Frugal Friday Week #37
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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 #37
So I’ve started a 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 and 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!
Side Note: If you missed the last weeks, I reshared that we are currently living in a tiny home (camper) to travel and do ministry work in rural places for now as we take a temporary break from our homestead.
Meal Highlights
I kept a strict meal plan this week since we’ve been in the camper, and I have no other choice right now! Here’s what we made:
- Mac and Cheese with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Roast, Pumpkin Pie, Green Beans, Pickles, and Sparkling Cider (Thanksgiving)
- Ground Beef LoMein (becoming a new staple meal!)
- Leftovers
- Sausage and Veggies Skillet
- Pancakes
Shopping We Did
I had to get groceries again this week. I’m not used to getting them each week but that’s really all the space we have for them in the fridge. I’m also beginning to cook for other volunteers at the project we are working on (for lunch) starting today, so I needed extra.
I had to go into town to do my laundry, so I bought my groceries this week at Kroger, Walmart, Aldi, and the local Amish market. Now that I’ve checked out all of those places, I think I can narrow it down to where to get food next week. I spent $150 again on food for the week which I thought was good considering I’m feeding an extra 10ish people for lunches.
I’ll also be shopping a bit today. I always use Black Friday as a way to stock up on basic household goods and Christmas Gifts. I also buy garden seeds. I don’t need the household things this year, but I’ve already been looking this morning at the Schleich toys website for some gifts, a new pair of winter boots for myself, and I’ll be using some discount codes at Pinetree Seeds and High Mowing Seeds, two of my go-to seed places.
How We Lived Frugal This Week
Besides the money spent on groceries and laundry (and whatever I end up with from the Black Friday sales), we stayed close to where we are working and spent almost nothing. We’ve been living 100% off solar power and propane for just about 2 weeks now, and we found that we can get water for free from the local fire department.
I still have some foods I brought from my home pantry, so I’ve been using those and being more creative with my meals to try and use what I already have or less expensive ingredients.
Blog Posts I Wrote This Week
I didn’t do as much writing and editing this week since it was a holiday week but here are the blog posts I worked on:
- Sweet Penny Treats – This is a guest post from way back when I updated. She talks about all kinds of sweet little treats to make for the holiday season.
- How to Make A Christmas Master List – If you want to better organize your holidays, print out this freebie this weekend to get started!
- Turkey and Feta Quesadillas – This is a great way to use up some of the Thanksgiving leftovers. The post also has other ideas for using up turkey.
- Eggless Pumpkin Pie – We made this yesterday like we do every year!
- Pumpkin Turtle Cheesecake Recipe – This is a “fancy” way to enjoy pumpkin season.
- 6 Ingredient Cranberry Cake – New recipe on this blog! This cake is super easy to make.
Looking Ahead to Next Week
I haven’t had a spare moment yet with the holiday to work on my blog post about my First Aid Kit, but I’m going to try to do some work on that over the next week.
I also want to brand out a bit and take the kids exploring in the area we are in now that we are a little familiar. Plus, I’m adding in all that extra cooking for a volunteer crew for lunches so it should be a full week!
Merissa Alink
Merissa has been blogging about and living the simple and frugal life on Little House Living since 2009 and has internationally published 2 books on the topic. You can read about Merissa’s journey from penniless to freedom on the About Page. You can send her a message any time from the Contact Page.
Good morning, I find it fascinating how you’re living on the road- sounds like something I’d love to try someday! I’m not sure if you told us or not but are you willing to share where you are- not specific but a general area? It’s interesting that you have an Amish market in the area but there’s a lot of Amish communities.
