Free food turned out to be a bit of a theme for this week’s frugal living! Here’s what we’ve been up to …
1. We proudly used a gift card to help celebrate LeeLee’s birthday.
LeeLee turned the big 5-0 (!) last weekend, and we enjoyed several days of festivities to commemorate this blessed event. We kicked off the weekend having dinner with a couple of friends at one of LeeLee’s favorite restaurants, Landini Brothers, before going to see “A Christmas Carol” (which they had also purchased tickets to in a happy turn of events!). I was happy to treat everyone in order to toast my beloved spouse, of course, but we did have this $50 gift card to Landini that we’d received awhile back as a thank-you … so … I added it to the check folder along with my debit card. I’m tempted to add “and nobody was any the wiser” to the end of that sentence, but that would be a lie – I told everyone at the table, as we all do love a good deal!
2. We brought home some leftover gourmet cake from a holiday party.
In keeping with the birthday theme, we enjoyed a slice of Yule log AND a slice of red velvet cake on the big day itself thanks to our attendance at our neighbors’ holiday party the night before. They always buy soooo much food, and as the evening wound down our hostess insisted we take a couple of slices of cake home. We protested meekly but then acceded to her request – and I’m so glad we did!
3. I scored a (nearly) free pizza with a gift card.
Our team at work had its virtual holiday pizza party this week, and as a result $25 gift cards were sent out to all of us. I converted mine to a Papa John’s card and ordered a large pizza with a passel of veggies, which fed LeeLee and me for two meals. If not for the delivery, the pizza would have been free, but alas delivery put me just over the card’s value. Between that and the tip, I paid a grand total of $9.52 – still a great savings!
4. A bag of coffee found its way to us via Rotation.
Our friend Denise – who, you might recall, is my partner in crime when it comes to Rotation – dropped off a bag of Colombian coffee that didn’t suit her, and LeeLee had it in the coffeemaker within literally 24 hours! It suits him just fine and will go to great use.
5. My library book habit has been plentiful.
I do sometimes wonder how much money I’ve saved in a year by using the library as faithfully as I do. As I type this now, I’m too lazy to do the calculation, but I know we’re in the hundreds of dollars at the very least. Right now I’ve got a new-to-me Jenny Colgan Christmas story (“Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop”) that I’m devouring to keep me in the holiday spirit! Got any new recommendations for me?
What sorts of frugal things have you been up to lately? Let us know in the comments!
:)
