Things I Learned In January - and Plans for February

I have learned that shopping the sale - the ad from your grocery store is key to savings. Couponing is like a bonus, if you focus your efforts and follow through you will benefit - that said, if you are just starting out in the sale shopping world, are short on time, or are uncertain you will have success - shopping the ad is step one. I could not have had any success like I did without GrocerySmarts.com - thank you Kat for all your guidance and support in my grocery shopping, I made more than one confused plea for her help, she always has excellent answers! Her code is g84akg - I have it memorized now, I use different computers... I know I am not at the maximum savings point, I have a hard time shopping at different stores. I really like going to stores I know and am familiar with (employee discounts help too!)

One thing with coupons and sale prices - check the store brand, many times the sale price even with a coupon can still be more than the generic - I am totally fine with lots of things generic. Not everything though, but its worth trying it. Also, make sure you know EXACTLY what your coupon is for, ie - ounces, buy 2 get 1, certain varieties.

Success for the month
1/27 - 79.27
1/20 - 92.44
1/13 - 77.04
1/6 -  141.58
Total: 390.33
So we are still over budget but its so much better than it could have been! If it sounds like scary expenses to you, just know it is better for us, and we had lots of household things we needed - and still need, I am hoping I can really get those in the budget and start stocking my pantry so its not buying staple goods every week. Even at 390.33 that is 12.59/day for a family of 3! Pretty good!

I also have things that we haven't used, 2 lbs of lunch meat, a pork roast, bag of frozen chicken, box of frozen sausage, case of flour, case of beans, case of pears, lots of chili, paper towels, dish soap, laundry detergent and more I am sure - so we may have spent more than we wanted as a per day or week goal, but the things we got are lasting longer than expected! 

Goals/Plans for February:
1. Meal Planning - this is a struggle, when I would get to the store with my list of what we were out of and what was on sale, I still didn't have a clear plan of what we would eat... This month I am going to improve, I think it will help!
2. Less eating out - we did better than we have in past months, but we still spent 120.47, granted most of that comes out of a different budget category - entertainment or blow money. Its still too much, not good for our wallets or our waist lines! That averages out to be about 30 per week, goal is to reduce by 10 per week.
3. Less Coke/Diet Coke - I will admit it I am addicted to Diet Coke, its the first drink in the morning and last drink at night, and unfortunately sometimes the only drink in between, I know its bad and that I need to drink water, but the water in Herriman sucks, and its not cold, its not fizzy, and not delicious. And it doesn't seem to help me keep up with or be patient with my energetic Nathan!  Reasons to cut back, health - obviously - Budget - of course, but mostly - Nate. He wants to be like mom and dad, and is constantly asking for soda, sprite, root beer, mommy's coke, daddy's coke. No Milk, No water, No juice. He doesn't need my bad habits controlling his young life, and I don't need him revved up on sugar and especially caffeine. So the goal is to cut back - I don't think cold turkey is right for me. My plan is to have one less soda tomorrow than I did today. So like today I had 1 in the morning, 2 at lunch, 1 before work, and 1 after work. Well yikes, that cuts it out in 5 days... Probably not a realistic plan. Hmmm, what would be better? Suggestions? Also what do you drink? I can't have apples, red food coloring, or very much citrus, also too much plain water gives me heartburn... I will have to see how this week goes and come up with a plan and a reasonable goal for the month. I am for sure not saying that I will eliminate it, just that I need to be more moderate in my consumption.

I have one other question for all you working mom's or just busy ones- what do you do? I am only home 3 nights MWF to cook for my family. How would you make meals for the week work out when not home to prepare them from scratch?

Shopping 1/27/12

I started trying to type out the receipt info, but it was taking too long (the receipt is like 2 feet long).

My list when I went wasn't very well organized as far as meal planning goes, I had the 4star and 5star items from grocery smarts and another page with the list of necessities which showed a bit more meal planning potential but still nothing solid. I knew my goals - about 30 for Meat, Veg, Fruit, Bread, Milk and Eggs - that's a new recommendation for the Grocery Smart's teachers. Then the other 40-50 on stock ups and other household items. 

