frugal friday

(an easy burrito bowl lunch)

Another Frugal Friday!

• I had applied to the American Airlines baggage class action suit and will receive a $25 check for a flight I took back in 2018
• The Richmond Symphony sent me a voucher for two free tickets and I'm excited to redeem them this year
• With a Kroger coupon I paid $1.99 instead of $3.99 for a package of campari tomatoes - a great deal!
• I lost my eldest dog Saturday (if I go into detail I'll cry, see my Instagram) and my precious friend/neighbor brought me some pumpkin bread to cheer me up ❤❤
• I placed a hold at the library for an eBook I've been wanting to read
• My little puppy, Ogden, and I went to a local island with one of my best friends to get some air and search for paw paws. We only found two paw paws, but it was such a great outing (and very low cost! She picked us up, but I'm still counting her gas in the expense)
• I redeemed a Kroger personalized coupon for a free bag of Tostitos tortilla chips
• When I stopped by Target after work I saved $4.27 (15%) on pizza sauce, cotton rounds, a box of tissues, paper towels, and Swiffer wet pads with a Circle deal
• I stopped by Marshall's for a few things and found a bag of 78 count Bottle Bright on clearance for $12! Amazon has the 78 count bag listed for $32!
• My boss asked if I'd like to pick up a bartending shift for a catering event in two weeks, I said yes

More decluttering!

• A pair of mangled reading glasses, perks of having a puppy haha
• Six freezer blocks I'd received in a package of drinks, thrown out after trying in vain to give them away
• Ogden's first crate that he quickly outgrew - sold it and pocketed $15 ($5 more than I bought it for!)
• A spare licky mat, to my coworker for his pup

And more ways I've avoided food waste

• I brought home some green beans, spring mix, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, sliced pound cake, and some mandarin orange slices that were excess at work - still good, but destined for the trash because of the weekend
• I finished a whole pizza, haha, which is rare. Usually I leave a slice or two and it dries out
• When I met up with my friend Rae for some local exploring I brought her a bottle of ginger dressing I didn't care for that I'd only used one serving of, three veggie patties I wasn't a fan of, and some of the same sliced pound cake from work
• I made a big pot of curry and a big pot of chili during the weekend that Tropical Storm Ophelia hit my area. I used up a bunch of things out of the fridge and pantry in the chili - chopped portobello, a pouch of rice/quinoa, some parsley
• Ate up some leftovers brought home from work - smoked gouda mac & cheese, butter chicken & rice (without the chicken), 
• While bulk slicing zucchini I kept the ends, rinsed them, and brought them home for low calorie treats for Og - bonus that my coworker brought some home for their lizard, and my other coworker decided to try some ends with his dog (who ended up loving them!)

Frugal Fails

• Ogden promptly destroyed my 15% off box of tissues - I saved what I could but 😑

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an evening on an island in rva

Friday evening one of my best friends, Rae, and I went down to our city's river and to the island in the middle of it - Belle Isle. We were in search of paw paws! Richmond is a gorgeous river city and I'm very fortunate to live only a couple blocks from the river. Our destination this evening, though, was just a short car ride away. I brought along my newest familial addition - Ogden, my half blind sharpei mix rescue! I brought him home in mid-July and he's settled in well.

Our view on our way to the island across the pedestrian bridge. Beautiful! Somehow neither of us had ever been to Belle Isle despite all our years here. 

Since Og is part sharpei, he's pretty aloof most of the time. He's not easily phased and in his own little world (unless he's checking on me). The bridge was a cake walk for him, but the river not so much. He's never been around water like that, so he unknowingly walked right into the river and it scared him! I tried in vain to get him to walk up closer after that. I believe he really wanted to, but he was unsure. He's grown leaps and bounds of his shy self when I got him in mid-July, so I'm sure I'll have him in the river soon, haha. 

