What did you do to save money this week (2/4/07)?

[nzdisneymom]

Ok, lots to report today.

I went to lunch with my friend - she paid because she owed me from sometime last month. We went to Panera Bread and I had a bowl of potato soup with a side of bread - less than $4.

We got our cell phone bill today and when I was looking through it, I decided to call and get rid of the insurance on our phones. That saves about $10 / month. Our contract period ends this week and we're eligible for an upgrade on our phones. I don't expect we'll take it, but since we're at the end of the contract period, I'm going to look for a better plan. We need something that has nationwide calling and no roaming, especially for when we're traveling. We currently have Cingular (now ATT) and have been happy with them for nearly 5 years. Oh, I'll also get $6.98 back on my bill next month because they're pro-rating the insurance cancellation. I figure in the 9 yrs we've had a cell phone, we've not had a reason to need it - watch me drop it in the toilet tomorrow

I got a $5 check in the mail from Pinecone Research, and I got my new Disney Rewards card, too - so I'll have it for my girlfriends trip later this month.

Our neighbors have been trying to sell their house for a few months now. They moved out but she was over today doing some touch-up painting, etc. I went by to say "hey" and catch up, and while there, she gave me her step-son's outgrown bike that they were going to give the "junk man." It's the same size that we have already for our kids, but one of our bikes has a broken seat, so this will be a good replacement! They aren't ready for the next size bike up, and we didn't want to buy a new one for just a few months. She also gave me a Samantha outfit and bed for American Girl. While I don't have an American Girl doll, I know a young girl who does who will be absolutely delighted to receive the bed and outfit! I cannot wait to give it to her!

Anyway, a good day overall!

 

[ohiominnie]

I had to make a run out in the frigid cold for milk and a few staples. Because I didn't want to be out any longer than I needed to be, I went to the closest place....Wal*mart. Had a friend who was BIG into couponing who said if you DON'T use coupons, Wal*mart is cheaper, but if you do (especially if they are doubled, then other places are cheaper) Seeing as everything I needed didn't have a coupon, and it was the closest, I went there.

ONLY got what was on my list.
And I asked them to price match the milk b/c Kroger has it on sale for $2 a gallong (Wal*mart was $2.28)

So I saved a whopping $0.84!!!

 

[MelindaKiah]

And today I fixed our sink. It had been getting slower and slower and not responding to draino, etc. DH took it apart and couldn't find anything in the trap so we figured the problem was further down the line where we couldn't get to it. I was dreading having to call the plumber, but today I got to working the stopper up and down (pushing it up and down really hard) and it started to drain a bit better. Then I got the hot idea to get the plunger. Well, after a few plunges some yucky stuff came up and the drain burped and now it works fine. I plunged a few more times to push whatever it was on down the pipes and all is good. Let's hear it for low tech solutions. When in doubt, plunge away!!!

We were having the same type of problem a couple of weeks ago. NOTHING was helping it...plunging, draino, you name it. Finally, one last ditch attempt before calling a plumber....we poured baking soda down the drain, boiled some vinegar, and poured it down. We let it sit for a bit, then plunged and all this nasty stuff came up, and it's been working perfectly ever since

 

[Good Ol Gal]

I cooked dinner two nights in a row!!

 

[samanthacatangel]

OK, so today I went to Pathmark and spent $95 - but saved $56. I couldn't believe how much I spent - I didn't even buy meat! But as I looked over my bill, I did stock up on loss leaders (OJ, crackers, etc) so it really wasn't too bad. We eat lots of produce, little processed food, and try to eat organic as much as possible, and live in an expensive city, so I could never spend under $80/week.

After school went to a trial class of Gymnastics for DD - and it was a better fit for her than the My Gym trial class we went to (about half of the My Gym class was "down time" for her). I will be signing her up next week and it is $69 a month, on a month-by-month basis. She needs the interaction/physical practice with gross motor skills, and it is less $$ than the My Gym class. So well worth it, I think.

I had school tonight, so I decided to make an experimental Chicken Chili in the crock pot, using Ro-Tel tomatoes with jalapenos. It smelled great, but looked nasty, and was too spicy for me so I gave it to DH and he loved it! He will eat just about anything. I had leftovers from last night, and took my own coffee to school.

My dishwasher is part of that recall so I have NO dishwasher, ugh. But I do plan on having them fix it, if I can EVER get through on the recall line. The $75 Maytag would give me toward a dishwasher wouldn't make a dent in the one I would get anyway, so the repair (if I can get it schedule it) will save me $$ I wasn't planning on spending.

Samantha

 

[delmar411]

Question about CVS ECB--I haven't done the card thing yet, but found what looks like a great deal in this week's paper--transfer any prescription from another pahrmacy and get a $30 gift card! Of course, you do have to buy the perscription, not just transfer it over

My question is this--is the $30 card good anywhere in the store, or just for the pharmacy? We mainly use a mail order pharmacy, so $30 in the pharmacy wouldn't do much for us. I have an open refill for an antibiotic for dental work, comes to $1.19, transfer that and get a $30 card

good anywhere in the store.

 

[delmar411]

I resisted the urge today to shop Gymboree's baby sale. I even turned down an offer of 20% off and no tax. I had to go stand in my kids closets to do that and go look and the mountain of clean laundry taking over my bedroom but I made it through. Helped to see one of the outfits I had in my cart online already in the closet!

 

[vhoffman]

Today I did a lot of unshopping, took back a lot of stuff left over from Christmas. Yes, I should have done so earlier, but hey--I did save the receipts so got full purchase price back

Even bundled my stops to save gas!

I got the refunds in store cards, then used them to buy essentials--WalMart, Target, used coupons, combined with sales, bought $120 worth of essential items and came home with $20 cash from a return to Toys r us. That $20 is going towards next weeks grocery shopping.

 

[1stWDWtrip]

I just found this wonderful board. I already have found a few good ideas, and can't wait to find some more! Thanks to who ever started this!!

 

[vhoffman]

OK, so today I went to Pathmark and spent $95 - but saved $56. I couldn't believe how much I spent - I didn't even buy meat! But as I looked over my bill, I did stock up on loss leaders (OJ, crackers, etc) so it really wasn't too bad. We eat lots of produce, little processed food, and try to eat organic as much as possible, and live in an expensive city, so I could never spend under $80/week.

After school went to a trial class of Gymnastics for DD - and it was a better fit for her than the My Gym trial class we went to (about half of the My Gym class was "down time" for her). I will be signing her up next week and it is $69 a month, on a month-by-month basis. She needs the interaction/physical practice with gross motor skills, and it is less $$ than the My Gym class. So well worth it, I think.

I had school tonight, so I decided to make an experimental Chicken Chili in the crock pot, using Ro-Tel tomatoes with jalapenos. It smelled great, but looked nasty, and was too spicy for me so I gave it to DH and he loved it! He will eat just about anything. I had leftovers from last night, and took my own coffee to school.

My dishwasher is part of that recall so I have NO dishwasher, ugh. But I do plan on having them fix it, if I can EVER get through on the recall line. The $75 Maytag would give me toward a dishwasher wouldn't make a dent in the one I would get anyway, so the repair (if I can get it schedule it) will save me $$ I wasn't planning on spending.

Samantha

What dishwasher recall? Would you mind sharing the details? We have a Maytag that's been giving us some problems! Thanks!

 

[ohiominnie]

What dishwasher recall? Would you mind sharing the details? We have a Maytag that's been giving us some problems! Thanks!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345273

hope this helps. ours has been on the fritz too (luckily not starting on fire!) we almost replaced it about a month ago. glad we didn't run out and do that or it'd probably be hard to get this credit. we are going with the new dishwasher b/c ours is on it's last legs otherwise.

 

[vhoffman]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345273

hope this helps. ours has been on the fritz too (luckily not starting on fire!) we almost replaced it about a month ago. glad we didn't run out and do that or it'd probably be hard to get this credit. we are going with the new dishwasher b/c ours is on it's last legs otherwise.

OMG!! It looks like ours is one of the defective ones! Apparently the problem is with the rinse dispenser, and we never use it. I'm calling Maytag first thing in the morning. Great--with everything else, now I get to worry about my dishwasher catching on fire!

Thanks so much for posting this information!!!

 

[lori1043]

went no where today- and cooked and ate leftovers since i am at a war against throwing food out-so once a week, we eat whatever is left in the fridge-that way it is not wasted nor is it in there long enough to go bad and i have a night of no cooking! -Lori

 

[Chickysmom]

washed 2 loads of laundry in cold water and had time to hang dry one and get a second up....not dry yet but on it's way.

Cooked dinner at home....making enough for leftovers for DD for lunch tomorrow and another meal for one person, using some of the ground meat I had the butcher grind form the .99/lb roast sale....it was really good!

re-packaged all the extra hamburger into manageable sized bags for the freezer and made some patties to bag too.

took the 3 roasts I had the butcher cut from the same .99/lb roast sale and bagged them seperately for the freezer (my idea for asking to have these huge bags of roast cut/ground into other things came from asking a fellow shopper what she was doing with this huge piece of unmanageable meat...she was glad to share her ideas. I then came home and called my mom to share and she went he next day and did the same thing!)

ran dishwasher and opened door for drying...been happy so far with the vinegar instead of Jet Dry too....

 

[wendygirl]

...been happy so far with the vinegar instead of Jet Dry too....

First, thank you so much for this thread! Little things like the vinegar make a big difference not only in my budget but my dishes! It works better than the $$$ stuff!

