May Frugals!

[rosarugosa]

I had to buy supplies at Home Depot today for an upcoming home project, as well as some smaller items for our carpentry class. I had $300 in gift cards from credit card churning sign-on bonus rewards. Since I was spending more than $300, clerk asked me if I wanted to open an HD cc and I would save $50 on my purchase, so I did, and I also got a coupon for $25 off a future purchase. My out of pocket was $28 for a $378 purchase.

[iris lilies]

I had to buy supplies at Home Depot today for an upcoming home project, as well as some smaller items for our carpentry class. I had $300 in gift cards from credit card churning sign-on bonus rewards. Since I was spending more than $300, clerk asked me if I wanted to open an HD cc and I would save $50 on my purchase, so I did, and I also got a coupon for $25 off a future purchase. My out of pocket was $28 for a $378 purchase.whoah that is youuuuuuge!

[Yppej]

Impressive Rosa!

I price shopped the supplier portion of my electric bill saving 2 1/2 cents per kilowatt hour over the default renewal rate.

[flowerseverywhere]

DH talked to our insurance agent after our bundled plans went up $200. We ended up saving $500 per year. He does this every year and we would be paying thousands more if he just paid the bill.

I saved a ton of money too. I rented a long arm quilting machine one day and quilted two quilts. I have quite a few friends who have big machines and I’ve been having some envy. This cured me from wanting to spend $15,000 to 25,000 which I was too cheap to do anyway.

[JaneV2.0]

...
I saved a ton of money too. I rented a long arm quilting machine one day and quilted two quilts. I have quite a few friends who have big machines and I’ve been having some envy. This cured me from wanting to spend $15,000 to 25,000 which I was too cheap to do anyway.

That's a good compromise--why spend all that money and sacrifice space unless you're going to make a business of it? Renting would be the way to go. I think the largest quilt I ever made was about 2' x 2', so fortunately that's one extravagance I don't need to pursue.

[catherine]

Spent a few days in VT, and realized how important ambient lighting is. The ceiling fan lights in the cabin were SO garish. Not pleasant at all. While shopping for DIL's shower, I looked at lamps to buy, but couldn't find anything I liked well enough to spend the money.

After the shower I was driving home to VT home, wishing I had more pleasant ambience, and while driving through one of the small towns late on a Sunday I was surprised to see that a second-hand store was still open. I went inside and found a matching table lamp AND floor lamp for $30 for the set. I asked for free bulbs, and he gave them to me.

Bought them, plugged them in, and enjoyed a lovely evening in my little cabin, watching the old 1980s movie with Diane Keaton, Baby Boom.

[Yppej]

I am going over budget, but under income. Last month I paid my homeowners insurance for the entire year to get a discount. This month I had chimney repairs done which luckily came in under quote, but unluckily are supposed to be under warranty but the roofer wouldn't fix it and the Better Business Bureau isn't getting anywhere with him though the process is not done yet. He told me take him to court but I have so little time off at my new job. I may try another route.

[Gardnr]

We haven't gone to a restaurant since Sunday! That's HUGE for us:0!

[SteveinMN]

Picking up some frugals this month:

- Finally moved our home/auto/umbrella insurance to another insurer. Between some smart upgrades in coverage and the "new customer welcome discount" we'll net out around $400 less in insurance costs this year. In the simple living department, we went with an independent insurance agent so when it comes time in 2-3 years to shop insurers again, we still will have good odds of staying with this agency.

- Looked at refinancing our mortgage because (not frugal) we're paying mortgage insurance each month on a loan that's well below half the value of the house. Turns out it's a "feature" of the mortgage and it cannot be removed. >:( But, over its life, a re-fi would cost three times as much as the PMI, so we'll just bump up our additional principal payments and get it done without spending on appraisals and closing costs and the like.

- Now that the freezer is empty, I've been tossing new bargains in there.

- The furnace is off for the summer and the auxiliary heater in the bathroom has been unplugged. Let the lower utility bills commence!

- Got a check for a class action lawsuit settlement (Harbor Freight). Not sure how it worked out, but I don't think I spent as much at HF as the check was written for, so ... ??

- Our last bag of dog food was the "free" one we get after purchasing 11 bags. It's not the cheapest stuff around but it keeps the little bucket of need happy and healthy. And I have a coupon for the next bag.

[Gardnr]

I saved a ton of money too. I rented a long arm quilting machine one day and quilted two quilts. I have quite a few friends who have big machines and I’ve been having some envy. This cured me from wanting to spend $15,000 to 25,000 which I was too cheap to do anyway.

I was quilting my own small stuff but sending out my big stuff and then after taking the LA class, doing my own. Problem? I had to burn a vacation day every time I wanted to do a quilt. After the 4th day in a year, I got frustrated. I'd been saving all bonus $ from my employer. So I spent it all on a mid-arm. (far less than your $15k)

My breakeven on doing my own was less than 5 years from sending them out. 9 years later? I have quilted 184 quilts. Yes, that includes tablerunners and baby quilts but OMG am I so very happy I bought my Babylock Jewel.

I can quilt at 3am. I can quilt at 7pm. I can quilt on Sunday (the shop isn't open on Sunday). And during the week it was only open 10-5. Not a single vacation day burned. (I'm required to take 8h. OT exempt law requires all or none).

Not a moment of buyers' remorse on this expenditure!:cool:

Not a moment's regret!

[Yppej]

I was tempted to take a yoga class but the staff were distant so I have put that idea on the shelf. This time of year I get enough exercise doing yardwork.

Believe it or not I am starting on Christmas gifts as I like to prepay expenses and then have slack in my budget for any emergencies that may arise.

