My Frugal Week

Hello to all my readers from the Frugal Workshop.

Broken Dryer

From my side of the street, dryers are definitely part of the planned obsolescence, which irritates me a great deal.  Manufacturers purposefully create products that do not last very long so they can make more money when you have to buy a replacement. This dryer, which replaced one that was two years old, was only three years old. 

The dryer stopped working last Saturday night, so we had laundry hanging in various places around the house to dry. While it is definitely not the worst thing that could happen, hanging laundry to dry is not as quick as using the dryer. But on a positive note, we will be saving money on the electric bill, which is always a plus in my book. 

September Ebay Sales

Image Credit

I sold a total of seven items on Ebay this month and after shipping and fees to both Ebay and Paypal, I netted a profit of $124.08, which helped to boost my income this month. Not to bad for my first month of selling. I probably won't sell that much in October because I don't have that many things to sell, but I am hopeful. 

Auto Repair

I received a call to work on Wednesday, but I already had an appointment to get my car checked out. I suspected it was leaking transmission fluid because of the sound it was making. I asked the serviceman who changed my oil last weekend to check, but he said it had to be checked underneath and I needed to take it to the dealership. 

Never buy a car that does not allow you to check the transmission fluid easily from the top of the motor. I just knew this was going to cost me over $100. 

Turns out there was a small leak in one of the lines and the fluid was five quarts low! The serviceman fixed it for me, filled it up and only charged me $50. He told me to keep an eye on it though because he only repaired the line and did not replace it, so I will have to keep a check on it from time to time.  

Work Week

Other than Wednesday, I worked every day this week and brought a packed lunch from home, so no money spent there. We have one more week and then students are off school for one week for Fall Break. For me, that means five less days I could have on my paycheck. 

Meat Markdown

On Wednesday, I found one pound packages of Italian pork meatballs with yellow stickers marked down to $2.58, so I bought two packages. I would have bought more, but I wasn't sure we would like them. Turns out they were good, so if I see them again, I'll definitely buy more than two. 

While perusing the sale ads and shopping lately, I have noticed that ground chicken and ground pork have been cheaper than ground beef. I've always thought of ground pork as a breakfast item, but with the rising cost of beef and liking these pork meatballs, I will definitely be looking at ground pork in the future to include in our dinner menus.

WFD ~ Dinners this Week

Monday: "Salisbury Steak", Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Tuesday: Baked Potatoes, Broccoli
Wednesday: Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Peas
Thursday: Spaghetti and Meatballs, Garlic Bread
Friday: Nachos
Saturday: Deep Dish Pizza Pie

Free Entertainment

We went swimming on Friday night, and afterwards I made an easy dinner of Nachos and brownies for dessert. Free entertainment, which cost nothing. 

That is our week in a nutshell, how was your week?

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

My Frugal Weekend

Saturday turned out to be a very busy day for me. I had several errands to run including...

Having the oil changed in my car. Cost was $43.89. 

Stopped at Cooke's for a sale on Kraft cheese, which was $1.49 for the eight ounce bags of shredded cheddar. A price not seen since before the Great Recession. I also bought oranges, potatoes, and bananas since they sent me a $2.00 off $5.00 worth of produce coupon in my email. I also received 25¢ back from Checkout51 on the bananas. 

I know I said I wasn't going to buy Ziploc bags, but we came upon a great deal. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :) 

The sale was for Hefty bags, 2 for $3.00, and we had 50¢ off coupons that were not supposed to double, but they did, so we paid 50¢ per box. See why I couldn't pass it up? :)

We ended up in Chattanooga at McKay to check out the free book bin. We ended up with eighteen free books. I didn't really look at them until I came home, but there was a hardback book in there from one of my favorite authors, Willie Morris. He wrote one of my favorite books, My Dog Skip. If you've not seen the movie, watch it. You will love it. 

