food waste friday

Today I checked expiration dates and found a few dressings and condiments that needed throwing out. Besides that, an onion and ice cream left from Christmas is the only thing going to waste.



Hoping for less waste next week!!

almost to the end of the month!

I love February! Not only is it my birthday month, but it's a short month and that makes it seem easier to stick to the budget. Those 3 days sometimes make a world of difference. I'm starting to pull together our numbers and see how we did sticking to our February budget. This is our 2nd month for having the budget and we are definitely improving. The biggest overage for this month? I can already tell that it was our trip to see family and sports expenses for the kids. I'll know more details by Sunday when I finalize the numbers. But, I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing today. Also...this was our first month back on cash and using the envelope system! Huge improvement. A few things went on the credit card, such as utilities that get billed directly to it and also gasoline. (It's just easier to swipe the card than to go inside to pay cash for gas).

More to follow. Also, we had a nice sized income tax return. More about that later and how we'll apply it!!!

lent

What did I give up for lent this year? Restaurants & Fast Food. Six weeks no restaurants...should save about $100+ and hopefully will help in my quest to lose some weight!

this week's grocery game

I'm finally getting my stockpile to the point where when I run out of something I have a replacement handy on the shelf. It's nice being able to go to the store and get things simply to stock-up and then add in a few needs along the way.

One thing I'm not going to need for a long time is LAUNDRY DETERGENT! I have stockpiled enough for about 9 months! I keep waiting on dishwashing detergent sales and coupons...that's something I'll be in need of soon.

This week I had to buy a few things for dinners, but most of our ingredients I already had in the pantry. Everything else I purchased is for stockpiling.

I made 2 grocery trips: one to Publix and one to Kroger. I spent $81.14 and SAVED $92.02! Woo Hoo!!! I love it when I save more than I spend. I think I MAY actually end the month under my $400 budget. Still have a few days to go, so I'm not ready to report the numbers yet.

Here's all that I got for $81.14:






Free or almost free items:
toothbrush - FREE
All laundry detergent - $0.49
Candles - each $0.17

whatcha got cookin?

Here's what we're eating this week!

Last night - Bean and beef burritoes, chips & salsa, grapes
Tonight - Cranberry baked chicken, potaotes, green beans, grapes
Tomorrow - Pork loin, broccoli w/cheese sauce, brown rice, cantaloupe
Thursday - Soup and sandwiches made w/left over pork
Friday - Smoked chicken and veggies
Saturday - Pasta with turkey, garlic bread
Sunday - Breakfast for dinner

home sweet home

This past week we were on the road to see family. Today is my first day back into the swing of things and getting into my routines again. The trip was wonderful and it was great to visit with family. I absolutely love visiting family when it's not centered around a holiday. I LOVE all of the holidays and fun/food/fellowship that comes with them, but I truly love visiting when there are no expectations and stresses that come along with holidays. We had a great time.

For expenses -- I budgeted $450 for the trip. I spent $700. Gas was $350, food was $200, and my dh used some miles and paid $150 to fly into the city to drive back with me and the kids. It's a 15 hour drive and he was worried about me driving it roundtrip. So, we spent $500 just on transportation. I'll have to really consider all of us flying and renting a car for our next visit. We put over 2000 miles on the car and spent more than 35 hours driving. $700 is pretty pricey for a roadtrip...especially when we hope to do it again in June. I'd planned to spent a maximum of $1000 visiting family this year. It also may be cheaper to fly our family in to see us? That would be one possibility to consider too.

So - that's a quick update from the past week. Time for me to get back into my routines and get me chores done!

food waste friday

I see several bloggers participating in Food Waste Friday. 1/2 dozen daily is where I saw it first and I thought it'd be fun to try and then see how much I throw out each month.

