Friday, January 12, 2024

First Frugal Friday of January 2024




My Frugal Week

I received good news from the eye Dr on Tuesday! The swelling/bleeding in my right eye is completely gone on this new medicine! So, even though I did have one more injection in that eye, I won’t need another one! He will only have to treat the left eye, which is also very improved! I was thrilled! 

We have a stray cat who is very mean, eating our cat food, fighting with our cats, and making loud cat noises while sitting under our cars and comes every day to torment. 

We have been wanting a trapping cage for a while, so I looked on Facebook Marketplace and found one for $20, offered the seller $15, and he accepted. We brought it home and set it up that night and this is what we caught the first day. 


Following a hilarious discussion on our local Facebook group, a sweet lady came to get him and relocate him to where she lives, and I had multiple offers of areas to relocate him. The next night I caught another one. Ugh! I think I'll be catching more possum than annoying cats. But, we did catch the mean cat and a dear friend relocated him as well. 

Now that my Dad has passed away we have the honor of going through his possessions and figuring out the next stage. My brother, sister and nieces are coming in from Illinois & Michigan next weekend to help. 


One of the items he had was an Emeril Lagasse French Door Air Fryer like the one pictured above. It is also a convection
 oven, grill, and dehydrator. Dad would have wanted me to have this, so it is now in my kitchen and I will think of him often when I use it. 

I was getting Dad's mail while he was in the hospital and kept it in my bedroom for when he came home. Included were two packages, so after he passed, I opened them and included was a package of laundry sheets, which he had been telling me about recently. So, we kept these to use in our own laundry. 


Also included was this new pair of gloves. I knew he needed gloves and bought him a pair recently, so I will keep these for myself and take the ones I got him and the ones I bought for myself at the thrift store last month and donate them on Trade Day. 


I was running low on toothpaste and in the last few years made the switch back to basic Crest paste toothpaste. I buy the tubes at Walmart and the single tube is $1.96, but you can get a package of three for $4.96, which saves $1 over the single tubes. 

I came home with the new tubes and although it's tempting to open a new tube, I will try and get all I can out of my last tube, so far I've gotten five more uses out of it. 

My Pioneer Woman Skillet was showing its age recently and I casually mentioned to Bailey that would be a good Christmas gift for me next year. She goes into a tall cabinet that only she can reach and pulls out a brand new skillet in the box, which we picked up at a yard sale and I had forgotten about. LOL How neat is that? 

On Tuesday after the eye Dr, we stopped at Red Lobster and had lunch using the gift card from my Dad. We also stopped for our free Firehouse Subs, which will be lunches for the next three days, went to PetSmart for cat food, and went to the thrift store. 


I picked up a monthly dry erase/bulletin board for $1.99, which I am going to use for my monthly menu. I also picked up three new to me dish cloth/hand towels for 99 cents each, which will replace some very thin ones. I also picked up a set of three Anchor Hocking glass nesting bowls with lids for $3.99.


Swaggerty's sent me a flyer with recipes and coupons in the mail this week. There is a page full of coupons with enough to to share with friends and family. So, if you didn't sign up when I mentioned it a few weeks ago, be sure to sign up now if you'd like some coupons. 

Finally, I rolled up a towel to put on the window sill in my bedroom as the condensation on the windows can be harmful to the wooden window sill.

Freebies & Photo of the Week


These are free items we picked up at Trade Day on Sunday. We brought three bags of items with us to donate and they were gone by the time we left. In the photo are four potatoes, one tomato, two onions, one can of diced tomatoes, three packages of hot chocolate mix, two cans of pork and beans, one bottle of Pampered Spice ranch seasoning, and four packs of cranberries all for free. 

Thanks to Linda over at Practical Parsimony for posting this, you can get a free scoop of Classic Carol chicken salad at any Chicken Salad Chick location on January 18, 2024 for customer appreciation day. 

Savings of the Week


I had an errand to run in Publix and found these two packages of Hurst's BBQ Style Cowboy Beans on the clearance rack price at two for $3.09. We love Hurst's Beans and especially their HamBeens 15 Bean Soup beans in the plain, but especially the cajun flavor. We like to use those to make Pizza Beans, which are delicious. 

Saving Money YouTube Videos

Save $140 Dollars on Groceries This Month ~ Demonstrates how to save money crossing items off your grocery list using a five pound bag of flour. 

What I've been Reading This Week

The Legacy of Home ~ Reducing Expenses


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.


Belinda
Homemaker at Heart
Mortgage & Debt Free
~ Living within our Means ~
My Linktree

~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~
Proverbs 31:27


18 comments:

  1. You had some great deals, free and cheap. When I called my bank, I told the woman I talked with about Chicken Salad Chick and she thanked me profusely for the tip. I love that your father seemed to be so 'with it' getting those laundry sheets. I have wondered if I would be allergic to them. Did you ever share what he died with?

