frugal friday - january

 

A new year has begun! Hopefully some good habits can be implemented from the start!

• No Spend Days: 5
• Grocery deals: 76¢ for two on-the-vine tomatoes, free bag of Kroger brand salad mix with a store coupon
• Money made outside of my job: 
• DoorDash: $102.86
• Ebay/Poshmark/Mercari/Facebook Marketplace: $34.40
• Other: $38.03
• I earned $4.84 cash back via the Upside app - that's 60¢ back per gallon!
• I cashed out $15.33 from the Eureka app
• I received $1.05 back via Ibotta at Kroger and $4 at Whole Foods
• I made sure to go on the website (or app!) and clip Kroger digital coupons. Kroger puts out personalized coupons and these and the Weekly Digital Deal coupons are pretty good value.
• I received $14.81 from a Verizon class action lawsuit sent to my high yield savings account.
• I scheduled a free USPS pickup for two outgoing orders instead of driving or walking the half a mile to the post office
• The insurance company I left failed to cancel my account on the proper day so I called the office to dispute this and they corrected it, warranting me another $20 and change check for the error

I'm always decluttering! It's pretty slow going because I'm not near a lot of reputable thrift stores and people don't always show up when you offer things for free. We'll get there!

• A nice cast iron pan I hadn't used in years - sold on Facebook marketplace
• A pair of Crocs wedges, fleece hoodie - sold online & shipped with recycled polymailers
• A small weekly white board, some metal straws - given away on Facebook Marketplace
• I found some children's books around my apartment so I packed them up and mailed them to my niblings

food waste blurb

• Used up from the freezer and pantry - some Impossible nuggets, a bag of Trader Joe's Penne Arrabbiata, some spring roll wrappers made into spring rolls, two jars of Whole Foods tikka masala sauce, a few cups of fusili pasta

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

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2025 reading challenge

Here I am, once again, declaring that I did not complete my yearly reading challenge the past year. 😒

I got so busy with work that I managed to not read as much as I would like. I've failed my reading challenge so many years in a row.

As I say every year, this year is my year! I'm pledging on Goodreads that I'll read 50 books in 2025. Here's hoping I can hit the ground running. I also listen to audibooks while at work, so coupled with the library, I hope I can knock out a few!

The new releases I'm most looking forward to are Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (here's an excerpt from the first chapter!), Our Infinite Fates by Lauren Steven, and Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green.

However, I have so many books at home that I want to get through. So far these are at the top of the list:

Two of these are recent library books, but three of them are pulls from my enormous To Be Read pile. I have books stashed all around my apartment and really need to slim down my collection. Check out my Pango shop to peruse my books for sale!

As They See 'Em by Bruce Weber //  This is one I pulled from the TBR. As a baseball umpire and lover of memoirs, this one is right up my alley.

The Fantastic Laboratory of Dr. Weigl: How Two Brave Scientists Battled Typhus and Sabotaged the Nazis by Arthur Allen // I love a good story about people kicking Nazi ass. I'm also always intrigued by medical history.

Modelland by Tyra Banks // Lord, this one has been around forever and I'm just now getting to it. We'll see how it goes. 😬

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell // Lately I've been consuming everything I can about cults, so naturally I snatched this one up when I saw it at the library.

Ghost Story by Peter Straub // I've had this copy for forever and I really want to delve into it.

I'll go over these more once I've finished them!

Be sure to add me as a friend on Goodreads!

frugal friday - december

Christmas has come and gone! Here's to a new year of saving and making money.

• No Spend Days: Only One 😔
• Grocery deals: free bag of salad with a Kroger coupon, $1.61 bag of cauliflower florets, $1.80 80 Acres Power Crunch, 49¢ avocado
• Money made outside of my job: 
• DoorDash: $135.14
• Ebay/Poshmark/Mercari: $21.60
• Other: $26.81
• My auto/renters insurance company made one too many mistakes so I took to the internet to find a replacement. I got quotes from another company and ended up saving $50 a month and I'll get a partial refund for $85.47 from my old company.
• iHerb sent me a $10 promotional credit, which I used to buy needed celery seeds*, Alba Botanica lip balm*, and Frontier Savory Pepper*
• I cashed out $11.56 from the Eureka app. I had it sent to my PayPal account.
• Via ibotta*, I got back 25¢ for a Whole Foods receipt and $5.30 at Walmart

I'm still decluttering! I cleaned out my storage closet and packed up some things I'd like to keep but didn't really have a home in my current apartment. It got a lot of things out of my every day living space.

