1. We are switching to Mint Mobile
We have been happy Ting customers for a long time, but we crunched the numbers and for us right now, it makes more sense to follow Lisey’s lead and use Mint Mobile instead.
This will be especially true as Sonia and Zoe spend more time away from home wifi with jobs and classes and end up needing more data; Mint Mobile will give us basically unlimited data for the same price we were paying with Ting!
And at this point, I am very happy at the prospect of not having to think about data usage.
I’ll put together a more thorough post on this once we get switched, but you can check out what they offer here in the meantime.
(You get a $15 credit if you sign up through those links.)
2. We caught a fraudulent charge
Someone used our main credit card to purchase a 4-phone plan from T- Mobile. Sigh.
So, I called and they closed the card. A new one takes a week to arrive, so it’s good we have a backup credit card!
The $212 charge will be removed, happily. But now I’m going to have to update this one in alllllll the places it’s saved (like for auto-billing).
Still, that’s better than paying $212 for something I didn’t even buy.
And this is a good reminder to always, always check your credit card and debit card statements.
3. I bought Zoe’s government book on eBay
This is a tutorial class, and I just got the email from her teacher with the textbook info.
I hopped onto eBay and about five minutes later, I found one for $20 with free shipping.
The book sells new on eBay for $46, even on Amazon, so I was pretty happy with this purchase
There was a cheaper one in an auction listing, but I decided my time was worth more than waiting around for several days to see how the auction ended up.
I’m happy with a $20 price point and five minutes of my time.
4. I bought some notebooks and graph paper at a steep discount
Zoe and Sonia don’t need many of the traditional back-to-school items, partially because they are homeschooled and partially because they are a junior and a senior this year.
But I did stop at Office Depot to get a big pack of graph paper and a pile of notebooks for math purposes. Notebooks are always so cheap in August!
5. I bought some black-eyed Susan seeds
I keep seeing these blooming everywhere right now, and I want some for my borders.
A packet of seeds is way cheaper than buying the equivalent amount of potted plants. So, if I can get these to grow, I will be money ahead.
I ordered the perennial kind, so I’m thinking I could grow these and plant them outside this fall. But I am open to opinions from all you experienced gardeners!
If it would be better to wait until spring, feel free to tell me.
Ava
Friday 20th of August 2021
Hi Frugal Girl. I'm overrun with black eyed Susans so if your seeds don't do well, I would be glad to mail you some plants in the fall. I am going to have to dig up some anyway as they are crowding out other plants. They would survive the mail just fine. Those things can't be killed. Send me an email if you want some plants & I will get them to you. Ava
priskill
Thursday 19th of August 2021
Gotta love cheap notebooks/school supplies this time of year :)
1. Back on track and back at work -- eating in nights and taking food/drink for school each day. Shopping the grocery bargains. 2. Found a "middle" way to get my iced coffee fix. Using a mix of the free Nescafe instant coffee my daughter gave us when she moved plus cream plus a shot of premade Vanilla Super Coffee, which is sweetened with monk fruit, and for which I have coupons. It is delish! And no fake sugar, and much cheaper than even the McD's iced coffee. I will eventually figure out a replacement for the Vanilla super coffee but so far, stevia et al aren't cutting it. The surprise was -- instant coffee works great for this. Take that, Starbucks! 3. Applied to America's Tires for reimbursement for the tire that exploded on our trip east this summer. Someone, ahem, scraped too close to the bumpy curbstone whilst parking. Cost us $110 to but past priskill had insisted on paying the $15.oo insurance policy on the tire, so we will be reimbursed for most or all of the cost. Husband distrusts warranties but the America's Tire ones have paid off time and again. 4. Still shopping the closet and getting ready to purge. Still not buying clothes and started school with only a new pair of sandals. 5. The Silly Department: Not getting the annual pedicure cuz -- who needs it? True, I wear sandals here practically all year and work at a school with very fashionable ladies whose nails are exquisite. I decided I am old, I mean, vintage, and no one even cares. So just grooming without the polish, which I don't even care for. Yup, silly!
Jennifer Y.
Thursday 19th of August 2021
There was an article in The NY Times today that TMobile experienced a major data breach. The article claims that names and social security numbers of current and prospective customers were compromised not credit card data. But it really might be too soon to tell. We are TMobile users so I am concerned.
Nalani
Thursday 19th of August 2021
@Jennifer Y., My husband has T-Mobile and although he hasn’t gotten any confirmation or acknowledgement about the breach from T-Mobile, we went ahead a put a freeze on his credit just in case. Might want to consider doing that with the 3 different credit bureaus or at least putting a fraud alert. Last month someone took out a person loan for $15,000 in my name. They somehow had my SSN, birth date and address. Thankfully I check my credit once a month and caught it but it was still a hassle to clear up.
Tricia
Thursday 19th of August 2021
1) I packed enough food to eat for 4 meals on a 2 day road trip. This was after spending 6 bucks on 2 drinks at a travel plaza on the first leg. I knew prices had gone up, but really?? 2) I used points to stay overnight at a hotel for free. Back in the day (not so long ago), my husband and I would think nothing of driving 22 hours without an overnight and just trade off with the driving. We are getting too old for this. It was nice to take a break and eat a free hot breakfast before day 2 of driving. 3) I bought a bunch of groceries at Aldi on the way home and used a cooler and ice. We don't have Aldi in Maine, and it felt good to stock up. $1.98 for milk was a great deal compared to Maine. 4) I brought home some Sage for my in-laws plant to dry. I also brought a bag of ripe tomatoes, and my FIL gave us his exercise bike! Yeah for minivans to haul things. 5) My kids gave me a instapot for my birthday and it was at my house when I arrived. I AM SO EXCITED! Now I can finally take it out of my 'save for late' Amazon cart. Ha!
Mar
Wednesday 18th of August 2021
I turned on both my bank and credit card notification for any transaction over $1 on checking and $5 on my credit cards. I put 99% of my bills on my credit cards because it is easier to replace a stolen/compromised card than a checking account. I had someone order $1000 pens (2 of them- so $2000) once and the bank immediately shut my card down, lol they must know I am too cheap to spend that on a pen.
At work we had someone start a series of Quick Pays out of our account at 4:58 Friday night in New York City, right before the close of the bank. Over the weekend one of the recipients called my boss asking why her "loan" was placed in her account and then removed. It sure was a lesson learned, thank goodness this person called who had no idea she had been scammed along with us. We were able to get all the $ back.