Category: saving money

B.O.B. + Discarded Art

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy meals, saving money, thriftingLeave a comment

We woke up to a terrible thunderstorm with rain so heavy you could hardly see across the street. That’s unfortunate because it is the weekend of the Old Hwy 80 garage sale that stretches for 392 miles. Hopefully there are places that are getting to still have it.

Anyway, yesterday I was making one of our favorite breakfasts, the BOB aka Breakfast on a Bun. We used to get them all the time at Whataburger. When my husband and I were both working, we never really thought about spending money on fast food or eating out. Now that we are living with one income, I watch the finances much more closely.

If you purchase a BOB and hashbrown sticks at Whataburger it will set you back $6.05. That seemed like a lot to me so I did a breakdown of how much it actually costs to make it yourself at home. My go to grocery is Aldi, so this is where I have gotten the prices for what I use.

Hamburger buns – $1.45 (8 count) .18 per serving

Sausage patties – $9.45 (20 Patties) .47 per serving

Cheese – $1.89 (11 slices) .17 per serving

Eggs – $2.29 (1 dozen) .19 per serving

Hashbrowns – $6.05 (20 count) .30 per serving

That totals $1.31. Plus you get actual cheese and not the American rubber cheese. That is such a huge savings. I know a lot of people just like the convenience of a drive thru and I get that, but you are saving $4.74. If you are getting this for a family of 4, it’s a savings of $18.96. That’s a nice chunk of change for just a little bit of effort.

And because I like to save money anywhere I can, we needed more than the 20 hot rollers I had for Hannah’s hair. Some of you may cringe, but I ran to the thrift store down the street and found a nice set for $3.50. Even though they looked like they had been barely used, I still sanitized them with my spray.

I always have to look through the artwork to see if there is something handmade. Discarded handmade art just makes me sad, so I was very happy when I found this sweet cross stitch for only $1.

I also found this cute little owl that was only $3.00. I had needed something to fill in on the window shelves in the kitchen since I moved one of the plants outside.

Such a cutie!

Hopefully, the rain will stop by tomorrow and the kids and I can hit the Hwy 80 sale. I’ll let ya know.

Day Off

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn saving moneyLeave a comment

Donny normally has Thursday and Friday off, but this week he only had Friday off. I guess it was good because I got called into clean this super fun bounce house on Thursday. Kidding about the super fun part because this one is one of the hardest ones to clean because it’s 3 sections and was filled with turf pellets that reminded me of mouse poop. I guess I’m only semi retired from this job now. It did feel good to use muscles I haven’t used in a few months.

Anyway, the kids were out of school. Hannah is sick and didn’t go to school yesterday and since it’s the end of the 6 weeks she missed her Government final, she had to go in and take it at 8:30.One of the perks of being at a small school. It was teachers work day. I had to take my car in at 8. Of course the warranty is almost out and it has a slight vibration at stoplights, so in the shop it goes.

After we got all of that situated we decided to go to Sasquatch’s. On the way we saw an estate sale. It was hosted by Perry and Co. Their prices are a little high, but we decided to go see what was left. We really didn’t see anything except this dress that I thought would be perfect for Hannah. Ignore the purse they hung above it. It was a vintage dress with tiny button down the back.

We ended up not buying it, because there was a chance she wouldn’t like it.

Next stop was Sasquatch’s. We always try to go on Fridays because they are closed on Thursdays for restocking. We did find some things that we needed.

A 20 pound bag of flour, a gallon of sugar and a bag of cake mix.

Prosciutto, cheese and a gallon of lemon juice. The lemon juice is a bit excessive, but Jack drinks the Arizona tea Arnold Palmer so I wanted to try to make it myself because he goes through it by the gallon.

I cannot wait to try this black pepper fettuccine.

There was one bag of coffee left so I grabbed it because we’ve really been wanting to try it.

Donny grabbed this at the checkout. It’s a plant based chocolate bar with toffee and sea salt. It was really good. I was shocked.

On the way home, we saw this little car for sale that we thought Hannah might like. Turns out it had too many miles on it, but it was in the price range she’s looking for. She’s been working so hard and saving up her money to buy her own car. We are really proud of her because she’s also making really good grades.

When we got home I showed Hannah a picture of the estate sale dress and she really liked it, so Donny and I headed back to Gladewater to see if it was still there. It was, and when I looked at it more closely I saw that there were holes in the tulle so we decided, once again, not to buy it. I’m kind of kicking myself now because I bet I could have found a seamstress to repair it.

Our last stop was Tractor Supply so I could see if the hack I saw on Tiktok actually works. It’s using pine pellets, used for horse bedding, as cat litter. They were out so we had to run to Jake’s feed store where they had it. I’ll let you know how it works. It’s a lot cheaper than regular cat litter.

By this time we were tired of all the driving around so we went home and I made nachos and we watched The Flight Attendant. It such a good series if you haven’t seen it.

And today I gathered up all of my empty containers and the flour is now put away.

Bring on the weekend!

Saving Some $$$

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn saving moneyLeave a comment

Today I had to run to Aldi to pick up a few things. I am the only one in my family that likes shopping there. One of the reasons is that the store is small and the selection is not large which means I can get in and out quickly. I also save quite a bit of money. Let me show you.

A 100 count black tea is $2.09. The cheapest I’ve found it at other stores is $3.68. This box makes 10 gallons of tea and we go through a lot of tea.

The coffee was $5.19. The cheapest I’ve seen other coffee this size is $8.79. Tastes great too.

