Friday, December 3, 2021

Frugal Friday ~ December 3, 2021



Welcome to Friday! 

My Frugal Week

I stayed home on Black Friday and didn’t even look at the sale ads. Money is tight this year, so I didn’t want to shop unnecessarily. 

Bailey did go to a thrift store as I saw in the paper they are closing until spring and all their clothes are $1.00 now until the last day on December 3rd. The shop owner had already disposed of all of his womens clothing though, which was the main reason Bailey went, so she only came home with five mens pieces. 


On Saturday one of the local churches was having a “Loaves of Love” bread giveaway. We came home with a bag of Pepperidge Farm bread and buns and a gallon of milk. 


I used the “make an offer” option on eBay to save myself $8.00 on a present for Christmas. They may not always accept my offer, but this time they did. 

Earning Money

I listed one thing for sale on eBay this week. I need to try and list at least one thing per day.

Avoiding Spending

I didn’t avoid spending this week as I bought a Christmas present. 

Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen

As I mentioned last week I shredded the zucchini and froze three bags of it. I also made two loaves of zucchini and carrot bread on Saturday. The recipe is below if you’re interested. 

I made Ham and Cheese cups for breakfast one day. This is a recipe that Cheryl shared with us on her blog, Cheryl’s Frugal Corner

Meals This Week

Friday: This was the day when I cooked the free turkey we received at the church on Saturday. I used my GE roaster and used lots of onions and Herbs de Provence. 

The label said a 13 pound turkey should cook for 3 & 1/2 to 4 hours. I checked it at 2 hours, the timer was popped up and my meat thermometer was reading 185 degrees, so it was done. 

Saturday: Turkey Enchiladas ~ I doctored up the turkey meat and made it into enchiladas, which I normally make with chicken.  I was a little concerned that people would notice, but no one was the wiser. I also used some turkey to make BBQ sandwiches and the turkey hater in the family said they were delicious. hehehe 

Sunday: We had enough enchiladas from yesterday to enjoy them again today. I made a nice green salad to go with it and had some corn on the side. There is one serving left for someone’s lunch this week too.

Monday: Cheddar Sausages on Buns, Oven Fries, Salad, and the last of the corn. 

Tuesday: It was movie night, but I had an afternoon nap, so lunch was really late. I had a pound of ground beef thawed, so I just made a quick batch of tacos for late lunch/early dinner. 

Wednesday: Hawaiian Chicken, Yellow Squash, Buttered Rice. I cut the squash up with an onion and one tablespoon of butter and microwaved it for five minutes. It was really good. 

Thursday: I made Bean and Cheese Enchiladas and instead of covering them with enchilada sauce, I covered them with a small packet of Hormel chili my Mom gave me. It was a big hit. 

Recipe of the Week

Credit: Maria’s Mixing Bowl

Carrot Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups zucchini grated
1 1/4 cups carrots grated
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup walnuts chopped (optional)

Directions:

Place cleaned carrots in food processor and pulse until shredded.
Repeat with zucchini. 
Beat together the eggs, sugar, and oil.
Add the all the other ingredients and beat well.
Pour into 2 greased and floured 9 x 5 loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

Saving on Entertainment

I’ve been watching Shoestring Jane on YouTube. She reminds me a little bit of Frugal Queen and put up a good video on having a frugal Christmas. She also has a Facebook group called My Second Hand & Fugal Life and also has the Shoestring Cottage blog if you’re interested. 

That is all the news to report on our frugal week in Tennessee. Thank you for dropping by, you are always welcome here. We would love to hear about your week in the comment section.

Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
My Linktree

23 comments:

  1. Meals all sound tasty. Thanks for the shout out.
    Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Cheryl, and you’re welcome. I hope you have a great week too.

      Delete
  2. I remember the Tightwad Gazette suggestion of then using the liquid from frozen zucchini with dried milk for recipes. Have you done that? I'm thinking if adding powdered milk back into my pantry for cooking, baking, or hot chocolate since so often we can't use a full carton. I doubt my husband would want to drink it, but might not mind if zi mix up just enough for cereal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve not done that before, Sam. But it is a great idea, that way you would still be getting all the nutrients from the zucchini. I’ve been wanting to add powdered milk back into my pantry too.

