How did I save money today?

[Meerkat]

Was it crowded and busy? Some places mark prices up this time of year, some have decent sales.

One of my clients manages a store, you'd all know the name, in a mall. Busy, busy, busy! She is getting home later than usual. She sent me a text at 11:30 one evening, when she had just gotten home. I have no envy for her or many this time of year.

Weedy to me busy is great. I hate to see the hussle and bussle leave along with the mall stores.
I try not pay attention to how some of society acts now but still enjoyed shopping even if we mostly window shop.
I've got to start looking for a formal gown for granddaughters [ we call her Paris as in Hilton,she is so uppity but she could be worse ] wedding in May.I haven't dressed formal in years.Last time semi formal was live theatre performance of ' Sound Of Music ' hubby and I took this one ' Paris ' and 3 other gran-daughters to see in Atlanta .Bcen in the woods basically every since.

 

[Weedygarden]

Weedy to me busy is great. I hate to see the hussle and bussle leave along with the mall stores.
I try not pay attention to how some of society acts now but still enjoyed shopping even if we mostly window shop.
I've got to start looking for a formal gown for granddaughters [ we call her Paris as in Hilton,she is so uppity but she could be worse ] wedding in May.I haven't dressed formal in years.Last time semi formal was live theatre performance of ' Sound Of Music ' hubby and I took this one ' Paris ' and 3 other gran-daughters to see in Atlanta .Bcen in the woods basically every since.

It is hard to find clothing for some occasions. I know women who no longer own dresses. Getting comfortable and staying that way suits me.

 

[Meerkat]

Weedy to me busy is great. I hate to see the hussle and bussle leave along with the mall stores.
I try not pay attention to how some of society acts now but still enjoyed shopping even if we mostly window shop.
I've got to start looking for a formal gown for granddaughters [ we call her Paris as in Hilton,she is so uppity but she could be worse ] wedding in May.I haven't dressed formal in years.Last time semi formal was live theatre performance of ' Sound Of Music ' hubby and I took this one ' Paris ' and 3 other gran-daughters to see in Atlanta .Bcen in the woods basically every since.

Marie Osmond did a great job playing Maria, but now remembering it this song is stuck in my head ,

 

[Meerkat]

It is hard to find clothing for some occasions. I know women who no longer own dresses. Getting comfortable and staying that way suits me.

Me too. But now after mostly tennis aand work shoes I have to walk in heels again, not high of course. One of the gust is a billionaire and her aunt in law. Nobody likes her because she is a new money snob. I can handle old money bettter. I don't really want to go but daughter and grand insist.Hope eyes sight is fixed,I'd hate ot fall into the punch bowl.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Still not spending.

 

[Tank-Girl]

Pension day and I got my internet and phone subscription paid for the whole next year.

I made a miscalculation which is extremely rare for me but after my subscription was paid there's
not enough money to fill my gas bottle.

Alright, it is what it is. I live by the grace of God so I'll be grateful for the blessings I have.

I have my Christmas lamb thawing ready to marinate and my mouth is watering at the mere thought.

We have rain in the forecast for Christmas day.
Now THAT would be a Christmas miracle.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Busted yesterday and went and brought some fruit and discounted half price meat so we are back to day one today.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Good on you @Tank-Girl for getting your phone and internet paid for a year . I had a miscalculation a while ago as I thought a payment had come out for some clothing we had purchased but then they did a refund and recharge as some items were not available which threw a spanner in the works but we got through it. Sometimes things are what they are so we just go with the flow and don't stress.

Hope you get the promised rain as we are forecast to get some today and tomorrow. I hope it buckets down and fills our back rainwater tank otherwise we will be emptying one tank into the bigger tank out the back. Then we are down to one full 3000 gallon one apart from that.

@Weedygarden glad you were able to pick up lots of really low price meat. Nowadays you just have to wipe them out of stock if it is a good price as we do here.

