Friday, November 21, 2025

Third Frugal Friday of November 2025

 


Welcome to Frugal Friday

Quote of the Week
Freedom comes from owing nothing. 
My Frugal Week

On Saturday I measured and packaged fifty-three items for Bailey's online shops. 

On Sunday I woke up early and cleaned up in the kitchen putting things away, wiping down the cabinets, cleaned up the cat food area and washed out their food and water bowls, took the garbage out. It's so much easier to go in there and cook when the kitchen is all neat and tidy. 

Sunday was a liquids only day for me as I was scheduled for outpatient surgery to remove a hernia on Monday. There were no complications and I was back home by one o’clock Monday afternoon. Since then I’ve stayed home, not spending any money, and recuperated. 

A tip I learned from Grandma Donna’s website this week is if the headboard on your bed is next to an outside wall, add a quilt to the back of your headboard to make it warmer. I’ll definitely be doing this as it gets colder. 

Saving Money on Christmas

One thing that I do to save money at Christmas time is to look for bargains and second hand finds all year long. For example, last winter I found some brand new electric blankets on markdown, so I bought two of them to give as Christmas presents this year. 

I found a beautiful Proverbs 31 mug with a lid at a yard sale this summer. It’s the perfect hostess gift for a family member. 

I once read before about a family with a modest income that spent hundreds of dollars on Christmas gifts. Not long after they struggled financially because they did not expect car repair bills or an extra high heating bill. They got into trouble because they lived above their standard of living. 

Setting limits on gifts will help keep funds available for our needs and those unplanned expenses that come up in life. 

Buy Nothing Day

Buy Nothing Day is a day of protest against consumerism, and is held the day after the U.S.A. Thanksgiving holiday, concurrent with Black Friday. This year it will be held on Friday, November 28, 2025. 

Question of the Week

Are you ok with someone buying you a used Christmas gift?

My answer to this is, yes.  I have no problem with getting a present that was bought second hand, especially if it is something I wanted. I buy second hand items for myself regularly. And I’ve always let Bailey know I am ok with this too, so no pressure on her to spend more money getting something new. 

Freebies

The growing season is winding down here as evidenced by the small amount of produce from the Mennonites available from People Helping People on Saturday evening. Still we came home with tomatoes and peppers for which I am extremely grateful. 

The Great Cleanup

On Saturday I went downstairs and worked in the cabinet that is filled with stuff from our move here from Illinois in 1986. I cleaned one row of boxes of mostly mail and knife publications. They filled up my trunk, so I took them to the convenience center and dropped them in the dumpster. 

Saving on Electric

Our electric bill went from $229.17 last month to $160.53 this month in our all electric home, which is a savings of $68.64. I love it when we’re able to turn the air conditioner off at this time of year for this reason. 

Saving Money YouTube Videos 


An interesting YouTube video portraying the 1960s housewives who quietly saved $1.00 bills and created groups to share, trade, and barter to help with finances.  These were women who could make one dollar do the work of two dollars. 

Stretching budgets, turning leftovers into new meals, sewing clothes from patterns, and making their own cleaning solutions. What she practiced with her careful calculations, was a form of fiscal discipline that no business school taught, born out of necessity.

What I've been Reading This Week

 The Not Buying Anything blog has a blog post this week on Resisting the Holiday Hype.  It is a selection of holiday posts, which focus on anti-consumerism, waste reduction, and low cost or free alternatives to the holiday.

One of the things he mentions is that 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 dollars a day. That made me do the math and figure out how much I have to live on each day.

How was your week?



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.


Belinda ðŸ«¶ 
💕 Homemaker at Heart ðŸ’• 
~ Living within our Means ~
My Linktree

~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~
Proverbs 31:27

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Stretching Resources/Avoiding Convenience

These days, many people have embraced a lifestyle built around convenience—and it can get expensive if we’re not careful. How often do we spend money on DoorDash, Uber Eats, or meal delivery services even when we have food at home we could cook? These small conveniences add up quickly, and the fees alone could buy extra groceries for our households.

We live in a time when convenience often wins, even though we could benefit from some of the old ways. Grocery stores don’t care about your budget; they simply want you to buy more, more, and more. That’s why this is a good moment to think differently—to look at what’s already in your pantry, recognize the possibilities, and make them happen.

At the end of the day, we are the ones who must live with the choices we make. Overspending in one category means taking money from another. But frugality doesn’t have to feel like sacrifice. It’s really about resourcefulness and mindset. The lesson isn’t about cutting corners—it’s about stretching what you have. Instead of complaining about high prices, we can learn to adapt.

Back in my grandmother’s day, everything was stretched using old-fashioned wisdom born out of necessity. Nothing went to waste. Leftover roast became soup or stew. Fabric scraps became quilts. Jars were washed and reused again and again.

