We started off with Breakfast this morning with scrambled egg English muffin sandwiches.
We went to the flea market today, but were only able to sell for a few hours as we were rained out.
The flea market we go to is in the state of Georgia, which is easy for us to go to since we live right over the state line in Tennessee.
And there are two Kroger grocery stores in that area that we can go to, so we decided to go to Kroger and pick up a few items. I have to say I am loving shopping at Kroger.
First of all I am able to buy milk so much cheaper there than here. It is very close to $3.00 a gallon here for the store brand milk, but in Georgia I am able to buy it for under $2.00 a gallon. As a result we've bought more milk this summer than we have in a long time.
Secondly, I am able to buy Italian Sausages on mark down there so much cheaper than here in Tennessee. We've had more Italian Sausage this summer than we have in a long time since it is $4.00 a pound here in Tennessee.
Also, the sales tax on food in Georgia is 4% while sales tax on unprepared food in Tennessee is taxed at 5.5%. And I can always tell a difference on my grocery bill.
I found one package of Bratwurst and one package of mild Italian Sausage for $1.99 each.
I found three one pound packages of Southern Slaw from the produce department marked down to 79¢.
I bought one gallon of buttermilk, one gallon of chocolate milk, which were both priced at $1.89.
I also bought two half gallons of skim milk, which were on sale for 89¢ each.
I bought one pound of red grapes for $1.24.
And my daughter found some K cups marked down in the clearance section.
My total for today was $16.30, which makes my total food cost for July just under $100 coming in at $96.00. We used up a lot of food we had in our pantry and freezer to be able to come in at such a low amount.
As my regular readers know my income is lower in the summer since school is out and I am not working. We did make money at the flea market this summer, which helped a great deal. School starts back on August 8th, so I should be returning to work soon.
We also had some help from my neighbor as he has put more free vegetables on his front lawn.
And we were able to pick up these two free items from Kroger's Friday Freebie program. We won't drink these so we will add them to the stuff we sell at the flea market.
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
We see all sorts of different people at the flea market. Some are pleasant and friendly, some are unfriendly and rude, and some are in between.
There was one individual in particular I met this weekend who I felt such empathy towards.
He was not only out of work, but had recently been in the hospital and was trying to come up with money to pay his mortgage and some other bills. So, in his efforts to raise money he was selling all of the tools he used to make a living.
He was very motivated to sell, stayed on his feet the whole time, talking loudly to try and sell things, offering a lower price to customers who started to walk away.
One item he had for sale was a like new wheelbarrow. I was surprised when I saw it for sale because who sells something they just bought only to have to turn around and sell it?
One customer asked the price and he told him it was $40, but when the customer started to walk away he lowered his price to $35 and said he had recently paid $80 for it as Sears.
Several times during the day he said he was going to have to buy many of these items again once he got back on his feet. He was a very likable fellow and my heart just went out to him.
This gave me a lot to think about over the weekend and how people do whatever it takes to make ends meet. And why some people stay in their particular financial situation year after year and don't seem to make any financial progress over the years.
This man had paid top dollar for his tools and was now selling them for half of what they were worth only to have to purchase them again later once he got back on his feet. It's like two steps forward, one step backward.
Still, this man was doing what he needed to do to take care of himself. I don't know if he had a family to support or not. I do know of other people who have done similar things and I'm sure many of you know someone like this as well.
I may not completely understand this man's situation, but I feel like I know where he is coming from. I know I have sold things in a pinch to make ends meet.
When my ex-husband left me with a baby and no income to support us, I sold many things to make ends meet. And I did without many things. Cable TV was the first to go and even the telephone was turned off at a time when not everyone (including me) had a cell phone. It was a tough time, but we made it through that difficult time.
Reasons like these are why it is so important to have an emergency fund. So when times get tough you have something to fall back on to get through the hard times.
If you have a job, keep it. Never stop working to better yourself and your financial situation. You never know what may be just around the corner and you will need the money from your job or your emergency fund to make ends meet.
Just some food for thought this Monday morning.
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
I've been wanting to make some muffins lately, but didn't have a 6-cup muffin pan to use in the toaster oven. I do have some silicon baking cups, but muffins tend to stick to the ones we have and we lose half the muffin trying to get them out.
I do have a 12-cup muffin pan, but that would require the use of the big oven and I don't want to use it because it will heat up the house. Our air conditioner is working hard enough as it is during this heat wave without adding additional heat into the house.
My daughter surprised me last night when she came home with this.
She bought it at the Dollar Tree for $1.00 and it fits perfectly in our toaster oven.
She is definitely a keeper. :)
The other day I was browsing through the items in the Crash & Burn section at Food City and stumbled across these baking cups.
They have been on my grocery list and finding them for 45¢ for 90 cups was a bargain in my book. I bought four packs of them, which is definitely cheaper than Pam spray.
With these added tools in my kitchen I am now able to use up several muffin mixes I have in my pantry without heating up the house.
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
We received the following two items free this week from Food City because we signed up to receive text messages from them.
They send a text about once or twice a week or so to come in and get a free item. Be sure to check with your local grocery stores to see if they offer any benefits like this.
I was driving home the other day when I noticed one of our neighbors had a box of vegetables on his front lawn that was labeled "free vegetables".
So, I turned around to check it out and there was plenty of yellow squash inside, so I took these for my family and left plenty for the next person. It is very generous when people offer their surplus free in this way.
Have you received any free items lately?
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
A good deal we scored on Monday was juice from Kroger.
Old Orchard juice is normally priced $2.49 at Kroger but was on sale 10 for $10.00.
We had 12 - $1.00 off 2 juice coupons.
So we were able to purchase 24 bottles of juice for 50¢ each.
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
