The past week, I just haven't been able to sleep. I used to be an insomniac ever since my 2nd child was born and got worse by the time the third came. But when we moved here to Texas, I had some relief and was starting to sleep about 5-7 hours on average, now this again... *sigh*
Anyways, still not buying anything we just want and so far our stash has not been depleted.
Yesterday, were all leftovers so no surprise there...
Food Budget Trick: I don't do casseroles; most are high fat, too much sodium, high carbs, greasy; also dependent on cheese and butter, making it more susceptible to spoiling even in the fridge, after a few days. I save money by focusing on what we will eat, not what we might like to eat or what others deem delicious. I also save by creating different dishes using the same ingredients, especially if bought at a great sale price.
Tonight, I made Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli for about $2.25. Only 4 of us ate it because Mr. Man didn't have time to eat before work.
I used:
Leftover buttered thin spaghetti-FREE
1 bag frozen broccoli--------------$1.00
1 link polish sausage--------------$1.25
$2.25/4 = 56 cents a plate!
Hope you had a better weekend than I did...
Showing posts with label Budgeting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Budgeting. Show all posts
Monday, February 8, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
SH Day 7- Cleaning The Day Away!
Saturday, is a special day. It is the day we get ready for Sunday...
So the song goes and how our day pretty much went. We made sure that the kids' finished their chores and Mr. Man got to sleep in so he's ready for work tonight. Except to pick up L-Infinity from a Choir competition today, we all stayed in.
Dinner was again composed of leftovers. No fuss, no muss!
Food Budget Trick: Needs come first. Wants can and will wait even with food. I learned this the hard way. Since 2003, I have set a very strict food budget. We still live off that same amount every month. What I do is, I set my amount and gauge my needs list against sales, use coupons, stock up during great deals, before I entertain any wants on my list. And for holidays, I only add 1/4 more to my monthly food allowance. I revise the menu to accomodate that amount. Eating out has to have an occasion or emergency reason, because it is budgeted separately and with very little. Weekends and twice more in the week, we polish off our leftovers. (I read online that the average grocery tab for a family of 4, including everything (pets, toiletries, etc.), is almost $1,000 a month. $1,000 a month! Yowza!) We don't even come anywhere close to that even without much coupon use here. Thank goodness!
Ok, back to the cleaning... I still am. In the master because I'm ready to see a newer and cleaner room plus there's a maintenance inspection going on for our townhome and my unit may be picked soon so clean, clean away I go!
Hope you are having a great weekend!
So the song goes and how our day pretty much went. We made sure that the kids' finished their chores and Mr. Man got to sleep in so he's ready for work tonight. Except to pick up L-Infinity from a Choir competition today, we all stayed in.
Dinner was again composed of leftovers. No fuss, no muss!
Food Budget Trick: Needs come first. Wants can and will wait even with food. I learned this the hard way. Since 2003, I have set a very strict food budget. We still live off that same amount every month. What I do is, I set my amount and gauge my needs list against sales, use coupons, stock up during great deals, before I entertain any wants on my list. And for holidays, I only add 1/4 more to my monthly food allowance. I revise the menu to accomodate that amount. Eating out has to have an occasion or emergency reason, because it is budgeted separately and with very little. Weekends and twice more in the week, we polish off our leftovers. (I read online that the average grocery tab for a family of 4, including everything (pets, toiletries, etc.), is almost $1,000 a month. $1,000 a month! Yowza!) We don't even come anywhere close to that even without much coupon use here. Thank goodness!
Ok, back to the cleaning... I still am. In the master because I'm ready to see a newer and cleaner room plus there's a maintenance inspection going on for our townhome and my unit may be picked soon so clean, clean away I go!
Hope you are having a great weekend!
Friday, February 5, 2010
SH Day 6- Drip, drip... Whoosh!!!
That's what we woke up to this morning. Water streaming from our bath's ceiling vent. Our bathroom is directly underneath the kids' bathroom. It could only be one of two things: either the tub or the toilet overflowed. I don't know about your children, but mine do not take baths early in the morning...
I-Dude and J-Pony, the two groggy and stunned culprits, had different, and not helpful, reactions (speechless and totally shocked) to what happened while Mr. Man leaps out of bed to assess the damage then just as quickly, gathered all the towels (ewwww!) to sop up the rising flood (the result, 1 inch of water and 1 foot wide perimeter outside.
Good morning, Mommy and Daddy! :-)
We made sure that "Daddy" took care of upstairs and I took care of downstairs. After so much "eww de toilette" (no I didn't spell it wrong, just making a point), I assertively informed Mr. Man that we are replacing our towels, TODAY! (thank goodness for paychecks!)
Then we also realized that our original "project" is not gonna fly as our "budget" went out the window; and if you know me well enough, high budget means NOTHING WILL BE BOUGHT OR EVERYTHING WILL BE RETURNED.
After a quick trip to the storage and returns of the materials from the original plans, we ate lunch and went to Ross. With my eye singled on the a new but similar angle, our project materials list was completely crossed out and we were under budget by almost $50.00! Yay!!!
Tonight, dinner was all leftovers, meaning completely FREE!
Food Budget Trick: Eat with your mouth, not just your eyes. Chew your food and let your brain taste it. I insist that no one asks for a second helping until they show that their plates are empty. I also insist on not piling on too much food on anyone's plate if it's a new dish or a favorite dish. If a new dish, it shows how much we like it and if it's worth our money to cook it again. For a fave dish, I prevent overeating and waste on plates.
Other than that, it was pretty uneventful... Mr. Man and I went on our "Smallville" date (FREE) and did our taxes. Oh yeah, the kiddos, all three, yes, all three because the bathroom was filthy on top of the disaster; were sequestered into manageable shifts to THOROUGHLY clean the bathroom, I mean dusted, mopped, wiped down, swept and sanitized!
So... How was your Friday?
I-Dude and J-Pony, the two groggy and stunned culprits, had different, and not helpful, reactions (speechless and totally shocked) to what happened while Mr. Man leaps out of bed to assess the damage then just as quickly, gathered all the towels (ewwww!) to sop up the rising flood (the result, 1 inch of water and 1 foot wide perimeter outside.
Good morning, Mommy and Daddy! :-)
We made sure that "Daddy" took care of upstairs and I took care of downstairs. After so much "eww de toilette" (no I didn't spell it wrong, just making a point), I assertively informed Mr. Man that we are replacing our towels, TODAY! (thank goodness for paychecks!)
Then we also realized that our original "project" is not gonna fly as our "budget" went out the window; and if you know me well enough, high budget means NOTHING WILL BE BOUGHT OR EVERYTHING WILL BE RETURNED.
After a quick trip to the storage and returns of the materials from the original plans, we ate lunch and went to Ross. With my eye singled on the a new but similar angle, our project materials list was completely crossed out and we were under budget by almost $50.00! Yay!!!
Tonight, dinner was all leftovers, meaning completely FREE!
Food Budget Trick: Eat with your mouth, not just your eyes. Chew your food and let your brain taste it. I insist that no one asks for a second helping until they show that their plates are empty. I also insist on not piling on too much food on anyone's plate if it's a new dish or a favorite dish. If a new dish, it shows how much we like it and if it's worth our money to cook it again. For a fave dish, I prevent overeating and waste on plates.
Other than that, it was pretty uneventful... Mr. Man and I went on our "Smallville" date (FREE) and did our taxes. Oh yeah, the kiddos, all three, yes, all three because the bathroom was filthy on top of the disaster; were sequestered into manageable shifts to THOROUGHLY clean the bathroom, I mean dusted, mopped, wiped down, swept and sanitized!
So... How was your Friday?
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