How We Eat and Shop on a Tight Budget

The past few weeks we have been on an even tighter food budget than ever...due to less income thanks to the snow storms. We have depleted our frozen meat selection and continue to eat mainly fresh or frozen veggies. So, with virtually no money to spend ,what have we been eating?? Not Ramen Noodles as you may be thinking...we have eaten some really yummy and tasty meals!

Breakfast continues to be either oatmeal, eggs, pancakes, or yogurt. I buy the plain Quick Oats and microwave as needed...adding extract or cinnamon or Sprinkles to ad taste and variety. Eggs, I buy in 18 or larger packs...and I microwave in one-cup prep bowls-cup prep bowls...I cut in the bowl and wa-la I have easy scrambled eggs. I sometimes sneak in some baby rice cereal for added nutrition. Pancakes are my most labor intensive meal...I buy the just add water mix from the Wal-store..their brand. I make about 8 pancakes at a time and the girls will eat them all...any leftovers get a layer of peanut butter as a snack later in the day. Of course, I keep yogurt, bought in the large container on hand...sometimes plain, sometimes vanilla, sometimes peach...if its plain I add fruit or flavors depending on what I have on hand.

Lunch is either leftovers, or cheese and deli meat, or yogurt or PBJ. Sometimes grilled cheese. Baby Girl eats lunch while Gator is napping. Gator eats when she gets up. Gator usually has veggies...either ones that I have steamed and frozen at an earlier time...or straight from the frozen veggie bag.

Yes, That is broccoli...and she asks for it...begs for it!!

Supper has been Spinach and Cheese Manicotti, Chili Mac, Beef Fried Rice, Moroccan Stew, Chili, Chicken Cacatorri, Shepherd's Pie, Pronto Pasta and Sausage, Turkey Tetrazzini...wow! Hubby has been happy and full...Baby Girl says during every meal...Mama this supper is dood (good)!

I have been taking inventory of freezer and pantry first. Then I grab a cookbook...I find 4-5 recipes that have most of the items already in my freezer or pantry. Then I list the rest of the items that I need...and I don't look and look and look. I open the cookbook and the first recipe that I have the majority of the items I write down and move on to the next...don't make this step hard. I also place a maker in the cookbook so next week I can easily find the recipe that goes with the ingredients.

I made a large batch of chicken broth a few weeks ago with some chicken I found on sale...so I won't need to buy any for awhile...and we had Chicken Caccatorri with the chicken that night. I bought all the veggies I needed in the freezer section (way cheaper than in individual cans...and seems to be lasting longer) During the spring/summer, I like to buy fresh and freeze for later.

I try to only buy meat that has the markdown due to sell-by date...I freeze large packs of meats into smaller bags when I get home...that way I can pull out what I need as I need it...and this is also why I meal plan with what is in the freezer. It is hard for me to watch the sale fliers...and if I only buy markdown meat...I don't know what they will have before hand.

I only take cash to the store...and lately it has been $20-$30...I keep a running tally of the items in my cart..i.e. I grab milk and put in cart...I mark milk off the list...and I add 4 tally marks to the total tally on the side of my list. (I try to round everything up to account for tax) Once I get the items that we HAVE to have...milk, diapers...then I go to the next most needed items, etc until I hit my total that I have in hand. Then we head to the check out...even if there are items left on the list...this is also why I get the MOST IMPORTANT items first!

It takes me a little more time, because I do tend to zig zag the store. I only go to the items that I need and are on our list. No cruising the aisles....go right to what we need and move on...

So, maybe the recipe calls for pork...but I have beef...I'll swap. Maybe the recipe calls for peas and carrots...I may only have one or the other...I leave one out....I do make those adjustments as the week progresses...but this is what has been working for us.

Today I am working near and Aldi...and we NEED milk...I am going to venture into the store I have been wanting to go to forever to try to save more money...the closet Aldi is 30 miles from our house, so it is not a usual suspect on our errands route. I am all about saving money, but gas is high too...so while I may pay a little more for my milk...I save on the gas...adjustments have to be made!!

How do you save? Meal plan? Budget? Any tips to share?

Oh my Gosh! A Tip that Worked!

Today I decided to try another tip! And low and behold...it worked!

I heard about this great time saving tip....do your prep for dinner before time for dinner. Well, me being me, thought really how much time can that save if I am still doing the prep work???

Gator was taking a good nap...Baby Girl was occupied and fed...and I was seeing what we had for dinner. I needed to know what meat to take out of the freezer. I found my recipe...I pulled out the meat...I took out the items that were needed and could stay on the counter the rest of the day. This is normal and I do this part often.

I emptied the dishwasher, loaded it, started it, got dressed....and Gator was still napping and Baby Girl was still occupied and fed. I had time on my hands. I got out the carrots and onions and peppers and peas...and I peeled and chopped and (yes cheap plug) I put into prep bowls. And I placed in the fridge. Now when I get home from going to Baby Girl's dance class, all I will have to do is cut the meat, and throw everything into the  pan...we're having Beef Fried Rice by the way...

And I still had some time before Gator woke up...

Have you tried any great tips that you were unsure that they would work, but now you swear by them???

A Great Find

I dropped the girls off early the other day. I HAD to get my nails done. I needed to feel human again.

I finished early and was feeling good about myself. Feeling pretty and human looking. My nail place is next to a Thrift Store. I had some time before I had to go to work.

