Final Frugal Friday of March 2024

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 
xdcMy Frugal Week
On Sunday I spoke with the people at the church across the road. I let them know that Dad passed away and we would be selling that land next to theirs. They had previously asked me about their parking lot, which Mom owns with her land. 
I told them we were working on the paperwork with the attorney and would be getting in touch with them soon.
They were so sweet and offered to bring Dad's tractor implements across the road for us since the hydraulics went out on Dad's tractor. Wasn't that sweet of them? 
On Tuesday, I stripped my bed and washed all my bed clothes. 
Both the red buds and the dogwoods are in bloom here this week.
Freebies
The reason I went out on Sunday was to go to the Safe Haven Animal Rescue Program (SHARP) pet food giveaway. It's on a first come first serve basis for people in the county where we live. 
They gave us two bags of cat food equaling thirteen pounds plus a container of cat litter. They also offered us wet cat food, but I turned that down for someone else who might need it as our cats prefer dry food anyway. 

I went to the dermatologist Thursday for my annual checkup and they gave me two of these All free and clear samples. They are good for at least four loads of laundry. 
What I've been Reading This Week
I'm currently reading Little Fires Everywhere, which is written by Celeste NG. Bailey and I are both reading it together in anticipation of watching the first season of the TV miniseries. The story reminds me of The Stepford Wives because this story is about a picture perfect family whose lives get upended by a mother daughter duo. 

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

Meal Plan Monday ~ March 25, 2024

 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ We had pot roast and vegetables left from Sunday, so I made a small beef stew with what was left over. I was concerned that it might not be enough food, so I had some ground beef thawing in the refrigerator and made cheesy potatoes to go with that. We also had green beans with onions. 

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday~ Chicken Pot Pie, but I used a 9 x 13 pan so used both crusts on the bottom and then used a package of Pepperidge Farm dressing mix for the top. It made a lot of food, so we ate on that for three days. 

Saturday ~ Orange Chicken, Spinach Salad, Cauliflower Rice, Steamed Broccoli. 

Sunday ~ Chicken Fajitas, Grilled Onions and Peppers, Brussel Sprouts. 

What’s on the Menu for This Coming Week

I haven't decided yet, so I'm going to wing it this week. I have several ideas planned and will definitely be having fish a couple of days this week. Please come back next week to see what we had on our menu this week. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

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

Fourth Frugal Friday March 2024

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 
My Frugal Week
As usual on Friday, we went downstairs to clean & declutter again. I threw out the last of the VHS tapes that we found and moved a long dresser against the wall where before it had divided the room. It opened up the space much more and will make it easier to move things in and out down there. 
Timmy, our friend and garbage man, didn't come on Saturday, unfortunately. It was  his wife's birthday and they had a family celebration.  We had caught another possum for him to relocate, and had plenty of trash, but he is a good guy and he will be here on Sunday. 
Bailey's Uncle Jody came on Sunday to shoot with some of his friends. He does so much for us and lives in the city, so being able to come here in the country to shoot with his friends is important to him and we are happy to comply.
On Tuesday we went to the bargain movie night at the local theater again. We watched Arthur the King, which is based on the true story of Michael Light, who with a team of three others competes in the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. 
Along the way a dog they name Arthur comes along for the ride and redefines what victory, loyalty and friendship truly means. We enjoyed the film and would definitely watch it again. 
We went to Walmart afterwards and picked up some groceries as we were running low on breakfast items. 
We went to McKay Used Books on Thursday with more books from Dad's office and received $66 in trade credit. Afterwards we went to the Samaritan Thrift store to shop. Bailey found several Torrid shirts for her resale business. 
Saving Money YouTube Videos
Watch on the Whippoorwill Holler channel as Miss Lori does her laundry with no electricity using the old ways, off grid. Watch here. 
She uses both Fels Naptha and Zote soap to clean her laundry. We had three bars of the pink Zote soap, as I blogged about before, and the smell is amazing! She also mentioned using the Fels Naptha to spot clean her shoes and that is something I hadn't thought to do before. 
That is al the news to report from here this week. How has your week been?

