My February Starts Today ....

Today is payday and so my next month's grocery budget starts today.  My goal is to spend $200 for the month.  This includes toiletries and pet food also.

This morning I went to JR's which is a little mom and pop grocery store in town that has the best meat in town.  They run weekly meat specials and I go when I see a really good one.  Today they had boston pork butt roasts for 98 cents a pound.  We love pulled pork so I went to see what they had.

So this morning I spent:

3 dozen large eggs - $3
cabbage -                 73 cents
pork chops    -          $4.62
boston butt -             $18.60
candy bar  -             88 cents

Total:      $30.01

The eggs where an unadvertised special and I grabbed what they had on the shelf.  The pork chops were marked down and I was able to divide it into three meals.  The candy bar was a treat as this is the only store in town that carries O Henry bars and I loved these as a kid.  The boston butt was over 18 pounds and I had them divide it into four smaller roasts.  Enough for February and March.  Maybe even into April. ~smile~  So really $9 of this is for March's food budget.

When I remove the amount for next months budget I spent $21 therefore I have $179 left for the month.

I will be going to complete my shopping this afternoon.

This Week's Meal Plan

I am a day late but yesterday was just a lazy day.  Here is what I plan to serve this week:

Sunday:  B - out
               L - grilled cheese and soup
               D - pork chops, corn and mixed veggies

Monday:  B - oatmeal
                 L - sandwiches or leftovers
                 D - beef roast, carrots, potatoes and onions in crockpot.

Tuesday:  B - oatmeal
                 L - sandwiches or leftovers
                 D - Baked Pasta

Wednesday:  B - toast and eggs
                      L - sandwiches or leftovers
                      D - Chicken, stuffing and veggie

Thursday:  B - toast
                  L - sandwiches or leftovers
                  D - dh pizza or hot dogs/ me at work

Friday:  B - oatmeal
              L - sandwiches or leftovers
              D - meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggie

Saturday:  B - out
                 L - grilled cheese and soup
                 D - chicken, corn and veggie

Snacks are a choice of popcorn, chip and pretzels.  I hope to make some cookies for lunches also.

Krogers

Yesterday I went to Kroger and I am so proud of myself.  I went in for ONE thing and came out with ONE thing !!!  I need a tiny zucchini to feed dh's crickets and I bought one and paid 37 cents for it.  Thats it !!!  Now I need to go back sometime soon for a couple of things but not bad I think.

This Weeks Meal Plan

I know I had planned to post a couple of weeks of menus but I got to thinking that my schedule changes every week at work so it is hard to plan ahead.  Here is this weeks:

Sunday:
b - breakfast burrito
l - ham, corn and salad
d - soup

Monday:
b - waffles
l - sandwiches or leftovers
d - chicken, stuffing and veggie

Tuesday:
b - oatmeal
l - sandwiches or leftovers
d - roast, potatoes, carrots and onions in crockpot

Wednesday:
b - waffles
l - sandwiches or leftovers
d - meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggie

Thursday:
b - oatmeal
l - sandwiches or leftovers
d - pizza for dh, I am working that night

Friday:
b - oatmeal
l - sandwiches or leftovers
d - date night

Saturday:
b - peanut butter toast
l - hot dogs or leftovers
d - turkey sausage, corn and veggie

I have a craft show on Saturday so I am not sure what I will have for lunch.  I will definitely take peanut butter crackers in case I can not get out.

Snacks will be muffins, pretzels and popcorn.

Wow it has been a while !!!

Life has been crazy and blogging took a back seat.  I have been working more hours and started a side business.

However, this is the year to concentrate on debt reduction so back to pinching those pennies.  I did a large shop on December 31 but dh and I decided to count that as last year and to start fresh with the grocery numbers so this first partial week of the year I have spent the following:

Kroger:

1 tub ice cream
1 bottle cough syrup
Spent:  $5.96

Dh is sick and that is what he wanted.


Jr's Foodland:

2.27 pounds of cabbage
1 pkg chicken tenders
2 pkgs  pork chops
1 small roast
1.10 pound ground meat
1 candy bar
1 half dozen eggs
1 bag shredded pizza cheese
2 boxes Andres mints
Spent: $28.62

Jr has the best meat in town.  5 meals of meat for $20.

So far this month I have spent $34.58.  More than I wanted too but we have enough meat for the month now.  ~smile~

I am working on my menu for the next two weeks.  I will post when they are done.

Latest Grocery Shop

I went grocery shopping on Saturday.  Hit Kroger then ended up going on Sunday when I got items the previous shop.

Kroger #1

2 loaf bread
1 pkg hot dog buns
1 container slaw
1 gallon milk
1 bottle V8 juice
1 pkg string cheese
2 pkgs sliced cheese
1 pkg shredded cheese
2 bananas
1 bag raw almonds
1 pkg bacon bits
1 small container sour cream
5 lbs red potatoes
3 baking potatoes
1 small zucchini
1 can tuna
2 cans green beans

Total - $44.50


Kroger #2

1 pkg cookies (for potluck)
1 pkg medicated wipes
1 newspaper (for coupons)

Total - $8.75

So far:  $ 53.25

I know .......

I know I have not blogged much of anything recently.  Our pennies got pinched for our daughter's wedding in September and we have been trying to stay afloat every since.  So new goals !!!

I am tired of living paycheck to paycheck.  I am tired of worrying about paying bills.  I am just plain tired of worrying about money.  Dh is not entirely on board with me but I am going to give it everything I've got !!!!

I am going to follow Dave Ramsey as much as dh will let me.  We were gifted a class set and I intend to use it.  It will take longer because of dh not being completely on board but I have got to for me if nothing else.

I started a Christmas Club account last week and I am going to put $25 a paycheck in so that the holidays don't kill us this year.  I am also going to start putting $25 a week into savings.  It will take a while to get to $1000 put every little bit helps.  This week I am going to list all my bills smallest to largest and start attacking with my paychecks.

That is the plan for now.  I am working on the food budget right now to see if I can free up anything.  We need to eat out less, way less and that is where dh and I are disagreeing.  He also wants to buy a new dining room table and chairs to the tune of $950.  Still talking about that.