Little Debbie Thrift Store

 

My daughter and I had to make a trip to town today after school, so I decided to go by the Little Debbie Thrift store. I've written about the Little Debbie Thrift store before in this post. Their thrift store is located at 68 Mouse Creek Road in Cleveland. Today,  I was able to pick up the following items:

3 loaves Pepperidge Farm Pumpernickel bread $1.39 each

1 loaf Pepperidge Farm 15 grain whole grain bread - $1.39 each

1 box fudge dipped chocolate chip granola bars - $1.40 or 16 cents each

1 box Little Debbie Nutty Bars - $1.40 or 12 cents each

1 box Valentine cakes - $1.25 or 13 cents each

2 boxes Sweet and Salty granola bars – 75 cents per box or 8 cents each

The savings on the bread is about $2.00 per loaf compared to the grocery store price, and the savings on the granola bars is substantial. It would be hard to duplicate these items at home for these prices, and I do not feel guilty for buying these types of convenience foods or adding them to my lunch box, since the price is so low. With tax, I spent $12.73 on this trip, which would have cost me around $25 at the regular grocery store, so my savings was about half of that. Not a bad deal at all.

Belinda 

© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011. 

 “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”  

Disclosure: The FTC requires bloggers to disclose any type of advertising revenue received from our blog. As such, please note we make money from in-text affiliate links like Amazon as well as the banner ads on our blog. The main goal of our blog is to educate you on saving money. Thank you!

School started back today and late last night one of the teachers called and asked me to sub for him, but then around 10:30 it started snowing like crazy and I thought for sure school would be cancelled, but it wasn't. I have a friend who also substitutes, and she doesn't have to work, so she is free to pick and choose her sub jobs. I, on the other hand, need to work as much as possible, so I take every job that comes my way. So I was able to work today and for that I am grateful. 

First thing I did this morning when I woke up was to make my lunch. Ham & Cheese on pumpernickel bread, pretzels, an orange (from those my Father-in-law gave to us), and a few cookies. What you can't see here is my reusable water bottle, which I fill from the water fountain at school. Cost of my drink is zero. 

I love substitute teaching, and I enjoy being around the students so much. Many of them are genuinely happy to see me when I am subbing in one of their classes. Today, several of them would walk by my room on their way to somewhere else, look in and see me, and continue on their way, but as soon as they walked past by room they would say, "YES!".  Makes it all worthwhile to me. 

Being off from work for two weeks made it harder to go back to work today, and I was very tired at the end of the day. Sure enough, as soon as I picked up my daughter from her school, she asked if we could go out to eat. I told her "No, because we have plenty of food at home". She asked me again, but I remained steadfast in my decision to not eat out. I came home and since we still had plenty of meatloaf left from the day before, I decided just to make some extra sides to go with it instead of the chicken I had planned.

Sides were macaroni and cheese, a rice/cheese/broccoli dish, broccoli, potato salad, strawberries, and  I also made a new gallon of sweet tea. I was very hungry, and as a result, I made more than I normally would have for dinner. While we were eating dinner, my daughter told me everything looked and tasted so good and she was glad I had cooked dinner at home. Made me feel good. :)

I was very tired after school today, and it would have been very easy to give in to my daughter's desire to go out to eat. Instead I came home and cooked dinner and cleaned up the dishes afterwards, which made me even more tired.  But it is important to me to save money because I have things that I want to do and cooking at home is one of the easiest areas to save money, so that's what I'm doing. Tomorrow we get to do it all over again except I will be subbing at her school, which makes things easier on me. 

I spent no money at all today, which is a good feeling. I hope you had a wonderful, frugal day as well. :)  

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”  

Disclosure: The FTC requires bloggers to disclose any type of advertising revenue received from our blog. As such, please note we make money from in-text affiliate links like Amazon as well as the banner ads on our blog. The main goal of our blog is to educate you on saving money. Thank you!

What's for Dinner Monday

I was inspired today while reading a message board about saving on food to try something different for lunch.  I knew I had a roll of Grands biscuits that had been given to us, and I had a package of bologna, and some cheese sticks. So, I gathered up all my ingredients and while I was doing that I found a package of hotdogs with four hotdogs left inside.

Rather than use the bologna, I decided to use the hotdogs and cut those in half and also cut four of the cheese sticks in half. Rolled out each biscuit to make it a little bit bigger and then made eight Pigs in a Blanket. 

My daughter hadn't been eating the cheese sticks, so I decided to use them in something like this that I knew she would eat, and she loved them. I even have some leftover for breakfasts this week. Here is the finished product:
 

Dinner today is Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Steamed Broccoli. Since I was already making meatloaf and had enough ground beef, I went ahead and made four meat loaves. I gave one to my Dad, and will freeze the other loaves for dinner another day. I also made a gallon of Iced Tea. :)

What's for dinner at your house today?

