I’m running a little behind on the no- or low-spend February updates. Sorry about that. Sure am enjoying everyone’s frugal hacking, though. Shall we begin?
A reader named Ruby trimmed her own hair, to extend the current cut a little longer before her next salon visit. My own recent version of that: I let the beautician-school student cut my hair a little shorter than I’m accustomed to, in order to go longer between trips.
Ruby has been hanging up her work clothes and smoothing out any wrinkles, which means she can wear them again another day. Doing so means just one load of laundry per week, which saves not just time but also the cost of detergent, water and utilities.
She also noticed a small rip in her husband’s suede house slippers, so she mended it with thread a neighbor once gave her – and that neighbor had inherited the thread from her grandmother. Now her husband’s slippers have a little history behind them, and kudos to Ruby for dealing with the problem while it was still small.
Ruby reports that her freezer “continues to provide wonderful dividends.” Frozen strawberries (and canned peaches) went into baked oatmeal. Homemade pizza was brightened by chopped red and yellow bell peppers.
She combined more of those peppers, along with frozen cherry tomatoes, canned organic mushrooms (left over from pizza night), fresh onions and on-sale-plus-coupon sausage to make a skillet meal served with rice. And for bonus frugal points: Ruby turned leftovers into brown bag lunches.
More no- or low-spend food
Freezers are being emptied, cupboards being organized and money being saved:
Suzanne: “Decluttering my pantry and freezer has our grocery costs way under budget.”
Ann J: “I only spent about $35 of my $100-a-week grocery budget…That is two weeks in a row to be way under.” Avocados for a Super Bowl meal went on sale for 47 cents each – and Ann got 50 cents back from Ibotta for buying three of them. Another rewards app, Shopkick, paid DF and me to eat some fresh-sliced deli turkey last week; for more on Shopkick, Ibotta and others, see “Rewards programs FTW!”
Lindsey: “Groceries are limited to milk, purchased with a gift card that has been hanging around for some months.”
Nancy: “So far we have spent less than $14 for food for the month.” She used some of the savings to make an extra payment against the water/sewer bill, which was higher than usual due to a leak.
Diane: “When I looked at the receipt, the cat food and supplies outpaced the human vittles!”
Cheryl: “My friends know I do not let good food go to waste, and they are always bringing me the ‘last little bit’ of a random bag of carrots or cheese or anything.” Last week that meant a bag of spinach, a green pepper and some bananas; with on-hand ingredients, the items became a crustless quiche and some banana bread. Oh, and an office luncheon provided leftover pizza that went into Cheryl’s freezer for future lunches.
Paying less – or nothing
Beth C. took advantage of birthday freebies and loyalty points to get several treats last week. Speaking of rewards: For Valentine’s Day, she used Hallmark rewards to buy cards. The company sends deals and coupons all year, so she keeps an eye on expiration dates and gets free stuff for holidays.
I, too, have a stash of greeting cards. Some of them came from a clearance sale at Office Depot, where I paid 35 to 45 cents per card; the rest are due to those Hallmark coupons and rewards. Today I pulled out several possible for DF to send to an old friend who moved out of state. He’ll also be sending a small gift that he got for free: Last summer, a neighbor put everything in her yard sale up for grabs after 5 p.m. We’re all frugal on this bus.
Lindsey found a great way to keep gasoline costs down: She did four mystery shops at gas stations. The pay was only $5 per visit, but she got reimbursed for $20 worth of gas and four soft drinks. Very not bad!
She also sold a purse that she had never used: “It was a gift and I felt a bit guilty selling it, but I made $60 on eBay.” Hey, once a gift is given then it’s up to the recipient what to do with it.
Paying less, strategically
The catalytic converter went out on AuntiAli’s car. Ouch. Fortunately, her husband brought the repair bill down by $1,200 due to getting an aftermarket replacement. Wow.
