Fourth Frugal Friday of January 2022
Welcome to Friday!
My Frugal Week
I feel like it was a wild week here. I was out of the house three days, which is unusual for me nowadays.
I had a mammogram on Tuesday. The doctors office has already called and said it was normal. It’s so nice to have that done and behind me. There was a little station there with snacks and bottled water from a breast cancer survivor who keeps it filled up. I thought that was so nice of her.
On Wednesday we took Bailey’s car to get new tires and a front end alignment. Afterwards we dropped my car off at the same place as I was having an issue with a sensor in my gas tank cutting off when I tried to pump gas. They had to keep it overnight, so we got out of the house again on Thursday to pick it up.
We had a grocery order delivered on Monday, so we are stocked back up for a few weeks. I bought another 20 pound bag of the Royal basmati rice as we went through the last bag we bought and really enjoyed this brand.
We ordered two eight ounce packs of cheddar cheese slices, but they were out. Instead they substituted two sixteen ounces packs for the same price, which was great.
We had a fun Italian sandwich challenge on Thursday testing Italian subs from different shops to see who had the best tasting Italian sub. Bailey ordered them online and we both picked up from different places since we were both in town due to the car repairs.
One of the places I picked up was Publix and there was a mix up. Since I didn’t know what Bailey had ordered I ended up getting groceries for another Bailey. I called Publix to let them know of the mix up, but they told me to just keep whatever wasn’t ours.
We ended up with milk, tea, strawberries, blueberries, organic ground beef, chicken, creamer, crackers, baby food, pistachios, frozen dinners, waffles, pizza, spinach, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes. It was a lot of food.
It’s odd that there were two Bailey’s picking up groceries at the same time, so I guess that’s why there was a mixup.
Question of the Week
If you get a tax refund, Do you prefer to get a little bit more money every week or prefer to get a bigger tax refund at the end of the year?
I prefer to get a bigger tax refund at the end of the year. In fact, I usually take zero deductions and $10 to $20 more because I like the big check. What about you?
Meals This Week
Friday: Salmon Patties, Steamed Carrots, and Rice Pilaf.
Saturday: Chicken and Dressing, Green Beans with Onions.
Sunday: Scottish Pie, Mixed Vegetables, and the last of the Dressing
Monday: Polish Kielbasa, Dirty Rice, Broccoli, Pickled Beets
Tuesday: Homemade Pizzas for Movie Night
Wednesday: We were tired from running errands and didn’t get home until 7 p.m., so we just had some cheese and crackers.
Thursday: Italian Sub Sandwich Challenge
Freebies
Free Issue of VegWorld magazine.
My post this week is a shorter one since I was out of the house so much this week.
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
If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site.
1. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small percentage that helps me to earn a living. Any items you place in your cart from one of my links means I will earn a small percentage from that sale.
That is a coincidence of your grocery pick up. We are of the mind that we try and have our deductions close to what we think should come out in taxes through the year. We've generally either gotten small refunds (very small) or have had to pay in.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a coincidence too, Sam.
DeleteWhen I was married my husband was self employed, so we always had to pay in back then.
I prefer to have to pay some income tax. That means MY money is in MY accounts not the government's. No free loans from this girl. I plan on that tax bill and save for it accordingly.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent viewpoint, Elle. I know many people do that as well. It really is the best way to keep the majority of your income by not letting the government earn interest on your money.
DeleteWhile I try to budget savings each month, it doesn't always work out. When there is a year like that, then I'm heartily grateful for an IRS refund!
ReplyDeleteLaura
I understand it not always working out, Laura. I’ve had a variable income for several years, so I know how that goes. I guess that is why I like the big refund.
DeleteI had that sensor go on my Blazer and thankfully my neighbor fixed it last summer. It was a real pain when notworking well.
ReplyDeleteNice on all those groceries.
Oh, I will definitely pay more each time. I sure as heck don't want the govt. handling any more of my money than necessary. They aren't going to pay me for using it, (like I would have to do). Nope - don;t want no big refund here.
