Second Frugal Friday of June 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
Bailey are I are both tutoring this summer. Bailey is tutoring on Thursdays and I’m tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That will be some extra income for both of us this summer. 
Cell Phone Service
This week I switched my cell phone provider from Verizon to Visible. Verizon charged me $72.16 per month and we went with them for years because it was the only carrier that worked in our rural area. But, that is no longer true and other carriers offer more affordable rates.
My new cell phone rate will be $25 per month, which is a savings of $47.16 per month and an annual savings of $565.92. I'm just thrilled to save this kind of money every month. 
If you're interested in switching carriers and want to save $20, please use my referral code to sign up: 69HPQ9B
The Great Cleanup

What you're looking at above is a trailer load full of trash and a pickup bed full of metal to be recycled. There are over 600 pounds of trash in the trailer and over 300 pounds of metal that was recycled. 
I made a deal with our garbage man and we are bartering his services for a freezer, lawn mowing, some home repairs, free garbage service, and some odd and end jobs around here in exchange for some of my Dad's machinery downstairs. 
It's a win-win situation!
My siblings were willing to let all the machinery go with the house, but I wasn't, so I struck up a deal with him and we're both very happy about it and his wife is especially thrilled. 
We got so much done downstairs that even I am surprised! All the cabinets are now empty and even though there is still machinery down there and at least one more load of metal to go to the scrap yard, the majority of the non-useful items are gone and the floor has been swept as clean as a machine shop can be swept clean. 

Best of all was that I got in over 17,000 steps that day! 
Yard Sale Friday & Saturday
Wow! We had a terrific yard sale weekend! 

One of my better deals was these two packages of Seventh Generation laundry pods priced at $1.00 each.  These sell for $24.30 on the Amazon website. 

These are K-Swiss shoes that are leather and sell for $69.95 on Amazon. The seller had two pairs of these in brand new condition, which fit both Bailey and I and they were asking $20 for both pairs, but they accepted my offer of $30 for both pairs of shoes. 
These are just a few things we picked up at yard sales. We went to a big church yard sale on Thursday and spent a couple of hours there. I’ll include some of the items I got at that sale next week. 
Health Update
I went to the retina specialist on Tuesday for injections in both eyes. And saw my dermatologist on Wednesday for a follow up appointment. I’ve been taking Cosentyz since January and it’s really helped keep my psoriasis at bay. My lab work turned out well this week too, so good news on the health front. 
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 ~ Second Week of June 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

Sine I wasn't feeling up to going last Saturday, I went to People Helping People on Monday to pick up free vegetables and came home with beets, Swiss chard, zucchini, yellow patty pan squash, English cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, and yellow squash. 

On Saturday I returned to People Helping People to get more fresh vegetables. I came home with cucumbers, beets, squash, three types of cucumbers, broccoli, salad greens, and carrots. 

The vegetables have been such a blessing ensuring that we have fresh produce almost everyday with dinner. 

 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Leftovers, Cucumber Tomato Salad, and Swiss Chard. 

I had leftovers of two salmon patties and BBQ chicken from the weekend, so I used both of those for dinner to avoid any food waste. I had been to People Helping People to get free vegetables from the Mennonites that morning and picked up some fresh Swiss chard, so I made that for dinner along with a cucumber tomato salad. 

Tuesday ~ Spicy Chicken Sandwiches for Bailey’s movie night, I had non-spicy chicken and cucumber salad. 

Wednesday ~ Chicken Tacos

Thursday ~ Charcuterie Board

Friday ~ Grilled Chicken Wraps

Saturday ~ Cheeseburgers

Sunday ~ Grilled Chicken Salas and Baked Potatoes 

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

Did you build up or organize your pantry this week?   

How are you managing food prices? 

We would love to hear all about it in the comment section. 

