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Friday, July 31, 2020

Frugal Friday ~ July 31, 2020


We received sad news this week. My daughter's first grade teacher passed away. She was only 51 years old and had a heart attack. She had spent a large part of her summer cleaning, organizing, and painting her classroom getting it ready for the new school year. 

She was always so funny and had the best personality. She came to me after Bailey, who was moving onto middle school, graduated from 5th grade to tell me she would miss me being there regularly. This is a huge loss for our small community and honestly we are just heartbroken. 


This week, as usual, we have stayed home, which is a huge money saver. My daughter has had to pay shipping to get inventory sent here, but I told her what we have saved on gas by not going to yard sales more than pays for that postage. 

In My Frugal Kitchen

We put a whiteboard on our refrigerator, so we could list whatever leftovers are in there that need eating. It will save us from food waste, which will also save money. 

I saved multiple jars this week by washing them and removing the labels. They will be stored with my other empty jars and used for another purpose when needed. 


The last of the money saving cookbooks I ordered came to me this week. This one ended up getting lost in the mail, but finally arrived. 

It's Ida Bailey Allen's Money Saving Cookbook from 1940. I've been reading it this week and it really does have good money saving recipes in it. 

I'll be sure to share them when we find and try recipes we like. 


This pair of kitchen tongs loses the parts on a regular basis even when I am cooking with them, which is frustrating. 

I finally fixed them using some Gorilla  Glue. I made sure to put the glue where it would not come in contact with any food. Hopefully this will fix that problem. 


For those that mentioned how good the Tony Chachere's was last week, we agree! I made some fried onions and potatoes this week with smoked sausage and seasoned them with the Tony's and it was very good. We will definitely be using this again. 

Gooseberry Patch has these free printables for Skillet and Slow Cooker Dinners if you're interested. 






This week I received a survey from Consumer Opinion and $5 for completing it. 


Free food for coins. A Chick-fil-A in Virginia needs your coins...badly.

For every $10 of rolled coins that customers bring in, customers will receive the same value in paper bills AND a free entree.

Why are they doing this? To avoid going cashless amid a nationwide coin shortage due.

Entertainment

This week I watched Alabama Moon for free on YouTube. It was a clean, family film, with nothing bad in it. 



This week I fixed my laptop with electrical tape.  The cord continued to fall out of the laptop, on both ends, and then it would go dead right in the middle of work, which was frustrating me.


So, like Amy Dacyczyn, I decided to fix this little problem and used electrical tape to keep it together permanently. It's worked great ever since and not fallen out again.

How has your week been?

Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
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29 comments:

  1. Some great frugal wins! I've been continuing to list & sell things on eBay, and largely packaging out of leftover Amazon packages.

    We've been making meals at home, despite the lack of kitchen. Not much variety, but we are all getting by!

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    1. Thank you.We definitely use the leftover Amazon packaging too. It's free after all. I know you'll be glad when your kitchen is finished.

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    2. Also, I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter's teacher.

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    3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. I really hate it when the cord keeps falling out of the laptop. Even worse is that the cord comes in two pieces, and the end that goes in the laptop is in two pieces. I have threatened to use duct tape to keep it all together! Last week I lost the little piece that is black and about 1/2 inch long. So frustrating.

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    1. Oh yes! My printer has the two piece cord and it can be annoying when the separate. Tape is so useful for these things.

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  3. Tape and glue - what would we do without them? I have tape holding parts of my computer together as well. They sure are lifesavers.
    So sorry for yours and the communities loss. So young.
    I have noticed how much is saved staying home as well.
    Have a great weekend.

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    1. Thank you, Cheryl. I agree, Tape and glue are definitely lifesavers.

      I hope you have a great weekend too.

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  4. Then white board listing leftovers is the best idea I have heard in a long time. I am so going to copy and give all credit to you and your blog!

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  5. That’s just so sad about the young school teacher.

    Your book sounds very good, it sounds like a good read.

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  6. I am sorry for your loss and the loss of a wonderful teacher. What a good post! So enjoyed!

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    1. Thank you, Angela. That is so sweet of you to let me know. :)

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  7. Belinda, this pandemic has cause me stress and anxiety so I’ve been reading your blog at night. Your frugal adventures are a boon to me and have provided me with free/fun/stress reducing entertainment and has made it easier to know someone is on the same journey as me. You are a wonderful person and I’m grateful for your blog!

