~~~~~~~~~~~~ October 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[prairiewindmomma]

We did a Costco run yesterday. We ended up behind in a guy in the usual loop through the store. He kept exclaiming and showing outrage over the price increases…he down near had a meltdown over butter. What I found interesting was how everyone around him was also clucking in sympathy. Like, we are all feeling the price increases in a notable way, even in a place like Costco. 

[mommyoffive]

Through October 29th, head over to Walgreens.com or to your local Walgreens store where they are offering a HOT Buy One, Get One FREE Sale on select Halloween candy bags!

Even sweeter, through October 31st, you can save an extra 15% off your $30 purchase with promo code OCT15 at checkout!

If you don’t want to spend $30, and opt for free in-store pickup, you can use promo code WAG10 to snag 10% off your order! Note that you can only use this promo code on one transaction. Keep in mind that you’ll need to spend $10 or more in order to qualify for free store pickup.

*HOT* Buy 1, Get 1 FREE Halloween Candy at Walgreens (+ Extra Savings w/ Promo Code!) (hip2save.com)

[mommyoffive]

Picked up glasses and paid for them plus for the exam part that insurance didn't cover.

Returned a violin rental. 

Put in an order at Costco (vitamins and work pants for dh) and vitamins.  Ordered vitamins from Amazon. 

Returned something from the grocery order as it wasn't the right size. 

did a lot of health things last week.

If anyone is interested in work pants do dh's or a ds, this is the kind dh got at Costco. He loves them and has ordered a bunch over summer.  They are marked down to 9.97.  Last night if you ordered 5-9 items it was $30 off and if you ordered 10 or more items it was $60 off your order.  They changed the deal today.  If you spend $150 you get $35 off.  And if you spend $300 you get $80 off.

English Laundry Men's 5 Pocket Pant

Edited October 24, 2022 by mommyoffive

[mommyoffive]

Right now, you can get a set of six 5×7 photo cards at Walgreens!

Just upload your pictures on the Walgreens site, design your cards, go to checkout, use coupon code SAMPLE and choose in-store pickup. Your total should be $0.00!

Valid for a limited time only.

[Condessa]

Sunny’s biopsy results finally came back!  They say it’s benign and they don’t expect any more issues!  I am so grateful.

[mommyoffive]

Just now, Condessa said:

Sunny’s biopsy results finally came back!  They say it’s benign and they don’t expect any more issues!  I am so grateful.

Great news.

[Condessa]

We harvested the sweet potatoes that grew from a sprouted grocery store one.  Some of the potatoes are massive!  We also have the last harvest of sweet potato greens, extra tomatoes from my sil’s garden, extra bell peppers from the garden of a lady at church, and free onions from the roadside.  (They always overload the onion trucks at harvest time and some spill out on the turns.  They line all of the roads around here this time of year, so I have half a bucket of road onions we’ve picked up.)

[mommyoffive]

@Condessa  Road onions!!!  That is awesome and hilarious.

Wow, one potato is a meal!  Those sweet potatoes are huge!!

[Brittany1116]

We were called by family for a free 8 day resort stay in another state. We pulled a bit of cash out and I took the kids. Car broke down on day 1 over 500 miles from home. Had to tow and do repairs and ultimately have my husband drive up with a trailer to haul it home. Necessary repairs are in thousands and will take weeks for parts so it made more sense to bring it home than leave it there. 

 

[Condessa]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Through October 29th, head over to Walgreens.com or to your local Walgreens store where they are offering a HOT Buy One, Get One FREE Sale on select Halloween candy bags!

Even sweeter, through October 31st, you can save an extra 15% off your $30 purchase with promo code OCT15 at checkout!

If you don’t want to spend $30, and opt for free in-store pickup, you can use promo code WAG10 to snag 10% off your order! Note that you can only use this promo code on one transaction. Keep in mind that you’ll need to spend $10 or more in order to qualify for free store pickup.

*HOT* Buy 1, Get 1 FREE Halloween Candy at Walgreens (+ Extra Savings w/ Promo Code!) (hip2save.com)

Thank you!  Got my Halloween candy.

[mommyoffive]

9 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

We were called by family for a free 8 day resort stay in another state. We pulled a bit of cash out and I took the kids. Car broke down on day 1 over 500 miles from home. Had to tow and do repairs and ultimately have my husband drive up with a trailer to haul it home. Necessary repairs are in thousands and will take weeks for parts so it made more sense to bring it home than leave it there. 

 

Oh no, what a mess I am sure to get home.  I am so sorry.  Car issues are no fun.  

