Skip to main content

The Frugal Five: #49

 The Frugal Five: #49



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 the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.    

.         


1- 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 saving!   He gets his hair cut every other week, so on average, we save $60 per month on just his haircuts.   


2- Beverages from Home 

Each day I make coffee and take a travel mug with me to work.   In addition, I make homemade tea to pack for my lunch.    Since Starbucks’ coffee prices have gone up, my daily savings for my daily coffee has increased to about $5.75 per day.    In addition, sodas at work run about $2.00 per drink, so by bringing my own tea, I am saving about $1.50 per day.   

  

3- Packing lunch everyday

My colleagues tend to order out multiple times per week.  I did order out one time this year and discovered that the delivery app that they use doubles the cost of my meal.   WOW!   I now pack my lunch every day.   In order to help with the feelings of being left out, I make my lunches a little special each day.    I do this by packing a treat each day, such as a piece of chocolate or baked dessert.   

4- Picking up Free Items from Walgreens 

This week I was able to pick up 6 items for free from Walgreens this week.  Through Walgreens sales, coupons, Walgreens Cash and Register Rewards, I walked out of the store with the following items: 


  1. 2 Degree Deodorants (2.7 oz)- Walgreens RR, Coupon

  2. 2 Crest Toothpaste (3.5 oz)- Walgreens RR, Sale and Coupon

  3. 2 Dove Men’s Body Wash (18 oz)- Walgreen Cash, and Coupon


I have a lot of toothpaste in my closet, so I will be putting together several bags to donate to my community.   

5-  Returned Items that Just Didn’t work for Me.


I ordered several things from Amazon that I thought would be a great purchase, but when the item showed up it wasn’t exactly what I wanted.   Either the item didn’t fit correctly or the size was much smaller than I thought.   I used the free return policy and returned each item.   


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. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Menu Planning: #245

  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/or location.      March USDA Thrifty Food Plan ccording to this plan our family would have a budget of $186.20 per week.  Given our health concerns, we struggle to maintain this budget, but I am going to try to make this happen.    Cost Saving Tip of the Week: Check your sale flyers for loss leaders.   Each week grocery stores advertise specific products at a great price to get you in the store.   Recently, I have noticed a very specific time frame for getting these deals.   Good luck and happy hunting.   Here is what we did this week to make our week easier:   Refrigerator Clean Out Pre-cut all vegetables for the week Pulled older items to the front for easier consumption C...

Menu Planning: #250

  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/or location.      March USDA Thrifty Food Plan According to this plan our family would have a budget of $186.20 per week.  Given our health concerns, we struggle to maintain this budget, but I am going to try to make this happen.    Cost Saving Tip of the Week: When I purchase fruit for the week, it helps to calculate the cost per serving vs. the cost in general.   For example, this week a whole watermelon was on sale for $3.99 each.    When it is cut up, the watermelon will yield at least 20 servings which will place the cost per serving at $0.20.    Here is what we did this week to make our week easier: Breakfast Options:  Hard Boiled Eggs Yogurt Homemade Breakfast ba...

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...