Frugal Friday

 Future travel planning

• I booked a hotel in Palm Springs for M's upcoming 2027 days off in March. He prefers to line up his time off for the freebie vacation days, which is fine. We had originally discussed Sedona (booked with Hyatt points), but landed on Palm Springs instead, so we can also go to Joshua Tree. I've never been to Palm Springs, so I'm looking forward to it, and it sounds like March will be a great time to visit. I used Chase travel rewards to book a Hyatt hotel, and after the rewards, it came out to $540. I also received a $250 statement credit back for the type of hotel I booked, dropping the price to $290 total, for three nights. The reservation also came with a $100 resort credit, which I'm sure we will use for a drink by the pool, or something like that. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used my $10 CVS rewards, plus a few cash back offers to restock some of my travel toiletries, while I was waiting to pick up a prescription. 
• Went to the store to pick up a few things, and noticed Ben & Jerry's on sale for $2.99. I also had a $2 off coupon when you buy two, so I bought two containers for a total of $3.99, which is a pretty great deal. Since I was at the store, went ahead & picked up the weekend freebie, which was some sort of gummy candy.
• Uploaded all of my receipts to Fetch. 
• Earned a $2 cash back reward on my credit card for gas.

Earning money

• Just the usual around here, but also met with both HR & benefits to understand timing of leaving & impact to end of year type things. 

Avoiding spending

• Used a BOGO free entree to buy lunch for myself and Sam at Chipotle, and paid with a gift card. It's been rough coming back with jet lag, and not feeling good. Cooking has been low on the priority list.  
• I ordered a new Kindle when mine stopped working. I read A LOT, and it's a daily activity at my house. Luckily, M was able to repair it through a variety of technical workarounds. We were both pretty surprised, as my older edition is no longer supported. I returned the newly purchased Kindle, but it appears I've received a temporary free subscription to Kindle Unlimited, so I will definitely take advantage of that and ensure I cancel again. I really enjoy Kindle Unlimited, as the library doesn't have a tremendous selection of Kindle formatted ebooks. I will binge read in the mean time!

Eating what we have

• My appetite has been a bit low, thanks to the infection, antibiotics + jet lag. As a result, the Chipotle bowl above served as three meals (two lunches, one dinner) for me. Definitely not bad. 
• I also made the most of the Costco grain salad + rotisserie chicken, and that was multiple meals a swell.
• One night, we had bonus diners, so I added a bag of Trader Joes fried rice to the dinner, which easily stretches things out, even if it wasn't very "on theme" for the rest of the meal. 

For others

• Provided meals & a place to shower for one of DS19's friends who is in a bit of a family transition. 

What about you? Any wins to share?