I started in the frozen foods section and got the frozen meals - 4 Healthy Choice steamers @1.49 each (that's a dollar off). Then the Lean Cuisines, they were 5 for 10, plus I had a coupon that made them 1.50 each - I had 2 coupons so I was going to get 10 - its a good deal... I went and got the milk- with coupon 1.74 and cheese 2 lb brick - with coupon 5.99, some ice-cream -sale, cereal - generic, gold fish - sale $0.99, shaving gel - skintimate @ 0.94 each - 2 cans, I can't believe its not butter - sale 1.75ish, Ritz crackers sale and coupon 1.49 each -3 boxes, wheat thins - sale and coupon - 1.32 ea- 3 boxes, frozen peas - 0.99/bag - i got 2 - I had a coupon for 0.40 off 2, Kleenex sale with coupon made them 0.70 a box - 3 boxes, I picked up some Charmin TP - 13.00, Ziploc's - not a great deal, but necessary with coupon $1.00 off 2, I went next to start getting produce bread and meat - and had been adding up on my phone's calculator the total - I was at like 90 when I realized there was a problem... 

I wasn't done, didn't have food for meals for the week, no fresh food, major problem. What do do? Do I just keep going and blow the budget in order to get all of the things that were the good deals? Plus I would have still have to get more stuff... Or do I look like a dork, who has no money and take stuff back, stand in a aisle and add up all of the dollars spent until I was on track? Last years Courtney would have just purchased it all, and agonized over spending too much when I got home. I was feeling week, and had to call Jake and tell him where I was on my spending, and he just kindly listened and asked what I thought, I knew the answer - look like a dork and take stuff back. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it - like so many things in life. 

So what do I get, what do I take back? Well I guess I don't "need" 14 frozen meals, and 3 bags of goldfish (my child inside was screaming - but they are ONLY a Dollar!!! - the grown up, was saying no.) So I took back the 10 lean cuisines and stood in the freezer aisle where there were no other shoppers and got out my pencil and paper and did some math.

TP 13

Dressing 2.84 (for 2)

Syrup 1.5

Chili 4.50 (for 10)

Cereal 3.50

Frozen meals 6

Ritz 3

Shaving Cream 2

Kleenex 1.70

Wheat Thins 4

Butter 1.80

Cheese 5.99

Frozen Peas 2

Milk 1.74

Gold Fish 0.99

Ice cream 2.50

Kielbasa 3

Chicken 9

Salad 3

Popcorn 1.80

Apples 2.5

Bread 5.00

Soda 1.80 - I got the Kroger brand - 

ok that is - still over budget - shoot - another phone call home - hey how much toilet paper do we have??? enough for the week, yep - ok, take that back, close enough! I didn't figure tax in my adding, but it was close enough! (I am shooting for 70-75 right now). So the total was 79.27 after 12.80 in coupons, 42.19 in fresh values savings! Total savings 54.99 that is 41% I will take it!!!!!

So now that I have all this random stuff, I am not quite sure what we are going to eat exactly, but we have lots of lunch meat from last weeks great deal, meals for lunch at work, bread for all kinds of sandwiches, cheese, cereal, we still have pasta and rice and now lots of chili. This week will also be a bit different because we have family in town so we might not be as diligent at eating at home, which is a big reason to stick to the grocery budget. 

So plans for now:

Sunday: Dinner at Lloyd's

Monday: Chicken and Rice and Peas

Tuesday: Kielbasa

Wednesday: Maybe playing with the Arveseth's otherwise - maybe pancakes

Thursday: Sandwiches

Friday: Pork Roast

Breakfasts - toast, apples, cereal, milk, eggs, pancakes, sausage

Lunches - sandwiches, mac and cheese, frozen meals, pasta

 

Grandma Lingwall's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oven 375
Mix -
1/2 C shortening
6TBSP sugar
6TBSP Brown Sugar
1 Egg Beaten
-
Mix -
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Flour
-
Combine and add:
Few drops of water
1 Cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp vanilla
Chocolate Chips (about 1 cup - your choice)

Bake 10-12 minutes at 375 on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Makes about 2 dozen.

