Fourth Frugal Friday of October 2022

Welcome to Friday! 
Here is a picture of the view from our deck. The fall colors are beautiful this year. 

Quote of the Week

~ Mother Nature has the best box of crayons ~

My Frugal Week
Saturday was laundry day. I hadn’t done any in over two weeks, so I had my work cut out for me. By the end of the day I had three loads washed, dried, folded and put away. 

This is a tip I learned from my Mom back when I was growing up. We used Comet in the green can to scrub sinks with and Mom would take the label off from the holes on top of the can and cover half of them up with the same label. This way we would only use about half as much cleaner. 
Joy of the Week
As a surprise to me, Bailey had an Aldi order delivered to our house from Instacart! They’ve just started delivering to our home from Aldi, Kroger, Sam's Club and some other stores. I’m both thrilled and shocked! It was definitely my joy of the week. Now we can use this service instead of our other more expensive delivery service. 
Photo of the Week

My Christmas cactus is blooming again

Savings of the Week
One - two pound bag of carrots at Aldi is $2.09 while two - fifteen ounce cans are 69 cents each or $1.38. If you are needing to be careful with your grocery spending, this is one way to save a little bit of money. 
Question of the Week
What ways are you finding to save money on food?
Avoiding Spending
We stayed home Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and spent no money.
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
This week I cut up fresh onions for the taco salad, but didn’t use it all, so I placed it into the freezer to save for another day. 
No matter how much is left over from a meal, I will save it. For example, I had a small amount, about two tablespoons, of taco meat leftover. I saved that and added it to the eggs for a breakfast burrito the next day. 
While watching a Frugal Queen video on YouTube she mentioned that she is no longer centering her meals around meat, but rather around carbohydrates because of the cost of meat. She is also combining pork with beef as the beef is so expensive in France right now. She has a lot of valuable tips in her YouTube videos on stretching food if you’re interested. 
This week I made a batch of chili because I had a variety of beans and tomato products in my pantry and I wanted to use them up.  I used the onions I stashed in the freezer earlier in the week and a combination of canned and fresh tomatoes.   All I needed was some ground beef, which we bought from Aldi for $3.99 per pound. This is perfect chili weather too.
Another thing I did this week was to cook a ten pound bag of chicken leg quarters that was given to us. I’m not a fan of dark meat, but that doesn’t matter right now with the price of groceries. We are going to use this up in ways that we find palatable and be grateful we have food right now. 
Even if you’re poor in the United States you still have abundance when compared to most people in the world. This year I have seen so much need in our community where people need food. The Little Free Pantry/Blessing Boxes empty out daily. This makes me extremely grateful and blessed for the food we have. 
Meals This Week
Taco SaladsTacosPork, Green Beans & Onions, SaladPork, Roasted Potatoes, EggplantChicken, Salads, Broccoli, Strawberries ChiliChili Tacos
Saving Money YouTube Videos
Frugal Queen: Cost of Living Crisis! Will we be able to afford food? ~ Jane, aka Frugal Queen, gives a frank talk about food and how people may have to eat differently in these hard times. 
Saving on Entertainment
It’s the time of year where we watch Harry Potter films. Every year on her birthday, Bailey requests we watch all eight movies, which takes us a few weeks. Right now we are starting the seventh film, so we are almost done for another year. 
Freebies

I had an appointment with the dermatologist on Thursday. While I was there they gave me three free samples of All laundry detergent. Each pouch will do three or more loads. They also gave me the cherry dum-dum and a prescription for shampoo, which didn’t cost me anything thanks to my insurance. 
One of my friends also gave us two cans of organic garbanzo beans and one can of soup. 

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. Remember to pay yourself first and track your spending. Let us know how you’ve been doing this week in the comment section. 
BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree