Fourth Frugal Friday of March 2023

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 
Quote of the Week

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” ~ Stephen King

Price of Gas
$3.15 per gallon
My Frugal Week
On Saturday we went and bought chickens. We bought four of them and by the time we got them home they had laid four eggs, but one broke while we were transferring the chickens into the chicken coop.  They’ve been laying three to four eggs per day, so we have eggs right now. We found someone who sells chickens that are laying eggs right now for $5 each rather than baby chicks, which wouldn't be laying eggs right now.   

We already have a chicken coop here from when we raised chickens in the past. And we did find a smaller coop at a yard sale last summer. We already bought food for them as we have been anticipating their arrival for a while now. 
If you recall I mentioned that we were not going to shop the Sweet Weepeets consignment sale this time around. However, Bailey is very low on inventory and needs inventory for her shops, so she went on dollar day and restocked her inventory. 
Freebies
One of the pharmaceutical companies I use sent me a free travel pack cooler for my medicine. 

Joy of the Week
It would definitely have to be coming home with the chickens and having four eggs when we got home. 
Photo of the Week

Savings of the Week
The day Bailey went to the consignment sale was the same day I was looking at filters at Amazon, which were priced at $19.95.  I put off buying them for the time being, but when Bailey came home she showed me where she bought a box of twelve of the exact ones I was looking at for only $1.00. Woo Hoo! 
Question of the Week
Have you ever used YNAB to keep track of your budget?
YNAB is an online budget tracker that helps change your money mindset with four simple rules.
1. Give every dollar a job. 2. Embrace your true expenses. 3. Roll with the punches. 4. Age your money. 
Bailey and I have recently started using YNAB and have so far been impressed with how it help us to manage our budgets. If you're interested, you can try YNAB for free for 34 days with no commitment or credit card required. 
Earning Money
The gentleman cutting down our trees has been working hard again this week to clear those trees in danger of falling on our driveway. We do not want to be trapped in here in case of an emergency, and that has happened multiple times lately, so this is a great solution to that problem. 
Avoiding Spending
I've definitely avoided spending this week. The YNAB app helps me to keep very good track of where my money is and what I have to spend in each category of my budget. In fact the last thing I bought was gas and that was last week. There has been no spending this week. 
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
We’ve been doing the usual things, eating our leftovers and keeping the kitchen clean and well stocked to make meals. 
We tried the Zatarains Andouille sausage this week. I found that it was very flavorful but also had a hint of hot spices, which I try to avoid. Bailey said she didn’t care for it and prefers the Polish sausage over this sausage. 
We need to make a grocery order soon as we are out of onions, cheese, bread, buns. You get the idea, so I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner on Wednesday. I knew I had some frozen hamburgers in the freezer and plenty of beans, tomatoes, and macaroni. So, I decided to make a chili mac type of dinner with what I had on hand. It turned out spicy, but good and Bailey gave it a thumbs up. 👍 
On Thursday, we had a friend gift us with several food items including a ham, chicken, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, and oranges. 
Walmart sells these bright yellow golden canary melons, but every time I’ve tried to order one in a pickup, they tell me they are out of stock. However, I was inside the store last week and found several of them, so I made sure to get one. 

It sat on the counter to ripen this week and I cut it up for dinner on Thursday night. It has a similar flavor to a honeydew melon, but ripened so much easier than any honeydew melon ever has for me. This was the best melon and so sweet it tasted like candy. I’ll definitely be buying more whenever I see them again. 
Meals This Week
All meals are served with either salad or vegetables and may not always be listed here. 
* If you see a dinner in bold print that means we had it more than once this week.
- Meatballs in Brown Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Cole Slaw.- Dirty Rice with Andouille Sausage, Green Beans, Potato Salad.- Loaded Baked Potatoes with choice of toppings including broccoli, cauliflower,     dill, chives, onions, sour cream, and cheese if desired. - Movie Night Pizza- Chili Mac- Roasted Potatoes & Cabbage, Green and Yellow Squash, Cucumber Salad, Strawberries and Golden Canary Melon. 
Recipe of the Week
This recipe takes me back to the early 1990’s, which was over thirty years ago. It’s a very simple meatless recipe, so it’s economical and quite tasty. At the time I used regular lasagne noodles, but today you can swap those for no cook lasagne noodles and lower the oven time to 30 to 40 minutes. 
Low Fat Cheese Lasagne
Ingredients:
1 - 15 ounce can tomato sauce1 - 14 ounce jar spaghetti sauce16 ounces low-fat cottage cheese 1/2 cup grated fat free Parmesan cheese9 lasagna noodles8 ounces low fat mozzarella cheese
Directions:
Combine tomato and spaghetti sauce in bowl and set aside.Combine cottage and Parmesan cheese and set aside. Line non stick pan with 3 lasagne noodles, 1/3 of the sauce, 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture, and then 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat two times.Cover with foil. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees. Makes 9 servings at 281 calories. 
Saving on Entertainment
We've recently watched the film The Whale, which is the story of a reclusive English teacher who tries to reconnect with his daughter for a chance to redeem himself. 
We’ve also watched A Man Called Otto, which is the story of a grumpy widower who forms an unlikely friendship with his new neighbors, which ends up turning his world around. 
I would recommend both films and only watched The Whale  because I saw Brendan Fraser's Academy Awards speech on TikTok and was very moved by it. 
What I've been Reading This Week
The Bluebirds are Nesting ~ Annabelle has been posting her “Bluebirds on the Ground” series recently. She is working her way around the globe with reports on the cost of living and how life has changed and how people are adapting to get ahead if possible.
The latest one was written by Cath who runs the popular The Cheapskates Club from Australia. Cath believes that a barter/trade system will become more popular as things disappear from our lives or become too expensive. I’ve read similar writings from Frugal Queen of France and Carol from the Living Simply Facebook groups. 

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.

BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27