We are currently helping with a church project in rural Kentucky. 🙂
Good morning! Glad to hear you are enjoying your new mission field! This week was not that frugal for us overall, but we tried hard to use things up. We spent another weekend in the hospital, so there was more gas spent going back and forth. For meals this week we had a roast with potatoes and carrots, then we transformed that into shredded beef and bean burritos. Since the leftovers from that did not get put into the freezer in a timely manner the meat went into the dehydrator to use as dog treats. I used up the homemade pancake mix for breakfast. Biscuits and gravy, eggs for breakfast too. We had a baked potato night with assorted toppings. Homemade pizza, from scratch mac and cheese. Thanksgiving at one of my daughters’ homes. We provided food but did not cook anything except crescent rolls for the meal. Tried a new to me recipe for that and it was great even though I forgot to add the salt 🙁 Since the meal was not here there are no leftovers to snack on today. We will start with our pantry/freezer challenge early this year because I really want to pare down how much we have in our freezer storage in preparation to split a side of beef with family members. My goal to afford the side of beef is to deduct the cost of whatever I pull out of the freezer to use from the grocery budget that week and put it aside to save for the beef. Also, I put a Harvest brand freeze dryer on layaway. I struggled with doing it this way or just putting it on a credit card. In the end I am happy with their layaway plan. Excited to work towards the goal of paying it off and accruing no interest in the process. I did spend $182 at the commissary almost a week early on our 3-week shopping plan. Partly because of the holiday and partly because the kids were due to be home from school and I am lazy. I worked on small, crocheted gifts while waiting at the hospital and other appointments. I have a decent size stack of scrubby cloths for the kitchen and homemade dish cloths to give. I also was in need of a tea kettle as the only one I have is a very large over a gallon capacity kettle that I bought for canning and is not practical for young kids to try and pour from. The item I bought was an electric kettle from the Bx for about $16. It was a little less, but I cannot remember how much less. If I had a gas stove, I would have opted for a traditional tea kettle, but I am using electricity either way right now and this heats faster and doesn’t leave a hot burner for littles to touch. Our solar seems to cover all or most of our daily needs for electricity. Sorry this was so lengthy.
We hosted elk camp this week, so I fed 4 hungry hunters 3 meals plus snacks for 6 days. I spent $60 for bananas, dairy & nuts, pineapple and turkey. Everything else was homemade. I made handpies (mini calazones) for their lunches, breakfast burritos, smoked salmon and veggies apple slices with spicy seasons (like tajin). For dinners, it was all out of the freezer with exception of the brussels sprout trees that I purchased for 2/$5. We ended up filling all tags and that meant butchering for Thanksgiving and eating a freezer casserole. We had been very careful about using electricity, water and gas and our savings for the month was almost $40. With out of state guests, I will not be able to boast that for next month’s bills.
I purchased a 50 lb bag of filberts to crack by the fire at night and they will be bagged up and gifted to family and friends.
That’s wonderful that you are cooking for a volunteer crew. I would enjoy that!
Sad week with a sister-in-law’s funeral. We enjoyed a restaurant meal for the funeral. Then we needed to help them eat a 21 lb bird on Thanksgiving.
Baked an apple pie. Going to make applesauce. Too many apples. Trying to help our neighbor use them. Will have enough juice for 2 years. My son had a 4 day weekend from factory so we are doing a good clean. He is a good cleaner. Read lots of books on Libby app and free from Bookbub. Take care!
I really enjoy the Frugal Friday articles. I find them helpful because it shows how to actually practice the ideas and concepts of frugal living and how a real family lives a real life. Thanks for sharing. Hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. It sounds like you and your family are really settling into your new life and are ready for the road ahead, how exciting! I started cooking and baking the week before Thanksgiving, and my freezers were stuffed with goodies. It made Thanksgiving and Black Friday soooo easy. We did very little shopping this week, just picked up a few fresh produce items. We had turkey dinner leftovers yesterday, and will again today (with a twist), while watching football. I am planning on making turkey pot pie tomorrow to finish off the bird. Now we turn our thoughts to Christmas and start planning the events, food, gifts, etc. However, I plan on enjoying this peaceful lull before the craziness of the holidays truly hits.
