Four Frugal Things (and one fail)

1. I got free food on Christmas

I packed my lunch (as usual!) for my Christmas Day shift. But when I got to work, my co-workers let me know that employees could get $10 worth of free food in the cafeteria (a kindness to those of us who had to work!)

I was not about to turn down free food, so I got some prime rib and mashed potatoes, kept my packed lunch in the fridge, and ate it for dinner when I got home. 😉 

2. I reused cookie foil

My mom dropped off some Christmas cookies in a pan covered in foil. The foil wasn’t faintly dirty, of course, so I folded it and put it in the drawer.

And then I used it to bake my sweet potatoes for my work lunches. 🙂 

This is obviously not a large frugal thing, but it made me happy to give the foil a second use. 

3. I used my leave for my called-off hours

I was called off for the first four hours of my shift recently, and we get paid $2/hour for being on call (which is honestly just so silly. Why even bother??)

But it occurred to me that I could ask to use my personal leave hours for those four hours, and the answer was yes!

That means I’ll get $140 for those four hours instead of $8; a very easy choice.

4. I got a discounted Starbucks drink

On my most recent night shift, I was out of coffee at home. So I stopped in at Starbucks and took advantage of a $3 off after 3:00 pm offer. 

I never drink caffeine in the afternoon or evening, but this is perfect for night shifts! 

I also had a Starbucks gift card in my app from my Erie Your Turn rewards, so my coffee was free. But the discount helped stretch my gift card a little farther, so that made me happy. 

5. A fail: I lost my work scissors

I don’t know how I lost them, but I must have put ’em down somewhere at work and left them. Sigh.

Sooo, I ordered a new pair, and I think maybe I’ll attach them to one of my badges so I can’t possibly lose the new pair.

I will be so glad when they arrive because I keep having to borrow pairs from my coworkers, or I try to make do with the not-sharp ones that come in our suture-removal kits. 

Luckily, the scissors are only about $9, so this is a small frugal fail. And hopefully I will keep better track of my new pair. 

You know what they say…forget the mistake, remember the lesson. And here the lesson is: Don’t put your scissors down in a patient room.

I know there’s a misspelling; I didn’t write the post-it!

Your turn! What frugal things have you been up to lately?