My Frugal Week ~

This week I was able to work four days and brought lunch and drinks all four days. I made egg salad over the weekend and took those for sandwiches this week. 
Payday came this week and again my check was shorted. ::sigh:: I've already texted the school secretary and she will look into it when we go back to school on Tuesday. 
In My Frugal Kitchen:
We went to the bread outlet in Chattanooga this week and found 12 pack of hamburger buns for 50¢, which was a great deal. 
We also went to Food City to pick up their 5 meat items for $14.99 deal. 
On Tuesday Bailey found two hams on markdown at 50% off at Aldi. She also picked up some red grapes and onions. 
Tuesday is our family movie night and we normally eat dinner while we watch a movie. This week we watched the film, Searching, which tells the story through the computer screen. It kept my attention the whole time. 
On Thursday we went to do some grocery shopping and stopped in at Chick-Fil-A to get in on their free 8 piece chicken nugget. It's a freebie on their app available to anyone who has a Chick-Fil-A in their area.
Somehow I got a slow leak in a tire this week. I took it to the place where I bought my tires and they found a small screw in it. They fixed it for me and didn't charge me anything for the repair. 
I hope you all have had a good 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.

The High Cost of Eating Out

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Back when I was growing up going out to eat was considered a real treat.  Times have changed though and these days the number of people who eat out regularly has grown to the point that grocery store shopping is declining. 
According to Eddie Yoon of the Harvard Business Review, grocery shopping and cooking are in a long term decline.  He's conducted a survey that determined Americans fell into one of three categories:
- 10 percent said they love to cook
- 45 percent said they hate to cook
- 45 percent are ambivalent about cooking

These days it is easier than ever to not cook at home and simply eat out. In fact, the average household spent an average of $3,459 on dining out in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

Yoon states that "even categories that can hardly be considered “cooking” — such as cold, ready-to-eat cereal — are losing sales as people buy breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, or even Taco Bell". 

In response to this issue there are even companies today like Fresh Start Foods and Home Chef, which have have created prepared meal kits that include everything needed to cook a quick meal delivered straight to your door. 

Although some of these companies offer special low prices to new customers,  the regular prices can be prohibitive for many people.The downside to the food subscription services is that the you will pay dearly for the time you save in convenience with these services.

Meal kits can be cheaper than eating at a restaurant, but they are still more expensive than buying the ingredients and cooking yourself. 

And these calculations don’t account for the fact that grocery shopping can mean you’re left with extra food that you won't have when you use a meal delivery service. 

For those people with the means to spend money eating out regularly this might not be an issue. But the majority of Americans cannot afford to engage in such a costly habit. Especially when it comes to not having money to pay for everyday expenses like insurance, or an emergency, or having no money set aside for retirement.
Our food budget is one of our bigger expenses each month, which means that we’re very interested in ways to reduce our food spending while also adding variety to our meals. 
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 ~ 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.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Thank you for your continued support and friendship this past year. Your friendships have encouraged me and brightened many of my days.

I wish each and every one of you a year filled with love, peace, prosperity, good health and happiness.  

Here's to a wonderful 2020 for all of us!
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~ My Linktree