My Frugal Week ~ November 2018

Thank You!
Today is Veterans Day, so I would like to take a minute and say thank you to all those who have served. And to my niece who is currently serving our country in the Air Force. 
Our can opener is going on the fritz, so I've been looking for a new one. As luck would have it, we found an old Swingway, made in the USA, last weekend at a yard sale for 25¢. 
It works so great, it's like slicing through warm butter. Needless to say this made me a very happy camper. 

This Saturday morning was cold and frosty, so we had to salt our steps. Reason was we wanted to get to Chattanooga for a consignment store sale where everything was 25¢. 
The owner is going out of business and wanted to get rid of as much as possible before donating the rest of her inventory. 
My daughter ended up with 108 pieces for her reselling business paying only $27 for the whole lot. I found a couple of Christmas ornaments.

This past week I was able to work three days as we were off Tuesday, so schools could be used for voting. As usual I packed my lunch and drinks.
This coming week will be the last week of school as students are off all next week for Thanksgiving Break. 
We found some great markdowns in the crash & burn section a few weeks ago on birdseed.

Yesterday we stopped in at Walmart and Fresh & Low to pick up a few things. I needed some salt and ginger and found some pizzas on markdown at Walmart. 

These were the BIG pizzas, so I made one for dinner on Saturday night. We saved the other one for another time. 
At Fresh and Low they had Tennessee Pride sausage on sale for $1.79 and cole slaw mix on sale for 88¢. Perfect for making Deconstructed Egg Rolls for dinner and at a great price. 
They also had sugar for $1.50 and the three pound bag of onions for $1.29, so we picked up those too. 

There was a black walnut tree close to the consignment store we went to on Saturday. 
There were dozens of them on the ground in a bank parking lot. I was surprised no one had picked them up already. 
Also this week I picked up a free copy of our hometown newspaper thanks to working for the school system.
That's all the news from here this week. I hope you've had a great week!
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

This Week In My Frugal Kitchen

Saturday

Cheeseburgers Cabbage & Kale salad
Sunday & Monday

Mostaccioli Salad (not pictured) Garlic Bread
This is what you would call a truly frugal meal. I used pasta bought on sale (50¢), Italian sausage bought on markdown ($1.99), sauce - crash & burn (49¢), and made garlic bread out of brioche buns (38¢) on markdown. So, less than $3 and there is plenty left for another meal. 
Tuesday
When I did my pantry inventory last week I knew I had everything on hand to make Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, although I didn't have any enchilada sauce. 
I did have a package of California dried chilis however, and so I used a variation of this recipe to make my own enchilada sauce. 
I think I like it even better than canned enchilada sauce. 
Wednesday  Meatloaf Mashed Potatoes Steamed Broccoli
Thursday Deconstructed Egg Rolls Steamed Broccoli
Sunday
I made a large stockpot filled with chili. Enough to last a few days at least. I think we will have chili tacos for dinner on Monday night. 
Beverages This Week Water Sweet Iced Tea Iced Herbal Teas Apple Juice Orange Cream Soda
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

My Frugal Week

This past week I was able to work two days and packed lunches and drinks both days. Both days I took my laptop with me to crosspost while I was working. This week I'm scheduled to work three days. 
Another task I accomplished while working was to sort out coupons and stapled like ones together. Doing this while I'm working saves time for me to do other tasks when I'm home. 

We went to Walmart on Thursday afternoon. We stopped and looked at the 50% off Halloween candy, but didn't buy any candy. We did pick up some bread and garlic chicken lunch meat on markdown. 
We went to several yard sales on Saturday even though it was a cold 34° when we left home. 
In my bedroom I have a lamp with a pull string chain and love the ease of of the pull chain. I've been wanting one for the table next to my chair in our living room.  

I've looked at the lamps at Lowe's and found one for $54, but decided to wait and see if I could find one second hand. Yesterday was the day! We found one for $1.00. I've already been using it and love it so much better than the lamp with the rotating switch. 
Waiting to buy the things we need or even want second hand helps us save money in our home. 
We also found a set of over the ear headphones for $1.00. I like these better than the in ear headphones and they are much more comfortable. 
November is here and I know I've been thinking about our Thanksgiving menu. I've been writing down what we plan on having and will be looking for sales on those items. I already picked up some dressing mix on closeout. 
How was your week? Frugal or no?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Should You Buy The $300 Bag?

One of the items my daughter recently picked up were multiple concert t-shirts that had been autographed by the entire band. 
I figured the original cost of these conservatively at $20 each was around $200 total, but the original owners sold them for $1.00 each at their yard sale. 
Honestly I was surprised that someone had sold such an item. One of the reasons may have been they had outgrown them, which is understandable as some of the older shirts were XL, but newer ones were 2X. 
It reminds me of this meme that has been going around the Internet. Don't buy the $300 bag when you can buy a $10 bag and put the other $290 in it. 