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    1. Beth, This is so sweet of you to say, thank you. You made my day. :)
      I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I'm so glad you decided to join us here. :)

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  8. 51 years old is so young. I am sorry for your loss, she sounded like a wonderful lady. You will have to share more about how and where your daughter is getting her inventory. I have looked into online auctions, but just not ready to try it out.

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    1. She has a post on her Instagram account about that, Lisa. I'll ask her if she wants to do a blog post here for us.

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  9. So sad to hear about Bailey’s teacher.

    I too have a small white board on the wall, next to the freezer to write what leftovers I’ve got in the fridge. When the fridge is full, things tend to hide and disappear.

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    1. Yes Nil! That is what happens here too, so I'm hoping this new system will work. And thank you.

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  10. So sorry about the teacher. So sad to hear.
    Thanks for all this information too! It really helps to have such great resources to help in these times.

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    1. Thank you, Vickie. That is so kind of you to say.

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  11. Belinda I am so sorry you & Bailey's loss of your beautiful friend. That is heartbreaking. It's not fair. She was really young.

    My grocery store is giving groceries away for coins. I am going to be taking my jar in. I don't need to roll the coins since we can use a machine. I haven't used cash since the virus started. I don't think I will be using cash again for a very long time. My bank is mainly all digital now. If I need to do banking I have to schedule an appointment.

    It was a good frugal week. I got a brand new Instant Pot. I bought one from the thrift store but it had issues. WalMart had a great deal on Pioneer Woman's version of the Lux Instant Pot & I snagged it up. I am not into cooking but you never seen anyone so excited about FedEx coming to their home to bring a kitchen appliance, lol. I was really excited about my Instant Pot. DH & I will be using it today. It is going to save us so much money.

    DH & I found a bunny by our garage. She was overheated and dying. We brought her in and have been rehabilitating her. I am so happy that over the years I have stockpiled a large supply of animal items to help furbabies that are in trouble. It was really a godsend to have everything to save her. I can't even imagine how scary it would have been to run to stores to try to buy all the supplies during the virus. My friends have lovingly teased me over the years of being a pet supply hoarder but it turned out to be a lifesaver, literally. We let her go tomorrow. She is all big and strong. She wants to be back with her bunny friends. She even grew twice her size. I will miss her.

    I spent the week recreating expensive "scrapbooking" embellishments with my frugally found items & scraps I made so many pretty things. My DH kept telling me that everything I made would cost a fortune if I bought it retail. It really would have. For example a package of bows is 4 for $7. I made several bows for only pennies.

    My DH bought some notebook paper this week. I told him to pick up a binder but he said he didn't need one. We were at Dollar Tree so he was staring right at the binders at that time. I have binders but I thought he would like one his own style. Yesterday he asked me if I had any binders. Slamming my head on the desk, ROFL. What did I tell him? :) I told him I have binders but they were in my art surplus supply closet that he blocked with a ladder, lol. If he wanted one he was going to have to move the ladder. Least I got him to blush about this, ROFL! He got his binder and he was like "You have so many binders." I told him I buy then when I can get them cheap so I can store all my ephemera that I collect and make. He was really impressed by this. He thought that was a brilliant idea, lol.

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  12. LOL, Safyne, I always enjoy reading your comments, thank you so much for your contributions. I love the story about the bunny! That is so neat that he grew so big, have you released him yet? I want to hear all about that. Congratulations on the PW Instant Pot. I have one of those too and love it!

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  13. I'm so sorry for the loss of Bailey's teacher.

    I've been raiding my coin jar for all my cash purchases. Most stores are very happy when you have the exact payment.

    Lol...I fixed my ipad's cable with tape too. The outer layer broke (it bends from hanging over the side of my desk), so I tape it up and it's been working great for over 2 years now. Saved me from having to buy a new charger cable.

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    1. Oh, that was a great fix for our iPad's cable. It's good to hear it has lasted for over two years. I love that. It gives me hope for mine.

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  14. I am so sorry for the loss of your friend. So sad.
    Thanks for printables. I need some new ideas. I have similar tongs so I'll remember your fix if mine break.
    Have a good week.

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    1. Thank you, Kathy.

      You're welcome for the printables. We normally enjoy having something different for dinner for a change.

      Hopefully your tongs will stay together. :)

      I hope you have good week too.

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