Last night I sat down and balanced my checkbook. I didn't realize just how much we were spending in groceries!! We make a few trips a week - usually with the intention of picking up 1 or 2 items - and end up blowing almost $25 each time. That is crazy!! Then I looked in my cupboards and my freezer and realized that we probably have at least a couple months worth of food in our house already! Layne and I were talking about it and decided that we need to set a budget for groceries. We think we can do it on $30 a week. Of course the first few weeks should be easy since we are pretty well stocked right now. But it could be a real challenge when we have to start refilling our stock.
So in light of this challenge - I will post my receipt EVERY time I stop for any groceries - along with a picture of my purchase. It will be somewhat similar to Miriam's blog and Gayle's blog. Except that at this point I am not planning on posting a weekly menu. I will probably post daily what we are having along with the recipe for it. I am really psyched for this challenge. I think we will be surprised by how much money we save!
Our strategy is to put $30 in an envelope each week for the shopping. That is the only money allowed for shopping - debit cards and checks stay home! If we have money left over at the end of the week it stays in the grocery envelope for future purchases.
Tonight for supper we had vegetable soup, rolls, and milk. The soup was made with a small beef roast I had in the freezer. I laid it out yesterday to thaw. I cut it into bite-size pieces and browned them. I then threw them into the crockpot along with some frozen veggies, beef bouillon cubes, and water. I used up some sacks of veggies in the fridge that were stashed in there just waiting for such an occasion. You know the kinds, the ones that have a handful or two of veggies, not really enough for a serving but you can't bring yourself to throw them out! I also had some little alphabet pasta that I added in during the last half hour.
The rolls were made from frozen bread dough. I let it defrost and rise a bit then broke it into several pieces and rolled them in balls. I placed them in a greased circular cake pan and baked at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I have to say the rolls were my favorite! With a little butter and honey or jelly - YUM!!
Yesterday we did go to the store and we spent right at $30 dollars - so this week I can't buy anything else. I will do my grocery shopping on Friday evening or sometime Saturday and will post my purchases afterwards.
The tip of the day will still remain on the blog along with my regular ramblings. : )
Speaking of which - today's tip of the day: If you buy a jar of pickles that you just love the taste of you can duplicate it when the jar is finished. Simply save the juice and slice a couple cucumbers really thin. Put the cucumber slices in the jar for a couple days. Voila! You have another jar of your favorite pickles! With only the cost of the cucumber - unless you grow your own! : )
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Is that $30/week in addition to the boxes from Angel Food?
Too bad I didn't see your pickle tip a couple of weeks ago. I had some fabulous pickles from Dave's BBQ, and I wondered if that would work. We were in the process of leaving the house sitting and getting stuff back to the 5th wheel, so I tossed it, but next time, I'll try your tip!
The $30 a week includes the Angel Food. $120 for a month is going to go so quickly!
Post a Comment