What NEW Frugal Ideas Have You Learned Lately?

[fidgiegirl]

I went to the vet with our little dog for the first time and learned I should have brought all the meds I had for our other dog along with me. I ended up buying a pain med that was unneeded since I could have used something I already had for the other dog. But because those meds weren't with me, I couldn't be sure so just bought it. I guess I also could have gone home and checked, but then I would have potentially had to go back to the vet, etc. which wouldn't have been frugal, either. So I guess I just opted for the wrong option in the end.

Now when I go to the vet I will plan to bring along a bag of all of BOTH dogs' meds even if only bringing one dog in for an issue.

How about you? What NEW frugals have you discovered lately for your life?

[Mrs-M]

Shame on me... I'm learning here all the time, yet I can't think of something/any one thing I've recently learned that I can post about. Same goes for everyday life (outside the forum). Hmmm... will think and rethink.

[RosieTR]

I heard on some radio show recently (Radiolab or Marketplace Money) that companies just sort of make up expiration dates, and that there is no Federal law forcing them to put expiration dates on food other than baby formula. Some states require some food to be labeled (like milk, meat, and eggs) but those foods are generally obvious when they go bad. Many companies put expiration dates based on taste-they literally pay testers to eat and rate "aged" food, and once it gets below a certain level of quality/freshness, they will call it expired. Why is all this frugal? Well, it means that if you find, say, granola bars in your pantry that have expired it means they are probably still OK to take hiking. That 5 yr old dry mustard powder? Can still be used. Some foods should be smelled or evaluated: flour and rice checked for bugs, milk and meat smelled, eggs should sink in water and not smell bad. Veggies are better fresh but if carrots are little soft they can still go in soup. Etc. Things not to fool with: bulging cans, leaking containers of any kind before opening. DH found that a jar of mayo we bought a few weeks ago was not sealed, so took it back. We had already shredded the receipt but they exchanged it, no problem. It helped that it was the store brand, so obviously we bought it from that company!

[rosarugosa]

Well I know not everyone here is a fan of FaceBook, but I do "Like" a select few businesses on FB and it does keep me up to date on their deals and specials. For example, we're spending the weekend in Portland and I knew from FB that the Old Port Sea Grill does oysters 6/$10. all day on Sunday. That's a really good deal because I know of no finer venue for oysters. We had a not inexpensive meal there this afternoon, but in terms of enjoyment for dollars spent, and given the superb quality of the fresh seafood that we were able to enjoy, it was good value for our money in accordance with our values.

[rosarugosa]

That's good to hear Rosie. I think expiration dates are motivated by profit, but DH gives them a lot of credence. I'll have to work on him with this one.

[Tussiemussies]

We always save all of our change in a jar. It will afford us a nice dinner at Cheesecake Factory for Valentines Day...it winds up easy to save a little spending money this way over time...

[Tussiemussies]

We just moved and instead of purchasing boxes DH asked at work if we could take boxes home, they let him, so it was a freebie for us. Our second move we had nowhere to get boxes and had to buy them...:(

Our second move a friend told me to go to the grocery store and ask the man that works there is he would give me the boxes that eggs come in. You cannot make a lid for them, but the have two handles on the sides which was a big help...

We are buying new decorations for the house and are buying quality items, a lot made in the USA, for me it is better to have long lasting quality then something I have spent my money on and it falls apart quickly.

[Gardenarian]

My dd is an artist and has a lot of fairly expensive pens and markers. I found that storing them cap-side down (the writing end downward) in a jar and closing the lid tight will make them last much longer.

This was an accident - I found some cheapo markers that I had stored in a jar for several year and every one of them was as fresh as new. So now all her pens and things go in jars. Anyone who uses Copic markers knows how much they cost!!

[catherine]

Well, my frugal tip is also related to dogs. We used to buy marrow bones that come cut at the supermarket in roughly 1" pieces. The dog would chew the marrow out and then we'd throw out the bone. Well, one day, I cut a little one inch piece of a low-fat turkey hot dog, and it fit nicely right into the hole in the bone where the marrow was. Then I sealed both sides with a thin layer of peanut butter.

Every since then, that's what I give the dog as a treat. She's beyond chewing on the bone because there's no meat left on it, which is a good thing, because our vet said that chewing on bones can damage the dog's teeth, but she does love to try to fish out the hot dog that's tightly wedged in there, and the peanut butter is icing on the cake!

Dog treats are SO expensive. I would guess that her treat, with the recycled marrow bone, probably costs a couple of pennies a serving.

[chickpea30]

I am taking a financial planning class through coursera.org. Their courses are free and I will earn continuing education credits upon completion. I am looking forward to the day when we will be able to earn an accredited college degree online for free!