Fourth & Final Friday Friday of August 2026

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday

On Tuesday, we said goodbye to a true Tennessee treasure, Dolly Parton. She never forgot where she came from and remained a kind and generous person who gave so much to others. My original title for this blog was inspired by her and this song she wrote called, My Tennessee Mountain Home. 

My Frugal Week
The weather has been cooler in the mornings here and also some evenings. It's a welcome sign of cooler weather coming this fall.
Last Friday I had an appointment at the vein clinic.. I had an ultrasound and Xray on my leg, which were both OK, and I had a referral to the wound clinic on Tuesday. The doctor there prescribed an antibiotic and put Manuka honey, known for its antibiotic properties, on the wound and bandaged it up for me. 
Earning Money/Bartering

Washer

This week I ended up doing some more bartering. The washing machine downstairs quit working a while ago and we’ve been wanting to replace it. 
My niece called on Thursday and wanted to know if we needed a washing machine and dryer. She has a a new top loader and wanted to get rid of the front loader as she prefers top loaders. 

Dryer

They owed me some money from tutoring this summer, so we traded the front loader washer and dryer for my tutoring. I love it when bartering actually works out. I've always wanted  front load washer and now I have one. Sometimes bartering works. :)
While they were here they removed the machine that fell on my leg, and put the risers I bought for the sleeper sofa in place. The couch was very low to the ground before and is much easy to sit on now. 
Freebies
This month’s issue of Southern Living magazine.
Saving on Things We Buy
One way I saved money this week is by switching my trash collector. I had been paying $50 a month for one service and $35 a month for a second service. Then I switched to bartering with the $50 service, which as you know did not work out. 
After hauling off my own garbage last week I decided to find someone else to do our garbage. Fortunately I found another company that provides a 96 gallon trash bin and only charges $20 per month. Score! 
Another way I save money is by using our local library to read the local weekly newspaper. The subscription is $52 per year, but it's honestly not worth the price for the content. But I will miss out on some important dates if I don't read it, so I go to the library and read it for free. 
I bought a box of non-clumping cat litter on mark down recently and think I prefer it over the clumping kind. It’s definitely cheaper than the clumping kind by a dollar or more, so we’re going to give it a try. 

I stopped in at Whole Foods one day and looked at the Crash & Burn section and found three spices, all on my grocery list, marked down to $1.87 each. The receipt they emailed me was for over $34, but that was without the clearance price. 
That is my week in a nutshell. How was your week? I'd love to hear about it in the comment section. 

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.

Belinda 🫶 💕 Homemaker at Heart 💕 ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Menu Plan Monday ~ Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen ~ Fourth Week August 2026

Welcome to Frugal Workshop where every Monday I share the simple strategies used to save money in my kitchen over the past week, along with the meals that made it to our dinner table. You'll find practical tips on how we saved money on food hopefully to inspire your own meal planning using the foods you have in your own pantry.

My Frugal Week

The Old Country Kitchenware website has this recipe for Old Country Pan Coat. This magical mixture allows cakes to slip from their pan with ease. It's a one-step alternative to buttering and flouring your pans.

Old Country Pan Coat

I know I've posted a similar pan coat before, but I was watching a Lovina Zook video, a former member of the Swartzentruber Amish community in Iowa, where she mentions this recipe. I wanted to share it with you in case you're interested. 

One of my friends gave me a lot of produce last week including mushrooms, which are currently dehydrating for use later. I've also been dehydrating celery as she gave me found packages of celery and I will definitely use that. 

Photo of the Week

This is one lady's five gallon bean bucket. Whenever she gets beans from food pantries, food banks, church handouts, or friends, she adds them to this bucket. Then she uses them to make soup, chili, and spicy burrito beans, which makes for zero waste. I thought this was a great idea and wanted to share it with you. We love fifteen bean soup here and this would be very similar to that.

Saving Money YouTube Videos

The Back to Basics Kitchen YouTube channel, which has content on basic cooking, canning, bread making, and dehydrating foods, has a video entitled, Foods The USDA Says Will Increase In Price. I watched it the other day as I'm interested in knowing if certain foods we buy will be increasing in price. That way we can stock up before any price increases. 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Grilled Chicken Strips, Carrots, Cucumbers.

Tuesday ~ Chicken Breast Filets, Cucumber Tomato Salad. 

Wednesday ~ Salmon Patties, Green Beans with Onions & Potatoes. 

Thursday ~ Spicy Salmon Sushi, Soup Beans, and Strawberries. 

Friday ~ Grilled Chicken, Corn on the Cob, Carrots & Green Beans.

There was a little bit of fresh vegetables, so I put all of them into my Instant Pot and cooked them all at the same time, which made more than enough as a side dish for dinner. 

Saturday ~ Chicken Nuggets, Soup Beans, and Strawberries.

Sunday ~ Meatloaf, Green Beans with Onions, and Watermelon. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week? 