Shopping 1/20/12

Clementines 2.99                                              Buns 3.18
Kraft Pizza Cheese 2.58                                    Coke (24) 6.98
French bread 0.98                                            Diet Coke (24) 6.98
Bread 2.48                                                       Paper Towels (8) 6.84
Lays Chips 2.58                                               Salad 1.64
Salad 1.64                                                        Cream cheese 1.98
Kraft 1.58                                                         Disney Cheese 1.82
Black Ham 3.52                                                Provolone 3.37
Pantene Shampoo 3.78                                     Pantene Shampoo 3.78
Pantene Shampoo 3.78
Pantene Conditioner 3.78                                  Milk 2.29
Cascade packs 3.97                                          Black Forest ham 3.46
Black Forest ham 3.52                                      Apples 3.27
Sweet Potatoes 1.00                                         Tooth Brush 4.98
Tooth Brush 4.98                                             Bird food 6.87
- 12.25 in coupons
- employee discount 7.36
Total: 92.44

Menu Plans:

French Bread Pizza & Salad
Chicken Croissants
Steak, Rice, and Veggies
Pork Roast and Sweet Potatoes
Broiler Sandwiches
Burgers and Fries (at home)

Items skipped

Dirty Dishes, No Excuse

Tonight was a night that would have typically ended in blowing the budget for a quick dinner out. Our sink was full of dishes and Nate didn't sleep well last night and refused to nap or even sit still all day today. I have a really hard time making dinner in a a messy kitchen especially when I have no clean silverware to use.  I had a pretty bad headache and had worked hard to clean throughout the day, Jake worked and had school, he was gone from 5am-5pm so he was tired too.

Instead of going out to dinner, I kept my resolve to be better - the rising bank account balance is becoming motivating! I figured out what I could make fast, with no dirty dishes, and that everyone would eat. The result - broiler sandwiches! I normally would have gone and gotten some nice sesame seed buns, fresh sliced deli meat and provolone cheese. That is not what I had, so I used regular bread, sliced my own cheese from the brick of colby jack I have and used the pre-sliced turkey and ham from the fridge. They turned out delish! After toasting them open I closed them and toasted them on each side so the outside would be a little crispy. It was a success!

Cafe Rio - recipes

Pork:

(From Hillary - with a couple ideas from the link below)

1 pork roast

1 bottle honey BBQ sauce (generic - not Kraft)

1 Tbsp honey

1 Liter Coke

1 can  enchilada sauce

2 TBSP brown sugar

Everything in the crock-pot, for at least 8 hours, can do overnight for an easier shred. I shredded mine about 2 hours before I wanted to eat, then put back in the crock-pot. It was tasting too BBQ-y so I added some enchilada sauce and brown sugar that I blended with a cup of the juices from the crock-pot. I also have read a couple recipes that add a can of diced green chili's, I might try that next time.

Rice:

http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2008/09/cafe-rio-cilantro-lime-rice-and-black.html

1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

Black Beans

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro. (**NOTE** we added a can of corn, drained, to the beans with a dash of cumin and chili powder, it was AWESOME! We recommend doing this even though it's not "traditional Cafe Rio")

If you are wanting to make a whole meal with the dressing and all be sure to check out the blog her stuff all looks great - its where both the rice and beans I made came from. http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2008/09/cafe-rio-cilantro-lime-rice-and-black.html 

Cafe Rio Knock Off

I made a yummy Cafe Rio Pork salad knock off on Monday and had to share, recipes and a price break down.

Pork:

1 pork roast 4.77 (managers special) *

1 bottle Honey BBQ sauce 1.39 * - I got Kraft brand, but have since found out that the generic tastes better (less BBQ-y...)

