Use It Up ~ Pantry
This is the time of year when my income is lower than any other time of the year, so it is a good time to use up what is in my pantry to make meals and snacks. I didn't have any cheese, but did have a can of cheddar cheese soup and a smidgen of Velveeta cheese that was leftover and used those things to make rice and cheese for lunch today. I served it with a side of broccoli. It was a big hit!
Jello Cups & Sweet Tea
While I was in the pantry I noticed three tiny cans of apricots that were not being eaten and I always have Jello on hand, so I made up eight cups of jello fruit cups to have this week as well. I also made three gallons of iced tea to have throughout the week. We have been drinking a lot more than usual since it has been unseasonably hot here already. We've been going through one to two gallons a day, so hopefully this will last a couple of days anyway.
Backwoods Home Frugal Forum
I don't know if you are familiar with Backwoods Home Magazine or not, but they have a frugal living message board if you are interested in reading one. It's not very active and I only check in once every 6 months or so, but I enjoy reading there and it reminds me of the Saving Money Old Style forums.
Here is a link if you are interested in reading this forum.
Backwoods Home Magazine Fugal Living Forum
Doctor Visit
I'm off to the doctor's office this afternoon, so I will check back in later today or tomorrow. I hope everyone has a wonderful afternoon.
Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
Monday, June 2, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Summer Break
Well, it's finally here, school is officially out for summer break. We have nine weeks until school starts back up again in August.
I've already been up this morning cleaning up the kitchen. While my last day was yesterday, my daughter has been out of school for over a week and there have been more dishes to clean as a result, a sure fire sign of summer break. :)
We went to town for a routine doctor's appointment for her and then took my Mom on some errands she needed to run. I used that as a chance to pick up some roadside watermelon and cantaloupe. And because it was so hot here today, that is what I had for dinner.
It was delicious too! Finally home now and been straightening the house up this evening. Now that school is out and I'm not working every day, hopefully, I'll be back to blogging more often. I hope you all have a great summer this year. :)
Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
I've already been up this morning cleaning up the kitchen. While my last day was yesterday, my daughter has been out of school for over a week and there have been more dishes to clean as a result, a sure fire sign of summer break. :)
We went to town for a routine doctor's appointment for her and then took my Mom on some errands she needed to run. I used that as a chance to pick up some roadside watermelon and cantaloupe. And because it was so hot here today, that is what I had for dinner.
It was delicious too! Finally home now and been straightening the house up this evening. Now that school is out and I'm not working every day, hopefully, I'll be back to blogging more often. I hope you all have a great summer this year. :)
Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Midweek Update
This post is from two weeks ago. I didn't get a chance that weekend to finish it, but I did want to post it. I've been working every school day and haven't made the time to sit down and finish this post, but here it is anyway.
Here are some of the frugal activities we did this week:
1. Paid bills online this week saving the cost of postage. The website of my auto insurance didn't want to load for me, but I kept trying and eventually after the 3rd day of trying, the webpage loaded and I was able to pay it. If all else had failed I would have just dropped a check off there as I drive by there every day during the week.
2. Worked four out of five days this week. I could have worked five, but I had to get my car fixed on Wednesday. The Mother of one of the teachers I regularly sub for passed away this week. The school asked me to fill in for her one of the days she would be out. I told them I would if they could not find anyone else because I had to get my car fixed. They were able to find someone else for that day. Next week is state testing, so I doubt I will sub every day, but so far do have three days scheduled.
3. Rather than spend 50¢ on the newspaper, I perused the grocery store ads online this week.
4. Food came from home this week...
Monday
Breakfast:
Lunch: Ham Sandwich, Salad
Dinner:
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Bagels with Cream Cheese
Lunch: Pasta Salad
Dinner: Homemade Vegetable Soup
Wednesday
Brunch: Brown Rice with Vegetable Soup
Dinner: 15 Bean Cajun Soup
Here are some of the NOT so frugal activities from this week:
1. Spent $856.05 on my car repairs this week. I've not had a car payment for many years, and I want to keep my car running as long as possible. I would rather have a repair bill like this every once in a while than to have to make monthly payments on a car.
2. Had a tree fall onto our van this week.
Of course we were upset about the van, but we are still counting our blessings. You can't see from this photo, but the house sits just past the dogwood tree where the top of the fallen tree landed. The tree could have fallen on the house, but it didn't. And the dogwood tree caught the worst of it. If it had not been for the dogwood tree the van would have received more damage.
How has your week been so far?
Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
Here are some of the frugal activities we did this week:
1. Paid bills online this week saving the cost of postage. The website of my auto insurance didn't want to load for me, but I kept trying and eventually after the 3rd day of trying, the webpage loaded and I was able to pay it. If all else had failed I would have just dropped a check off there as I drive by there every day during the week.
2. Worked four out of five days this week. I could have worked five, but I had to get my car fixed on Wednesday. The Mother of one of the teachers I regularly sub for passed away this week. The school asked me to fill in for her one of the days she would be out. I told them I would if they could not find anyone else because I had to get my car fixed. They were able to find someone else for that day. Next week is state testing, so I doubt I will sub every day, but so far do have three days scheduled.
