Another month of 2022 is in the books and another month of frugal-ing. My found money in August was made up of a lot of little amounts and unfortunately, was not as high as in previous months. For starters, I didn’t donate plasma this month and that is usually my biggest source of extra cash. Lately, the line has been really long to get in and I wasn’t in the mood to stand in it. But in the end, $155 is still a gift.
I’m always looking for ways to save my family money to not only help us get through current higher food and gas prices but also to help us achieve our big financial goals.
My Frugal Shenanigans!
1. My Thursday dinner plan is now Clean out the Fridge Night!
Much to the dismay of my kids, I’ve declared Thursday nights during the school year as Clean the Fridge Out Night. As you can see from a recent night, we had PLENTY of food for dinner.
Noone ate the leftover corn, so I cut it off the cob and put it in the freezer to add to our favorite, Chicken, Black Bean & Corn Tacos | Slow Cooker Recipe
2. Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce
I harvested Roma tomatoes from my one and only plant and made a big batch of my homemade roasted tomato sauce. I filled two sheet pans and added some onion, salt, pepper, and basil from my garden. This yielded 4 2-cup freezer containers, which is not a lot. My plan is to use the sauce for pizza.
For my recipe, read: Roasted Red Plum Tomato Sauce ~ Great Freezer Recipe
3. FREE Shredding!
I cleaned out a large filing cabinet and was stuck with a big box of documents that I didn’t feel comfortable just throwing in the recycle bin. Coincidently, our credit union was offering a free shred day AND free breakfast for participating.
4. My August Grocery Clearance finds:
I found lots of tea marked down to about 90 cents a box. I make a lot of iced tea and usually steep 2 flavored tea bags and 8 decaffeinated green tea bags in each batch I make. The TAZO Refreshers is a concentrate that is mixed with water.
Show me the money! Total Found Money in August: $155.52
- I redeemed credit card points from our business card for a $100 Target gift card and used the gift card on back-to-school necessities.
- $40 wellness reimbursement from our Aflac policy. This goes back into our medical expenses budget category.
- Found a $5 coupon for a future order at the self-checkout that a previous customer forgot to grab. I used it on some necessities.
- Received $5.52 from Rakuten, an online shopping portal. This is cashback from online purchases I made from April – June. This is a low amount, but I don’t shop too much online until November. For info, read: My Rakuten Review
- I found a $5 refund that I never deposited on PA’s unclaimed property website. The refund is from my dog’s Frontline Plus prescription. This was the first time I’ve found anything under my name on the unclaimed property site. If you have never searched your name, Google your state’s unclaimed property website. PA’s site is within the state’s website, so it is legit. Be wary of unclaimed property sites that are not on a government website.
Share in the comments how you frugal-ed in August! Check out more How We Frugal-ed posts.