Fifth Frugal Friday of July 2022

Welcome to Friday! 
Quote of the Week

The philosopher Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for dinner one night. 

He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king. 

Aristippus looked to Diogenes and said to him…

 “If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.”

Diogenes then looked at Aristippus and said to him…

“Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.”

The statement didn’t mean a lot to me when I first read it in The Tightwad Gazette years ago. But the other day while I was eating a bowl of beans and the phrase came to mind.

Diogenes choose a different path for his life. Instead of being a good, quiet, subservient subject to the king, he learned to “live on lentils”, which says a lot about  living simply and well below your means. Learn to appreciate the simple things in life such as staying home and cooking good meals at home. 

Try your best not to live paycheck to paycheck, so you won’t have to be subservient to the king or your employer. I know it’s easier said than done, but there is a wealth of information out there to figure this out. You owe it to yourself to be disciplined enough to make it work in your favor. 

Just some food for thought. 

My Frugal Week
The weather had cooled off enough on Friday night for me to turn off the window air conditioner in my bedroom overnight. In fact, I was able to do that several nights this week, which will help save some money on the electric bill. 
My washing was done on Sunday when I washed two loads of my clothes, one light and one dark. I’ve said it before, but I have enough clothes to where I only have to wash them every other week or just twice a month. 
Doing laundry this way saves money on the electric bill and laundry supplies. Also, I don’t use the mark inside the laundry detergent cup they supply, but use less than is recommended and my laundry comes out clean and smelling fresh. 
On Tuesday evening I sorted through the dishes in our cabinet and picked out several things we no longer use to sell at the consignment sale. 
I received $5.00 from the Consumer Opinion Institute to complete one of their surveys. 
Question of the Week
What tricks have you found to save money by cooking at home verses eating out at a restaurant?
One way we combat this is using items we can buy at the grocery store that mimics eating out. For example, Aldi has the red bag chicken, which reminds a lot of people of Chic-fil-A. So, rather than spend money eating out, I can buy a bag of that and make it at home for less than the cost of a meal out. 
A similar meal that I make at home for $10.61 would cost us $30.20 at the Chic-fil-A restaurant, which is a savings of $19.59. 
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
We’ve been in use it up mode for the last month or so, using up food items in our pantry and freezer. It’s opened up a lot of space as a result, which  makes it easy to plan what I have on hand to make meals. 
On Sunday I made three gallons of tea, and instead of using thirty tea bags, only used twenty-four tea bags. We like strong tea, which is why we use ten bags per gallon. 
For my batch of unsweetened tea, I only used five new tea bags and used the other ones I had already used as well. I wanted to see if I liked it as well as a gallon made with ten bags and I did. I was just experimenting on different ways to save money on tea. 
 I also made a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for a treat. 
Since we were out of fresh milk, I mixed up a batch of powdered milk. I used the milk jug from our last purchase of fresh milk and shook it well every time I put a new gallon of tea in the refrigerator. 
We did make a small pick up from Aldi on Monday and spent $72.74.  We picked up dressing, eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, tortillas, chicken, bread, buns, potatoes, and cantaloupes.
Back during the holidays I asked Bailey to pick me up a pie crust and she bought a graham cracker crust, which I didn’t need. It’s been lurking in my pantry ever since then, so this week I decided to use it to make a peanut butter pie. The recipe is featured in the recipe of the week in case you’re interested. 
This week I used up the last of the pancake mix for waffles, syrup, 
Meals This Week
Since I have my kitchen appliances more easily accessible now, I decided to use my Breville Wok to make a Chicken Fried Rice for dinner on Friday. 

I use the Sunbird Fried Rice seasoning mix because it tastes authentic. I used two onions and some broccoli for the vegetables. I added the chicken, an egg, and some leftover rice from earlier in the week. If I’d had any pineapple I would have added that, but I am out right now. I also added a couple of drops of La Tourangelle toasted sesame seed oil, but only after the dish was done cooking. It was a big hit. 
Friday:  Chicken Fried Rice with Onions & Broccoli 
Saturday: Beefy Baked Beans, Green Beans with Onions, Corn on the Cob. This was the fourth day in a row that we ate beans in various versions (lunch). They are very healthy (keeps blood sugar lower for hours) and economical. 
Sunday: Polish Sausage with diced Potatoes & Onions, Mixed Vegetables. 
Monday: Aldi Red Bag Chicken Sandwiches, Basmati Rice & Vegetables. My cost for this meal was $10.61. 
Tuesday: Lemon Pepper Chicken Sautéed, Basmati Rice & Vegetables. 
Wednesday: Hamburgers with Cheese, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, and Pickles. Smashed Potatoes. 
Thursday: Repeat of Thursday since I had a doctors appointment and came home late and tired. 
Recipe of the Week
Peanut Butter Pie
Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter1 - 8 ounce package cream cheese1/2 cup sugar1 - 8 ounce container whipped topping1 graham cracker pie crust
Directions:
Beat peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar together. Gently mix in the whipped topping. Spoon gently into pie shell and spread evenly. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Saving on Entertainment
We picked up the first season of Veronica Mars at McKay Used Books for $1.00 last week, so that is what we will be watching for the time being. 
What I've been Reading This Week
Prices Never Go Down So Get Used To It written by Sluggy over at Don’t Read This; It’s Boring!
Freebies

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.
BelindaDebt Free & ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree