It is only Wednesday, but feels much more like Friday. Would you believe I have only worked one day this week? A sick child kept me home Monday, and yesterday was a stressful day, to say the least. After a day of work we had a swimming lesson and then I drove to my sister's so the kids could spend the night, due to a teacher professional day. We have our own on Friday.
Needless to say I was hungry and did not want to only cook for myself because it was just me for dinner. I stopped at a local grocery store and bought a fresh precooked entree for $5.00. I have had bad luck before, so I blame myself. It was orange sesame chicken and rice. The rice was so raw it was crunchy. I could not eat it. Bummer. At least I did not order out.
This weekend I made a chicken tortellini soup that I love and others eat with minimal complaining. We ate it two nights in a row because Sunday was sort of a rough day. Monday I roasted a whole cut up chicken. Tonight when I get home from work I will make a quick pizza dough and get the pizza made before I meet my sister and the kids at soccer practice. Tomorrow I have the making for fajitas. Friday might just have to be eggs. Saturday it is back to the store.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Why it is okay to spend $200 a week on food
I have been enjoying the solitude of the morning and trying out different posts. I am on my second cup of coffee. It will all change once people wake up. It is Saturday, so we need to get to soccer and go food shopping. I have to color my hair. I feel like it goes from fine to dreadful over night!
Here's the reason for my title. My original title was going to be "What is Wrong With Me?" I spent $156 at a local grocery store on Saturday with a $57 follow up trip the following Wednesday. This is the best priced store in the area. My purchases included a lot of produce that the kids were willing to eat, lasagna ingredients, ground beef and chicken cutlets that were on sale and, deli turkey and cheese.
Menu
Is something wrong with me that we in a week we ate over $200 worth of food? Actually I think we are doing pretty well. Our portions could be smaller, and we could cut back a little on the snack food, but overall we are making good use of our money. I think my new monthly grocery budget is going to be $800.00. I am in awe of those spending under $400 a month on groceries; they have my respect and admiration, but I don't see it working for us. One take out meal could cost $40. If you did that five nights in a row there is your $200. My $200 included breakfast, lunch, and seven dinners. I could serve soup two or three nights in a row, but there would be hecklers. Personally I love it, and I try to sneak it in, however, some people (other adult in house) don't consider it a meal. I actually made a butternut squash soup this week to celebrate fall, but it was all for me. I took it for lunch each day. I could start serving beans, but there would be a revolt.
It is all about situation. Our situation is that we both work full-time, and the kids go to an after care program after school. In their lunch bags they need snacks for snack time, lunch and after school. That is a lot of food. Also, we both take lunch to work. Most days I am making four lunches with multiple snacks. The past few weeks have included too many Oreos. This weekend I plan to bake some snacks in lieu of purchasing them. Also, I am trying to mix up breakfast so the kids eat less cereal. If I could get them to love oatmeal that would be helpful.
This month I am going to track my spending and cooking and see if $800.00 is legitimate, spendy, or enough.
Here's the reason for my title. My original title was going to be "What is Wrong With Me?" I spent $156 at a local grocery store on Saturday with a $57 follow up trip the following Wednesday. This is the best priced store in the area. My purchases included a lot of produce that the kids were willing to eat, lasagna ingredients, ground beef and chicken cutlets that were on sale and, deli turkey and cheese.
Menu
- Saturday- lasagna (and Sunday because I was out)
- Monday-chicken cutlets
- Tuesday-beef lettuce wraps
- Wednesday-homemade pizza
- Thursday-chicken and spinach ravioli
- Friday-chicken fried rice
Is something wrong with me that we in a week we ate over $200 worth of food? Actually I think we are doing pretty well. Our portions could be smaller, and we could cut back a little on the snack food, but overall we are making good use of our money. I think my new monthly grocery budget is going to be $800.00. I am in awe of those spending under $400 a month on groceries; they have my respect and admiration, but I don't see it working for us. One take out meal could cost $40. If you did that five nights in a row there is your $200. My $200 included breakfast, lunch, and seven dinners. I could serve soup two or three nights in a row, but there would be hecklers. Personally I love it, and I try to sneak it in, however, some people (other adult in house) don't consider it a meal. I actually made a butternut squash soup this week to celebrate fall, but it was all for me. I took it for lunch each day. I could start serving beans, but there would be a revolt.
It is all about situation. Our situation is that we both work full-time, and the kids go to an after care program after school. In their lunch bags they need snacks for snack time, lunch and after school. That is a lot of food. Also, we both take lunch to work. Most days I am making four lunches with multiple snacks. The past few weeks have included too many Oreos. This weekend I plan to bake some snacks in lieu of purchasing them. Also, I am trying to mix up breakfast so the kids eat less cereal. If I could get them to love oatmeal that would be helpful.