@WVDragonlady a $6 saving is better than no saving and it all adds up.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Will bust tomorrow as my sewing machine has died an unnatural death.
Smack dab in the middle Christmas sewing.
But at least I'm half way through.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Saved money after all.
Didn't buy sewing machine.
Seems it's against the rules to buy yourself a gift until after Christmas.
Also found out you can't make yourself your own "Quilt of Valor".
It's against the rules. Go figure.
I was going to make my own "Quilt of Valor" on my new sewing machine.
Also saved money because Wal*Mart had run out of several things I buy monthly.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Reached day 2 of not spending any money yesterday being Christmas Day for us.

Today I busted and purchased a grocery e-gift card from our roadside assist club saving $10.53 or 5%.

 

[Terri9630]

Saved money after all.
Didn't buy sewing machine.
Seems it's against the rules to buy yourself a gift until after Christmas.
Also found out you can't make yourself your own "Quilt of Valor".
It's against the rules. Go figure.
I was going to make my own "Quilt of Valor" on my new sewing machine.
Also saved money because Wal*Mart had run out of several things I buy monthly.

Some rules are made to be broken. I say, buy what you want and make your own quilt if you want to.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Some rules are made to be broken. I say, buy what you want and make your own quilt if you want to.

Thats what I was thinking when I read that! lol Who's gonna know?

 

[Sentry18]

We came in $150 under our Christmas budget for the kids and I have $57 left from what I estimated I would spend on the Mrs. So all in all I would say that counts as saving money. We tend to be very fiscally conservative post-Christmas, so I suspect we will greatly reduce spending and increase saving as of today. At least until late spring when we have a few home improvement projects planned.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Thats what I was thinking when I read that! lol Who's gonna know?

I will buy new sewing machine next month as I have paid off several bills in advance because of surgery.
Also we still have one more Christmas gathering this weekend with youngest son and daughter in law.
Already started sketching out my "Quilt of Valor" quilt.
Already started on Christmas of 2020 blankets for grandchildren.
Figured if I started now I might be done by my birthday in October.
Will be using what I have, so that's a savings in itself.

 

[LadyLocust]

@Sewingcreations15 That's a good savings and adds up fast at that rate!
@Tank-Girl Sorry for your miscalculation, but how nice not to have to think about the other bills for a year. I like doing that too.
@MoBookworm1957 I think it would be special for you to make your own quilt. I understand the quilt of valor side, but think sometimes when things become regulated as it has, it looses what makes it special. For you to commemorate your service with a quilt will be very meaningful.

I am planning and trying to prepare for my self challenge- see how long I can do "no spend" beginning Jan 1.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

@Sewingcreations15 That's a good savings and adds up fast at that rate!
@Tank-Girl Sorry for your miscalculation, but how nice not to have to think about the other bills for a year. I like doing that too.
@MoBookworm1957 I think it would be special for you to make your own quilt. I understand the quilt of valor side, but think sometimes when things become regulated as it has, it looses what makes it special. For you to commemorate your service with a quilt will be very meaningful.

I am planning and trying to prepare for my self challenge- see how long I can do "no spend" beginning Jan 1.

After surgery will be doing a pantry, freezer challenge for the month of January/ February.
As for the "Quilt of Valor", I will sketch out my quilt and help my fellow quilter make my quilt.

 

[Tank-Girl]

If the markets don't wet the bed on the 31st I have made the decision to save for a Thule roof rack system for my car.
It's $506 which is a bit breath taking but I need it if I want to take advantage of all the free pallets available around town.
Also after getting the roof racks the next big ticket item is a sit on kayak.
Can't cart the kayak unless I have roof racks on the car.
No that the big bills are paid I can double down on getting equipment that will help me to survive.

 

[LadyLocust]

@Tank-Girl Not sure how prices are there, but at that price you might also look at those little tow behind trailers. You could then also haul mulch, gravel etc and easier to maneuver than top of car. It's just a thought as that seems a little dear for a roof rack.

 

[Tank-Girl]

@Tank-Girl Not sure how prices are there, but at that price you might also look at those little tow behind trailers. You could then also haul mulch, gravel etc and easier to maneuver than top of car. It's just a thought as that seems a little dear for a roof rack.

