Frugal Friday Week #23
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.
I always feel like I post many how-to’s and not many “real lifes”. Although I do try and incorporate that into my newer posts, I’ve often thought that it might be even more helpful for my readership to get a better glimpse inside of what our simple/homestead/from scratch/frugal life really looks like.
Frugal Friday Week 22
So I’ve started a new series called Frugal Friday and need your help. My idea for this series is to share some of the projects/recipes/things we worked on this week and, in general, just what life looks like.
I need your help because I’ve tried something similar before, and I gave up after a while. I got bored, felt like no one was reading it or cared, and I moved on to other projects. So what I need you to do each week is to share what your week looked like in the comments section. I think it could keep us ALL accountable and may serve as an encouragement to others!
So let’s dive right into this week!
Meals We Ate
I finally got back to a meal plan this week. Not only are we back on a plan, I made it for the next 3 months! I’m very happy I took a day off my schedule to do this. We function better with a plan. Here’s what was on the menu this past week.
Breakfasts
Lunches
- Mac and Cheese
- Chicken Nuggets
- PBJ Sandwiches (hiking)
- Ham Sandwiches (hiking again)
- Cold Salad
- Clean Out the Fridge Day (did this twice to clean up stuff from last week)
Suppers
- Chicken Wings (did these plain with garlic, salt, and pepper this week)
- Hot Dogs (4th of July!)
- Chicken Tenders (homemade breaded and fried thin slices of chicken)
- Roast with Carrots
- Nacho Bar (pictured above)
- Homemade Pizza
- Leftovers
Shopping I Did
I did a lot of shopping at the end of last week and the middle of this week. I got a new comforter for our bed and some much-needed project supplies for homestead summer projects. We decided that all projects and “extra” things will not go into our budget, but we have to sell other things to pay for them. We ended up selling a large piece of furniture we didn’t need, some old windows, and a few other random things to pay for all we bought, plus have plenty left over.
I also did a big grocery shop this week and spent about $300, which is my monthly budget (all our fresh food comes from the coop we own and isn’t included). Not only was that all I needed right now, it was all the shopping I had to do for the next 3 months of my menu plan! I will either save the extra $600 that would be our food budget over the coming months, or I will add a few more things to our stockpile with some of it.
Other Things We Did
We did quite a bit of hiking this week alone and with friends. It’s far too wet to work on certain projects and the garden has been too wet to mow or weed.
Outside Projects We Worked On
With the holiday, we didn’t accomplish much around the homestead but we DID make plans for the rest of the summer. I’m excited to share those projects with you as time goes on!
We did put greenhouse plastic around my tomatoes to try and keep them warmer. The mornings are still in the low 50s and 40s and things are just not growing. Some of the plants have popped up new leaves, some of them have died off completely, and the new seedlings I planted 2 weeks ago have emerged. If it would ever warm up, things would go crazy I think!
Inside Projects We Worked On
Since my herbs are all growing in the greenhouse and have been protected from the storms, I’ve been working on those! I dehydrated all my garlic scapes (going to make garlic salt) and started dehydrating the parsley. Next up is dill and basil.
Blog Posts I Wrote
- How to Use Washing Soda – This was always such a mystery ingredient for me when I first started my frugal living journey. Here are a bunch of ways to use it!
Looking Ahead to Next Week
We will be out all next week helping with a summer camp. 🙂 It’ll be back to the regular summer projects after that!
So tell me….what did life look like for you this week? What did you do, make, or plan to do?
Merissa has been blogging about and living the simple life since 2009 and has internationally published 2 books on the topic. You can read about Merissa’s journey from penniless to the 100-acre farm and ministry on the About Page. You can send her a message any time from the Contact Page.
I need to get back to meal planning. I know this will help so much with budgeting. We’re still having trouble in our house with taste issues, leftover from covid, and I just gave up a little. I need to dig in and get to work.
Hi Merissa:
I’m glad that you’ve had some good news on the garden front. My garden will start producing shortly. The peas are forming and the beans and zucchinis have flowers already. My very small patch of corn is about 4.5 feet tall already. We have been very hot and dry but it looks like we are in for a cooler wetter week coming up which will help get things growing even better. We really need the extra moisture. My tomatoes are not doing as well as hoped for despite TLC but I’m not giving up on them. I had just a tidy up week in the garden. The rest of the time was spent with a bit of a late spring cleaning. We had our furnace and ductwork cleaned out finally and that set me off on my cleaning binge. I did the downstairs at the beginning of the week and detailed the kitchen yesterday. My plan is to get the house really cleaned up and organized before I have to start my usual canning. I usually do my spring cleaning much earlier but had to postpone it this year for medical reasons. I’m finally feeling better and enjoying the catch up. I finally tried out your Hummingbird bread recipe. It was delicious. I doubled the recipe to get two loaves. I froze the second one but I don’t think it will be there long.
We are empty nesters and have cut back on our gardening due to health issues for us both. This week I have begun to harvest our mixed greens and salad greens, green beans and some squash. Oh and our blackberries are coming in and I have been freezing as we go so as to get enough to make cobbler and jelly. This weekend I will be dehydrating my basil. We are not off grid but have a separate property about 15 minutes away where our garden is located and we keep chickens there as well. I am enjoying reading and learning about all the things you and your family are doing. Many blessings to you and yours.
I have been harvesting herbs as well and drying them along with mint. Plums are ripening quickly. I spend a lot of time watering as it has been very dry in our area. We are in extreme drought on the map and I believe it! Hope your week at camp is blessed!
