What did you do today to save money?

[tinkarooni]

Good for you both! I agree that competition works well for some!

Tell me about your potatoes....they sound yummy!

Super easy potatoes. (Sorry OP, a little off your topic but this saves me money everytime I pull them out of the freezer) I garden quite a bit so in the summer when I dig my potatoes and my veggies are coming in I make some twice baked. Lots of recipes online to try but I used this year cheddar cheese, sour cream and spinach ( because I had an overabundance). Bake the potatoes about 45 minutes, scoop out the insides and mash together with your add ins along with a little milk, salt and pepper. I than stuff them and freeze them on a cookie sheet individually.When frozen I food saver them into serving sizes, (for us that is four to a bag) Than when I need a quickie side dish I pull out a package and cook them about 45 minutes from frozen. Voila! Would work great with any bargain purchased potato as well. Keep an eye out for the 10# bag for $1.99. Russets or Idahos I think bake up the best, they stay fluffy when you twice bake them. Works good with all sorts of add ins broccoli, bacon, swiss chard. I find good, fast stuff in my freezer saves me lots of nights when I have no energy to cook.

 

[ducklite]

Day five of the Obsessive Eater-Outers intervention program, and I'm still good. I started to waver last night thinking how good a pizza delivery would be, then threw a burger on the grill instead.

I've reused the same Zip-Lock all week for my "snack" (breadsticks or rice cakes) so about 50 cents or so saved there.

I've driven the more economical sedan instead of my sports coupe roadster most of the week, which has saved me probably a total of $3 in gas, although the reasoning has been due to coller/rainy weather and that I don't like parking it in the deck at Universal.

I'm meeting a friend on Sunday for a few hours out near Tampa, as I'm giving DS a ride to something out that way and will just wait for him, and it's only about 20 minutes from my friends house. I was originally thinking we'd have lunch. Now I'm thinking we can go to a Starbucks instead and I can use my Starbucks gift card. That should save at least $15.

Anne

 

[nzdisneymom]

I just found this thread yesterday and already this morning I woke up with a "what am I going to do today to save money?" focus!

Here's what I did this morning. Found my coupon for a free breakfast entree from Chick Fil A (it's not out of the way to work) so I got that for breakfast (I went in, too, instead of using the drive-thru and was back at my car before I would've even gotten to order so I figure I saved a few cents in gas).

Also Friday is usually lunch-date with my DH, but he has a lunch-meeting today. I was going to just go out myself anyway, but instead I dug way in the back of the freezer and found a Lean Cuisine, grabbed a yogurt and a can of Diet Coke from the frig and voila! Lunch for less than $3. Plus I can eat at my desk which means I can leave earlier this afternoon and have more time at home with the kids tonight!

One other thing I've been doing for the last few months is saving my $1's. We're doing the Med. cruise this summer, so I've been sticking back $1 bills to have for tips on the ship for room service. As I put my $1's in today, I counted and have over $50. Wow! I didn't know I had that much. More than what we plan to need for room service tips, but I'm going to keep doing it because the extra will pay for other things

Thanks again to the OP for starting this thread and everyone else for their participation! I'm reading through all the ideas today.

 

[paper1225]

I have to share my deal from yesterday!

I bought a Glade Wisp airfreshener which was on sale for $5, then used my $4coupon(from the Sunday paper). At the check out I paid $1 for it, then the coupon machine spit out a coupone for $3 off my next shopping at schnucks-wow! DH just did not get my excitement!!

 

[Fall1]

I love this thread!! I called the phone company and cut our $36/month bill down to $12/month by changing our calling plan to the bare bones. We have so many rollover minutes on our cellphones that we can just use those to call out from home. Saved $24/month!!

 

[Minnie824]

I'm on week 2 of my budget. When I told my parents that we were going to do a budget they laughed, cuz DH & I usually just buy stuff. Anyway, so I took out my allotted cash for 1) groceries 2) misc (diapers, etc) 3) spending for DH & I. Last week we both stuck to it. This week I did my grocery shopping on friday again...used coupons, have my meals planned for the week got great deals and ended up spending $91 on groceries in cash! I am SO excited about that.

