First Frugal Friday of February 2024

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 

My Frugal Week
I perused the grocery store sale ads on Wednesday. There wasn't anything noteworthy that I could not buy for that price at Walmart.
I hung my laundry on the drying rack rather than use the dryer for certain items. 
I received a payout from Amazon this month for $12.96 thanks to those of you who use my link when ordering off Amazon.
Bailey and I decided that Friday would be the day we work downstairs in Dad's office since our garbage man comes on Saturday. That way he can get all the bags we are throwing out and they won't have to be outside for very long. 
On Friday evening I was worn out from cleaning down there. I think I threw away at least one dozen bags of garbage. I threw away the area rugs as well and used the shop vac to vacuum the floors. I barely made a dent in the mess. 
There were around 200 VHS tapes down there in five boxes and I put a free sign on them on our local Facebook group and someone came to get them Saturday afternoon. His son had wanted some for Christmas and he was thrilled to get so many and said he was going to build a shelf for them. I'm glad to have them out of the way, so we can continue cleaning. 
I brought several kitchen items from Dad’s kitchen to use in my own kitchen. One item was an Anchor Hocking glass loaf pan, which I've always wanted, but rarely see them second hand. Also, several Corelle plates. It was funny because we would give each other meals we had cooked, so he had several of our plates down there and we had several of his plates up here. 
Someone also asked for free firewood on the Facebook group and I know Dad has two or more loads of firewood across the road. So, I offered them up on the group and already have someone coming to get them on Saturday too. Another task out of the way. 

Before we started cleaning, we went on a trip in Dad's four wheeler to Fletcher Spout, which is located in the Cherokee National Forest, next to the Conasauga River and is only a few miles from our home. In 1890, William D. Fletcher created this on his property and intended for people to always be able to get fresh, free spring water. His family maintains Fletcher Spout to this day. 

Dad alway saved his Ocean Spray juice bottles with the handle and took about thirty of them every few weeks and filled them up here. Bailey always went with him and helped him fill them up. He told me how much help she was to him. I'd been saving these jugs for him and we took the one we had empty with us and filled it up in memory of Dad. 

It was wonderful to be outside in nature just riding around and enjoying the area where we live. The ride made me think of my Dad so much and how much he loved it here. We even took a ride to the local church cemetery where he wanted to be buried because it overlooks the mountains. Spending the last five months with him at the end of his life made me look at our home in a whole new light. 

On Monday I had a doctors appointment with the orthopedic doctor and received cortisone shots in both knees. I also combined errands to save on gas and filled up my gas tank ($2.69 gallon), picked up some groceries, and went by the Little Free Pantries and dropped off a few things. 
On Tuesday we attended the first class in a six week series on ways to save money when cooking on a budget. It's held at the Samaritan Center and each time we attend we get a $10 voucher to spend in the thrift store, so Bailey and I earned $20 to spend in the thrift store. We also received a free book, "Eat Well on $4/Day Good and Cheap". 

They showed us how to cook a three can vegan chili and there was even leftovers to take home. 
Afterwards we went sh0pping in the thrift store. They sell children's books for 20 cents each and I'm going to collect children's books all year and add them to a Lego bin that belonged to my Dad to give to our friends for Christmas who have four daughters.

I picked up some bigger kitchen spoons as all of mine seem to disappear. (?) I also picked up some fabric things that I'm going to use as cloth napkins and a couple of shirts for me for 75 cents each. 

Speaking of Christmas, another book I picked up was a Victorian Christmas book, which I'm going to cut up and use in various crafts for Christmas this year.
Freebies
Thanks to Bobi, who figured out for me last week that Lord Chesterfield was acquired by McCall Foods (https://www.mccallfarms.com/our-brands/) and are now packaged under the Glory Foods brand (https://gloryfoods.com/).
Here are a few free cookbooks from their website:
Holiday Traditions Book 
Holiday Cookbook
Another Holiday Cookbook

We also picked up a free weatherization kit at Sethra. I wanted one for a window in my bedroom and low and behold there was a kitchen faucet adaptor included in there. We actually needed one as I took off the water filter this weekend and didn't have an adaptor. So neat that one was included, and it's a swiveling one at that.  
With this fix, I'm reassessing my needs. We filter water through our kitchen faucet water filter (since we are on a well) and then use a Zero Water filter. I like to do that as it saves on the Zero Water filters, but I've decided to stop filtering our water twice and won't buy a new kitchen faucet water filter. 
Savings of the Week

Upon checking my account at CVS.com, I realized I had over $20 in cash back rewards to use on there. So, I checked my list of items we need for February and saw toilet paper, so we were able to get two twelve packs of the Scott 1000 toilet paper for free. 
Saving Money on Entertainment
We watched a 1987 Jessica Tandy & Hume Cronyn film, entitled Foxfire, for free on YouTube this week. In the film, Annie Nations and her husband Hector loved their life together in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but when Hector dies, Annie has to decide if she can handle the wilderness on her own.

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.

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