Frugal Friday ~ July 31, 2020

We received sad news this week. My daughter's first grade teacher passed away. She was only 51 years old and had a heart attack. She had spent a large part of her summer cleaning, organizing, and painting her classroom getting it ready for the new school year. 
She was always so funny and had the best personality. She came to me after Bailey, who was moving onto middle school, graduated from 5th grade to tell me she would miss me being there regularly. This is a huge loss for our small community and honestly we are just heartbroken. 

This week, as usual, we have stayed home, which is a huge money saver. My daughter has had to pay shipping to get inventory sent here, but I told her what we have saved on gas by not going to yard sales more than pays for that postage. 
In My Frugal Kitchen
We put a whiteboard on our refrigerator, so we could list whatever leftovers are in there that need eating. It will save us from food waste, which will also save money. 
I saved multiple jars this week by washing them and removing the labels. They will be stored with my other empty jars and used for another purpose when needed. 

The last of the money saving cookbooks I ordered came to me this week. This one ended up getting lost in the mail, but finally arrived. 
It's Ida Bailey Allen's Money Saving Cookbook from 1940. I've been reading it this week and it really does have good money saving recipes in it. 
I'll be sure to share them when we find and try recipes we like. 

This pair of kitchen tongs loses the parts on a regular basis even when I am cooking with them, which is frustrating. 
I finally fixed them using some Gorilla  Glue. I made sure to put the glue where it would not come in contact with any food. Hopefully this will fix that problem. 

For those that mentioned how good the Tony Chachere's was last week, we agree! I made some fried onions and potatoes this week with smoked sausage and seasoned them with the Tony's and it was very good. We will definitely be using this again. 
Gooseberry Patch has these free printables for Skillet and Slow Cooker Dinners if you're interested. 

This week I received a survey from Consumer Opinion and $5 for completing it. 

Free food for coins. A Chick-fil-A in Virginia needs your coins...badly.
For every $10 of rolled coins that customers bring in, customers will receive the same value in paper bills AND a free entree.
Why are they doing this? To avoid going cashless amid a nationwide coin shortage due.
Entertainment
This week I watched Alabama Moon for free on YouTube. It was a clean, family film, with nothing bad in it. 

This week I fixed my laptop with electrical tape.  The cord continued to fall out of the laptop, on both ends, and then it would go dead right in the middle of work, which was frustrating me.

So, like Amy Dacyczyn, I decided to fix this little problem and used electrical tape to keep it together permanently. It's worked great ever since and not fallen out again.
How has your week been?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me to earn a living here at Frugal Workshop.

Frugal Friday ~ July 3, 2020

Welcome to Friday! We are still staying home, saving on fuel, and eating all our meals at home due to the pandemic. Doing these things helps us to keep ourselves safe. 

Last week I sold a bicycle rack on Facebook marketplace. We did a porch pickup so we didn't have to personally interact with the buyer. I had them put the money in my car, which is right next to the steps. I spoke with them thru the window and all went well with the transaction.

The lamp I use in our living room stopped working this week. I liked it because it has a pull chain on it to turn off and on. What I ended up doing is ordering the base of a new lamp from Walmart for $9.59. Since I already have a shade, that is money I don't need to spend. 

My daughter trimmed the back of my hair this week and I trimmed the back of her hair too using our own clippers. 

We were able to get some ground beef in our grocery pickup last Friday, so I will be incorporating that into our meals this month. We also bought strawberries last week when we picked up groceries. I made up some fruit dip to serve with them. 

Fruit Dip 

Use as much Sour Cream as you want. 

Add Powdered Sugar until it's sweet enough for your taste. 

Add Maraschino Cherry Juice to color it pink. 

I made some homemade ranch dressing this week. I used my Ball Pour, Measure and Store Lid, so I could pour it out easily.

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We earned a $10 Papa Johns pizza coupon from Mobile Xpressions. 

Used my Target Redcard online to get free shipping and save $4.32 on my cat food purchase this week. 

I paid two bills online this week saving the cost of two stamps and two envelopes. 

Used to be one of my favorite things to do was to organize and print out my recipes. I gave up on printing recipes several years ago when my printer died and I did not replace it. 

Last summer my daughter found this printer at a yard sale for $2.00. A few weeks ago I fired it up and have been printing my recipes again. It's something that I really enjoy doing and it cost me very little money this time around.

How was your frugal week?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me to earn a living here at Frugal Workshop.

