I'm not sure if I have saved but I have not spent more.

This was not the best month to publicly out myself as starting the program. First, my frugal friend died an untimely death.

Let's add on there Mama's health kick, which this season is manifesting itself in the form of eliminating trans fats and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Quite shocking, let me tell you, to pay $1.86 for 16 oz. of natural peanut butter when I am used to paying $1.98 for 40 oz.! At least I had a coupon, which brought the price down a bit. (To those of you shocked that I would quibble over a a few cents on a product that costs only a couple of dollars, I reply that you have never tried to feed 6 small people lunch on a daily basis on a budget. Plus, you know, the granola bar recipes all call for PB.)

It's also the foodiest of months, with Thanksgiving looming in just two weeks. Baby C will be two years old in a couple of weeks, and boycotting China means any purchased toys will cost more.

Then, Friday, the oven stopped working (after the element sparked and caught on fire). So I have to revamp my menu and create a stovetop and microwave only one for next week. This makes it difficult to cook my frugal staples of the multiple meal, chickens and pork roasts.

The flames died down, but dinner was still raw. Husband dear suggested eating out but I forced myself to say no and cooked spaghetti. Savings: $40.00, the cost of our family to eat at Ryan's buffet. Then I had to run to the store for posterboard, which I forgot to buy as I was distracted by the chocolate eclaires for $2.50. Add that to last week's Chinese food, and we're down to Savings:$21.50. Last minute trips to the store are budget killers.

However. I spent $100 LESS at the grocery store last week than I usually do. I actually have no explanation for this, aside from not buying cereal which means I bought less milk. That does not add up to $100. I did purposely cook from my pantry, including making a meatloaf that I had frozen a while ago. Actually, I do have an explanation. I am usually pretty good at sticking to the list, but tend to throw things into the cart that should be on the list but aren't. Things like a new potato peeler. Or deciding to try making tortillas, a frugal idea that will bust a budget if not planned for ahead of time. Also, I am purposely making do with our old vacuum cleaner and have not replaced my crockpot or bought the lid for it. Savings:$75.00
Impulse purchases are budget killers.

Normally such things would be a budget crunch and we'd eat lean, but we'd go ahead and get them. I would also usually pick up something fun and cheap for the kids to do (like a coloring book for a buck, or sticky foam shapes, or something) and a magazine for myself. Maybe new hair barrettes, since I'm down to ONE, or some other impulse purchase that I rationalized wasn't an impulse purchase because it was Practical and We Really Would Use It.

So. Week One has us Not Spending $96.50 that we probably would have if I was not really, really trying to save money! I guess it's one of those things... if you are not actively trying to pinch every penny, it won't happen. Even frugal habits slide back to not-so-thrifty actions.

This week, Mr P also needs new shoes, Baby X needs some socks and jammies (he's a porker, that one is), and I need new shoes as well. Anyone know how long athletic shoes are supposed to last? I bought Avias 7 months ago, right after Baby X was born and they've got a couple of holes, plus my feet are killing me. Time for new ones! Am I getting my money's worth? I have problems with my feet a lot, and wear these every day. I cannot walk barefoot. I have one pair of sandals I wear on Sunday mornings, but as soon as I get home the tennies go on!
New shoes for multiple family members are budget killers.

I also have some necessary home improvement projects, namely setting up a sewing are for myself for all these Christmas gifts I'm going to be making. I need a table (looking for a folding one, which means buying new) as well as an ironing board. My last ironing board was a little table top jobbie (I told you that I only iron Perler beads if I can help it!) that is now broken after Baby C tried to surf. Darn that penguin movie, anyway!
Spending money to save money is a budget killer - but we'll see a return on that money.

Today I am planning a run to Sam's club - we shall see how far the budget stretches! On the positive side, husband dear's paycheck was 130% of average (And yeah. If I wasn't trying to save I'd totally own a new vacuum with the attachments still, well, attached)

Labels: Family Life, Frugal, homemaking, Month of Savings

A key to our sanity around here is meal planning. It helps the budget, it helps the hassled mom at 5 pm, it helps us not eat chicken nuggets 6 times a week.

I have a home notebook, and have a tab that says meal planning. It has my menu, a grocery list behind it, and then I started keeping my old menus so they are behind that. I had been scratching it on lined paper, but this form actually helps a lot. (This was the fourth preprinted form I tried. Use what works for you - if this one doesn't, find one that does!)

