First Frugal Friday ~ July 2023
Welcome to Friday!
My Frugal Week
Last Friday Bailey and I got ready to yard sale and went to the first one and the second we got back into the car a huge downpour came, which ended the yard sale day. No worries though as the thrift stores were open.
We headed down to the Goodwill store in East Brainard in Chattanooga. This was the first time I had been in the new store, which was rebuilt after a tornado leveled the building on Easter Sunday in 2020.
They had several items that were on my things needed list and even a few things that I wanted.
First off was a really nice backpack, which I need to go down our outside steps. I need to be hands free to hold onto the rails as I descend the steps, so this will work well. Turns out it was some bougie bag that retails for $199 and Bailey wished she had found it before me. 😂
I found a brand new Instant Pot egg bites mold with a rack. I knew it was an Instant Pot item due to the rack. I’ve been wanting to make the Starbucks egg bites at home and now I have the correct mold to make them.
I’ve had a bulletin board on my wish list and found one. I found some very nice towels, five towels in all and one set of two came with two wash clothes. All of them were such great quality and only $2.99 for the single towels and $4.99 for the set of two towels/two wash clothes.
I’ve been needing to replace my colored pencils since they were worn down to the nub. And they had a box of new Crayola erasable colored pencils for 99¢, so I bought them.
I’ve wanted stationary bicycle pedals for exercise. I used to have one, but I wore it out. I’ve been looking on Facebook Marketplace and found one for $45, so jumped on this when I saw it for $7.99.
Our cat Polka Dot had to go to the veterinary hospital this week. His ear was swollen and needed to be drained of fluid. He is back home now and on the road to recovery.
Freebies
Bailey reminded me that we had four coupons that were about to expire to use for free Jiff peanut butter. So, we headed to Walmart to use them last Friday.
Joy of the Week
My joy of the week was going through a bin of clothes for Bailey’s shops and shopping for myself. I mentioned last week that I got two shirts. Well this week I added four pairs of pants to that and another new to me shirt.
Avoiding Spending
We needed cat food for this month, so I couldn’t avoid spending this week. But, I used Chewy.com and saved $20 by using the coupon code on their entrance page. (GIFT20OFF)
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
I hope you’ve had a good week adding to both your skills and pantries. Always thankful, we were able to restock our pantry this week.
Sometimes the simplest way to prepare food works best. I watched a TikTok video where this person put chicken breasts in the crockpot, seasoned them and cooked for four hours and it made its own juice. Then he took a hand mixer and shredded it.
I cooked one chicken breast like this on Monday and it also made its own juice. It was the perfect amount for our dinner and tasted very good.
A friend of mine gave me some basil from her garden this week. I have it laying on my counter to dry. It smells so good!
Meals This Week
Grilled Chicken Nachos with SaladHamburgers, Baked Beans, Squash & Zucchini, Deviled Egg Dip. Grilled Chicken, Cajun Soup Beans, Kale Greens, Pico de Gallo. Chicken Breast with Honey Mustard, Baked Beans, Carrots. Tuna Salad Sandwiches, Carrots, Cajun Beans. Homemade Pizza with Salads. Chicken Fajitas, Tomatoes, Roasted Potatoes, Corn on the Cob & Watermelon.
Saving on Entertainment
We went to the local fireworks show at the mall on the Fourth of July. The show lasted about twenty minutes and was really beautiful.
What I've been Reading This Week
One of the books I picked up at Goodwill last Friday is The Sonoma Diet, written by Dr. Connie Guttersen. My doctor suggested the Mediterranean diet to me last month, so I thought I would do some reading on the subject.
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
FREE PB - that is great! Glad you found some clothes that you could use. Sounds like you gals had a really good week. As always your meals sound wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
Thank you, Cheryl/ I hope you have a great weekend too.
Delete(Little Penpen) It sounds like a good week and happy about your thrift store finds. The bike pedaling machine was an awesome score. And even better to be able to shop from Baileys store for clothing. I will have to try the chicken breasts in the crockpot. It seems mine are always tasteless and dry! Btw, I tried the cottage cheese pizza dish that you mentioned from the girl on Instagram. It’s delicious. It reminds me of the gooey stuff in lasagna.
ReplyDeleteYes! That is exactly what the cottage cheese pizza reminds me of the gooey stuff in lasagna. LOL I'm glad you enjoyed it. My physical therapist was really surprised at what I paid for the bicycle pedals. She says most of them are around $100. I've used them almost every day since I got them .
DeleteSounds like a great weekend with some big scores! Nice work on the backpack find. Love that Bailey was jealous ;-)
ReplyDeleteShe was really cute about it. I almost gave it to her out of guilt. LOL
DeleteSounds like you got some great deals at the thrift store! You find the best deals! Yum on the free peanut butter too. Hope your kitty is doing better with his ears. Glad you were able to watch the fireworks. We just have to drive down our road about 1/4 mile to see them in the distance. The field was full of lightening bugs too which was neat to see.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful weekend.
Oh, that sounds du with the lightning bugs, Kathy. I’m glad you got to see some of them too. 😊
DeleteWhat great finds at the thrift store! Glad your kitty is doing better!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lana. 😊
DeleteFree food is always a win. I wish we went to yard sales and thrift stores on Saturdays. Maybe I will start. I thrifted with a friend who demanded I give her what I found because she drove. NOPE! When I have needed to get down steps with both hands, I put things in a bag and toss them down. Of course, I could not handle a backpack. Finding the pedal thing was good. Wish I had one.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t give your friend what you found either. I’ve done that with items I need to get down the steps too, just toss them down the stairs. It works for me too. Maybe you can go thrifting or to some yard sales one day. 😊
DeleteWe only went to one estate sale yesterday. It was raining so not many garage sales open. There is a Goodwill at a outlet mall by us. I usually don't find anything at Goodwills but that one is a good one. You make me want to go again! Good deals Belinda.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Vickie. We sure do enjoy the yard sales and thrift stores. It's usually one of the highlights of my week.
DeleteI hope Polka Dot is feeling better. Poor baby, ear infections are the worst.
ReplyDeleteYou find some great deals thrifting. I love finding my Wish List items at the thrift stores. Dollar Tree is carrying the full set of 50 Prang pencils for $1.25 if you or Bailey are anywhere near a DT in the future. .
Wow, that is a great deal on the Prang pencils. Thank you. Polka Dot goes for his follow up visit tomorrow. Thank you for the get well wishes.
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