Price of a meal

Tin foil chicken and veg.
BIG breast of chicken on a bed of potatoes, carrots, onions.  Baked in oven 45 min.
Brownies for dessert.

I can tell you, dessert is 7 cents a serving.
The brownie mix I got on sale, plus 2 eggs, oil and water.
The whole batch was .83, cut into 12 pieces.

Dinner for 4.  We only have 3, but I like leftovers.
1.68 per serving.
So dinner was 6.72.  Kind of pricey by my standards.
BUT if I spent that for dinner for a week.  7 nights,  it would be $47.04.  Basically the price for 2 people to go out once to a mid range restaurant.

So, eating at home is the most frugal choice. And Healthier.

VERY LARGE chicken breast of bed of veggies.  Yes the butter was calculated into the total of the meal.

Breakfast December edition

Last weekend, my son wanted french toast.
So I made some
and then some.
It is not any extra time or effort to make a big batch, freeze it.
Now my son can just pop them in the toaster during the week. 

MMMMM French Toast

Typical Frugal Day

I do indeed practice what I preach.
Load of laundry consisted of cloth napkins and cloth towels instead of using paper towels.

One of the many drawers that have cloth napkins in it.  We use them every meal.

 

Instead of paper towels

Shopping for myself Pt 2

Boscovs
They have some deals
New shirt for me $2.99

Shopping for myself

Needed facial moisturizer.
Even with coupons, it can be very expensive.
But I found a small section of Marshalls/HomeGoods store has Beauty products.
Brand names like Loreal, Strivectin, Keihl's, BodyShop  etc.  way discounted.
So that is where I get it.
Cheaper than a grocery store, CVS or Ulta even when on sale and a coupon used.  It is not expired.
They also have brand named make up.

Groceries, MEAT

I was in the area of my local GIANT grocery store.
For my big monthly hauls I prefer Shoprite
But Giant marks downs meat frequently, so if in the area I will stop by to see what the have.
Boneless chicken breast on sale 1.88 lb.  That is a good price.
Large piece of salmon 2.20.  Made it for my son for dinner the night I bought it.

Man Cave brand sausages, brats.  Again, my son likes them. On sale for 2.99 instead of 5.00.  Plus 1.00 coupon for each so 1.99 each.
Discontinued breakfast sausages.  Perfect for making breakfast sandwiches.  1.24 a box

And pork marked down, along with Natures Promise Chicken tenders.  All at least 50% off .
I am all stocked up, and don't have to pay full price for dinner.
Yay me.

Soap, was it worth it?

NOPE
I saved many many little pieces of soap through the years.
Always heard you can melt them down and make new bar of soap.
Grated, made small chucks, melted it.
Had to add water
Then new soap had to cure to dry up all the water I added.
It was ok to do.
But practical for me...  No not at all.
Time consuming.  Next time, if I ever really truly need soap, I will just put the slivers in old pantyhose and use it that way.
But with the stockpile of hand soap and bodywash, I cant see that happening any time soon.

 

4th in Line

As some of you may know, I am located in Southeastern PA
One of the grocery stores we have here is Giant.
They have this policy of "4th in Line"
If you are the 4th in line, and all other lines are 3 or more, you get your groceries for free.
That happened to me today.
Yes I did get my groceries for free.  Halloween candy and a few odds and ends.
But it wasn't easy, and they were not pleasant about it. Manager finished the transaction, gave me a glance and kept the receipt.
But, I was right, followed the policy to the letter, so...FREE

FREE GROCERIES

DIY with help from Google..cell phone edition

I dropped my phone,
Then stepped on it,
Then it fell down the stairs and slid across a tile floor.
After putting it back together, yep shattered.
But not the screen.  The camera lens.
Hubby said I need to get a new phone, I said, I bet I can fix it.
Darn, I ruined a chance for a new phone.
But....I spent 7 dollars and fixed my phone with the help of google and videos.

Shattered camera lens

removed old frame, new frame

Those black specs and wad of stuff, that is the shattered lens

Everything removed and ready to be replaced

New lens installed

All better

Free Coffee

Happy National Coffee Day

Scrubby

Sponges get stinky fast at our house, so I try not to use them.
I knit a lot of dish cloths and use those instead.
I needed a  scrubby but didn't have one, so I improvised...
A Babybell bag and disk cloth inside.  Worked perfectly.

Breakfast for Hubby

Bagel, Egg, Sausage and Cheese for Breakfast
Bagels from outlet .75 for 6, used 4
Eggs .99 a dozen   used 4
Sausage .99 for container used 3
Cheese 2.00 1/2 lb only used 4 slices
less than about 1.75 for 4,     .44 a serving

Pizza Sauce

Well, I am calling it pizza sauce.
I was making pizza and needed a thick sauce.
I went to my pantry and just kinda made it up as I went along,
Canned tomatoes, spices and simmering. Lots of summering.

Tomatoes and herbs

Mix/Blend Well

Simmer

Remember the Propagated Basil Plants?  Here's one!

Added Basil Last

Done

Homemade pizza.  Peppers and Onions on my slices.

YUM

Frugal week

Got a few things done last week
Frozen bananas into ice cream, sort of
Home made pizza sauce,
and breakfast for the hubby.

