Fourth Frugal Friday of September 2025

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday!
My Frugal Week
We sold 400 items at the consignment sale, which brought in $1,128.50 and after the owners 40% cut, we brought home $667.10 from the sale. It’s always a lot of work, but definitely worth it. 

Bailey went to a fill a bag for $10 event at a local thrift store and found me five brand new LuLaRoe shirts in my favorite style, the Erika swing shirt. I love this style and she bought one medium and four in the small size as she thought they would fit me and they did. Now I can get rid of the XL ones as they are falling off my shoulder.
On Saturday I had a grocery order delivered from Walmart that included cat food, cat litter, and a Zero water filter. Those boxes of cat litter are heavy, so I’ll gladly pay a good tip to have those carried up the stairs. My friend Linda has one of those stair chair lifts and uses that to haul her cat litter up the stairs. 
On Monday I stopped at Publix for a sale on almond milk, Aldi to try their protein shakes, UGO in Cleveland for turkey pepperoni and red peppers, and lastly to Walmart for bananas, cottage cheese, and cheddar cheese. 
Savings of the Week

On Tuesday I went to UGO in Chatsworth to buy some of their turkey pepperoni, but they were sold out. I did find the large bottles (34 ounces) of Spic & Span for $1.99, so I stocked up on those and bought six bottles. 
We normally buy these at the Dollar Tree in the 16 ounce containers for $1.50, so this saved us $3.60. When we consistently purchase items at a lower price across the board we save money as the savings does add up over time. 
They also had Yoplait yogurt with a short sale date, which was six for $1.00, so I picked up six. 

Afterwards I went to Ingles to check for meat markdowns. There were people hanging around waiting on the meat manager to finish his markdowns, which happens more often as people struggle to afford groceries these days. 
The lady next to me commented that the markdowns were not as good as they used to be and these days only seemed to be marked down $1.00 or so, and I agreed with her. Bailey and I just had the same conversation last week. I ended up not buying any meat markdowns as the prices, even after being marked down, were more than I was willing to pay.
I did pick up some October/cranberry beans as they were on sale for $1.58 per pound and they are my favorite beans, so I bought four pounds. 
I stopped by a couple of Little Free Libraries on the way home and dropped off and picked up a couple of books. 
Decluttering & Downstairs Cleanup Continues 
I found another area that needs to be cleaned up downstairs. There are cabinets from floor to ceiling in some areas down there and I knew there were boxes inside them that were never touched again from 1986 when we moved here from Illinois. 
When my sister came last year, she checked them and said it was just empty boxes, so I never looked. I checked one last Friday and the one I checked wasn't empty boxes, but filled with boxes and boxes of mail and other stuff as far back as the 1960s and 70s. Insert a big sigh here.
So, I took one box and went through it. I found a stack of 45 records with such titles as Roy Orbison’s Pretty Women, The Rolling Stones, and Patsy Cline on Decca Records. This stuff cannot just be thrown away, but will have to be gone through as well. 
I’m just going to take my time and do one box at a time when I’m feeling like it and not stress out about it. I did go down there on Saturday to take care of some liquids Dad had stored in open buckets. I had some containers with lids that worked to dispose of these. As always, it’s a work in progress inside and outside. 
Recycling
On Saturday there is a recycling program going on in Chattanooga. My Dad has multiple tires around the property and I want to take them to this event. They will take up to  eight tires, and if they have room on the truck, will take each additional tire for $1.00 each. 
This got me to thinking, there is an old tractor battery in the pole barn that needs to be disposed. I looked up the local metal recycling place and saw they buy batteries for 18 cents per pound. So, I took the battery, it weighed 34 pounds, and they gave me $6.12 for it. 

The website states they do not take tires and I wanted to confirm that, which they did, but he told me they do take rims. Perfect! There are several rims in the pole barn too. I'm happy to sell these to them rather than pay someone to haul them off for me. 
When I got back home, I walked around the property counting tires. There are around six in the pole barn and I found five more in the woods. They are not all going to fit into my car, but I will take eight to this event and work on the rest later. 
I also found four glass jars in the woods, so I picked those up and put them on the picnic table and will figure out what to do with those later. 
Freebies

People Helping People, our local charity shop, wrote on Facebook that they had free vegetables to give away on Tuesday and asked people to come get some. I went and came home with corn, squash, zucchini, okra, and a couple of varieties of eggplant. 

And while I was there I picked out three things from the free box. There is a limit of three items, so I picked up three Crest toothpastes. 
Joy & Photo of the Week

We have a flowering plant in our kitchen window and the other day when I was washing dishes, a hummingbird came to the window and hovered in front of the flower for just a few seconds. That hasn't ever happened before and was so sweet. 

Also, twice on Tuesday I came across a flock of Canadian geese in the grass. In September they begin their journeys south to find food and avoid snow from up north, so it was an immense joy to see them. 
Saving Money on Entertainment
This week I received an email from Hulu that my 99 cent subscription will end in October and I will be charged $11.99 per month now. So, I cancelled my subscription as there is plenty of free entertainment out there. 
YouTube Videos

Gill over at That British Woman recently wrote about the $1.00 house series on YouTube, so I checked it out this week. This is an interesting series on how she is bringing this old home back to life. 
What I've been Reading This Week

Inflation is Still Being Felt at the Grocery Store, which is an article by Consumer Affairs. From the article…

Over the past year, grocery bills across the United States have surged, putting pressure on households already stretched by broader inflation. According to government data, the average price of a grocery basket is up more than 5% compared with this time last year, marking one of the steepest year-over-year increases in over a decade.

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.

Belinda 🫶 💕 Homemaker at Heart 💕 ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27