Saturday Evening

My menu plan for this week called for homemade pizza tonight. I made my own pizza dough using this recipe. I used mozzarella cheese, which I had left over from another recipe, which was stored in the freezer, and I opened an Institutional size can of spaghetti sauce, which I divided up into smaller containers and put three of those in the freezer for another use later. I topped it with pepperoni and black olives. It tasted good, my family enjoyed it, and I didn't spend any money on takeout pizza. 

Today was a very productive day here. I woke up early and got started right away doing laundry. I then cleaned out the refrigerator and made soup, boiled eggs, and cleaned all the dishes from that project. Afterwards my daughter and I gathered up all the garbage and took it the garbage drop off center. We are very fortunate as our county drop off center does not charge us to drop off garbage. We are the only county in Tennessee which has free garbage service, although we do have to haul it ourselves. 

Afterwards we made a run to Super Saver for several items including milk, bread, cheese, and corn, which was on sale for 50¢ a can and since I was out of corn, I decided to pick up six cans to add to my pantry. My total at Super Saver was $27.02. Afterwards we drove across the road to fill up our gas tank. Gas was selling for $3.21 a gallon, but I used my Bi-Lo Bonus Card and was able to lower the price to $3.06 per gallon and saved 15¢ per gallon. 

The groceries and gas were the only money I spent all week. I worked two days this week and took my lunch and drinks to work both days. I ate breakfast and dinner at home and did not spend any money buying drinks or snacks or anything. I didn't even buy the newspaper for the sale ads on Wednesday. I just looked up the grocery store ads online.  We were very frugal here this week and I hope you had a very frugal week in your home too. :)

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011-2013.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Use it Up Soup

For Friday night dinner I had planned to have vegetable beef soup. But, when I came home from work my dad had already cooked dinner for us:  Salmon Loaf, Soup Beans, and Corn. It was a pleasant surprise. 

So, on Saturday morning, I woke up and got started on the Vegetable Beef Soup. 

I took the roast, left from Christmas dinner, that I had stored in the freezer and added that to my soup pot. I also added the lone baked potato from Wednesday night’s dinner, the leftover green beans and onions from Thursday night’s dinner, and the soup beans from Friday night’s dinner.  It was definitely a “use it up” kind of soup. I added some chicken and beef broth, which I had on hand and some salt. 

I then let it all simmer on the stove top until lunchtime. Here is what my portion looked like:   

This was a big hit with my family. And I have to say that it makes me feel good to know I am using up food in my refrigerator and freezer rather than letting it go to waste. My Grandmother used to make soup once a week by cleaning out her refrigerator at the end of the week. My Dad still talks about those soups to this day and that was 60 years ago. My Grandmother was being frugal - she was using up what she had to save money.

How have you been "using it up" this week? 

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011-2013.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Saving Money on Clothes

Pictured above is a pair of jeans I bought for my daughter on eBay.  You can see they are new jeans with the tags still attached with the original price tag of $36.99. I paid $7.99 for these jeans plus a $5.00 shipping charge, so $12.99 for these jeans. I gave these to her as a Christmas present and so she will have a new outfit when she returns to school after her Christmas break. Over the years, I have bought her brand new jeans from retail stores, but it is great when I can find them in the second hand market for a lot less money. 

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011-2013.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

This Week's Menus

1.       Tacos

2.      Baked Potato Night

3.      Macaroni & Cheese with Ham, Green Beans  with Onions

4.      Vegetable Beef Soup

5.      Home Made Pizza

6.      Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, Mexican Rice

7.      Salmon Patties, Mashed Potatoes, Peas

 
Listed above is our menu for the next seven days. We had Tacos today and did not do the traditional black eyed peas for New Year's Day dinner. We have all of these foods on hand for this menu and do not have to go grocery shopping for anything to make these dinners. Sales advertisements do come out tomorrow though, and I will be checking those, but won't need to buy anything unless it is a good deal. 

My goals for this month include using up foods I have on hand for making meals rather than buying more food. And saving as much money as I can since I have added expenses this month for auto registration, Insurance membership, and automobile insurance. You'll notice two of our meals this week are meatless meals, which will help us save money as well.

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011-2013.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Coke Rewards Revisited

Pictured above are three coupons I recently received from My Coke Rewards for three free 12 packs of any Coke product. I decided on two boxes of Spite, which are good to have on hand in case of an upset stomach. I also decided on one box of Minute Maid Lemonade.

Here are the boxes I "purchased" with my coupons:

If you are new to My Coke Rewards you can read my original post about the program here.  A coupon for a free 12 pack is 240 points and one cap is worth 3 points, while a 12 pack box is worth 10 points.

 I still have a shoebox full of caps that I need to enter into the computer. I work on them every now and then. These are the ones Mom used to get at work from her friends and in the hopper.   

Soda pop isn't something I purchase on a regular basis, but I will use these points to get the 12 pack boxes for free, but when they are gone they're gone. :) 
   
Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011-2013.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”