Category: Frugal Life

Whataweekend

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal LifeLeave a comment

On Friday Jackson graduated from high school. I cannot believe how fast time flies by. I know that he will cherish his time at East Texas Charter School and that him going there was the best decision ever. Small class size, teachers that truly care and an amazing superintendent that kept the school in tip top shape made for an amazing 4 years.

The students get to pick their first and second choices of who to stand up and speak about their time at ETCS. Jackson picked his favorite teacher Mr. Damoude.

It’s so interesting to hear about each graduating senior. I’ve never been to another school that does this. There are no valedictorians. Each student has a chance, if they choose, to speak after the teacher gives their speech. Jackson did not want to.

There were a whopping 29 graduates this year.

Group shot before the hat toss.

A proud dad who unfortunately had to go back to work right after this was taken.

Proud mom and sister.

Jackson’s best friends. Two of them will be also heading off to Kilgore College in the Fall.

We have a tradition that when it’s your birthday or another special event, you get to pick whichever restaurant you want to have dinner. Jackson’ picked Rotolo’s. I loved it because they have cauliflower crust pizza. That was the last meal I have eaten because I got sick.

Right before we were about to leave I started having floaters in my eyes. The headache came right after we got home so I went to bed early. Saturday morning I woke up and felt like I couldn’t get out of bed. My body felt like it was made of lead. I still had a horrible headache. I ended up sleeping all day.

Sunday I was feeling a little better so I made a quick Aldi run. When I got home my stomach and back were cramping so badly. I was also coming down with a UTI. The fatigue was also back in full force. I asked Donny to pick up so AZO and cranberry juice. He knew that I was not eating sugar so he picked me up the only zero sugar he could find. I highly recommend NEVER getting this juice. My whole body puckered and seized up. I tried diluting it with water and stirring in some honey. Nope, that didn’t work at all. Hannah didn’t know that it was awful and had the same reaction.

I went to bed early on Sunday night and by Monday I still wasn’t feeling well. Now let’t throw in a sore throat and my TMJ acting up. It’s like my body’s check engine light came on. I slept most of the day, again. Today I feel like I’m at 75% which I’ll take over the previous days.

To make matters worse a skunk sprayed a possum right outside our patio door on Sunday night. If I hadn’t known better I would have sworn it had sprayed in our kitchen. It made Donny so sick to his stomach and gave me another headache. So that’s how the weekend ended.

I am ready for some good days ahead that’s for sure.

Cream Cheese + Mini Thrift

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal Life, Recipe, thriftingLeave a comment

Today I made cream cheese from scratch. It was SO easy! There are only 3 ingredients: whole milk, lemon juice and salt. That’s it. Here’s how I made it.

Pour 4 cups of milk into a heavy pot. Heat over low heat and stir, stir, stir. You want it to get to 190 degrees.

img_20250116_1020052687080455287977340224

Once it has reached 190, take it off of the burner and pour in 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice. It should start to form the curds. If it doesn’t add a little bit more juice.

img_20250116_1048037613205274968331999608

Stir it around and then let it sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool off a bit.

Next put a dish towel in a colander, set it in a bowl and pour the mixture into the cloth. Let it drain and then give it a good squeeze. I made the mistake of squeezing it dry. Leave a little of the whey water in it.

img_20250116_1100238391562241678302868978

The above picture is before I squeezed it out. Once you have it squeezed, add 1/2 teaspoon salt. (you can also add anything else you like in your cream cheese) I used a little blender and blended it for a couple of minutes.

img_20250116_1127121831104233785499908628

It was so good. I ate some on a skinny everything bagel. It just tastes so much fresher and not a chemical as the store bought cream cheese. The longest part is just getting the milk to 190 degrees.

Jackson and I had not really had a thrifting date in a while. When I picked him up from school on Wednesday he suggested that we hit 2 of our favorites. We didn’t find anything at the first one we went to. The second one I found 2 books that I really wanted to read. The hardbacks are only 50 cents so I didn’t feel bad about buying them. I also found 3 cute little mushrooms that I’ll use outside once the weather is better.

img_20250115_1604016227868207339091888640

I also picked up a shower caddy. I have never bought one before because our shower head is above the shower insert and it’s not level all the way down. This caddy is the exact one I would have bought if I thought it would fit, but I didn’t want to pay 30 bucks for a brand new one only to find it wouldn’t work. I was surprised that it works really well and I only spend 4 dollars on it.

img_20250115_1604462845059518499299452702

I can’t wait to reorganize the shower now.

