Friday, March 18, 2022

Third Frugal Friday of March 2022

Welcome to Friday! 

My Frugal Week

On Friday I went out to start my car and realized I had a flat tire. Ugh. I called a tow truck to tow it to the tire shop. The tire shop didn’t charge me anything to fix it as I bought my tires there. Over the weekend I signed up for an AAA membership for both myself and Bailey. The first year for an additional member is free at this time. 

That was the last day we went anywhere this week. We’ve stayed home and had all our meals here. Not eating out and cooking at home is a great way to save money.

We received a check this week from the items we sold at the Sweet WeePeets consignment sale. We sold over $300 in items that we no longer use, so if you are needing some extra money, selling things around your home can pay off in a big way. 

Friday night went from rain to snow overnight and turned cold with a temperature of 26 degrees on Saturday. I finally turned some heat on once the inside temperature went down to 50 degrees. 

It pays to stay on top of your medical bills. My insurance went back and paid a couple of claims from last year and my doctors office issued a refund for me this week of $80.00. I’ll take it. :)

I’m not a fan of hot spicy foods and I don’t even care for some of the minty toothpastes because they are hot to me. Recently I purchased some Red Seal Lemon toothpaste from Amazon.  It’s such a nice change of pace to have toothpaste that isn’t too spicy for my tastes. 

Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen

I’m going to say that I am surprised at how often I see meat served in some homes on YouTube. Often meat is served for breakfast like bacon, ham or sausage. Sometimes I even see smoked sausage served for breakfast, which really surprises me as the cost of that will add significantly to the family grocery budget. I also see foods like chicken or taco meat served for lunch. 

We do have sausage occasionally for breakfast here, but it is more of a treat once a month or so. And, I don’t make any meat based dishes for lunch unless it is leftover from dinner the day before. The only time I make meat is for dinner and even then we have our fair share of meatless meals. It’s just one of the ways we save money here by limiting meat to just once per day.

Meals This Week

Friday: Friday night Pizza

Saturday:  Leftovers from the Meatloaf, Potato Pancakes, and Peas 

Sunday: Better Cheddars, Tater Tots, Steamed Broccoli

Monday: Sticky Pineapple Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, and Steamed Broccoli

Tuesday: Macaroni and Cheese, Steamed Broccoli

Wednesday: Leftovers of Chicken, Mac and Cheese, and Broccoli

Thursday: Dirty Rice, Corn on the Cob, Carrots, and Broccoli

Saving on Entertainment

I’ve been watching Three Rivers Homestead on YouTube this week. She is a family of nine who homeschools her children and works hard every month to keep them fed within her budget.

Freebies


This week I received a free bottle of Maple Syrup from Canada via Ripple Street. 

How was your week? We would love to hear all about it in the comments.

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 

Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
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22 comments:

  1. I'm sorry about the tire. That was probably a huge inconvenience. You had so many good wins. The resell check is terrific and I know I have to get my act together to get things ready for the citywide yard sale the first weekend in May.

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    1. Oh, your citywide yard sale would be so much fun! Too bad we live so far away.

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  2. That's rather a lovely shaped bottle. Will you re-purpose it once the syrup is used up?

    I'm afraid I'm one of those who probably has too much meat but, in defence, portions are usually quite small. :-)
    xx

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    1. Hi Joy! That bottle is so beautiful and I will definitely be saving it. Smaller portions of meat are ALSO a great way to save money.

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  3. I'm so glad you had such a frugal week. It feels so good to get deals on things you need and to cook from scratch at home. My husband and I (we are both in our 70's) have been eating a whole food plant-based diet for almost 2 years now. Not only has that saved us money, as we buy no meat, dairy or eggs, but the health benefits have been astounding. We also, truly love the food I make from scratch. We garden as much as we are able and I can and freeze things. I've always leaned toward not eating very much meat, but until I ran across this concept, I didn't know how important it is to try to avoid animal products. Now when I go in the grocery store, if I have to walk through the fresh meat section, the smell really bothers me. It's amazing how our bodies adjust. I ran into this looking on Facebook. I asked one of the ladies, "why don't you use oil?" and she replied, "It's not a whole food." That really sparked my interest. Then I read "The Starch Solution" by Dr. John McDougall and we had watched the film "Forks over knives." It's been an interesting journey. My husband's angina and high blood pressure is gone. My macular puckering is gone. There are several more good things we've noticed as well. It really does make it easier to live within our means too! Take care. I enjoy your blog.