I bought basil and two parsley plants this week. Need to repot tomorrow morning. Very hot here, so I am giving them tender treatment until in bigger pots. I went to a local orchard stand and bought a few peaches to try. If they are good, I will buy and process a bigger amount of them. I am now walking a mile three times a week. I am doing this because I like it and to get ready for fitness required for this Fall’s soil prep and next year gardening. Lord willing. I am glad to hear that your string beans are coming back! I think the kitten looks good on your comforter. Similar coloring of cat to comforter. Finding joy in the little things.
Your segment on washing soda was informative. I use borax since we have hard water. We have had little rain, but our clay soil is doing better in this very dry humid year vs cold wet years. Your blue organic chips would be a hit with my taco chip loving son. Your basil looks better than ours. We froze snap peas for beef barley soup. Our jersey mix cows don’t come running for watermelon like our Hereford did. I love giving them treats. Our cats got some cat food since we were low on freebies husband gets for cattle cat feed. Son is unloading hay and cleaning sheep goat pens and cleaning a rental home and church. He interviewed for public school custodian……eight openings. He is optimistic. Have a great weekend.
I really enjoy reading about your week! Another way of life to me in Melbourne Australia
Thank you
Have you ever substituted ranch dressing for mayo in chicken nuggets? My son loves ranch, but not salad dressing or mayo. Just curious….
I haven’t, but it sounds good!
Really enjoy your sharing your week, lifestyle and great ideas to keep things simple and manageable in the home and garden! 😀
I’ve been doing a lot of weeding this past week. Here in Michigan we finally got some much needed rain. I replanted my carrots because only 1 came up in the entire row!🫤 we went garage saling and found some clothes and a suitcase. It’s raining here today again so that will give us a chance to do some house cleaning. We have a birthday party coming up in 2 weeks.
I love these posts of everyday life.
I’ve been working from home this week but it was full of zoom meetings. I need to clean my office then prep some things for next week’s camping with my 5 grandkids ages 5 to 11.
I did a full grocery shopping to prepare for this. It’s been months since I went to the grocery store for this volume. When I have to do a huge shopping in summer I do it on a Thursday after 6 pm. There’s less crowding and the shelves seem to be well stocked.
I also prepped a menu for the week with my grandkids. They each choose their meals for 1 day of camping, they also have to help me the day we have their meal. The help me prep, serve and clean up!
My oldest prepped her dry ingredients for apple crisp for her dessert and for pancakes for her breakfast yesterday. Very proud of her!
It’s going to be a very busy week for the 6 of us, but this extra planning and engaging them in the process helps it to be more enjoyable for all.
Enjoy your camp! Maybe it will be warmer for that.
Good morning.
So happy to see some of your garden coming back, and that you all had some fun days hiking. Outside this week I harvested my first garlic, spinach has bounced back from leaf miners and tomatoes are just starting to fruit. I thought they wouldn’t produce due to high nitrogen in the soil but they were salvaged by the handfuls of radish seeds thrown in among them. Apparently, radishes take up nitrogen. Meals were uneventful except for the fresh Montauk flounder we bought. It was so fresh and good.
This week we’re leaving the dogs, house, and garden to my adult children and going away from Thursday to Sunday. Looking forward to mountains!
Hi.
This has been a week of experimenting with food. For sometime now, I have been trying to find a recipe for spaghetti sauce that I really like. I want to have several jars canned for the winter. As I write this, I am trying a new recipe. It’s simmering on the stove, and I am hoping that I like this one.
I had a few extra peaches this week. Instead of freezing them, I decided to make peach fritters. They were all eaten in two days, so I guess they were a hit.
I haven’t done shopping this week, but I scheduled an appointment with my favorite consignment shop to bring in my unwanted items. Now, I have the big task of going through the house, garage, and attic. I am really looking forward to clearing out and minimizing.
The garden is doing well. I have the dehydrator running now with zucchini. This is my first year to dehydrate zucchini. I am hoping that I am successful when I go to use it in the fall and winter. My herbs are really doing well. I am so happy. I really don’t want to buy them. They are expensive.
Outside we are moving a fence that was damaged in several storms. It’s a slow moving job. We really can only work in the morning and evening because of high heat.
Hope everyone has a nice week.
Took the kids to the river, various barbecues, went to a chili cook-off, swim team for my oldest, read, worked in the garden, started making cold infusuions, made lots of food, tackled some housework since I have been on the go a lot taking the kids to summer activities. I would like to make some vinegar this next week.
I am enjoying your blog so much. We live in the country and I used to do alot of these things too when our children were young. Now it is just the 2 of us but we still enjoy eating “off the land”, fresh from the garden produce. We have alot of raspberries which we are enjoying right now as well as making jam, preserves and frozen. Keep up the good work – I love reading everything you blog about.
We splurged on burgers & dogs for the 4th, but saved money by staying home and not having anyone over. Just myself, the hubs, and the kids. We also treated ourselves to ears of corn for 50c each.
This week we’ve done some deep cleaning and started prepping for canning season. We also started growing pink pearl mushrooms — a first for us! I’m doing rather well at sticking to our adjusted grocery budget, and am using up a lot of our stockpile while only picking up certain “fill in” items at the stores.
It’s been chilly here (UK) in East Anglia, but warmed a bit the last few days. Done lots of weeding as we keep getting sudden downpours! Things are growing a lot slower this year, tomatoes are ok but the bell peppers? Just one fruit!! The broad beans are slow, but the rhubarb is romping away! We’ve had a load of ripe gooseberries. All the news for now, see you all next week.