SO....I just completed week two of the Pantry Challenge with Money Saving Mom and Life as Mom. It was u m m m...w e l l...u m m m not my best effort. The train derailed and baby it was NOT good! I am just keeping it real here at PP. So what went wrong, you ask? I spent $62 at the grocery store, $12 over budget. Not a HUGE deal but Ugh! Frustration. I have to get better at the whole pricing thing.
Well as I said mid-week there were a few hick-ups in the schedule. I messed up my Barefoot Bloggers schedule. Then we hit Thursday and after an extremely tough day my honey and I took one look at each other, then at the raw chicken on the counter. He picked up the phone and Chinese takeout arrived 30 minutes later. Then we had two last minute invitations on Friday and Saturday night each one included dinner out (not in the budget, but hubby said yes, so now I will make it up from somewhere else. Challenging indeed!). By the time we got to Sunday I didn't even recognize the menu plan.
So what did I learn? I need to build in an Oops fund for those last minute surprises that happen. I MUST get better at grocery shopping and not be pulled in by those lousy end caps of yumminess.
So what now? Well, I cleaned out the fridge from top to bottom. It's sparkly and clean. I have written a new menu for this week with some new recipes. I am ready to rumble once again. So there you have it! My attempt to reclaim my kitchen and my budget. Lessons learned. When at first you don't succeed, try, try again!
Have a fabulous week!
Mary
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Sunday
leftover French Toast w/eggs
Indonesian Ginger Chicken w/ Curry Rice and fresh salad
Monday
oatmeal w/ tea
salad or sandwich
Macaroni and Cheese w/veggies
Tuesday
oatmeal w/tea
sandwich w/fruit
Black-Eyed Pea and Sausage Soup (new recipe) w/corn bread
Wednesday
Lemon Ricotta Muffins w/hard-boiled egg
soup w/fruit
Chicken Spaghetti (new recipe) w/broccoli
Thursday
Coffee w/ Friends
soup w/fruit
Marmalade-Glazed Corned Beef w/carrots & potatoes
Friday
oatmeal w/ fruit
soup w/veggie
Tuna w/White Bean Pasta (new Rachel Ray recipe)
Saturday
Guy food all day long since I will be gone (yea me!)
2 comments:
Hey!
I'm catching up on the Pantry challenge. I had a question for you. Maybe I need to read the links more...but $62 seems AWESOME for groceries. Can you explain to me how that is too much, or maybe what you used to spend? I'm so impressed. Also, how are you coming up with these recipes? I'm so non creative!
Thanks!!
Hi ViolinMama!
In the Pantry Challenge we were supposed to use what we had in our pantries and freezers trying to spend the least amount of money on groceries.
So, I pledged to spend no more than $50 every two weeks for the month of Jan. My pantry and freezer were stocked full so this should not have been too difficult.
In the past years my family of four has spent about $600 a month on groceries. I knew that was just too much especially after i started researching and reading about frugality. I was determined to lower that by at least $100. Since doing the pantry challenge I know that I can feed my family for about $450 a month if I stick to the strategies of shopping sales, keeping things simple and make it from scratch then i can do it.
I am a foodaholic and LOVE food magazines, cookbooks and Food Network so I get them from many different sources and even create a few myself. Get yourself to the library and check out their cookbook section. Be inspired and try something different. Have fun with it because your going to be doing it for a very long time!
Celebrate the Feast!
Mary
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