1 TBSP Honey - approx 0.13

1 Liter Coke:  approx 0.91 (3 cans)

1 Can enchilada Sauce 0.79

1 TBSP Brown Sugar ? (on hand)

Total: 7.99 made approx 10 servings: 0.80 per serving

Rice:

1 Cup Rice: 0.40 (on hand - I have the 25lb bag of Jasmine Rice)

1TBSP Oil: 0.03 

1/3 bunch cilantro 0.15 *

1/2 tsp salt 0 (on hand)

1/2 onion chopped 0.23 (on hand)

2 cups Chicken Broth 0.80 (on hand I don't know how much this cost, I bought it a couple case lots ago)

1 Lime: 0.25 *

Total: 1.86/8 servings = 0.23

Black Beans:

1 Can black beans - 0.79 (?food storage)

1 tsp cumin 0.10 (?on hand)

2TBSP Olive oil 0.03 (guessing - food storage)

2 cloves minced garlic 0.05 (guessing - food storage bottled minced garlic)

1 1/3 cup tomato juice 0.75 (2 small cans) *

1/2 tsp salt 0

2 TBSP chopped cilantro 0.15 *

Total: 1.87 made 5 servings: 0.37

Bagged Salad: 2.00 (2 bags @ 0.99 mgr special)

Total: 2.00/7 = 0.29

Cafe Rio Dressing: 6.00/pint (so worth it!) *

16oz =0.38 per ounce (I think that would be about a serving)

Quesadillas:
Tortillas: 0.64 - Food Storage

Cheese: 2.32 *

Total: 2.96/8= 0.37 per quesadilla 

Lets add:   total   serving

Quesadilla: 2.96   0.37

Dressing:   6.00   0.38

Salad:        2.00   0.29

Beans:       1.87   0.37

Rice:         1.86   0.23

Pork:         7.99   0.80

Total: 22.86 for everything. 2.44 per salad at home VS. about 9.00 per salad at Cafe Rio

Wow. That is a big difference. Don't get me wrong, we will still go there because we love their food, but to be able to do it at home - fairly closely - for that big of a savings is AWESOME! 

*As a side note - these are the only ingredients I had to buy for this recipe, everything else was in my pantry so that is 15.03 and we served 6 for dinner when we made it, had left overs for lunch/dinner tonight and have some pork and dressing left for later, the rice and beans are gone :( but easy to make more! That fits into my budget!

I will post the recipes and directions tomorrow - I need to sleep!

Menu - 1/14 -1/20

Here's the plan so far, details will be added/amended as the week goes. I will also try to figure out $ - when I have more brain power.

Saturday:
Breakfast: Toast and banana
Lunch: (Nate and Jake - McDonald's $6.00)
Dinner: Spaghetti - with meat sauce and garlic bread
Snacks: cashews at work, movie treats

Sunday:
Breakfast: Jake - cereal, Nate - apple and cereal, Courtney - Toast
Lunch: Jake - work, Nate and Courtney - spaghetti & garlic bread
Dinner: With Graves
Snacks: chocolate chips, Ritz crackers

Monday:
Breakfast: Toast, Apple, cereal
Lunch: left over spaghetti
Dinner: Pork Salad
Snack: chocolate chips

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Bananas, Toast
Lunch: Jake and Nate - In-N-Out Burgers (random cash)
Dinner: Pork salad/quesadilla- linner for Courtney, Left-over burger for Nate, snacks for Jake
Snack: Ice-cream, Graham crackers

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Cinnamon & Sugar Toast, 1/2 apple-Nate
Lunch: Mac and Cheese
Dinner: (Chicken, Rice & Veggies - didn't happen) broiler sandwiches and tortilla chips
Snack: granola bar, air popped popcorn

Thursday:
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner: Kielbasa, Rice & Veggies
Snack:

Friday:
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner: Steak, Rhodes rolls and Veggies
Snack:

Shopping Trip 01/13/12

Kraft BBQ Sauce 1.39
Kro Canola Oil 2.69
Kro Honey 2.99
Kro Cheese 2.99
Milk 2.49
Beef Steak 6.53
Diet Coke (2X12) 7.33
Coke (1X12) 3.67
Bananas 1.48
Gala Apples 2.77
Green Grapes 5.83
Garlic Bread (managers special) 1.29
Banquet Sausage (2X10) 2.00
Pork Roast (2) 9.53
Dole Salad (2) 2.00
Kielbasa 3.99
Sliced Turkey 3.99
Sliced ham 3.99
Sliced Turkey 3.99
Grandma Sycamore bread (2) 5.00
Total 77.04 FV: Savings 17.89