Belinda

© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011. 

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”  

Disclosure: The FTC requires bloggers to disclose any type of advertising revenue received from our blog. As such, please note we make money from in-text affiliate links like Amazon as well as the banner ads on our blog. The main goal of our blog is to educate you on saving money. Thank you!

Two Week Dinner Menu Plan

The last two weeks have been pretty easy when it comes to making dinner. At the beginning of last week, I cooked up enough food, so we would have plenty to eat the last two weeks. It has been very relaxing to not have to concern myself with cooking every night. And the temptation to go to to eat was minimal since we were at home anyway and no one really wanted to venture out of the house

We will go back to school and work on Tuesday, and I know without a doubt that the pressure to go out to eat will return. My daughter loves to go out to eat, and says when she grows up she is going to eat out everyday. I tell her she better win the lottery or have a job that pays well. Depending on the type of day I've had at work, I can also be easily persuaded to go out to eat. 

Today I took an inventory of the food that I have on hand and made a menu based on those foods that will last us for a two week period.  I won't have to go to the grocery store except for milk. Here is a list of the menus in no particular order:

Two Week Menu: January 1 through January 14, 2012

1. Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

2. Potato Sausage Chowder

3. Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli

4. Tacos with all the Fixings

5. Salmon Patties, Green Beans with Onions, Mashed Potatoes

6. Baked Potato Bar, Steamed Broccoli

7. Grilled Chicken, Stir-fry Vegetables,

8. Chicken Enchiladas, Mexican Rice

9. Get Rich Slowly Taco Soup

10. Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, Mexican Rice

11. Veggie Burgers, Tator Tots, Stir-Fry Vegetables

12. Homemade Chili

13. Chili Tacos or Chili Mac

14. Macaroni & Cheese, Stir Fry Vegetables 

Faithfully maintaining a two-week dinner menu is an easy way to keep your grocery bill under control. Menu planning will not only eliminate the last minute requests to eat out, but will also eliminate the need to run to the grocery store for last minute items. The best part of this plan is by eating the food you already have at home you will be freeing up cash for other areas in your budget. 

Belinda 

© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011. 

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”  

Disclosure: The FTC requires bloggers to disclose any type of advertising revenue received from our blog. As such, please note we make money from in-text affiliate links like Amazon as well as the banner ads on our blog. The main goal of our blog is to educate you on saving money. Thank you!

Looking Back on 2011 & Looking Ahead to 2012

The graphic above came from the Mental Health Humor website, and  I wanted to share it because I think it expresses a real dilemma with New Year's resolutions. This list is intended to cover five years, but alas the list remains the same every year.  Ouch!

Today marks the beginning of a brand new year, and is often the time when people reflect back on the previous year and make a list of goals they would like to work on in the New Year. For me, 2011 was a decent year, although I had several problems with child support, we still managed to make it through the year financially without borrowing any money, which is a good thing. I was able to work more this school year than the previous two years, and that helped me when my other income dropped. 

Last year around this time I made a list of all the debts that I owed. I’m happy to report that I paid off three of those debts and almost have a fourth one paid in full. Other good things that I did in 2011 included starting an automated savings account in January of 2011, which helped me when both my income and the child support dropped during the summer of 2011. 

Last night I sat down and made a new list of the debts that I have and want to pay off as soon as possible. Making a list and keeping track of what I owe leads me one step closer to my ultimate goal of being debt free. Right now I have five debts totaling around $4,000 and a student loan that is in forbearance because of my low income. I currently do not make enough money to pay the five debts in full and still pay all of my other expenses. But I am working on that, which leads me to another goal. Another goal of mine is to increase my income this year, so that I can pay these five debts off and also begin to pay off my student loan debt.

I know some people like to keep their head buried in the sand when it comes to how much debt they have, but more often than not those types of people never make any real headway into paying off their debt. Writing things down and reviewing them every so often to see if you are making headway is a sure fire way to pay off your debt faster than burying your head in the sand over them. 

So, with all of that in mind, here are my goals for 2012:

 

Live Within my Means

Save Money

Eliminate two or more Debts

Increase My Income

 

How did 2011 turn out for you? Were you able to make a difference in your financial life? What kind of goals do you have for 2012? Whatever your goals are, I hope you are able to reach them and hope you have a very prosperous 2012.

 

Belinda 

© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011.

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
Disclosure: The FTC requires bloggers to disclose any type of advertising revenue received from our blog. As such, please note we make money from in-text affiliate links like Amazon as well as the banner ads on our blog. The main goal of our blog is to educate you on saving money. Thank you!