First Frugal Friday of October 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. 
My Frugal Week
Thank you to everyone for your good thoughts for Bailey. The insurance company went ahead and totaled her car, and she already received her settlement check, so now she is shopping for a new one. 
She does her research online and then we go car shopping. We’ve been to Chattanooga and Maryville and test drove five cars so far. We took two of those she really wanted and had pre-purchase inspections, which were both failures. So, the search continues for the time being. 
The rental car she is driving had a flat tire yesterday when we got in it, so we took my car instead. We called the rental company and had someone come and change out the tire for us once we got home. We will need to change it out at some point as we don’t want her driving on a doughnut tire. 
A few weeks ago I mentioned thinking non-clumping cat litter was more economical than clumping cat litter, and I do still feel that way. But, when you have a house with multiple cats, I think the clumping cat litter makes better sense. 
We have one cat downstairs and the non-clumping works well for him, but upstairs where we have more than one cat I think clumping is the way to go. 
Earning Money
Our final results are in from the latest consignment sale. We ended up selling 557 items at the sale for a total for us of $1,016. The owner of the sale takes 40% of all sales, so we actually sold over $1700 worth. 
Saving Money In my Frugal Kitchen
Since it's the end of the month I've taken time this week to clean out the freezers and use up what's in there before we grocery shop again for the month of October. Some items that we were not using were donated to our local Little Free Pantry as  I would rather see someone use these items than let them go to waste. 
Our crockpot came in very handy this week and it was nice to come home to an already cooked dinner after being out all day. 
Recipe of the Week
This was a recipe I saw someone post on a Facebook reel, but then I made it my own using items we like. For example, I left out the green chilis, used blended cottage cheese for the sour cream and mayo, and added grilled chicken to make this a main dish dinner. It was really good and I'll definitely make this again. 
Chili Cheese Dip Salad
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sour cream1/2 cup mayonnaisetaco seasoning mixgreen chilis8 ounces cheddar cheese2 cans corn, drainedred bell pepperred onionblack olivesgrilled chicken, optional1 bag chili cheese Fritos
Directions:
Basically I just mixed everything in the bowl and served it for dinner.

Freebies
I went on Saturday night to People Helping People for free vegetables and loaded up on fresh red peppers! 
My Reading Nook ~ What I've been Reading This Week
 This week I finished reading Tunnel 29 just in time for book club next Tuesday. We will be reading A Sand County Almanac for the November book club. 
This has been another whirlwind week of activity. I’ve been getting in over 10,000 steps everyday though and even started physical therapy for the arthritis in my back. 
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

Fourth and Final Friday Friday of September 2026

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday

I wanted to drop in and say there wasn't a Frugal Friday post yesterday because it was a rough week here. Bailey was in a car accident on Tuesday, but she is fine, but also suffering from a mild case of whiplash. An elderly gentleman (77) hit her from behind and may have totaled her car. We've spent the week going to the doctors, collision center to drop off her car, Hertz to pick up a rental car, and all the other little things that come with an issue like this. I'll be back next week for sure. I hope you all have a lovely weekend. I'm really enjoying this cooler weather!