Baby It’s Cool Outside

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal LifeLeave a comment

Today I had planned to go out into the shed and unpack my cooler weather clothes. Unfortunately, Donny stayed home with a migraine and I was also not feeling well. I think there is something going around. It could also be that my foot caught on the chefs mat in the kitchen night before last and I face planted narrowly missing whacking my head on the kitchen table. I am a bit sore today.

The mornings have been getting colder. One morning there was even frost on the windshield. Right now my closet is geared toward summer. I’ve been living in old sweatshirts that just didn’t get packed away. I find that if I don’t get dressed, in actual clothes I would be seen outside of the house in, I am way less productive.

Wednesday, when Jackson got home from school, he asked if we could go back to Big Thrift Store to see if there were any more concert tees. I was still on the lookout for a trivet to replace my broken one. I actually found one.

That’s all we found there, so I asked him if he wanted to stop by Goodwill. It’s on the way home and sometimes they have some good stuff. I found a a vintage Foley rolling pin for $1.99.

This cute metal star that I hung in our bathroom. It was only 99 cents.

I am always looking for jeans for Hannah because that’s what she wears to work. I found her a great pair of Maurice’s jeans and then I found the cutest pairs of jeans for me.

I didn’t realize how blurry the last pic was, but they fit like a glove and are going to be perfect for Fall and Winter. I also picked up this waffle weave shirt that I love because it has banded sleeves. It’s so cozy.

I took this cute picture of Milo today. It’s so hard to believe that he was once this very feral scared cat. He came to us when he got hurt and almost died. He now loves to be held and gets separation anxiety if he doesn’t know where I am. I’m so thankful that God put him in our path.

Pack It Up

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal LifeLeave a comment

Donny and I have a pretty traditional marriage. He works full time and I am a housewife. It wasn’t always like that. We both used to work very long hours at the same place. We realized the kids needed me home so in 2016 I became a stay at home mom. We make one income work by being frugal and not living beyond our means. Since I was a little girl I have always been frugal. I think I took after my dad in that aspect. I have love thrifting and antiquing since I can remember. My mom always told everyone that if it looks old and weird, give it to Stacy because she’ll love it.

One way we save a lot of money is having Donny take his breakfast and lunch to work. It saves about 75 dollars a week, plus it’s healthier. Today for example I made him a breakfast scramble with bacon, eggs, red pepper, onions and hot sauce.

For lunch he had left over spaghetti and meatballs for the night before and a spinach salad. Luckily he’s not very picky and will eat leftovers. I always try to cook extra so that he can have it for lunch.

And some random things. I thought I was going to have to throw away our side door mat. With all the rain we’ve had the patio flooded and this things was soaked. It was so wet it turned almost black. I threw it out into the yard so it would get some sun and dry out and it seemed to have worked.

Mylo is still living his best life. He sleeps in the house, wants to be held all the time and had his first kitty snack today, which he loved.

It’s hard to believe that I took over a year for him to not be afraid of us.

When Jackson and I had to run to Walmart today I couldn’t resist getting Wrigley, the neglected dog next door, some treats. That poor sweet dog gets NO attention from his owners. He hasn’t had a bath in 4 years and they never brush him. I’m going to try to brush him from over the fence tomorrow. He’s going to be so excited for his new bone.

I have one more load of laundry to fold and then I’m going to bed. Tomorrow I need to mow and do some yard work and it’s going to be HOT!

To Birk or Not to Birk

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal LifeLeave a comment

I needed a new pair of brown sandals for summer. I knew I wanted footbed ones and I was pretty much dead set on these.