[saraha]

28 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

We were called by family for a free 8 day resort stay in another state. We pulled a bit of cash out and I took the kids. Car broke down on day 1 over 500 miles from home. Had to tow and do repairs and ultimately have my husband drive up with a trailer to haul it home. Necessary repairs are in thousands and will take weeks for parts so it made more sense to bring it home than leave it there. 

 

Oh man, I am so sorry! One of those things where my dh says “ we’d be money ahead if I had just stayed in bed” that really stinks

Edited October 24, 2022 by saraha

[Brittany1116]

Yes, we have been joking, "we may never financially recover from this free vacation."

[HomeAgain]

I haven't checked in here this month.

October has proven to be a month of hemorrhaging cash in our house.  Moreso, in the direction of the 12yo:

Jamboree down payment: $600

Hotel reservation for a tournament next year: $500

New chest protector: $120

Stick - we got an extension put on to be a stop gap until he gets the one for Christmas we found on clearance this summer.  - $20

Not to mention he grew another 3 inches and out of jackets, shoes, and every long sleeve shirt.  I managed to find some things he would wear at the thrift store yesterday, including a dress shirt.  I have fingers and toes crossed that he doesn't grow out of skates until next month. 

We did take the family to Six Flags this weekend.  Dh and oldest ds were both eligible for very discounted tickets that put the trip within the same price as the local pumpkin patch.  We ate before and after, bought drinks in the park ($4 for free refills all day, massively discounted because it's the end of the season), and didn't get any souvenirs.  DS opted for a pumpkin from the grocery store ($5) to carve this year.

I'm hoping next month is easier on the wallet.  Dh is working Thanksgiving day, so we are tweaking our celebration.  I'll make finger food for day of and we'll figure out how to celebrate on a different day when dh and ds1 are both available.

[Condessa]

Dh and I were deciding on birthday gifts for dd11 and I got into Christmas planning mode.  We found some really cool medieval village sets of knockoff legos that are going to be the kids’ primary Christmas gifts.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09MF1QPN3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
I also found gifts for our former foster girls and their foster sister and Christmas pjs for the kids, plus a minor secondary gift for the two boys.

 I also have some tiny, adorable glass Nutella jars that I spotted months ago and saved for stockings, and a stash of vanilla beans that I am going to make homemade vanilla from for gifts for the relatives.  I bought them when I was visiting family in the spring and found them at a middle eastern market.  The vanilla beans were only 50 cents each!  (They’re about $10-12 apiece here!)  That will leave books for each kid, something for the baby, a couple board games for the two sets of cousins, a minor gift for the two girls (probably something like more art supplies), and some chocolate oranges and mandarins for the stockings before I’m done.  
 

Oh, and not a gift, but I bought a baby gate that will go all the way around the upstairs fireplace and attach to the wall on either side, so we can use the fireplace for heat safely.  I’m still trying to figure out how to make the downstairs fireplace baby safe, because it’s entire wall is brick so I can’t attach a gate around it like the upstairs one. So, lots of spending going on over here, but all stuff that’s in the budget.

[mommyoffive]

Head on over to Amazon where you can score this VTech KidiZoom Creator Cam HD Video Kids Digital Camera for just  $25.30 shipped (regularly $69.99)!

As another option, if you haven’t yet used your 25% off one toy Circle offer, you can snag the same deal on Target.com. And if you’re a Target RedCard holder, you’ll score an extra 5% off plus free shipping!

Have a budding videographer? The kiddos can create their own videos with this HD digital VTech KidiZoom camera that features a built-in microphone and special effects! Plus, it includes a green screen and a tripod/selfie stick. If your kids love to create their own videos or movies, the VTech KidiZoom Creator Cam would make a great gift under the tree on Christmas!

 

from hip2save

Edited October 25, 2022 by mommyoffive

[heartlikealion]

Dd broke her glasses at fall fest. I told xh I would pay for my share of one pair but please discuss in advance if ordering more (when ds broke glasses xh ordered 2 and then I had to fork over more money at once). He just ordered one pair and I sent my share which wasn’t too bad. 

I don’t shop at target often but when I was there last night I scanned most of my items to look for any possible red circle discounts. Saved 15% on my lettuce and paid for everything with red card for 5% off. 

I’m signed up to help with the Halloween class party and didn’t know what to offer to bring. I said I can bring paper plates & napkins. I’ll look at dollar tree or Walmart. The plates, even on sale, at JoAnn were a rip off (only came in a pack of 8, too). But I don’t even know if they need plates?? I just wanted something cheap & easy. Someone else is bringing drinks, another is bringing goodie bags and xh is bringing “worm dirt” which I’m guessing will be distributed in cups. If I have time I might sew some Halloween bookmarks with fabric I have here. Open to other easy ideas. I couldn’t find any cheap stickers, erasers etc in Target. Half the Halloween section was cleared out. 

