Fourth Frugal Friday of March 2023

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 
Quote of the Week

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” ~ Stephen King

Price of Gas
$3.15 per gallon
My Frugal Week
On Saturday we went and bought chickens. We bought four of them and by the time we got them home they had laid four eggs, but one broke while we were transferring the chickens into the chicken coop.  They’ve been laying three to four eggs per day, so we have eggs right now. We found someone who sells chickens that are laying eggs right now for $5 each rather than baby chicks, which wouldn't be laying eggs right now.   

We already have a chicken coop here from when we raised chickens in the past. And we did find a smaller coop at a yard sale last summer. We already bought food for them as we have been anticipating their arrival for a while now. 
If you recall I mentioned that we were not going to shop the Sweet Weepeets consignment sale this time around. However, Bailey is very low on inventory and needs inventory for her shops, so she went on dollar day and restocked her inventory. 
Freebies
One of the pharmaceutical companies I use sent me a free travel pack cooler for my medicine. 

Joy of the Week
It would definitely have to be coming home with the chickens and having four eggs when we got home. 
Photo of the Week

Savings of the Week
The day Bailey went to the consignment sale was the same day I was looking at filters at Amazon, which were priced at $19.95.  I put off buying them for the time being, but when Bailey came home she showed me where she bought a box of twelve of the exact ones I was looking at for only $1.00. Woo Hoo! 
Question of the Week
Have you ever used YNAB to keep track of your budget?
YNAB is an online budget tracker that helps change your money mindset with four simple rules.
1. Give every dollar a job. 2. Embrace your true expenses. 3. Roll with the punches. 4. Age your money. 
Bailey and I have recently started using YNAB and have so far been impressed with how it help us to manage our budgets. If you're interested, you can try YNAB for free for 34 days with no commitment or credit card required. 
Earning Money
The gentleman cutting down our trees has been working hard again this week to clear those trees in danger of falling on our driveway. We do not want to be trapped in here in case of an emergency, and that has happened multiple times lately, so this is a great solution to that problem. 
Avoiding Spending
I've definitely avoided spending this week. The YNAB app helps me to keep very good track of where my money is and what I have to spend in each category of my budget. In fact the last thing I bought was gas and that was last week. There has been no spending this week. 
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
We’ve been doing the usual things, eating our leftovers and keeping the kitchen clean and well stocked to make meals. 
We tried the Zatarains Andouille sausage this week. I found that it was very flavorful but also had a hint of hot spices, which I try to avoid. Bailey said she didn’t care for it and prefers the Polish sausage over this sausage. 
We need to make a grocery order soon as we are out of onions, cheese, bread, buns. You get the idea, so I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner on Wednesday. I knew I had some frozen hamburgers in the freezer and plenty of beans, tomatoes, and macaroni. So, I decided to make a chili mac type of dinner with what I had on hand. It turned out spicy, but good and Bailey gave it a thumbs up. 👍 
On Thursday, we had a friend gift us with several food items including a ham, chicken, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, and oranges. 
Walmart sells these bright yellow golden canary melons, but every time I’ve tried to order one in a pickup, they tell me they are out of stock. However, I was inside the store last week and found several of them, so I made sure to get one. 

