Recent frugal wins (and fails)

First, the frugal fail!

Recently I’ve been guilty of throwing away too much food. (The horror!) Food waste, according to this study from Penn State, costs the average American family $1,866 annually. Ouch. I needed to get a handle on this, quickly.

For a few weeks after we moved into the new house, I had way too many leftovers in the fridge. Food was spoiling before we ate it, and I was puzzled as to why.

Then, it dawned on me.

I’m cooking for too many people!

I’m simply making too much food for my current season of life.

For so long I was cooking for 9 people, 3 of them men. My habits hadn’t caught up to the current reality of my life. Right now I have 5 kids at home, not 7, and no husband to cook for. In addition, my oldest daughter is a vegetarian, and typically makes her own dinner.

I need to adjust my mental calculations!

Another thing that’s different since we moved is the size of my refrigerator. I had a larger fridge (with French-style doors, I loved that!) in the old house. The new house has a new-ish fridge, but it’s apartment sized.

I can’t complain about a smaller fridge when I have a smaller family now. But it does take a bit of getting used to! Since freezer space is at a premium, I have to be more strategic about cooking, because there just might not be room for leftovers anywhere.

Now, on to the frugal wins!

I paid my life insurance policy’s annual premium all at once, instead of having it set up as a monthly draft. Soon, I plan on doing this for my car insurance.

Shortly after moving, one of the kids dropped a glass soap dispenser into the porcelain sink, and it broke a huge chunk out of it. I was able to get a new sink on sale, and with my employee discount at work. Then, one of my sons installed the new sink.

I’m so grateful for young adult kids who have skills I lack!

And finally, this is a small thing, but one of the girls had a flip-flop “blowout”. That’s what I call it when the thong in the middle comes out of the hole, making it unwearable.

I fixed it with a couple of bread tabs. Saving a pair of $1 flip-flops that a kid wears to the pool isn’t a big deal, but it makes me smile to keep it out of the landfill for another few months.

I closed a checking account that pays no interest, to one that pays 1.25%, SoFi. They also gave me a signup bonus of $50 when I signed up for direct deposit. Free money? Yes, please.

What have you done to save money lately?