It’s funny how fast time seems to be going these days after the drag of how long March lasted. While things are definitely still quite difficult, the days are moving by at a much more rapid clip. Have you noticed this as well? Strange, for sure. Thought it still is hard to believe it’s been ten weeks since we started this COVID quarantine thing. Seems like forever, and yet.
Work has been so busy lately, and I haven’t had as much time for blogging as normal. I do plan on writing a post for Ecofrugals in the near future, so if there is something you’d like me to write about there, please let me know! In the meantime, I’ve collected a few guest posts that have been shared there, and Kristine is doing a great job pulling up the slack while life is full of day job work for me right now.
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Friday’s Frugal Five
1. The husband cut his hair this past week for the first time since we’ve been home/quarantined. Granted, he’s been cutting his own hair for more than a decade now, so he doesn’t have a “quarantine cut” because of it.
When he was in the Marines, he had to get a haircut every single week to stay within regulations, so he bought himself a trimmer to do the cuts himself to save both the money and time that required. He’s on his second trimmer since then, so it has paid itself back many times over, as well as the time saved.
2. I redeemed a $10 Amazon gift card from Bing rewards. While it isn’t a huge amount by any stretch, it’s nice to get paid for doing regular internet searching.
Between Bing and things like Rakuten (and a few Personal Capital and Amazon affiliate links through this blog), we get a bit of credit most months for our regular Amazon shopping. Especially lately, I’ve been attempting to buy local as much as possible, but there are still some things we end up on Amazon for each month.
If you haven’t signed up for Rakuten (Ebates) yet, here is $10 to get started. As always, know yourself, and sign up for this kind of program if you will be disciplined to use it only when you are making a purchase anyway – not because of the online shopping coupons that encourage you to spend more.
3. Besides cutting hair, the husband also cut the lawn this past week. This is another one of those things he’s been doing for a long time, and we’ve definitely saved quite a bit of money on house maintenance costs over the years because of this and other things we do ourselves.
He cleans the roof and gutters, mows the lawn, and has replaced much of our back fence over the years. I’ve done quite a bit of painting, and a ton of work in the yard. While we do pay for some work to be done, much of it is done by us. Another big plus to a single story house is the ability to do much of it ourselves.
4. Another month ticked by on my clothes buying ban without me really even noticing it happen. While it had gotten more normal not to buy clothing over the past three years, it’s become even easier as of late considering we don’t go into any stores, ever.
I do, however, miss my ability to go into the thrift store, as the kiddo could use a few new pairs of shorts for the summer, but they aren’t open right now. Perhaps it’s another time for a Kids on 45th box to be ordered after all.
5. While, like the thrift store, we can’t go into the library these days, we still have the ability to check out e-books. I may not be reading at quite the same speed as normal right now (my brain still isn’t fully up for long reading sessions), the books I’m reading are library copies. We do have a stack of physical books from before the library locations physically closed down, but I sure do appreciate the ability to check new ones out online.
Exercise Update
I’ve continued my daily yoga streak since April 18th. Even though most days I only do a twenty minute routine, I’ve already noticed a considerable return to my flexibility, stability, and strength, and that feels really good.
Saturday we took a four mile round trip walk (socially distanced, with masks on) with my mother in law and ate brunch under the eves of the strip mall across from the restaurant. It rained on us pretty hard on the way home, but it still felt like a great day. I also ran twenty minutes last Friday and then again yesterday (Thursday). I’ve been tempted to do more or longer runs, but I’m trying to pace myself so I don’t re-injure my heel.
How are things in your neck of the woods? Anything new going on?
Yep yep, I cut my hair last night, and honestly, I don’t know that I will ever go back to a salon again!
It saves SO much time too! On top of the money savings.
Have you thought about cycling more? I rotate through running/hiking and my mountain biking. It really helps manage strain and injury, the bike really takes away the impact and gets those legs burning good 🙂
I…… don’t actually enjoy cycling 😜
how dare you !!!! LOL
it is snowing here on may 8th! i gotta call bullshot on that. we haven’t paid for haircuts in our house in years. i urge you to check out stitchfix for your kid. i own the stock and it’s been in the crapper so we could use your help. have a good weekend.
