My Frugal Week ~ January 11, 2020

It was back to the grindstone this week and I ended up working three days bringing lunch and drinks with me all three days. 

This week I cashed in points from Checkpoints for $3 in Amazon credit. I'm going to save my credit and buy some Wonder Clips for sewing as I am running out of straight pins as they bend when I make cloth pads with them.  

On Saturday I worked on making a casserole hot pad big enough for a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Looking back now I don't know why I didn't think of making these sooner. We've always doubled up on hot pads to fit a casserole dish, but no longer. 

I made another one of Friday, so now I have a matching set. These would make great gifts for friends and family too. If your interested in making these, here is a tutorial on how to do that. 
This week I listed more items on eBay and sold three items. One of the items was a tripod and I packaged it to mail, but when my daughter went to ship it she realized I didn't charge enough shipping. So, she repackaged it for me making it as small as could be and saved me $11 in shipping charges. 

My daughter gave me a Pampered Chef Mix & Chop for Christmas. I've already made tacos with it once and today I made egg salad. I was surprised at how heavy duty it was. It's a handy little tool for the kitchen, which makes fast work of some jobs. 
On Thursday I wrote a letter and filled out another application for free prescription medicine. 
These items were printed out using the printer we bought at a yard sale this summer for $3.00. Afterwards it was unplugged as there is no sense in having it plugged in, using electricity, when we only use it sparingly. 
My doctor will have to fill out a portion of it, but is the person who let me know about the free program, so I know she will be happy to do this for me. 
My Dad has fixed our driveway using his tractor and it is so much better than it was before. It has no potholes or ditches running through it. We do have heavy rain in the forecast for the weekend, but I'm hoping it will spare our driveway. 
Bailey's no spend January and our no eating out is going well. We have not eaten out any this month and have no plans to in order to save our money. 
We've not spent any money at the grocery store this month either, but have been using the food in our pantry. I've been cooking all meals from home and we've been eating up the leftovers, so no food waste either. 
We had ordered three books from a seller on Amazon for my Mom. They only sent two of the books and I asked the seller who said to give it more time. In the end the book didn't show and the seller gave me a refund this week. 
All of our Christmas decorations have been taken now and placed back into storage. The house seems bare to me now, but we did move some things back into their regular place, which did help some. 
On Friday we went to McKay's Used Books. Mom has been enjoying reading John Grisham books lately, so I looked for her and found several of his books for 5¢ each, which is such a bargain. She was tickled to get them too. 
How was your 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.

My Frugal Week

Last week I found a spice jar of chili powder for 56¢. I found it in the Crash & Burn section, and I suspect it was there because it had no lid. No problem for me as I just put it in my larger bottle and enjoy the savings.
This was the second year I participated in the My Frugal Home Secret Santa gift exchange. Lucky me, Erin at My Frugal Home picked my name and sent me a package of Shower Steamers she makes and sells in her online shop. 
On Wednesday we started to take down our Christmas decorations. I took each ornament from our tree and wrapped them lovingly in tissue paper until next year. 
This week I made multiple phone calls to help us save money this year on prescription drugs. At least two of my prescriptions I am able to get for free while others I use the Publix program of 3 months for $7.50. 
Today the FedEx man delivered one of my free prescriptions for the month, which was great as it saved me the gas money from having to go to town. 
My daughter is having a no spend January and has challenged me to not eat out this month. Challenge accepted!
I earned a 20 Swagbucks collector's bill on New Year's Day, which I thought was pretty neat. 

Since I had extra time at home this week due to the school holiday, I used some of my time to clean out my pantry and cabinets, which always get messy during the holidays. 
I wiped them down with hot soapy water and reorganized them. Now it will be easier to cook and bake in there since everything is organized again. 
Doing this also helped me come up with several dinner ideas I hadn't thought about in a while. 
Today I've listed several items for sale on eBay and even sold one item this week. 
We have spent a lot of time at home this week not venturing out spending money or using up our gas. We've been working around our home and in our free time playing games and working on a Harry Potter puzzle. 
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 ~ September 27, 2019

If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the key to success. Benjamin Franklin

We made it to Friday! This week I subbed two days and brought lunch and drinks both days. 

One day last week we went to a yard sale where the lady was just trying to get rid of everything and was offering up free office supplies. Bailey got several things and picked up this free bag of pencils for me. 
Thus week I sold one item on eBay.

And I also won a Tetley Tea mason jar glass cup in a giveaway. 
The week went by quickly and we will be pet sitting this weekend. I hope you all have a great one!
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

Frugal Friday ~ August 16, 2019

This week I was able to sub for two days, so I'm grateful for that. Naturally, I packed my lunch and brought plenty of water for both days. 

My time was spent in the gym where there is no a/c. All the doors are open and there are big industrial fans, but it is still hot, so I drink a lot of water. 

These are the containers I brought with me. One is my regular water cup and the big one is a one gallon Bubba Keg. I bought it years ago at a yard sale for 50¢. It keeps ice all day long and even overnight. It was a good investment as a new one will run about $30.

Jody asked me to come over on Saturday and help him can peppers. He had grown all of them in his raised bed gardens. He had canned with his parents and grandparents when he was young, but they've all passed away since then. 
This was his first time canning since then and he wanted someone there to make sure he was doing it right. He does so much for us that I was more than happy to help him. In the end we had twelve half pints of peppers. 
The Mennonite community here has boxes of produce for sale at this time of year for $7.00 for canning. Jody said we should get some green beans and can them and split them up for our families. I thought this was a great idea.

Cool Gear really came through with their replacement for me. They sent me three containers and one of those was an expandable Bento box, which was very nice of them. 

We both received a free sample from the Freeosk at Walmart this week. This was a free sample of the Smarty Pants Women's vitamins. 

Weight Watchers magazine is no longer going to be published, so my subscription was switched over to Eating Well magazine, which came in the mail yesterday. 
There are a lot of good looking recipes in there that I'm going to have to try out. My original WW magazine subscription was free, so this one was as well. 

Last week I sold a cookbook that I bought at a yard sale for 15¢ for $5.00 on eBay. I also sold three other items on there this week. The money from these sales will help supplement my income this month. 

If you're interested in what I did in my frugal kitchen last week, be sure to read that blog post here. 

Thanks to my wonderful readers, this week I was able to cash out on Microsoft Rewards for two $5 Amazon gift cards making my balance $20 now. 

If you're interested in signing up for the program please follow my link here: 
Microsoft Rewards

My daughter went to town on Wednesday and scored a good deal on  Coca-Cola 2 liters. 

Publix has them on sale for buy two, get two free.  They also have a coupon in their coupon flyer for $2.00 off two certain coke products.
She bought me my favorite lemonade and stocked up on some other flavors that aren't pictured here like Mello Yellow and Pineapple, Orange, and Strawberry Fanta. 

My daughter worked out a deal through Influenster and earned a $15 shopping spree for Big Lots. One of the things she bought me were these dryer balls, so we will be trying these out this week. 

Panera Bread sent me an email for a free pastry this week, so I picked out this chocolate croissant. 

Toy Story 4 is ending in theaters here this week. We've seen all the Toy Story movies at the theater and wanted to see this one there as well. We saw it on Tuesday since it's $5 night and since we are reward members that comes with a free small bag of popcorn. 

It was a very busy week getting back into a routine and tiring at the end of the day, so I slept well. I hope you all have had a good week as well. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree

Frugal Friday on Saturday

Good morning to you this beautiful Saturday. I'm doing well today, but my daughter has come down with strep throat, unfortunately. 
She was asleep when I came home from work on Thursday, which should have been my first clue that she was sick. 
She is still sleeping this morning, so we're not going to any yard sales today. 
This was a busy week work wise and I ended up working everyday, so I didn't get my Frugal Friday post up yesterday. 
This week I'm scheduled for four days, but we will see what happens there. I could end up working all week again. 
Frugal things that went on here this week include:
Made a $10 sale on eBay this week. 
Found this reusable bag in the clean garbage can in one of the classrooms I subbed in this week, so I rescued it.

I made ham broth in my crockpot with the hambone from Easter dinner. I have five of these in my freezer. I will be using some of this to make potato soup, which will give the soup  a lot of flavor.   

We picked up these two egg containers for 50¢ each at a yard sale on Friday. These sell for $9.99 on Amazon. (Affiliate Link)

They are a nice hard plastic that washes easily. They stack on top of each other and have lids as well, so I can set things on top of them in my fridge if needed. 
I love refrigerator containers and look at them whenever I go into Lowe's. 
This one will be short and sweet this week. I hope you all have a terrific weekend!
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Frugal Friday - October 5, 2018

The Freeosk at Walmart went a little crazy this week and gave us eleven samples of Johnson's Bedtime Lotion instead of the one it normally gives.  