Here's what went in the trash this morning:




I'm disappointed that I had so much casserole left over. We had it for dinner one night and then lunch the next day. I wish I would have frozen half of it. Besides the casserole, in the trash went strawberry milk, 1/2 can of evaporated milk, lettuce (never used), green onions, 2 hard boiled eggs and 3/4 can of spaghetti sauce. Not including the thrown out casserole, it's about $4 that I'm throwing away. Both milks were both free, so they're not counted in my $4.

blow money

Until we started our cash/envelope system this month, I had never given myself permission to have "blow money". I always assumed I couldn't afford it and should be focusing our money to other points in our budget. After sitting down with our budget last month though (for many, many hours) and realizing that to reach our financial goals AND to not get burned out in the process, that each member of our family needed some blow money to do with as we please.

Today I was so excited to have my blow money. I love Valentine's Day and always make a huge deal out of it for the kids. We don't do lavish gifts, but instead do lots of fun decorations (and a little bit tacky!!) and fun little goodies and treats. I have a box of decorations that are reused each year. This afternoon I was at Dollar Tree to pick up some paper plates for my son's Valentine's party, and that's when I spotted all the decorations. Lots of fun, tacky ones! I knew I didn't need them, but it was so hard to resist. That's when I remembered I had my blow money...money to do with as I pleased. So, I picked out a few things and $9 later I was satisfied with my purchases and additions to our decorations, and happy that I hadn't spent money that needed to go towards something else in the budget.

How do you spend your Blow Money?

this week's grocery game

Today and yesterday I did my coupon shopping. Because my youngest was at home, he got to witness first hand how much money coupons actually save. When we went to our 3rd store (to get the Rain Checks I mentioned yesterday), he said, let me guess, "We're coming here because you have coupons." Well I did get my rain checks and it was painless. The cashier at the Customer Service desk knew exactly which item I was asking for and wrote out the rain check for me without any problems. I have a month to redeem it.

So here's what I got for my 2 coupon trips...





And this is what I spent...

Out of pocket - $63.65
Saved - $65.02

Most of what I got is going to stockpiling. The fruit and some of the snacks are needed for this week. Everything else goes on the shelf for a while! The only other trip I'll need to make to the store is on Friday or Saturday morning for our Valentine's meal.

grocery store rain checks

Did you know that some (not sure if all do or not) grocery stores give rain checks to you for items on sale that are out of stock? I went to Publix today to do my coupon shopping. I wanted to get Trix yogurt, Wisk, and French's Mustard. All were on sale for Buy One Get One free, plus I have coupons. They were out of stock on these things and I mentioned to the cashier that there were just a few things I wanted that they'd run out of. I was really surprised when he told me I could go and get a rain check. I didn't have time to do it today because my son (who's home sick) was waiting for me out in the car. But, I'm definitely going back tomorrow to get the rain checks, and will always ask for them in the future. It seems the more I coupons shop with sales, the more I see almost free or free items out of stock.

With my coupons, I plan to spend $1.04 for a 6pk of yogurt, $0 for the mustard, and $4.00 for the 100-oz Wisk. So, $5.04 plus any tax. Without the sales price and coupons, I would spend almost $15!!!

I'm so glad to learn that I can get rain checks. I also shop at Kroger and wonder if they have the same policy. I'll find out soon!

Tomorrow I'm doing my Kroger stockpiling and will let you know how much I spent for the week's grocery trips!

no spend & no drive day

My youngest was home sick today, so we didn't go anywhere. My hubby did a little shopping for me (we needed some Pedialyte and Gatorade), but I didn't spend and I didn't drive, so I'm counting it in my favor!

Today I worked on organizing my cookbook binder and getting my coupons together for this week's grocery trip. Most of what I'm cooking this week is from the pantry and freezer, so this week's shopping trip is mainly to stockpile and to get supplies for our Valentine's dinner.

this week's menu

Here's what's cookin' at our house this week. My husband is going to be out of town for 3 nights this week, so we've got some kid-friendly food planned.

Tonight - Baked ziti, garlic toast
Tuesday - Fish sticks, mac & cheese
Wednesday - Fun nuggets, strawberries
Thursday - Spaghetti, meatballs, garlic toast
Friday - Out to eat for my birthday dinner
Saturday - Our V-Day Dinner...baguette, spinach dip, salmon, couscous, asparagus
Sunday - Pizza Delivery

Should be a low-spending week at the grocery store, as I have most everything on hand already. I'm checking coupons and sales today for any stockpiling items we need!

february goals

Goals for February (taken from my 210 things to do list...)