The book I picked up Saturday was Taps and ended up being his final book written about a fictional journey through the south, of a fleeting boyhood and a young man coming to age in a time of war. I'm already reading it as I love the author's writing style. 

While in Chattanooga, I bought gas for $2.98 a gallon. We even saw it cheaper at several stations down the road offering it for $2.94 a gallon, which is such a welcome sight. We also went by Krispy Kreme to use our free doughnut coupon that was in the Sunday paper. 

Finally, I went to Publix for Angel Soft Tissues. 25¢ per box after sale and coupon. I was able to pick up four boxes. 

We went to a couple of yard sales. I bought a sweater jacket for my Mom, and my daughter bought two historical decorative plates. 

CVS has Arm & Hammer laundry detergent on sale this week for Buy 1 Get 2 Free. We had $2.00 off coupons, which brought the price per bottle down to $1.07 each. I bought 8 bottles, so I am stocked up on detergent for a while. 

I hope you had a frugal weekend.  :)

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

Saving Money on Meat or Not

Our local Cooke's grocery store has ground chuck on sale this week for $3.99 a pound. They also have the Ball Park Hamburgers on sale for $6.49. And many people I know enjoy the convenience of having the Ball Park Hamburgers on hand for a quick meal, but is the convenience of having already cooked ready made hamburgers worth an additional $2.50? With the high price of groceries these days, $2.50 can buy more food. This seems like a no brainer to me. 

I can think of at least four meals my family misses having since we have reduced our consumption of meat. They are tacos made with ground beef, meatloaf, Pedernales potatoes, and hamburgers. While I miss the days of ground chuck being on sale for $1.39, I am thinking about breaking down and buying some of this for $3.99  a pound and making a couple of my family's favorite dishes. 

There are ways I can stretch the meat to make it seem like there is more there than meets the eye. I can add potatoes, which I have always done, to the taco meat and I can add crackers to the meat for meatloaf. 

Taco Meat with Potatoes added to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the meat

What do you think?

Update: I went to Cooke's on Saturday and looked at the meat. The packages were slightly over two pounds each and were close to $10.00 in price. Cooke's is usually well known for the quality of their fresh meat, but when I compared the ground chuck to the ground beef, I didn't see much difference. In fact, the ground beef, which was 10¢ cheaper, actually looked better. In the end, I decided against buying any meat. It just didn't look good enough to spend $10.00 for in my opinion. 

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

My Frugal Week

Hopefully you've all had a good week. I know I did even though I was bone weary tired at the end of it. 

I worked every day this week except for Monday. 

On Wednesday, I checked out the grocery store sale ads and made a list of items I will be picking up today. If I didn't do this, I would have no idea of what was on sale this week. If I just went to one store and bought everything I needed there I would not save as much money as I do now. Saving money takes planning and this is one way I do it. 

I'm definitely going to pick up eggs at Save A Lot today for 99¢.

While shopping at Walmart the other day, I found a cheaper source of body wash. They are selling the 12 ounce bottle of Ivory for 97¢ without any coupons. I know a bar of soap is cheaper, but I like time savings I get with the body wash and it doesn't leave any residue/soap scum in the bathtub/shower. A win ~ win situation to me. 

I ate out one time this week. I was called at the very last minute to sub for a teacher and did not have time to make a lunch, so I ate out in the school cafeteria, $3.00. I'm going to have to make a lunch that I can grab when I am pressed for time like that in the future. All other lunches came from home this week. 

On Wednesday, I rescued a Xerox copy paper wrapper from a teacher's garbage can. These are nice wrappers as they are lined with something that makes them thick and durable. I will be using this inside out to mail a book in for Paper Back Swap, which will save me the cost of a new mailer. 

I am loving the cooler weather this month. As a result, we were able to use the air conditioner less this week. We should see the results on next month's electric bill. 