Maintaining What You Already Own & Doing Without new Gadgets

This week I fixed the loose toilet seat in our bathroom. I knew that if I did not get it tightened that it would probably break and cause me to have to buy a new one. 
To start with I tried to fix it with a pair of pliers while leaning over the seat, but was unable to tighten it sufficiently. 
What I ended up doing was getting in the floor to really tighten it well and scrubbed the commode and floor while I was down there. 
What's funny is that now they offer toilet seat tightener kits. I saved money by doing it myself versus buying a $11.99 Ginsey toilet seat tightener kit from Walmart. 
Another thing we did this week in the bathroom was to hot glue the upper portion of our shower door to keep it from falling down. I'm not sure if it's missing a piece or what, but it won't be falling down again anytime soon. 
Maintaining what you own will definitely save you money over the years rather than buying new when something breaks down. 
When was the last time you vacuumed your refrigerator coils? That job will definitely extend the life of your refrigerator. 
This week I saw a new kitchen gadget for straining grease, which is called the Easy Greasy Strainer. 

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This item sells for $19.95 at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I have my own system for straining grease from ground beef and includes my own strainer and a glass measuring cup. 

I set my strainer on top of the measuring cup and let the grease drain into the measuring cup below. Then I place the grease into a jar, let in cool, and place it in the garbage can. 

Now my grease removal system might not be fancy, but it works for me. And I have no need to spend $19.95 on a gadget when I already have the tools at home to handle the job. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Using Creativity in Frugal Living

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Some people choose to live frugal by choice while some people choose a frugal lifestyle out of necessity. 
My daughter and I have lived on a smaller income since 1998, so we live this lifestyle out of necessity. Over the years we've learned to get the things we needed using some creativity along the way.
Oftentimes in our consumerist society it's easy to buy what you need if you have enough money. Our problem was that we didn't always have the money to buy the things we needed. 
So we rolled up our sleeves and did what we had to do to get those things we needed. We got creative and you can do the same thing. If you get creative with your needs, instead of buying what you need, you will be able to save money and sometimes a lot of money.

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What if you don't have money to buy groceries? Creating a meal using the food you have at home is being creative. We do this on a regular basis. 

When my daughter switched over to cloth pads full time and found the brand she liked they were expensive, so we could only buy them once or twice a year.  
Finally we came up with a better solution. I took her favorite cloth pad and figured out how to make them for her at home. We upcycled clothes to make them and today those are some of her favorite pads.  

When my daughter needed a scientific calculator for school and we didn't have an extra $100 to buy one, we got creative. We traded for one at McKay Used Books. 
Amy Dacyczyn said it best when she said, "when there is a lack of resourcefulness, inventiveness, and innovation, thrift means doing without." That wasn't the case in our home. 
Now I've seen a lot of creativity in my lifetime and I'm sure you have too. I've seen the maintenance man at school fix a door with the end of a matchstick. Now that's being creative. 
We all have creativeness inside of us and it depends on us as to how we used it to the best of our advantage. 
As Theodore Roosevelt said, "Let us do what we can, with what we have, where we are." 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Window Air Conditioner Problem Fixed

We have finally found the solution to our air conditioning problem. 
All of our window a/c units have a filter behind the front grill, which I take out regularly and vacuum and then wash. This helps to keep the airflow going strongly through the units. 
The filter on both of ours come in and out at the top of the unit, but the cover doesn't come off the one that is failing, which was built by Sears. 
My Mom mentioned to me that one time they took the cover off their unit and it worked better, but as I said the cover does not come off this unit. 
It was so hot in the house yesterday that we were ready to go to Lowe's and buy a new unit. But then it hit me that I could try and do the same thing with the cover on this unit. 
So, I gathered some tools yesterday and went to work on the unit. No matter what I did the cover did not want to come off, so I took some pressure and bolt cutters and went to work on removing the plastic pieces that cover the coil system underneath.  
Then I took a soft toothbrush and my vacuum cleaner hose and carefully brushed the dust into the vacuum cleaner. I know they make a tool for this called a fin comb, but I didn't have one of those and the toothbrush worked fine. 
While it's a good thing to clean the filter regularly, they don't filter all of the dust and dirt from getting into the unit. That's why there are tools like fin combs to clean these areas. Cleaning that area of our unit definitely made a difference here. 
It was 86 degrees in the house when I started this project and I am happy to say that this morning it's very cool in the house at 69 degrees. I even have all of the fans turned off because it is nice and cool in here. 
If you're interested, Becky over at Becky's Homestead has a video on how to take a window a/c unit apart and clean it properly. I didn't do this as it would be too hard for us to do here. 