It sat on the counter to ripen this week and I cut it up for dinner on Thursday night. It has a similar flavor to a honeydew melon, but ripened so much easier than any honeydew melon ever has for me. This was the best melon and so sweet it tasted like candy. I’ll definitely be buying more whenever I see them again. 
Meals This Week
All meals are served with either salad or vegetables and may not always be listed here. 
* If you see a dinner in bold print that means we had it more than once this week.
- Meatballs in Brown Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Cole Slaw.- Dirty Rice with Andouille Sausage, Green Beans, Potato Salad.- Loaded Baked Potatoes with choice of toppings including broccoli, cauliflower,     dill, chives, onions, sour cream, and cheese if desired. - Movie Night Pizza- Chili Mac- Roasted Potatoes & Cabbage, Green and Yellow Squash, Cucumber Salad, Strawberries and Golden Canary Melon. 
Recipe of the Week
This recipe takes me back to the early 1990’s, which was over thirty years ago. It’s a very simple meatless recipe, so it’s economical and quite tasty. At the time I used regular lasagne noodles, but today you can swap those for no cook lasagne noodles and lower the oven time to 30 to 40 minutes. 
Low Fat Cheese Lasagne
Ingredients:
1 - 15 ounce can tomato sauce1 - 14 ounce jar spaghetti sauce16 ounces low-fat cottage cheese 1/2 cup grated fat free Parmesan cheese9 lasagna noodles8 ounces low fat mozzarella cheese
Directions:
Combine tomato and spaghetti sauce in bowl and set aside.Combine cottage and Parmesan cheese and set aside. Line non stick pan with 3 lasagne noodles, 1/3 of the sauce, 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture, and then 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat two times.Cover with foil. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees. Makes 9 servings at 281 calories. 
Saving on Entertainment
We've recently watched the film The Whale, which is the story of a reclusive English teacher who tries to reconnect with his daughter for a chance to redeem himself. 
We’ve also watched A Man Called Otto, which is the story of a grumpy widower who forms an unlikely friendship with his new neighbors, which ends up turning his world around. 
I would recommend both films and only watched The Whale  because I saw Brendan Fraser's Academy Awards speech on TikTok and was very moved by it. 
What I've been Reading This Week
The Bluebirds are Nesting ~ Annabelle has been posting her “Bluebirds on the Ground” series recently. She is working her way around the globe with reports on the cost of living and how life has changed and how people are adapting to get ahead if possible.
The latest one was written by Cath who runs the popular The Cheapskates Club from Australia. Cath believes that a barter/trade system will become more popular as things disappear from our lives or become too expensive. I’ve read similar writings from Frugal Queen of France and Carol from the Living Simply Facebook groups. 

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.

BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Third Frugal Friday of March 2023

Welcome to Friday! 
My Frugal Week
On Saturday night we went with family to the Mexican restaurant to celebrate a family birthday. We saw people we hadn’t seen since before the pandemic started, and had a great time visiting with each other. 
We had a cold snap on Tuesday and even had to turn on the heat. Native Southerners call this Red Bud Winter. The first of the Tennessee folklore winters, which are based on what trees are blooming at the time. 
We received the first of the money from the trees being cut down.  It would be great if we ended up with enough money to pay the property taxes next year. We’ve already paid the property taxes for this year. 
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
We have several cans of vegetable soup that were gifted to us, which needed doctoring up when used. I added a drained can of mixed vegetables to mine along with some black pepper, which made it more palatable and made an affordable lunch for several days. 
Breakfasts included rice left over from dinners and added to scrambled eggs in a flour tortilla with chipotle sauce for Bailey. Oatmeal, muffins, cinnamon raisin toast and fruit were other options. Using up the leftovers is definitely economical. 
I perused the grocery store sale ads this week and the one good sale I noticed was the twelve count box of Sprite priced at 3 for for $12.00. We keep it on hand for medicinal purposes and that is the lowest I have seen it in a long time, so we bought some for that purpose. 
I went through my recipes for meal planning and using our local Fresh and Low, came up with a meal plan for seven meals this week and spent $54 to get the items not already in my pantry. I ordered through Instacart and had it delivered to my back door. 
One item I bought that is new to us is the Zatarain’s Andouille sausage to make with dirty rice this week. We’ve never tried it before and at $5.59 I feel it will be an economical meal. 
A few years ago I watched as an employee in Whole Foods took just the broccoli stem and made a green juice with it. The broccoli stem is as tasty as the florets and in this day and age of expensive groceries and not wasting food, we need to eat the broccoli stems too. I peel mine and chop them up, cook them and they are delicious!
So in order to avoid food waste, eat the broccoli stems and bread heels. If you turn the heel over and let the heel be inside the sandwich you can hide it. It works great for grilled cheese. 
Meals This Week
All meals are served with either salad or vegetables and may not always be listed here. 
* If you see a dinner in bold print that means we had it more than once this week.
- Salmon Patties, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans with Onions. - Mexican Restaurant for a Family Birthday Celebration. - Tacos in soft Corn Tortillas with Cheddar Cheese, Lettuce, Tomatoes and Red Onions. As usual, I used onions and one can of potatoes, chopped up, to stretch the - meat for another meal. - Baked Potatoes with choice of toppings including butter, sour cream, broccoli, chives, dill, cheese, and the last of the taco meat if desired. - Movie Night Pizza - Chicken, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw. - Hamburgers with Cheese, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, Tater Tots. 