I love the old tv show, American Dreams. They brought out the first season on DVD a few years ago, but never did bring out the other seasons. Now someone is offering the entire series online for $29.95. I've always wanted to rewatch seasons one and two, but have been unable to until now. I found all of them on Youtube in the last month. Savings equals $29.95  

We have to be very careful with our data plan as we do not have unlimited Internet except for certain times of the day. 

I've been looking at several different exercise videos on Amazon for a while now, but wasn't ready to part with the money for them. 

Recently I found a website that allows me to download videos from Youtube onto my computer, so I can watch them anytime. 

This has the potential to save me a lot of money in the future. 

Here is a link to the website:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001002.htm

We also convert Youtube videos to MP3 files to be able to listen to some of our favorite songs without using additional data on our Internet plan. 

This is a money saver for us as well. 

Here is a link to that website:

http://www.youtube-mp3.org/

 Dinners this week included:

Sunday ~ Smoked Sausage, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Monday ~ Cheese Quesadillas, Seasoned Fries, Asian Slaw 
Tuesday ~ Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Peas
Wednesday ~Chicken, Fried Potatoes, Greens
Thursday ~ Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
Friday ~ Loaded Baked Potatoes

That is our week in a nutshell. I hope you've had a good week. I would love to hear about it in the comment section.  :)

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

Sunday

We woke up early this morning and headed out to get the rest of the groceries we needed. First stop was Walmart where I spent $38.85 on food and bought crackers, pretzels, honey buns, tator tots, fries, chicken, lettuce, cream cheese, cheese, buttermilk, lemon juice, strawberry jelly, vinegar, and brown sugar.

Second stop was Bi-Lo where I spent $15.07 and bought 7 boxes of cereal and a free gallon of milk.

Next stop was Cooke's where I spent $42.15 on food and bought 13 boxes of Toaster Scramblers. They were on sale for $1.79, but with coupons I was able to lower the price to $1.34. Each box has a Box-tops for Education label on it also, which I will be able to sell later. My daughter eats 2 of these for breakfast and with 3 servings in a box they come out to 45¢ for breakfast.  

I also picked up 8 boxes of Velveeta Cheese & Shells. This was on special, when a customer buys 8 they take $8.00 off, so I paid $1.49 each, which will make an inexpensive dinner when paired with a vegetable. I also picked up cookies, chili, tamales, and several crash and burn items including Fruit Loops for $1.00 and Betty Crocker potatoes for 50¢ a box. 

Next stop was Publix where I spent $27.37 and bought ice cream bars, chicken sausages, Basic 4 cereal, and the rest I spent in the crash and burn section because it was filled with goodies. I picked up several cans of Chef Boyardee, smoked sausage, Welch's juice, McCormick salad stuff, and even olive oil. 

Dinner was smoked sausage, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. 

How was your weekend?

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

Saturday

We woke up Saturday morning and there was no power, so I couldn't cook breakfast for us as I had planned. We ended up eating peanut butter and butter sandwiches. A staple from my grade school cafeteria lunches when I was growing up. 

Afterwards we headed out to run errands, starting with dropping off the garbage, mailing letters at the post office, filling out a job application, going to Rite Aid, Dollar Tree, Sam's Club, McKay Used Books, a petting zoo, and finally back home for the evening. 

McKay Used Books

Today was Customer Appreciation Day at McKay Used Books. They gave everyone who came a free hot dog, cupcake, and drink.

They had trivia games to play and prizes to win. We didn't win any prizes, but we did look through their free book bins and picked out about several books to bring home. This is the spot where they put the books that they do not buy back and the sellers do not want them anymore. They are free for the taking. 

As you can see, they are kind of messy, but you can usually find a hidden gem or two in there. I picked up several that were in great shape, and we've already listed them on Paper Back Swap. I am still not decided about PBS yet as I have read several negative things about them. I've sent out several books, so I will let you know how that goes. We've already had two requests for the free books we picked up yesterday. 

