Fourth Frugal Friday of December 2022

Welcome to Friday! 
Quote of the Week

When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  ~ Matthew 2:10-11

Price of Gas this Week
Gas was $2.45 per gallon here this week. 
My Frugal Week
We have that arctic air coming through here tonight and have already lost power, so I’m going to post this, but may not be able to post comments or reply until our power is restored. 
Last Friday I wanted to make a couple of casserole hot pads to include with the ladies gifts we were bringing with us to the family Christmas get together. It only took me a couple of hours to make them. 
I think it took longer to gather all my sewing items together since I haven’t sewn in a while. My sewing machine needle broke while I was making these,  so I put my last one in the machine, and added more to my shopping list. 
One of the wheels on our desk chair wasn’t rolling correctly, so I tried fix it, but it still wouldn’t roll correctly. So, I bought a new set of wheels from Amazon, but only replaced the one wheel that didn’t work. No need to replace all of them as they are still good. Now I have four extra wheels in case anything happens to another wheel or chair. 
I’m very happy that our electric bill is only $147.15 this month, the lowest it has been all year. My half of it will only be $73.57, which is about half of the $150 I budget for the electric. I’ll put the other half in my electric slush fund for when the bills are higher in the summertime. 
We went to town on Tuesday to pick up a few groceries for Christmas celebrations. We also had an appointment and received the most recent Covid booster shot. And we’ve both had our flu shots this year too. 
Our car tires always lose pressure when the drop in temperature and cold weather strikes. I was so tired of this and having to pay $1.50 or more to put air in my tires. So, I bought a Carsun tire inflator from Amazon for this purpose. They are very affordable and easy to use and I would highly recommend everyone keep one in his or her car. 
My brother bought a 2012 Chevy Cruze back a year or so ago for our Mother. Mom never did drive it, but she would faithfully go outside once a week to start it. It’s been sitting here ever since and it sold this week. 
It’s an unusual feeling for me having Mom’s things here without her being here, and this will be my first Christmas without her, so this marks another chapter in our lives that has closed. 
We will be spending time with my exdh’s family, who are Bailey’s family too. Since Mom and Dad are not here this year, I’m very grateful to still have some family to celebrate with. 
New: Subscribe by Email
I’ve had several people ask me over the last year what happened to the email subscription to my blog. Blogger did away with that feature, but I recently found something else that I hope will work in its place called Follow It. There is a link in the top of the right sidebar if you’re interested in signing up. 
Freebies
I have a friend who had too much produce, so she shared some of it with us. She gave us about twenty pounds of carrots, potatoes, onions, and cabbage. We will definitely be putting all of that to good use. 
Joy of the Week
I received a Christmas card this week from a very dear blog reader, Bobi. It was such a sweet gesture and really made my day. 💕 
Avoiding Spending
I did the majority of my Christmas shopping in November and when I was done I was really done. So, no spending for me this week except for a few groceries and some gas. 
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
I used up the last of some crab Rangoon we had in the freezer while gaining that space back. I used up a can of vegetable soup and Veg All from the pantry for lunch one day. Someone gave us four cans of vegetable soup, so I am working to use them up. 
We made five dozen cookies on Thursday to bring to family on Friday and Saturday. One of the recipes was our old favorite one and the other cookies were made using a cake mix. It’s one cake mix, two eggs, and 1/2 cup vegetable oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 9 minutes, depending on your oven. 
Meals This Week
All meals are served with either salad or vegetables and may not always be listed here. 
Chicken & Olive Spread, Fried Rice, Corn on the Cob, Carrots.Open Face Roast Beef Sandwiches, Roasted Potatoes, Carrots and Cabbage. Baked Potatoes, Mixed Vegetables, Corn. Beef with gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Vegetables.Macaroni and Cheese, Mixed Vegetables. Homemade Pizza for Movie NightBetter Cheddars, Rice & Cheese, Mixed Vegetables. 
* If you see a dinner in bold print that means we had it more than once this week.
Recipe of the Week
Bailey requested Hash Brown Casserole for Christmas dinner this year, so I went looking for my recipe on my blog here and realized it’s not on here. So, I’m including it here for future reference. This is the Cracker Barrel copycat recipe, but I use cream of potato soup in my recipe along with extra sharp cheddar cheese. 

Hashbrown Casserole

Ingredients

1 (32-ounce) package frozen diced hash brown potatoes, thawed

1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of potato soup

1 (8-oz.) container sour cream

1 cup shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup melted butter

Topping:

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 cups corn flakes cereal

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Stir together the first 6 ingredients.

Spoon into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.

Crush the cereal, and stir in the melted 1/4 cup butter. 

Sprinkle over the potato mixture.

Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes.

Saving on Entertainment
One of the films we watched this week was Knives Out, which is a murder mystery about crime novelist Harlan Thrombey who was found deceased at his mansion and an investigator is secretly hired to investigate his death. It was a good film, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s free to watch if you have Amazon Prime. 
What I've been Reading This Week
Simplest Ever Sewing Projects
Dr. McDougll is offering all of his books for free right now on his website. All you have to do is click over to his website, click on shop, and go to ebooks. From there you can download seven of his books. drmcdougall.com

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. I hope and pray that each one of you have a wonderful holiday weekend however you plan on spending the days. And above all I hope you all stay safe and warm. 
BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27