Five Frugal Things | a not-Ralph-Lauren Christmas

1. I did not buy any new Christmas decor

As I mentioned in my recent podcast with The Finance Girlies, I keep seeing that this is the year of the Ralph Lauren Christmas aesthetic.

A quick Pinterest search

And I honestly do not give a crap about that. 😉 

I’m just over here cheerfully using the same (mostly clearance-purchased) Christmas decorations I already have. 

Maybe it’s because I’m not a decorator, but I am befuddled at the idea that we are having a new Christmas style every few years (or worse, every year!)

I have always felt there is a certain nostalgic charm about pulling out the same Christmas things each year; I would actually not want new stuff every December.

2. I bought some discount Christmas concert tickets

My college girl will be in the area for a bit over Christmas, and I noticed a Christmas pops concert was happening during that time. Sooo, I bought two discounted tickets with my student account, and we will go 

3. I submitted my eye exam receipt to my eye insurance

My eye doctor doesn’t participate with my new eye insurance (bummer!), so I asked for an itemized bill when I paid, and as soon as I got home, I submitted it online through my insurance website to try to get some out-of-network benefits.

I got very good at doing this during the many years of marriage therapy; it was all out-of-network, so I became well-practiced at the out-of-network submission rigamarole. 😉 

I figure anything I get back is better than $0, and it took me less than 10 minutes to do the submission. 

4. I made chocolate banana “ice cream” lots of times

I had a big bunch of bananas that went to their very-slightly-overripe state in a jiffy. 

(For me, this means they have a few tiny brown spots.)

So, I sliced them up and froze them on a baking sheet, transferred them to a Ziploc bag, and then used them to make several batches of chocolate banana “ice cream” for myself.

I do it basically like this, except for the chocolate version, I leave out the strawberries and I add in a tablespoon of cocoa powder.

The strawberry version:

5. I passed both my fall 2025 classes

It looks like both will be an A grade, although I am still waiting for a few last assignments to be graded in my most recent class (it ends this coming Sunday).

My hospital requires either a B or a C for tuition reimbursement, depending on the class. So either way, I safely qualify! 

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