Five Frugal Things (In which I still wear a watch.)

You know something funny? I started doing Five Frugal Things because I thought, oh, that’ll be a quick and short post idea. And when The NonConsumer Advocate does ’em, they ARE short.

But I always seem to end up having a lot to say. Over 750 words are about to come right at ya.

1. I got a new watch battery for free.

I have a watch.   I know this is vaguely old-fashioned of me, especially now that I have a smart phone.

But.

I do not always have my smart phone with me, whereas I do always have my wrist with me.

So I still feel that wristwatches are pretty handy.

(Handy?   Wristy?)

Mine is a 14 year old Citizen watch, and I’ve had to get a couple of repairs done to it, but the repairs are always cheaper than a new watch of similar quality.

Some years back, when the battery wore out, I went to Kay jewelers to get a new battery, and they sold me this $12 lifetime warranty, which means I get free battery replacement for as long as I own the watch.

I’m not really sure how they make money on this, unless it’s because people don’t keep their watches for long.

I was maybe not the average customer they had in mind. 😉

I’ve gotten several free batteries already, and I probably will get several more before my watch completely gives up the ghost.

2. I blended up chipotle peppers.

You know how chipotle peppers come in a small can, but you still never use them all up at once because they are SO HOT?

(Incidentally, in an episode of Worst Cooks in America, a contestant blended up a whole can and put them in a sauce.   That made me laugh so hard.)

Anyway, I’ve been freezing them for future use, but an astute reader pointed out that I could just blend them and store ’em in the fridge, because they keep forever.

Done.

And now when I need to use them, they’re already pre-chopped/diced/pureed, which is perfect.

3. I noticed a medical bill error.

One of my kiddos had to have a sleep study (I seem to have passed down my large tonsils.   Boo.), and we got a bill for $1800.

(!)

Fortunately, I was expecting a rather large bill because we have a high-deductible plan and it’s early in the year, so for a while, everything’s out of pocket.

(This is why I am still fairly cheerful even after receiving the bill.   Appropriate expectations help a lot.)

BUT.

I noticed that the bill mentioned something about “if you have insurance” so I called, and it turns out, something got lost along the way and they hadn’t billed insurance.

I am super glad I called because if I hadn’t, I’d have paid the bill and it wouldn’t have even counted toward our deductible.

I’m hoping that the bill will be a bit less once it’s processed because I think there’s an in-network discount.   But at the very least, our deductible will be almost satisfied for the year.

And we do have some money put into an HSA every month, so that’ll help a bit too.

PSA: It is very worth it to know your medical plan and to check every bill you get. I’ve caught loads of errors over the years and saved hundreds of dollars by doing so.

PSA II: If you have the money available, it’s smart to pay a large medical bill all at once.   Oftentimes there is a discount (10% or so) for paying in one lump sum.   When I get the reprocessed bill back, that’s what I’m planning to do.

4. I got a discount + cashback on a birthday present.

It’s birthday season at my house (Mr. FG and all three girls have birthdays within a 6-week span), so I’ve been busy getting presents.

I signed up for an email list to get 20% off of one purchase (which shall remain secret because people in my house read my blog!), and I also remembered to shop through Upromise, which got me 9% cash back.

Not too shabby, I say.   Not too shabby.

5. Miscellaneous frugality

I….baked three loaves of whole wheat bread, made a smoothie for breakfast, cooked dinner at home, wore Goodwill jeans and a clearance shirt, washed laundry in cold water (and then dried it in my drier, because I hate line-drying), used a coupon for a free pair of undies, and mailed back some clothes I ordered and didn’t like.

(It is totally not frugal to keep clothes you don’t love. And the return shipping was free anyway.   Yay!)

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How about you?   Want to take a turn?   Leave your own Five Frugal Things in the comments!