[rosarugosa]

Yppej: Sister and I were talking about a yoga class. That's a good point and maybe it's something we should do in the winter after leaf-raking exercise is done. Shoveling exercise is less predictable!

[SteveinMN]

A few more frugals for the month:

- brought DW's car in to have the winter tires swapped for the summer tires. Usually we swap the tires with the bi-annual oil change and it costs a small amount. But this swap turned out to be "free" because we were at the store that sold us both sets of tires and they offer free rotations for the tires. These tires just happened to be rotated into and out of our garage.

- bought the groceries for a cabin weekend with buddies and was over-reimbursed (with their knowledge) by enough of them that I got more money back than I spent.

- still getting discounts at the coffee shop for bringing in my own containers. $2 a pound if they don't give me one of those paper bags with the metal strip on top...!

- bought the next bag of dog kibble at the store with a celebrate-our-birthday coupon and with our quarterly "rewards" check. Makes this bag about half the price.

[Packratona!]

Biking down to river, observing various plants in all their stages, identified one new to me edible one, found another edible ripe for the picking, so park my bike, and ate my breakfast standing right there. Food eaten within a few seconds after picking is great medicine! So my May frugal is finding wild edibles that are ready to eat in May!

[Yppej]

I have not been frugal but my son has. A check he was waiting on cleared and he got me a belated Mother's Day gift card to a grocery store. I love practical gifts!

[freshstart]

I joined MoviePass. It's $10 a month and you can see a movie in theaters each day, you could see 30 movies in a month if you wanted to. I had heard about this but I assumed it would only work at the Regal cinema which only shows the big hits, which are usually not my kind of movie. I found out our theater that shows independent film is included so I signed right up. I can't wait to get the card in the mail and start. A matinee as a break from caregiving will be delightful and I can go to movies with my friends now without spending $12. I've been having low BP issues and falling a lot in public, the indie theater has handicapped parking right in front. Otherwise, you park in the back and have to climb a steep hill. So this should work out well if I can get one of those spots. So it's an expenditure but I think it's a real bargain.

[Gardnr]

In my attempt to lose weight before my knee replacement surgery, we're in eating in ALOT more these last few months. Amazing how I spend more on groceries though.:~) Plenty of money saved by not going out.

It's my birthday month so we went to Red Robin and I had a Chicken Chibatta sandwich with salad FREE!

I'm stocking up the household supplies to get us to fall. I'm already not a shopper but I won't be driving for a month so quick errands will be on hubby's list after work not mine. Trying to save him as much hassle as possible through July 4 when I get my wheels back.

I got 2 pork shoulders 2w ago for $1.67/pound. Hubby smoked those and we have 2 gallon ziplocs of pulled pork in the freezer.

I got 2 organic whole chickens on Monday. Hubby smoked those Wednesday and we have a pile of pulled chicken for salads and wraps and the rest will go in the freezer today.

I'm making a meatloaf this afternoon-half turkey half beef. We'll have it for dinner and slice the rest for leftovers and/or freezer.

Getting a theme? Lots of cooked protein in the freezer so meal making in June will be "add fresh veggies and done!".

I'm overall happy with our frugality this month! All this savings is going into savings for my co-pay. I think I'll have the cash needed to get the discount offered for paying it in full! More savings!:cool:

[Teacher Terry]

FS: we love moviepass. We stopped exchanging xmas gifts with most people about 10 years ago. I only buy for 2 people now. The month of Dec we take the kids out to a nice dinner. We took my son and his wife out for b-day dinner last night which was very unfrugal at a cost of $173. However, we all had leftovers except my son who ate all of his.

[Yppej]

I got some recipe books from the library to inject some variety into eating at home. Also am not traveling anywhere for the long weekend, though with holiday traffic that is not really a temptation. I got out of work early and painted my steps. Other free household projects like weeding are an attempt to get myself back on track. Also returned some smoke detectors that do not meet code for a refund.

[rosarugosa]

Gardnr: That is so smart to plan and prepare food for your convalescence. I think we would have used it as an excuse for guilt-free takeout! When is your surgery?
Yppej: Great idea about the cookbooks. We took our mother out recently, and DH got an incredible flatbread with fig jam, arugula, prosciutto, balsamic glaze and burrata cheese. We have since bought all the ingredients so he can try to replicate at home. So at least we squeak a little extra value from a restaurant meal! I think that was a great gift from your son. Gift cards from Market Basket, Trader Joe's and Home Depot are my favorites!
I'm having a Fri night home alone, so gave myself a pedicure, since it feels like sandals weather today. Should also be warm tomorrow and then will drop about 30 degrees- oh well. When it gets warm again, my toes will be ready!
I earned $6. doing Pine cone Surveys and $5 doing Bing searches. I'm piling up some of these small rewards and credits to pay for our vacation later this year.
I had a gift certificate for our local small garden center (another favorite). I went there today and bought the couple of things on my list. They didn't have most of what I wanted, so I restrained myself from random impulse purchases, always hard for me in a garden center - ooh, pretty flowers, beautiful leaves - I want!

[Gardnr]

I have started planting my garden.

Started in my portable greenhouse from seed: 20 cucumbers (english and lemon), 20 eggplant, 20 green beans. Purchased at my organic farmer's place: 11 tomatoes.

I have plenty of work left for tomorrow. It started lightening/thunder and DH thought we should come inside. Silly man:) It poured and now it's simply raining.

The fruits of our labor will fill the freezer with ratatouille and the shelves with salsa. SUPER frugal!

[Yppej]

I shopped around and got 4 pairs of sandals for what one pair would have cost me at DSW. That is all I should need for summer for clothing, though I may get a couple cheap T shirts to avoid doing laundry as often. With less bulk in my clothes in the summer it takes longer to get to a full load of laundry and utility costs are high in my region so I try to maximize each load.