Frugal In Florida

Because April is my Money Month (income taxes, boat insurance, house insurance, flood insurance AND wind storm insurance all come due in the next 45 days ... I need to stay focused on them little green soldiers and be lining them up to do battle for me!   So I've opted to make April a Money Control Month and will be doing things, even more intentionally, to reduce my outlay of cash!  Not to mention, we hosted the Princess and her Hubby's reception late February and I had a real hard time reining in the spending for March 😂 First Up is Friday Nights ... and it's all about Friday Night Pizza! Tada!  I give you  Pizza Bread! This post was shared, originally, several years ago and it was to use what we had on hand. See what an odd assortment of stores I use? Walmart (marked down bread) Pepperoni and pizza sauce from Trader Joe's (both inexpensive and the best tasting, in my opinion) and of course, cheese from BOTH stores!  Frugal Tip: Buy the mar...

Because April is my Money Month (income taxes, boat insurance, house insurance, flood insurance AND wind storm insurance all come due in the next 45 days ... I need to stay focused on them little green soldiers and be lining them up to do battle for me!   So I've opted to make April a Money Control Month and will be doing things, even more intentionally, to reduce my outlay of cash!  Not to mention, we hosted the Princess and her Hubby's reception late February and I had a real hard time reining in the spending for March 😂 First Up is Friday Nights ... and it's all about Friday Night Pizza! The original recipe comes from  Shutterbean  ... and she puts it down as a low-carb option ... since I'm not so much of an anti-carb girl as I am an anti-GRAIN girl ... I've opted to go with Grain Free ... which, sadly, it's NOT because of the sausage I'm using. I really need to venture in to making MY own, don't you think? So ... you know,  if  you are buyi...

Because April is my Money Month (income taxes, boat insurance, house insurance, flood insurance AND wind storm insurance all come due in the next 45 days ... I need to stay focused on them little green soldiers and be lining them up to do battle for me!   So I've opted to make April a Money Control Month and will be doing things, even more intentionally, to reduce my outlay of cash!  Not to mention, we hosted the Princess and her Hubby's reception late February and I had a real hard time reining in the spending for March 😂 First Up is Friday Nights ... and it's all about Friday Night Pizza! I have no idea how I came across this recipe on  Pinterest , but it's been hanging around for a while and with our Pantry Challenge underway, it was PERFECT that I had everything on hand to make it one night this week! Now, granted, Kalyn does call it a " Low Carb Pizza Chicken Bake " but I just can't do call it low carb ... although, it does NOT have a crust...

Because April is my Money Month (income taxes, boat insurance, house insurance, flood insurance AND wind storm insurance all come due in the next 45 days ... I need to stay focused on them little green soldiers and be lining them up to do battle for me!   So I've opted to make April a Money Control Month and will be doing things, even more intentionally, to reduce my outlay of cash!  Not to mention, we hosted the Princess and her Hubby's reception late February and I had a real hard time reining in the spending for March 😂 First Up is Friday Nights ... and it's all about Friday Night Pizza! Ok, ok, let's make ONE thing clear ... I am NOT a low carb girl by any means. I AM aware of my grain and dairy intake and well, traditional pizza just totally blows that right out the door. I'm also really into the crock pot cooking stuff, which is WHY you get  another  version of a  pizza , MY way ;-) Yup, I LOVE pizza ... the sauce, the gooey cheese, ...

We are Frugal, for the most part. Of course, I confessed over here how easy it is to fall off the wagon and have spent the better part of the week beating myself up over it. Seriously. But it is time to move on ... I mentioned that some things I do, others would think were frivolous. And I also mentioned that each family and budget are completely different. We have cable. Just basic cable, none of those movie channels that will bring your bill almost as high as your mortgage payment if you aren't careful. We also have Netflix. Yes, Netflix. I get the DVD's in the mail AND can watch on the computer AND we also hook through the Xbox and/or Wii. It cost me $16 (give or take a few pennies) a month. And I say it's well worth it. The kids and friends will plop down in the Florida Room and watch movies all night long. Some are funny (to me) and others are, well, ::shudder:: freaky. But hey, they are all grown kids now and if they want to sleep fitfully because of that...

Jessica over at Life as Mom is hosting her usual Frugal Friday linkup ... and today's theme is really an important one that I need to bring back to the homefront. Settle for Less.... Much easier said then done, trust me. Here's an example for ME: My closet and dresser. Overflowing with clothes, shoes, STUFF (which we know the other word for stuff, right? Junk. Or S*it even). Anyways. I have lots and lots of clothes. Just a note: I only own 2 belts. Huh. In my dresser, my tshirt drawer, I could barely close it, let alone keep the tshirts neatly folded. I finally just broke down and went through each and every shirt. Haven't worn it in awhile (oh, I forgot I had that!), it went in the pile for yardsale/goodwill. Stained, waaaay too small (lots of them fell into that category, unfortunately) went in the pile too. Same with my closet. Sort of. My closet holds the majority of my work clothes. My law firm employers are pretty laid back and do not require that I DRESS ...

Nothing earth shattering or new here, I'm sure ... but it's like the weight loss stories, we all know how to lose the weight, we just don't apply it: 1. Ditch the plastic . ALL OF IT. I keep my debit and american express card at home, in a place (the whole household knows where they are just in case) and use cash only. It's tough in the beginning, trust me but definitely makes a difference. 2. Pack those lunches/snacks/breakfast/dinner . If you work outside the home or plan on being gone for an extended amount of time, pack it up and bring it along. I figured for me to buy my lunch every stinkin day would be roughly, $8 to $12 and this would NOT be at a sit down restaurant. That's a starting point of $40 a week. Same with water bottles on the road or just plain snacks for the kids. Seriously, the last time Hubby and I were out all day running errands, we stopped to get something to drink at 7-11 and it cost $4 total for 2 drinks (water bottle and gatorade). 3....

It hasn't been so very bad, into week 2. However, the gas pump wouldn't stop at 30, so I ended up putting $35.01 into the Tahoe ... that gave me a little over a half tank on Monday. I stopped at the grocery store (Publix) on Wednesday to get the Hood Smart Milk, beef broth and a few other SELECT items on my list with coupons in hand. Was aiming for $20. Uhhh. No Smart Milk. No Beef Broth. $60 later, with the majority of it being produce stuff (very disappointed here in the quality and PRICE of the produce) along with 4 cans of french cut green beans, 2 cans of black beans, 2 cans of pizza sauce, carnation instant breakfast, bread, hoagie rolls, and a few other oddball things ... was more than I wanted, and had to BEG for rain checks. Thursday got out of work early. WANTED to go to Aldi's but said NO since I just spent $40 more than I wanted at the grocery store the previous night. So instead, I went to Faith Farm, my newest favorite thrift store to look for a new pair...