Overall, this has been a fairly frugal month. While I actually wrote about the frugal things I have been doing this month I haven’t been doing well with posting them on Sundays. So here they are all together for most of July and the first couple days of August.
8-2-15 Sunday Frugal Summary
– My sister Candy who also writes for this blog is moving and getting rid of most of her stuff. I’ll be doing a post about our successful yard sale soon.
– While getting stuff together for the yard sale I have also been getting rid of stuff that I didn’t need around my own house.
– I stayed at Candy’s house for two days to help hold the sale and she paid for all food and drinks while I was there which was nice of her. We also carpooled so that we weren’t driving two cars back and forth from Orlando and paying for gas and tolls. She also gave me $30 for gas etc.
– Candy gave me some household items that she was getting rid of including printer paper, construction paper, notebook paper, an almost new microwave, a comforter, throw pillows, boots and some household decorations. I do question the wisdom of bringing items that she was getting rid of to our house but we won’t be moving for at least a year and I tried to only take things that we needed or had plan to use.
– She also gave me a ton of food that she couldn’t take with her. See post soon.
– My mother had a gallon of the paint we needed to touch up the ceiling at her rental house where some other paint needs to be covered. We will also use my carpet cleaner to clean the carpets.
– My mother and I went to the bank and used their free coin counter machine (the ones in the grocery store charge you) for my sister and her husband and my brother. All together they had about $170 in coins. It makes me think I need to start saving my change.
– My very good friend happens to be a fabulous decorator. She happened to be in the area and came by the house and helped me come up with a plan for our master bedroom that I have never really decorated since we moved in. The best part is that we used only items that I already had in the house to do it with. I may eventually buy a new comforter and sheets but until then I feel a lot better about the room.
– I received some coupons for free/cheap items in the mail and newspaper.
– I’m excited to be receiving the El Sentinel again with free Sunday paper coupon inserts in it
– I received my free $50 gift card from my rewards card company and I will use it on Vacation
– Washed a comforter and hung it to dry. I will do the same with some throw pillows. I was given these by my sister.
– I believe a check is on the way for the coupons I have available to print on this site which I am excited about.
– I had a meeting at the university I work at and they were nice enough to give me a brand new professor bag with the school logo on it! I want to start taking advantage of more of the really interesting and fun free events at both of the local colleges I work at.
– Overall this week I haven’t paid for much besides for gas for the car and some medical expenses. Overall, a good week!
7-26-15 Sunday Frugal Summary
– I finally booked out rental car for our CA trip next month for a wedding. Hotwire had the cheapest rates at just under $30 a day for an SUV with unlimited miles. And I clicked through Swagbucks to Hotwire so I will also be receiving about the equivalent of 1% cash back in points called SB. Saved- $100
– My Visa Rewards Credit Card perks include free rental car insurance so that also saved us a lot of money since I would NEVER drive a rental car without insurance. Saved- $150
– California is the only state that doesn’t allow rental car companies to charge people fees to add additional drivers to their rental contracts so that is also FREE! Saved- $150
– Dresses for the wedding- We found gorgeous looking dresses at Ross for $30 each that look like we paid a lot more for them and we definitely could have spent a lot more since we are going to a very expensive wedding but we love our dresses and won’t feel out of place
– Shoes for the wedding- I already owned shoes for the wedding and Candice bought Nine West shoes at goodwill for $5.99.
– We also saved money because our dresses don’t need to be hemmed and we started out shopping close to home and we got lucky to find our dresses at the second store we went to so we didn’t have to pay much in gas or tolls either.
– Found a Visions Cookware stovetop pot and lid at Goodwill for $4.99, slowly buying Chemical free cookware saves a lot of money
– We have had fruit flies so we made vinegar Fruit fly traps that are also Chemical Free and they work.
– Earning lots of Swagbucks lately and will have enough for $25 in PayPal as soon as I am credited for doing this $15 worth of points called SB for doing this deal
– Went to ALDI and did a huge grocery shopping trip, I bought so much food it almost didn’t fit in one cart, and it was healthy food too, like fruits, veggies, fish etc. and it was still only $130 and WAY, WAY cheaper than any other grocery store around us. This should last us until we go to CA next month.
– We canceled cable when we moved 6 months ago and I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss it but I have really been enjoying watching shows online and on Netflix and that has saved us a ton of money. I have especially been enjoying watching Teen Mom 2 and Married at First Sight online for free.
– We used to go to free movie screenings all the time since there are 4 theatres that hold screenings right in/around the Orlando area but we got away from it when I went back for my Master’s degree and we got too busy. I’m trying to get back into it by looking at gofobo.com and advancescreenings.com.
– I sold some more books on eBay and bought some more of the books that sell really well for .99 cents each
– Redeemed points on my credit card for a $50 Visa Gift Card to use as spending money while we are on vacation in CA
– I got some free samples in the mail but I will do a post about that when I get a few more
7-12-15 Sunday Frugal Summary
– I received $100 for winning a teacher of the year award!
– I went grocery/household item shopping at dollar tree, I saved $8 by exchanging a few items I bought that I realized we were not going to use, our local Dollar Tree is really great about exchanges
– Dollar Tree now carries 6 packs of 100% recycled toilet paper which is great because toilet paper is the only paper product we buy and I try to always buy recycled to be more eco-friendly. The rolls are a little smaller than standard but not that small so I bought 4 6 packs and we will see how long it lasts. (Note- It wasn’t my favorite TP by far but it did last a long time. Two weeks later and we still aren’t out)
– My dad treated me to lunch near my new job.
– I sold some books on eBay and I’m working on listing more items.
– When we moved I gave all of my eBay packing/shipping material to another eBayer. I am glad I did because he used it and I didn’t have to store it for 6 months. However, that meant that I needed boxes to start shipping again. Instead of buying packing material I was able to pick up a bunch of boxes for free at Dollar Tree.
– Bank of America charged my checking account $12 because my direct deposit stopped for the summer (I am a college instructor). I honestly believe that Bank of America HATES teachers and I have this problem every summer! I need to switch bank accounts! But I did contact them through chat support and get them to refund the $12.
– We are saving money on our Hotel for our California trip later this summer by using an AARP discount since a relative can become a member for $16 a year. We intentionally picked a hotel with Free Breakfast, Free Wifi, and Free parking. We also decided that all 5 of us will stay in one hotel room to save money since we will only be at the hotel for 2 days before joining our family at a rental house for the rest of the trip. The hotel is also in a central location and we will be able to walk to several of the places we intend to visit.
– I earned enough points on my reward credit card for a $50 gift card, I choose a Visa gift card and use it for vacation.
– I finally found a 1 pack filter for our Zero Water Pitcher. It was still $15, which is expensive, but a Zero Water pitcher filter is the best on the market and filters over 99% of particulates from the water. Unfortunately, our last filter ended up having an odd taste to it (that may have been a problem with our water not the filter) and we didn’t want to spend $30 on a two pack of filters that we weren’t sure were going to work. Now that we bought the new filter and it has been great I’m wishing we had just bought it sooner because it would have saved a lot of money, time and energy instead of buying water for the past few months (not to mention more eco-friendly).
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