Quick Update

Hello everyone! Just a quick update...The summer is flying by, as usual, and we start back to school in just a little more than two weeks. I've already been called for several jobs to sub, which is great. 

We've been staying home most of the summer, which means we are eating more than usual, lol. I've been using the ground beef I bought in June to make meals for my family, but I've also been concentrating my efforts on a plant based diet again. I've been making things like vegetable soup, lentil taco filling, and several different bean dishes and soups. Eating this way not only saves money, but keeps us filled up longer too, which is a bonus. 

I hope you all are having a great summer and staying cool! 

Belinda
Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.

Friday

We made it to Friday! :)

I hope all of you are doing well, staying dry and cool today. It is 74 degrees here in SE Tennessee because we've had a lot of rain this week to keep it cool. Pictured above is the Ocoee River, which is running hard today as a result of all the rain.

I woke up bright and early this morning and started cleaning in the kitchen. I can go to bed at night with a clean kitchen, but wake up in the morning and have it be a mess. That is what happens when you live with a teenager. lol

Afterwards, I started making dinner. I cut up onions, garlic, tomatoes, red and green bell peppers, and chopped them in my Chop Wizard. I love that little gadget, which we bought at a yard sale for $2.00. 

Afterwards I browned off half a pound of the ground beef I bought earlier in the week and went to making spaghetti sauce for dinner tonight. I found some parmesan cheese and even garlic bread in the freezer, so used both of those as well. 

If I can find them cheap enough, I will doctor up store bought sauce, which is what I did today. I used two jars of sauce, which I bought at UGO back in May. These were jars of Classico spaghetti sauce, which come in these really nice Atlas mason jars. I always keep jars to recycle or reuse and these are no exception. I always add a tiny bit of water to my jars and shake well to make sure I get all the sauce out of them and then add that to my stockpot as well. 

After everyone ate I still had plenty leftover for another meal or two, so I made sure to put them in the refrigerator for another day. I might place them in a 9 x 13 casserole dish and add a layer of mozzarella cheese for Baked Spaghetti for a completely new dish. 

What are you having for dinner today?


In other news...

I recently received a check in the mail from Inbox Dollars for $30.00. I just read the emails they send to me and don't do any of the surveys. It was an easy $30.00 for something that takes about 5 seconds of my time each day.  

I've been reading the frugal forums over at Homesteading Today. There are actually some real frugal tips over there, which are kind of hard to find in forums these days maybe because there are so many blogs on the subject now.  

Footstool

I made a footstool for my daughter today. She has been wanting one like the one I have, which I bought at a yard sale. They are hard to come by at yard sales and the price of a new one in the furniture store is easily over $100. 

I recall one time reading where someone made their daughters beds out of new mailing boxes from the post office. I had a lot of these boxes since we were selling on Ebay during the last year. I've not been selling much on there this summer, so I took six of those boxes and taped them all together. 

Afterwards, I took an old pillow and took the cover off to find it was actually just batting folded up, so I unfolded it and cover the top of boxes with that. Then I took some black polka dotted fabric I had and covered the whole thing with that. It actually looks pretty good considering what it is made out of and didn't cost me anything since I used materials I already had on hand. And she is happy with it, which is what matters.  :)

Publix Run

Before the night was over, my daughter wanted to make a run to Publix to get in on a few coupon deals. Here is what we bought:

We bought four packages of spring water bottles (96 bottles), four bowls of guacamole, four jars of Vlasic pickles, almond milk, more Bandaids, four yogurts, four Frank's hot BBQ sauce, and after sales and coupons we paid a total of $5.78. She continues to amaze me with her couponing skills.  :)

I would take some pictures, but it is late and I'm tired. I will "see" you in the morning.  Good night, all. :)

Belinda
Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.

Grocery Store Run

Cookes

Our local Cooke's grocery store had a sale on 80/20 ground beef for $2.79 a pound IF you bought it in the ten pound rolls. I don't care for the ten pound rolls, but in my effort to save money on meat, I went ahead and bought one on Tuesday. I split it up into both half pound and one pound packages because I want to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it as far as possible. In several of my recipes over the month of July, I plan to use only a half pound of meat in recipes that call for one pound of meat. 

While there, I also bought a cucumber, dried kidney beans ($1.59/1 lb.), crackers, cheddar cheese ($1.60/8 oz), potatoes (10 lbs. $2.49), worcestershire sauce, black olives, and popcorn.

The 15 Bean Cajun Soup beans came from Publix. We like the Cajun beans, but most stores carry the plain 15 Bean Soup and not the Cajun. 

Publix

My daughter wanted to run to Publix before the sales ended on Tuesday. We bought All Detergent, Bandaids, yogurt, olives, tortilla chips, mayonnaise, green olives, Old Bay seasoning, mustard, and popcorn.

Combining sales with coupons we were able to get the Old Bay for 69¢,  The Hellman's for B1G1 free, so $1.83, the All for $1.84, the mustard for free, the Jolly Time for 25¢, and we made 10¢ on each of the Band Aid products. 

I also bought a lot of yogurt, but had already put it in the refrigerator when I took pictures. We paid 30¢ each for those combing a sale with coupons. 

In all I spent $110.63 and I am hoping this will last us a while. 

Food

Monday's breakfast was a fruit salad made with blueberries, strawberries and fresh pineapple, which were all bought at Aldi for 99¢ each. 

Lunch on Monday was Butter Dogs, which I first learned about from The Kneady Homesteader. I enjoy watching her YouTube videos. 

Another channel I like watching on there is Bev aka The Mrs. Volfie from Our Half Acre Homestead.  Dinner on Monday was Hamburgers and Pinto Beans. I plan on making refried beans out of the beans that are left for later in the week. Dinner on Tuesday was Swiss Steak and Rice & Cheese. 

Dinner for Wednesday was Pedernale's Potatoes , which is a tried and 

true family favorite. I served it with corn and diced tomatoes. 

Thursday I made chicken strips, mashed potatoes with gravy and 

coleslaw. 

I had to take Mom to the doctor today for routine blood work. It was raining so hard while were were gone. I'm glad to be back home and out of the rain. I hope you are having a good day today.  :)

Belinda

Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.