~ Friday ~

Well I had no job offers for today, but I woke up at 5 a.m. and got ready for work anyway, just in case. I dropped my daughter off at school at 8:00 a.m. and went grocery shopping. I did end up getting called at 11:05, but I was driving. When I called back, the secretary asked me to come in, but then the principal said they had it covered, so I didn't go in today, which is OK with me even though I could always use the extra money. 

I went to four stores all together today. My first stop was Walmart where I spent $45.81. As I was wandering around the store I was thinking to myself that if prices continue to rise like this only the rich are going to be able to afford groceries. I know we are not the only family who is struggling to put food on the table. I know I said it recently, but this is the lowest my pantry has been in years. 

I went to the meat counter to see if they had anything on mark down. I just stroll along the counter looking for the yellow mark down stickers. As I was doing this, I saw three fireman looking at roasts and one of them said, "We can't afford them anymore". I had the same thought. It has been about two years since I bought a beef roast. No problem though, we just make do with what we can afford. 

There was no beef on markdown, but I did find two, one pound packages of Italian Sausage marked down to $2.51. Perfect, as I already have the pasta and sauce on hand to make Spaghetti. I looked at the French bread and Parmesan cheese, but decided against buying both of them. The bread was $1.00 a loaf and I can buy a loaf of whole wheat bread for 88¢ and get 20 slices out of that, which is what I did. We will make do with a slice of toasted bread with butter and garlic sprinkled on it and it will be good. 

I also decided that $3.00 for Parmesan cheese was not in my budget, so we are going to do without and make do with what we have. This is what people did in the Great Depression and even today, in the Great Recession, all over the world people do without. I'm grateful that we will have meat with this spaghetti as I've made it the last five or six times with no meat. 

One of the other things I picked up was a two pound bag of pinto beans for $1.98. I looked at the one pound bags, priced at $1.28, but the two pound bag was a better buy. I can always freeze the leftovers. I also bought a package of 8 large flour tortillas for $1.88 and two 8 ounce blocks of cheddar cheese for $1.98 each, the shredded cheese in the 8 ounce bag was $2.58. I will save money by shredding my own cheese. So for less than $5.00 we will have burritos for dinner one night this week. 

I also picked up a package of 100 corn tortillas for $2.88. I'll be making tacos with these at least two days. We can use rice, potatoes, or beans for the meat and then top as usual with cheese, lettuce, and tomato. I don't even miss the meat in the tacos anymore. I made some tacos with rice that I had mixed with green taco sauce this past week for dinner and they were really good. I recently bought a 20 pound bag of rice for $9.99, so I've been including it in many of our meals. 

I picked up three large baking potatoes and two containers of sour cream. I already have broccoli in the freezer, so one night we will have a baked potato night with broccoli. There will be cheese too if anyone wants that on their potato. 

Other items I bought include paper towels, a dish pan, a 9 volt battery, hair gel, and tortilla chips. The back of my receipt also has a coupon good for a $9.99 hair cut, which we will definitely use soon. 

The next place I stopped at was Bi-Lo. I went because they had eggs on sale for 99¢ per dozen and pasta on sale for buy one get one free. The pasta turned out to not be a very good deal, so I passed on that. I did pick up the eggs, but there was a limit of two. So I went to the other Bi-Lo in town and ended up with 4 cartons. I will be making egg salad with some of these for dinner another night this week. 

They also had soy sauce on mark down for $1.00, so I bought one of those. I also bought some peanut butter and crackers. 

My last stop of the day was Fresh and Low (formerly known as Super Saver) where I spent $28.95. While there I picked up two loaves of bread (89¢), butter ($1.80), black olives (82¢), relish ($1.01), corn chips ($1.24), pork & beans (50¢), red grapes ($1.27 pound), half gallon of skim milk ($1.77), American cheese ($2.01), and the pick 5 produce for $9.99 where I picked up two bags of Brussel sprouts, one bag of broccoli, one bag of potatoes (5 pounds), and one bag of three onions. 

Dinner tonight was more of the chicken and side items from last night. And we still have one piece of chicken leftover for someone's lunch tomorrow. 

I've been wanting to get rid of my daughter's trampoline for a while now since she no longer uses it. So, after dinner, I place and ad on Craig's List, Freecycle, and on a Facebook group for an online yard sale. It was gone within 5 minutes and they are supposed to be here tomorrow to pick it up. It went so fast it made me wonder what else I can give away for free here. LOL

That's all the news that's worth reporting from here today. I hope you all have had a great day and that you enjoy this three day weekend. 

Until next time...

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”