I will start with the ice cream.
I have blogged on this before...
BANANAS
Love them.  Never throw them out.
I have had neighbors give me their old bananas.
All I did for this treat was..
Put frozen bananas into food processor
I added a little milk to make it smoother.
Top with melted peanut butter or home made chocolate sauce.

Frozen Bananas as ice cream

 

 

 

Dessert

 

Kohls

Just a quickie post
Shopping for school clothes for son.
Kohl's clearance, online.
I learned you can use more than one coupon code at a time.
So I got clearance, one code took off the amount of shipping
then other took 20% off what was already on sale.
Yay me.

School Supplies 2017

Hardly needed anything
Nothing to really report this year.  
Saved and reused supplies from previous years.
Son just needed one subject notebooks, real cheap at Staples.  .25 cents each.
He needed a new binder, with strap and zipper.  Those are pricey.
Had 10 off coupon 20.00 or more
It was 20 dollars.  So 10 dollars.
1 binder + 4 notebooks = 11.00

Propagate

I have an older Basil plant.  Looking like it was winding down.
So I took clippings from it.
Propagated them in water.
Now I have 5 new Basil plants and still have the Mother plant.
Free Basil Plants!

 Roots forming in the 2 clear glasses with water.
White planter in foreground has three new plants, and old Mother plant in the yellow pot

Hardest Frugal thing for me to do

I enjoy clipping coupons, researching sales, making things at home, DIY...
Sales have been great lately.
So, the hardest frugal thing for me to do was...NOTHING.
I did not shop.
I generally say, I buy when on sale so I don't have to pay full price.
But, I took inventory recently and discovered, I do not need to buy this sale, I have enough to last till the next sale cycle, several weeks or even months.
So, I didn't buy the shampoo for a dollar or meats or frozen veggies.
It was really hard for me.  I felt like I was missing out. 
But all I have to do is look at my newly reorganize pantry and know that we are fine.

Wedding Season

I haven't been to a wedding in a few years, so...I didn't have anything to wear.
Found a formal dress on the clearance rack at Kohl's.  No tag on it
I offered to pay 10.00 and they accepted.
It was too long for me
After scooping the front, hemming the back and adjusting the straps, I had a nice formal gown for 10.00 dollars and some sweat equity.
Went to 2 wedding this summer.
So $5.00 per wedding.  Not bad.

 

2 at a time

With the meat I bought on sale
I made 2 dinners at the same time.
Meatloaf and meatballs
Cooked at the same time.  Froze the meatballs for a quick meal some other day.

 

Dessert

Found an item being phased out, either because of old packaging or discontinued.
This item was on my list.
But if only it was my buy price of .99 cents.
It was .64 cents, so I bought 6.
No I didn't clear the shelves.  I got enough to last me many, many months, perhaps a year.
I can make brownies at home for cheap.  But at this price, making them from a box is cheaper.
Great item to have a around for quickie treat or dessert.  Easy to make, 30 minutes to bake.

Dinner and Dessert

As I have mentioned before, when you are going to the grocery store...sticking to the list helps you stay on budget.
With that being said...it is also a good idea to keep your eyes peeled for deals.
Like....
I found meat for 1.12 a pound.  So I bought 4 packages.
Great for meatloaf and meatballs .
Each container is over a pound. Freezes well.
Each serving will be about 34 cents. (Perhaps a couple cents more once I add spices.) For family of 4.  I have three, so I have leftovers.

If I had stuck to my list, I'd stayed on budget.  True.  However, I will rarely find meat this cheap, even on sale.  So I bought plenty, so when I need it, I wont have to pay full price.  I like to stock up when on sale.  Also, a couple of the items I was getting had Peelies on them.  Surprise coupons, so I didn't got too much over budget. Just about 3.00.

Up Next...DESSERT

Free Slurpee

Tues 7/11
Free slurpee
https://www.7-eleven.com/home
 

Produce Clearance

As may know,
I have always looked for items on the clearance shelf of the grocery store and they mark down meats.
I am now enjoying produce clearance as well.
I bought 3 bell peppers for less than the price of one. 1 yellow, 2 green. $1.01
I also like the bags of old bananas
Perfect for banana bread or for freezing
Pictured also is pork chops marked down

It's My Birthday

Well, almost

But see what I got for free.
Gift cards to local restaurants
Free Rita's
Buy One Get One Rita's
Free bowling
10 off 25 at Uno's
10 off Maggianos (Actually 20 I have another 10 off I can use at the same time)
10 off At Eddie Bauer

National Donut Day

FREE
Dunkin Donuts has a free donut today
(With beverage purchase)

But Krispy Kreme
free is free
no purchase required

Coupon

I am by no means a coupon Queen
But will print them, cut them and use them.
Especially if for...WINE.
Yes wine coupon.
15.99 bottle of wine
In sale for 12.99
Minus coupon, equals decent wine at decent price.

Stromboli

Easy Peasy
Some grocery stores have the pizza dough already made for .99 cents.
I made this one, cost about .50 (yeast, flour, salt, olive oil, water)
Tomato sauce, already made meatballs, mozzarella cheese, what ever seasonings you'd like. (Fresh Basil)
I bake on 350 til brown.  You can bake at 400