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

Menu Plan Monday ~ Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen

 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Bailey was gone to a rehearsal dinner and I had slept most of the day after my eye injection, so when I did wake up, I just made two small personal sized pizzas and put hers in the fridge until she got home. 

Taco Tuesday ~ This was the wedding day of my niece and they had a Mexican buffet at their wedding. It was the neatest thing. 

Wednesday ~ Over the weekend I put a ten pound bag of chicken leg quarters in the fridge to thaw. On Wednesday they were still frozen some, but I put them in the oven to cook anyway. 

What a difference roasting them in the oven verses making them in the crockpot. The skin was so nice and crispy. 

I made Chicken Tacos for Bailey and I just had a small portion of chicken with Brussel Sprouts and Roasted Potatoes. 

Thursday ~ Baked Fish, Steamed Carrots, Roasted Potatoes. 

Friday ~ Cheese Cocktail Weenies, Dirty Rice, Carrots, and Corn. I just threw together what I could of leftovers and what I had on hand after cleaning downstairs. It worked and fed us well and no ordering take out! 

Saturday ~ Sausage, Broccoli, Carrots, and Field Peas. A delicious meal for under $5 made in the comfort of our own home. 

Sunday ~ Pot Roast, Carrots, Potatoes, and Green Beans with Onions. Can you believe we are actually having a beef roast? It's been a LONG time since I bought one, but this one was on mark down, so I bought it. 

What’s on the Menu for This Coming Week

I haven't decided yet, so I'm going to wing it this week, although I have several ideas floating around in my mind. Please come back next week to see what we had on our menu this week. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

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

Third Frugal Friday of March 2024

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 
My Frugal Week
Last Friday, as I mentioned, we cleaned in Dad's office and workshop. I threw out more canned food that I found, some of which was Progresso soup in the can that had dried up inside and was light as a feather. It already looks so much better than it did when we first began. Here is a photo of the trash pile for the clean out from this week. I should have taken pictures all along, but didn't think to do that.  

The crutches and walkers will all be donated to People Helping People as they loan them out to be to used for free. The wooden ladders have all been replaced with metal ones. 
On Saturday I woke up early and took our own household garbage, and added it to the pile. I then deep cleaned in the kitchen and sorted some canned goods in our own pantry upstairs. 
I had two eye injections on Monday this week and they wear me out for some reason, so I came home and took a long nap afterwards. 

Tuesday evening was the wedding of my niece and her partner. Bailey was one of the bridesmaids and that is her pictured above. It was a beautiful ceremony and we are thrilled for the happy couple.
Freebies

Tuesday I went to the Samaritan Center for our last money saving cooking class. It was a lot of fun and we decorated chef hats and earned our graduation certificates and received a free bag of goodies along with another $10 gift certificate. 

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

Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen ~ Meal Plan Monday

                                  

My Frugal Week

This week I made more pickled beets because we enjoy them so much and they are very healthy. 

No recipe of the week this week, but did you see the Chocolate Hummus that Cheryl posted on her blog, Cheryl's Frugal Corner?  I can't wait to try it!

What’s for Dinner

Meatless Monday ~ Red Salmon, Green Beans with Onions, Cole Slaw.

Taco Tuesday ~ Movie Night! 

Wednesday ~ BBQ Pork Ribs, Hot Potato Salad, Green Beans with Onions. 

Thursday ~ Bailey had a book club meeting, so I made some taco meat we could both eat, and she had hers on the run.  

Friday ~ The last of the Taco Meat, Hot Potato Salad, Sugar Snap Peas. 

Saturday ~ Sausage Quiche, Potato Pancakes, Butter Beans, and Steamed Broccoli. 

Sunday ~ Chicken Stir Fry, which I loaded up with vegetables and then served Brussel Sprouts on the side. It's been too long since we had one and we both enjoyed it. 