Write weekly letters to my grandmother
Send pictures to the grandparents
Send a letter to my niece in college Done 2-22
Call out-of-state friends every other week
Go to see family during our Winter Break - Done 2/14 week
Make a fuss over Valentine's Day - Done 2-13
Take boys for well visits to new Doctor - Done
I need to go for my well visit - test for gluten intolerance - Done 2-22
Sort through pictures and artwork to decide what to frame
Buy frames for pictures above and hang them up on the walls
Top off Emergency Fund for 6 months saved expenses
check credit reports and credit scores - Done 2/22
close boys out of state bank account
open accounts locally for both boys
organize and purge Favorite Recipes - Done 2/8
organize cabinet above dishwasher
laundry room - organize - Done 2/21
coat closet - organize
move photos on computer downstairs to a memory stick
research prices for new kitchen (energy efficent) appliances
Can we get the sirius to work inside our house?
renew passport
start my bucket list
Update Christmas card list and addresses
Determine who to send 2010 cards to…need to send DH's great aunt/uncle

update on 210 things to do list

oops -- didn't mean for it to be a week since I've posted. Here is an update on how I've been doing with my goals for 2010.

In January, I did good with my goal of staying in touch with friends and family. I wrote a letter to my grandmother each week, sent highlights of the month pics to all the grandparents of the boys, sent basketball pictures to grandparents, and called my out of state friends. I also sent a letter to our niece who's in college.

I purchased birthday cards for everyone on my list in January and addressed them all. I'll add a personal note and the stamp when it's time to mail them. They're stacked in order in my cabinet, ready to go as needed. I have the birthday marked in the upper right hand corner where the stamp will go, so that I know at a glance when the card needs to be mailed. Already mailed 3 birthday cards -- on time!!

I received a spa gift card for Valentine's Day in 2009 and it was going to expire on 2-10-10. I used that 2 weeks ago -- what a treat!!! I can't believe that it took me a year to use it.

As for our finances, we did pretty good for the month of January. We went over budget for groceries and unbudgeted items. But, we expected it to not be perfect this month. The good news was that our income was less than outgo. We kept track of our expenses each day on a spreadsheet and could always tell at a quick glance how much money was left for each category.

Exercise - need to do better at meeting these goals. I only ran about 5 miles for the month...pitiful! I have lots of running to make up for to meet my goal of 365 miles for the year.

210 things to do in 2010

I started working on my 210 list of things to do after Christmas. Coming up with this list was a bigger challenge than I'd intended. I didn't come up with my entire list, and made my last point be to add to it as I think of things.

Here is my list! Each month, I'll let you know what's completed.

