1. I bought marked-down eggs
I was going to make waffles on Sunday night and then I remembered: Oh no! I have no eggs!
So I stopped at a nearby grocery store and was about to grab a dozen eggs for $3.29.
Buttttt then I saw that there were a bunch of damaged egg cartons that were marked down.
I wanted to buy them all (!!), but I picked up three 18-count packages. Two were $1.84 and, inexplicably, the other was $2.24.
Regardless, I was pleased to buy them. I got 4.5 dozen eggs for $5.92, and that is a very happy thing given how egg prices have been lately.
Also, I love that this grocery store is helping the damaged goods to not go to waste.
I will always cheerfully support those kinds of efforts!
2. I got a free 10-piece fried chicken bag
I have a bunch of reward points from buying gas at Royal Farms, so I redeemed them for a free bag of fried chicken.
I have the Royal Farms debit card, which gives me reward points AND $0.10 off per gallon.
Mostly I use it for the discount on the gas, so I frequently forget that I even have reward points, and they just pile up in my app.
So on the occasions when I want to have fried chicken for dinner, I usually can get it for free.
3. I cobbled together a package
I sold a pair of boots on eBay, and the boot box was way too large for any of the envelopes I had.
So, I deconstructed two big padded envelopes from Amazon, taped them together, and that made a very sufficient box covering.
If I had a brown paper bag, that also would have worked, but this was a slightly better solution because now the box is a little more protected.
4. I used up avocados and tomatoes with my breakfast
When I make my breakfast, I generally survey my kitchen to see what needs to be used up and then I make a breakfast meal around that information.
Yesterday I saw that some tomatoes and an avocado needed to be used, so I combined those with some chopped onion and a little salt, and that made a lovely side for my fried eggs*.
*made with my discounted eggs, of course!
Making breakfast this way (after surveying the kitchen) means I rarely eat the same thing twice in a row. It’s always an adventure to see how I can use up what I have!
5. I…
- sold a necklace on eBay
- continued to eat homemade yogurt (so cheap!)
- made a peanut butter and honey sandwich with the heels of a loaf of bread
Your turn! What frugal things have you been up to lately?
P.S. If you have questions about selling on eBay, this post will probably be helpful. It’s specifically about selling books, but the concepts here apply to a lot of things you could sell on eBay.
Leah
Wednesday 17th of May 2023
This vegan waffle recipe has saved me many times when we run out of eggs. My family doesn't even notice a difference https://jessicainthekitchen.com/vegan-waffles/
Amanda
Monday 15th of May 2023
I am catching up on Frugal Girl posts after getting back from vacation/visiting family. :) I love to travel, but spending money is not comfortable or fun for me, so I try my best to keep it as frugal as possible while still enjoying the experience. This time around we:
1) Bought flights with points and a refunded ticket I needed to use anyway. Three of us flew--myself, our daughter (she is special needs and has trouble on long car rides), and my mother-in-law (who is getting to the age where driving 12 hours in a day is too much).
2) Sent the male half of the family via car (my husband and three boys). This is the half of the family better able to do that crazy-long drive. It saved us buying four flights, gave us a car to drive when we got there so we didn't have to rent, and made it cheap to pack things I knew we would need like life jackets and spices but that aren't realistic to bring on a flight.
3) Ate a lot of meals in our Airbnb. We treat restaurant meals as an experience--something worth enjoying and paying for as entertainment. But for most meals eating simply and from the kitchen is just fine. And there was an Aldi about a mile from our Airbnb, so we just bought the crowd-pleasers we buy at home.
4) Really enjoyed ourselves. This trip was more than just a family vacation and time with my sister-in-law. It was also an anniversary trip for my husband and me, made possible because we had my mother-in-law and sister-in-law at hand to watch the kids. My husband and I spent three lovely, child-free days in New Orleans. I found a reasonably priced (for what it was), but still gorgeous, old hotel in the middle of the French Quarter. We also ate a lot of good food. But we did save money on entertainment, for which we spent a total of $12 the whole time. We did a lot of walking around and exploring. But I also researched good audio tours. We took an excellent (and factual, unlike so many of the ghost tours we overheard as we walked around) tour of the French Quarter. Then we hopped on the trolley (an experience in itself!) to the Garden District where we enjoyed another audio tour.
5) Ate a simple dinner of what we had when we all landed back home on Saturday--grilled cheeses and ramen noodles. I did hit the grocery store on Sunday for milk and fresh fruit. But I am going to do an assessment of what is in the freezer today that needs eating up before I do a real grocery run.
DebbieR
Wednesday 10th of May 2023
1. Last month I signed up for a free month of Amazon Prime. When I went to cancel it, they offered me another free month, so I took it and wrote down the date to cancel. We've been watching Jury Duty and other movies only offered on Prime that have been on our list of "to watch" for a while now. 2. My son needed some formal wear for his orchestra banquet. After looking around online, I ordered some suits from Amazon to "try before you buy" using my trial Prime account and they should arrive tomorrow. They were also the lowest price after comparing prices at Kohl's and other stores. 3. Ordered a couple of gift cards from my credit card rewards for end of the year gifts for my kids' bus drivers. Bought the rest (between 2 of them they have 11 teachers) from Kroger on Friday when it was 4x fuel points and used my credit card currently giving 5% rewards on grocery store purchases. 4. Son came home with 2 free gallons of unsweet tea after helping with clean up at his high school which was hosting a district music event. They were bought for the judges but went unused. I'd rather drink sweet tea but this is probably healthier for me. 5. Baked using pantry and freezer items, stocked up on butter on sale, returned library books on time, hung clothes to dry, batched errands and redeemed a coupon for a free slice of pie at our local pie shop.
Christy
Wednesday 10th of May 2023
1. Took my 8 year old on a two day trip to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure for the cost of food, ubers, and gas. Credit card points paid $1500 and I wouldn’t have taken the trip without these points.
2. Tackled some mending I needed to do including fixing a strap on my favorite sports bra that the dog partially chewed through and my son’s band pants.
3. Bought some specialty candy my kids loved for $1 that sold for $7 throughout April.
4. Brought home some food given to me at work that I didn’t want to eat, but my sons loved.
5. My daughter’s new workplace has allowed her to bring home donuts at the end of her closing shifts which the kids all enjoy and which she has been able to also give away to some family friends.
Bonus: Scored a free cinnamon roll at Wanna Cinn for teacher appreciation week.
hmmmm...apparently we like free treats....
Kristen
Wednesday 10th of May 2023
I like free treats too. No shame in that game! :)
Yardley
Wednesday 10th of May 2023
1- used over ripe bananas to make bread 2- used a gift card for a dinner while traveling over the weekend 3- returned a few items we did not need 4- stoped at 2 grocery stores to get the best deals at both instead of getting everything at one place 5- the regulars - coffee at home, library books, pack lunches, meal plan and cook dinners