I now do little things like gathering up cups with left over water in them and giving my plants a drink instead of the drain!

 

[Chickysmom]

DD is starting her first babysitting job and we wanted to get thank you/business cards done for her. She's just going to leave one behind when she leaves so they have her number readily available for a future call, and hopefully pssing one out to people they know too! Instead of ordering the free ones from VistaPrint (which really cost 5.99) we designed up our own for the small amount she will need right now. She's hoping to get a quite a list of people needing her and spreading the word about her by having a card available. We will be printing them on our color printer using some of the free pictue paper we got from a freebie a while back too! so....more savings there too!

Oh, and just a safety note...no last name is listed and these people are very trusted friends.

 

[ducklite]

DAY 23 of the IPCEO!

I went to a show last night downtown. Parking is normaly $10, this wasn't an assignment so i can't turn in a receipt, and I'm not sure they'll publish any review or photo's so I might not make any money for going, I went because I really wanted to see Monty Are I. Anyhow, went right from work, ate dinner at work before I left, and found FREE PARKING on the street a couple blocks from the club! Took my travel mug full of tea with me to drink on the way to the club, and didn't buy anything while I was there. And I was on the guest list. So total cost was about $4 in gas and tolls. That's a price I can live with!

Also, I got another free CD that I actually wanted in my box yesterday. I get a ton of freebies, but last weekend when I went to the office to sort through the US Mail bin overflowing with unsolicited material, I got two duplicates of CD's I already had, a bunch of garbage, and one that might be OK. So that's a crap shoot. But anything that comes to my UPS Store box is solicited or at least they've asked if they can send it, so it's always good!

Anne

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Yesterday:

--went to a friend's open house 50th birthday party, met some new people, talked gardening for a few hours and networked for future landscape design jobs
--turned heat down to 60 before leaving the house (from usual 62). Shut door to our walk-in closet which definitely kept our bedroom warmer during the day and night.
--temps have been really really low the last couple days (currently 12) so I've been wearing TWO fleece pullovers. The kids laughed at me but quickly added more layers after dinner!
--helped youngest dd sew a throw pillow (clearance fleece, 50% off pillow form at Joann's) for her sister's birthday present. Older dd was thrilled.
--used saved gift bags and tissue paper to wrap other bday gifts for dd. Dh and I gave her clothes from LandsEnd (used Discover rewards) that she would need anyway for the spring/summer. She had worn the previous size 10s/12s for two years anyway. Packed away those smaller clothes to save for dd7. Froze myself getting things out of/putting things into the attic but realized that we have good insulation since the upstairs seemed positively balmly after being in the attic!

Today:
--currently doing a load of laundry, cold water, smidge of Tide HE. Too cold in the basement to hang dry, alas.
--will run dishwasher on "quick wash" (30 min) setting and will open door to let dishes airdry before leaving the house.
--sitting at the computer with ds's huge fleece pullover on top of my nice clothes. Will spend the rest of the morning at the kids' school taking prospective parents on tours.
--dinner is in the crockpot. I'm cooking the last piece of the huge pork tenderloin (1.59/lb) that I cut into meal-sized portions. It's currently cooking with a can of cola (free). When I get home from the school, I'll drain the liquid and fat, shred the pork, and add some green chiles, chopped tomato, onion, corn, and various seasonings. We'll have it with half-priced whole wheat tortillas (I bought 12 packages; we go through 3/week), cheese (part of the 1.00/pkg Cracker Barrel deal), and some sort of a veggie.
--Before picking up the kids this afternoon, I have to study (I'm taking courses in Horticulture at Longwood Gardens, a local world-famous display garden). I'll wrap up in a fleece throw and drink lots of tea

 

[rkwells]

As soon as everyone was off this morning I turned the heat down to 62 and I am washing a load of laundry in cold water. It has been 2 weeks since our family has eaten out. I had a credit with Amazon dot com and used it to purchase "Fix it and forget it Lite" and Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace Revisited". I received these books in the mail on Sat. and am really excited about the cook-book. I made the crock pot stroganoff last night and it was really good! This looks like a book I am really going to use.

I am also going to try drying the dishes by opening the door of the Dishwasher today...I really like the heated dry cycle (germs ya know ) so this will be quite a feat for me! Best wishes to all you savers, and thanks for all your great ideas!

 

[nzdisneymom]

I am also going to try drying the dishes by opening the door of the Dishwasher today...I really like the heated dry cycle (germs ya know ) so this will be quite a feat for me! Best wishes to all you savers, and thanks for all your great ideas!

Our dishwasher has a 30-minute heated dry cycle, and like you, I like the heated dry cycle - but what I do to save a bit is let it run about 5 - 10 minutes into the dry cycle and then just turn it off, leaving the dishwasher closed and the heat inside goes ahead and finishes drying the dishes. I don't always catch it in time to turn it off, but more times than not, we do.