Here's part of our beautiful city on our walk back! Our paw paw search was fruitful (no pun intended)! While the part of the island we explored was picked clean, we did manage to find two paw paws! Neither of us had had one before, so it was a special treat. And absolutely delicious. We hope to try again next year and find more!

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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

Just a few more ways I've saved and made some dollars

• I managed to snag a $350 Ikea coffee table for free from NextDoor and then listed and sold my little almost new Walmart coffee table for $15 all in one day
• A few items sold on Poshmark and I shipped them out using recycled mailing items
• My sister sent me home with two trays of vegetarian ziti after my nephew's birthday party. I ate it for a couple days, then froze it in individual containers for easy lunches
• I went to cancel my Paramount+ subscription after the free trial and they gave me two months free
• I earned 50¢ via Ibotta on an online Walmart grocery pick up
• One evening I dropped by my good friend Rae's house and after a tour of their beautiful new home and garden, she sent me home with some freshly picked basil (pictured above)
• I started my new job and fortunately have the clothing and shoes needed, although they are supplying me with a uniform once it comes in (and also free lunch every day!

I'm still on a decluttering journey. I hadn't been vigilant in a while, but really tried to buckle down recently

• Eleven plant pots, sold for $25 for the lot
• A K cup holder, sold for $7
• Four gift bags/tissue paper from my gift wrapping stash, to my nieces and nephews for their birthdays
• Small, but I brought another candle to my sister because I'm paranoid to burn them because of my anxiety 🙃
• While not intentional, I broke a baseball candy dish when I was moving the trash can

I've been dilligently trying to avoid food waste while eating through my pantry and freezer, so here's what I've used up:

• Some rainbow rotini, frozen fresh kale that I sauteed, and two chicken sausage links I don't remember picking up, tossed together with some vodka blush sauce.
• The rest of the rainbow rotini for pasta salad
• Finally used up a bag of tortillas - now only one bag left that I bought when I thought I was out
• The last of a forgotten bag of chicken tenders that I don't even remember buying
• I accidentally picked up a jar of Tomato, Onion, & Garlic pasta sauce and there were soooo many onions! I can't stand the texture of onions (I usually puree mine to still get that necessary flavor) so I ended up straining it and using the rest of it up!
• Also at my newjob, I was prepping hundreds of grilled cheese sandwiches and brought home a back of bread heels. I'm going to show my best friends how to make croutons when we do meal prep

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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

Yet another week of how I've saved and made a few dollars!

• I never used to be a person who returned things, but now I am (within reason, of course, and never to a small business). I bought a $3.99 block of fudge from The Fresh Market that, after one bite, was just really really not good. I looked up their return policy and returned it and got my money back.
• I didn't renew my BJ's Wholesale membership, but I did redeem the $10 Sam's Club offer a bit ago to make up for it for laundry detergent and dog food.

• I earned $3.60 cash back via ibotta on a small little grocery shop. I don't eat meat, but those Deliwiches will be a nice little snack for friends. Between the ibotta deal, a sale, and a Kroger coupon, I only paid $1.49 for the frozen sandwiches.

• In another trip, I earned $8.05 via ibotta on things I would've already purchased, so I stocked up on razors, Febreze, Triscuits, and soup

More decluttering

• My office was looking for some greeting cards and I had an extra birthday card so I brought it in. I don't send them anymore, so it saved the card from the landfill. Small stuff, but it helped out!

Ways to avoid food waste:

• I made some croutons (pictured above) out of the last few stale slices of a loaf of bread
• Lately I've been really good about finishing leftovers and food I've made and haven't thrown out much at all, though I did lose a bag of hamburger buns I forgot about
• There were some miscellanous snacks in my pantry so I took them to work and I've been finishing them up so they don't go to waste
• I don't eat breakfast at home so I took my value bag of vegan sausage patties, some folded Just Egg, and a bag of slider rolls into the office. I keep them all in the freezer and just microwave as I get hungry. I break the Just Egg in half since it's a little too big for sliders and I can get two sandwiches out of one.  

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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.*