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.
BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Meal Plan Monday

In no particular order, these are the meals I plan on making and serving this week. As usual, we have plenty of salad and vegetables to serve with these meals. 
1. Meatball Stroganoff with Egg Noodles2. Tacos x 23. Loaded Baked Potatoes 4. Len Penzo Macaroni and Cheese5. Cheeseburgers & Tater Tots6. Dirty Rice with Sausage
Come back on Friday if you're interested in reading which side dishes we chose for each meal.
BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Second Frugal Friday of March 2023

Welcome to Friday! 
My Frugal Week
What a week we’ve had here! Last Thursday I bought groceries, then on Friday a big thunderstorm came through and the power went out for 55 hours until late Sunday night. So, I had to trash the majority of the groceries I bought. But, I have insurance to cover such losses, so I’m grateful for that. Whew! 
I apologize for not answering blog comments last week, but it was inevitable with no power. My tablet was the first thing to go dead and my phone was barely holding on as well. 
We dropped off everything at the consignment sale this week and we are not going to shop the sale this time as we are saving our money for other things right now. 
We had more issues with trees this week as lightning struck one tree and it came down and brought two more trees with it blocking the driveway again. So, we hired a man who is cutting down the trees in that area and paying us for the lumber, which is so much better than having to pay to cut them down. 
A few years ago I bought a free sample of Strideline socks only paying shipping for them. I wasn’t a fan of the socks because they were no show and I prefer ankle socks, but Bailey really liked them, so I bought her some for Christmas that year. 

Fast forward to this past Christmas and everywhere I looked they were out of stock on these socks. So, Bailey taught herself how to darn and now she is darning any holes in her socks. Amazon has these in stock now, but she won’t need to replace hers for a while yet now. 
Question of the Week
Have you had to have injections in your eyes? If so, what was that like for you? My retina specialist is considering that for me when I see him in April. 
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
I feel like there wasn’t much saving money in the kitchen this week having to throw out food. But my insurance check should arrive today, so we can restock. 
Meals This Week
All meals are served with either salad or vegetables and may not always be listed here. 
* If you see a dinner in bold print that means we had it more than once this week.
Red Bag Chicken on Brioche Buns with Honey Mustard, Seasoned Fries. Sandwiches Polish Sausage, Dirty Rice, Corn on the Cob.Cheeseburgers, Fries, Tomato, Lettuce, and Onions. Polish Sausage Dirty Rice, Scalloped Potatoes, and Corn on the Cob. 
What I've been Reading This Week
The House In The Cerulean Sea

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.

BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

First Frugal Friday of March 2023

Welcome to Friday! 
Quote of the Week

“Food shortages are here people, eat it all up”. ~ Frugal Queen

Price of Gas & Barrel of Oil this Week
My Frugal Week
I saved on a garbage bag this week by dumping the garbage can in my bedroom into the bag in the kitchen rather than putting both bags in the trash can. (Savings: 20¢)
The Sweet Seconds Sale is coming up on March 11th. Bailey and I have done another purge of household inventory for the sale. I’ve probably said it before, but I love how the kitchen “feels” when it is decluttered and everything is easily accessible. It makes cooking so much more pleasurable.
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen
Last Friday I went to Food City and found several markdowns. One of them was a half-pound package of pork for $1.17, which was the perfect amount for two people. I also found a bag of vegetables on markdown for $1.99, so combining those with some leftover rice, I made a pork stir fry/fried rice for dinner one night. 