I needed sausage because I was making Garbage Bread. Donny had picked some Jimmy Dean up at Walmart for another recipe. It was on sale for $3.97. This was regular price $2.09 and it tasted as good, if not better.

I only get my dishwasher pacs from Aldi. They really clean my dishes and an 18 count is only $3.89.

Dollar Tree is in the same strip mall. I stopped in there to try the cleaning paste. It was only $1.25 compared to the almost $10 I paid for the Pink Stuff. Granted the Pink Stuff container is a little bit bigger, but not by that much. I can’t wait to try it out to compare the two.

Don’t sleep on Aldi. Their store brands are actually a lot healthier. The cheese selection is absolutely amazing both in choice and price. Just remember to bring a quarter for the shopping cart 🛒

Easy Furniture Update

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Room Update, saving money

I sometimes feel as though I have more projects than time. I finally decided to tackle my 12 year old daughters room. Truthfully, she couldn’t care less what her room looks like, but since I care it was time to get started.

Here is a picture of her room from our old house. My husband found her chest of drawers at a junktique store in New Orleans. It had good bones, but was rough. The color was a whitish green. The knobs were some kind of metal buried underneath dark brown tarnish. I think the photographer (this is from when our home was for sale) doctored it up a bit, because it was worse than this.

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Hannah also needed a desk. It couldn’t be a regular student sized desk because she does a lot of art. We needed to find one that was large enough for to be able to work without feeling cramped. I picked up this one at the thrift store for 30 bucks.

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The size was perfect, but the top was kind of beat up. I also got her bookshelf to the left for free on Craigslist about 9 years ago.  The chair was from our old dining room set.

So with a few products, I completely changed the look of the pieces.

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I think they turned out really good.

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I have never spray painted a major piece of furniture, but I will now. The Rustoleum 2X ultra coverage is amazing! I only had to touch up a few places. Most of it was covered in one coat. I didn’t even sand it down.

For the knobs I used Bar Keeper’s Friend.

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I love the way they look against the Vintage Teal paint.

For the desk I sanded the top 4 times. I knew that it was going to have a “rustic” look, just because I have worked with this type of finish before. I was okay with that because I really like that look.

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I painted the chair to match.

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The color looks really blue in this picture, but it’s more of a turquoise.

I also painted the bookshelf.

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We still have a few more things we want to do in here. I’d like to find a larger rug and she really wants a swing chair, but I think we’re off to a good start.

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I love her day bed cover. It has all the colors that are in her room and it’s easy to slip off for sleeping. She uses a white down comforter that is stored in her closet when not being used. The picture below shows how much brighter it actually is.

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This picture turned out a little dark, but you can see the other side of her room.

 

One project down, many more to go.

Stacy

 

 

 

Let There Be Light

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Day Trip, saving moneyLeave a comment

One of my husband’s least favorite place to go is Dirt Cheap. If you don’t live in the south, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. Dirt Cheap is a crazy, extremely unorganized mess of really good deals. The only catch is you really have to dig around to find what you are looking for. I became addicted to shopping there when we lived in Baton Rouge and I lived 3 minutes away. The closest one to me now is 45 minutes away in Tyler. Guess where we went on my husband’s day off?

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The ONLY way to get through this store without losing your mind is to download the Dirt Cheap Deal Finder app. See that chicken on the sign? That’s what you look for when downloading the app. It will change your Dirt Cheap shopping life. Just scan the barcode and voila the price pops up. I have found pillows that were normally $24 for $2.

Anyway, what we came for this day were lamps. Some of the rooms in our home are SO dark. Especially the family room. Soul sucking dark.

So, what wonderful deals did I find after almost 2 hours? (yes, I’m still married)

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The perfect Target brand stand up lamp for $10.00!!! It was boxed up, but I encourage  you to open the boxes to make sure all the pieces are there and nothing is broken. Don’t worry, Dirt Cheap doesn’t care. All Sales are final, so you don’t want to get home with something that doesn’t work, is missing a part or is broken,

Next we found a cool brass domed light, also Target brand. It cost $25, much more than I would normally spend because I’m a cheapskate frugal, but Donny really liked it.

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The last lamp we found, I didn’t know if I’d really need or not, but it reminded me of sea glass and it was $10. It was also a Target brand, but didn’t have a lamp shade. I hunted around a found a linen drum shade with a gold lining that fit it perfectly. Only one problem, no price tag. Because I used to shop here about 3 times a week occasionally, I knew that they’d just ring it up all together. Cashiers HATE having to go find a price because it’s so unorganized they wouldn’t even know where to look. Plus, when they don’t know, they just make up a price anyway. So, for 10 bucks, I got the lamp AND lampshade.  Donny kept trying to tell the cashier they were separate, but the cashier and I assured him they were a set. Bingo!

DSCN0562Isn’t it pretty? It’s a pale turquoise color.The carved wooden plant stand it’s on is also from Dirt Cheap. I probably should take the price tag off, but it was $2 and it can work for plants AND lamps.

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Here is the family room with the new lights. It feels so much more cheerful.

DSCN0559You’ll have to take my word on it, because this picture sure doesn’t do it justice.

 

So, for $45 we got three awesome lamps. If you have a Dirt Cheap near you, you really should at least give it a chance. Just remember:

  • Not for the faint of heart. It takes about 2 visits to feel comfortable
  • Download the Deal Finder app. It will save your sanity
  • There is a lot of junk. You really have to dig around to find the good stuff
  • Check EVERYTHING to make sure it has all the pieces

Where’s your favorite place to find the good deals? I’d love to know.

Your frugal friend,

Stacy