The only problem was I wanted more of a strappy sandal. Birkenstock has few choices, so I started googling. I found the brand White Mountain. I don’t care what I’m buying, I am always going to read the reviews. It seemed like Birkenstock devotees really liked the White Mountain sandals. I found a pair that I just loved, leather and very strappy. I ordered them and they came in today. They were also on sale and because I had never ordered from them before, I got a code for 20% off.

They are so comfortable. I know you are supposed to break them in, but I wore them to Kilgore College today and out to dinner with the family. Still super comfy.

The reason we went to Kilgore College was because a dear family friend signed his intent to be the mascot for the school. I will from now on be calling him Ranger Keaton. We are so excited for him and it gives us a reason to go to the football games now.

The have all been friends since we moved to Longview. Such a great family.

I also made a new thing (because I don’t really know what to call it) for the wall. Jackson and I had found these kittens that were attached to this copper colored bronze plaque (?).

I unscrewed them and put my retro Be Cool on the plaque part.

If you can’t tell I like unique, kinda weird, things. And yes, I like clowns too. Well, certain clowns.

Sand, Paint, Done

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal LifeLeave a comment

It has been so rainy here lately. I have been waiting for a sunny, not too humid, day it seems like forever. I checked the weather channel last night and it seemed like today would be the day. I could finally finish the last two chairs. I saved the two most rusty pitiful ones for last. Luckily, since I was painting the bases, all I had to do was sand of the rust and chipped chrome.

It was a messy job, but it came off pretty quickly.

The bases only take one coat with a little touching up where I missed any place. They dried quickly.

The chairs take 2 full coats. They have to dry completely and then they get flipped over for two more coats on the back and underneath.

While I was waiting for them to dry I decided to go ahead and paint our plant stand. I got it at an estate sale 6 years ago. It started out cream, then I painted it vintage teal. Today it became warm caramel.

I got all of the chairs put back together and I think they look really good. Would I rather have not had to sand and paint them? Yes. Would I have wanted to spend about $100 per chair. No way. They were made in 2000 so I think they are holding up really well. Plus they are super comfortable. I purchased them for $2.50 a piece and I figured I used 1/2 a can each of the spray paint. So for a total cost of $9.50 I think I got a heck of a deal with a little bit of elbow grease.

A smaller table would probably fit better, but I absolutely love this drop leaf antique one. I was cleaning out a rental house and the previous renters had just left it. I told the owner how much I liked it and she said, just take it. Free is good and I just love the design of it. So, $38 for a dining set is a pretty good deal, even if we don’t actually have a true dining room. Just make the best of what you have. Always works for me.

Mrs. Fix-it

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal LifeLeave a comment

Last night I washed a load of Donny’s work clothes. This morning when I went to get them out of the dryer the timer knob had never moved and they were wet.

If you read my blog you know that our very old dryer went out over a year ago. I found a storage locker auction where the only thing in it was a dryer. I bid $23 and won. We took a chance and it actually worked. Lately though I’ve been having to keep the door open and push down the door switch and the start button at the same time while shutting the door quickly. Today the door switch finally gave out.

i used a flat head screw driver to pop it out and remove it.

I called Nipper’s, the used appliance place around the corner and they told me they had one.

i didn’t think 30 bucks was a bad price considering used dryers are running over $300. Well, I got it home and the prongs were different.

I went back up there and they didn’t have the one that I needed. The man there asked me that if I wanted he could fix my old switch. Well, yes I did. He opened it up and filed down the corroded parts. They tested it and it worked. He didn’t charge me anything and refunded my money on the other part that didn’t fit.

I took it home, plugged the part in and now it’s like I have a new dryer and have still only cost me $23.

My whole point of this is, don’t jump to get rid of something if there is a way to fix it. I will always try to buy used things, especially appliances. We won’t buy appliances with the computer boards in them because when they go out it costs a fortune. Older appliances were built to last. I have an ancient Galaxy gas stove that keeps perfect temperature. It’s not pretty, but works so well.

i realize that some people may just prefer brand new items and that’s fine, it’s just not me and that’s fine too.

Old Hwy 80 Sale + Easy Dinner

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy meals, Frugal Life, thriftingLeave a comment

For more than 25 years there has been a 392 mile garage sale than runs down old Hwy 80 from Texas to Georgia. People bring their trailers and just set up shop in parking lots and on the side of the road.