This month I am going to track my spending and cooking and see if $800.00 is legitimate, spendy, or enough.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Random Thoughts at the end of September
I am the worst blogger. Ever. Not that I have a following, but even if I did, my lack of writing would not keep them for long
My last post was my grocery shot of my really good day food shopping. Now, since school is back in full swing, the strategic shopping is hard to do. Currently I am trying to shop at the cheapest store in town and just stick to it. They don't double coupons, but their overall prices are lower, so in the end it is probably cheaper.
Right now I am trying to get a handle on what I spend on food each month. I know for the first half of September it was $500. Most frugal bloggers would be freaking out, but really we don't buy a lot of crazy things. Last Sunday I had Pea Pod deliver because we had a crazy weekend. My total was around $140 with deliver charges. By Thursday the fridge was barren. It was unreal. Yesterday I hit the best store in town, but I brought the kids. Bad idea. My total was $156.00. I made a lasagna last night for dinner and it was repeated for tonight as well. There is one more piece, which will be my lunch for tomorrow. My grocery goal is to stay out of the store until Saturday again. However, we will need milk at some point. I hope I can get through the week with only a purchase of milk.
My last post was my grocery shot of my really good day food shopping. Now, since school is back in full swing, the strategic shopping is hard to do. Currently I am trying to shop at the cheapest store in town and just stick to it. They don't double coupons, but their overall prices are lower, so in the end it is probably cheaper.
Right now I am trying to get a handle on what I spend on food each month. I know for the first half of September it was $500. Most frugal bloggers would be freaking out, but really we don't buy a lot of crazy things. Last Sunday I had Pea Pod deliver because we had a crazy weekend. My total was around $140 with deliver charges. By Thursday the fridge was barren. It was unreal. Yesterday I hit the best store in town, but I brought the kids. Bad idea. My total was $156.00. I made a lasagna last night for dinner and it was repeated for tonight as well. There is one more piece, which will be my lunch for tomorrow. My grocery goal is to stay out of the store until Saturday again. However, we will need milk at some point. I hope I can get through the week with only a purchase of milk.
Monday, August 10, 2015
My Score at the Store
Most of our dinners include meat, and that won't be changing anytime soon. I personally could eat many meatless meals, but I have to meet the needs of everyone in my house.
So even though I am not an extreme couponer, I did extremely well on Saturday at my local Stop & Shop. While that isn't really my favorite store, it is a good place to go for strategic shopping because they run good sales and double your coupons. My shopping included lots of produce, which I mainly bought on sale. I would never not buy produce. It is an essential part of our diet and must be purchased even without coupons.
My score included:
Family size boxes of cereal $8.00 (after coupons and b1g1-not awesome, but we do eat a lot of cereal
Horizon crackers -2 boxes with a b1g1 coupon
Fish sticks for 50% off each box-feeding my family fish sticks doesn't really win me mother of the year, but we all have flaws
Two bags of cookies with a coupon
Free ice cream (for buying the cookies)
Bread for $1.50 a loaf (whole wheat-no hfcs-already plenty in the cookies)
Bacon-oops
Large package chicken drumsticks
Shredded Cheese
Canned tomatoes
Canned pineapple
Granola bars
Laundry soap
Multi-pack tissues
Eggs
Deli turkey
Deli cheese
Two boxes of yogurt tubes
Tuna (two cans)
Hummus (large container)
Produce, including squash, carrots, grapes, apples, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, and strawberries
Sponges
Napkins-I try to use cloth and keep some paper on hand
Large storage bags (really for my classroom)
All together my order was only $104 and change. It was really amazing. I received a $5.00 in the mail as well as $2.00 off produce. I was also able to load an additional $5.00 off onto my Stop & Shop card. In addition, I had multiple coupons for other products that were on sale. I know I could skip the junk food and save some more, but you have to have something. Also, I did not buy much meat. I have some meals planned with things we had on hand.
I was super impressed with my trip, but we have already eaten a lot of produce. It really goes fast. I hope to get through two weeks on an allotted budget. We will see.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Changing Habits
Throughout the summer I have made a great change in my daily or weekly habits. Not that it is earth shattering or something that will change the world. It isn't a new idea that I came up with. It is an old idea that people have been talking about forever, but since I have implemented it, I find that it is working extremely well.
No more coffee when I am out. Not an astounding accomplishment to many, but to me it is huge. On average I probably purchased 4-5 coffees a week. This included Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, and Cumberland Farms. Not cheap. I will say Cumberland Farms coffee is surprisingly good and the cheapest of the three.
On the way to work I didn't always stop for coffee. I do make it at home, but sometimes I needed just a bit more caffeine. My stops were usually after work when my energy was draining and I just felt exhausted. Depending on where I stopped I could spend $1.00 or $4.00. My coffee spending was probably $10.00 a week or more. So no coffee spending has been saving me at least $40.00 per month. That is a lot of money to put towards groceries, pay a utility bill, or save.
