Every few weeks, I scroll through my pictures (and my brain) to come up with some frugal wins. Here’s what I came up with this time:
- Before my sister arrived, I needed to stock up on a few staples: milk, eggs, bread, sparkling water, block cheese, and things of that ilk. I happened to check my PC Optimum app and discovered I had a coupon for 20× points if I spent $30 or more. Well… $30 is depressingly easy to spend at the grocery store (usually I have to spend a minimum of $75 to get this deal). I spent $54.60, and got $16.50 back in points! Everything was stuff I needed (most items were on sale, to boot), so this felt like a great frugal win.
- We buy ingredients on sale for expensive desserts like cheesecake and store graham crumbs in the freezer once they’re opened so they don’t go stale.
- One of my favourite ways to make our house feel cozy in the winter is using lamps and soft lighting. Many of our lamps have been thrifted, and they make such a big difference in how I start the day. A few seconds and a few lamps = an instant mood boost without having to invest in expensive decor.
- Since Belle’s recent interest in Starbucks (which is decidedly not frugal), we’ve hit upon a tradition of going out after each orthodontist appointment. I’m mostly meh about Starbucks, so I used a gift card to pay for her treat (through the app, so I get double the points)… and made my own coffee at home for pennies.
- I gassed up at a station that offers 7¢ per litre back in grocery points. I needed gas anyway, so why not stop somewhere that saved me (this time) $4.18 on groceries? If I saw that much money on the ground, I’d definitely stoop to pick it up, so I’m happy to take my business to that station.
- We mostly did free activities with my niece and sister!
- Elizabeth taught me a Starbucks trick that I promised I’d share here. She ordered an iced coffee with light ice, then went back a few minutes later to ask for a cup of ice. She was able to sip her coffee and add ice gradually. When you order a heavily iced drink, you’re often getting mostly ice and not much coffee—so in terms of bang for your buck, this is a great hack. But, she likes her iced coffee cold, so she actually does want quite a bit of ice in it. Bonus: we were thirsty, so the extra ice came with us in the car. (I keep the plastic cups and reuse them at home until they crack.)
- I think pureed soups are the best way to use up random vegetable scraps. I had some old potatoes that needed using, a small dish of pumpkin puree in the freezer, and some frozen squash. I also had a bit of chicken broth and some coconut milk that needed to be used up. Everything went into the pot.
- Buying Christmas decor isn’t technically frugal because I didn’t need any of it (though everything but the paper house will likely become gifts). But these items were originally priced—taxes in—at about $130 total, and I paid less than $30. I’m excited to put that cute little house up next winter!!!
- Setting a conservative upper limit on accommodations in Europe. We spend a lot of time looking at Airbnbs, because an hour of searching can literally mean saving thousands of dollars. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack: high rating, good location, solid amenities, reasonable price. We set very clear spending boundaries and then did the work of narrowing down the remaining options, weighing pros and cons. As a result, we came in under budget in both Vienna and Helsinki… which gives us more flexibility for activities once we’re there. In Helsinki, we also chose a location where John is less than 25 minutes from the office and the kids and I can mostly walk everywhere. That should save us a significant amount in transportation costs.
Okay that’s all I have for this week!
- Who has some recent frugal wins to share?
- Do you have any money-saving hacks for coffee shops?
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I order sodas without ice. The drink is cold enough anyway, and I get more actual drink.
Nothing frugal right now. I was going to try a lot spend January, but I find myself buying more than usual!
I think for naturally frugal people, if we have a spendy month it likely is because we need it to be spendy!
I do like a tiny bit of ice in my drink, but the default is TONS of ice. That said, I mostly only get water when I’m at a restaurant (#Cheapskate) so it doesn’t really matter if the ice melts because it’s just more water 😉
Ha, I love Elizabeth’s hack! When I used to go to Starbucks (unfortunately, it was right next to my place of work in Zurich), I used to order “no foam” so that I would get more drink for my money.
They say that young women set the future trends, so if Belle and Elizabeth are into Starbucks, I might as well buy some shares!
Well done on the Airbnbs! A few times we stayed longer at a place (more than 3 weeks) and we got considerable discounts. It’s often an automated function in the Airbnb app, but I’m not sure if you are actually staying that long in one location.
Ha! Belle would go to Starbucks daily if I let her. Thankfully it is a 10ish minute drive away so it will NOT be a super regular event, but she loves it and so I’m letting lean into it. It’s my treat when we go to ortho, but the rest of the time she now has to pay for it herself!