I did think about that but unfortunately the price of the tow ball and getting it installed on my 2 door Korean compact will be at least quadruple the price of the rack system.
Then I have to find a tralier that is rated to my very small car.
Then I have to register it.
Getting the racks, roof basket, and roof bag is a lot cheaper than the up front and on going expense of a trailer.
I wish it wasn't so but it is what it is.

 

[LadyLocust]

I did think about that but unfortunately the price of the tow ball and getting it installed on my 2 door Korean compact will be at least quadruple the price of the rack system.
Then I have to find a tralier that is rated to my very small car.
Then I have to register it.
Getting the racks, roof basket, and roof bag is a lot cheaper than the up front and on going expense of a trailer.
I wish it wasn't so but it is what it is.

Bugger!

 

[LadyLocust]

I make my own lotion and use rose water in it which is a little spendy. I had to go to the store this morning and happened to see roses "on clearance." I've never seen flowers on clearance before but got a dozen roses for $3.55. My recipe for rose water calls for 7 roses. So I used 7 for rose water and put the 5 nicest ones in a vase of water. From those seven roses, I will get over 5 cups of rose water (and still have 5 I may use in a smaller batch later.) Calculating only five cups and the total cost of roses, I saved $25.28.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

No Spend day

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Friday was a no spend day .

Saturday however we blew it big time and purchased -
- Two air conditioners one for the lounge room and one for the bedroom plus electricians installation. I saw that the store locally had a price match guarantee and looked online for cheaper and got those prices before I rang them up and they went under the quote I had by about $40. Online I saw that our roadside assist club had gift cards that we could purchase for the store we were purchasing the air conditioners off that would also give us another 5% off so we purchased those to pay for it. All up with wrangling the price down over the phone and paying for the air conditioners with our gift cards we saved $461.50 on the listed price including installation. Very happy with that and we paid cash for everything .
- We then went to one supermarket and purchased on sale a leg of lamb, 3 x 1kg of bacon, a leg of ham, a 4lt ice cream and a watermelon saving another around $30.
- To another supermarket we went and found a marked down 2.66kg whole chicken, a 700 g pack of pizza stuffed chicken breasts and a 400 g packet of chicken schnitzels saving a further $14.41 on usual prices.
- Then we got home and DH gave me puppy dog eyes and asked since I had saved so much on the air conditioners could he have a season pass for one of his PlayStation games so there went another $75.95. He will probably be going in for his operation in the New Year so I decided to spoil him and it will give him something to do while he is recuperating. I banked the remaining savings back into our 3 month living expenses emergency fund but it took a fair battering so back to saving again.

Sunday was a no spend day and in fact we went to bingo and I played with money I won previously and I won (4 times) and came out $70 ahead so that went into our entertainment jar for bingo and other items we want to spoil ourselves with.

Monday which is today we are currently on day 2 of not spending any money today .

@LadyLocust the savings certainly do add up .

 

[MoBookworm1957]

No spend day.
Matter of fact probably won't spend till next payday.
Which is in 3 weeks.
Won't be able to drive.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Day 3 of not spending any money today .

 

[LadyLocust]

Got my grocery $ complete with envelope today. Will begin my self challenge tomorrow - wish me luck ;-) Began totaling up 2019 numbers. We didn't do as well on groceries this year. Last year (2018) was our lowest since I've kept track so tough to beat. Also, we've been taking care of and paying two houses this year so mortgage and rent in addition to utilities for both. Even still paying for the mountain house, this year should cost less since we won't be moving. It's surprising how much that costs. Also, now that I have an idea on how much electric is used in a house that has every silly thing electric, I can work on lowering that. I've been doing that but it's amazing how you have to stay on top of it constantly. Wishing y'all a happy financial year 2020.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Go @LadyLocust it does take a lot to pay expenses on two homes both mortgage and rent and also traveling so you have done very well as the food would be extra .

I hope that your new financial plan works and happy great financial 2020 to you and all.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Day 4 of not spending any money today .

 

[WVDragonlady]

Tomorrow is a pay day so I have $37 to put in the emergency fund this time around
Have all the receipts I saved from 2019 in an envelope . Its not the full year since I didn't start until way late keeping them. But it should give me an idea of price increases this coming year on the things I buy