I didn't have my coupons because my printer was out of ink. So I skipped a few items to pick up later, like Dishwasher Detergent (Cascade Tabs), Bounty Paper Towels, Charmin TP. I also excluded cream cheese, burger buns, cucumbers, string cheese, provolone cheese from my list because as I was adding up while I shopped I knew I would already exceed my goal. My plan for these things include: Pulled pork (Cafe Rio style) salad and tacos, Ham and cheese melts, packed lunches - sandwiches and fruit, spaghetti - mostly from the pantry and freezer, kielbasa, rice and peas, stroganoff  (all food storage) and a yummy breakfast with sausage.. Last week we really missed having fresh produce in the menu, Nate loves apples and bananas and grapes - really any fruit - especially fresh. So I may have spent over the $70 goal, but I did get some good things that will add to my food storage and last much longer than this week. I am going to try and figure out the cost of the meals we have had and are planning.

Menu 1/7-1/13

Menu for this week. Well there isn't a menu. Its kind of what ever we have in the storage, I made a list of 5 or 6 meals we have all the ingredients for so we would for sure have something to eat. So far we have had:

Saturday:
(Courtney - work day)
Breakfast: toast and Diet Coke (for me)
Lunch: turkey sandwich &ritz crackers
Dinner: Granola bar,
Snack: candy bar, I had some cash

Sunday:
Breakfast: toast with cream cheese
Lunch: steak, with carrots and potatoes (slow cooker)
Dinner: Lloyd's roast
Dessert - brownies (Betty Crocker)

Monday:
Breakfast: Pancakes
Lunch: Grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches
Dinner: Tacos - hamburger, corn, black beans, Mexican Rice - I took this recipe and looked at some comments, I added some paprika and crushed red pepper flakes - very excellent! shredded cheese
Snacks: Ritz crackers, carrots, peaches

Tuesday:
Breakfast: leftover pancakes, peaches (and a piece of toast for Nate)
Lunch: leftover tacos
Dinner: Frozen Pizza
Snacks: Cheerios, Cashews

Wednesday:
Breakfast: bagels with cream cheese
Lunch: Arctic Circle for Court and Nate, Jake - school ham sandwich
Dinner: Corn Flake chicken, rice and green beans
Snacks: Donuts at Jake's work.

Thursday:
Breakfast: cinnamon rolls - the topping was a bit too sweet, for us, at least as breakfast. Apple slices, milk.
Lunch:
Dinner:
Snacks:

Weeks meals - Actual 12/30-1/6

It goes backwards... Most recent and back.

• Friday
• Dinner - Chuck-A-Rama - Janet's birthday dinner
• Snacks (Nate) Peanut butter sandwich, pears, carrots, cheerios
• Lunch - McDonalds - about $13.00
• Breakfast - toast (Nate sneaked in some candy) * horribly sidetracked by researching whether snuck or sneaked was the correct way to say that. The dictionary says sneaked and so does my spell check - I guess I will have to stop correcting Nate, telling him to say snuck* 

• Thursday
• Dinner - I had leftovers of the Kielbasa, past and veggies (Not sure about the boys)
• Lunch - McDonald's $15.15 - I know...
• Breakfast - Toast, clementines, Popcorn, Diet Coke.
• Wednesday
• Snacks - cookies - homemade, smoothies - frozen fruit, milk and sugar (on hand)
• Dinner - Kielbasa, pasta, mixed veggies - all on hand
• Lunch - with Corrine (thanks)
• Breakfast - toast with cinnamon & sugar and an Apple
• Tuesday
• Dinner - Panda Express - Thanks Gerry!
• Lunch - Ham and cheese melts and nachos
• Breakfast - Pancakes (from scratch)
• Monday
• Dinner - Chicken Stew - Thanks Barb! 
• Lunch - Mac and Cheese
• Breakfast - Pancakes
• Sunday
• Dinner - with the Graves
• Lunch - Nacho's/Hot ham and Cheese
• Breakfast - Toast and cuties
• Saturday
• Dinner - Pizza and fun chips and dips
• Lunch - Left over Salmon
• Breakfast - Bagel PB&J Sandwich 
• Friday
• Dinner - Salmon, Mashed Potatoes and Salad