Yes, we are staying 1 month in Vienna and 1 month in Helsinki and both places we automatically get a pretty large discount because of the length of stay!
I make stock from my scraps – saving veggie scraps and chicken bones in the freezer – and then cooking it in the instant pot and freeze it in Souper Cubes. We also thrift and Vinted as much as we can. I ordered a NWT Boden swimsuit this week.
We’re working on our summer plans, and have loads of Home Exchange points to use up.
I will admit that I never keep veggie scraps (but probably should), but I make and freeze stock regularly! It’s so good (and a lot cheaper than buying it in the store)!
What great frugal wins! Especially with collecting those points. We have similar here, I save all the point up for the big Christmas food shop.
Your home looks so cosy.
That is a great tip about the ice from Starbucks! I need to try that!
I don’t buy enough Starbucks to have thought of that, yet (and I always get hot drinks)! But someone else commented for warm drinks to skip the foam which would give you more liquid!
A low spend! I’m actually doing a lot- Freudian slip!
Hahaha!
-The eraser for my large white board had become disreputable, to the point where it wasn’t erasing anymore. I was loathe to go buy another one, but then remembered that in my Bio classroom, the professor used a microfiber cloth to erase the board. I have a small microfiber cloth I rescued from our front lawn after garbage day—somebody threw it out after trying to clean up a greasy mess with it–and it works perfectly. Better, I dare say, than an eraser. I also taped up the marker caddy, which had developed a crack along the seam.
–We managed to eat most our meals at the house on our vacation. The one exception was the Publix subs that were greatly enjoyed on our biking picnic excursion. I will forever fondly remember the Publix cobb salad; I think they have the best ranch dressing ever.
–We avoided most food waste on this vacation; it’s always tricky to buy just enough for the week, feed everyone thoroughly, and not have to toss or leave anything in the fridge. I bought and used up exactly the right amount of frozen fruit, milk, ground beef, and turkey bacon and bread. The only things I overbought were riced cauliflower (I use this in smoothies, and the Publix there only had giant bags, not the small ones!) and shredded cheese.
–At one gas stop, we were back in the land of Kroger fuel stations and DH was able to get gas for 17 cents a gallon with our fuel points. He said it was like being back in the 1950s. I think we paid less than four dollars for over 19 gallons of gas.
–Our excursions on our trip were pretty inexpensive; I was dismayed that the Treasure Museum, which had been free three years ago, now charges two dollars a person, but it is a small museum, and run by the parks department, so we were okay with it. We also stopped at the San Sebastian Inlet State park, which charges eight dollars for parking, but we had a lovely hike through what my family calls ‘the jungle’ (palm trees rather than pine trees as at home!), and visited the fishing piers and saw pelicans!
–It goes almost without saying that avoiding Disney World on this trip saved us buckets of money.
–On one of our stops on the way home, we popped in to a Kroger Marketplace to replace DS#3’s wallet, which he’d left in the vacation house (no worries: he only had a temporary driver’s license, and his real one had just been mailed to our house back home, and the only other thing he had in the old wallet was a debit card, which we cancelled, and his school ID, which they will replace very easily for him) and the wallets were actually on sale, so we got five bucks off. That was a nice surprise.
–My friend who owns the house we rent in Florida texted me before our trip to let us know that the previous occupant had reported the tub faucet in one of the bathrooms was “dripping”. He thought it was the shower cartridge and he was awfully sorry he didn’t replace it before he left. DH said no worries, and he brought his tools and assessed it (it was not ‘dripping’, it was ‘streaming’ like a mountain brook). He was able to fix it with a $20 dollar part from the little hardware store on the island, and saved my friend a bucket of money (the repairs + increased water bill!)
These are all amazing! It is such a good feeling to have a wonderful vacation without overspending.
What a blessing for your friend your husband was able to fix the leak.
We have found many a things out at the curb for “big garbage day” as we call it (happens 2x/year) that have a place in our home. Another mans trash can definitely be our treasure!
I do have another Starbucks hack, but it only applies if you’re getting hot tea or coffee (not a fancy drink). If you drink it there, you can get a free refill! For tea, that means they make me another cup for free. Also, when I order the original drink, I’ll ask for an extra tea bag on the side. Sometimes they just throw it in for free and sometimes they charge 50 cents for it. So, for either $3.14 or $3.64, it get my tea, another tea for free, plus a tea bag to make ANOTHER cup at home. This is in contrast to the drinks our kids like- definitely NOT frugal, but you need a splurge every once in a while.
This is so smart! I feel like Kae may have done this (asked for an extra tea bag).