Sam's Club

At Sam's Club, we picked up breakfast cookies, sour cream, cheese, tortillas, honey buns, potatoes, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Always pads, sugar, salad mix, toilet paper, bananas, chicken, tortilla chips, peanut butter crackers, pickle relish, cheese dip, muffins, and peanut butter. I spent $155.78 and received $14.50 in discounts on the toilet paper, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Always pads, and chicken. 

Pom brand toilet paper, is normally $19.98, but has an instant savings through September 21st of $4.00 off, so they are on sale for $15.98 right now.  There are 45 rolls with 472 sheets each in the box, and we bought 2 boxes. This is a really good deal and I've been reading good things about the deal online and was witness to many people getting in on the deal in the store yesterday. 

Sam's Club was having a health fair yesterday too and we just happened to be there when several vendors were giving away free items. The Verizon table was giving away free cell phone stands and hand sanitizer. You might think I'm silly (like my daughter - she says it's to watch videos on smart phones), but I love this thing. It makes my cell phone stand up, so I can see who is calling or texting me. It's the simple things in life, you know? :)

Afterwards we were driving around looking for the Dollar Tree store and happened upon a petting zoo. We saw a giant bull with horns and tennis balls on the ends of the horns to protect the children. I should have taken a picture, but I didn't because I was driving. We had such a fun day and have plans to go out today to finish up the grocery shopping and run a couple of more errands. 

How was your Saturday?

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

TGIF

We made it to another Friday! :)

I worked all day on Friday, came home and made dinner, started on the laundry from the week, folded several loads, updated and printed out my resume, and spent no money today. 

Breakfast was a pimento cheese sandwich, Lunch was either peanut butter and jelly or pimento cheese sandwiches, pretzels, red grapes or apple, and water to drink. I used the last two slices of a loaf of bread and used an old trick to wrap my sandwiches. I used the bread bag and just cut the top off of it. As far as tips go, it's an oldie, but a goodie. 

Dinner was macaroni and cheese and steamed broccoli. There were red grapes and apples for fruit if anyone wanted those.

I have a list of errands to run on Saturday including a trip to Sam's Club for a few things. I'll be sure to update later. I hope you have a good weekend. 

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

Never Forget

This morning I was able to have a more relaxing start to my day since I did not have to be at work until 11:00 a.m. Ironically, I'll be subbing in an American History class today where we will be watching the 9-11 film and remembering what happened thirteen years ago today. 

Thursday Morning

I washed the breakfast dishes and started making lunches when I realized I was out of Ziploc bags. I thought about putting it on my grocery list, but decided not to because I realized I have five boxes of plastic food wrap like Saran Wrap. I’m going to use these up first along with the wax paper sandwich bag wrappers I have before I buy any more Ziploc style bags. I’m going to see how long I can go without buying any new Ziploc style bags.

I knew I was running low and had even been using up some of those Ziploc bags that come with the pump. I bought them a few years ago and never used them, so I decided to use them up and used my last two this morning. I will either Listia or sell the pump on Ebay that came with them as it is still in the box from when it was purchased.

Food Today

Breakfast consisted of French bread pizza and a slice of apple pie for my daughter. Lunches will be pimento cheese or peanut butter and jelly, red grapes, and pretzels with water to drink. Dinner tonight will be baked potatoes with sour cream, and steamed broccoli.

I promise, there is a potato under all that broccoli.  :0)

Book Needed

I was able to sub in a class the other day that my daughter will be taking in January. One of the books they are reading is Little Town on the Prairie. I looked at Paper Back Swap, but they do not have this book. I could buy it at Amazon for a penny plus $3.99 shipping, but I have plenty of time to try and find it cheaper. I'll be on the look out while we yard sale and I will definitely look at McKay's the next time we go there. Like Amy Dacyczyn said, "when you are looking for something, put the word out", which is what I'm doing.  :)

I hope you have a good Thursday. 

9-11-2001 ~ Never Forget. 

