- I earned 822 bonus points last month from Swagbucks, close to another $10. I make sure I at least get the first goal every day, the second goal if I can, and do other small tasks every day that will increase my bonus at the end of each month.
- I redeemed some of my Swagbucks stash for a $250 Southwest Airlines gift card, which will go towards Big Mystery Adventure™ travel expenses.
- YaYu took leftovers for her lunch every day this week.
- We drank lots of filtered water and sun tea, found creative ways to use odds and ends in the refrigerator and pantry, combined trips to save gas (and bought gas at Costco, the lowest price on the island), didn’t throw away any food and ate all the leftovers, dried most of our laundry outside, and did all sorts of other small but important things that help us save.
- We put $5.87 into the change/$1 bill jar this week: $3.00 left over from the farmers’ market, and $2.87 from recycling.
What frugal wins did you have this week?
The Occasional Nomads 
1. Hung all laundry. We choose not to own a dryer.
2. Cooked all meals at home. I packed the leftovers for Hubby’s lunches.
3. Also cooked a big batch of black beans and froze smaller portions of it for future meals.
4. Sold 4 items on eBay.
5. Made a Christmas list to keep to my budget! BTW, I found a great artificial Christmas tree at IKEA at the end of the holiday season last year. They were originally $100, reduced to $10. And it is my favorite Fraser fir style. For two years, we had bought live trees from Costco, but they have dried out very quickly.
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Very impressive! I would so do the beans here except I’m pretty much the only person who likes them, so I just pick up a can now and then when I need them. I’m also in awe of your Christmas tree score! We bought a big, pre-lighted artificial tree (noble fir) five years ago, and it has more than paid for itself in what we used to pay for a live tree. Wish we had gotten as good of a price as you did though.
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Nice work! That’s a great use of Swagbucks. I don’t earn nearly enough (maybe $25/year?) to turn it in for anything of major value, but I keep chugging along. 😉
We also did a really good job eating through leftovers & keeping the fridge clear before we head out of town this weekend. I consolidated travel rewards, and requested a $100 Target card for hotel points I couldn’t use any other way.
I also discovered that by transferring Starwood points to Alaska miles, you earn an SPG bonus! That was a very pleasant surprise. I have a few upcoming Starwood stays, so hopefully I’ll be able to make the most of that.
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You are a total master with the airline stuff – I am in awe of your skills at parlaying your rewards into airline miles for your family’s trips. We’ve got enough now on Hawaiian for at least two RT or three one-way trips, and plan to use them next summer to help keep our travel costs down.
I just learned about the Southwest cards on Swagbucks a few months ago, so that’s what I’m working toward now – I’d like to earn at least three more before we head off on our travels next year. Swagbucks also has Delta gift cards, but I think you get more bang for your buck with Southwest. They’ll also help us save on WenYu’s trips across the continent.
We rarely stay in “name” hotels so unfortunately never earn rewards that way.
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I cleared out a storage unit, so I am $87 richer each month from now on out.
I put 7 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot along with carrots and potatoes. when that was done, I put in celery and onion which I forgot to do, and cooked it another day. Then, I added 11 chicken legs and let them cook too long. Now, I have to get it out and separate the meat from the rest which will go for chicken food. THEN, the broth will have carrots and potatoes added. The vegetables will be delicious after cooking in the broth. The crockpot will have run for five days straight when I am done.
I bought huge, beautiful celery heads for fifty cents each. It will go in the dehydrator. Plus, I bought grape tomatoes for $.98/pt. Those will go into the dehydrator, too.
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I read your post about the storage unit – congratulations! Besides saving the $86 per month, you also accomplished the huge chore of downsizing all the things that you had in that storage area. I am always impressed with your savings, and the deals that you find.
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