Dreams

It's official. I'm obssessed. I just had a dream that I did next weeks
shopping and I freaked when it was $54.96. Guess I'm going to really
think about next week. It will be interesting because I'm having my
wisdom teeth out on Friday. I'm sure that the weekend will be full of
pain and misery so I'm essesmtally shopping for two weeks...or Ed will
be pointman on shopping. We shall see!

Sent from my iPhone

Easy dessert

Peanut butter cookies and carmel swirl brownie ice cream. All from the
pantry or freezer. Cost $0. Taste a million!

Rewarding pantry

After assessing my pantry items I decided to make cornflake cookies
for Thursday nights get together. This may be the first time I've ever
made a dessert with such little fuss!

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole. Yummo! Thank you Lugene

irst

My first attempt

Week 1 is off to a great start. I spent a few hours this morning taking stock of my pantry and freezers. Noting the foods that are staples for each family member. Then I put a menu together. Here are this weeks meals:
chicken and dressing (courtesy of Lugene)
chicken tacos with rice
fish, corn on the cob, and cornbread
french dip sanwiches with homemade fries

I gathered up my lists and headed out. Ed was super dad and watched the boys today. This allowed me to carefully deliberate on each item, write down their cost, and keep a running total so I wouldn't over reach my budget.

I also noted some items that we would need in the next few weeks and their cost at each store so I could find the best deal. I wonder how much money I've been throwing away by just shopping in one place and not thinking twice about it. For example, we go through 1 package of bacon a week. Normally 3.78(note this is even the off brand) at walmart. Today I grabbed the 3 pack at Sams. This totalled 8.52. This will last 3 weeks. So this week I only spent 2.84. That is a .94 savings a week nthat totals up to 48.88 a year. Oh my heavens!

Here is a breakdown of my receipts. At first glNce it seems I have failed the mission. But, I also shopped for a craft project (3.94), Ed's coffee club (42.99), and household goods (24.66). I'm also going to subtract the cost of items bought in bulk that will be used for later meals (5.08). With that being said...
Walmart-36.29
Sams-86.61
Savealot-4.06
total=126.96
minus other-77.27
grand total====49.69!!!!

I MADE IT!!!!

Now on to the cooking and cleaning part of my day 

The goal!

A new kitchen equals a new adventure! I am setting out on a journey to find ways to save money, enjoy cooking in our remodeled kitchen, and bring some catholic traditions into our home. My budget will be $50 a week for a family of four. I will take 3 main meals and rework my leftovers into something fun and kid friendly. Ed eats at school so this will help with 5 of the 21 meals a week. Whew. It sounds like a lot when you think of it this way. 4 people * 21 meals = 84 / $50 = $1.68 per meal. It's a good thing 2 of our 4 are munchkins:)

Here are the guidelines:
1) baby needs and household goods will be excluded from my grocery receipts
2) I will stock my pantry with the basics before my experiment begins
3) if I buy in bulk I will apply only the cost of the used portion to the weekly bill
4) the weekly budget will also apply to any special events, guest dinners, holidays, and also our contribution to our catholic couple weekly get togethers

I hope everyone enjoys our journey and finds some inspiration.