Should You Buy The $300 Bag?

One of the items my daughter recently picked up were multiple concert t-shirts that had been autographed by the entire band. 
I figured the original cost of these conservatively at $20 each was around $200 total, but the original owners sold them for $1.00 each at their yard sale. 
Honestly I was surprised that someone had sold such an item. One of the reasons may have been they had outgrown them, which is understandable as some of the older shirts were XL, but newer ones were 2X. 
It reminds me of this meme that has been going around the Internet. Don't buy the $300 bag when you can buy a $10 bag and put the other $290 in it. 

Image Credit

Getting back to the t-shirts,  whatever the reason for selling the shirts, the owner had easily spent $200 on them and ended up selling them for $10, which was a loss of $190. 
Many necessary things can be bought for $190 by those who struggle financially. Down through the years and especially as I've gotten older I have come to seriously question buying anything that we do not need to sustain ourselves. 
I've cleaned out multiple homes where the owners have passed on or moved, but left stuff behind because it was too much stuff or not really needed. 
I don't want to be in the position of having too much stuff. I love to yard sale, but I don't have anything hoarded up here. I keep my stuff to a minimum that is easily sustained by me.  
Sometimes people buy things using money that should be saved up for an emergency instead and then when an emergency does come up they have no money to pay for it. 
Knowing the difference between needs and wants is one of the keys to living a non hoarded and secure financial life. I'm not going to teeter on the brink of the financial edge, and spend money on something I don't need.  That is not my style. 
Now I don't know why the concert shirts were sold, but do wonder if the owner regrets buying them. 
I know I have regrets about things I've bought in the past. That's called buyer's remorse. 
In our home these days we have goals we want to meet and buying something unnecessary doesn't fit well with those goals. We have to decide for ourselves where we fit on this spectrum and do our best to maintain that balance. 
Thoughts?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Friday End of the Week Recap

This has been a fun week for us as my daughter Bailey had a birthday and turned 21 years old on Wednesday. 
We went to the Zoo to celebrate that day. 
Here are a few photos & videos from that day. 
Here is a video of the Red Panda at the Chattanooga Zoo:

Alligators. They had just put some crickets out for them to eat. 

Here is a photo and video of the milk frogs:

 Snow Leopard:

Other things we did included browsing through Barnes and Noble and Whole Foods to look around. 

We also stopped at Starbucks to sit on their patio. It was cool at 61 degrees and they had the fire going, it was so nice. 
On another note, our Black Walnut tree is loaded this year:

We weren't as frugal this week as we normally are due to celebrating her birthday, but we will be back on track next week for sure. 
I hope you've had a terrific frugal week and enjoy your weekend immensely. We are loving the cooler weather and spending much more time outdoors. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Frugal Friday - October 5, 2018

The Freeosk at Walmart went a little crazy this week and gave us eleven samples of Johnson's Bedtime Lotion instead of the one it normally gives.  

A friend at work gave me a couple of figs from her mother's fig tree. They were delicious. One of the men from the Navy came to school for recruiting and gave me a free cup and stress ball. 
This week we have been on fall break, so I've gotten so many things done this week that I've put on the back burner. It's been a good week as a result. 
I sold two things on eBay this week and have $30 extra dollars to show for that. Today I worked on cleaning up my store and listing a couple of more items on there. 
We went to multiple yard sales over the weekend. The only item I bought this weekend was a blanket for $1.00. I like blankets in the living room as a throw for when cold weather comes. 
Gave my daughter a trim at the back of her neck. She cuts her own hair, but this section if hard for her to do, so I did it for her. Savings = $13.00.
How was your week?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Saving Money on Prescription Drugs

We've discussed this topic here at the Frugal Workshop before, but as always it's good to review your expenses regularly to see if you can get them even lower. 
Last week I worked a very stressful job all week and my blood pressure was high as a result, so yesterday I made a visit to my doctor's office. 
Come to find out my regular doctor had retired, so my appointment was with a new doctor. This turned out to be a good thing. 
She was asking me about my prescriptions and told me how I could save money on some of them. Turns out Publix now has some 90 day prescriptions for $7.50.  So, we ended up transferring some of mine to Publix. 
Turns out one of my Mom's prescriptions is also on the $7.50 list, so she is going to switch her RX over to Publix as well. 
Here is a list of the prescription drugs they are offering.  
This is a great savings for only $2.50 per month, and just goes to show that you should always be reviewing your expenses to see if you can get them ever lower than you are paying now. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

White Chicken Enchiladas

This is a new to us recipe that I found on the Moss Family YouTube channel. We tried it today and really like it, so it will become a part of our regular menu rotation. 
Here is the recipe if you're interested.  

White Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheddar cheese
8 flour tortillas soft shell
2 cups shredded chicken 
3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour
2 cups of chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 - 4 ounce can diced green chilies
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Cook & shred chicken breast and mix with 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Lay 8 tortillas out and fill each one with the chicken mixture evenly. 

Roll them up tightly and put them in a greased 9×13 baking dish.
In a saucepan, melt the butter and add in the 3 tbsp of flour. 

Mix and cook for about one minute.
Add in the 2 cups of chicken broth, whisking until it’s a smooth consistency. 

Whisk over medium heat until it is thick and creamy (about 5-8 minutes).
Mix in the sour cream, salt/pepper, and the can of chiles to the pan.
Pour the creamy sauce over the rolled up tortillas evenly.
Add 1 cup of the cheddar cheese over the top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Yard Sale Saturday

This week there were five neighborhood community yard sales this week, so we made sure to wake up early and head out. 
The weather was perfect for yard sales. It was 65 degrees for most of the morning and the high only got up to 80 degrees. I am loving this cooler fall weather. 
Friday night after worked I cooked and packed our breakfast and lunches. That way we were ready to head out the door as soon as possible Saturday morning.  
This week I picked up several items for myself. 
First off was this shelf for $3.00. 

Napkins & Table Covers $2.00

GE Double Burner Hot Plate $10

Big & Beautiful Cloth Napkins 25¢ each

See how much bigger they are than a normal sized cloth napkin? I love them. 

Two more cloth napkins 25¢ each. I love these 100% cotton ones and replace any of mine that aren't made of this absorbent material. 

Four wash clothes 25¢ each. These will replace some of ours that are getting worn out. 

We were able to pick up multiple free items this week though. 
At the end of the day we happened across a church yard sale and two different sellers had a section of free items. 

We went through the piles and picked out several things. 
All of these Items were Free
Drying Rack 
I never thought I would find a free drying rack, but it was the end of the day and the lady was hot and tired and just wanted to get rid of stuff. The price tag she had on this was $7.50, but she just gave it to us. 
Please excuse the mess in the background. We were unloading the car from yard sales and had all the bags here. 

Rubbermaid Container

American Eagle Outfitters Clutch

 A pair of American Eagle jeans. 

It was a great day for yard sales. We even ended up going back out on Sunday to one yard sale as the lady running it was going to sell everything at a reduced rate and she had great items. 

I didn't buy anything, but my daughter loaded up and got some great deals for her reselling business.

Did you venture out to any yard sales? Let me know if you did in the comment section. I would love to hear about it.

Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~