At my go-to coffee shop I always ask for tea in an extra large mug (so I’m getting basically double the water) and then I’ll go back and get more hot water poured over my tea (they bag it) when the first cup is gone. It’s just hot water I’m looking for, not more tea leaves, so I don’t feel bad!
Oooh I love when I get those kind of PC points. I mostly shop at Superstore and unless something is in my offers, the points are nothing. But Shoppers is so good with points!
Shoppers is the BEST with points… and then I spend the points at Independent!
I always get my Chickfila tea without ice, especially since I’m usually getting it to-go. I need all of that goodness I can slurp! lol
That Christmas house is adorable!
I discovered (after I got it home) that the house lights up! Double joy 🙂
I don’t have any great frugal adds, but I’m in a rare mood where I actually do want Starbucks. I keep seeing signs for pistachio cold brew in front of all of their stores. I’m going to get some at the airport tomorrow on my way home!
Pistachio is having a moment! It’s everywhere right now (I think Dubai chocolate really kickstarted this phenomenon). I think I heard that there is a shortage of pistachio’s now??
Please report back on the SBUX experience!
I have a string of colourful fairylights which I left up after Christmas. They add such cheerfulness to grey winter days!
I’m going on a trip to Florence in February so am trying very hard to spend as little as possible this month, after booking my hotel and various museum tickets. Mixed success but I’ve managed not to get any takeout or visit the local bakery!
Give me all the twinkle lights! They really do help with the gloom of winter.
Have SO MUCH FUN in Florence (I have a blog post in my Travel archives about our day in Florence; it was a lovely city!)
Thank you! I’ll definitely check out the post 😀
I usually order by boba tea with less ice, but there are some stores that charge you for ordering less ice… Oh well, sometimes in the summer when I order less ice it melts way too quickly and my drink is then not as cold as I like and boba tea comes sealed so you can’t really add more ice.
I’m with you, though, the best frugal hack is to make it yourself.
Wait… you can get charged for LESS ice??
YES! I think the reasoning is that less ice means more tea/boba. I guess it makes sense from a economics standpoint….
Well, I refuse to download store apps, so I only get rewards through stores that use reward cards that I keep on my key chain. About every six weeks, my regular grocer has a survey on my register slip that gives you 5% off your next shopping trip. I’ve saved a lot of money doing those, because 5% off your entire cart (if you stock up) really adds up.
You’re right – 5% definitely adds up!
I only have the one app for points; thankfully, it works across a whole bunch of stores!
You have such great frugal ideas, and you make it fun too. It’s fun that Belle can get Starbucks once in a while. When I was her age, my favorite treat was a Peanut Buster Parfait from Dairy Queen. I don’t know if they even make them any more.
You had me at Peanut. I love peanut and ice cream.
I didn’t do anything like SBUX as a kid and I LONGED for those sorts of treats. I think we’ve maybe landed a bit too far in the other direction because it’s not a huge deal for our kids to get a doughnut out, etc. Where it meant SO much to me, but that said I am glad that she gets these experiences.
You are a very aware shopper. I love that. There are frugal saves to be had everywhere.
I actually know a couple Starbucks hacks (because honestly, who wants to pay full price?)…. like, buying a regular coffee and asking for some warm milk (instead of ordering a latte), or asking for a small coffee in a medium cup (so you get the full small coffee size) and then add the (free) creamer.
These are awesome hacks!!!!
Nice job, as always! I had a very satisfying trip to the store the other day. I noticed on my grocery store app that they had a ‘$40 off of $75 or more’ if you used the mobile app to buy your groceries. I don’t usually use the mobile app, but clearly I wasn’t going to let that go to waste. The same day I had $50 worth of savings at the drug store. Sadly I spent some of that on a face cream I wanted to try, and I don’t like the smell.
What a disappointment about the cream; I hate when things like that happen. But AWESOME job with saving so much money! I don’t love using apps, but now so much runs through apps for discounts. Thankfully, the Optimum program works across various stores here in Canada and I LOVE that!
My frugal moment of the week was using some giftcards to buy a present for a party that Paul will attend this coming weekend. I had forgotten we had B&N gift cards but Phil found some in our bag of gift cards in our junk drawer!
That’s awesome!!! I always feel so satisfied to use up gift cards (and it’s easy to forget about them or have little amounts left to spend). Win, win!
You’re speaking my language here! My coffee hack is that Starbucks lets you buy a refill for $0.50, so if I need to go and sit for awhile, I will sometimes get more than one! I only get regular coffee though, so it doesn’t work with the fancy versions!
That’s a great hack, Kyria!!!