It's very frugal to maintain what you have. Keep it clean and in good working order and it will last longer and you won't have to go out and spend good money to replace things as often. 
We are both so tickled that this has solved our problem with cooling the house. 
This unit is over twenty years old and I know it won't last forever, but I do believe it will at least last the rest of this season, if not more, and that is like money in the bank. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

The More Skills You Have - The Less You Spend

One day this week I was watching an episode of Downton Abby and Ethel, one of the house maids, made a comment that she was now learning to cook and a girl needed a skill in order to make a living these days. 
Learning skills to make the frugal life work takes time, but small changes do pay off. It's a learning process during which time one becomes more and more skilled at solving problems without spending money. 
Having skills to do things for yourself is really at the heart of frugality. The more things you can do for yourself means the less you have to pay someone else to do things for you. The savings potential here can be terrific. 
The more you know, the less you need to spend. 
Amy Dacyczyn wrote in her newsletter that we have become society of people who possess one basic skill...and we trade that skill to get everything else we want in life. She said this can make us economically vulnerable. 
Amy said we need to spend our spare time pursuing money saving hobbies. This is one thing that will help us as individuals to build our skill set. 
Amy's example included a man who probably had hobbies that cost him $2,000 per year. If he had chosen hobbies that saved him $2,000 per year he would have been ahead $80,000 after twenty years. 
$80,000 is enough money to pay off a home or significant part of a home and/or put money in the bank. Again, the money savings potential here can be terrific. 
Here are just a sample of hobbies that can help you build up your skills set. Some of these can even be turned into a business and make money for you family. 
- Gardening - Reading  - Sewing/Knitting/Crochet - Carpentry/Household Repairs/DIY - Cooking/Baking - Canning - Writing/Freelancing - Making Gifts/Cards - Bartering/Haggling - Painting - Lawn Care Maintenance/Landscaping - Budgeting/Personal Finance - Car Maintenance/Change Oil/Change Tire
This is just the tip of the iceberg here. And many more things fall into these categories like bread making, making yogurt, etc.
One blog I enjoy reading is the Frugal Measures blog because she regularly writes about building up our skills. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Earth Day ~ April 22nd ~ Reusable Shopping Bags

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Today is Earth Day and the focus this year is to help end plastic pollution. 
Plastic is threatening our planet's survival, from poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our streams and landfills. 
A few weeks ago my Dad was shopping at Lowe's in Chicago, Illinois, and they wanted to charge him 7¢ for a shopping bag and he was flabbergasted. 
The new "checkout bag" tax applies to ALL Chicago retailers, and applies to both paper and plastic bags. Shoppers who do not have their own bags will be charged the 7¢ at the checkout. 
What is a frugal shopper to do? 
Make your own shopping bags! 
In doing so, we can help end the plastic pollution caused by plastic shopping bags and can even save some money when retails like Target pay us to bring our own shopping bags. 

Here is a shopping bag I made on Wednesday using fabric I bought at a yard sale last weekend. 
Here is a link to the pattern for this bag. 
Mean Queen over at Life After Money makes her own shopping bags also and even gives them away free to other shoppers. 
There are multiple videos on YouTube on how to make your own shopping bags as well. 
Here is some fabric that my daughter picked up recently at a yard sale that I'm going to use to make my next shopping bag. 

This is a nice sturdy canvas fabric, which is perfect for a reusable shopping bag. 
Let's do what we can to save our planet and use reusable shopping bags when we shop. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Sewing Project: Sleeping Mask

My daughter likes to sleep with a sleep mask because any light will keep her from sleeping. 
For Christmas I made her a new Harry Potter sleeping mask, and she likes how tight I made the elastic. 
Here is a sleeping mask that I made for her today:

She uses multiple masks during the night as they tend to fall off and she doesn't want to wake herself up looking for them, so she gets a new one off her nightstand. 
She likes mine better than the commercial ones she has, so she asked me to make her some more this week, so that is one thing I'm working on this week on the days I'm not working at school. 
One thing about sewing for yourself at home is that you can custom make things like this to your exact specifications, such as shortening or lengthening the elastic on a sleeping mask. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Update from the Frugal Workshop

Thanks to Carol over at CT on a  Budget, I have fixed the crack in my windshield. She sent me a link to the video above, which used the Permatex windshield repair kit. 
The kit was $13 at Auto Zone and here are some photos of the repair I did. 

 The crack during the repair...

After the repair, it is not perfect, but looks much better and hopefully will prevent the windshield from cracking further. 

Looking through the windshield, you probably cannot even see the repair. I am very excited about this repair as I was very concerned about the windshield cracking further.

 So, thank you to Carol for suggesting this repair. I'm grateful because I did not know such a thing existed until she mentioned it to me. 

Carol also mentioned that I should put an ad on Craigslist for a free, working microwave, which I did, and we had a "working" microwave within the hour! 
Unfortunately, I think the move was hard on it because it did not work once we brought it into the house. It was an older model microwave (1984), but the lady who owned it took good care of it and it was super clean. 
We do have another person offering one though and we are in the process of making arrangements to pick that one up. 
So, I wanted to let you know of these updates and to thank Carol for making these great suggestions to me.  :)

Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Sunday ~ 8-31-2014

Good Sunday morning everyone. It's a rainy day here in southern Tennessee. I woke up early and headed to the walk in clinic. The doctor says it is the ragweed/allergies causing me to be sick right now. She ran a strep test but it came back negative, but she prescribed antibiotics anyway. So, I'll be going to town later to pick those up today. 