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    1. Thank you, Linda. My Dad would have liked you saying he was “with it” with the laundry sheets. So far we have really liked them.

      He called me on December 18th after a shower and said his right arm was hurting and he wanted me to take him to the ER. He walked into the ER that day, and the ER personnel told me he had a brain bleed (stroke). He had to have had it in the ER because he couldn't have walked in after the stroke. They had to take him to Chattanooga via ambulance where they treat stroke patients. He spent three days in the ICU before the let him go to the floor. He went from being completely independent to not being able to talk or feed himself. Bailey and I knew he was still in there as he would light up when we entered his room. He spent the two holiday weekends in the hospital and then in the end returned to the ICU where he passed away peacefully on January 3, 2024. We held his hand until the very end.

      It was very sad for both of us and we are still trying to come to terms with it as it was such a shocking ending to such a vibrant life. I’m so grateful he came back to Tennessee to live in August as we all made some wonderful memories we will have for the rest of our lives. Him and Bailey went on multiple adventures on his four wheeler and she and I will miss him dearly.

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  2. Hi Belinda, remember to get copies of your dad's death certificate. Anything your family has to do in regards to his estate will require one. I have been through this and it is better to be prepared than stressed out. Hope you and Bailey are doing ok. Barb

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    1. Thank you so much, Barb. That is excellent advice.

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  3. (Little Penpen) so happy for your good news on your eye! It sounds like you had a good week overall and I hope things go well for you and your siblings when you sort out your dad’s things. Score! On the pioneer woman skillet. Funny about your possums and relocations! Glad you got the mean cat out of there.

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    1. Thank you so much, Penny. I am so glad that mean cat is gone. He was such a nuisance.

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  4. First - wonderful on your eye! That is fantastic news.
    That is a neat air fryer - seems daddy is going to continue to help you out for a long while. Isn't that neat. Those little things mean so much. You sure got some nice deals this week and YAY on the skillet. Bailey has a good memory!!
    I have caught many a opossum - I usually let them go, but do relocate racoons and groundhogs. Glad you got the mean kitty.
    Have a good weekend.

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    1. Thank you, Cheryl. I was very tickled about my eyesight. Yes, Dad has continued to look out for us, which is such a blessing to us. We've caught three possums since Friday. LOL They need to alert the others to stay away. LOL

      I hope you also have a good weekend.

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  5. Great, great news about your eye treatment working successfully! And, I'm so glad you'll have help from your family when dealing with your father's belongings.

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  6. Very good post. I will be facing some of these issues as well..

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    1. Thank you. I’ll be keeping you in good thoughts.

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  7. Great news on your eyes! I'm so glad the new meds have helped, and I hope you won't have to have many more injections in the other eye.
    Glad you were able to relocate the mean cat so your cats will be safe. Funny about the possums. With my luck, I would probably catch a skunk if I tried to trap anything around here. Ah the joys of living in the country. :)
    I'm sure that your Dad is happy that you are able to use the air fryer and gloves and gift cards. How cool about the skillet too.
    I received the coupons in the mail this week too, and I bought a box of sausage patties since they were on sale at FoodCity. Thanks for the tip on the coupons.
    Hope you stay safe and warm. Looks like we will have some cold weather next week.

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    1. Thank you so much, Kathy. I was so tickled to get a good report on my eyes. The other day on our local Facebook group someone asked if anyone was missing a pig. 😂 A skunk would be awful to catch! 😂

      I hope you stay safe and warm too next week. I’m glad you got the Swaggerys coupons too. I love their boxes of sausage patties.

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  8. It's a hard job going through Dad's things I bet. I'm glad your getting the things you need. People often don't think the things like aluminum foil, baggies, laundry detergent etc. are any use but they will help your family a lot. I'm glad your family is coming to help with the rest.
    I'm so glad your eyes are getting better!

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    1. Thank you so much, Vickie. And that is so true about the baggies and foil. It will all come in handy.

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  9. Yay! on the eye news! I got the Swaggerty's flyer today and am so happy to have all those coupons ready to use. The new skillet sounds just like what happens here, too! If you are near Publix before the ad is over Colgate Optic White is BOGO $4.59 and there is a $4/2 digital coupon making them 2/.59.

    I am glad you got that mean cat gone. A mean cat is a mean cat!

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    1. Thank you so much, Lana. That is a great deal on toothpaste! We need to go get that. Thank you for that tip and I’m so glad you got the Swaggertys coupons.

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