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Confessions of our frugal failure & Our Personal Challenge….

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I’ve briefly mentioned that our family is working our way to eating more whole/real foods.  Well, I’ll admit that we’re having a harder time than I thought breaking our old habits.  Granted, we had already started  eating less store packaged/canned foods & had been doing this for a while, but over the last year, we’ve managed to fall back into some old habits of not planning ahead enough that we’re not stopping to grab something “quick” to eat through a drive-thru a couple of times a week.  Being a frugal person, this always kills me to know how much we were spending each time our family of 5 did this, but I was  at a loss as how to stop this vicious cycle since our schedule would remain the same for quite some time.  I know better.  I think we’ve all fallen back into bad habits & then felt at a loss as to how to get back out of them again.  Right? 

 

Well, Brian & I were discussing this very thing yesterday & have decided that we have GOT to change things.  And we’re going to to just that.  Since I do the majority of the grocery shopping & cooking of meals, I know I can do this.  I just have to change my thinking again & get back into my frugal mindset.  I love cooking/baking for my family, so this is not a problem.  The problem comes in when I don’t plan ahead and make the best use of my time to prioritize making sure that dinner is always prepared ahead of time so that I can either throw it together quickly that evening or in the Crock Pot™ in the morning. 

So, for the rest of the month of July, we are going to pledge to not eat out and to keep our grocery budget, including mostly whole/real foods (with as much as possible from the farmer’s market).  Our normal grocery budget for our family of 5 is around $400/month.  I try to keep under this as much as possible and would love to get it down to $300 during the summer months with all the fresh fruits & veggies available playing a more vital role in our meals.  This is always an issue since I have a husband & 2 out of 3 kids that prefer to have meat & potatoes over fresh fruits & veggies.   This amount will no include our bulk food order that we will place at the end of the month.  Since we are still trying to build up our whole grains, healthy oils, etc., this is still planned for separately.   I also do not use coupons since most of what I buy is either Aldi’s store brand, dairy, fresh/frozen fruits/veggies, or from the Dollar Tree™ (toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoos, etc.).  That being said, we should be able to easily stay under our budgeted $400.   So far this month, I’ve spent $105.26 on:

10 lb russet potatoes

10 lb frozen chicken breasts/thighs

10 lb frozen wings

3 gal milk

4 lb carrots

2 bunches of celery

3 lb onions

4 pints blueberries

3 green bell peppers

10 (8 oz) blocks cheese (different varieties)

4 bags frozen peaches(for smoothies)

3 qts. Heavy whipping cream

1 small container of Greek yogurt (to use as starter for my homemade yogurt)

1 bunch romaine lettuce

1/2 gal buttermilk

 

Yesterday, I went to the farmer’s market & spent $25 on:

fresh corn on the cob

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Grand total for the month so far:  $130.26.

What we’ve eaten so far this week:  Taco salad, spaghetti with sauce with fresh mushrooms

Plans for the rest of the week: Still up in the air, but I’m planning to use some of the chicken I just bought as well as some beef we already have (a grass-fed beef we had slaughtered last fall), plus some of the fresh corn, carrots, mushrooms, etc. 

I will need to pick up some more lettuce at some point because I plan to incorporate a few more salads during this hot weather.  I want to keep my oven/stove time down to a minimum to keep from heating the house up any more than necessary.  I will also be utilizing my Crock Pot™ as much as possible, which I will set outside on the back porch to cook so that it will heat up the outside & not the house.

