Each week Brandy at The Prudent Homemaker shares her frugal accomplishments from the previous week. There is so much inspiration and encouragement in her posts and the many comments from her readers. Here’s a little run down of our frugal happenings for the past week:
- Deposited our utility rebate in savings ($24)
- Read books borrowed from my mom and the library
- Cancelled our dairy delivery (savings $72 – our weekly delivery = $9 x 8 weeks before our move)
- Son used Overdrive to borrow the audiobook of Elon Musk’s biography during a road trip – this will be his third listen, which he normally borrows on CD from the library (savings: $25 according to Amazon)
- Bought an EcoWise (washable wool) Pendleton blanket on markdown, and received a military discount when asked for ID for using my card, which was much appreciated since I had no idea they offered that discount! (savings: $64. Original price = $199, markdown price = $159, minus additional 15%)
- Met up with a friend in that area to pick up a used math curriculum for my son (savings: $40 – used I owed her $60; new it would be $100)
- Bumped my Grove Collaborative order out until after our move (savings apx. $30 – $15 or so for February and March). [Side note: if you’d like to check out Grove, you can get a $10 credit by using my affiliate link – full disclosure, if you order using that link, I’ll get a $10 credit as well. I can personally attest that their prices are incredibly fair and their packing is excellent. I have had multiple problems with other companies shipping liquids improperly and receiving leaking and damaged items; I’ve never had an issue with Grove. Plus they always add a thank you or a smiley face to my invoice – it seems like a small touch, but it makes things much more personal!]
- Used two Barnes & Noble memberships for discounts on purchases. The first one was a regular membership to buy some magazines (savings: $2.30). The second was my educator card on some books – two items were full price ($32) – Father’s Day gifts for my husband; the second was a birthday gift for my son, already in the “Bargain Priced” area ($14.98); the third was a book for myself that I had spotted in the Bargain Priced area ($4.98) previously and regretted not purchasing. (savings: $10.40) Additionally, I consolidated that trip with being in the area for a child’s activity.
- Used the car to drive my daughter to visitation and then son and I had a staycation in that town at my folks’ house. My parents supplied the food for lunch, dinner, and lunch again – I provided labor helping my mom sort through a closet.
- While sorting, found some items that my mom was given free when she worked at Hallmark years ago – they are items another family member would like, so she passed them to me to gift to that person.
- Received a package of yarn remnants from a friend (passed along from her stash to help her destash and help me not buy yarn for homework for an upcoming fiber retreat class); she very kindly included some pencils for my son, a journal and cards, and a T-shirt for my daughter. (In return I’m passing along the $4.98 book above as I devoured it in one night, and some vintage pattern books from the sorted closet for her collection.)
- Took the dog to the vet for some monthly care and a vaccination – received a military discount.
- Ate from the pantry and freezer & remembered to carry food for my son for after his evening activity.