This commitment to not buying coffee has been fairly easy to stick to in the summer, but when work starts back up again I hope I have the same resolve to keep my commitment to not waste money on coffee. For most of my life I have thought nothing about grabbing coffee anytime or anywhere. There was no thought about budgeting the coffee. I could always afford it even when I couldn't. I am finally, after many years, making a commitment to stay away from this type of spending for now. When we are in a better situation I may be able to budget a certain amount of money for coffee, or I could continue to save the money.
No more coffee when I am out. Not an astounding accomplishment to many, but to me it is huge. On average I probably purchased 4-5 coffees a week. This included Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, and Cumberland Farms. Not cheap. I will say Cumberland Farms coffee is surprisingly good and the cheapest of the three.
On the way to work I didn't always stop for coffee. I do make it at home, but sometimes I needed just a bit more caffeine. My stops were usually after work when my energy was draining and I just felt exhausted. Depending on where I stopped I could spend $1.00 or $4.00. My coffee spending was probably $10.00 a week or more. So no coffee spending has been saving me at least $40.00 per month. That is a lot of money to put towards groceries, pay a utility bill, or save.
This commitment to not buying coffee has been fairly easy to stick to in the summer, but when work starts back up again I hope I have the same resolve to keep my commitment to not waste money on coffee. For most of my life I have thought nothing about grabbing coffee anytime or anywhere. There was no thought about budgeting the coffee. I could always afford it even when I couldn't. I am finally, after many years, making a commitment to stay away from this type of spending for now. When we are in a better situation I may be able to budget a certain amount of money for coffee, or I could continue to save the money.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Sad Cooking
I was going to write about the fact that I am sad to be cooking when the kids aren't even here. We could have gone out and had fun, however, we are trying to save money.
But that isn't really how I am feeling. This is really sad cooking. Sad to see my father the way he is now. Sad that no matter his situation the rest of us get up and follow our regular routine. It doesn't seem right, but it is what we do. We still have to clean our houses, pay bills, shop, cook, and carry on with life. Sometimes it feels weird to be laughing or enjoying a situation knowing that he can't appreciate it. Sick parents are something most people deal with at one time or another, but it is still really hard.
The past few months are starting to catch up to me. I can feel the weight of what has happened and how it is impacting everyone. Life is hard. Things change fast. There are many sad things, but there are beautiful things too. It is hard to focus on those things right now feeling this way, but it is all we have to get us through.
But that isn't really how I am feeling. This is really sad cooking. Sad to see my father the way he is now. Sad that no matter his situation the rest of us get up and follow our regular routine. It doesn't seem right, but it is what we do. We still have to clean our houses, pay bills, shop, cook, and carry on with life. Sometimes it feels weird to be laughing or enjoying a situation knowing that he can't appreciate it. Sick parents are something most people deal with at one time or another, but it is still really hard.
The past few months are starting to catch up to me. I can feel the weight of what has happened and how it is impacting everyone. Life is hard. Things change fast. There are many sad things, but there are beautiful things too. It is hard to focus on those things right now feeling this way, but it is all we have to get us through.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
The Easiest Way to Save Money is....................................
to not spend it. I happily did this many times today. At one point today I thought I would check out the clearance racks at Kohls because the kids could use some pajamas. They could use some, but it isn't a necessity. I thought I might find some good clothes for work on sale. But I don't need any clothes. There are wants and needs, and as good as a bargain can be if we don't need it, it may be better to just not buy it.
I thought of stopping at the grocery store on the way home to buy some fish for dinner. Then I decided that was a very bad idea. To enter a store with no plan when you are hungry and need many things is a very bad idea. I did not go. I was able to use what we had and grill out for dinner. Tomorrow I will probably shop with a very detailed plan in hand.
I think what I was looking for was a little retail therapy. So eventually a little bit of money was spent. My son needed a new lunchbox. I remembered that I had a few dollars in credit from my Amazon card. I searched for an extremely inexpensive lunchbox, signed up for a free trial of Amazon Prime to get free shipping (which I will cancel) and was able to get a new Spider Man lunchbox for $2.66. That is a great bargain, and I won't be running around August 30th looking for a lunchbox.
As much as I wanted to go do some shopping I learned today that sometimes it pays better if you don't. Unless you can get something for $2.66.
I thought of stopping at the grocery store on the way home to buy some fish for dinner. Then I decided that was a very bad idea. To enter a store with no plan when you are hungry and need many things is a very bad idea. I did not go. I was able to use what we had and grill out for dinner. Tomorrow I will probably shop with a very detailed plan in hand.
I think what I was looking for was a little retail therapy. So eventually a little bit of money was spent. My son needed a new lunchbox. I remembered that I had a few dollars in credit from my Amazon card. I searched for an extremely inexpensive lunchbox, signed up for a free trial of Amazon Prime to get free shipping (which I will cancel) and was able to get a new Spider Man lunchbox for $2.66. That is a great bargain, and I won't be running around August 30th looking for a lunchbox.
As much as I wanted to go do some shopping I learned today that sometimes it pays better if you don't. Unless you can get something for $2.66.
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