Five Frugal Things

1.Used up leftover Halloween candy

I teach a third grade first communion class at my church on Sunday mornings. ( I have the sweetest kids this year!)  While my students love to answer questions about what we learned during the class, they especially are eager to show off their knowledge when candy is involved.  So when I noticed that I was down to five pieces of candy in my treat bag, I luckily remembered all the leftover Halloween candy I reserved for just this purpose. ** The only problem with this solution was that it was a mixed bag of candy so a little whining occurred when they saw that other kids had different types of candies that they reeeaaaallllyyy loved…….sigh….

Savings/Freebies: $3 (rough estimate on a small bag of chocolate candy)

2.Pork Chops!!

While I was writing out my menu plan for the week, I noticed that it was full of four chicken meals and one beef meal.  So craving a little diversity, I started to add a different meat to my grocery list, when I thought, “Hmmmm I wonder if I should check once more for random meats in my freezer.”  Well lo and behold, there were five small packs of pork chops hidden at the bottom of my chicken tote bag. ***I use reusable totes to organize my chest freezer and I must have consolidated all the white meats into one bag to save space.

Savings/Freebies: $8 (Money I didn’t have to spend on store bought pork chops)

3.Cardpool

Awhile back, Macy’s had made an error involving an internet purchase made by my husband.  To rectify this error, the sent a $30 gift card to us!!! (Great customer service by the way) Well we do not live anywhere near a Macy’s and shipping would have eaten up a large chunk of the gift card, so I decided to look into one of the gift card trade-in companies online.  After researching a couple, I decided that Cardpool seemed like the best one based on customer feedback. Surprisingly, it was extremely easy to do and I received a digital Amazon gift card worth $24.01 to use whenever I wanted.

Savings/Freebies: Earned $24.01 and now have one less thing to worry about on my to do list!

4.Bought gifts using free money

With the Amazon credits I received from selling my unused gift card, I bought my son a variety of Scooby Doo movies he will love for Christmas.  So it was a win-win situation.

Savings/Freebies: $21 (The amount of money that did not have to come out of my pocketbook for Christmas gifts this year)

5.Credit card reward points

I agree with Dave Ramsey on most things, but not on the issue of credit cards.  I think that the smart use of credit cards can be a wonderful way of earning extra cash throughout the year.  We have not paid one penny of interest to our credit card company in over ten years. Instead, they have paid us an average of $75-$100 a year for just using our credit card on everyday purchases.  Admittedly, we have worked the system by using our credit card on purchases that we could have paid cash for. For example, we bought a wood stove for $2000 a few years ago and received $20 cash back from our credit company because they offer 1% cash back on every purchase made.  We really capitalize on the cash back purchases when we buy from the categories that offer 5% cash back on a quarterly basis. For example, the past three months our credit card company has been paying us 5% cash back on all purchases made at Walmart. **While I do not usually shop at Walmart, I will for 5% cash back!!

Savings/Freebies:  $42 in credit card reward points….yippee!

**Recap: This week, I have made $66.01 with basically no work and saved myself over $30 by being prudent and using what I already had….even if I didn’t know it!