Sunday, September 11, 2016

Knocked Frugal Out of the Park





I am on fire this weekend on the frugality department. If this was baseball, and I was at bat, I'd say I hit that frugal all to the upper bleachers. Let me start first with the CVS finds. I noticed on their sign 90% off seasonal when running DD to a friends house. I popped in on my way home, and hit the mother load of buys on flip flops. Now I usually try and find this staple of cabin wear for every member of my family each fall, so expected at some point to find some deals to tuck away, but not like this. In all I bought nine sets of flip flops and spent $6.50, an average of $0.72 per pair. High quality they are not, but something to throw on your feet on hot sand, public showers at pools, and not care if they get left behind, I'll take it. They were out of extra large womens for DD1, and I found a neutral blue two set in the equivalent men's size, but once home, I think they were mismarked as they look huge. I'll pass on to my 6'7" nephew, for the grand sum of $1.50 for two pairs.  I am a generous aunt. 


I scored this adorable beach pillow and a sign that said "This Way to the Beach" probably as little gifts for my MIL for Mother's Day next year for the new lake cabin. Again, showing my frugality, together the two came to $1.60. then there were fun little trinkets for the summer, including these glasses that I could not pass by! Added to the glow stick necklaces I bought at 90% off, cheap fun for 4th of July 2017. I bought a gift for DD1 for her birthday-something novel I think she will like, and some summer glass charms I'll throw in my SIL's birthday gifts later this fall. I don't need glass charms as my glasses are so mismatched it doesn't matter!

On my next at bat, I clicked a link to a frugal blog I never read before and learned Walgreen's had a free 8"by10" promo, but it expired yesterday. Slightly bummed out as I wanted to get the photo DD1 cleaned up for me of our family in our nicer dinner wear on the cruise, printed in that size to replace the one from our last full family trip, nine years ago. I thought to Google Walgreen free photo, and what do you know, a new promo code FREE4FALL got me the same offer! After ordering that, I though I should have ordered a  smaller version for MIL, my desk at work, and for each of the kids, and found a promo FORTY4FALL that gave me an additional 40% of that. You can only do one promo code per order, but placing two separate, I was able to use both, spending a whole $3.95 on what would have been $15.14, a $74% savings.  (I'm picturing Sluggy beaming with pride at what she has taught me.)

I went three for three when I turned my attention towards using up food, and preventing food waster. A batch of muffins that used a $0.40 jiffy corn bread mix, 1 egg, and two expired pots of strawberry banana yogurt turned into 12, "weird, but still good" according to DD2, muffins. Three free tomatoes about to go bad, too soft to slice well for sandwiches, worked great with a can of $ .59 three bean salad, 1/2 can of olives, two string cheese sticks cut in little discs, and the remaining couple ounces in a bottle of Italian dressing, for a tasty salad. I finished the remaining third of a box of elbow macaroni. The final cost had to be under $2,00, and we will have with sandwiches for lunch, plus I'll get at least two lunches out of it this week. 

I go in waves when I feel like I am mastering my budget. This weekend is giving me a thrill. Its a reminder that anyone can whip out their credit card and throw good money at stuff they want, whether that is clothing, gifts, house decor, or meals, but creative people can achieve the same results, and not jeopardize their household budgets and future security. Any great success out there?

8 comments:

  1. Well done! Don't you love getting nice gifts on rock bottom prices? I went to the expensive grocery store last week that gave $200 air miles for buying a $200 GC (1/4 of air ticket to Alberta to see family) so Mom and I both did that deal. I generally only buy meat there when 30%-50% off which I found some great deals on last week. They also had end of season watermelons on for $3.88 which is the cheapest price you will ever find in Canada for a 10 lb watermelon. Then on Friday they had expensive cheese marked 2 for 1 which makes it cheaper than the price I usually buy cheese at (it has to go less than $1 per 100 grams) so was a great deal, came home, chopped it into blocks and froze it. Ate at home this week although we did go out for a couple of drinks with friends last night which wasn't frugal but much needed :) and totally worth it. This store is only about 1.5 miles from my house so close enough that going a couple times a week doesn't cost any gas.

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    1. That's a great perk on the air miles. We travel so much less than we want and the cost of air line tickets is the major reason why. Winner deal.

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  2. Fantastic buys on the flip flop front! And how can anyone help but love the "weird but still good" muffin description?
    I have a can of three bean salad in the pantry. Ive never thought of creating pasta salad with it before but I certainly will now. What a great idea and thanks for sharing that!

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    1. Anne, It does work well with pasta. I add a lot of pepper and more garlic, but this time I had so little Italian dressing I just kept the vinegar solution from the beans instead of rinsing.

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  3. You are on fire!And,love, love, love the beach pillow! I've been eyeing something similar for our vacation house, but have never found anything affordable enough. Score for you!

    I made a very frugal dinner last night, which was great because it freed up some precious space in my freezer (used sausage, chicken broth, tomato sauce) & mixed it with some going soft fresh tomatoes, spinach, etc. It turned out great, so I was very pleased.

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    1. The chicken dish sounds yummy. I wish there had been two pillows but sitting on a chair, it will look fresh in the new place.

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  4. I would live in flip flops if I could those are a great find Lovejoy just bought a new pair in Samos because the ones he was wearing split in two but they cost €9 not cheap but hopefully they will last longer lol. We are still in salad mode until we fly home when I will have to get to grips with Autumn it's all still shorts and swimwear hear though.

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    1. As real footwear, probably not good for my feet, but they do the job. Oh, another vacation spot Wendy. Someday when you can post I will love to read about your adventure.

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