A friend at work gave me a couple of figs from her mother's fig tree. They were delicious. One of the men from the Navy came to school for recruiting and gave me a free cup and stress ball. 
This week we have been on fall break, so I've gotten so many things done this week that I've put on the back burner. It's been a good week as a result. 
I sold two things on eBay this week and have $30 extra dollars to show for that. Today I worked on cleaning up my store and listing a couple of more items on there. 
We went to multiple yard sales over the weekend. The only item I bought this weekend was a blanket for $1.00. I like blankets in the living room as a throw for when cold weather comes. 
Gave my daughter a trim at the back of her neck. She cuts her own hair, but this section if hard for her to do, so I did it for her. Savings = $13.00.
How was your week?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Frugal Friday ~ August 31, 2018

Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday we stayed and worked from home. The other three days this week I subbed, bringing my lunch & drinks with me each day. 
One item I sold on Ebay this week went for $107.50, which helped to pay some bills this week. In September I'll receive my first paycheck of the school year and things won't be so tight financially. 
On Monday I listed a few things on Ebay and cross posted multiple items on Mercari and Poshmark. I also cleaned several areas in the house. 
While folding laundry this week I went through all of my shirts and pants for work. I like to change them out from time to time and put the ones I've worn lately away for a while and pull out the ones I've had stored away . It makes me feel like I have new clothes to wear since it's been awhile since I've worn them.  
While I was cleaning out my dresser drawers, I took four shirts that are now too big for me and listed those on Ebay this week. 

We have finally figured out what was going on with our electric bill. We went from a high of 187 kilowatts per day down to an average of 74 kwh per day. 
You can see starting from August 9th, when we identified the problem, the daily kwh usage goes down each day as indicated by the green strips. 

Turns out lightening had probably run in through our electrical lines and caused the baseboard heaters downstairs to malfunction. 
We had to have an electrician/plumber come out and turn them off at the breaker box. And he was the plumber who installed our new kitchen faucet. The heaters downstairs are not fixed, but since we don't use that area of the house, it is not a problem right now. 
This has cut our electric bill in half and I suspect another reason the house was so hot this summer. 

On Thursday we went to Sears because they were offering a$10 off coupon on a $10 clothing purchase.  I was able to get this package of 6 pairs of much needed socks for $2.19. 

We also stopped at the Dollar General to use some $1.00 off Oral B coupons and picked up these 7 toothbrushes for free. 

And finally, on Thursday I bought gas using my new Exxon mobil rewards card, which has been collecting points all summer. Yesterday I cashed my points in and was able to get $15.56 in free gas. I love free gas! LOL
That's all the news I have to report this week. How was your week? I'd love to hear about it in the comment section. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Frugal Friday ~ June 8, 2018

This was a good week for me on Ebay as I sold seven items this week. My daughter posted multiple items on Ebay this week and I crossposted those to Mercari and Poshmark for her. 

We went to McKay Used Books this week. There were so many cookbooks with great prices this week. I found four of the older hardcover Southern Living cookbooks that were 15¢. I love the ones with the older recipes as they tend to be more frugal for me. 

We went to the Flowers Bakery Outlet this week. We bought two loaves of Nature's Own for 79¢ each and two loaves of Dave's Killer Bread for $2.50 each.

The Dave's Killer bread makes a quick breakfast if you toast it add cream cheese or strawberry preserves.

We went to Bargain Hunt this past week to check their prices because we'd both heard good things about their prices. 

But, we were disappointed in the prices and thought they were high, but we shop around and look for the best prices, coupon and yard sale, so they naturally seemed high to us. Sort of like when Amy D's children experienced retail sticker shock. 

The one good deal we found was quart size jars of Vlasic Bread & Butter pickles for $3.25 each, which sell for $4.93 at Walmart, so a good savings on those. We bought two jars and will probably use those up this summer. 

I gave myself a haircut on Thursday and did it outside to avoid the mess inside the house. 

We've been in use it up mode in our kitchen this week, but you can read about that in my weekly kitchen post. 

An oldie, but a goodie...my ice cubes were tasting off to me, so I put a box of baking soda in my freezer to absorb any odors. 

That's all we have for Frugal Friday this week. 

Thank you for your comments and visits this past week. I hope you enjoy the coming weekend and take time to relax and take care of yourself. 


Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~