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    1. Thank you so much, Loves2spin. I like your Blogger name. I know what you mean about the smell of meat in the grocery store. Our local Fresh and Low starts their rotisserie chickens early in the morning and I do not care for the smell. I reversed my Type 2 Diabetes by following a plant based diet in the past. It’s the best diet out there in my opinion. And you’re right, it makes it easier to live within your means. I love how you and your dh have reversed several medical issues. I can’t praise plant based diets enough.

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  4. Nice work on the frugal wins! For our side, I almost always have protein for lunch (sometimes that's meat, but often it's another source of protein) to go with a salad, or I have soup that has protein in it (beans, meat, etc). I rarely/never have meat for breakfast. My husband, however, eats Keto due to a food allergy, and often has a small amount of meat with eggs, and then fasts for lunch. I do not recommend his diet as a frugal option, that's for sure!

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    1. That is so funny, his diet not being a frugal option. Not having as much meat helps us save money, but if we had a higher income I can definitely see the including it more. I wish I could go meat free again, but it always draws me back. Especially tacos. 😂 LOL

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  5. Good job on selling stuff and keeping the insurance companies in line. We only have breakfast meat maybe once a month. We eat left overs from dinner for lunch. I do try and serve meat at dinner. But last night it was 4 slices of bacon to flavor the leek and potatoes soup. So even then I kept down the cost.

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    1. That is great, Kim. That soup sounds delicious. You are just like us maybe once a month on breakfast meat.

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  6. So sorry about the flat tire, but I'm sure that AAA will offer some peace of mind, and I'm glad that Bailey got the free deal.
    Great check for selling things that you no longer need, and I'm glad you got a refund from the dr office too.
    Definitely saves money using less meat. I may fix sausage or bacon for breakfast 2-3 times a month as a special weekend meal, but then we don't eat lunch on those days so I don't feel too guilty. :D
    Yummy on the free maple syrup, and I love the glass bottle too.
    Hope you have a fun weekend. Looks like we will be putting tile down in our kitchen this weekend...wish us luck.

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    1. Thank you, Kathy. That’s a great idea to skip lunch on the days you serve meat for breakfast. I like that idea! Best of luck on installing your kitchen tile. That will be so nice when you’re done.

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  7. Sorry about the tire but having the AAA service will make things a lot safer for you and Bailey.
    I bought quite a few groceries last week - but mostly for the pantry - salt, sugars, oils, and wheat based items - that sort of thing.
    I do sometimes have meat for breakfast but then I'd probably have a salad for supper with a non meat protein like cheese or eggs. I have cut back on portion sizes and eat a lot more vegetarian meals these days and once the warm weather arrives it will be mostly a daily salad with a different sort of protein each day.

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    1. I think AAA will make it safer for us too, Margie. It gives me peace of mind. We do use a lot of eggs too. I buy at least 3 dozen each month. A salad a day is such a great part of your diet. Dr. Furhman has his followers each a large one everyday.

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  8. I eat eggs for breakfast several times a week. When Tommy had to have Hardee's sausage biscuit, I often had one, too. For lunch I have cheese, peanut butter, or boiled egg. For dinner, there is always meat. In the past I have often gone to the kitchen and pulled off a chunk of chicken breast to eat as a snack. Somehow, I need protein more than most folk. That said, some days I eat little or no meat.

    I love the maple leaf bottles. I have not been able to find those for several years.

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    1. Oh, Hardee’s does make good sausage biscuits, don’t they? Delicious!

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  9. Sorry about the tire.

    Congrats on getting some free maple syrup. Love the bottle shape. I buy ours in a brown jug.

    God bless.

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  10. Great job on the consignment sales! I did well at one local shop until she closed. Haven't had much success at others. I think it depends on the shop, some are neat and clean with nice displays and good staff, others can be messy and not well managed.

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    1. Thank you, Bobi. Yes, consignment sales can be hit or miss for sure. It sure is fun to find a good one. :)

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  11. I think it's wise to have AAA membership. I got the membership as soon as I bought my first car. Several years ago I bought both home and auto insurance from them.

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  12. Sticky Pineapple chicken sounds very good. We have meat about everyday but now I stretch it to the limit (smaller portions). I also make sure to get it at a great price (markdown meat from flashfood).
    Good deal on the consignment shop sales. I need to do that!

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