The two of them visited his sister to (finally) exchange Christmas gifts. AuntiAli gave sis-in-law a Bath and Body Works product that she loves, purchased at 50 percent off on Black Friday. Like Beth C., she thinks ahead in terms of special occasions – and I bet a lot of you folks do, too.
Another reader, Nancy, scored some seriously great (and occasionally unadvertised) deals. At Target she got a small vacuum cleaner ($30), a winter coat for her niece (formerly $45, now $13.50), and jeans and a shirt for herself (less than $20 for the two). Over at Burlington Coat Factory, she piled her cart with two pairs of exercise/PT leggings, 11 pairs of women’s underwear (for two relatives), three pairs of jeans and a bra, for a spooky total of $66.66.
“Used a points card for all purchases,” she reports.
Marie did a bit of repair work, too, on an antique lamp inherited from her grandparents. Sure, she could have bought a replacement at the thrift store, but this lamp has meaning to her. Off to the lumber store, where a clerk told her how to put new electrical workings into the lamp.
“Now it sits in my home, remind me of those two wonderful people,” Marie writes.
Marie made a comment about no- or low-spend February that really rang the bell for me – and probably for many of you:
“It struck me, though, that I live this way most of the time. If I’m grateful for what I have, I really do not want much.”
This. Absolutely this.
Recently DF mused that “when you’re frugal, you never feel poor.” For us, frugality doesn’t constrain our lives. It enhances them. Making specific choices with our money lets us help others. It reduces the amount of trash we produce. And it gives us more leeway for when we do want to spend money.
For example, I’ll be visiting my daughter in Phoenix next month without sweating the cost of anything I want to do* while I’m there. DF took a friend out to lunch for his birthday and bought him a transit pass, without having to wonder how he’d pay the credit card bill when it arrives. We’re able to donate regularly to causes that matter to us, and we tip well on the rare occasions when we go out to eat.
Spending strategically is a whole lot more fun that agonizing over books that won’t balance. I think that many people could do with the financial reset that a no- or low-spend February brings.
Readers: How did your Feb. 20-27 go?
*Doesn’t hurt a bit that I’m low-maintenance. Will probably spend most of my time there hanging out with Abby, maybe going to trivia night with her, offering to help with any projects that need a second set of hands and visiting a few friends.
Again, though, I can spend money if I want to spend money. Frugality gives me that choice.
Your DF is absolutely right about the difference between frugality and poverty.
And you’re right — being frugal for years lets you act generously when you choose to. And I love that, too.
I’ll save a couple of bucks on chopped salad anytime, if it also means I can help out financially with people who truly need it.
(I just wish there was a safe and sensible way to help out the Ukraine people.)
Wasn’t really no-spend, however I did get a great deal on Carhartt coveralls for me on Family day – (and I need to take them in to trade as they are too big and long…). Got $10 in Canadian Tire money for spending over $50, plus got a $2 rebate using Rakuten as the route in for the purchase, PLUS got the coveralls at about 1/3 off… I had been delaying buying them, but since #2 son has permanently claimed my pair (No loss to me, I out grew them – sideways, and when he wears them he is doing yard/farmwork for me) I needed to get my own. Procrastination for the win!
I also dug into my purse and located some pre-paid Visa cards that I ordered early in the pandemic using my travel points. not going anywhere, and those cards were useful, but I had a couple that were not yet cracked, and 2 that were partially used. Sat down and calculated what is left on each of those and wrote on them (sharpies!!!). Also had some restaurant gift cards that I am choosing to use sooner rather than later. As well as money on Starbucks and Tim Hortons that I earned through exercise apps (yes, I see the disconnect there…).
have watched our local flyers, and continue to notice that I love to grocery shop. With care, I have avoided most trips, but there have been some super good deals for case lot items that we were running low on, as well as some great loss leaders. I have gone in with a list and left with ONLY what is on the list. go me.
Continue to cook from the pantry and find creative ways to gussy up leftovers. #2 son is happy to eat most things for several days, and that helps.
I’ve been trying to clean out the freezer as we have tons of food in there. This week hubby bought an almost $20 piece of salmon but he divided it in two for two meals.
I haven’t used my car that much so I saved gas that way.
Turn down the heat before we go to bed.
I’ve been cleaning out my closet as I’ve gastric sleeve surgery and I don’t fit into some anymore. They are going to goodwill tomorrow.
1. Changing pharmacies this month saved me $17 on a 90-day prescription.
2. After a not good day, I decided to treat myself to a root beer and small French fries at Sonic, having not had a treat in months, but did so during happy hour so the large root beer was half price.
3. Due to no silly spending this month, I accumulated more than $80 in unspent pocket money. So the less than $4 spent on #2 was just a tiny splurge.
4. Left my husband at home when I went grocery shopping last week. Spent $40 less than usual — he tends to put fun things in the cart — and came in only $1 over budget. (Missed the sale on dog dental chews or I would have been right on budget.)
5. The main office at work seems to often forget to provide small office items like batteries, tape, pens, Post It notes, etc. and I wind up buying them
myself. I’m terrible about keeping up with receipts for these small things that I pick up while doing our shopping, but this month did keep up with them, printed out the paperwork and requested $54 in reimbursements.
It’s not always that much money, but enough to make the aggravation worth the while at least quarterly.
6. Our local grocery store sends us store coupons based on what we frequently buy, which is awesome. This week’s breakfasts for me are bran cereal topped with juice-packed peaches, both store brands bought with coupons. Our big supper meal that made lots of leftovers was a huge pot of spaghetti with the sauce jazzed up with sweet Italian sausage. All components were bought on sale or with a store coupon. Dessert was a pan of brownies made from a mix bought on sale.
7. Our Saturday date night this week was catching up on Star Trek: Discovery while enjoying a big bowl of popcorn popped on the stove. Yum.
8. One reason for living a frugal life is to have the money to do what needs to be done, and my family made a donation to the international Red Cross to aid its efforts in Ukraine because we needed to do something to help.
Not sure if this qualifies, but I saved on buying a freezer. Yep. I paid a little over $300 for a 7 cu ft. I filled it with sales from the store, but this is the corker. A friend of mine knows a farmer who has 3 deep freezers filled with his own home grown meat. He offered us a bunch of roasts and hamburger. For free. So we took advantage of his offer (who wouldn’t) and topped off our new freezer.
Of course we will share the bounty, but wow! We could not believe our luck. God is good.
Wow. That is a spectacular deal, all right.
My office continues to reap rewards in my direction! We are only in office 3 days a week currently, all on staggered days. Thursday, I noticed a coworker (who is only in office Mon-Wed) left a half of rotisserie chicken and container of organic salad greens in fridge. Since she wouldn’t be back until Monday, I zoomed her about it — she responded to toss it or do whatever I wanted with it. BINGO! I took it home (then noticing there was also 1/3 of a cucumber in with the salad greens )– deboned the chicken, made a dinner and lunch out of it, and a small bag of leftover meat went into freezer to add to a future meal.
Because I have so much leftover in my food budget this month, I was able to donate to Ukraine Refugee relief – I did my research and found a valid organization – and donated during the time period when all donations were being matched up to 1 Million USD – so double the money. Like many of us, I feel very anxious about what I going on over there, and so heartbroken for those people – I felt like this was something that I could do to help.
You. Are. Awesome.
Ann, if you wouldn’t mind posting the organization you donated to for Ukraine relief, I’d like to know what it is. I’ve been pondering the best way to contribute.
Whoops, I meant Cheryl. Sorry about that.
Ditto the others above. I donated what I’ve saved this month toward helping the Ukranians. I chose the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
Hello — it was this one.
https://www.unrefugees.org/news/actors-blake-lively-and-ryan-reynolds-match-1-million-in-donations-to-support-displaced-families-from-ukraine/
Thanks for this, Cheryl.
It was another good week on groceries. For the 3rd week we have been under budget. This week I spent $63 of our $100 budget. I was especially happy about that since we had 2 of our grandchildren here for 3 days while they were on school break. There were some things we needed just for the children. Side note: They are 11 and 9 and both like to cook so we made the rustic bread. They were so proud of their loaves. And it was good!
Also, at the grocery store I snagged a bag of about 12 medium size tomatoes for 99 cents because they were at peak. I cut them in halves and seasoned them and broiled with Parmesan. They were a very good side and it made enough to have with 3 meals.
Another good thing: We normally don’t drink soft drinks but we love the canned coke/coffee. It cost about $2.25 a can here so we only get it on sale. Our store had it buy one, get one free so I ran to store to get us a couple. It rang up full price. I politely told them I thought it was a mistake and they sent me to Customer Service. They credited me the whole amount since it was their mistake so I got 2 free cans. Also, I found 14 cents in the grocery story parking lot 🙂
I also want to say I am getting some good food and meal ideas from this blog. People have shared creative ideas for using what they have on hand!
I also will be making a donation to Ukraine. I have been researching the best and safest way. A terrible situation.
It’s great that you’re encouraging your grandkids’ culinary aspirations. Wonder if they’ll go home and demand to show their parents their mad bread-making skills?
Re the Coke with Coffee: It’s fairly regularly featured on Ibotta as a free-after-rebate item. Last year I got five cans that way between Black Friday and Christmas, and put them under the tree for my great-nephew.
And this is a good reminder, once again, to keep an eye on the cash register: An error might really be in your favor. If the register moves too quickly, take a glance at the receipt before you move on.
Thanks for being such a consistent reader and commenter.
I’m frankly lazy about keeping detailed records of spending/saving; Lindsey’s system in particular puts my system (or lack thereof) to same. But I got the bill today for the credit card on which I put almost all my day-to-day expenses, and it’s down $170 from last month. So I think that shows some benefits of Low-Spend February.
I should also mention that I put DH’s nursing home bills on our other credit card (Amazon Prime Visa), which gives me about $150-160 a month in discretionary spending on Amazon points. I spend the bulk of this on grocery/home items it’s become hard to find locally (my cat’s senior cat food cans, etc.), but I do indulge to some extent on books and shoes (I’ve got an increasingly hard-to-fit foot).
Meanwhile, I continue eating out of the freezer/pantry, keeping driving to a minimum, and so on. Boring but thrifty.
“to same” = “to shame.” I’ve got a bad case of the whoopsies today.
Boring but thrifty works for me. Then again, frugal folks have a different idea about the word “boring.”
A fairly frugal February. Not as great as I had hoped but enough that a good chunk of $$ was applied as a principal-only payment on the mortgage. Now I’m motivated to continue the low/no spend mindset into March. Continuing to eat out of the freezer and pantry, no new clothes and resisting the siren call of on-line sales.
Principal payments are a great way to use that “extra” money. And like you, DF and I are determined to clean out the freezer –we’re thawing a turkey right now — in order to make room for this year’s garden goodies.
How did my Feb. 20-27 go? Well, the evening of Feb. 23 found me sprawled out on the ground, having just slipped and fallen on ice and (as I learned the next day) broken my ankle bone. So my Sunk Cost Salvation projects are on hold for the next four weeks, as I leverage rest, a boot cast, and a knee scooter to put this Humpty-Dumpty back together again.
Donna, the last few paragraphs of your post really resonated with me. Due in part to the consistent practice of frugality, this mishap won’t ding our family finances. We picked up Jimmy John’s subs for lunch after my x-ray appointment, plus prepared meals from the local grocery for two different dinners, without sweating the cost. I was able to go online and order a new pair of pants right away, to replace the ones that got torn from the fall. We have savings to cover the upcoming bills for medical co-pays. I even had a pair of crutches saved from previous foot surgeries years ago.
Financial “breathing room” is priceless.
Ow. Ow. OW! I’m so sorry to hear of your mishap — and so glad that it won’t slam you, fiscally speaking. Only physically speaking.
Financial breathing room is priceless indeed.