3. Rather than spend 50¢ on the newspaper, I perused the grocery store ads online this week.
4. Food came from home this week...
Monday
Breakfast:
Lunch: Ham Sandwich, Salad
Dinner:
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Bagels with Cream Cheese
Lunch: Pasta Salad
Dinner: Homemade Vegetable Soup
Wednesday
Brunch: Brown Rice with Vegetable Soup
Dinner: 15 Bean Cajun Soup
Here are some of the NOT so frugal activities from this week:
1. Spent $856.05 on my car repairs this week. I've not had a car payment for many years, and I want to keep my car running as long as possible. I would rather have a repair bill like this every once in a while than to have to make monthly payments on a car.
2. Had a tree fall onto our van this week.
Of course we were upset about the van, but we are still counting our blessings. You can't see from this photo, but the house sits just past the dogwood tree where the top of the fallen tree landed. The tree could have fallen on the house, but it didn't. And the dogwood tree caught the worst of it. If it had not been for the dogwood tree the van would have received more damage.
How has your week been so far?
Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Saturday
This morning started out with cleaning the house. I washed all the breakfast dishes and then cleaned out the refrigerator and wiped down all the counters. I also sorted and counted all the fruit we have for this week. I will definitely need to at least pick up some bananas today.
Saturdays here require a trip to town for my daughter's weekly volunteer duties at the library. My pantry is well stocked right now, but I will take advantage of the time and do a little grocery shopping for fresh produce and any good sales while she is there.
First things first, before we head out we gather up all the garbage and take with us to the dump, to combine errands and save on garbage fees. We are fortunate here that the county does not charge us a garbage fee. If I had to hire someone to come here weekly to get our garbage the minimum fee would be $15 per month.
First grocery stop today was Bi-Lo where they had one pound bag of frozen vegetables on sale for 89¢. I had looked at the fresh cauliflower in the produce section, but it was $2.99, so I passed it up, but when I found it for 89¢ in the frozen section, I definitely bought it. I bought 14 bags including California Blend, Broccoli Spears, Cauliflower, Peas & Carrots, and Whole Baby Carrots.
Second grocery stop was Publix where Heinz ketchup was on sale for buy one get one free and I had two 50¢ coupons, which doubled, so I paid 74¢ for two, thirty-two ounces bottles. I also bought 3 boxes of Thomas cinnamon raisin English muffins only paying $1.05 per box after sale and a coupon. I also bought 3 containers of flavored Philadelphia cream cheese for 75¢ each after sale and coupon. I also bought two more boxes of Angel Soft tissue for 50¢ each after my two 50¢ off coupons doubled.
I also bought a lot of fresh produce including those bananas that I needed.
Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
Saturdays here require a trip to town for my daughter's weekly volunteer duties at the library. My pantry is well stocked right now, but I will take advantage of the time and do a little grocery shopping for fresh produce and any good sales while she is there.
First things first, before we head out we gather up all the garbage and take with us to the dump, to combine errands and save on garbage fees. We are fortunate here that the county does not charge us a garbage fee. If I had to hire someone to come here weekly to get our garbage the minimum fee would be $15 per month.
First grocery stop today was Bi-Lo where they had one pound bag of frozen vegetables on sale for 89¢. I had looked at the fresh cauliflower in the produce section, but it was $2.99, so I passed it up, but when I found it for 89¢ in the frozen section, I definitely bought it. I bought 14 bags including California Blend, Broccoli Spears, Cauliflower, Peas & Carrots, and Whole Baby Carrots.
Second grocery stop was Publix where Heinz ketchup was on sale for buy one get one free and I had two 50¢ coupons, which doubled, so I paid 74¢ for two, thirty-two ounces bottles. I also bought 3 boxes of Thomas cinnamon raisin English muffins only paying $1.05 per box after sale and a coupon. I also bought 3 containers of flavored Philadelphia cream cheese for 75¢ each after sale and coupon. I also bought two more boxes of Angel Soft tissue for 50¢ each after my two 50¢ off coupons doubled.
I also bought a lot of fresh produce including those bananas that I needed.
Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
Friday, April 18, 2014
Good Friday
Hello to all my Frugal Workshop readers! :)
On Monday of this week, after working the last 23 school days I finally had a day off this week, and I needed it. For the last two weeks I've battled a case of Strep Throat and an eye infection that had left me drained. Three doctor visits and several medicines later I am feeling so much better.
Today I am taking my car into the repair shop as my "Check Engine" light has been on this week. Hopefully it will not cost me a small fortune. Time will definitely tell.
Here is what I've been listening to this early morning:
Amazing Grace: My Chains Are Gone
Update:
The auto repair shop said my my radiator is cracked and I need a new idle solinode and a mass air flo sensor. Total for all the repairs will be $872.51. They have ordered the parts and they will be in next week. That does not include today's cost of $93.18 for an oil change and for the computer diagnostics test. Ouch! I didn't expect that at all.
Afterwards I stopped at Home Depot for some jet spray wasp spray as the wasps have returned with the warm weather. Total cost of that was $3.88 for a two pack.
Funny thing though, on Monday and Tuesday it was so cold here that it snowed. When we left school that day the mountain was covered. I don't know about you, but I am ready for warm weather to come and stay. :)
Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
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