I went in and started looking around. I looked at the shoes...nothing for either girl. I looked at pants for Baby Girl...she looks like she's waiting on a flood, and it appears that the cold weather is going to stay around for awhile...yet there was nothing that I liked/fit in my budget. I went to see if there was anything I could add to up coming Sensory Bins...again struck out. So I went to see if there were any books I could add to our collection. I am doing this Letter Themed loose version of homeschool right now and though we have a lot of books, I don't have a variety of letter in the titles...again not much.

Just as I was about to Thank God that I was able to not spend any money and leave, I saw a Daily Devotions book, for kids ages 3-6. It was in GREAT condition and it was $1.99. It was from 1997, but really God's Word is God's Word, and its cost new in 1997 was $16.99...I was so HAPPY!

And Baby Girl is really enjoyng the short one page bible reading and prayer. She even asks for it when she wakes up. Never say never, and never pass a thrift store without stopping.

Have you found any great thrifty finds lately?

Rr is for Rejoice

Baby Girl has finished another project. I have to say this learning our letters endeavor is going very well. She really gets into thinking of people for our prayer lists. She likes to sit and work on her writing skills. She prefers gluing construction paper pieces in the block letters to the push pin letters and she can't wait to make a "project" for her chosen person.

This week we did a rainbow. First I had her separate fruit loop type cereal into color piles. Then I wrote our Bible verse for Rr on a piece of construction paper. Then I drew lines for her to trace with glue. I put on colored loop on each line to give her the start of the pattern and off she went...it was great...she is so into and intense when she is concentrating on coloring and the such (she has almost always colored inside the lines)

Then later that night she gave her Rockin Reward and Rainbow to her Mrs. Robin...lots of hugs and smiles.

I can't wait to see what we will to for Pp.

Yes, I am jumping around the alphabet...Baby Girl is really set in her orders and ways...so I am shaking it up a little to show her that though order is really nice it is ok to go out of order at times as well.

Vv is for Victory

Still working on our letter Vv.

So far we have talked about Vv, and victory, and the people we know that have a name that starts with Vv.

We did Push Pin Letters. I wrote the uppercase and lowercase Vv on a piece of construction paper and let Baby Girl use a push pin to poke holes in the paper. We did this while Gator took a nap to ensure that Gator would not get the pin. Also, be sure to place the paper on a piece of cardboard or on the carpet to keep your tables safe. (we did this in the living room) After the sun had set, we took the Push Pin Letters and turned off the lights, grabbed a flashlight and projected our letter on the ceiling and walls. Baby Girl thought this was the coolest thing ever.

Today, we picked someone from our Vv prayer list and made Vanilla pudding for them. I just used some mix that I had in the cabinet, but I did find a homemade recipe over at Heavenly Homemakers. I put the pudding in a cleaned out yogurt container. I took a piece of construction paper, wrote our Bible verse on it and let Baby Girl decorate the paper. We attached the paper to the outside of the container. I placed a note on top letter our gift recipient about our project. Now all that is left is to deliver our gift!

After we made the pudding and decorated the container, we read a bit from our Kids Daily Devotional. What a great day!

Vv is for Victory!

Yummy Yogurt

My girls eat really well. They love yogurt. All flavors, all kinds. This makes me happy. My kids can eat gallons of the stuff. At about $4 for a "large" container of yogurt, this can get costly.

Last summer I can across a post on one of my favorite blogs about making your own yogurt. I thought, wouldn't that be great??? Then the doubter in me worried about would it really save me any cash, or would it just be another thing that I add to my day with no good things as an outcome??

Well, that was last summer. I have had to compromise on yogurt purchases...some weeks we can, some weeks we can't. Have I mentioned how tight money is in our house??

I came across the yogurt thought again, and I did more searching online...one of my favorite past times...(what did I do before search engines??) And I found a crock pot blog, and there was a yogurt recipe you make in your crock pot...yes, I am listening (reading) and well, at the end of her post she had a breakdown of the savings in her area and her costs!

So, in yet another attempt at saving money, I am going to attempt to make my own yogurt. And I will let you know how it all comes out!!! (Soon I hope)

What have you done to impact your budget/save some cash?

(Another thought was to look into making our own pasta, but really, at about $1 a box, I can't ok the thought to ferment in my mind, yet)

Adult Birthdays

Well, I celebrated my 30th birthday, again. I am willing to be 30 for awhile...I am not willing to be 31, 32, 33, 34,etc. I will turn 40 one day...I am ok with that.

Now, I am not holding onto 30 because I am sad about getting older. I by no means want to go back to the young and dumb days. I had my fun, I learned, I lived, I moved on. The only things that I want from the younger days, I have...my hubby, well and memories and friends.

So, why do I have such a hard time with birthdays? I really love birthdays. I mean I love it. I got breakfast in bed...french toast made by Daddy and Baby Girl. I got to sleep in. Daddy attended to Gator so I could sleep. I got to eat with my family at a very yummy restaurant. I got to try everyone's dessert. I got lots of leftovers, so I didn't have to cook supper. What could be better?

Anyone else struggling with birthdays...do you want to go back to a certain age?  Are you good with your age? Are you looking forward to a certain age?

Birthdays change at some point. Children look forward to their birthday as if the day will never come. Adults feel like they just finished cleaning up the mess from their last birthday and the next one has already come back around.

Until next year...when I turn 30, again.