Food City also had apples on markdown, so I picked up some of those for the week. They also had cans of corn or green beans for 50¢ each, so I picked up four cans, two of each. 
FC had their Full Circle brand of almond milk on sale with $1.00 off digital coupon, so I paid $2.99 for it verses $5.99 for Almond Breeze. (Savings $3.00). 
Meals This Week
All meals are served with either salad or vegetables and may not always be listed here. 
* If you see a dinner in bold print that means we had it more than once this week.
Pork Stir Fry, Roasted Potatoes & Carrots. Tacos with potatoes to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the meat, tortillas, lettuce, onions, and cheese. Ham, Rice Pilaf, Green Beans with Onions.Fettuccini Alfredo, Broccoli, Garlic Bread. Chicken Casserole, Green Beans with Onions, Carrots. Cheeseburger Sliders on Brioche Buns, Tater Tots. Meatballs in Brown Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas.
What I've been Reading This Week
The Real Goal of Consumerism
Frugal Hashtags
#costoflivingcrisis
#dontwastefood

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.

BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Fourth Frugal Friday of February 2023

Welcome to Friday! 
My Frugal Week

I tried to get out early on Saturday morning, but couldn’t get out because of a tree down in the driveway. Our handyman was coming on Saturday anyway, so I let him know about it and he took care of it over the next two days. 
We’ve had sixteen inches of rain over the past month and the ground was so saturated the tree came out of the ground root ball and all. The ground just can’t hold any more water. 
Later in the week we had some beautiful spring like weather. On Tuesday it was 68 degrees and I opened up the windows in the house and let it air out. It was so nice and refreshing.

We have hyacinths and daffodils blooming here now, which is definitely a sign of spring.
Saving Money In My Frugal Kitchen

Save A Lot through Instacart has 30 medium eggs for $6.79 this week. It was so nice to have more than one dozen eggs finally. 
I stopped in at Food City yesterday and found several markdowns. I’ll take a photo of them Ms post it next week, hopefully. 
Meals This Week
All meals are served with either salad or vegetables and may not always be listed here. 
* If you see a dinner in bold print that means we had it more than once this week.
Dirty Rice with Polish Sausage, Corn on the Cob. Meatballs in Brown Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Peas. Hamburgers with Cheese, Tater Tots, Cole Slaw.Baked Fish, Scalloped Potatoes, Carrots, and Cole Slaw. Chicken Fajitas, Tortillas, Mexican Rice, Roasted Carrots, Onions, Potatoes & Peppers.Ham, Mac & Cheese, Carrots, and Apple Pie. 🍎 Baked Chicken, Brown Rice Pilaf, Steamed Broccoli.

Recipe of the Week

Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 pounds potatoes, sliced 

¼ cup butter

1 large onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

1 cup chicken broth or 1 cup hot water and 1 bouillon cube

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Add bouillon cube to one cup of hot water in a canning jar and dissolve.

Add milk to the canning jar and mix together.

Set aside.

To make the sauce, melt butter, onion and garlic over medium heat. 

Cook until onion is softened. 

Add flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. 

Reduce heat to low.

Add a small amount of the liquid from the canning jar to the flour roux and whisk until smooth. Continue adding liquid until it is a thick, smooth consistency.

Bring to a boil over medium heat while continuing to whisk.  Stir in salt and pepper and let boil for 1 minute.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. 

Combine potatoes with sauce and place in pan.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.

Uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes until golden brown.

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.

BelindaMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27