Pickles (in the picture), as always, finds new ways to entertain herself! Since this picture was taken we have been trying to reduce the number of water bottles we buy.

School has started again! I’m now teaching at two colleges, on three different campuses, for a total of 6 classes! Life is busy but I LOVE college teaching! You might think that I wouldn’t have the time for any frugal activities but I’ve actually managed quite a few in the past few weeks that surprise even me.

Frugal Successes

– Earned a $25 dollar Amazon gift card through Swagbucks!!!!!!!!!! Love it!

– I waited until my new insurance kicked in to get allergy tested. I hated having to wait but it was only $35 on my new health care plan! Saved- ~$120

– My mother treated B and me for dinner last night at our favorite Mexican restaurant which was very nice of her and we had a great time!

– We have been doing really well with not getting take out since school started besides for a few lunches and this is a huge savings especially as the beginning of the semester is exhausting so it’s really tempting to have something delivered to the door for dinner

– The keyboard on my laptop is acting up 🙁 this is a bummer since I use it nonstop for work. I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet and I’m trying to fix it but in the meanwhile I bought a $2.99 USB keyboard from Goodwill. Not buying a new laptop Saved- ~$700

– Still love streaming TV online instead of having cable. Even better streaming it on our Goodwill flat screen TV!!!!!!!!

– Bought an inexpensive gift for a friend and had it delivered directly to her house from Amazon! The bonus being I didn’t have to pay to mail it!

– Brought my brother and I’s pet snake home from my mother’s house since my brother who was taking care of her moved out. We got an expensive metal stand for her tank when my sister and bro in law moved.

– My friend was nice enough to give me a ton of expensive suit jackets that had been given to her. I will wear some of them to teach and the rest I passed on to my mother and her teacher friends.

– I rode with B the 45mins to my home town, where he works, so I could visit my mother. This saved gas and toll money from us not driving separately to go to the same place. Mom also gave us cereal she had bought us and some other stuff that we will use.

– B found his missing guitar at my mom’s house that somehow ended up there when we moved.

– We ate some apples that were starting to wrinkle but were fine on the inside. Just because fruit doesn’t look 100% perfect doesn’t mean it’s not still good.

– I made banana bread from some bananas and yogurt that were about to go bad. After I had almost everything mixed I realized that I didn’t have any eggs so I used a white vinegar and baking soda substitute and it worked perfectly.

– B and I are carpooling to the university on Tues and Thurs which means less gas money, less time spent parking and about $200 saved on a 2^nd parking permit.

– We made spaghetti from noodles and sauce my sister gave us and we only had to buy ground meat and cheese.

– We have been refilling water bottles instead of buying water which is a huge savings. One of the colleges I work at has fantastic water bottle filling stations instead of just water fountains. The water is filtered, sanitary, and counts how many plastic bottles aren’t used because of this (not to mention money saved not buying them).

– B adjusted the joint on our creaking door instead of buying and spraying chemicals on it. We would have tried coconut oil, a natural solution, first but buying WD40 was the first thought in each of our minds.

– There are a few things that I have wanted/needed to buy on Amazon.com but didn’t want to spend the money so I used Swagbucks to earn a $25 gift card and my reward credit card points for another $25 gift card. I may use a left over $50 gift card to buy Amazon prime and get more free streaming shows and free 2 day shipping. It’s half off for $49 after my student trial but that still seems like a lot of money to me.

– Gas is under $2 a gallon right now in our part of FL. This is a frugal win even though I didn’t have to do anything besides filling my tank like usual.

– I wear my $4.99 Goodwill heels to teach almost every day. The brand is comfort plus and they are great!

– I sold more books on eBay which is a nice little way to make extra money!

– I haven’t bought any new teaching clothes since school started, mostly because I have been too busy.

A few things I will be posting about soon-

– Finding a version of my $12 face cream at the .99Cent store, yay!

– Finding my allergy medicine at Dollar Tree

– Getting a ton of free stuff in the mail from Victoria’s Secret

Frugal Flops

– I would rather have the air on colder at night in boiling central Florida to help us sleep than save money on the electric bill and wake up from the heat.

– We now have another pet, the previously mentioned pet snake, and although pet snakes are relatively inexpensive, any pet is an expense. She is my responsibility, although I didn’t realize snakes live so long when I got her in high school but I do love her so I’m not unhappy to have her back.

– Having to buy a HEPA filter air filter for my allergies, not that expensive but I have a feeling buying a HEPA filter vacuum will be.

– Forgetting a load of wash in the washing machine and having to rewash it, honestly I hate wasting water as well and my time!

Mixed Frugality

– After debating for a long time I finally bought Amazon Prime for half off $49 after my student trial. I used a FREE $50 gift card I received from using my credit card rewards. I HATED to spend the $49 (although I know most people pay $99) but I will definitely use the online video streaming and the two day shipping. This has made me less hesitant to buy products off of Amazon, which is good when it’s cheaper than in a store but bad if I end up spending more money. So far though, this seems to be mostly saving money.

Chemical Free Living

– I stopped buying chemical free dish soap because compared to regular dish soap I find it to be too expensive, instead I started making my own until I realized that using the chemical free bar soap that I find at Dollar Tree (Suga Soap Brand) is just as effective and lasts a long time

– We ran out of our Trader Joe’s Dishwasher Detergent which is chemical free and really affordable but the store isn’t that close to us so instead we bought Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent for about $4. I think it has come down in price and we are very happy with it.

– Made a batch of chemical free laundry detergent for my brother and his gf when they told me they were going to buy Tide. Tide detergent something I could never picture spending my money on but I know many people do.

– I put some Güd by Burt’s Bees lotion on my legs and broke out in hives on and off for an entire week. I have heard that Güd isn’t as chemical free as the regular Burt’s Bees line of products and now I think this is proof. I have returned to using organic coconut oil in place of lotion.