Frugal Friday ~ November 12, 2021

My Frugal Week
This week I received news about my health care coverage for 2022. The subsidies that made health insurance affordable for me that were put into place in 2021 will run out at the end of the year, but I want to continue my health care coverage. There will be a substantial increase in cost, so I have some decisions to make about that. 
My laptop died this week and I don’t know what is wrong with it. I use my tablet more than anything, so I’m not too concerned about it. It’s not as easy to type the blog on the tablet, so if you see anything odd, that is what’s up with that. 
I bought a new calendar the other day from Amazon. I used up some gift card money that I had and it only cost me $2.49 afterwards. It’s a five year calendar, so it should last a long time. If I use it all five years, it will only cost 50 cents per year. 
I have several shirts that are the same design, but different colors that I use to wear around the house only. They are still in good shape, but two of them became stained and wouldn’t come clean in the washer, so I asked Bailey to tie dye them for me. Now there is no telling where the stains were and it saved me my favorite shirts for a little while longer. 
Bailey and I cleaned out my bedroom closet and pulled all my sewing equipment up front where I can easily get to it. I want to start sewing again now that my eyesight is fixed. We tossed some things and donated other things. It looks so much better in there and I have better access to some of my favorite things. 
Earning Money
This week I earned $5.00 in PayPal money from MobileXpression. 
I received another survey from Consumer Survey with another $5 bill in it this week. It’s odd for them to send me two of those in the same quarter, but I’ll take it. :)
I sold one item, an apron, on eBay. 
Avoiding Spending
I went out on Tuesday to run a few errands, but other than that I stayed home. Plus I haven’t spent any money this week other than using the gas in my car.
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen 
It was chilly here on Saturday, so I decided a stockpot of vegetable soup would be perfect. I used up bits of this and that to make it as I had plenty of vegetables for it. I also used one cup of some dried yellow split peas that I had. 
Soup is a very economical dish to feed your family. Even when you think you don’t have any food in the house there are usually items to make soup.
Granola Bars were also made this week using up the last of a jar of peanut butter. I rolled these into balls instead of making bars out of them. 
I had a sweet tooth the other day, so I decided to make some chocolate syrup, so I could make myself a glass of chocolate almond milk. It hit the spot. 
I’ve been making a grocery shopping list for this coming weekend and have been checking prices on items. I noticed that the 20 pound bag of potatoes from Fresh and Low went from $4.99 to $8.99 recently. This makes their ten pound bags for $3.59 cheaper. 
I was watching a Frugal Queen video this week and she said she only buys generic items in her grocery shops. There are many items we can buy here in the states that are generic and more affordable. 
I saw rice in either white or brown for 49 cents a pound this week. I saw a box of four envelopes for chicken noodle soup for $1.12. That is certainly cheaper than a can or two of chicken soup and there is more of it. As always, it pays to shop around and I love that it can be done online in the comfort of our homes these days.
I also perused the grocery store ads online this week making note of any especially good deals that were available. Food City has their meat deal on sale today and tomorrow. You can get 5 packages of meat for $14.99, which is $5 off the regular price. We are going to get in on the deal tomorrow. 
Our microwave started not working a few weeks ago. I believe it had a short in the plug, but it wouldn’t work regularly and I felt it was a safety issue. I’ve been getting used to life without a microwave again, but Bailey really missed having one, so on Friday a new Farberware microwave will be delivered here.

This was a week of using up what we had on hand and so here are the meals we made this week. 
Saturday: Homemade Chicken Sandwiches, French Fries, BroccoliSunday: Baked Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, CornbreadMonday: Italian Sausage, Potato Pancakes, Peas, and Masa BreadTuesday: One successful leftover wizardry concoction  consisting of some chicken soup and fried rice both from the freezer. Wednesday: Salmon Patties, Scalloped Potatoes, Butter BeansThursday: Chicken Fried Rice with VegetablesFriday: Chicken Sandwiches, French Fries, Broccoli 
Freebies
I’m sure by now most of you have heard or read that Ibotta is doing the free Thanksgiving meal again this year, although you need a referral in order to get in on the deal. So, if you’re interested and are not a member of Ibotta already, here is a referral link from me to get you started.  
Ibotta Referral Link
I found two pennies at the gas station when I filled up my car last week. 
That is all the news to report on our frugal week in Tennessee. Thank you for dropping by, you are always welcome here. We would love to hear about your week in the comment section.


Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree