Goodbye 2020

Image Credit

Bailey made up an Instagram post today, but it was too long for IG, so she had to cut it down. However, I loved what she wrote and wanted to share this in its entirety. 
2020 was a crazy year. It felt somehow both like the worst Nicholas Cage movie and the longest nap. My number one business goal was to source more and pick up higher dollar items, but 2020 had other plans. I haven't been to a thrift store, grocery store, library, anywhere since March. Quarantine began for us on March 14th, the day after schools decided to close for the rest of the academic year. We thought it would be a few months tops. We thought the nation would band together to end this thing and save lives. Oh how naïve.
2020 was the year of new hobbies and picking up old ones. I learned to tie dye and loved it. I have plants now and they are all alive and thriving. Okay fine, I may have killed a couple of them. Who knew ivy was so temperamental? I reread books that I loved in high school and found comfort in them. I listened to Harry Potter on repeat and finally got my mom to watch all of the movies with me. I journaled for a week, baked a few times, decluttered and recluttered. It was the year of online shopping, contactless pickups, drive-thru prescriptions, and any reason to go for a drive. 
It was the year of repairmen and new appliances. Because we were hiding from the world, I guess 2020 decided to bring the world to us. We had to have more repairmen in the house this year than the last five combined. We couldn't pull another Tennessee summer out of our air conditioner, and despite endless attempts of Drano the kitchen sink determined to be professionally fixed. July brought an unexpected dryer repair, and October decided to doom it and the washer completely and simultaneously. April brought tornados that knocked the power out for days. Those were the worst of the quarantine days. The spring also brought the loss of my cousin Joseph. 
It was the year that ThredUp went from an exciting business endeavor to the greatest disappointment in the span of a week. The cats don't expect breakfast at 6:30 in the morning anymore, but they get more attention now than ever. Instagram and TikTok became my anchors to the real world. We learned how to clean strawberries. Who knew there were bugs in there? The name Karen became synonymous with raging psycho, and toilet paper was a hot commodity for a minute. My vision for my first PoshFest was of a flight to a beautiful city, crashing in a hotel room with some fellow Poshers, and meeting many of you in a pretty dress and annoying shoes. Instead I was in my bedroom wearing the comfiest (and ugliest) shorts I own and fretting over Zoom links and YouTube buffering. Somehow it was just as exhausting. 
It was the year of self hair cuts. It was the year of staying home because of a pandemic and because of self hair cuts. I learned to source online and embrace the $5 and $10 flips again. I learned to tell myself "it's temporary" every day and believe it. I learned how it feels to be abandoned by our leaders with a pandemic and a forthcoming recession. I learned what it feels like to be angry and become exhausted from being angry at the people in charge. I learned what it's like to be exhausted from being exasperated by the president's actions every single day. While I held this belief before, I learned monumentally the importance of voting and paying attention to what our leaders are doing and not doing for us. I learned to pay attention to what they stand for. I learned that too many of them stand for money. I learned that they will dump their stocks before warning the American people who voted for them that danger is coming.
I learned the words 'immunocompromised' and 'comorbidities', and wish I never had to. I learned what hospitals have to do when they run out of beds. I learned about my white privilege and my white-washed education and vowed to do better, to learn, to read, and to grow. I learned it's not enough to post a black square and call yourself an ally. I learned that too many people won't wear a mask even if it means saving another's life. I learned that a year can be seen as a villain. 2020 was rough and cruel. It was boring and terrifying, and if all you could do this year was survive then that's okay. If you lost someone you loved this year, I'm so sorry. Here's hoping 2021 will be better and if you made it this far thank you. I hope you have a lovely New Year. 
BaileyBaileyAlexInc

Offline

Just a quick note to let you all know we have no service right now through Verizon due to the bombing in Nashville. We are at McDonalds in our car right now using the Wi-Fi, but are going back home soon. We can't call anyone or be online as there is no service. I will be back as soon as  can. I just wanted to update you all. 



Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

Frugal Friday ~ The Christmas Edition

The Christmas Star  

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Christmas Edition of Frugal Friday. We woke up to a white Christmas this morning. 

BaileyAlexInc

 Last weekend we worked hard to finish up the inventory my daughter had for her shop before taking this week off for Christmas. 
Quote of the Week

Why in childhood and youth do we wish time to pass so quickly - we want to grow up so fast - yet as adults we wish just the opposite? ~ Willie Morris ~ My Dog Skip

Avoiding Spending
Remember the more effort you put into frugal and resourceful living during the times when you have more money than month, the easier it will be to get through the times when there is more month than money.
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
We cooked every meal from scratch this week and used up all the leftovers as well. I keep the leftovers in special bowls and keep them front and center in the fridge, so they can be seen and eaten first. 
One way we save money in the kitchen is to not use paper plates. Not only do they cost money, but they are not good for the environment. I'm not going to spend money on something that I already have, so we use the dishes we have and we wash them to reuse over and over again. 
Another way we save money here is to use up what we have on hand. Last week when I used the bread crumbs for salmon patties, I used a loaf of bread that was older and needed to be used, so I made bread crumbs out of the entire loaf. 
That left me with extra breadcrumbs, so I made sure to make recipes to use that up. One night we had hamburger steaks and then I used the rest of the breadcrumbs in a meatloaf. 
I make my hot chocolate with water rather than milk, so we can save the milk for cereal and/or cooking. 
On Monday we did a Walmart grocery pick up and had it delivered. The only non food item I bought was Great Value freezer bags. We ordered four jars of peanut butter in the 18 ounce size for $1.32, but they only had two of those, so they substituted two forty ounce jars instead, which normally cost $3.12, for the same price. A small win for us. 

One night this week I made Mexican Goulash for dinner. I didn't have any elbow macaroni, which I prefer to use as it's smaller, but I did have plenty of Penne on hand, so I used that instead. No need to go shopping and spend money for elbow macaroni and I used up something else in my kitchen.  Make substitutions where you need to and use up the groceries you do have on hand. 

Making waffles Monday, I used up the last of my bag of Krusteaz pancake mix I bought in the summer of 2018. I wrote about that experiment here.  This ten pound bag lasted us for eighteen months. 

These peanut butter cookies with a Reese's cup in the middle are some of my favorite cookies. We only have them at Christmas time and I made one batch, which makes two dozen cookies.  
My Favorite Tools

Before this tool I would chop hamburger meat with a large spoon until it resembled fine crumbles. My Mom used to tell me I was a loud cooker, LOL.
Nowadays one of my favorite tools in this kitchen is this Mix and Chop tool from Pampered Chef. The beveled pinwheel blades make it easy to chop and crumble hamburger meat for tacos and chili, and you can even use it on non stick pans. I use it whenever I need to crumble hamburger. 
Meals This Week
Salmon Patties, Potatoes, Carrots, BeetsHamburger Steak, Potatoes & Peas, Carrots Mexican Goulash, Cole Slaw, CarrotsGrilled Salmon, Basmati Rice, Steamed BroccoliSoup Beans, Greens, Potatoes and Cornbread
Saving on Entertainment
For movie night this week we watched Annie, which is a sweet version of the old classic movie. 
On Christmas Eve we watched The Walton's Christmas movie, "The Homecoming". It is available to watch for free on YouTube. 
The Walton's is the true life story of Earl Hamner and his family who grew up during the Great Depression. For Christmas that year his mother tells John Boy that the only thing they were able to provide were scarves she had knitted for all of the children. 
Later in the movie they show a church service where all the children receive an orange and you could see the joy on their faces from that  one simple gift. 

What I've been Reading This Week
eBook of Thrift, by Samuel Smiles
How to Stretch Ground Beef
Other Frugal Activities
I did a little mending and sewed a button  back onto one of my favorite shirts.

We save the twist ties from our bread bags. They come in handy for keeping extension cords neatly and safely  organized. I also use them to hold the cage together on our fan after the clips that hold it in place broke. 

We used the plastic wrapper from a package of toilet paper and cut it in order to line one of our garbage bags thus saving a garbage bag for this week. 
Subbing News
One of the teachers at the high school texted me this week and asked if I could sub for him for two days next month. I explained that I wasn't subbing during Covid, but I would let him know as soon as that changed. He said he understood and thanked me for responding to him. 
The school district closed school last week due to the increase in Covid numbers and a shortage of staffing. I'm sure they are having trouble finding subs. I was asked to work the last two weeks for one teacher who was being quarantined, but I turned her down. It is not worth the risk right now. The school system had a shortage of subs before Covid and now it is even worse. I will be glad when all of this is behind us. 
Freebies

The free book I picked from the Nutritional Science Zoom meeting last week is Chef AJ's new book, written along with Glen Merzer, Own Your Health: How to Live Long and Avoid Chronic Illness. 
If you're looking for something new to read don't forget about Project Gutenberg , which is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks. There is also the FreeReadFeed website as well. 
Here is a link to several free printable calendars for 2021.

From Paper Dolls by Cory... a free Grinch paper doll to play with over the Holidays AND even one to color! 

Humor
A man joined a monastery. The abbot explained to the aspiring monk that he would only be allowed to speak two words every ten years.
At the end of the first decade, he was given a chance to say his first two words. He looked at the abbot and said, “Bed’s hard.”
Ten years later, the abbot gave him the chance to say two more words. He opened his mouth and said, “Food’s bad.” Finally at the end of his 30th year he looked the abbot straight in the eye and said, “I quit.” “I can’t say that I’m surprised,” replied the abbot. “You’ve been here for thirty years, and all you do is complain.”
How was your week? What did you do this week to spend less, save more and make do? We hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas and as always be safe and healthy 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

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Frugal Friday

Welcome to Friday!  With the Covid numbers rising rapidly, we stayed home all week and have spent no money. The savings on gas this year has been huge as a result. 
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
The last time we bought groceries, I repackaged the ground beef into quart size freezer bags and used my rolling pin to get them as flat as possible. These have been a good addition to our freezer stash because they thaw much quicker than ground beef, which isn't flattened. It's been a good time saver. 

Bailey made hot chocolate bombs this week, which turned out delicious. 
I ran out of cornmeal recently and wanted to make salmon patties, so I looked online at what else I  could use and found a recipe using dressing/stuffing. I mentioned it on the Living Simply Facebook group and Carol mentioned that I could use breadcrumbs. I hadn't even thought do that and I had a loaf of bread for just that purpose. They turned out well. :)
Saving on Entertainment
For movie night this week we watched the movie, Sing. The film is about a group of animals that enter a singing competition, hosted by a koala who is trying to save his theater. It was a cute movie and the singing was entertaining. 
For game night we played Ticket to Ride, which we always enjoy. 
What I've been Reading This Week
Mountain Folk Remedies: The Foxfire Americana Library
Poisoned Just Enough: Why I’m so Optimistic About 2021
Other Frugal Activities
I had a pair of pants that got bleach on them somehow. Bailey dyed them for me and now they look brand new. 
We go for low maintenance and shorter hair styles to save on shampoo and hair products. We also dry our hair naturally to save on electricity. 
Freebies
Free Christmas Gift Tags
If you are local to Chattanooga, the health department is giving free flu shots to adults 18 and older this Saturday, December 19, at Orchard Knob Baptist Church (1734 E. 3rd Street) from 10AM to 2PM.
I attended a plant based Zoom meeting this week from Nutrition Science Workshop. Each person who attended was emailed a coupon to redeem one free plant-based nutrition book. There are several to choose from, but I've not yet decided which one I want. 
One freebie that came in the mail this week was a journal for Psoriatic Arthritis. It's a nice journal that came with an orange bookmarker/pen holder. 

Other Stuff

Today is the last day to enter Wealthy Nickle's $250 Amazon gift card giveaway. If you're interested in entering, click here. 

That is all the news to report from here this week. I hope you're doing well and enjoying the holidays. Until next time, stay healthy and safe! 

Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

Would you like to support my site?

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site. 

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Frugal Friday

Welcome to Friday! 
Bailey did a small grocery run last Friday to get some milk, bread, and fresh produce. She combined errands to save time and money on gas. One of the things we ordered was a head of lettuce, but received a head of cabbage instead, so she contacted Aldi and they refunded her for the lettuce. 
My Frugal Kitchen

- Froze the last of the BBQ ribs, which was enough for one meal for another day. - Baked another bag of sweet potatoes for quick lunches.  - Baked brownies
Gather The Fragments
On Wednesday I took a package of lasagna noodles that had been hanging around along with a large can of tomato sauce, some ricotta cheese I bought, but hadn't used, parmesan cheese, some grated carrots that needed using, the last of the fresh spinach and some broccoli and spices and made all of that into vegetable lasagna rolls. 
Some Other Meals This Week
Veggie Burgers, Sweet Potatoes, Chopped Tomatoes, Steamed BroccoliChicken Stir Fry
Saving on Entertainment
It's Christmas time, which means we will be watching our favorite Christmas movies. The first one we watched is Bailey's favorite, The Santa Clause. 
Other Frugal Activities

eBay sent me a $15 gift card for switching over to managed payments. I used the gift card to purchase a Christmas present, only paying $1.67 in the end. 
Microsoft Rewards also sent me a $10 gift card this week, which I used for another Christmas present this week. That wraps up my Christmas shopping for this year and I'm happy to report everything was paid for with cash or gift cards and no debt was incurred this holiday season. I love that. 
Bailey was craving her favorite drink from Starbucks, so she donned her mask and went through the drive thru. Guess what? Because she wore a mask, they gave her her drink for free. 
Other Stuff

My Christmas cactus has bloomed in time for Christmas. 
We decorated for Christmas this week using items we already have on hand and have treasured down through the years. We also had wrapping paper and bows, bought on sale last year, that we used to wrap gifts. 
That is all the news to report from here this week. I hope you're doing well and enjoying the holidays. Until next time, stay healthy and safe! 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

Would you like to support my site? 