 

July Goals/Challenge Recap:

  • No eating out
  • All Brian’s lunches will be from home (he will have a small allowance for picking up drinks on the way home this week & next week since he is working 3rd shift & sometimes needs a little boost to get him home – this will not be included, but I will track it)
  • Utilize the Farmer’s Market for fresh fruits/veggies
  • Keeping at or below our budget of $400.
  • Pack snacks to take in the car if I think we’re going to be gone long enough for everyone to become hungry
  • Buy as little prepackaged items as possible, including fruits/veggies in the stores with their plastic packaging, to keep down on waste

recyclingbetter

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One thing I haven’t really discussed, but should, is the fact that our local county FINALLY has a decent recycling program!  Now, instead of just paper, cardboard, some glass, & cans, we can recycle most plastics, glass, etc.  It’s wonderful seeing more than half of our waste going to recycling now like it should instead of just to the landfill.  I always tried to reduce/reuse/recycle as much as possible, but I can only do so much.  Now, we should average about 1 bag of garbage to every 2 bags of recycling.  I also now have a compost bin (Yay!), so I’m hoping to continue to reduce our waste even more!  There is so much that is either recyclable or compostable that our waste should be almost nothing. 

So, follow my family & I as we embark on this journey & challenge.  We’ve done it before & used to be very good at it, so I know we can do it again!

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Menu Plan: 06/18–06/24

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I’m not really going to be planning a menu this week since it’s just 3 of us.  Our girls are off to camp for the week and will be back on Friday.  I do know that we promised Michael, our son, that we’d take him to his favorite pizza place one day this week, so we will be eating one one day.  Other than that, I’m just going to wing it!  We have plenty on hand to eat. I really need to try to get the grill cleaned up so we can start grilling.  I just haven’t been home the last few weeks to get it done.  So, this week will be a laid back week.  Michael will probably be picking most of the meals this week.  So, check back next week to see what’s on our menu once everyone is back home again!  I’ll be glad.  It’s too quiet around here!

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And time moves on…..

Our last couple of weeks have been swamped with things going on.  Not only did we wind down Awana and our homeschool co-op classes for the year, but we also threw in VBS last week!  Whew!!  What a whirlwind that always is, but we always look forward to it and enjoy it immensely.  By the end of the week, we are also looking forward to a break once again. 

 

Now, we are in the middle of getting our two girls ready to head off to Awana camp on Saturday.  It’s hard to believe that it’s already time for camp again.  It just seems like last years camp ended only a couple of months ago.  And, just like last year, we have spent the last 3 days shopping around trying to find all of the clothes that my girls need.  We have an extremely hard time finding shorts each year for them to wear because, not only do we dress modestly (shorts have to be within a few inches of the knee), but the camp requires it, too (Yay, Awana!!  Thank you!!)  But, it makes clothes shopping hard.  But, just like last year, God led us to the appropriate stores and we managed to find shorts that are very pleasing.  Then, we having the bathing suit issues.  I’m not even going to get started there.  But, suffice to say, we managed to find them, as well.  They cover EVERYTHING that needs to be covered and both parents and children are happy!  One thing I have learned this year is that the tankinis cover WAY more than a one piece ever thought about covering!  Who knew?!  The top is similar to a halter top style but comes up plenty high enough on the chest and back, and the bottoms resemble a normal swim suit bottom but have a little skirt over top, which makes them resemble boy shorts with a little length!  How cool is that!  AND, they more than meet in the middle so that no skin is exposed that does not need to be exposed. 

 

Other than my stressing over shopping (which I detest, by the way), I have also been playing with another new love in my life:

 

Oh my!  This is one of those purchases that I wish I had made many years ago!  Unfortunately, it came during the week of VBS, but I still managed to get in some “play time” with it!  So far, I have dehydrated mushrooms, bananas, strawberries, apples, zucchini chips, herbs, and bell peppers!!  They have all turned out amazingly well!  I’m excited to be able to use these new foods in future dishes, plus all the space & food savings that I’m going to benefit from it!  It’s so nice to be able to save my freezer space for things like meat, some fruits/veggies, cheeses,  & broth.  Yes, I know I can pressure can my chicken broth, but I just haven’t had the time, so it’s nice to have that option. 

 

So, now you know what I’ve been up to for the last few weeks.  Hopefully, things will settle back down and I’ll be able to post on a more regular basis again.  Pics will be coming soon of all the lovely things that I’ve dehydrated!  I’m sure you’d like a peek at them, wouldn’t you?