We had hoped to go to Hanapepe this week, but the week started off with heavy rain, and then YaYu got very sick, so we’ve stayed home and had a good, frugal week here at Casa Aloha:
- Even though we have a small budget category for movie rentals, this past week we chose to watch free offerings through Amazon Prime and Netflix. The money we don’t spend at the end of the month goes into our savings account.
- I made my goal every day last month with Swagbucks, and earned a 612 point bonus. That’s at least an additional $5 in Amazon credit. I’ve earned $100 in Amazon credit since the beginning of the year.
- We had $11.59 credit remaining this month on our electric bill. We rounded that up to $15 and put that in our savings account.
- We cooked every meal at home, ate up all the leftovers, and spent just $20 at the farmers’ market for this week’s necessary fruits and vegetables.
- We received $200 off of our rent this month for a rental tax rebate we were supposed to get. The money went straight to our savings account.
What frugal wins did you have this week?
The Occasional Nomads 
Coupons! Woo Hoo! My daughter loves one type of oatmeal and there were $1. off coupons for them at the commissary today. That brought the box to $.90! Excellent!
I joined a local gas station’s loyalty club. $.25 off a gallon for the month. With the grands being sick, there has been lots of miles. This is a big win for me.
Started the change challenge. All change goes into a canning jar. That money goes to our family trip in December. Excellent start!
Booked some rooms at the Hale Koa and with money set aside. They wrote me today and let me know I had booked at the higher rate. That might help with the air fare. Any tips on finding good fares on Hawaiian?
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We LOVED our stay at the Hale Koa! Great location, and if you can get a room on the upper floors the views are spectacular. I highly recommend the dinner buffet at Koko (if they’re doing it).
As for Hawaiian, you just have to catch them at a good time. Sometimes they have the best fares, but they’re usually more than anyone else. Depending on where you’re flying from, Alaska often has good fares. Just keep checking every day.
You’ll be surprised by how much you save with a change jar (just don’t peek before the time is up). Putting away our change and $1 bills has become a habit now.
Finally, I cannot remember the last time I was in a commissary. The New Sanno in Tokyo has a mini mart and a small exchange, so we’re looking forward to being able to access those.
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Well, not originally frugal, but definitely helpful going forward. I overpaid our taxes for 2016 based on our return a few years back when I waaaay underpaid and had to write a big check. So we got a really healthy refund which I was initially tempted to spend on a big trip, but decided to sit it on and see how long we can live without touching any other money. Should be interesting.
We each found books we wanted to read at our library (again) and I watched a movie on iTunes instead of going to the theater and buying the popcorn (hard to resist for me).
And so far, I’ve resisted a warm weather vacation in lieu of a longer one this fall, destination being debated now. The longer days surely help.
Hope YaYu is feeling better!
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I would be doing exactly what you are – holding on to the money. We are taking a local staycation next month, while YaYu is at a convention on Oahu – but otherwise no travel this year. I just bought WenYu’s flight home for the summer ($$$), which quickly brought us back to reality.
YaYu is getting better, but is leading a beach clean-up activity this morning – it’s cold, rainy and windy so hope it doesn’t make things worse again. Brett went along to help, and to remind her to sit and take frequent breaks (and bring her home if things get too bad).
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