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

~ Living within our Means ~Frugal Workshop Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Image Credit

Third Frugal Friday of August 2026

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday

Each Friday here at Frugal Workshop, I love sharing the frugal wins, quiet savings, and simple strategies that helped us stretch our budget over the past seven days. It’s a gentle look back at the small things that make a big difference. 
When Bartering Doesn’t Work
I had an incident happen last week that I want to discuss. Back in June I made a barter arrangement with someone in exchange for garbage service, outside hose repair, roof repair, and weed eating and mowing in exchange for some of Dad’s equipment downstairs. It was a good deal for both of us if he had kept up his part of the arrangement. 
First off he wanted to change our Monday arrangement to Friday. I said no as that is a prime yard sale day in summer, but he had already stopped coming on Monday as he made an arrangement with someone else for another job. Then he backed out of the hose and roof repairs, and when I asked him to work on the lawn, he said he couldn’t for two to three months. Sigh. 
I’ve been burned before by people coming here and thinking they can take advantage of me. He already took a great deal of the equipment and was not fulfilling our agreement. So, after discussing it with Bailey I asked him to bring the equipment back and I would pay him for his services he had done so far. He was not happy, but I can sell the equipment for more money and get the repairs done that way, which is what I plan on doing. 
The moral of the story is that sometimes bartering doesn’t work. Bailey told me I shouldn’t have let him take the equipment before the work was done and she is right. I feel bad but I can’t let someone take advantage of me either, so this is what was going down last Friday when I didn’t post. I gave him his money and wished him the very best. Lesson learned the hard way.
My Frugal Week
Last week I used a $5.00 off Bealls reward when I was buying some Skinny Syrup. 
Monday afternoon I took a tumble backwards and fell onto the concrete floor downstairs and one of Dad’s machines fell onto my foot and leg. I went to urgent care and nothing is broken, just scrapped up and bruised. My doctor has an ace bandage on it for now. 
Earning Money 
I sold my Reel Lawn Mower on Facebook Marketplace for $50 this week. I bought it to mow our yard and then realized it wasn't powerful enough to do the job, so I made the decision to sell it. I only paid $40 for it, so I made a good deal. 
On Sunday I measured and processed fifty-five clothing items for Bailey’s online shops. We barter this with each other and exchange my work for her paying the Internet bill each month, which she has to have for her business. It’s a win-win for both of us. 
I received a payout of $35 from a class action lawsuit I had joined for something I had purchased in the past. It takes so long for one to payout that I don't even recall what it was for now. 
Yard Sale Saturday
Last Friday I went to a yard sale and picked up:
Brute garbage can $2.00Cat Condo freeS Hooks 25 centsBlender Shaker Bottle metal inside 25 centsHangers 50 centsTwin Size Bed Platform Frame $2.00Oyster Food Chopper $1.ooWooden Clock $1.00Aveeno Body lotion 25 centsDove soap 3 pack $1.00
Freebies
I was dropping off some trash the other day and found a couple of freebies at the garbage dump. Someone had left some brand new brake pads, which I brought home for Bailey to sell as they are worth $74.95 of the Napa auto parts website. 

I also found a couple of welcome mats and this air stepper fitness machine. We already had one of them upstairs in Bailey's room and now we have one downstairs too.  I put a walker in front of it to hold on as I'm not too steady on it. 
That is my week in a nutshell. How was your week?

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.

Belinda 🫶 💕 Homemaker at Heart 💕 ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Menu Plan Monday ~ Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen ~ Third Week August 2026

Welcome to Frugal Workshop where every Monday I share the simple strategies used to save money in my kitchen over the past week, along with the meals that made it to our dinner table. You'll find practical tips on how we saved money on food hopefully to inspire your own meal planning using the foods you have in your own pantry.

My Frugal Week

On Sunday I was working and listening to Miss Lori at Whippoorwill Holler's YouTube channel. She recently made a video titled, "Feeding my family when times were hard, No five course meals!". It was a good video where she talked about the rising price of groceries, but since she has been keeping house groceries have always risen with time. 

She spoke about struggle meals she made when there wasn't much food in the pantry and some of the meals she made back then and still makes today. If you get a chance to watch it, I'd recommend it. 

I went to People Helping People on Saturday night for free vegetables and came home with bitter melon, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow, orange, and red bell peppers, corn on the cob, and yellow squash. I could have also taken green beans and egg plant, but didn't get those.  

I went home and washed most of the vegetables and on Sunday morning I chopped all the peppers and put them in a large mason jar to use throughout the week. I love having them ready to go to add to whatever I'm making that week. 

Bailey and I have been decluttering the house for the upcoming consignment sale, which means we gave the kitchen a good cleaning out. I went through all of my spices and if I had more than one container of a certain spice (which happens when you buy in bulk) I emptied all of them into a mason jar and added a parmesan cheese lid, which I save for this purpose. 

The drawers and cabinets always look so good and organized after a good decluttering too. 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Philly Cheesesteak Casserole, Sweet Potatoes, Cauliflower, Pickled Beets. 

Tuesday ~ Roast Beef, Sweet Potatoes, Creamed Corn. 

Wednesday ~ Lentil Loaf, Sweet Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli. 

Thursday ~ Lentil Loaf, Baked Apples, Steamed Carrots. 

Friday ~ Chicken Breast Fillets, Baked Apples, and Steamed Carrots. 

Saturday ~ Chicken Tacos with all the toppings, and Corn.

Sunday ~ Salmon Patties, Corn on the Cob, Green Beans with Onions. 

This was one of those “don’t heat up the kitchen” summertime suppers. I shucked the corn and put it in my smallest instant pot, and fixed the green beans and onions in my smallest slow cooker. All I had to do was make the salmon patties come dinner time and brown them in a skillet. 

Thank you for visiting here and getting a glimpse of being in my kitchen with me this week.  

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week? 

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

~ Living within our Means ~Frugal Workshop Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Image Credit

No Frugal Friday Blog Post for August 14, 2026

 

Just a quick update to let you know there will be no Frugal Friday blog post for today, but I'll be back to posting next Friday and of course on Monday for Menu Plan Monday. I hope you all are doing well and enjoying your summer.

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.

Belinda 🫶 💕 Homemaker at Heart 💕 ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27