15 Recent Frugal Wins and Losses

A new year is upon us, and like most of us at the beginning of a new year, I'm feeling a bit reflective and am in the midst of coming up with a new set of goals for 2020. We had all our children and their families here in Hong Kong for Christmas. With a total of 10 now, it was a bit chaotic and crazy, but all kinds of wonderful. 

Our youngest son, Lee, proposed while he was here, on New Year's Eve, and we are excited about welcoming Emily to the family soon! 

Having 10 people around for nearly 2 weeks wasn't exactly always thrifty, but I wanted to share 10 recent frugal wins and 5 fails:

WINS

1) The next few days, we will be eating up lots of leftovers, which means odd combinations. But that's OK, and it fills our bellies. 

2) I dyed my own hair today with dye I purchased in the summer and brought back.

 3) I'm using the drying rack to hang a boatload of laundry.

4) I'm decluttering and taking a couple of bags to the free table at school. This allows me to open up space and also to find things I forgot I had!

5) I'm writing a menu for the next two weeks, trying to clean out the freezer and cupboard and buy only what is needed.

6) I'm scheduling free dental cleanings for Mike and I. (Sadly, for the first time ever, I missed our appointments. I should have known better than to schedule them two days after Christmas while everyone was here!)

7) I downloaded 2 free kindle "first read" books because I just signed up for prime for the month of January as we will be going to Maine in a couple of weeks for Chinese New Year holiday. Normally, Prime offers one free kindle book per month, this month, they offered two. I got them both. 

8) I used a gift card to get two free Starbucks drinks for a rare coffee date with my daughter. (Thank you, ICS PA.) 

9) I am using Clinique face cream that I found on the free table at work, but have taken it a step further and cut the tube, allowing me to get even more out of it.

10) I am returning several items that we borrowed while my family was here. It is a blessing to be part of a generous international community. From an entire apartment to a stroller and an air mattress, it's great to borrow and not have to buy!

LOSSES

1) I threw out several large containers of food that had gone bad. I hate to waste food, and I'm usually very mindful of what I have, but with the chaos of having so many around, I lost track, which makes me sad.

2) I ordered some photo books because I had a 40% off coupon. I suppose this could be seen as a win, but it's not something that was a need, and as soon as I ordered, I questioned my decision. I'll let you know how I feel after they arrive.  

3) I had a deal for Hello Fresh, which I normally would not use because it is expensive even when it's on sale, but since we were going to be in the US for 10 days, I signed up. Frustratingly, I mixed up the dates, and the first order will arrive 2 weeks before we do. At least our son and daughter in law will be able to use it!

4) I let the $250.00 airline incidental fee on my Amex card expire at the end of 2019. To be fair, I did try my best to use it, but you have to sign up for a particular airline, and you can only change this once a year. I had signed up for American Airlines, and sadly, we did not fly much with them this year. You cannot use the fee toward airline tickets, although Amex used to let you buy gift cards, but now, the fee can only be used for things like extra baggage and lounge access fees, something we don't use often.

5) I missed a BOGO offer on my Starbucks app. I thought it was good until 12/31, but it actually expired 12/30. Boo.

So here's to a productive 2020. I would love to hear about some of your wins and losses and goals for the new year!