While the year is just getting started, I can’t help but notice how much this feels like a time of reflection. It’s been a year since a spike protein upended our lives and changed our world.
Personally, I’ve already noticed just how much our finances evolved this past year. Additionally, I spent some time reflecting on how I’m trying to avoid saver’s remorse.
So that seems to add up to a whole bunch of credit card swiping and dollar signs, right?
Not so much. Because at my core, I still love frugal living. Not only do I appreciate a good deal, I love the fact that frugality overlaps so well with eco-friendly habits. Plus, frugality helps combat my clutter-collecting tendencies and develop my skills and my creativity.
With that being said, I thought it would be fun to reflect on my five favorite frugal wins so far this quarter!
Toddler Hand Me Downs
Remember when I used to balk at the idea of hand-me-downs? Sweet summer child, what was wrong with you?
Anyway, I very quickly embraced used kid clothes, especially since my child’s number one hobby in life is outgrowing things.
I connected with a group of moms in my local Buy Nothing Groups, and we’ve been swapping kid and toddler items like whoa! Thanks to their generosity, I have a handful of shorts and shirts for HP to wear this summer. Or, you know, grow out of by May.
Since I’m not exaggerating when I talk about how quickly this kid grows, I also scored a fantastic deal on a bundle of shirts on Poshmark. Ten shirts for $13? Don’t mind if I do!
If you haven’t given Poshmark a go for kid items or anything really, feel free to snag my referral for $10 off your first purchase!
St. Patrick’s Day on the Cheap!
For whatever reason, leprechauns really fascinate HP all of a sudden. Add the fact that green is his absolute favorite color, and it should come as no surprise that we’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this year.
Thanks to Amazon Shopper Panel, I was able to get HP a new puzzle for free. I mean, a leprechaun was.
So we’ll do a little hunt around our house for cut-out shamrocks, chocolate coins, and his puzzle. When it’s all said and done, this little bit of sunshine in the doldrums of late winter cost us a whopping $1 and tax.
(Almost) Free Shoes
It’s been a minute since I professed my love for the DSW shoe recycling program. So here we are, back with another ode to swapping out shoes. It’s frugal, it’s ecofriendly, and it’s shoes! All of my favorite things.
I combined rewards points for donating shoes with my annual reward for being part of their VIP program, and I got a pair of water shoes for HP for less than $2.
Now I’m setting my sights on getting myself a new pair of slip-on shoes. You know, because the weather is so nice. Not because I’m so pregnant that I literally cannot bend over to tie my own shoes.
Adding to Our Christmas Fund
One of the weirdest money habits I have is to think about Christmas all year. Specifically, I focus on our Christmas fund. Though my strategy varies from year to year, I try to fill up our sinking fund long before the weather gets cold.
This year, I’m going to use a combination of credit card cash back and receipt rewards to hopefully cover our holiday shopping. I got a huge boost lately thanks to Ibotta.
After Santa got me a new phone for Christmas, I was slow to switch over my apps. As a result, Ibotta sent me a bonus basically to lure me back. Normally, I don’t use Ibotta all that much because we are pretty hardcore Aldi shoppers. But Target had a really great grocery promo running at the same time as my rebate. So I was able to buy a bunch of items for our community micropantry and our house, and score over $25 in cash.
Ibotta is normally never that lucrative for me, but this is one case where I was happy to have paid attention to that bonus.
Mending Everything
We’re pretty big on fixing and restoring in this household. We’ve never been ones to shy away from elbow grease.
But one area that I’m definitely trying to expand is my ability to mend and repair clothing. In middle school, we had to choose between a Family and Consumer Science class and foreign language. I opted for Spanish, and while I’m mostly glad that I am polite in another language, I do often wonder what might have been.
So recently, I’ve taken to grooming different fabrics with a lint shaver and I even replaced a zipper pull and the zipper stops on a hand-me-down coat. I’m still certain that middle schoolers can out-sew me, but I’m working on it!
So Tell Me…What are your frugal wins lately?
1. Even though we had to put on an expensive new roof last year we just found out that the energy star rated roof is a tax deduction.
2. 2020 taught us lots of frugal grocery/cooking tricks that we are still using to save money in 2021. Taking my lunch & eating leftovers!
3. Even though I still drive to work 5 days a week we do very little driving otherwise and we’re saving gas money and car wear and tear.
4. My husband was able to negotiate a cable discount in January. By keeping our heat set at 62 our budget billing went down. Keeping lights off and just adding some motion lights around the house for safety has saved on utility bills.
5. Store pick ups have helped us keep to a budget better. Looking at the total before check out helps to think about what we can eliminate and bring over all spending down.
Thinking about Christmas starting from March.. Can never be too early! It’s my favorite holiday and I think about Christmas quite often.
I like the toddler hand me down story.