I haven’t had the best luck being uber-frugal this month since we were helping get a relative moved out to our area from another state.
But, I was able to take advantage of some money saving hacks to help ease the financial pain of this move which wasn’t inexpensive.
I purchased a second whole house air cleaner (we purchased one last month at full price) at 1/3 price on Ebay, and found an independent contractor to install it at a great price. We saved $700 on the second unit. Both units do a great job keeping my allergies at bay and the air in our house is wonderfly clean.
The savings was enough to get a money gift card for the relocating relative, and would have covered the price of her one way air ticket.
Fortunately, I had enough airline miles to pay less than $100 (including her checked bag costs and trip insurance) for a $700 ticket.
I feel like I’ve done pretty well, just shopping for basic food items, and using a lot of food out of my freezer for many of our meals this month.
Overall, the month went well:
I have had 5 no spend days since 2/15
I spent only $2 one day going on a nature hike. Used a Starbucks gift card on the way since I had forgotten to pack a lunch (:. I rarely pay for Starbucks out of my own pocket-I cash in for gift cards from rewards sites and buy the occasional Groupon deal.
Got a $20 grocery rebate from a beer company.
My new grandson is priceless. I spent $1.82 on “Sleep Monster” PJs for him at Old Navy by combining a sale, reward dollars and a Rakuten rebate
I spent about $45 on gas for the entire month.
I took trains to Long Island to visit my mother who is in a nursing home there. Used half price senior tickets. Stayed overnight with my sister, who was gracious enough to feed me multiple meals.
Played the drugstore game at CVS and Wags in person for the first time in 2 years. Spent $1.21 at CVS for 2 Garnier hair masks (to be used as conditioner), 2 Colgate toothpastes, and 20 Cadbury eggs (which my adult kids crave for Easter :). Got $5 in Extra Bucks back, too. My purchases were made using Carepass and regular Extra Bucks plus coupons. At Wags, I paid $20.10 for 9 razors, a can of shave gel, and 6 Crest toothpaste tubes. Got back $5 in Wags bonus cash, plus $5 in Walgreens cash added to my account by the very kind manager because the register was not functioning well and did not play nicely with my coupons. Went back to Wags the next day and spent $13.02 on 4 laundry detergents, 3 fabric softeners, and another can of shave cream. Got another $5 in Walgreens cash applied to my account because my $5 bonus cash earned the day before was not working-manager said he’d had the same issue.
Had one spendy day where I got a Starbucks breakfast (using gift card), a Panera lunch for 3, and a sushi dinner. However, I don’t regret this at all. I made a 4 and a half hour round trip drive that day to visit an old friend who is terminally ill. Grabbed the Starbucks breakfast to get on the road quickly, treated my ill friend and another mutual friend (who has been devoted to ill friend) for lunch, and ordered takeout sushi and cocktails for myself, husband and visiting daughter on my way home due to the fatigue of the day. My mutual friend said that our ill friend had been going downhill until my visit, and she was amazed how my visit had perked up our ill friend and brightened her day. I feel honored that I got to spend time with my ill friend and provide a happy day for her when she has so few left.
The rest of the month, I used gift cards for our customary Friday night takeout-I think I spent $27 out of pocket total (I always tip even if we do takeout rather than dine-in)
We sold an old kitchen hutch for $250 via FB marketplace that had been languishing in our basement since before the pandemic.
Husband repaired our non-functioning clothes dryer. Ended up spending about $85 on parts, but it saved us from having to buy a new dryer. He also found $3 in coins rattling around in the works of the dryer while he had it disemboweled for repair.
Bought a new area rug for our living room (which was needed)-my out-of-state daughter has the decorating gene which I lack, and I wanted to use her expertise while she was in for the weekend. Also booked hotels and flights for an upcoming 6 week vacation. Spent a total of $40 on R/T airfare for two using rewards, used hotel points for most of the stays, and used cash savings for other reservation deposits. We have funds saved for home repair/replenishment and saved for many years to be able to travel in retirement. I agree 100 percent with your comment about being frugal and saving so that you can spend on your own priority items.