Hope the snow is all melted now!! May is way too late for snow.
E-books are a great thing right now! I still have one physical book checked out from the library that I was able to finish during this pandemic, but e-books have definitely been a blessing. You still have to wait for those sometimes too, but it’s better than nothing.
I love Bing rewards, but Amazon has never been an option for me. I might’ve been too late to the game to collect that offer. I usually do Walmart (dog food, odds & ends) or Chipotle for a cheap but tasty date night.
Amazon is a blogger affiliate option – should definitely be open to you!
E-books are great especially when one’s child is a voracious reader. I had to buy a Kobo though, which was an expense I hadn’t planned for.
Still, way way cheaper than buying all the books!!
Ebooks are great! Our library give free access to everybody even those who don’t have a card.
Oh that’s awesome! Ours requires a card as far as I’m aware.
We did our first round of at-home haircuts for the kids this week. Not as hard as I thought it would be (husband did it though). I’m now measuring my days in inches of rhubarb. As in, the rhubarb’s gotten another inch closer to harvesting, when can I make a pie?! Hopefully soon. Yours has to be pretty close?
Oh yeah, almost time for rhubarb here too! And it’s asparagus time now 🙂
PiC wants an at home haircut and … Nooooo I don’t think I can be responsible for that. He may try it on his own. Happy to hear any tips your husband may want to share 😁
I did finally get a chance to take my shears out to the yard and hack away at our hedges though! That was very exciting. I haven’t trimmed them in months and it was SHOWING. It’s tough on the arms though so I have to work on it in short shifts every couple of days to really trim it back enough. And I also gave up on natural weedkillers, none of which worked, and sprayed all our horrible weeds with Roundup. I’m hoping to get them somewhat under control so we can do something with the darn yard.
Ummmm…. I think for him it’s just been a lot of practice at this point. Initially he just buzzed it pretty short.
I need to get on Bing rewards. This is the second time someone has mentioned it this week. Considering I signed up for Prime a couple weeks ago and have been using Amazon like a fiend lately…it’s overdue.
We are moving into a new recovery phase here next week, which should be interesting. It’ll basically mean a few more things will be opening, with the idea that if the curve stays flat here, we’ll be able to open a little more in like, June and July. NB has fared well so far (120 total cases, 118 recovered and no deaths) but I think everyone is very aware that this isn’t over yet. Or, well, at least people in my circle are aware. That said, while I very much don’t mind doing what we’re doing now to get through this, I am looking forward to things loosening up a bit (and praying it won’t result in things going backwards).
Not that Bing rewards are a big deal, but better than no money! And fingers crossed on your reopening.
FB marketplace and our local neighborhood FB group are alive and well near me. Maybe try seeking kid clothes there first. Porch pickup and Venmo/PayPal are so easy and if you find something locally, you don’t have to get something shipped.
Hmmm good point. Our local groups are up. I just have honestly never used them myself and hadn’t even thought about it!
Hubby is the family barber and stylist, he has been cutting my hair for me since we met. I take a seat, get caped and get my tresses trimmed every other month and he gives my teen boys their haircuts every three weeks. He does his own in the bathroom mirror. He does an excellent job every time, so there are no quarantine haircut disasters. He has also given haircuts to my mom, a couple friends of mine and even a couple acquaintances of mine have asked him to cut their hair. So we are definitely keeping up on our hair, and a couple friends of mine have messaged me to ask if they could stop by and get haircuts. I told my best friend maybe later next week if it is a nice day, and he can do them outside on the deck.
We haven’t been brave enough to try home haircuts. Luckily our web cams aren’t super HD. :). Have been taking advantage of ebooks too but the last few expired before I finished and they have waiting lists.
Im on the third round of renewing my current ebook – luckily it’s been available each time!