My 210 Things To Do in 2010
1. Make a "sticky basket" for my oldest when he gets his braces off
2. Send copy of baseball pictures to grandparents
3. Buy my mom a bird feeder for Mother's Day
4. Make a fast start to boys college fund and make monthly deposits
5. Send an extra $500 to the mortgage principal
6. Make a Will
7. Take an on-line defensive driving course
8. Make curtains for the kitchen
9. Finish journaling in my youngest son's baby album
10. Order blue seashell Christmas Cards from KL
11. Download stuff on my basement computer and upgrade
12. Bake yummy treats for family 24x
13. Keep up with daily spending on spreadsheet
14. Limit DR forum reading time to 15 minutes/day
15. Put out breakfast dishes/food before going to bed
16. Make school lunches, snacks, water bottles night before
17. Limit FB time to 15 minutes/day
18. Volunteer w/boys at church's Christmas shop
19. Go to see family in February
20. Make a fuss over Valentine's Day
21. Take boys for Well Visits using a new doctor
22. Schedule my well visit- DONE FEB.
23. Send copy of basketball pictures to grandparents - DONE 2/1
24. Top of emergency fund
25. Check credit report and credit scores
26. close boys Texas accounts
27. open account here for boys
28. organize and purge Favorite Recipes - DONE 2/9
29. Organize cabinet above dishwasher
30. Organize laundry room
31. Organize coat closet
32. Move photos on computer to a memory stick
33. Research prices for energy efficient kitchen appliances
34. Can we get Sirius to work inside the house?
35. Renew passport
36. Start my bucket list
37. Update Christmas card list and addresses
38. Determine who to send 2010 cards to
39. Clean out Tupperware drawer - DONE 2/5
40. Buy a year's worth of BDay cards & pre-address - DONE, BOUGHT CARDS Jan.
41. Replace master bath towels
42. Organize and update control journal
43. Take boys to Callaway Gardens while it's free admission
44. Clean out dresser in guest bedroom
45. Find a central location for "gift closet"
46. Cut back gardenia bushes before spring
47. Organize photos that I want to hang on walls - and artwork
48. Buy frames for pictures above and hang up on wall
49. use my spa gift card before 2-14-10 - DONE
50. create a playlist for Napa music - DIDN'T GET DONE
51. Get a shelf for the basement storage room
52. Complete 2009 family album
53. Make batches of salsa in summer
54. make batches of jalapeno jelly in summer
55. Spend time with family in June
56. Send gifts for Father's Day
57. Update boys school albums after May
58. Take Christmas Card photo in June while on vacation
59. Dip toes in the sand a drink 1/2 a beer
60. Make a big deal over St. Patrick's Day
61. Have budget ironed out by March 2010
62. Make sure DH goes for a physical
63. purge files in desk
64. Clean out linen closet in hall
65. Clean out linen closet in bathroom
66. Buy pot rack for kitchen
67. Make shower curtain for hall bath
68. Journal in Masters Album
69. Send note cards to MIL at Mother's Day
70. Complete "love drawer"
71. Complete 2008 family album
72. Purchase school days album for DS2
73. Create playlist for summer vacation
74. Clean out my closet 2x/year
75. Clean out DS1 2x/year
76. Clean out DS2 2x/year
77. Have DH clean out his closet 2x/year
78. Write weekly letter to grandmother
79. Send monthly note and pictures to parents
80. When company is having have all meals planned and food purchased
81. Monthly letters to niece in college
82. Make 12 recipes from Julia Child's cookbook
83. Limit fast food trips to 1x/week
84. Clean out TV cabinet in den
85. Give DH a monthly update on income/outgo
86. Be regular church goers
87. Stay current on church pledge
88. Get FIL 2011 family calendar for Christmas
89. Collect 25 goodies for Christmas countdown stockings
90. Buy Christmas gifts with cash
91. Make collage for Christmas card insert
92. make apple or jalapeno apple jelly in the fall
93. Send football pictures to grandparents
94. learn to hand-hook and make a pillow
95. Take family on hike to Amicalola Falls
96. Go to golf club one day for after school snack & homework - first pretty, warm Spring day
97. Paddle down the Chattahoochee with family this summer
98. Rent a beach house
99. Call best friends in Texas every other week
100. Track coupon savings
101. Have 100 no-spend days
102. Have 100 no-drive days
103. Lose 15 pounds this year
104. Pick up house completely every Friday afternoon
105. Keep bird feeders full
106. Keep myself accountable on blog
107. Light candles on Friday afternoons (after picking up)
108. Family Fun Night 4x/year
109. Ear mark $5000 for family vacation
110. Run 365 miles this year
111. Be able to do 12 pull ups by end of year
112. Take a yoga class
113. Take a spin class
114. Take a step class
115. read 50 books
116. Read the book Mere Christianity
117. Sign up to take surveys for money
118. Have 24 Water-Only days (to drink)
119. Have a no on-line shopping month
120. Start list of things I'm thankful for
121. Put sidebar trackers on blog - DONE 2/10
122. Have a no-TV day
123. Have a no-electricity day
124. Buy Rosetta Stone - begin learning Italian
125. Count change in jar and put towards a savings goal - Counted 2/5
126. Organize phone number/address binder
127. Go into city for good cheese/breads 2-3x/year
128. eat from freezer/pantry challenges
129. Contribute to on-line savings account (maybe slush fund?)
130. Table this things to do list until I have more...add to as something comes to mind!!!!

Now -- I've got some work to do! Will post tomorrow how I did with meeting some goals in January!