      Delete
  3. I always feel that sales such as ‘Black Friday’ and the like are just another way of helping us part with our hard come by money buying stuff that we would not normally consider. I do enjoy reading your posts and the advice given m’dear, most informative and, as I am trying to draw in the purse strings myself, helpful to boot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, John, that the Black Friday sales are another way to part us with our money. Thank you for your kind comments. I love sharing ideas so we can all learn from each other. I hope you have a great weekend.

      Delete
    2. I also meant to add, John, that I think stores make up for the buy one get one free sales by raising the prices.

      Delete
  4. Sounds like a frugal week!
    Love the picture of the Christmas cactus! Your meals sound so good, and I'm glad you were able to enjoy the turkey. Hope you have a fun weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kathy. That is a new Christmas cactus that Bailey got recently. She loves plants. I was glad we were able to enjoy the turkey too. Now I know what to do if we get another one. I hope you have a fun weekend too!

      Delete
  5. The recipe and your menu sounds delicious. Glad you got some great bread!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great frugal week Belinda. I need to check out Shoestring Jane. Thanks for the recommendation.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You’re welcome, Jackie. I really like Shoestring Jane and hope you do too.

      I hope you have a very good weekend.

      Delete
  7. Your menu always sounds so good Belinda. I only cook 2-3 meals per week, so we can eat up all the leftovers. I love all that free bread you got. I'm sorry that Bailey missed all the women's clothing. I hope another good deal like that comes around again for her soon. Do you have any Salvation Army thrifts near you? They have 5/$5 color tag sale every Friday/Saturday. Hope you both have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Ms. Goose. We do have some Salvation Army stores in Georgia she can go to, and she will probably start going to them as her yard sale inventory from this summers gets low.

      We love having leftovers here, they are the best! 😂

      I hope you have a great weekend too!

      Delete
  8. Nothing happened here on Black Friday, Small business Day, or Cyber Monday! I should sell on eBay. I did once. I am going to check out those links and sites.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I bookmarked the ham muffin recipe and am planning on making the carrot zucchini bread next week. It sounds like something we would enjoy during g the holiday season.
    It is hard to have a no spend week during December, but getting a bargain on Ebay should make you feel good about buying a gift!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those are both good recipes, Anne. I hope you enjoy them.

      I agree, It is very hard to have a no spend December. Doing it as inexpensively as possible does help though.

      Delete
  10. I think we are all feeling the pinch of trying not to overspend. I purchased a few things online during the sales, but they were things we needed. I’m trying to stop looking now. Lol I like youtube channels like the one you mentioned. I’m going to check her out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bailey went into Walmart last night to get a few things we needed and it was $72, so we need to stop now too.

      I really like Shoestring Jane, she comes across in a way that I can really connect with. When I find them like that I want to share them.

      I hope you have a terrific weekend!

      Delete
  11. Another idea for the squash is to roast it, particularly if you already have something in the oven. It's fantastic roasted. We just add olive oil, salt & pepper.

    Your meals sound great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, that sounds so good. I will definitely try it roasted next time. Thank you for the idea.

      Delete
  12. All your dinners sound so good. I love the picture of the plants. That was a great bread haul.

    I did Black Friday shop. I did it online. I stayed with two retailers- WM & Amazon. I price compared other stores before I hit submit on my purchases. Most of the items were practical things that were on our Wish List. We did enjoy BF shopping this year. Last year we didn't do anything. My favorite purchase was a trash can from Pioneer Woman. It was originally $60 & I got it for $20. I adore that trash can. You know you are an adult when you get excited about a trash can. DH got an industrial sewing machine for $108 & he already used it to fix his clothes.

    We did go to WM on Black Friday because we got our boosters there. We waiting till 2 1/2 hours before the store closed so it was quiet. We didn't buy any BF deals because I scored better prices online. We just bought things on our shopping list for the week.

    Entertainment- CW did a reboot of the Walton's for a Christmas Movie. I watched that on the CW app on my TV.It was so sweet. Lots of frugality tips. It was a nice sweet movie to visit the 1930's era. If you have the CW app you can stream a lot of shows for free. I am addicted to Nancy Drew & Dynasty. It helps save money because I don't have to keep Netflix constantly to keep up with my shows.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I know which Waltons movie you’re talking about. I like that movie too. It was such a simpler time back then. Sounds like you got some great deals for the Black Friday deals. Shopping online is my way to shop too. LOL

      Delete

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