The key, especially when there are lots of people home all day, is to plan breakfast (even if it's cereal, writing it down helps!), lunch, and snacks. Theoretically, this also helps to prevent everyone from eating all of the lunchmeat the day you come back from the store and having to eat peanut butter for the rest of the week!

Here's my dinner plan for the week. I don't always stick to the "day". Sometimes I fix Friday's dinner on Tuesday, 'cause I'm wild like that.
Sun: Beef and Broccoli, rice Husband dear made this, because Mr P had play practice for the Christmas pageant and since I'm a Sunday School teacher I stuck around to help.
Mon: Roasted chicken (in the oven. At least it was cold yesterday!)
Tues: Pork Chops (probably with black beans and rice)
Wed: meatloaf, mashed potatoes
Thurs: Spaghetti
Fri: Fish (A real treat! We have fish maybe every 8 weeks, because it is so expensive.)
Sat: Pizza (made ourselves. Husband dear really likes the grownup one I do with basil, olive oil and tomatoes. The kids get sausage and cheese), salad.

Baby X is stuck with Baby mush.

Tuesday is Boy Scout night, so dinner has to be on the table when husband dear gets home at 5:30. Wednesday I have a Bible study, so we're having meatloaf which I made for a family that had a new baby before learning that the father could not eat gluten. Bonus for us! Tuesday and Wednesday need to be quick meal days.

I usually don't plan out a lot of sides. Our starches are basically rice, noodles, or potatoes and I keep a freezer full of veggies. We use two 16 oz. bags of frozen veggies per meal. We love veggies, I've never had a problem getting the kids to eat them. Probably because I cook *just enough* meat, so if they want seconds, it's veggie time. And that's been our habit since they all were small.

I try to not have pasta every single night, which is what would totally happen if I didn't actually write things down and take a critical look. I'm not a carb addict, or anything! :)

Now, after I plan dinners, I plan lunches.
Mon: Tuna Salad, canned carrots (I bribe the children to eat them by putting a spoonful of brown sugar on them before microwaving, which makes them "glazed".)
Tues: was supposed to be Chicken salad (from the bird I roasted last night for dinner) However, I tried a new recipe, that was such a success, the bird was picked clean. So we are having... um... well... hmm. I think we'll have egg salad, applesauce
Wed: Peanut butter and jelly, celery sticks
Thurs: Quesadillas (with black beans and salsa inside)
Fri: Salmon patties. When I was little, and my mom would cook these, I'd call all of my friends up and try to get invited to dinner at their house. If that failed, I'd fake sick. But my kids love them, and you know what? I do too! I like that they use canned salmon, so it's easy to keep in stock. However, it takes two cans to feed us and although the bread crumbs are free, two cans run about $3.00 so it is an infrequent lunch.

We also stopped having lunchmeat for the homeschool ones, because it's expensive! I do still buy it for husband and Mr R, who always wants the exact same thing everyday (homemade lunchables) We do have chicken salad quite a bit! Even if I don't have a bird to pick clean, if I used chicken breast, that's only 1.99/lb. at the most (that's for the individually frozen, boneless, skinless ones) and it is healthier too. Tuna and egg salad are frequent fliers around here too, as are deviled eggs (hey, it's basically egg salad except I don't have to chop the eggs!)

Now, because it is a month of savings, I'm going to go super cheap on the breakfasts and snacks around here. Normally we would have cold cereal and milk 3 or 4 days a week, it makes school easier and faster.

Breakfast:
Mon: oatmeal
Tues: chocolate Malt o Meal
Wed: Waffles (really cheap, I make them myself)
Thurs: scrambled eggs
Friday: French toast if there is bread left, otherwise oatmeal.

Snacks:
Apples, pears (both were on sale this week)
Pumpkin bread (had that yesterday)
Chips and salsa
Sweet potato chips (new recipe I'm trying)
Raisin bread

I already have all the ingredients for these things on hand. I am also planning to make granola bars (Mr R's breakfast of choice) and an apple pie. Never tried apple pie, but Granny Smiths were on sale for 68 cents a pound the day after I watched Tyler Florence make a caramel apple one, so I was inspired!