Shopping Day! 1/6/12

Well, I way passed my budget... But, got some good deals on things we really needed. So at Smith's I spent 92.58 and Saved 69.96 (15.00 in coupons - 54.96 in FV)

4 Tide - 40 wash - Sale price 5.99 (saved 3.98) - 1.00p&g event - 2.00 coupon. = 2.99 per box
4 Crest toothpaste - Sale price 2.69 (saved .53) -1.00p&g event - 0.75 coupon = 0.94 per tube
8 Old Spice deodorant - Sale price 1.99 (saved .88) - 1.00p&g event - $1/2 coupon = .49/stick
Case lots:
Kroger Kidney Beans - 13.68 (saved 3.36) its a 24 count case = 0.57/can
Kroger Flour -14.32 (saved 2.64) its a 8 count case of 5lbs each = 1.79/bag
Kroger Pears - 18.96 (saved 7.20) its a 24 count case = 0.79/can
Necessities:
White vinegar 3.09 (saved 0.30)
18 eggs 2.19
2 liter Big K lem/lim (soda) 0.88
2 liter Big K rootbeer 0.88
Kroger Graham crackers 1.64
Kroger Oyster crackers 0.98 (a hopeful substitute for goldfish)
Grandma Sycamore's bread 2/$5.00
Honey Scooters BIG bag 6.89 (replacement for cheerios)

The deal of the day was at Walgreen's - So both Jake and I needed new razors, but they are so dang expensive. (we are picky) So I asked my sister, (check out Kat's Klippings) to see some great deals and get some coupon guru advice. She told me about the deal at Walgreen's - So in 3 transactions (one visit to the store) I got a Venus razor + 4 pack of cartridges for me (6blades total) for $23 after a $5 off coupons, A Gillette Pro Fusion for Jake + 4 pack of cartridges for $23 after a $5 off coupon, I got a total of $14 in register rewards for future purchase - then I went and picked up 4 bottles Dawn dish soap for $0.74/9oz bottle (I had 4 coupons), 3 boxes of Coke products (3 for $11) and a gallon of milk (2.20ish) my total after the discounts and RR was just over $2. The Dish soap savings was good, the bottles retail at 1.99 but were on sale for .99 and then I had coupons for .25 off each.   So I spent $49 on all of that!

So 49 + 92.58 = 141.58 - yikes, that's 2 weeks worth of money... hmm, I wonder if I could get by for 2 weeks on what we have, maybe with the addition of milk and bread... I will have to get creative.

Crayon Wreath Craft

Check out my handy work! This is a gift for my mother-in-law who teaches 3rd grade. I hope she likes it and that it doesn't melt! Thank you pinterest for the great idea!

For those who want to copy it, it is made with the directions from here

http://momspartycafe.blogspot.com/2010/06/teacher-giftscontinuedcrayon-wreaths.html

What you need:

12" embroidery hoop, or basketry hoop

8" embroidery hoop, or basketry hoop

box of 64 crayons

ribbon

hot glue 

Stickers

Directions:  Place the 8" hoop in side the 12" hoop with equal   distance between all edges.  Arrange the crayons along the 2 hoops.  Hot glue the crayons to the hoops.  *I tried to keep the placement of top black ring on the crayola crayons on the outside hoop to keep the outside even and the inside tight and straight*

Savvy Tip:  Keep the unglued crayons arranged on the hoops.  It will keep the spacing. 

Tie the bow around the 2 crayons that you want at the top.  Create a separate loop and glue the edges together to create the hanging loop.  Place as many (or as little) stickers as you like.  Personalize with the teacher's name, if you'd like.  Super easy :)!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! It took about an hour!

Courtney

New Year - New Priorities!

My resolution is to get smart about grocery shopping. I have been trying to coupon, but ended up at the store grabbing one or two things multiple times a week. Ending up blowing WAY too much money on food that we didn't eat or convenience food we shouldn't eat. So after getting mad about what food I let go bad sitting in my fridge or pantry and mad about the many McD's entries in our budget and mad that my clothes seem to be a bit snug. I decided enough with that. We are going to get crazy about our food budget. "Gazelle Intense" to quote Dave Ramsey - We've been working - not hard enough- on getting our debt's taken care of and our budget down so we can save money! This is one major step - more of a hurdle - that has been blocking our way. I mean our food budget (including groceries and dining out) has gone 2 even 3 times what we intended it to be. NO MORE!! We are done living like crazy people. Its time to get serious.