 If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site via one of these ways. 

As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and helps me to earn a living here at Frugal Workshop. 

This means that any items you place in your cart and purchase within 24 hours after going to Amazon from one of my links means I will earn a small percentage from that sale. 

So, if you're going to be making a purchase from Amazon this week, I would certainly appreciate it if you would help me by going through my Amazon link to support my site. 

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Frugal Friday

Welcome to Friday! We had snow here this week and cold temperatures of 29 degrees on Tuesday. I brought out some extra blankets and even turned the heat on to take the chill out of the house one morning. 
Quote of the Week

"By sowing frugality we reap liberty, a golden harvest." Agesilaus

In My Frugal Kitchen
On Monday I did some batch cooking and baked regular and sweet potatoes, and butternut squash for the week, made vegetable soup, and made hummus since receiving the Tahini in the mail. 
I also worked on components for Veggie Burgers. I soaked the black beans and cooked them from scratch in my Instant Pot. I also made brown rice and already cooked the sweet potatoes.  After that I only had to chop the vegetables and then make and bake them. 

Image Credit

I like to use my Vidalia Chop Wizard for chopping vegetables, especially onions. 
I have more than one in my kitchen because people sell them at yard sales. I think the reason for that is because they think they are hard to clean. 

This little tool that comes with the chopper is great to clean out the top of the chopper. 

Nowadays they sell this cleaning tool to make it easier to clean the top. But I've found that the original one works for me without this cleaning tool. I simply make sure to clean it right after I'm done using it with the sprayer attachment on my kitchen sink. It cleans up beautifully. 
Here is the recipe for hummus I used:
Hummus
Ingredients:
2 cans Garbanzo beans or the equivalent of homemade beans3/4 cup aquafaba drain and reserve liquid aquafaba from beans 1/4 cup tahini1/4 cup lemon juice1 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos1 tsp ground cumin1/2 tsp garlic powder
Directions:
Drain the beans over a bowl to reserve the bean water.In high-speed blender, combine all the ingredients as listed above.Blend on high for 2 to 3 minutes or until creamy. Makes 3 1/2 cups of hummus.Keeps in fridge for 7 to 10 days. 
This year for Thanksgiving we stayed home and did not gather with family. Walmart did not have any cornmeal when we ordered groceries, so I did not make dressing this year. In fact, I decided to go with a familiar recipe, Creamy Crockpot Chicken & Dressing, using Pepperidge Farm dressing. It was really nice to be able to put this on to cook in the morning and not have to fuss with making a huge dinner. 

We've been making a lot of hot herbal teas since the weather has turned colder here this week.  My favorite herbal teas are from Traditional Medicinals. One that I drink everyday is Reishi Mushroom. I'm not a fan of mushrooms, but they are very good nutrition wise and are considered a superfood. Dr. Joel Fuhrman includes them in his GBOMBS. I try to get mushrooms in every day in powder form, which is why I like the Om Mushroom products.  

GBOMBS are the foods with the most scientific evidence to prevent cancer. It stands for Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, and Seeds. Eat them almost every day.”—Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

Saving on Entertainment
For movie night this week we watched another version of The Secret Garden. This one was made by the producers of Harry Potter. This was a new take on the beloved classic, but Bailey and I did not care for this version as they made some of the characters we love turn mean spirited. 
Freebies

We received this free sampler box in the mail with an ant trap, Snuggle, and an air freshener. 
The Chasing Foxes website has a free 2021 printable calendar located here if you're interested. 
How was your week?

Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

Would you like to support my site? 

 If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site via one of these ways. 

As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and helps me to earn a living here at Frugal Workshop. This means that any items you place in your cart and purchased within 24 hours after going to Amazon from one of my links means I will earn a small percentage from that sale. So, if you're going to be making a purchase from Amazon this week, I would certainly appreciate it if you would help me by going through my Amazon link to support my site. 

 2. My PayPal Tip Jar