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

First Frugal Friday of June 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
Bailey had a sweater she wanted to sell, but it was missing four buttons on the left shoulder. No worries though, she had four buttons to replace them, so I sewed those on for her and now the item is listed for sale. 
On Tuesday I dropped my car off to get new tires and they found the rack and pinion steering system was leaking and damaged, so I pulled money from savings to pay for that. They let me use one of their courtesy cars, a Ford Eccosport, in the interim. It was fun to drive a different car for two days. 
I stopped in at Great Clips for a haircut, now priced at $22 (yikes!). She charged me for a senior haircut, which is for people 65 and older and cost only $13.99. I’m not even 60 yet, but will gladly take a senior discount. My silver hair may have helped. lol I made sure to tip her generously. 
Later that evening we went to Kroger and UGO in NW Georgia for our monthly run to stock up on groceries. 
On Thursday I gathered all my receipts from the day before and reconciled my checking account and paid all the bills for the month. 
Price of Gas
Gas has been fluctuating here this week and was $3.99 at one point. I used my fuel rewards from Food City and filled up there on Wednesday for $3.60 a gallon. I did see it cheaper than that as we were driving around in Chattanooga and NW Georgia this week. 
$201.68 is the amount I spent on gas for my car in May 2026. Ouch. I've not spent that much in gas in one month before, but we do live rurally and have to drive a ways to get anywhere. So, when the price of gas goes up we spend more than usual like everyone else. 
And this was with me curtailing my driving and not going to yard sales every weekend. Normally I do all the driving at yard sales, but Bailey drove her car once or twice in May and I still spent this much. 
Even when I was subbing and driving everyday I would only spend around $150 per month. So, I’ve really felt the pinch in my budget this month due to the increase in the price of gas. 
Yard Sale Saturday
We did go to a few yard sales last Saturday even though the overnight rain had some people not set up their yard sales. There was at least one church yard sale indoors we wanted to attend. I came home with a Winnie-the-Pooh hoodie, a produce container for the fridge, and some reusable bags. 
Freebies

I picked up five free cookbooks from the Little Free Library located at People Helping People on Monday. 
Health Updates
My doctor's office called about my osteoporosis results and wanted me to do the infusions, but I said no, as I did one in 2024 and it was too hard on me. So, she suggested Prolia, which is supposed to help strengthen and protect your bones from fractures, but the side effects look rough. Have you ever used this drug?
Savings of the Week
UGO had Great Value Greek yogurt for $2.00 a quart, which Walmart sells for $3.28, so a savings of $1.28, so I bought three of them to last the month. It’s been rare for me to find Great Value products at UGO, so this was a nice surprise. 
Saving Money on Entertainment
Bailey and I had a game night on Thursday and played several of our favorite game boards. 
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 ~ First Week of June 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.

Use It Up Item Of The Week

I made chili this past week, so I was able to use up two cans of tomatoes and two cans of beans from my pantry. 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Leftovers

We have a choice of Beefy Baked Beans or Egg Roll in a Bowl from the weekend, so we will use those up, get a "free" dinner out of them and not waste any food. This was served this with roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli. 

Tuesday ~ Movie Night for Bailey who had a spicy chickens sandwich while I had macaroni and cheese. 

Wednesday & Friday ~ Homemade Chili

Using another pound of ground turkey (79 cents/pound) from the freezer, I made chili for dinner. I grated up three onions, garlic, and a zucchini, so it had a lot of vegetables and fiber in it, making it a healthy option. The zucchini made it taste sweet, which we really liked. 

Thursday ~ Spicy Chicken Sandwiches  

It was a long day with a trip to Chattanooga and the aquarium and then coming home to the neighbors working on the tree, so I jumped into help with what I could do too. So dinner was easy with spicy chicken sandwiches for Bailey and just regular chicken for me. 

Saturday ~ BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

My blood sugar was all over the place this day, so I made an easy dinner and didn't go get free vegetables because I was unsteady. I'll go on Monday when they're open again. 

Sunday ~ Salmon Patties, Caramelized Sweet Potatoes, and Steamed Broccoli. 

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

Did you build up or organize your pantry this week?  

How are you managing food prices? 

We would love to hear all about it in the comment section. 

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

Fifth & Final Frugal Friday of May 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

We had bad thunderstorms last Thursday evening and when Bailey went to leave for book club on Friday evening, she couldn’t get out because a tree had fallen across the driveway. So, I called our neighbor and he came right over to help clear it and Bailey made it to her book climb with minutes to spare. 
On Sunday she baked him a chocolate cake to thank him for helping her with this. 

