Fourth Frugal Friday of January 2026

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday
Each Friday here at Frugal Workshop, I share the frugal wins, quiet savings, and simple strategies that helped us stretch our budget over the past seven days. It’s a gentle look back at the small things that make a big difference. 
My Frugal Week
On Saturday I did some deep cleaning in the house. I pulled out all the refrigerator drawers and gave them a good scrubbing inside and out with hot soapy water. I took multiple things from my bedroom closet and put them downstairs to free up space in my closet. 
I also moved all of the houseplants, trimmed the dead ends, and cleaned the dresser they sit on with orange oil furniture polish. The dresser looks so good cleaned up like that. I also did four loads of laundry and was able to get in over 10,000 steps this day. 
On Sunday we found a steel shelf on Facebook Marketplace, brand new in the box, for $20, so I went and picked it up and put it together on Monday. It costs $85 on Amazon, so this was a very good deal. 

I went ahead and put the shelf in my bedroom closet by taking some more items from there and moving them downstairs. The shelf is great for shoes, my fire escape ladder in the blue bin, and other various items. 
Story of Cleaning Out
Bailey was looking for inventory online the other day and happened across an ad from an older lady giving away free clothes on Facebook Marketplace. She told Bailey that her grown children had been telling her she needed to start getting rid of stuff as her home was full. Sound familiar?
The first batch was pretty good, so Bailey went back and picked up more another batch. This batch came from the lady's carport, where she had put bags of clothes she wanted to donate, but they didn't get donated and just sat there. The majority of the second batch had to be trashed since they had been stored outside. 
To me it was another reminder to declutter regularly and not leave unnecessary items for someone else to clean. I went through my clothes this week and gave some to Bailey to resell and donated others for someone else to use. Purging our homes of items we no longer need is a good thing. 
Blogger
Are any of you having issues with Blogger on commenting or seeing other blogs in your side bar? I count on my sidebar to keep me up to date on your blogs, but this tablet I’m using doesn’t want to display them. If you’ve noticed I’ve not been commenting as much, this is the reason. I’m going to work on this and do better this week. 
Rewards Programs
I entered my receipts from the week into the Fetch app, scanned my purchases into NCP, and worked Microsoft Rewards each day. On Tuesday I submitted points for a $50 PayPal card from NCP. If you're interested in joining NCP, I hope you'll use my referral code of 3953F7F. 
Saving on Electric
Our electric bill went up last month by a few dollars and I suspect it was the extra lights for Christmas. We’ve had to turn on the heat this week as it’s been cold here, so the bill will probably stay a little higher until the weather gets warmer. 
Speaking of electricity, we are bracing for a winter ice storm this weekend. Many are predicting that we will lose power, but we hope not. We have alternate heat if necessary. Our cars are filled up, plenty of non-perishable food on hand, plenty of warm clothes and blankets too. 
I’d rather be prepared and not need these things than not be prepared for the loss of electricity and freezing temperatures. I hope everyone in the path of this storm stays safe and warm, 
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