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

Third Frugal Friday September 2026

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday

My Frugal Week
On Tuesday I went to the retina specialist for eye injections and will return again in six weeks. Other than that, I’ve spent this week at home. Gas prices are over $4.00 a gallon here, which definitely curtails any unnecessary trips anywhere. 
I’ve gotten up everyday this week by 7 a.m. and walked on my walking pad upstairs with Proffee Queen KT who goes live on TikTok around that time. Afterwards I go downstairs and walk for another thirty minutes on the hard concrete floor, which is good for my osteoporosis. After that I ride my NordicTrack and my other exercise equipment downstairs. 
I’ve been getting over 10,000 steps in everyday, which makes me feel so good. Archie, my cat who lives downstairs, loves when I walk down there. He hides behind something until he sees me coming and then runs after me. He’s so cute and funny. 
Earning Money 
On Wednesday I had a gentleman come and buy a piece of equipment from downstairs. Him and his neighbor came and were so nice. He was driving his wife’s SUV, which didn’t have his tools. We ended up pulling a MacGyver with what tools we had here, and they were good sports about it. 
I’m also trying to sell the washer/dryer combo we have down there since we have a newer set now. I’ve had numerous requests asking about it, but so far no one has followed through on actually purchasing it. 
In My Frugal Kitchen
Yesterday we tried bitter melon, which was free from the Mennonites. It’s one of those vegetables with dense nutrients and good benefits. I prepared it the way I read online, but it wasn’t to our liking. We tried it raw and sautéed, but it was really hot and spicy to me and as the name suggests, bitter. 
But now we can say we tried it if anyone asks when we’re getting free vegetables together. Sometimes people don’t know what a vegetable is and will ask about them. 
I didn’t do any grocery shopping this week as there was no need for that as my pantry and freezer hold plenty of food. I really ramped up the vegetables I made for dinner on Wednesday. I made a stir fry with onions, peppers, green and purple cabbage, and had baked purple sweet potatoes and steamed kale also.
For the protein portion of the meal I air fried one pound of tofu that I marinated beforehand. Tofu costs $2.47 for one pound verses $6.93 for one pound of ground beef, and the tofu has many health benefits, protein, and helps to strengthen our bones. So,  I’ll be experimenting with it to come up with recipes we enjoy as it makes good financial sense and has good health benefits to boot.  That’s my week in a nutshell. How was your week? I hope you’re doing well and thriving. We’re still having very hot and humid days here, but are looking forward to cooler weather soon. I hope you have a lovely weekend!

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

Second Frugal Friday of September 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. 
My Frugal Week
I stopped in at CVS for a prescription and had my Covid booster and flu shot for the year. I also bought Manuka honey and foam bandages for the wound on my leg. 
Bailey and I went to the Mennonite Farm Stand in Englewood on Wednesday and picked up fresh produce. We also stopped at several thrift stores, so she could get some inventory for her online shops. The only thing I came home with were a couple of books. 
I filled up my gas tank this week at $3.89 per gallon. I thought it was headed towards $60, but finally stopped at close to $58, before stopping. I’ve never had to put that much money into my gas tank. 
I’ve been experiencing a lot of fatigue the last two weeks and went to the doctor for some blood work. She gave me a B12 injection since my B12 was low last time she checked and my iron is low too, like last summer when I was anemic. Iron supplements were discussed and I’m already feeling better from the injection.
Yard Sale Saturday
We didn’t yard sale last weekend because it’s very hot here and we decluttered the house for the consignment sale. We like to enjoy the house being decluttered for a while after it’s done. 

Saving Money in the Kitchen 

I decided to not post my Menu Plan Monday blog post on Monday and am going to include it in my Frugal Friday posts for the time being. 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Chicken

Tuesday ~ Margarita Shrimp

Wednesday ~ Chicken Tacos and Corn

Thursday ~ Chicken Enchiladas and Corn

I took the leftover chicken from Wednesday's dinner and made chicken enchiladas out of it for dinner on Thursday. No food waste here this week.

Friday & Saturday ~ Chicken Frito Salad

Saving on Things We Buy
We did our monthly grocery shopping last week and one of the places we went to was UGO. Imagine my surprise when I saw bags of Kraft mild cheddar cheese in the eight ounce bag for $1.00 each! I bought ten of them for my freezer. 
Another good deal this week was found at Food City where I found Earth Balance butter on close out for $2.75. This is my favorite butter and sells for $3.98 at Walmart, so this was another good deal for the week.
How was your week? I would 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

First Frugal Friday of September 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. 
My Frugal Week
Last Friday and Saturday we dropped off loads to the consignment sale in Chattanooga. We decluttered the whole house and were able to really clean out and get rid of things just in case we do end up moving at some point. 
Last week I received two separate rewards from my insurance company. One was a $10 Walmart card and the other was a $25 Walmart card. I like this program because it rewards me for keeping up with my doctor appointments and therefore  my health regularly, which is important to me in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 
We did not yard sale last weekend as we were dropping off at the consignment sale. It's really hot here, so they are closing schools at noon, so students don't have to be on the non air-conditioned buses in the heat of the day. So, we may not yard sale this week either.
How was your week? Have you been to any good yard sales lately?

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