The goal $10 a Day. For my family of 3 that is $70 a week and $280 a month. I know it is going to be hard for me and Jake but its worth it. I am sure we won't be perfect in the beginning, but I am hoping that as we get smart and really aware of what we use and don't use that we can do it! So I am going to do my best to document what we are spending and eating - its really for me to track, but I am sharing it with you to be accountable to an audience - whether its imaginary or anyone actually reads it.

So shopping trip #1
Smith's Market Place - Friday morning 12/30 - with Jake
We had 1 hour, a list and a few coupons

Corn Flakes                1.78 - Unopened as of Wed -
Honey Nut Cheerios    1.99 - Gone by Monday -
Frosted Flakes            1.71 - Almost Gone as of Wed -
Creamy Wheat            4.24 - Opened, and used a couple times - big box
Canned Corn X2         0.73 - used 1 can
Don Julio Tortillas X2  0.88 - unopened (bought to stock up)
Bow Tie Pasta             1.99 - used for pasta salad
Kroger Beans              0.60 - used for pasta salad
Kro Pizza Sauce          1.39 - unopened
Heinz Ketchup             2.96 - unopened - stock up
Miracle Whip               3.50 - unopened
Kro Green Chili's X2    0.63 - unopened
Kro Enchilada Sauce    0.79 - unopened
Kro Kidney Beans        0.60 - used for pasta salad
Kro Cream Cheese       0.99 - unopened
Kro 8oz bar cheese      2.00 - used for pasta salad
Kro Provolone Cheese 2.00 - Gone by Tuesday
Kro Crescent Rolls X2 1.25 - unopened
Gallon Milk                  2.49 - Gone - Wednesday
Salad Dressing             3.99 - used pasta salad
2.2lbs Ground Beef      6.64 - repackaged into 3 containers - unused
Romaine Lettuce          1.29 - unused...
Ritz Crackers               2.00 - 1 sleeve gone
2lbs Salmon                 10.60 - Used - made 5 servings
Sliced Turkey               4.99 = 9  4 slice servings = 0.55 per serving - opened
Sliced Ham                  4.99 = 9   4 slice serving - opened
Bagels 12                     3.29 - 6 frozen, opened and 1/2 gone other pack
Sour Cream                 1.25 - used for dip
Potato Chips               1.50 - used for NYE
GS bread X2               2.00 1 1/2 loafs gone
Foil                             2.96 - unopened
Press & Seal               3.49 - unopened
So with tax it was about $90, ok, but not the $70 I wanted - we did make some New Years Eve pasta salad and a dip with these. I am finding it interesting as the week has passed what we have used and not used, and what will last for another week. I am going to track that here as well.

Hmmm. So what did we eat this week?
I am going to have to go backwards.

• Wednesday
• Snacks - cookies - homemade, smoothies - frozen fruit, milk and sugar (on hand)
• Dinner - Kielbasa, pasta, mixed veggies - all on hand
• Lunch - with Corrine (thanks)
• Breakfast - toast with cinnamon & sugar and an Apple
• Tuesday
• Dinner - Panda Express - Thanks Gerry!
• Lunch - Ham and cheese melts and nachos
• Breakfast - Pancakes (from scratch)
• Monday
• Dinner - Chicken Stew - Thanks Barb! 
• Lunch - Mac and Cheese
• Breakfast - Pancakes
• Sunday
• Dinner - with the Graves
• Lunch - Nacho's/Hot ham and Cheese
• Breakfast - Toast and cuties
• Saturday
• Dinner - Pizza and fun chips and dips
• Lunch - Left over Salmon
• Breakfast - Bagel PB&J Sandwich 
• Friday
• Dinner - Salmon, Mashed Potatoes and Salad

So, I will shop again on Friday, maybe with a more specific plan. It looks like I could have saved about $30 by just buying what I have used this week. But I also need to stock up on things so that we have enough options of food to make to keep up at home. So no regrets. The big question for the week is: how do I stay in my budget and shop the case lot sale???