• Several flower pots and propagation jars - sold on Facebook marketplace
• A top - sold online & shipped with recycled polymailers
• I have switched over to 100% glass for my food storage thanks to my coworkers savings glass jars for me, so I swapped out plastic condiment bottles for glass and recycled all of those. I'll do my best to replace the plastic clad products with glass or make those condiments myself from scratch. I washed and donated all of my other food storage containers to the local Food Not Bombs.
• I shipped off four old pairs of sneakers to GotSneakers - we'll see if I get back and cash for them.

I'm still trying to work through a lot of the freezer and pantry - I'm doing another low grocery month. I eat a lot of fresh produce, so I don't count that in my travels.

• Used up from the freezer and pantry - a bag of Trader Joe's vegan orange chicken, some lima beans, a can of tomatoes and chiles, a can of black beans, 

Frugal Fails:

• Somehow my laptop charger broke off so I had to order a new one for $10. Not an entire fail as my laptop is a $75 refurbished Chromebook, but still an expense I could have avoided

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*

frugal friday - november

The holidays are approaching and I'm saving up to make a large purchase - here's some frugal stuff for November!

• No Spend Days: Sadly only four!
• Grocery deals: $3.79 5lb bag of potatoes, free bag of Kroger shredded green leaf lettuce with coupon, $1.49 loaf of bread, 99¢ each jarred low sodium pasta sauce, 99¢ Ranch Idahoan Instant Potatoes
• Money made outside of my job: 
• DoorDash: $41.25, $27, $28
• Ebay: $47
• Other: $15
• I used two empty dog food bags for trash - saving a bag I actually paid for
• I needed something from the store so I walked the three blocks one way instead of driving. My car rarely moves on the weekends.
• Baked potatoes in the air fryer are cheaper and quicker than the oven - I love using Penzey's Krakow Nights on potatoes
• I shipped off two Tervis tumblers to be evaluated for heat extortion via their Lifetime Guarantee. I've done this once before and while the tumbler couldn't be saved, they gave me credit and I ordered a new one.
• I'm starting a new job! While I love what I do currently, the customer service aspect is weighing on me pretty badly. I'll make $4 more an hour and I'll be in a private kitchen.
• A sweet regular who I have become friends with brought me the nicest good luck card and a $20 Petsmart giftcard - the best gift for me is one that spoils Ogden!
• I was tasked with making deviled eggs for Thanksgiving - I don't typically make these so instead of buying a portable egg plate, I borrowed my sister-in-law's

I'm still decluttering! I feel like I've been doing this forever and my belongings don't dwindle. What is happening?

• Another plant pot saucer, half roll of paper towels (though I salvaged what I could to clean floors) - chewed up by the piranha that is Ogden
• Two 32oz Hydroflasks (and picked up in a half hour!) - sold on Facebook marketplace
• A simple clip photo holder, a NWT laptop bag, - sold & shipped with recycled polymailers

I'm still trying to work through a lot of the freezer and pantry - I'm doing a low grocery month.

• I brought home a romaine end and regrew it! I ended up getting enough growth to eat it on a taco. I've got several green onion ends and more romaine ends regrowing now.
• Used up from the freezer: last of a bag of shoestring fries, a block of tofu, ten tilapia filets tossed in turmeric for Ogden, the last of a bag of Gardein crab cakes, giant ball of hashbrowns (freezerburnt) 
• I pulled a large portion of black bean soup from the freezer - I heated it up, threw in some fresh diced tomato, sour cream, and spicy ranchero sauce and it was great. I got two meals out of the bowl.
• Teriyaki sauce finally went on sale so I can use up the last of the rice noodles and a block of tofu I've been marinating
• Thanksgiving dinner was cancelled due to illness, so I just cooked here at home for me and Og. I used up so much from the pantry and freezer! A few potatoes, some sweet potatoes my great uncle grew, a bag of stuffing, a box of jumbo shells, a package of Trader Joe's beefless crumbles, a low sodium gravy packet

Frugal Fails:

• Somehow my little pot of return address labels, thank you cards, and note cards fell into a tupperware of water and plant cuttings I was soaking in the sink. I managed to salvage my sheet of stamps but had to toss everything else ☹
• Ogden chewed the corner of my phone and it spread, resulting in needing a $136 screen replacement

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*