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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