Boy. I feel like I have been doing almost nothing besides attending lectures, doing clinicals, studying, doing homework, doing school projects…I am managing to keep up with cooking, sleeping, and exercising, but aside from that, it’s school, school, school.
Chiquita always joins me when I study
But, let’s see what I can come up with! I guarantee you they’re all gonna be small frugal things.
1. I boiled my washcloths
My little old rental house doesn’t have super great circulation, and also the windows aren’t very air-tight. So, the summer months are a bit humid, which means my kitchen dishcloths have gotten a little funky from not drying as fast as usual.
Soooo, I boiled them.
In case you’ve missed it the times I’ve talked about it before: if you boil your washcloths in water for ten minutes, they will smell SO MUCH FRESHER. And all you need is water. Easy and cheap.
I boiled the kitchen ones plus the ones I use to wash my face every night. And then I ran them all through the wash with some vinegar added, which really does help to make them softer.
2. I bought some student symphony tickets
Symphony season is here! And since I still have my student status, I bought my super cheap tickets for a few upcoming concerts.
Gonna need to dig out my Target symphony dress again 😉
This will force me to take a little break from all the studying, and I am very excited about that.
3. I used multiple Panera discounts
I worked on Saturday, and I picked up Panera on the way home for Zoe and me. I had a gift card, so the whole purchase was free.
(I’d gotten the gift card with my credit card reward points, and I bought it when Panera cards were marked down on my credit card rewards site.)
In addition to all this, I used a “buy one, get one for $5” coupon code, and I got two discounted cookies in the app for us as well.
I always like to stretch my gift cards as far as possible. 🙂
4. I used a Michael’s rewards voucher
My classmate and I did an activity with the patients on our mental health rotation and we needed some watercolor supplies for it.
So, I popped into Michael’s, bought some supplies on sale, and also used a rewards voucher they’d emailed me recently.
5. I got two Native deodorants for $8
These usually run about $13, but I got two at CVS for $8 total, using a combo of discounts.
(Here’s how I work things at CVS.)
Plus, I got a $5 ExtraBucks reward sent to my card for buying two deodorants, so it’s kinda like they cost $3 total. Kinda?
(Relatedly, I wrote a whole post about all the natural deodorants I tried.)
Nora8
Wednesday 25th of September 2024
1. I continue pulling things, haphazardly, from the freezer. This week we used up all of the rye bread and more of the corned beef in reuben sandwiches. 2. I used some 1% milk that I purchased for guests who don't want to drink our usual whole milk making chocolate pudding. 3. I started going through the fridge and finished off a block of cheese that was fine, but not a favorite. 4. I did a better job at the laundromat this week in the sense of being more time efficient in getting all the laundry done. Hopefully our machine will be fixed soon. 5. I immediately forwarded a small bill that gets reimbursed by work.
Heather Mar
Tuesday 24th of September 2024
-I saw a great new women's health provider today snd the visit (including bloodwork) will be free to me. -I found a trustworthy place cheaper than Amazon for some supplements and even got free shipping. -My husband was feeling sick earlier so we didn't eat out as planned or grocery shop. He's feeling better now! This will help us eat from what we have which is probably good. -I set a reminder to double check some leave time at my work to make sure my time without pay is correct. -I play in a free fantasy football league with former coworkers. No buy-in, only fun. Bragging rights and a small trophy go to the winner each year.
Geneva
Tuesday 24th of September 2024
Trip planning FFT! 1. I menu planned exclusively around our fridge and freezer items for this week – we’re heading out of town next week and I want to make sure that we eat what we have so it doesn’t go bad. Pantry items will hold, fresh fruits and veggies will not. 2. I headed to the dollar store to pick up travel toiletries that we didn’t already have on hand. Since we will be in an Airbnb I can’t rely on hotel toiletries like I normally do. 3. I used a gift card to pick up a few books for my sone to read on the plane. Normally I would insist on library books, but I would prefer to not lose any books that don’t belong to us on our trip. My kindle is stocked with books I got for free with Amazon digital credits. 4. I borrowed voltage adapters from a friend who travels to Scotland frequently to visit her in-laws. 5. I treated my son to Starbucks using stars after he completed a school project he wasn’t excited about (interviewing a store owner for a business class).
Lindsay B
Tuesday 24th of September 2024
1. Mended yet more toddler books.
2. I was able to redeem my $120 of gift cards to a salon that closed! The (previous) owner now cuts hair as a solo stylist and she honored the gift cards without being able to even verify the balance. I’m just grateful to have been able to use them and appreciate that she honored them in her new location.
3. We celebrated our anniversary by eating out with a gift card we’d been given a long time ago.
4. I’m stretching here, but I do think I’ve been saving money by shopping at Aldi recently. I still want to support my local grocery store, but Aldi is the same distance away and I really like their produce.
5. I received yet more free food after choir practice last night from the man who rescues food from distribution points. I came home with some more cottage cheese, tomatoes, squash, carrots, eggplant, and maybe a few other little things. I still have a lot to process from the previous week’s haul of swiss chard, celery, potatoes, and eggplant.
Rebekah in SoCal
Tuesday 24th of September 2024
I bought a gently used SquishMallow and it also helped our marriage. :-) Apparently my husband wanted to get our 1 yr old a $44 Squishmallow for Christmas because she loves stuffed animals. (She does but $44????) I was ready to stand my ground and refuse to buy one, but we found one at a yard sale for $2!
I found a free sweater at the same yard sale.
One year anniversary of using my Henson razor. The handle was $75 but replacement blades are $0.10. After a year we have re-couped the "investment costs."
I found out that our toddler loves salsa and will eat previously refused food if the food is covered with salsa.