[heartlikealion]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Head on over to Amazon where you can score this VTech KidiZoom Creator Cam HD Video Kids Digital Camera for just  $25.30 shipped (regularly $69.99)!

As another option, if you haven’t yet used your 25% off one toy Circle offer, you can snag the same deal on Target.com. And if you’re a Target RedCard holder, you’ll score an extra 5% off plus free shipping!

Have a budding videographer? The kiddos can create their own videos with this HD digital VTech KidiZoom camera that features a built-in microphone and special effects! Plus, it includes a green screen and a tripod/selfie stick. If your kids love to create their own videos or movies, the VTech KidiZoom Creator Cam would make a great gift under the tree on Christmas!

 

from hip2save

The Q & A on the Amazon listing says, “why is it so high to begin with when usually under $50 at Walmart.” 

sounds like shady Amazon pricing. But there also is a coupon you can clip. 

[mommyoffive]

Great sale

from hip2save

We had this and it is so solid, dh and I would climb on it.

For a limited time only, hop on over to Amazon where they are offering this Lifetime 60″ Geometric Dome Climber Play Center for just $132.76 shipped (regularly $219.99)!

This freestanding climber features an Earthtone color, measures 5’x 10’x 6′, and can hold up to a whopping 600lbs so it can be enjoyed by many children at once! And, thanks to the rock climbing hand grips, your kiddos will be able to climb up and down safely for worry-free play.

[historically accurate]

I've been offline since last Friday. Youngest spent 8 days in Chicago at a headache inpatient facility. Lots of extra spending and missed work. I wasn't going to take days off since she was adamant she could and wanted to do this by herself. So, with some trepidation, I dropped her off on Tuesday. However, they tried a medication that completely zonked her on Thursday, and she needed someone there to advocate for her. So my brother went on Thursday and stayed with her, and I ended up going up there on Friday and moving in, and we just came home today. Learned a lot, and still have some tweaking of medications and therapies, but possibly found an underlying cause (need more testing). 

Other than that I have no idea what has been going on in the outside world - I've been in my little hospital bubble.

Edited October 26, 2022 by historically accurate

[prairiewindmomma]

Amazon has been having good prices on Bambody period underwear. 

Currently, this one is half off for $7: https://www.amazon.com/Absorbent-Bikini-Brief-Panties-6X-Large/dp/B09F2YN9FP/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3UQCV9IWNG7S2&keywords=bambody&qid=1666825028&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI2LjE0IiwicXNhIjoiNS43OCIsInFzcCI6IjUuNjMifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=bambody%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

I recently read how a lot of period underwear actually contains PFAS. I was also under the mistaken impression that Oeko-Tex meant that it wouldn't contain fluorine, and I was wrong. Oeko-Tex does check for some PFOAs and PFAS, but not all. Ugh. Anyway, someone sent Bambody period underwear in for lab testing and Bambody had no fluorine.  So, I feel ok recommending it. We're still wear testing what we purchased from Bambody, but so far no complaints.

Sizing does run a full size small, if not two. 

 

[plansrme]

I was perusing Craigslist this week looking for chairs for my husband's office and came across a set of 4 teak folding director's chairs for $125. My daughter has a cute little patio with a fake-teak (acacia wood) table that neighbors gave her when they moved, but no chairs. The listed chairs are still being sold new at Ballard, for over $350 EACH. So I picked them up, oiled the frames with tung oil that was leftover from some long-ago project, and bleached the Sunbrella-fabric seats and backs. They look fabulous! I am so excited about them. It has been a long while since I've found any bargains on CL or FB Marketplace, but this was worth the effort. Now I need to figure out what else I need and can buy on CL. . .

[mommyoffive]

Percy Jackson & the Olympians 5-Book Box Set JUST $14 on Amazon (Regularly $35) + More Kids Book Sets (hip2save.com)

[mommyoffive]

Today, October 29th only, pop over to Target where select books are Buy One, Get One 50% Off – valid in-store or online. Note that no promo code is needed as the book of equal or lesser value will automatically be discounted at checkout.

Even better, this sale includes a ton of highly-rated children’s books AND you can pair this promotion with your 25% off one toy or kids book purchase Circle offer for even more savings!

As always, Target RedCard holders can save an additional 5% AND get free shipping!