It happens twice a year, once in the spring and again in the Fall. I needed to run to Aldi today so I thought I’d take the back way down Hwy 80 aka Marshall Ave. The first one I saw were two very sweet ladies who told me that a lot of the vendors had packed up and left the day before because of the heavy storms. I’m glad I stopped because they had some cool stuff for sale. I ended up with a Buddha head and a cute little plant all for $2.00.

A little ways down the road I saw a whole parking lot filled with different vendors. There I found a lampshade, curling iron and a pretty summery blouse by Indigo Soul. I spent a whopping $9.00 there.

The lampshade worked pretty good on the lamp I was wanting it for. I like the fact that when you turn it on it looks like glowing little moon.

The Buddha head works well next to the stereo with my other brass objects.

I specifically got the plant for a flower pot that I had picked up several months ago.

When Donny got home from work we needed to run to the grocery. He’s been itching to find a plant for the rooster he got me for my birthday. It has been sitting in our living room and has now found its place outside. Please excuse the dead circles, we have moved a lot of pots to the backyard. It’s some kind of palm. I just know it works well in shade or sun.

After a busy day, I didn’t really feel like making a big messy meal. A shrimp boil is one of the easiest meals to make with very little to clean up. Right now shrimp is on sale here.

Growing up on the coast in Corpus Christi, we would go down to the T-heads when the shrimp boats came in a buy shrimp fresh off the boats. This is definitely not the same, but it will do in a pinch.

I like to use the bagged shrimp boil, but when did it start coming in the plastic pouches and not the net ones? So strange.

I also like to throw in a healthy dose of Old Bay seasoning.

I make a pretty simple boil. Fill a big pot with water. Add seasoning and red potatoes. Boil until they are tender. Add sausage and corn on the cob. Boil for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and boil for 3 minutes. You’re done.

I use a big commercial kitchen pot. I worked at a catering company and the owner gave me this pot so I’d always have one big enough to do this, gumbo, etc. Using it reminded me of the fun, hectic, sometimes stressful time I worked there. He has since passed away so it’s pretty sentimental.

And that’s it. My son doesn’t like shrimp so I made him some boudin and cut up some pineapple. Easy peasy meal.

Plant Away

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal LifeLeave a comment

After our greenhouse collapsed, we couldn’t get to it for a couple of days due to the rain. Luckily Donny was able to save most of it. We just moved everything to the side yard where the other garden is.

It’s not pretty, but it works, hopefully.

The potatoes and tomatoes are growing big and strong.

The mint comes back every year no matter how cold it gets.

I’ll be planting the top of this pineapple this weekend. They make great plants and grow really big. My last two died when it froze. It’s a cheap was to add plants to your flowerbeds. Plus, you get to eat the pineapple.

The Hostas are doing well in their new planters.

Please ignore all the solar lights. I am trying to see which ones are still working. I also need to power wash the front stoop. All in good time.

My oldest daughter sent me a recreated picture.

Nikki at age 3/4 with her favorite two stuffies.

Same exact stuffies a few decades later.

Hannah’s prom is tomorrow so we are going to practice her hairstyle tonight. Wish me luck!

Sasquatch Trading Post

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal LifeLeave a comment

We found out about a grocery outlet in Gladewater that is just a short drive down Hwy 80. We didn’t know what to expect, but it looked interesting online. It’s called the Sasquatch Trading Post.

We drove right by it the first time because you actually drive through the gate and park on the side. When we walked in there was just so much stuff.

A lot of it was restaurant sized. There were also a lot of items from Germany and England. The prices were very good. For $40 this is what we got.

A 6 pack of cranberry juice, 10 packs of craisins, Louisiana Hot Sauce and 3 onions

Sliced Gouda, Camembert, broccoli, and slab bacon

Corn and hash browns

Hand rolled butter and European butter

Pretzel buns, hamburger buns and 2 huge baguettes

We were very impressed and will definitely be coming back to the Sasquatch Trading Post. All of the employees were so nice and the store was clean and products were easy to find. I can’t wait to make corn chowder and bruschetta.