What’s on the Menu for This Coming Week

These are the items we have on hand that I can use to make meals this week. 

Salmon, Sausage, Ground Beef, Chicken, and Pork Ribs. Please be sure to come back next week to see what min dishes and sides we serve with these proteins. 

We are serving two meatless meals this week to save money on meat.

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

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

Second Frugal Friday March 2024

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 
My Frugal Week
I’m sorry this is much later than usual, but I had two appointments today and then spent the afternoon cleaning Dad’s office and workshop and am just now getting a break. 
So, this will be a short Frugal Friday post.
On Tuesday I went to the Samaritan Center for the saving money class and earned another $10 voucher for the thrift store. 
On Tuesday evening we went to see Wonka at the $5 bargain movie night and got a free popcorn. 
I got my hair cut this week at Great Clips and they are now charging $20 for a haircut just like Walmart. 😔 
I did pick up four free books at the Samaritan Center and everyone in the class received a free package of carrot seeds. I also picked up a free bottle of water.
My pneumatic compression device aka leg pumps were finally approved by my insurance company and arrived on Monday. I’ve used them every night since the and can already tell a difference. 
That’s all the news from here. How was your week?

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

Menu Plan Monday March 4, 2024

 

My Frugal Week

I've been using the black tea bags from That's Smart available at Food City for $1.49 for 100 bags. With these, I can make one gallon of tea for 15 cents, so one cup of tea works out to about one penny. Now, that is a pretty inexpensive drink and very refreshing.

On Friday I went to Georgia to do some grocery shopping as that is where Ingle's & Kroger are located and also another UGO, with prices that are different from the UGO in Tennessee.

We live in the very southern corner of Tennessee, so we aren't going out of our way to go to multiple stores. We can benefit from those here and in Georgia.

Anyway, my first stop was UGO, nothing too exciting here, but I did find sunflower seeds for $1.00. We love them in salads and cottage cheese, so I bought several. They also had wheat crackers for $1.00, so I bought two of those.

Next stop was Ingle's and even though I find the price of their regular groceries to be high, they can be really good when it comes to mark downs. I found pork sausage on markdown for $1.48 a pound. I bought ten packages as they make great meat for Egg Roll in a Bowl and other dinners as well.

I went to Ingle's because they have their Laura Lynn mayonnaise on sale, which we've been talking about in other blog posts, how expensive mayo has gotten. Well the Laura Lynn brand was on sale for $2.48. They also had Duke's mayo priced on sale for $3.18. Multiple people in the south swear by Duke's mayonnaise.

Last stop was to Kroger where I found Silk almond milk for 84 cents, yogurt for $2.61, and two packages of salad marked down. All three items were on my grocery list. 

I used coupons Kroger sent to me recently and saved $10.40 on canned vegetables, green olives, parmesan cheese, tuna, and a free 2 liter 7UP.

Shopping the close out stores, using coupons and shopping the sales are my solutions to high grocery prices. Yes, it takes time to do these things, but food manufacturers are not lowing their prices, so I'm doing what I can to feed my family more affordably. 

Last Monday I cooked another five pounds of chicken leg quarters in the crockpot that cost me $5.90 and we ate meals from that all week long. Once they were finished cooking, I deboned the chicken and saved the broth. 

I've just felt recently that I needed to pull out all the stops and work harder at saving money on food and by using all the tools in my arsenal to save as much money as I can on food, which actually leaves me with more money.   

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ We still have some White Chicken Chili from Sunday night's dinner, so we had that for dinner. 

Taco Tuesday ~ Chicken Tacos with corn tortillas, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, and black olives. 

Wednesday & Thursday~ Green Chicken Enchiladas

Friday ~ Loaded Baked Potatoes & Salads

Saturday & Sunday~ Baked Pollock, Green Beans with Onions, Roasted Potatoes, and Salad. 

What’s on the Menu for This Coming Week

We have plenty of food on hand that I can use to make meals this week. Be sure to come back next week to see what sides we serve with these main dishes.

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

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