Stay safe!
I read online that the gas tank sensor is a common failure on GM vehicles. Hopefully they will fix that issue in newer models.
DeleteYes, the government isn’t going to pay us to use our money. You are so right about that, Cheryl.
I actually loved getting a refund, but now we are at the point that the refund just covers the accountant.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a good situation too, Kim.
DeleteSounds like it was a good week, and nice score on the grocery mix up! I always liked getting a big refund at tax time but unfortunately have had to pay taxes most years since the kids are no longer dependents.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Martha. I hear you on the no longer having children as dependents.
DeleteMy daughter got the wrong groceries before, too. They called her before she got home and asked her to come back. They handed her a $10 bill for her trouble.
ReplyDeleteThat was really nice of them, Penny. I called to see if they wanted me to return them, but they said it was Ok and to just keep them.
DeleteThat was great to get the groceries free. I would not want groceries that had been returned to the store.
ReplyDeleteExactly what happens when the sensor fails? I have never heard of this.
I was thinking the same thing, I would not want groceries returned to the store either.
DeleteThe gas pump won’t fill naturally when the sensor fails. It keeps kicking off the pump, so you have to sit there and constantly repress the gas pump handle. It’s no fu. To say the least.
Wow that is strange in regards to the grocery pick up.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It really was strange, Jackie.
DeleteI had the bagger at a big box load one bag left of someone else's groceries into my cart. When I got home it was frozen, smoked turkey tails. I was not going back to the store and wait for an electric cart and go stand in line at customer service to return something they would throw away since it had left the store. I am giving those to friend with a dog.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good idea to pass them along to someone who could use them. I wouldn’t want to go thru all of that to return those either.
DeleteI am waiting for a huge grocery order right now, so I hope there is no mixup, lol.
ReplyDeleteDH & I usually have to pay. He has his work take out more taxes so we have a smaller refund. I thought I would not like it but I really do. It is nice to have bigger paychecks on pay day.
Oh, I can see how that would be nice to have a bigger paycheck. I hope your Walmart order was mistake free.
DeleteI would rather keep more of my money and not get a refund. Regarding the grocery order perhaps someone with the last name of Bailey had also ordered, one used a first name and another their last name? Just a thought. Diane
ReplyDeleteThat could very well be what happened with the grocery order, Diane. We have some we are donating to the food bank, so none of it should go to waste.
DeleteSo glad your checkup went well! I know that is a relief!
ReplyDeleteI need to schedule a bunch of checkups since I put everything off due to covid, but hopefully the cases will go down soon.
Sounds like some yummy deals at the store. I did a pickup this week, and they included an extra bag with some tazo chai tea concentrate. Not something that I would buy, but the store didn't want a return, so we will try it sometime.
What a fun challenge with the italian subs. So what is the verdict? Who has the best sub?
Hope you have a great weekend. Stay safe and warm if you are dealing with these below zero temps too. brrrr
To me, Publix makes the best subs because you can get the Boars Head meat, sub sauce, and Gaelic pickles, which gives it so much flavor. Bailey picked a local shop called Gardeners. And that was my second choice, so they have really good subs. Bailey’s second choice was Firehouse subs, which she really likes. It was a fun challenge!
DeleteI'm glad your mammogram went well, Belinda. That's a huge relief, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI like to keep more money month to month and get a smaller refund. Once, I changed deductions and had to pay IRS. :)
I filed taxes last week, as soon as IRS opened free filing.
Yes, the good results from the mammogram was a huge relief, Nil.
DeleteUgh on having to pay the IRS, but it does happen sometimes.
I have already filed my taxes this year too. I would like to put it directly into savings.
I'm thinking about the chicken and dressing...I'm going to include the dressing on my menu ..it sounds so good. I bet that was kind of fun to get groceries that you didn't order!
ReplyDeleteIt really was fun, Vickie. I used a lot of it for meals this week, which really worked out In our favor.
Delete