 

from hip2save

[mommyoffive]

I noticed  a lot of increased prices on grocery order today.   Yay.   😞

[historically accurate]

Just now, mommyoffive said:

I noticed  a lot of increased prices on grocery order today.   Yay.   😞

Yeah, I had several things that increased in price in my walmart order yesterday - 

hamburger buns (were .88 last year, 1.00 recently, now 1.14)

toilet paper (now 16.73, was 12.something a few months ago)

shower curtain liner to be used as a paint tarp (used to be .94, now 1.30)

ketchup (brother's cheap brand went from .99 to 1.18, my slightly better brand is now 2.98, I think it was 2.92 last time I bought it)

 

I'm walking with the bookmobile in the Halloween parade today for an extra hour of pay. 

Did some freezer cooking/planning ahead/using up food odds and ends today - made 2 loaves banana bread (DD who eats bananas like a monkey was in hospital last week and nobody ate the bananas), vanilla ice cream (had some heavy cream to use up), salsa (neighbor gave us the last of his peppers), soup (bought some g-f ravioli for DD and she didn't dig it, so I tried a basil tortellini soup recipe with the ravioli - hoping if it's in with other stuff it'll be ok), french bread pizzas (walmart had some french bread on sale - 1.03 down from 1.47/used to be .99 at normal price). 

[mommyoffive]

20% Off $50 Amazon Brand Products Purchase for Prime Members

Rush over to Amazon where they are offering 20% off a $50 Amazon Brand purchase! Even better, some of these products are eligible for Subscribe & Save, which means you can snag even more savings PLUS free shipping!

from hip2save

[Shoeless]

Had a coupon for free cookies at the grocery store and $1 off grapes. There was some sort of glitch because the coupons took way more off. The grapes became 50% off, the cookies were free plus an extra $3, which almost paid for the milk. 🤷

I'll take it! 

[Shoeless]

I went back through the store because I had yet another coupon for free cookies (different brand) and one for a free dog toy. I also picked up my $0 cost prescription. A coupon for free hand lotion popped up, but we already have several bottles, so I let that one go. 

 

[cjzimmer1]

4 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

20% Off $50 Amazon Brand Products Purchase for Prime Members

Rush over to Amazon where they are offering 20% off a $50 Amazon Brand purchase! Even better, some of these products are eligible for Subscribe & Save, which means you can snag even more savings PLUS free shipping!

from hip2save

Thanks for sharing that!  I was getting low on dog food so it was a good time to stock up!

[historically accurate]

7 hours ago, historically accurate said:

 

I'm walking with the bookmobile in the Halloween parade today for an extra hour of pay. 

 

Got 2 hours of pay and my boss gave me a $25 Starbucks gift card for doing it. I'm going to set that aside for a Christmas present for my MIL.  The parade was only about a mile long walk, so super easy. 

[mommyoffive]

30 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

Got 2 hours of pay and my boss gave me a $25 Starbucks gift card for doing it. I'm going to set that aside for a Christmas present for my MIL.  The parade was only about a mile long walk, so super easy. 

Super awesome!

[mommyoffive]

3 hours ago, MissLemon said:

I went back through the store because I had yet another coupon for free cookies (different brand) and one for a free dog toy. I also picked up my $0 cost prescription. A coupon for free hand lotion popped up, but we already have several bottles, so I let that one go. 

 

You got some great deals! Awesome!

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, cjzimmer1 said:

Thanks for sharing that!  I was getting low on dog food so it was a good time to stock up!

You are welcome.

[cjzimmer1]

Super excited because my free wood mulch showed up today.  Timing was perfect as we have 4 days in a row of beautiful weather with which to deal with the pile.  And while it didn't look THAT big (even though the high point was 6 feet tall) when you are moving it by the bucketful it takes a long time to make a dent.  And because the pile is massive, I can mulch areas I only dreamed of before because I never had the money or energy to get that much mulch in bags from the store.  I would guess it's the equivalent of several hundred bags at minimum.  And with a price of free, it truly can't be beat.

We also did Ruby's pantry last week.  It was an amazing order (this is not my picture but this person also ordered two shares and mine was identical except I didn't get the pumpkins or celery).  Even with the missing items it was a phenomenal deal.

[Shoeless]

Wow, that's quite a deal with Ruby's pantry! Congrats! 

We don't have anything like that here, (that I know of).

[mommyoffive]

No spend on Halloween.  Had enough candy on hand to give out.  Kids just costumes from home to go TOT.

Did buy some new gear for dance for ds.

[cjzimmer1]

1 hour ago, MissLemon said:

Wow, that's quite a deal with Ruby's pantry! Congrats! 

We don't have anything like that here, (that I know of).

