Final Frugal Friday of July 2023
Welcome to Friday!
Quote of the Week
I learned the difference between wants and needs. I found that my actual needs are rather simple and easily attainable.
Price of Gas
Ouch! Gas has definitely gone up here and was up to $3.35 at our local station.
My Frugal Week
Last Wednesday the drain to our kitchen sink stopped draining and I called a friend to help me with it. By the time he was able to help, it was almost 4 o’clock on Friday afternoon, so most plumbers wanted to wait until Monday to help me out.
Washing and rinsing dishes in a dish pan feels like camping. I couldn’t wait to get the kitchen sink fixed. Doing without it was definitely extra work.
Kitchen Sink Update
I had someone who promised to come, ghost me over the weekend, so on Monday morning I decided to make more phone calls and by 8:15 had someone already on their way.
He and his partner snaked the drain, which took about an hour or so, and cleared the drain line. He said it was just a buildup of soap in there and showed me and said that he has had drains that took hours and hours to clear and ours wasn't that bad.
Needless to say, I'm very happy to be back in business with my kitchen sink. It was work, but we did it without resorting to paper plates or paper towels too, which saved us money.
You know that old saying, "when it rains it pours?" Well, an electrical storm took out our main air conditioning unit last Wednesday. It is covered by our homeowners insurance, so that won’t be an issue.
While we’ve been waiting I’ve been watching our daily electric usage go from around 100 kWh per day to around 49 kWh per day. The electric bill will definitely be lower next month. I like using the usage tool from our electric company because I can tell when certain activities like using the washer and dryer cause a spike in our usage.
In other news...
On Tuesday Bailey had a business errand to run that took her two hours from home. She asked me to go with her, so we took off on a road trip through the rural Georgia countryside. We brought drinks, cheese, and granola bars in case we got hungry.
We downloaded the Little Free Library app and stopped at several little free libraries along the way. We brought books with us to leave in the libraries too. Our four hour road trip turned into seven hours and we had the best time.
It was nice to get out of the house for a while and see the sights. I saw so many vegetable gardens, which were just beautifully maintained, which you know involves a lot of hard work.
While we were on our road trip on Tuesday, we listened to the book, The House by the Cerulean Sea, on Scribd. We were able to finish eleven chapters on our trip.
I received a coupon in the mail from Target for $40 off a $40 purchase! It expires in August, so I’m trying to think of the best way to use this.
Since the month of August is upon us, I went ahead and worked out my budget for August and made up a grocery list of items we need. Knowing what I have to pay out gives me a peace of mind that is very calming.
On Thursday I woke up early and started deep cleaning my bedroom. I moved all the furniture and vacuumed underneath everything. I dusted everything, sorted thru some paperwork on my desk, and picked out some things I no longer need for the Sweet WeePeets consignment sale coming up in September.
Freebies
Thanks to our visit to the Little Free Library, I was able to pick up several copies of Cooks magazine for free.
Joy of the Week
Definitely our road trip and the little free libraries.
Avoiding Spending
I did no grocery shopping this week and or yard sales last weekend. I didn't have to put gas in my car either, so this was definitely a no spend week for me.
Saving Money YouTube Videos
I Will Teach You To Be Rich channel by Ramit Sethi, author of the book by the same name.
What I've been Reading This Week
How to Save on Electricity ~ by Michael Blue Jay aka Mr. Electricity
Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend filled with lots of love, A bit of sunshine, and so many blessings that your cup runneth over.
BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27
That was a really pleasant outing with your daughter. I like to take food in the car.
ReplyDeleteThank you, we had a lot of fun. 😊
Delete(Little Penpen) Your Friday posts are always fun to read. I did not know about The Free Library app, but will look it up. That sounds like a fun day for you and Bailey. I’m glad you got your sink drain all cleared up. That was an absolute pain, I’m sure. I hope you have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Penny. The Little Free Libraries are so much fun. Every now and then we will find one with no books, but it was rare on this trip. I hope you also have a great weekend. 😊
DeleteUnless you need hard goods(housewares/clothing)I'd wait for a week st Target when certain food items you use are on special(and bonus points if you have coupons and/or Ibotta offers for them)to use that Target $40 off of $40 Q. That Q is a great deal!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sluggy. That is a great idea!
DeleteYour "ouch" gas sounds marvelous! Ours has been over $4.00 for months - $4.73 right now! I'm with you on lending libraries. Besides being cute, they often offer good books, etc.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh Vickie! That is high for gas, my heart goes out to you. I hope you all get some relief soon. 😥
DeleteBailey found a book from her wanting to read list, so that was terrific.
I'm sorry to hear you had a few problems at home, but glad they've been fixed. Your road trip sounds great! I like to take snacks & drinks on long drives too.
ReplyDeleteFor Target, you can also use it on their Tide/Bounce/Downy deal (you mentioned before that you use Tide). They have the Spend $50 get $15 gc offer next week. Be sure to clip the Circle Qs before going shopping. Then submit your receipt to PG site for points. Hope you & Bailey have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you. 😊 Yes, we do use Tide for laundry. I will definitely look into that deal and see what I can come up with. Thank you so much. I hope you have a great weekend too. 😊
DeleteYou might want to hold off on that Tide deal Belinda. PG has a $10 rebate WYB $30 Tide (starting 8/13) that you can double dip with this deal. Target has different Tide deals every week, so this deal should be back in 3-4 weeks. Or you can wait for the Buy 3 get $10 gc deal at Target. I think that will be the one for the following week. This might be your best option. You'll earn $10 Target gc & $10 PG rebate. Then add Ibotta items to reach your $40 total (does this make sense?...lol). Please don't do the Buy 2 get $5 gc deal. It's not worth it. HTH.
DeleteWow, that does sound like a great deal. Thank you so much for letting me know. 😊
DeleteLove the quote!!!! Glad the sink is fixed. We sure get used to convenience. Your trip sounds so lovely. Glad you went.
ReplyDeleteHope the AC is repaired soon.
Have a great weekend.
Thank you, Cheryl. I hope you have a great weekend too.
DeleteSo glad you were able to get the sink fixed, but I am so sorry about the a/c. What terrible timing. Are you all doing ok? It is sooo hot.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun trip, and I love those little libraries. Yay on the target coupon, and I know you will get the most bang for your buck.
Have a great weekend. Stay as cool as you can.
Thank you, Kathy. The timing was odd, but we are making do and fine. We still have the window ac's in our bedroom, so we have those on and are using fans to pull that air into our main living area. It's not perfect, but is working for now. I submitted our claim to our insurance this morning and should hear from them soon.
DeleteYes, the little free libraries were/are so much fun. We have one in town that I like to frequent also. I am working on the best scenario for my Target coupon. I'll keep you all updated.
I hope you have a great weekend too!
You and Bailey had a wonderful trip. Love the magazines you got, and being able to drop off books made decluttering easy.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thank you, Jackie. And yes, that is a great way to declutter!
DeleteI had the same problem with my sink. The plumber told me to pour boiling water down the drain with some baking soda once a month to dissolve the soap buildup
ReplyDeleteThat is a great tip! Thank you, Diane.
DeleteYou had a great week! I'm going to look up the free library app..that would be so fun!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Vickie. The little free libraries are so much fun!
Delete