First Frugal Friday March 2024

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 

Quote of the Week

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

My Frugal Week
As usual, I steamed and measured clothes for Bailey for her shops this week. Lucky me, I found five new shirts for me. That is my price to her for helping. LOL

Someone posted on our local Facebook group that she was getting rid of her kitchen apple decor and was offering it up for free. I'm usually too late to get in on a deal like this, but not this time. 
She said the items were stored and needed some cleaning, which I'm used to do doing because we buy second hand regularly. Afterwards, Bailey can price them and sell them at the consignment sale. Drop off is less than one week away, so we will be busy doing that this week.  
I listed two items for sale on eBay this week. 
I made a list of other errands to do when I went to town for a dr. appt. this week, to save money on gas. 
I perused the grocery store sale ads online on Wednesday. 
I colored Bailey's hair for her, and saved her saved $90.
I went to Publix after my eye doctor appointment on Thursday. They have $1.00 off of Dawn dishwashing detergent, and buy one get one free on Pam spray. I also bought Temptations treats for the cats as they are priced at three for $9.00 this week. 
I used one of the Dawn coupons I found with no expiration date, which was for 20 cents off. There was no barcode, so they had to type the number in for me to use it. 
Publix has Kraft mayonnaise on sale this week priced at by one get one free, but that still made it $4.00 per quart, which is expensive to me.
Photo of the Week

If you have a hanger that doesn't hold a garment on very well, add a rubber band to the end of it to act as a gripper and the garment won't fall off that hanger anymore. We use this tip in Bailey's business for any hangers that don't already have the gripper attached. 
Saving Money YouTube Videos
10 Painless Ways to Save $100 ~ Homegrown Hillary created this video on Amy Dacyczyn's tips from 1990 and decided to see if they are still relevant in 2024. 

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.

BelindaHomemaker at HeartMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen ~ Meal Plan Monday

 

My Frugal Week

I bought a rotisserie chicken on markdown for $3.04 from Walmart. I took all the meat off the bones and had this for several meals this past week. 

I perused the grocery store sale ads online this week and noted Save a Lot (SAL) has their ten pound bags of chicken leg quarters on sale for 59 cents per pound. So, I ventured into SAL for the first time since before the pandemic. 

Someone mentioned this week their grocery store hides sale items and not stock the meat counter. I feel like SAL did this with the chicken leg quarters. They were at the very end of the freezer section, only on the bottom shelf and there was no price on them. It was odd, but I did find them and bought two bags. 

I also bought  a quart of buttermilk, two bags of brussel sprouts, one can of field peas and snaps, and one toilet bowl cleaner. My total came to $19.39. 

I did notice that several of their spices like cumin are still 99 cents, so that beats Walmart's price of $1.28. Beets were 99 cents at SAL, which does not beat Walmart's price of 78 cents. So, as we all know, you need to know your prices in order to save the most money. 

I also went to Food City on Friday and bought ground beef on sale for $1.99 a pound, limit of ten pounds, when you bought $25 worth of store brand groceries. 

Once I had it home, I used my kitchen scale to weigh each pound into ten bags, labeled and vacuumed sealed them, and put them in the freezer. 

Some of the store brand groceries I bought included That's Smart! store brand tea bags in the 100 count box for $1.49. The Great Value brand at Walmart is $2.12 while it was also over $2 for tea at SAL. I can make a gallon of tea using the Food City brand for 15 cents, which is a great price. 

I did find Knorr bouillon cubes on markdown at Food City in the 6 count box for 69 cents. I bought two boxes of beef and two of chicken. 

Recipe of the Week

This recipe came from The Samaritan Center and their class on Saving Money. They gave us samples of this during class and I tasted something sweet in it, so I wonder if the beans or tomatoes had sugar in them? 

Changes I would make to this recipe include the addition of corn or pineapple, petite diced tomatoes instead of stewed, and regular brown rice or cauliflower rice instead of instant brown rice, which would increase the cooking time. I might also substitute other beans for the black ones. I would also substitute the green pepper for a red pepper. 

It was a very simple and good tasting recipe. 

Caribbean Casserole

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 - 14.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes

1 & 1/2 cups instant brown rice

1 can black beans, undrained

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions: 

Heat oil in large pan over medium heat.

Add onion and green pepper and cook until tender.

Add tomatoes, beans, oregano and garlic powder.

Bring to a boil.

Stir in rice and cover.

Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Photo of the Week

Ten pounds of ground beef, vacuumed sealed and ready for the freezer.

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Chicken Pot Pie, Green Beans & Onions, Spoon Bread. 

Tuesday ~ Chicken with Pineapple, Rice, Salad. 

Wednesday ~ Breakfast for Dinner, Sausage, Toast, Blueberries. 

Thursday ~ Ham, Baked Apples, Carrots & Sweet Potatoes, and both Pine and Blueberries. 

Friday ~ Tyson Spicy Nuggets, Soup Beans, Carrots, and Baked Apples. We liked these and will definitely buy them again since they were only $1.99 for a 16 ounce bag at UGO. They were spicy, but not too hot spicy if that makes sense. I don't do hot spicy as I'm allergic. 

Saturday ~ Chicken Tacos using the 59 cents a pound chicken, Tortillas, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, Cheese, Black Olives, Jalapenos, and Chipotle Ranch. 

Sunday ~ White Chicken Chili - This is a dish I made because I had leftover Taco Chicken and leftover soup beans. I looked at a few recipes on line and added sauteed onions, corn, cumin and chili powder. I also blended some of the soup beans with some of the broth from the taco chicken to make the chili thick and creamy. 

I don't know why I hadn't thought to make this before, but we really liked it. And it was low in calories and high in protein and fiber. We will definitely be making this again. 

What’s on the Menu for This Coming Week

These are the items we have on hand that I can use to make meals this week. Be sure to come back next week to see what sides we serve with these main dishes.

We are serving two meatless meals this week to save money on meat.

- Sausage Quiche

-White Chicken Chili

- Bean & Cheese Burritos or Enchiladas

- Pizza Beans

- Cheesy Potatoes

- Salmon Patties or Baked Pollack

- Dirty Rice

What’s been on the menu in your home?

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

Mortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Garbage Haul Off ~ Hoarders ~ Decluttering

 Bailey had book club on Friday, so we didn't clean in Dad's space downstairs. But on Saturday, Timmy, our friend and garbage man, came and hauled off several appliances. 

I had received a quote from a company in town that wanted $100 just to haul off the freezer, so I worked out a deal with Timmy instead and bartered the hauling off of trash in exchange for a refrigerator that Dad had just bought recently and some cash as well. #bartering
So, Timmy hauled off the freezer that had stopped working who knows when or was unplugged by a neighbor helping Mom at one point in time, an old stove, a smaller refrigerator, a toaster oven, microwave and printer. 
None of the items were worth saving to me and would have needed some serious scrubbing to get clean that I was unwilling to do, and even then I didn't know if they worked or not. I'm not afraid of hard work or scrubbing and have done my fair share of that, but these were not worth it to me. 
I'm thrilled to have them all out of the way, especially the freezer. I told my sister it was bad, like don't open the lid bad. LOL
I'm not sure what Dad was thinking with all the refrigerators. He had two downstairs, and four in his home across the road, and about three of them were brand new. I put one of the smaller ones in my bedroom to hold some of my medicine that needs refrigeration. 
Dad and Mom both were hoarders, but Dad had more hoarded than Mom did, I think. Bailey and I lived with Mom upstairs and I cleaned out and decluttered up here regularly, which could be the difference. Even after Mom's death in 2022, I threw out bank statements with used checks she had kept from the 1960s. 
Dad did not throw away much at all. For example, he had about seven printers down in his office. We threw one of the big ones away yesterday and I kept one for use in my own office. The back of Timmy's truck can only hold so much at one time. 
I think yard sales, flea markets, and thrift stores can be good, clean fun, but there has to be a limit. I buy things that are useful and I use them, and if I don't use them, they are going to the next consignment sale because I like a clean and uncluttered home. 
In my lifetime I have had plenty of places I've cleaned out. My Father-In-Law needed help cleaning out his home when my brother-in-law and his wife lived there for a while. Then the same home needed cleaning out again after FIL passed away. We had to rent a dumpster for that clean out. 
The home my exdh and I bought when we were married, was left hoarded up by the people who owned it before us, but had passed away. We threw away stuff from the 1940s in that house. 
It has been interesting to find some old things like some of the letters and stuff I've found. And there is plenty of useful stuff as well and stuff people are willing to pay for and I've found some things to use up here.  And remember that old saying, "one man's junk is another man's treasure". 

BelindaHomemaker at HeartMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Fourth Frugal Friday of February 2024

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 
My Frugal Week
This morning I went to Food City and Save a Lot to get in on two grocery deals. Food City has ground chuck for $1.99 a pound, limit of ten pounds, when you buy $25 worth of store brand groceries, today and tomorrow only. Save a Lot has chicken leg quarters on sale for 59 cents a pound, and I bought two bags. 
While cleaning in Dad's kitchen, we found an old crockpot with a glass lid. My own smaller crock pot had a plastic lid that was cracked, so I exchanged them. We will sell his old one at the consignment sale, but now mine has a glass lid. Woo Hoo! It's the little things that bring me joy. 
We rode Dad's four wheeler around the yard (we have 20 acres here) and picked up trash that had blown into the yard. We brought a nice Rubbermaid Brute garbage can over here from his yard, but emptied it out into a garbage bag beforehand. We took it to Fletcher spout and rinsed it out very well.  
I attended the class at The Samaritan Center again this week and earned another $10 in thrift store credit. I bought some more flannel blankets for 25 cents. This week they made a Caribbean Casserole for us to try and it was really good. I'll include it in the recipe of the week in Monday's post.  
On Tuesday we went to the $5 Bargain Tuesday at UEC, and both received a free popcorn for being a rewards member. We watched The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. This is the book club reading for this month, which meets tonight, so she's excited to have read the book AND watched the movie. 
Savings of the Week