It was a complete fluke I found out about it.  I just happened to see a mention about the location I go to on a site that wasn't really related so I went and looked it up.  Turns out that location has been going on for 2 years already and some others farther away longer than that.  Now I feel like it's the best kept secret around.  I have to drive about 30 minutes each way but I don't mind.  They say they have 85 points across the upper midwest.  I would be surprised if other parts of the country don't have a similar program but finding it's the hard part.  I wouldn't even know what to google.

[historically accurate]

7 hours ago, cjzimmer1 said:

It was a complete fluke I found out about it.  I just happened to see a mention about the location I go to on a site that wasn't really related so I went and looked it up.  Turns out that location has been going on for 2 years already and some others farther away longer than that.  Now I feel like it's the best kept secret around.  I have to drive about 30 minutes each way but I don't mind.  They say they have 85 points across the upper midwest.  I would be surprised if other parts of the country don't have a similar program but finding it's the hard part.  I wouldn't even know what to google.

So all of that was for $25? It'd be a little bit of a drive (probably about an hour - hour & a half) to get to the closest ones, but it may be worth it.

[cjzimmer1]

49 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

So all of that was for $25? It'd be a little bit of a drive (probably about an hour - hour & a half) to get to the closest ones, but it may be worth it.

No, $52.  2 shares of food at $25 plus I preordered online and each share has a $1.00 convenience fee.  You can also pay with cash onsite and save the fee but you have to sit in line (which can take forever, I've had waits of anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and half).  The preorders have specific time slots and they always get priority in the line over the walk ins.  I decided it was worth the extra $2.00 to preorder.  The catch (at least for my site) is you have to order within the first day or two or the preorder slots are all filled.  My site does about 350 preorders and about 400 walk ins.  But each site gets different amounts of food so the number of shares varies.

If you do decide to try it and don't have a preorder, I would recommend for the first time at least get there30-60 minutes before they open so you can be in the early part of the line.  If it's a really busy site, they will sell out of shares.

Also each month what you get changes,  So it's a complete surprise.  Many sites put out a sample list the day before (which is when they find out what is coming on their truck) but even then you don't have the details.  My list said produce and as you see we got lots of fresh produce.  Most times we don't get fresh produce but it depends on what is donate and when. Another site whose pickup is three days before mine only got pumpkins for produce but between their delivery and mine, a bunch of produce was donated so that gets sent out immediately.  Some other non perishable items we got in our boxes 3 months in a row while they used up the donation at a reasonable level (I say reasonable because last month I got a case of flaming hot limon cheetos for each share.  The box had 104 grab bags of cheetos in each box.  We will be eating those for months as only 2 people here will eat those)

It might be worth trying to see if there is a Facebook page for the site you are considering (they are often run by churches and other local groups as all the people working at the sites are volunteers).  They often post pictures so you can get a feel for what is coming into your site and how they operate.  They try to make share equal across the sites but what you get really does vary widely.

[historically accurate]

7 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

No, $52.  2 shares of food at $25 plus I preordered online and each share has a $1.00 convenience fee.  You can also pay with cash onsite and save the fee but you have to sit in line (which can take forever, I've had waits of anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and half).  The preorders have specific time slots and they always get priority in the line over the walk ins.  I decided it was worth the extra $2.00 to preorder.  The catch (at least for my site) is you have to order within the first day or two or the preorder slots are all filled.  My site does about 350 preorders and about 400 walk ins.  But each site gets different amounts of food so the number of shares varies.

If you do decide to try it and don't have a preorder, I would recommend for the first time at least get there30-60 minutes before they open so you can be in the early part of the line.  If it's a really busy site, they will sell out of shares.

Also each month what you get changes,  So it's a complete surprise.  Many sites put out a sample list the day before (which is when they find out what is coming on their truck) but even then you don't have the details.  My list said produce and as you see we got lots of fresh produce.  Most times we don't get fresh produce but it depends on what is donate and when. Another site whose pickup is three days before mine only got pumpkins for produce but between their delivery and mine, a bunch of produce was donated so that gets sent out immediately.  Some other non perishable items we got in our boxes 3 months in a row while they used up the donation at a reasonable level (I say reasonable because last month I got a case of flaming hot limon cheetos for each share.  The box had 104 grab bags of cheetos in each box.  We will be eating those for months as only 2 people here will eat those)

It might be worth trying to see if there is a Facebook page for the site you are considering (they are often run by churches and other local groups as all the people working at the sites are volunteers).  They often post pictures so you can get a feel for what is coming into your site and how they operate.  They try to make share equal across the sites but what you get really does vary widely.

Thanks for the info - closest one to me is 1 hour 4 min according to Google Maps. It also looks like they don't get super busy, so I'm thinking I'll give it a try soon.