Image Credit

Getting back to the t-shirts,  whatever the reason for selling the shirts, the owner had easily spent $200 on them and ended up selling them for $10, which was a loss of $190. 
Many necessary things can be bought for $190 by those who struggle financially. Down through the years and especially as I've gotten older I have come to seriously question buying anything that we do not need to sustain ourselves. 
I've cleaned out multiple homes where the owners have passed on or moved, but left stuff behind because it was too much stuff or not really needed. 
I don't want to be in the position of having too much stuff. I love to yard sale, but I don't have anything hoarded up here. I keep my stuff to a minimum that is easily sustained by me.  
Sometimes people buy things using money that should be saved up for an emergency instead and then when an emergency does come up they have no money to pay for it. 
Knowing the difference between needs and wants is one of the keys to living a non hoarded and secure financial life. I'm not going to teeter on the brink of the financial edge, and spend money on something I don't need.  That is not my style. 
Now I don't know why the concert shirts were sold, but do wonder if the owner regrets buying them. 
I know I have regrets about things I've bought in the past. That's called buyer's remorse. 
In our home these days we have goals we want to meet and buying something unnecessary doesn't fit well with those goals. We have to decide for ourselves where we fit on this spectrum and do our best to maintain that balance. 
Thoughts?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Friday End of the Week Recap

This has been a fun week for us as my daughter Bailey had a birthday and turned 21 years old on Wednesday. 
We went to the Zoo to celebrate that day. 
Here are a few photos & videos from that day. 
Here is a video of the Red Panda at the Chattanooga Zoo:

Alligators. They had just put some crickets out for them to eat. 

Here is a photo and video of the milk frogs:

 Snow Leopard:

Other things we did included browsing through Barnes and Noble and Whole Foods to look around. 

We also stopped at Starbucks to sit on their patio. It was cool at 61 degrees and they had the fire going, it was so nice. 
On another note, our Black Walnut tree is loaded this year:

We weren't as frugal this week as we normally are due to celebrating her birthday, but we will be back on track next week for sure. 
I hope you've had a terrific frugal week and enjoy your weekend immensely. We are loving the cooler weather and spending much more time outdoors. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Frugal Friday - October 5, 2018

The Freeosk at Walmart went a little crazy this week and gave us eleven samples of Johnson's Bedtime Lotion instead of the one it normally gives.  

A friend at work gave me a couple of figs from her mother's fig tree. They were delicious. One of the men from the Navy came to school for recruiting and gave me a free cup and stress ball. 
This week we have been on fall break, so I've gotten so many things done this week that I've put on the back burner. It's been a good week as a result. 
I sold two things on eBay this week and have $30 extra dollars to show for that. Today I worked on cleaning up my store and listing a couple of more items on there. 
We went to multiple yard sales over the weekend. The only item I bought this weekend was a blanket for $1.00. I like blankets in the living room as a throw for when cold weather comes. 
Gave my daughter a trim at the back of her neck. She cuts her own hair, but this section if hard for her to do, so I did it for her. Savings = $13.00.
How was your week?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Saving Money on Prescription Drugs

We've discussed this topic here at the Frugal Workshop before, but as always it's good to review your expenses regularly to see if you can get them even lower. 
Last week I worked a very stressful job all week and my blood pressure was high as a result, so yesterday I made a visit to my doctor's office. 
Come to find out my regular doctor had retired, so my appointment was with a new doctor. This turned out to be a good thing. 
She was asking me about my prescriptions and told me how I could save money on some of them. Turns out Publix now has some 90 day prescriptions for $7.50.  So, we ended up transferring some of mine to Publix. 
Turns out one of my Mom's prescriptions is also on the $7.50 list, so she is going to switch her RX over to Publix as well. 
Here is a list of the prescription drugs they are offering.  
This is a great savings for only $2.50 per month, and just goes to show that you should always be reviewing your expenses to see if you can get them ever lower than you are paying now. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

White Chicken Enchiladas

This is a new to us recipe that I found on the Moss Family YouTube channel. We tried it today and really like it, so it will become a part of our regular menu rotation. Here is the recipe if you're interested.  

White Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheddar cheese
8 flour tortillas soft shell
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup sour cream
1 4 oz can of diced green chiles
2 cups shredded chicken about 1 big chicken breast
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups of chicken broth
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Cook/shred your chicken breast and mix it with 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Lay 8 tortillas out and fill each one with the chicken mixture making sure they are all even. Roll them up tightly and put them in a greased 9×13 baking dish.
In a saucepan, melt the butter and add in the 3 tbsp of flour. Mix and cook for about one minute.
Add in the 2 cups of chicken broth, whisking until it’s a smooth consistency. Whisk over medium heat until it is thick and creamy (usually takes about 5-8 minutes).
Mix in the sour cream, salt/pepper, and the can of chiles to the pan.
Pour the creamy sauce over the rolled up tortillas evenly.
Add 1 cup of the cheddar cheese over the top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~