Let’s bring back that frugal spirit of previous generations—people who lived through hard times when every resource mattered. That mindset built a resilience that’s rare today.

Instead of wasting energy complaining about what we can’t control, let’s focus on what we can do. Sometimes it’s not about what we can afford, but about knowing when to say no. 

Belinda
Homemaker at Heart
~ Living within our Means ~
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~
Proverbs 31:27



Monday, November 17, 2025

Saving Money in My Frugal Kitchen ~ Week #3 November 2025

 

Welcome

Welcome to Frugal Workshop where I post on Mondays about how we saved on food during the last week along with what we’ve had for dinner that week. 

My Frugal Week 

On Monday I grated up some of the cheese we recently bought on sale at Kroger. The rest of the cheese went into the freezer. 

The Honey Baked Ham company had a buy one get two free ham bones this week, so I bought one and have three of them to use now. There is so much meat left on one of their ham bones that it is enough for several meals for us. 

Food Lion has Betty Crocker cake mixes on sale this week for $1.00. I always make one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas (chocolate) to take to my nieces home, so I went ahead and bought both of them this week. 

Savings of the Week


I was riding my bicycle pedals on Sunday afternoon when I happened across the UGO Facebook post that they had Jennie-O turkey sausage on sale for 99 cents for the one pound chubs. 


I’ve learned that when I see a sale at UGO I need to go and get it now! So, I left to go get some and by the time I got there the taco version was already gone, but I did manage to get both Italian and chorizo styles. 


Best of all, the Italian turkey sausage was only 79 cents each!


So, I bought five of the chorizo and twelve of the Italian. These will make some very inexpensive meals for us in the future. 

Recipe of the Week

This is a tried and true family favorite, which I’m including as we had it for dinner on Monday and Tuesday.


Easy Sausage Quiche

Ingredients:

2 - 9 inch  pie shells
1/2 to 1 pound sausage 
1 small onion, chopped
eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
cup  shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Brown sausage and onion together in skillet and drain. 
Poke bottom of pie crust with fork to prevent bubbling. 
Place 1/2 the sausage in the bottom of each pie crusts. 
Layer each one with 1/4 cup of cheese. 
Mix together eggs and sour cream and pour 1/2 over each pie crust.
Top both quiches with the remainder of the cheese.  
Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

 

What’s for Dinner

Monday & Tuesday ~ Easy Sausage Quiche, Acorn Squash, and Steamed Broccoli

This is a recipe I’ve been making for years, but to change it up to the way we eat these days, I made it without the pie crust and substituted turkey sausage. I also replaced the sour cream with Greek yogurt. 

Also, I had more diced red peppers in the refrigerator I wanted to use up, so I added some when I sautéed the onions. Sides were acorn squash and steamed broccoli. This made eight servings, so there was plenty for Tuesday as well. 

Wednesday & Thursday ~ Baked Lasagna, Steamed Broccoli, Red Bell Peppers. 

The lasagne was one I had in the freezer, so no big deal to thaw and heat in the oven for dinner. Since there are only two of us, it’s more than enough for two meals and lunch. 

Friday ~ Baked Chicken Strips, Corn, Red Peppers, Orange Slices. 

I served the chicken with honey mustard and had the vegetables and oranges as the side dishes

Saturday & Sunday ~ 15 Bean Soup with Honey Baked Ham, and Southern Spoon Bread. 

This all went into my big crockpot on Saturday morning with onions, peppers, and seasonings to cook low and slow all day long. This is the perfect weather for a comforting hot bowl of ham bean soup and warm cornbread. 

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


Belinda
Homemaker at Heart
~ Living within our Means ~
My Linktree

~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~
Proverbs 31:27

Friday, November 14, 2025

Second Frugal Friday of November 2025

 



Welcome to Frugal Friday

My Frugal Week

Last Friday was the bag sale at People Helping People, which they have once per month. They let you fill a large white kitchen bag for $15, so we both went. It’s such a great sale and isn’t just limited to clothes, but hard goods as well. I picked up several items for the treasure box for students I tutor, some kitchen gadgets, artificial flowers, body wash and clothing items. 

On Saturday I measured and packaged over fifty items for Bailey’s online shops. Between that and cleaning up outside, I was able to get over 10,000 steps in each day. 

On Tuesday I had errands to run and went to Bealls as I had a rewards member coupon for $5.00 and $2.50 off, so I bought a couple of Christmas presents. One of them was free after the coupons. 

I also went to the thrift store and noticed the prices were a little bit higher. I didn’t find anything we needed so left empty handed. I did go to the Dollar Tree and bought several Christmas presents. They have the best prices on calendars for 2026 if you are gifting any this year. 