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

Mid Week

Tuesday

On Tuesday, I worked a full day, went to the post office afterwards to mail books for Paper Back Swap, went to the local apple orchard and bought a peck of Honey Crisp apples, went and got hair cuts for me and my daughter at Great Clips using two post card coupons and paid $13.98 plus tip, ran to Walmart to price match grapes (79¢ a pound) and cream cheese ($1.23), and went to Bi-Lo for Vegetable oil, which they had on sale for $1.99 for 48 ounces. Came home tired, made lunches for Wednesday, ate an apple and grapes for dinner. I love Honey Crisp apples at this time of year!

Wednesday

I worked a full day on Wednesday too, and afterwards went to the post office again to mail another book, bought the newspaper for the grocery store sale ads, filled up the car with gas ($32.32), went to Fresh & Low and picked up a few things. They had apple pies for $2.00, which was so cheap that I actually bought one. 

I also picked up some cheese, cucumber, potatoes, pimento cheese, American cheese, and peanuts, spending at total of $25.93. Later on I realized they charged me $4.99 for a 69¢ cucumber. So, I went back and they gave me a full refund and did not charge me for the cucumber, so it was kind of worth it in the end. Came home and made pasta salad for dinner.  

Don't Read This; It's Boring is having a giveaway if you'd like to enter. 

Here is the link: Don't Read This; It's Boring

How is your week going?

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

Monday Night Dinner

Dinner Monday tonight was the 15 Bean Cajun Soup, which I started the beans soaking for on Sunday. I served cornbread along side this soup. I still have some left today for dinner. 

You can find the recipe here:

Hurst's 15 Bean Cajun Soup

Breakfast on Monday was peanut butter on toast, while lunch was egg salad sandwiches. I've already made lunches for Tuesday, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Breakfast will be the last of the egg salad on sandwiches. 

All this food was made at or from home and we've spent no money outside the house for carryout or fast food. Eating all of our meals from home is one of the best ways we save money. 

Here is a great blog post from Len Penzo on "Why Your Expensive Luxury Car Does Not Impress Smart People (Or Me)". Len discusses why the car a person drives is not a reliable indicator of financial success. Definitely worth a read. 

I hope you have a great Tuesday. 

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

Mr. Peabody's Coal Train in Paradise, Kentucky ~ Muhlenberg County, Kentucky

My Mom & Her Brother, my Uncle Paul

I mentioned in my post yesterday that we had company this past week. One of the visitors was my Mom's brother, my uncle Paul. He was born in 1926 and lived through the Great Depression. He used to have to go to school with rubber bands around his shoes to try and keep the soles on them. 

Paul brought us some of the sweetest Georgia peaches I have ever tasted. One of the things we talked about when they were here was the price of groceries. Paul has started buying animals to raise for meat because he says they can't afford meat in the grocery stores anymore. 

Back when he was growing up during the depression, they used to visit with my great grandparents on the family farm.  Bordie Fox was my great grandfather and his farm was in Muhlenberg county, Kentucky in a little town called Paradise. 

Francis Peabody was buying up the small farms in that area for Peabody's coal company, which supplied electricity for homes as far away as Chicago.  My great grandfather was the last holdout in that area and his farm was the last one sold to Mr. Peabody in the 1960s.  

Have you ever heard the song, Paradise by John Prine? The song is about Paradise, Kentucky...the same place my great grandfather had his farm. 

The song tells the story of a man who as a young child would travel down to western Kentucky where his parents were born. And he asked to be taken back to Muhlenberg County and his dad said he was sorry, but "Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away". 

Here is a link to the lyrics. 

My uncle Paul loved going to the family farm because there was always plenty of food to eat, which was not always the case at home. 

My great grandparents raised and preserved most of their own food. They had cows, which meant there was always fresh milk and butter. They grew a big garden and preserved most of the food they ate back then. 

My great grandfather knew a lot about raising animals and slaughtering animals for meat. Paul used to have to help when it came time to butcher the animals. 

