From new laptops to unlimited popcorn, frugality has come in many different forms in our house this week! Here’s what we’ve had cookin’.
1. I pulled a lot of gift cards together to defray the cost of my new MacBook Air.
OK, so the purchase of a new laptop is never frugal per se – though I’d like to point out that I generally go a good 7 years between purchases, and this time was no different – but I defrayed the cost to the tune of $400 by pooling various gift cards (as well as some rewards I’d earned at work), and taking advantage of Apple’s Back to School sale. And for another bonus: My purchase also earned me another $150 Apple gift card after the fact, which we’ll tuck away for when LeeLee needs to upgrade his computer (and reader, that time is a’coming!).
2. LeeLee and I redeemed two free unlimited popcorns at the movies!
I think I mentioned that I had a birthday last week, and I’m still very much enjoying the celebratory rewards that various companies are bestowing upon me! We went to see the 1933 original “King Kong” at one of our favorite movie theaters – the Angelika Film Center – last night, and I marched confidently up to the concessions counter and redeemed my free popcorn. The wonderful person working the desk gave us each a bag to enjoy, and we munched our way on through the movie. We each had more popcorn left over by the end, so we took it home and put it in an airtight container, and LeeLee enjoyed it again today!
3. We canceled our AppleTV subscription.
We’re still in a bit of a mini-austerity mode at the moment, always looking for ways to cut back on the things we don’t use much, and Apple TV found its way onto the chopping block this week. That’s another $9.99 saved per month, and we won’t even notice it’s gone. If we DO need to watch something that streams on Apple TV, we can bring it back briefly; otherwise, it’s out of the budget!
4. I gave some leftover macaroni new life in a soup!
Have a look at the main photo above and you’ll see my handiwork for this one. I inadvertently made too much macaroni over the weekend for my picnic pasta salad – the recipe called for half a box, and I just spaced out and poured the whole box into the boiling water instead! – so I decided to make good use of the remainder with some good old chickpea noodle soup. There are a plethora of recipes for this out there, but I love Cookie and Kate’s; it’s never let me down! And the best part is, now we have leftovers for the leftovers, with enough soup to enjoy another meal this week.
5. I “splurged” on a new-to-me puzzle from the library.
Even though I paid not one dime for this puzzle, I still say I splurged because I have waaaaay too many jigsaw puzzles to work through at the moment. However, when I was at the library recently, I swung past the puzzle swap section and this lovely avian design spoke to me! So even though my “to be finished” pile of puzzle boxes is way too high, I brought it home as a little treat and am already enjoying putting it together. Side note: With extremely few exceptions, I simply refuse to pay for a jigsaw puzzle. Between the library and my Buy Nothing group, the options are endless!
What have been your frugal wins (or losses) this week? Let us know in the comments!
:)