1. I saved on Joshua’s work shirts.
The coffee shop where Joshua works is phasing in a new dress code, so Joshua needed a bunch of blue chambray shirts.
Luckily, Old Navy makes shirts in slim, and they had a chambray one on sale for $20.
Plus, I had a 40% off coupon code. So, I ordered him five shirts for $60!
I remembered to go through TopCashBack (referral link), so I’ll get a few dollars back on my order as well.
And since it’s not a huge hurry to get these, I selected the free shipping option.
Joshua already owns one Old Navy chambray shirt (gray, so it’s not the right color for work) and it fits him nicely, so hopefully the story will be the same with these.
2. I used a rebate gift card at the grocery store.
I’d been carrying around a prepaid gift card from a tire rebate for a while and never remembered to use it. But this time, I did!
So that was $50 of groceries that didn’t go on my credit card bill.
(Mind you, the credit card gets paid off in full every month and we use it to earn airline miles. I am really not into paying interest!)
3. I booked a discounted hotel.
One of Mr. FG’s co-workers is getting married next month, and the wedding is a little bit far away for driving back afterward.
So, I booked a room for us at the chain where my brother works. We get a pretty good friends and family discount through him, so that’s the chain I always check first.
Sometimes, prices drop even further when the date gets closer, so I’ll keep checking back, and if that’s the case, I’ll cancel this reservation and re-book.
I also chose a hotel that has free parking and an included breakfast, as those two things can bump up the total price of a stay pretty quickly.
4. I have a coupon for Joshua’s new work pants.
The new dress code specifies that he has to have dark denim jeans, and just one pair of his current jeans meet that requirement.
American Eagle online is the only place we’ve found that sells pants that fit Joshua (I highly, highly recommend them if you have a tall, slim teen!), and fortunately, I just got a coupon in the mail from them.
So, I’ll do the same TopCashBack + coupon + free shipping routine that I did for his work shirts.
5. I….
cooked at home this weekend, sent leftovers to work with Mr. FG, made a smoothie for breakfast for us, froze my starting-to-wilt bag of spinach (perfect for smoothies), put the bananas in the fridge so they won’t over-ripen, and I’m going to go start a batch of homemade bread now.
Or maybe rolls.
Or some naan?
So many possibilities.
Your turn!
List your own Five Frugal Things in the comments and inspire us. 🙂
Anna
Wednesday 10th of May 2017
My five frugal things this week include;
1. Bringing leftovers to work for lunch (pretty much always do this).
2. Used a voucher to purchase two knits for winter that were on special.
3. Bought a foundation while it was half price (not an expensive brand anyway).
4. Did our grocery shop online, choosing items from the half price section and menu planning around this.
5. Washed and parceled up some expensive woolen baby garments to gift a friend who is expecting her first child, they are like new because I've looked after them so carefully. She was thrilled as she is mindful of spending too.
Love reading about frugal habits, thanks to everyone for sharing. :)
Jenelle
Wednesday 10th of May 2017
I am a few days late on this but I wanted to give it a shot. Not sure this week was the most "super frugal" week for us, but here goes:
1. After adopting a dog (and paying the adoption feed and buying all of the necessary items...not frugal), I saw that many of the items we purchased on Amazon were falling apart within a day or two. I called Amazon and will be returning ALL of the items for a full refund. Thank you Amazon.
2. We are using a new mechanic that is closer to our new house and found out that the old (chain brand) mechanic was most likely ripping us off with the amount of work they said was "required" for inspections. Never again will we go there. I also will be emailing them to tell them that they lost a customer that they've had for 13 years.
3. My son's allergies have been acting up and after a visit to the dr. and a prescription of eye drops (his poor eyes have been red and swollen for almost two weeks) I call the pharmacy to ask the cost of said prescription. $120!!!! (for eye drops??) I called the dr. back and asked for something different. New prescription? $16...thank goodness I called and asked. I will always call and ask for the cost from now on.
4. I participated in a yard sale and made over $200. I sold about 3/4 of the stuff that I had set out, so double win for me. Less to store and extra money in the bank.
5. We had a party at work for our graduating students (I work at a university) and we had tacos. Though I had to provide a side dish of beans, I did get free lunch yesterday and some leftover cornbread this morning for breakfast.
Anna
Tuesday 9th of May 2017
Just wondering if you have considered getting a Thermomix since you do use dough to make bread and rolls for the family? Are they popular in the US?
Katy
Tuesday 9th of May 2017
1. Made myself on the house coffee, instead of buying a soda. 2. Not frugal, I ordered a pizza with some friends, but then they gave me their leftover pizza and along with my leftover pizza, we'll have supper! :) 3. We're in the middle of moving. We're out of our house and in a temporary place until the big move, but we did not spend any money on packing materials. We packed our stuff up in tubs we already had and cardboard boxes. We used clothes and towels around breakable items. 4. Since we're here temporarily, it's easy to just depend on meals out or prepackaged things from the store. So I made sure to go buy a 5 kg sack of rice and some other basic ingredients to make most of our own meals. 5. I just finished reading Little Women to my kids. It was given to us and provided some free entertainment and nice mama/kids time.
amanda
Tuesday 9th of May 2017
1) This early-April-ish weather has me craving warm food. Luckily I had all the ingredients on hand to make Blue Apron's warm kale and cauliflower salad for lunch. I've never bought Blue Apron, but I like their recipes, and this one hit the spot for a couple of bucks worth of ingredients.
2) Our spending last week was a little higher than I like, so I am purging this week. Anything that isn't absolutely necessary is not getting spent. Even if I am just putting off bills that will be paid next week, it will make me feel better.
3) I ran a few zero dollar errands last night while my husband bathed the kids. The new church shoes I bought for our son from DSW.com last week were a little too small. Instead of paying $8 to ship them back for the right size, I took them by the store. Then I returned books to two university libraries while I was out in that part of town.
4) Took a free bike ride around my beautiful city for exercise this morning. Dear million dollar homeowners, thank you for all the money and energy you pour into your gorgeous homes and yards. It sure is fun to enjoy them for free.
5) I'm volunteering tomorrow morning at our son's school to count raffle tickets. Our son goes to a wonderful city school in the middle of a wealthy neighborhood (we live on the outskirts where the houses are reasonably priced). We won't give money because we consider the school well-funded. We're also not the PTA type. But every once in a while we like to do something that makes us not entirely free riders. :)