The family who wanted our trampoline came Saturday evening to pick it up. They have 5 grandchildren who will use and love it just like my daughter did for so long when she was younger. It really made me feel good to know someone will enjoy it once again. :)

When it comes to our finances we need to get the most out of our money. We do this when we buy second hand items, go to yard sales, thrift stores, accept hand me downs, Freecycle/Craigslist, barter and swap. We don't go into debt to buy things to keep up with people (and with a teenager in high school, I can attest to the fact that they really feel the pressure to keep up). We simply do without those things that are beyond our financial reach. I would rather do without those things than have the added stress of paying for them later. 

I am fortunate to have learned/taught myself more skills over the last few years, so that we've been able to stretch our resources as far as possible even as we continue to hone our budgeting skills further.   We should never stop learning or trying how to do things better and more inexpensively. 

We make our own fabric softener, make do and mend clothing, grow some of our vegetables, preserve food, cook from scratch to sufficiently meet our needs. Whatever money I can save by making or doing it myself is money I can spend on necessities like food, insurance, car repairs, etc.  

We need to teach others these things as well and make sure no one is left behind. We especially need to teach these things to our children, so they don't make the same mistakes we made. My daughter experiences some of the same sticker shock that Amy D. wrote about her children experiencing. She helps me in so many ways with couponing, looking for bargains at yard sales, and she isn't even afraid to ask if the seller will take less for an item either.  I just love that about her. :)

Dinner tonight will be Baked Potatoes with Sour Cream and cheese if desired. I'll serve steamed Broccoli as a side dish or topping for anyone who wants that. 

This is one of our favorite meals here at the Frugal Workshop and one we serve regularly. It cost me less than $5.00 for this meal and fits well in our budget. 

What's for dinner at your house tonight? 

Belinda

Fruit Fly Traps

 

We've been having our annual summer bout with the fruit flys due to the large amount of tomatoes we've had in the house. My daughter has been bothered by them more than I have and yesterday she set out to combat them. She did her investigative work online and quickly set up a table full of experimental homemade fruit fly traps. She set out a plate of tomatoes to attract them to the table and even put two lamps there to attract them. It was like watching a mad scientist in action. :) 

Her experiment worked great and last night she counted 52 dead fruit flys and there were even more this morning. She used a variety of recipes, but the one she thinks worked the best was a combination of milk and sugar, but she had that bowl wrapped in plastic wrap and once they found their way into her trap, they couldn't find their way out. I think the apple cider vinegar traps worked the best, and if they had been covered in plastic wrap they would have done an even better job. We may have to do another experiment. :)

Fruit flies are attracted to the smell of the apple cider vinegar since it has  a fruity aroma, and I like the fact that there are no harsh fumes and these traps can be made relatively inexpensively.

Apple Cider Vinegar Fruit Fly Trap:

Ingredients: 

1 cup apple cider vinegar

A couple drops of dish washing detergent (we used Dawn)

A small bowl or jar

Plastic wrap

Directions:

Pour the cup of apple cider vinegar into a jar or small bowl.

Add a couple drops of dish soap to the jar. 

Cover the container with plastic wrap and punch small holes in the top.

Place around your house in areas where you've seen fruit flies, and wait for the kill. 

 

Milk & Sugar Fruit Fly Trap:

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup milk

2 TBSP Sugar

A small bowl or jar

Plastic wrap

Directions:

Pour the milk and sugar into a jar or small bowl.

Cover the container with plastic wrap and punch small holes in the top.

Place around your house in areas where you've seen fruit flies, and wait for the kill.  

 

She did add some cider apple vinegar to the Milk & Sugar trap later thinking it would help attract them to the traps.  Like I said, she was like a mad scientist adding things to the traps as they day progressed. It was fun for her and I could tell she was enjoying herself. 

There are many recipes online for homemade fruit fly traps and many of them will do a good job of ridding our homes of these pests for very little money.

Today’s Bit of News:

 I subbed again today for the same teacher as yesterday. Dinner tonight was easy, Beef Hot Dogs with mustard, relish, tomatoes, and onions, Potato Salad and Cole Slaw. We stopped at Sonic again on the way home and picked up Iced Tea, but I still had two freebies with one of the surveys/receipts and received another one today. I brought my lunch from home again today, homemade pepperoni pizza that I made on Sunday and drank water, so no money spent today either. I hope you've had a good day today.

Belinda

© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2012.

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”