My Frugal Week

Welcome to Friday! We've had a good frugal week and it was great to be on spring break and get several things done around the house. 
Added to our Frugal Pantry this week:
Last Friday my daughter stopped in at Kroger and bought four dozen eggs since they were on sale for 88¢. 
She also stopped in at Ingle's to see if they had any meat markdowns. She hit the jackpot there. 
She found Laura Lynn orange juice for 99¢. We bought six of those since they were such a good price. 

She also found ground beef marked down. The prices were all different, but the most inexpensive one worked out to $1.81 per pound. We ended up with close to twenty pounds all tucked away in our freezer now. 



On Saturday we stopped in at Earth Fair to pick up some honey since we were out. I pick up one quart of honey, organic lemons, Numi three root turmeric tea, Numi gunpowder green tea, and one lemon plum to try. 

On Thursday we stopped in at Ingle's & Kroger and ended up with more meat for the freezer and a couple of pizzas, which were marked down . 

We also picked up three loaves of bread for 38¢ each. 

We also stopped in at Aldi to pick up five bags of the onions that are on sale this week for 99¢ per three pound bag. 

Dinners This Week:
Saturday: Chicken & Dressing, Carrots,  Sunday: Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Biscuits Monday: Cheesy Potatoes, Broccoli Tuesday: Chicken Tenders, Baked Potatoes, Broccoli Wednesday: Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Peas Thursday: Loose Meat Sandwiches, Salad Friday:   Stayed Home/No Spend Days:
Monday & Wednesday - No Money Spent
What I Worked on This Week:

This cat cot sells for brand new on Amazon for $22.38, but we found one at a yard sale last summer and only paid $1.00 for it. 
The cats have loved it and actually wore a hole in the middle of the mesh, so they stopped using it.
I wanted them to have one that is useful, but I didn't want to buy a new one since we only paid $1.00 for this one. 
On Wednesday I had the time to patch the hole they had created. Using part of an old towel and some fishing line, I sewed a patch onto the cot from underneath. I sewed two different circles around the patch hoping it will last for a while.


I'm happy to report that the cot is now back in service with our cats. 
Other things I've worked on this week include:
- Processing Inventory - Cross Posting Inventory  - Laundry - Hung some up to dry on the free drying rack we picked up last summer. 
Unexpected Expenses This Week:
On Saturday the tire pressure monitoring system on my car indicated that on of my tires needed additional air pressure. Since we live in a rural area, air compressors are few and far between here, and the one I did find was out of order. 
Sunday morning I woke up early and went to Walmart's automotive center because they are the only automotive service open on Sunday here. 
To make a long story short I ended up buying a new tire. Thankfully, even though I am between paychecks I just happened to have the money without dipping into my savings account. 
Saved, Reused, & Repurposed:
I emptied the remains of two jars of cherry preserves, but washed and saved the jars to be used later. 
Freebies This Week:
This week I received a free six month supply of medicine for my blood sugar. My doctor filled out the forms for me to receive it for free. 

Although this freebie is now expired it was a very nice freebie. A regular size pouch of the Seeds of Change Quinoa and Brown Rice with garlic.  

Other Frugal Activities:

We don't use baggies very often for our sandwiches, but use reusable containers instead when we need a lunch packed for outside the home. Same with our reusable water bottles. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Last Day of Christmas Break

This is the last weekend of our Christmas break. 

Here are a few things we accomplished today: 

Cleaned the bathroom and kitchen from top to bottom. 
Washed, folded and put away all the laundry. 
Prepared our bags for heading back to school on Monday. 
Put Christmas tree and all decorations into storage.  
Mended three pairs of jeans for my daughter, which saves me money. 
Took my Mom to the doctors office for lab work. 


Speaking of mending clothes, there are so many groups on Facebook now and they even have one for mending clothes. The group is called Make Do and Mend-able in case you are interested in joining. They want to share your Makes, Mends, and top tips for Making Do, and is for people who Upcycle, Repurpose, Make Do and Mend.   

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I love Ebay.  :)

I just bought these new shoes on there for my daughter.  The pair she is currently wearing is the pair I bought her to start back to school in LAST year and they had begun to hurt her feet if she walked in them too long, so it was time for a new pair. 

I utilized the same procedure I did to buy her Christmas presents. I used money I had from selling on E bay things that we no longer used, so I don't feel like I spent any new money on these. Rather I feel like I traded for them.  It is such a great way to get her the things she needs without having to find the money in my budget. After all, athletic shoes can be very costly! 

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Here are a few things we ate this week:

Lunch on Wednesday...

Baked Potato, steamed broccoli, sliced cucumbers, and red & yellow peppers. Plant based, healthy, delicious, and very affordable. 

Lunch on Friday...

Grilled cheese sandwiches & tomato soup...It's been so nice to have steaming hot lunches instead of a cold lunch these last two weeks. Today is the last day of Christmas break though, so no more hot lunches from home through the week for a while. 

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Chick Fil A used to serve a very good Carrot Raisin Salad, but it has been off the menu for about a year now. I've always made a copycat version of the recipe because my daughter always enjoyed it. Now that it's been off the menu for a while, Chick-fil-A has issued a press release about this salad...

Nostalgia and the holidays—around here they go together like carrots and raisins. That’s why, for the first time, Chick-fil-A is releasing its time-honored recipe, Carrot & Raisin Salad.

Carrot & Raisin Salad is one of our company’s original southern recipes. Prepared and served by founder Truett Cathy himself, Carrot & Raisin Salad was a menu staple for four decades. While it’s still a Cathy family favorite, Chick-fil-A removed Carrot & Raisin Salad from the menu in 2013 to make way for new salads and a new wrap.

 If you'd like a copy of the recipe just click here:

Chick-fil-A Carrot Raisin Salad. 

I made some of the salad today, and it is as good as I remember. Here are some photos of a batch I made today.

It's so good and refreshing and more affordable than green salads at this time of year. 

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In the mail this week, I received...

A free calendar from Pillsbury...  

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How was your day today?

Belinda

Snow Day & Repairing Clothes

Today will be our 2nd snow day in a row due to snow & cold temperatures, so no school/work for us again today. As I am writing this it is only -1 degrees outside here, which is unusually low for Tennessee. We are staying indoors though and not spending any money, which is good for our budget.  

One of the ways we save money at the Frugal Workshop is by repairing our clothes when something happens to them. This extends the life of the item, so we can make the garment last longer and save money in the long run. I recently ran across this pin on Pinterest and wanted to share it. This is a perfect example of repairing clothing to make an item last longer. 

Angela over at Food Storage and Survival has an excellent post on how to repair a frayed shirt collar. This method will make a shirt last longer and definitely save money over buying a new shirt.

You can check it out here: Repair a Frayed Shirt Collar  

Have you repaired any of your clothing items lately to save money?

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”