Skip to main content

Frugal Five: #36


The Frugal Five: #36


With inflation on the rise and our salaries not being able to keep up, it seems like we have taken a pay cut and must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate our daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.    


With the New Year upon us, it is time to set goals for how we will be spending our money.    This can look like shopping carefully, DIY projects, wasting less or just doing without.     Let’s see how we can save our pennies this year.   


1-  Free-Bees and Samples 

This week I was able to pick up 8X10 Photo, 4 Core Bars. 3 Nivea Body Wash (20 oz), 2 Icy Hot Lotions (3 oz) and Violife Cream Cheese (7.5 oz) from various stores.    In addition, I request samples from time to time and my Advil Dual Action Sample arrived this week.    That is 11 full size free items and 1 sample.   This is pretty good for the week.   


2- Car Pooling and Using the School Bus 

My son has practice everyday and meets on the weekend.   With gas prices and time restraints the way they are, it would be challenging for us to get him to and from practice and school.   Therefore, we carpool with a teammate who lives down the road.  My husband picks the kids up on his way home from work.    In addition, since my son is on the high school team, he is permitted to ride the bus to/from swim meets and practices.    We are fortunate that his practice is at the same location as his club team, so when there is an issue with our carpool, he can take the bus to practice.   


3- Haircut Savings

Since haircuts are $30 per cut plus tip, each time my husband asks me to cut his hair, I am happy to.    This is a huge savings!   He gets his hair cut every other week, so on average we save $60 per month on just his hair cuts.   


4- Using IBOTTA and My Points

   

Last week I cashed out my IBOTTA and MyPoints accounts, so this week I started to use this apps again to earn money for the holidays.   Slow and steady wins the race.    I only buy items that are free or items that I would have purchased anyway.    For example, my son eats protein bars during swim meets and these can get expensive.   However, this week I was able to pick up 4 Core Bars for free because I could use a coupon and IBOTTA.   In addition, I spend 5-15 minutes a day answering questions and/or filling out surveys for My Points to earn points which can be turned into gift cards.                 


If you don’t have IBOTTA, I highly recommend you download the app.   If you use my referral code, we both earn $10 with your first rebate.   Here is my referral code: yasucyr .  


My Points allows me to spend about 5-15 minutes per day completing polls, surveys, computer searches or uploading receipts and earn about $150-$200 per year.   If you are interested in joining up for this opportunity, here is my referral information:   https://www.mypoints.com?rb=25406148


5- Packed Lunches Everyday 

   

Buying lunch everyday gets expensive not only in money but time.   We packed everyone’s lunch this week.   It only took a few minutes each morning to do this and we were rewarded with delicious lunches each day. 

 

Do you want to see what we did last week?   

Just click on the picture for the link. 


Please leave a comment below with your ways of saving money this week. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2025 Updated Breakfast Under $1.00

On the USDA Website, their thrifty grocery budgets range from  $25.70 to $72.80 per week ($3.67 - $10.40 per day) per person.   The two factors that determine the amount allocated are age and sex.  With such a small amount of money allocated daily for food and my attempt to eat healthily, I need to plan each week carefully.     With the Bird Flu hitting America hard recently, the egg is no longer a humble star but is turning into a luxury.     A dozen eggs cost $5.49 or $0.46 each.  At this price, I am looking at other options for breakfast.   Breakfast is a great place to add value to your meal planning.    It can be the cheapest or most expensive meal.  The choice is up to you.    NOTE: Prices are for the Northeast area for March 1,  2025 Let’s look at breakfasts that come in at or under $1.00.     Beagle and Cream Cheese ($0.69 per serving) Kroger Prices Bagels (6ct)- $2...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meal Planning: #287

  Menu Plan #287 NOTE-  1- Click on the picture and get a link to a post sharing the recipe.  2- Although all prices were correct at the time of the blog postings, the current cost of preparation of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and location.      August  USDA Low Food Plan According to this plan, our family would have a budget of $185.60 per week.  We elevate our dining experiences by including fresh fruits, vegetables, and higher-quality meats.  Since we have health concerns and are active individuals, we limit our processed food choices.          Here is what we did this week to make our week easier:   Breakfast Options:  Yogurt Muffins Egg Sandwiches Lunch Options: Grilled Chicken  Salads Chicken Salad Monday Hamburgers Roasted Potatoes Corn  Tuesday Street Tacos Salad Wednesday Enchilada Salad Chips w/ Salsa Thursday Leftovers Friday Chicken Parmesan Pasta Sal...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Frugal Five: #88

  The Frugal Five: #88 With inflation on the rise and salaries not increasing, our ability to make ends meet keeps going down.    Therefore, we must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.     This week I am exploring how to keep costs down during busy weeks.    Keeping dinner on the table instead of eating out is one of my strategies to get the job done.    Here are some of my tips and trips.    1- Free-Bee Pick Up  Over the last month, we have been blessed with several Free-Bees.  First, a friend gave us a dozen eggs from his chickens.  In addition, we picked up several photos with discount codes from Walgreens and CVS.   Next, we used our local grocery store coupons for several free food items such as seltzer water, ice cream, etc.   Then, we picked up toothpaste and eyeliners from ...
Post a Comment
Read more