Five Frugal Things | Schoolbooks already?

1. I bought some 2017-2018 schoolbooks

Regular readers know I usually tackle the task of ordering schoolbooks somewhere around August.

(!)

Nothing like last-minute. 😉

But I got an email saying that the science books I want to use this fall were on sale for a few days.

So, I added them to my cart, and an $8 shipping fee showed up.

I googled for a free shipping code and found one, but it required a $100 minimum spend.

No problem! I added Sonia and Zoe’s Easy Grammar and Wordly Wise books to my cart and my total hit $103.

Perfect.

2. I gave Sonia a haircut.

Sonia’s hair pattern is this: We let her hair grow out all school year long so that she can have a bun at ballet recital time.

Then we chop it all off for a fresh summer haircut.

Zoe’s still waffling about whether or not she wants to get her hair cut.   But I am totally not handling that task myself…her super thick, straight hair is beyond my skill level and has been for many years!

Sonia inherited my not-so-thick-and-also-slightly-wavy hair, though, which makes a DIY-haircut a 15-minute project, tops.

Related: Here’s how I do a simple at-home bob haircut.

I use these awesome Tweezerman scissors to do haircuts and also to trim my bangs.   SO MUCH BETTER than those scissors that come with hair-buzzer kits.

Or, heaven forbid, the household scissors you use for any other task besides hair.

3. I sold a schoolbook on half.com

Last spring, I listed a hardcover science book on half.com and promptly forgot about it.   But I got the lovely, “You made a sale!” email from half.com and now I have $21 in my account.

I love that there’s no time limit on half.com listings…you can just put it up there and forget about it until someone buys your book.

I packaged the book in a padded envelope I’d saved from an online order, of course.

I noticed it had a rip in the back after I’d already packaged up the book, so I just put some tape over the rip and it should be fine.

4. I am usin’ up my Hungry Harvest produce like a boss.

Hungry Harvest exists to save food from being wasted…so, using up what I get in my box feels pretty important to me.

If you follow me on Instagram (I’m thefrugalgirl over there.   Come join me!), you know we’ve been busy using our Hungry Harvest avocados to make avocado toast.

I grilled up some yellow squash, even though I’m not a huge fan of yellow squash, so, gold stars for me!

I’m slowly using up the kale in our daily breakfast smoothies (love that kale lasts for so long in the fridge.)

 

And I planted my last three green onions so they could grow instead of going bad in my fridge.

(If you want to try Hungry Harvest, use code FRUGALGIRL for 25% off your first box.)

5. I kept herbs alive since January!

My house is pretty dark in the winter, which makes indoor plant growing very challenging.

But remember how I tried the Thai Beef salad recipe in January? I had to buy a mint plant and a basil plant to supply the necessary herbs, and you guys, I kept those two plants alive until now!

This is amazing for me and my black thumb, especially considering that basil doesn’t really love being indoors.

Anyway, yesterday I took them out of their teeny original containers and planted them in a pot that I got for free from a neighbor.

I think they’ll be much happier that way.

Your turn!

Share your own Five Frugal Things in the comments.   What money-saving stuff have you been up to?

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