Ground beef lo mein sounds yummy!
Good Morning….Love to read your blogs, but this is my first ever comment to one of them. My stove went last week…fried the board in the back and I’ve been trying to find one that’s not going to cost around $400 for used. So….we’ve been cooking with two little burners I bought at my local Canadian tire on sale and our convection oven and crockpots. Being up here in Canada we had our Thanksgiving last month so I didn’t have to worry about cooking a turkey. Supper’s been a bit late a few times as the little burners, while they do work need a bit more time to bring something to a boil. Def not going to can my chicken stock I made in the crockpots. That’s going to go out on the propane burner today. I’ve water bathed using it, but I’ve never pressure canned. Wish me luck. Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine.
Hi everyone!
Sorry this is so late. Thanksgiving was at my wonderful in-laws (my parents passsed many years ago) and I made the mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was lovely. We were a small gathering this year: my in-laws, my husband and I, and my two grown children. We watched “It’s a Wonderful life” (family tradition). It’s been frugal eating since then with all the leftovers. Today we’re having a winter barbecue at my house for my FIL’s birthday. Hamburgers, fries, and my own recipe for delicious, healthier creamed spinach–all his favorites. Its almost two years since my sister-in-law died at 54, leaving us the gift of her husband and 13-year-old daughter to cherish. How blessed I was to have had a SIL that I loved so much!
A lot of losses the past two years; we all go through it. I am long overdue for a good cry in secret. It will feel like a shower does after a long day of hard, dirty work in the garden!
I love to hear how you are being frugal while traveling. Apples are such a treat, especially right from the orchard. This week, I am making turkey soup and broth. Sealing up turkey in freezer. Last week, I continued to show the next generation how to buy used furniture and repurpose into a coffee tableand small kitchen table. Today, I am sanding down a bamboo insert, and sealing wood from an old $35 store display. This will serve as a 22″ x 22″ x 5′ bookshelf for my son’s small apartment. I bought estate silverware to add to my current set, because not enough. I bought 10 sturdy plastic pots to fit inside two thrifted decorative $10 containers. This is so that I can place flowers out front next to vegetable garden, without everyone knowing I am front yard food gardening.
I’ve really been enjoying looking at the Kroger sales flyer each week and going and buying the things on sale and then figuring out what we’re going to eat with those things. I have been watching FrugalFitMom on YouTube lol. We do need to start eating at home more and less eating out. It’s just so expensive! I liked this new series!
We had a busy, relaxing Thanksgiving in the north Georgia mountains. It was a great time with the children, spouses and most of the grandchildren. I suppose thrifty is eating up the Thanksgiving meal for a few days. I think that you must be close to some of our relatives in Kentucky as they are very near a large Amish settlement. It seems like a different life to give up the pantry, garden etc. and live in such a small space with growing children. When God calls we must answer. Continued prayers for success with your mission work.
Catching up on Frugal Fridays (the holiday was a bit more hectic than originally planned for).
I’ve been using up stale-ish bread and tortillas this week by making homemade croutons and “homemade pita chips” for snacks for the house. We’ve also been making plain popcorn from kernels (Amish market bulk buy this summer) and experimenting with fun toppings. We did cinnamon sugar, jalapeno powder (made from our own garden peppers!), and even a fun garlic salt batch. Meal planning was mainly using up Thanksgiving leftovers, as well as freezing our hambone for soup over the winter. We also shredded some of the leftover ham and froze THAT as well for additional meal making down the road.
I am DONE with holiday shopping thanks to Black Friday online deals as well as a Small Business Saturday outing with my sister that day. Now I’ve all of December to wrap them as well as finish my handmade/homemade gifts for our extended family. We stick to 4 gift rule for our kids, my sis & I plan an “experience gift” for all the cousins, and we do handmade or homemade otherwise. It has worked really well in recent years, especially as all the kids get older and don’t need (or want!) as much.