 

[pjlla]

Not so much a save money as an "earn" money. I wasn't scheduled to work today and was really looking forward to the day at home... but when they called to ask if I could work I said yes (actually, my mouth said "Yes" while my brain and heart were screaming "NO! Stay home and scrapbook!").... plus I remembered to pack snacks and drinks for after school so the kids won't be begging for a stop at Dunkin Donuts on our way to the YMCA.........P

 

[ohiominnie]

Well, I just "saved" a whole lot of money. More like postponed having to pay it. We had a DCL cruise scheduled for April of this year. I just called and backed it up to April of 2008. I'll still pay the money (although I dropped the category to make it cheaper) but now I have more time to save for it.

 

[Chickysmom]

I just went and put on a sweatshirt under my house jacket.

i will not bump up the thermostat...
i will not bump up the thermostat...
i REALLY want to bump up the thermostat!!!!!

But will wait for it to cycle up itself....

 

[maggiew]

I closed all my emails from various stores and online places WITHOUT OPENING THEM! No chance for getting suckered into a "great deal".

Maggie

 

[Chickysmom]

Washed our king sized mattress cover and only turned dryer on for 1/2 the amount of time. SHOCKINGLY...it was almost dry!!!! There are a couple of damp, not wet like out of the washer, spots so I hung it up over our bathroom shower doors to finish....there's a heat vent right above it so it should be dry in no time.....

 

[barbmouse]

Browned ground beef for spaghetti sauce but put half in the sauce and froze half for next time! I saved half my soda from yesterdays luch to drink with today's...the bottle really is too much for one meal. That will help my waistline too : ) Wahsed out baggies... I have NEVER done this before. Surely each days savings will add up!!
Keep the great ideas coming!!

 

[nzdisneymom]

I got gas today for $2.04 -- it was $2.08 on Wednesday and I didn't get it then because I knew it would drop by today! So I saved 60 cents (LOL). And I've made my grocery list and will stop on the way home and stick to just what is on the list (I looked at the flyer online, too).

 

[OceanAnnie]

I *thought* I had a pretty decent deal on pillows at Khols yesterday. The *sale* was $7.99 each (down from $15.99). I got 4 for $30 and change.

Then I ran across a sale at K-Mart for pillows 2 for $9! Since the pillows I got at Khols were still in the shopping bags, I took them back for a refund (no problem). Went to K-Mart and got the pillows. I actually needed 6. These are Martha Stewart, "Grandpa" pillows with a 5 year warranty. I bought the 6 pillows I needed for a total of $28 and change. Yea! Glad I saw that sale!

Oh, and I bought popcorn at the dollar store. What a deal. "Gourmet" light popcorn (4 bags per box) for $1! The same kind of popcorn is $3.50 in the grocery store!

 

[Barbers2005]

To save money, today I:

put on a sweater instead of turning up the heat (and put my kitty on my lap- better than an electric blanket)

went to the library instead of the bookstore (took dd4, she loves the library)

stocked up on ground beef on sale at Wegman's

turned off the heated dry on the dishwasher

 

[nephthys43]

i returned a leash i bought for $40 and purchased the exact same one off the internet for $15 cheaper (including shipping).

 

[#1hockeymom]

I quit smoking! Only 27 hours into quitting, but I did quit! This weekend should be fun. See, I don't smoke at work, EVER. Being home will be tough!

We always keep our thermostat low and have changed many of our light bulbs. I am also trying to stop eating out and picking up carry out so often! So far this week the only non home-cooked food was a bag of arby's I grabbed one of the days I had stayed until 6pm at work working on report cards. I have also tried to buy less pop. If it isn't there, no one will drink it. They'll switch to water, water from the tap is cheap!

 

[vhoffman]

Well, its not so much what we did today, but the lower water bill we got today. We quit running the water while brushing our teeth, a simple habit to get into. Our water bill this month was the lowest since we lived here--$65 instead of the usual $80-$90. A savings of ~ $25 just for not letting the water run and run while brushing our teeth

I figure that a savings of about 1.25 per day!

 

[Gillennj]

We just found out our water rates will be going up 20% over the next four years. We had already stopped running the water while brushing out teeth--now I do so when shaving. I just decided to only take a shower every other day--well until people start complaining

We also only use one bath towel each for the week (saves a TON of laundry). Hey, you're clean when drying off, right?

 

[clm3]

I went to Target and did NOT buy anything!!!

How did you do that ???????????