Actually, I've never made a pie crust before or seen it done. I'm going to try, though, as part of my induction into the Good Southern Woman club. Still working on the biscuits though, and haven't even attempted collards.

Another point: my big freezer also is key to my meal planning and grocery planning. I plan my menu from my freezer. I buy meat and veggies based on the loss leaders, but then use the meat to stock my freezer. This way I never pay more than $1.99/lb. for meat (and that only for boneless beef). I pay between 60-75 cents/lb. for a chicken, $1.25/lb. for ground beef, never more than $1.00/lb. for pork roast, and $1.50 for boneless pork. I can only do that if I buy 20-30 lbs. of chicken or whatever when it is on sale.

My family will eat a 7 lb. chicken (or two smaller ones) per meal, and a 10 lb. pork roast will take us through three meals. I use around two pounds of ground beef (73/27) or a pound and a half if it's (93/7), but that's mixed into a spaghetti sauce or tacos where I can stretch it with beans and veggies. I'm planning on two pounds of boneless whiting filets for our fish dinner. This is also where having lots of veggies comes in! They cost around 85 cents- $1.00 a pound for packaged, trimmed, frozen ones, so it is cheaper than meat.

That's for two adults, 4 children, 2 toddlers, and planned leftovers for husband dear's lunch.

Labels: cooking, Family Life, Frugal, homemaking, Month of Savings

Keeper of the Home is hosting a challenge this month, of extreme savings. I'm new to that blog, but it looks like a great challenge!

Here's how to join in.

We started the Dave Ramsey program last year, and it was going well. We were into baby step #2, after getting current on our bills, and saving $1000 for an emergency fund.

Then life happened (husband broke his rib coughing from pneumonia, was out of work for six weeks; we had a baby, Baby X had many tests and was hospitalized for high blood pressure; we found out we had to move but could not find a new place to live, and our car was totaled when husband dear hit a tree.) (And if that doesn't convince you that God always provides, I don't know what will. We don't have any credit cards, but managed to make it without starving, being repossessed, or becoming homeless. This also happened during that time.)

BTW: Here's how we saved $140 on our car insurance - we canceled it for this car. The car actually still drove, but it was worth less than $500, (1991 Honda, no A/C, 275,000 miles) and both side windows were broken out. I used to work at an autoglass place and I know it would cost more than that to replace the glass, let alone the door panel.


We also had to buy husband dear new glasses because his flew off when he hit the ditch (prior to hitting the tree) and they were nowhere to be found. We replaced it with a $400 car we named The Hamster because it is white and brown and has a round back end.

Fortunately, we were current on our bills and had $1000 saved up! Also we had our tax refund so that helped a great deal. We have not, however, saved anything since our move. It's been one game of catch-up after another.

My goal is to save up $1000 quick, then segue into the rest of the Ramsey program. We don't have any credit cards, but do have a lot of medical debt, a small student loan, and owe $5300 on our minivan.

$1000??? The month before Christmas? When we haven't been able to save anything for the last four months? That's just crazy talk!

Currently, we spend as a percentage of our take home income:
24.5% Rent
20% Groceries and household
12.5% Car Payment
6% Car insurance
9% Gasoline
21.5% Utilities

The remaining 6.5% is spent on a multitude of miscellany, which is an alliterative way of saying huh? Some goes to church, some to buying things for the kids' school and my Sunday School class. More than enough went to McD's during Monopoly madness. New shoes for a couple of kids. Some clothes. You get the idea. To be fair, we bought a new dresser and side table at a garage sale ($40). I spent $30 on fabric and patterns last month for Christmas presents and Saints costumes. I still want to get most of Christmas done for the kids this month as well, which will be a challenge now that we aren't going to be buying toys made in China.

We'll see how far I get! Somethings better than nothing, right?

Sidenote: Husband dear is not quite on the same page as I am on this. So we ate Chinese food last night and I'm $17 behind in my month of savings! Ack!

BTW - we spend 20% of our income on groceries and household, including all W*Mart purchases, such as diapers, toilet paper, laundry soap, etc. What do you spend? Is that way out of line? We have 9 people, but one doesn't eat directly. Four children are in diapers or pullups overnight. 2 are in diapers full time.

Labels: Frugal, Month of Savings