The Great Cleanup

Last Friday I worked outside cleaning up more items around here. I took three trunkloads of stuff to the convenience center and threw into the dumpster. I also took three tires and put them in the tire trailer. I am so grateful to have a place to take these items and they don't charge me for disposing of them. Of course we do pay our share of property taxes to support this.  

Dad had a glass window in this shed, which fell and broke, so I used my grabber stick and picked up the glass and disposed of it. I also emptied out a garbage can, which was too heavy to lift, full of nails, other broken glass, old parts, and metal tin. To have this garbage can emptied after so long gave me an extremely satisfying feeling of accomplishment. 

On Monday the weather was cold at thirty-two degrees and it was snowing! The ground was warm, so it melted as soon as it hit the ground. I did take two five gallon buckets and some other trash to the convenience center and drop off though. Afterwards I headed indoors to work on laundry as it was too cold to work outside. 

Christmas


On Sunday I made a large casserole hot pad, which I will be gifting at Christmas time along with a Pyrex deep dish 9x13 casserole pan, some spices and Christmas pot holders. 

On Wednesday I finished my Christmas shopping for one side of the family. And I did have the other side done, but something came up and I ended up needing that present myself. So, I need to finish up that one present and then I’ll just have Bailey to finish. 

Freebies

I stopped in at the electric company on Monday and picked up two free calendars for 2026, one for me and one tor Bailey. 

Saving on Electric

Top Tens Ways to Extreme Save on Electricity ~ A video from Prepper Princess on some free and cheap ways to save money on electricity. 

Photo & Savings of the Week


Walmart had their Silk unsweetened almond milk on clearance this week for $1.25 down from $4.67. It's sell by date is not until late January 2026, so I'm not sure why it was marked down, but I bought two half gallons. 

Saving Money YouTube Videos

I multitasked and listened to a Prepper Princess video while I was processing clothes for Bailey the other day. This video is a fictional tale of what a day in her life would look like during the next Great Depression. At first the video seemed rather doomsday, but I listened and gleaned some useful information. Like that old saying, “take what you can and leave the rest” fit here. 

How was your week?



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.


Belinda ðŸ«¶ 
💕 Homemaker at Heart ðŸ’• 
~ Living within our Means ~
My Linktree

~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~
Proverbs 31:27

Monday, November 10, 2025

Saving Money in My Frugal Kitchen ~ Week #2 November 2025

  

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Grilled Chicken, Garden Salads, Red Grapes & Clementines. 

Tuesday ~ BLTs made with Turkey Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomatoes. 

Wednesday & Thursday ~ Egg Roll in a Bowl, Baked Potatoes, Acorn Squash. 

I’ve been reading on several blogs recently about the even higher increase in the price of beef. One solution to that dilemma is to use ground turkey, but add beef bouillon and some Worcestershire sauce (thanks to Cheryl for the tip) to make it have more of a beef taste. This is what I did with this recipe using ground turkey for the meat at a significant savings. 

Friday ~ Loaded Baked Potatoes & Salad

This was such a busy day, so I made something quick and simple for dinner. 

Saturday & Sunday ~ Lentil Loaf, Green Beans with Onions & Potatoes, and Carrots

Using what we have, I took a package of previously cooked lentils out of the freezer to thaw to make lentil loaf. I had some diced red pepper in the fridge I wanted to use, so I did add some to the loaf. I used one of the cans of tomato sauce I bought this summer at a yard sale for 25 cents, but only needed four ounces, so I saved the rest for later. 

The green beans, carrots, and potatoes were all free from the Mennonites and PHP. Even if I had to buy those items, potatoes and carrots are some of the cheapest vegetables to purchase (carrots 97c lb., potatoes 45c lb.), so we save money by incorporating them into our meals regularly. Using today’s prices I can make this lentil loaf for under $3.00 and the whole meal was less than $4.00 for me to make. 

Lentil Loaf Ingredients: 1 cup lentils (31 cents) 2 cups water (free) 1 teaspoon salt 1 small onion, diced (33 cents) 1 cup quick oats (28 cents) ¾ cup grated cheese ($1.12) 1 egg, beaten (18 cents) 4 ounces tomato sauce (25 cents) 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon basil ½ teaspoon seasoned salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper Directions: Add salt to water and boil. Add lentils and simmer, cook 30 minutes until soft. Mash lentils. Add onions, oats, and cheese until mixed, Add eggs, tomato sauce and spices. Spoon into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.

The lentil loaf makes eight servings and I eat one with dinner, so that leaves enough to repeat this meal on Sunday and have leftovers for lunches this week. 

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


Belinda
Homemaker at Heart
~ Living within our Means ~
My Linktree

~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~
Proverbs 31:27

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