding spending

• The big win was cashing in probably six years worth of accumulated United miles (600k) for a business class flight to New Zealand. The actual value is around $10k. I took a LOT of international work trips for that, and can't think of a better way to redeem it than the planned 50th birthday/20th anniversary trip. :-) That said, we started looking at these flights a few months ago, and it was 1/2 the redemption value. We waited to see what would happen with my job, and the price doubled, which was unfortunate. 
• I also redeemed points for two nights at a lovely hotel in Napa in a few weeks. My work has the Wednesday-Friday off, so M & I are going to go enjoy wine country for a few nights. 

Eating what we have

• M made delicious grilled chicken & rice on Sunday, which always generates lots of delicious extras.
• I made a broccoli/beef dish on Saturday, which used up some elderly broccoli. There was enough leftover for Sam to have it as lunch one day, which he enjoyed. He's definitely a leftovers for lunch person, whenever possible.
• We all ate a lot of fresh summer fruit, because it's so delicious right now. Pluots, nectarines, melons, berries... So many delicious options!
• On Friday, we had kind of a smorgasbord of appetizers. I made a caprese, using tomatoes & basil from the garden. I baked up a tray of Sam's favorite samosas, and served that with a few coconut shrimp (end of the bag). It was just the right amount (samosas leftover for Sam's lunch the next day) & it was delicious. 
• Defrosted the last of the fajitas for dinner, and chopped up some sliced cheese to serve with it, as we were out of shredded. Also served with our garden tomatoes & green onions .

For others:

• As part of a work event, I volunteered with my new coworkers at a non-profit. They do multiple things (focusing on preventing homelessness), but we helped with the food pantry section. I packaged & loaded food into cars for people picking up. They happened to have flowers to give away (so cool that a store donated those before they were beyond use) & people were so thrilled to receive fresh flowers. 
• Gave away Nick's old BMX bike on Buy Nothing. Another mom was absolutely thrilled to have it. 

That's it from my side. What about you? Any wins to share?