This is me in my hot pink compression socks helping to clear up the brush, so Bailey could get to book club on time. 
Than, the very next day, Saturday, another tree fell further down the driveway! We warned the people coming on Sunday to be careful. 

On Thursday another neighbor and friends came to cut the tree down and move it out of the driveway. 

Last Sunday we had a relator come and look at the house, Spectrum came and installed fiber internet, and I was expecting my neighbor to come and help with the tree, but then it started to rain again, so that had to wait. Instead I measured and packaged over fifty items for Bailey's online shops. 

The realtor made us an offer on the house, which I immediately turned down as it was well below our agreed upon initial offer. My brother and sister were disappointed and tried negotiating with him, but they are also in agreement with me over the realtor’s low ball offer. 

One day I was walking in the yard picking up fallen tree branches and throwing them into the woods when I picked up one and this snake was hiding under it. This is a small, harmless gray snake, but I won't be doing this again until the cold winter weather comes again because we have poisonous snakes here too. 
I was able to get a big majority of the yard weed eating this week. I also moved the picnic table to a better spot in the jar. I took all my canning jars from upstairs and put them in the cabinet downstairs. I think in the future I will fill some of them with water to store downstairs. 
With rain on both yard sales days last weekend we decided to stay home. Being a holiday weekend also has an impact on the number of sales we've noticed over the years. 
Other frugal things this week include...
- Received a check from Adsense for $119.56 for four months of blog revenue- I made a deal with my garbage man to barter some of Dad's machinery in exchange for garbage service, lawn mowing, and repairing some things around here.- I made my own hummingbird nectar using 1 cup water to 1/4 cup of sugar. 
The Great Cleanup
Last Friday before the garbage men came, I went downstairs and filled a contractor bag with trash for them to haul off with our household garbage. If someone asks me how I got rid of my Dad's hoard, I can tell them "one bag at a time". LOL 
Freebies
- Free vegetables on Saturday from PHO & Mennonites- Ten pound bag of King Arthur bread flower from my friend
Saving on Electric
I’ve been running my bedroom air conditioner on the eco setting to save on electric when I do have it turned on. 
Photo of the Week
With the higher costs these days I find myself having to make changes,  learn new skills, think of things in a different way, and sometimes learn to make do because of the cost of items these days. 

This week I began saving the cans from when I open a can from our pantry. I used to do this and can’t recall why I quit doing this, but the scrap yard will pay me for the metal. And since we are recycling the metal downstairs I might as well add this into the mix. Throwing these away would be like throwing money away. 
Savings of the Week
On Tuesday I had some errands to run in town and went to a new thrift store that opened recently. I feel like I hit the motherload as the "pantry" items were 50% off.  
They had Swanson's wonton broth priced at $1.50, so 75 cents for those and I bought ten of them. 

Then they had cans of pasta sauce priced at 25 cents each or four for $1.00, or twelve for $2.00, so after the 50% off, so I bought 24 cans for $2.00. I love finding new sources of inexpensive food for our pantry. 

I bought these boots in my size there for $5.00. They were marked $20, but everything was 50% off, but when I went to pay them for them she said she was only going to charge me $5.00, which was great!
Saving Money YouTube Videos
Roll Into Retirement is the YouTube channel of a middle class Gen X husband and dad over 55 waiting on his wife to retire. His mother is a 92-year-old grandma named Joan who shares frugal tips and budget meal preps. I've watched several of her videos and it is hard to believe she is 92. I hope to get around that well when I am lucky enough to make it 92. 
She lives on social security in a small house in her son's backyard. Her story is sad as she used to live in an upscale retirement home, but was evicted when she was 80 because her other son, who was an investment counselor, invested all her resources and lost everything. She didn't find out until after he died that everything was gone.  
Saving Money on Entertainment

On Thursday we went to the Tennessee aquarium in Chattanooga to use the free tickets I won a few months ago. Here is a picture of Bailey and the alligators and her with the penguins. 

We had the best time! I think my favorite spot was the butterfly garden and I even had a big butterfly land on me there. It was so neat. 
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