On Wednesday I went to Chattanooga to run errands and went to the UGO on Highway 58. Thanks very much to Toni, I found Lord Chesterfield's butter beans for 79 cents per can! Toni said, "in this day and age we have to watch out for each other" and I definitely agree with her. I sure do appreciate her letting me know this.
Other items I bought include Kraft shredded cheese in the eight ounce packages for $1.00, Tyson spicy plant based nuggets in the one pound package for $1.99, and I bought one to try. If we like them, that is a great price for one pound of "meat". 
Blueberries and pineberries were $1.50 for the larger container, tortillas for 50 cents a pack, EVOO for $3.99, and several other items as well. 
Coupons
Bailey and I both use the Cetaphil soap to wash our hands here as it is a very moisturizing soap that doesn't leave our hands dried out. It's more expensive than other soaps at around $11 for three bars, but you can go to the website and print a coupon for $4.00 off if you're interested. 
Speaking of coupons, I found a stash in a filing cabinet in Dad's office from the 1980s with no expiration date. The values are low, but they will still work. We also received coupons from Kroger and Frito Lay & Pepsi this week from their Tasty Rewards program, and now they will let you order coupons every two weeks. 
Joy of the Week & Freebies
While I was running errands this week I came across a lady who wanted to chat while we were both waiting on an event  to start. She was very sweet and even asked to pray with me. 
She goes to food giveaways and what she can't use she keeps in her car and gives it to people she meets, people like me. She had me go look in her box, and I picked out a box of broth, crackers and some granola bars. 
Wasn't that sweet of her? The whole encounter reminded me of the scripture found in the book of Hebrews 13:2, "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some have entertained angels unawares."
Photo of the Week

In the photo above you'll see two brand new cans of Spectracide wasp spray. We buy these at Lowe's in a dual pack and keep a supply on hand. Bailey opened a new pack last week and both cans were empty, so I called Spectracide and they sent me two new bottles to replace them. That was great customer service in my book. 

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.

BelindaHomemaker at HeartMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen ~ 3rd Week of February 2024

 

My Frugal Week & Recipe of the Week

Several people have commented on the pizza eggs I include in our breakfasts of the week. And have even mentioned looking up the recipe, so I decided to do that too and came across some with actual slices of pizza in the recipe.

What we do is make eggs, anyway we like them, I prefer mine scrambled and then add pizza toppings to the mix. We like both cottage cheese and parmesan cheese in ours and Bailey likes turkey pepperoni in hers.

I add pizza sauce of which I have used all sorts of things like tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce. It's really helped to use up our stash of tomato based sauces. Bailey adds pizza seasoning from Trader Joe's to hers and I like to add Italian Seasoning to mine. 

You can also add black olives or any pizza toppings you prefer. We cook the eggs first, then add the toppings and a lid to the skillet and allow the cheeses to melt. 

Pizza Eggs

Ingredients:

Eggs

Pepperoni

Cottage Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Pizza Sauce

Any pizza toppings you prefer

Breakfasts

This week I finished a box of Quaker Oats Maple & Brown Sugar with 20 packets in it that we brought over from Dad's place. Now, I will move on to a tin of McCann's Irish oatmeal and finish using that up before I move on to my regular oatmeal. We also did Pizza Eggs somedays.

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Planned Over Lasagne, Salad, and Garlic Bread. 

Tuesday ~ Movie Night! No cooking for me! Bailey will have her usual BBQ Chicken Pizza. 

Wednesday ~ BBQ Smokies, Baked Apples, and Corn. 

Thursday ~ Beefy Baked Beans, Broccoli. 

Friday ~ Tired from cleaning out, we had leftovers. Beefy Baked Beans, BBQ Smokies, Corn, and Pickled Beets. 

Saturday ~ Chicken Tacos, Onions, Pinto Beans. 

Sunday ~ Chicken Pot Pie with homemade white sauce, Green Beans with Onions, Pickled Beets, and Southern Spoon Bread. I also made up a fresh batch of iced tea. 

What’s on the Menu for This Coming Week

Salmon, Ham, Tuna, Pulled Pork, Sausage, and Pork Chops are items we have on hand that I can use to make meals this week. As usual, I will be serving at least one meatless meal this week to save money on meat. Be sure to come back next week to see what sides we serve with these main dishes.

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

Mortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27