Paul told us that he wished he had paid more attention back then because now that he is raising meat for food he doesn't remember how to butcher them, and he is going to slaughter them himself to save money.  My great grandfather knew how to do all those things. 

Wouldn't it be great if we could take ourselves in the autumn of our lives and go back in time and give ourselves advice? 

How many times have you heard, "If I only knew then what I know now"? My dad has always told me hindsight is 20/20 and I know that's true. 

How much better our lives would be to have the wisdom that comes with age and the vitality that comes with youth. 

In the Frugal Workshop kitchen today...

I've been busy in the kitchen this morning. I boiled one dozen eggs to make egg salad for lunches this week. I put a bag of the beans from a 15 Bean Cajun Soup bag on to soak overnight. 

We will have those for dinner on Monday night. For dinner tonight, I am making green beans with onions and potatoes, sausage, and cornbread. 

I'll also serve the last of the Rice & Cheese and Brussel Sprouts from Saturday night's dinner. 

I received my first issue of Cooking Light magazine in the mail yesterday. This is one of the rewards I signed up for from Recycle Bank. 

Have any of you signed up for this Rewards Program yet? You can read my post about it here:  Recycle Bank

We made a quick trip to pick up newspapers today (they do not deliver them this far out from Chattanooga). 

There are $105 worth of coupons in our local paper today. 

One of the coupons is for $5.00 off a package of Tena liners. Walmart sells these for $4.99, so all we have to pay for them is the tax. Can't beat a deal like that. 

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. 

Belinda

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Saturday ~ 9-6-2014

Today is Saturday, which is the day my daughter volunteers at the library. I'll drop her off, run an errand for my Mom and then pick her up afterwards and head on home. We'll take the garbage with us and drop it off as we go today. I saw an advertisement for a home garbage service for $5.00 per week recently. My daughter and I can do this for ourselves and save $20 a month in the process, or $240 a year. The savings really do add up over time. 

Another way we save money here is by lining the produce drawer with paper towels. The paper towels will easily absorb excess moisture, which can cause fruits and vegetables to deteriorate faster. Using a paper towel will help keep your expensive produce like berries and tomatoes stay fresh for longer.

I listed four more items for sale on Ebay last night. I like the idea of earning money for these things rather than just donating them and I love the fact that I am getting rid of items that I no longer use. Decluttering is always a win-win in my book. 

I made a new batch of fabric softener today using up the last of two different bottles of hair conditioner. You can find the recipe here.  You can see I've written the recipe on the side of the fabric softener bottle I reuse for this purpose, which makes it easy to mix up a new batch. 

And we always recycle the plastic bottles. Today, I have a garbage bag full of plastic bottles that need to be donated to the recycling center. We have no recycling stations here, but there is one in the town where my daughter volunteers, so we make sure to return these on a day when we can combine trips and errands.

I have a load of wash clothes and towels going in the washer already this morning. I need to fold the laundry we washed last night and get that put away for next week. I'm working everyday but Wednesday next week. 

We had company stop by one day this week on their way home from Florida to Kansas. We had some special food in the kitchen as a result. Yesterday, my aunt cooked us a big breakfast. Sausage, scrambled eggs, and gravy. They've already gone home now, but I still have sausage left in the freezer, so we will be including that with some of our meals this week. 

After our trip to town, we came home and I started making dinner. I made Rice & Cheese, Brussel Sprouts, and Fried Potatoes. I also made some iced tea to go with dinner. 

Here is a freebie I received in the mail today from The Republic of Tea. They send me a catalog once a month with a free sample inside. Today's sample is Toasted Coconut  Black, doesn't that sound good? I can't wait to try it. 

I had to pick up my daughter's prescription at the pharmacy today and picked up a free bottle of water in the process. I paid $1.50 for the prescription, which is the only money I spent today. This has been a low spending month for me so far, which is always a good thing. 

How was your day today? 

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