Starting off March with a bang. Got a text alerting me that the Sprouts (grocery store) sampling freebie coupons had gone live. I also had a coupon that I had printed last week for a free tomato sauce that is sold there, and got a full purchase price rebate sent to Paypal based on a manufacturer’s rebate for another product purchased there. Got over $30 in freebies today, including a free Vietnamese pourover coffee kit that looks really cool.
I’ve always made my own bread. Not always to save money; more as a form of coping. “Flour therapy” is a safe ways of punching out any of life’s annoyances. Imagine my shock when I went to the store and bought two loaves of my son’s favorite bread. Four dollars a loaf! Even using my favorite flour, I just calculated a homemade loaf at 78 cents. What a mark-up. This month made me much more aware of actual costs.
The staff of life can be very, very pricey. Is there a bakery outlet near you, for the weeks when you don’t have time/inclination to bake?
Great suggestion….I think so. There is an outlet near Bangor. When I am at home, I buy bagels and flatbread at a market in the city. 2 dollars for bag of 6 huge bagels or $1.50 for a large flatbread.
You might luck into good prices on loaves; we’ve paid $1, which is an incredible steal up here. Not lately, though, dang it. We also buy a lot of tortillas that way, either to turn into wraps or burritos or eat with rice bowls.
If you’ve got room in your freezer, stock up. Bread freezes pretty well.
I will definitely check it out!
My February was going along o.k. – until I was hit with automotive issues…but was able to salvage some savings dealing with this issue.
First…back in December I ran over a ladder as it fell onto the Interstate highway. No way to avoid it. Damage to my car was over $2,000, but insurance covered all but the $500 deductible. It was February before all the parts came in. I cashed in enough rewards dollars on my credit card to cover the deductible, as well as my portion of rental car fees not covered by insurance (about $40). After car was repaired, I scheduled it for service as it was long overdue. The service total was $200, but I applied some loyalty dollars from the dealership program I belong to plus they give a senior discount of 5%. Only had to pay about $160 out of pocket. Two days later the car battery died…36 mo. battery already on month 38. New battery was $200. Ouch! Asked the auto parts company guy who put the new battery in my car to check the alternator. And….the alternator was toast. Went back to my dealership and talked to the service manager. Told him I wasn’t happy that they had not alerted me to battery age since I had specifically asked them to check the battery. After they checked the alternator and confirmed it was not working, they said it would take about 4 days to get the part and get it repaired for a cost of $1875.00 – triple OUCH! Told him I had to have a car and would have to rent one, and asked if they would run the car rental through their account with the rental agency since their rate would be better. They had terminated this agreement with rental car agency. Said they would give me a loaner for $40 a day. Told him that wouldn’t work since they have a mileage restriction and if I had to drive to my 92 year old Mother’s house, the mileage would be outside their limit. He asked where my Mother lived, and I told him he had probably never heard of the town, then told him what it was. He laughed and said he not only had heard of it, but that’s where he went deer hunting. So….as it turned out, I got a loaner, and less than 24 hours later got a call that my car was ready. When I got back to the dealership, the service manager told me he was able to adjust some costs. I thanked him and went to the cashier to pay. Again, after loyalty dollars and senior discount, the total was $962.00. I was stunned…almost half the estimate!
So while not a low spend Feb., at least it was not as bad as it could have been. Whewww!
That’s quite the saga! And quite the discount, eventually. Good for you for speaking up.
Way late to the party here… sharing in response to Nancy’s leak mentioned in the article. Nancy should check with her water utility to see if there is a refund/rebate program for fixing leaks. In the municipality where I previously worked, water customers could get a pro-rated refund for the water usage portion of their bill when they brought in a plumber’s receipt or hardware store receipt (plumbing parts) confirming repair of the leak.
Thanks for suggesting this — it’s all new to me. Nancy?
They used to to, but not anymore.
Drat!