Five Frugal Things | adding to the Converse collection

Facebook Marketplace for my grandchildren Xmas presents. I always fine something they would want and it save me a ton of money !

1. We paid off our house mortgage and are completely debt-free! It felt good to make that last payment and we were able to pay it off in 10 years. 2. Sold a few of toys and games that my kids have outgrown. I had posted them for sale on our local FB group before but no takers. I have found that reposting at different times of the year makes a big difference! Yielded almost $50 and my kid was happy to get almost half of that from his toys. 3. Gave away some other non-saleable items on freecycle and were happy to get them out of the house! Also gave away our kids' plasma car to another family with young kids at our church who should get many more years of play out of it. 4. Bought several baby books in brand-new condition from Goodwill for a friend's baby gift. Made sure I wiped them down first! Used $5 Kohl's cash and a 40% discount to buy an on-sale baby outfit to complete the gift. 5. Used up a bag of overripe tomatoes from the produce discount section, cleaned out and reorganized the fridge and freezer to better use what food we have, hung clothes out to dry, batched errands, cashed out my earnings from Top Cash Back for a visa card and used it to buy printer ink from Amazon, and recycled an old envelope to mail an item to return postage-free.

Not as frugal, but: -I bought my son a pair of soccer cleats from ebay (not the cheapest available, but the ones he wanted to wear) and the seller took a week before shipping it out. When I sent a polite message to see if he really was going to ship it out by the stated arrival date (otherwise I would need to buy another set of cleats for my son to wear when the season started), he sent it out, it arrived on time and included a pair of new socks! -Son wanted to buy a book for the upcoming school's author visit. I did, even though it was more expensive than I would have liked because: 1) he normally needs lots of encouragement to read, and it's rare that he'll ask for a book, and 2) it was supporting a local book store instead of the big box chain.

1. Fixed the wireless phone package by upgrading to a new program that will allow unlimited data. I have to do an update to get paperless statements and automatic bank withdrawals which in all saved me $40. Daughter was the one going over our 2GB limit. 2. Ate all food from home. 3. Skipped shopping at the drugstores i.e. Walgreens and CVS. 4. Turned off the AC in the house. 5. Filled up car at Costco for $3.29/gal on Friday and then stayed home on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

The Converse are so fun, love them!

Whew, this week was the shake-life-like-a-snowglobe and see what happens next. Had childcare all lined up for the 4 kiddos and was getting ready to head out of town for a short getaway when hubby (who hadn't been feeling great) got a positive Covid test. First official one ever, although 2 family members have antibodies but no recollection of contracting it . So, quarantine instead of a getaway and planning nice meals for 6 with what was on hand for 5+ days. Sooooo....

1. Pumpkin muffins with a cake mix and canned pumpkin (no egg since we used them up for breakfast). Turned out awesome. Also, a chocolate cake was made with mayo subbed for said eggs, super moist and a bit crumbly but still good.

2. Sliced up 49 (not a typo!) free jars of dill pickle spears and added goodies to make our annual sweet/hot Christmas gift pickles. The pre-sliced ones I usually buy have nearly doubled in price this year, so I saved $$$ by using what we had. Also future me is happy that I won't have to think about this closer to Christmas. Listed jars for free on FB and my phone is exploding with folks wanting them. I'm planning to make some of your Frugal Girl grape juice jelly for extra gifts!

3. Not necessarily me but my husband's frugality. He's feeling better and is working on a bathroom renovation during our quarantine. He's handy, but is also great at finding YouTube videos on things he needs to learn, so he's expanded his knowledge a lot over the last 20 years. All we're out is materials (we had them all here already) and the new flooring was free through a company that ships products to consumers to try and give reviews on. We're putting a few of the removed pieces on FB for sale.

4. Was able to clean out a chest freezer and unplug it until needed later. It's an older model so I know it's pulling lots of power.

5. Spent an absolutely delightful afternoon making cute upcycled note cards from destroyed children's books. I find cheap envelopes at thrift stores, have a tub of cardstock and the like from a friend that cleaned out her office, and all I'm out is the adhesive. They make sweet gifts and I love seeing books that were headed to the trash be made into treats that brings smiles.

* Extra win for checking all of the college info postcards that are coming through the mail to my high school senior. Several of them have had codes for waiving the application fee and we're encouraging him to spread a wide net to see what comes up. He can't lose on a free application for college.

You have inspired me to "document" my frugal habits. Some I've done for so long, I don't even think about it as being frugal, just habitual. However, I often feel like I need to do more to be frugal and/or environmentally wise. So, my beginning of October resolution is to keep a list of frugal/smart things we do. Thanks, Kristen for inspiring me!