Well, it’s already 11 days into April and we’ve already spent $28.10 of our $100 a month budget for April and don’t have a lot to show for it. Although, now that I think about it, if we can get by with only spending $28 every 10 days until the end of the month, we’ll actually be able to come in UNDER budget for the month.
Hmmm. I suppose it’s all how you look at things, right?
Last week started off on a high note… I had pie for breakfast. š
Followed by leftover cabbage with bacon and a fried egg for linner.
And then my husband decided to move everything from the kitchen side of the house, over to the family room side so he could start sanding the floors.
For the first 2 days we snacked on random things… nuts, dried fruit, hard boiled eggs, cheese, olives, pickled beets and Ritz crackers with peanut butter.
General Store $12.42
If I would have had a little more time to prepare, I probably would have made a few freezer meals… but then again, we have 10 gallons of sap in the freezers right now so I’m not sure I would have been able to make much.
A few days into the whole floor sanding adventure and after getting used to the fact that I was living an episode of Hoarders {and there was nothing I could do about it} I came to my senses and found the Crock Pot and made a real meal.
Mel’s drunken beans. Yes, you can make it in the Crock Pot. Who knew?
We feasted on beans and weenies for 2 days.
And then I upped my game and roasted {steamed?} a whole chicken and potatoes in the Crock Pot the next night.
I made a pot of rice in the rice cooker to go with the leftover chicken the next day. The HH grumbled about it looking like “diet food” and so the next day when he returned the floor sander…
Frosty’s Doughnuts $12.99
He came back with a box of doughnuts.
And that’s pretty much all we ate yesterday. š
Living in chaos {and cooking in the living room} it’s not for the faint at heart, that’s for sure. Hopefully by the end of the week the floors will be done on the kitchen side of the house and I’ll have access to the oven {and homemade bread!} and real countertops again.
Here’s hoping your Monday is a little calmer than mine will be.
~Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries $25.41
- Total Spent in April on Groceries $28.10
- Total Spent in March on Groceries $114.12
- Total Spent in February on Groceries $94.64
- Total Spent in January on Groceries $96.58
- Total Spent on Groceries in 2022 $333.44
Jeanine says
Kind of like camping ā¦. Good luck this coming week.
Annette says
That picture of Lucy with the donuts is everything!!!
Pauline in Upstate NY says
I object to your accounting. Those donuts were *not* groceries. Peace offering? Maybe. Desperately needed treat? Absolutely! And a couple others Iām sure you could think of (!), but NOT groceries. Think about putting that $12.99 in the wild blueberry fund insteadā¦
Kim says
Totally agree with Pauline.
Rosemary Calhoun says
Just an FYI for those that may not know . . . If you shop at Costco and the item you bought goes on sale after you bought it ā you can get a āprice adjustmentā. This is good for up to 30 days after you bought it. They will refund your credit card for the difference in price. You donāt even need to show your receipt ā just give them your membership card and they can look it up.
HollyG says
How does anyone stay on budget at Costco? I went (1st time in 15 years) last week and we blew the whole weekās grocery budget on cheese, bagels, and dog treats. Everything was huge.
Elle says
I buy what’s on my list. Huge things last a long time so keep that in mind. Cheese right now, is cheaper here outside of Costco, which is unusual. IT is important to price-compare as not everything is best price at Costco. If you’re an impulse shopper, it’s may not be the right place for you.
Rosemary Calhoun says
I compare the prices from other stores with Costco ā price per ounce, etc. They do have larger sizes and you can save money at Costco as the cost per ounce is most likely less (although not always ā it pays to know the prices). But it isnāt good if you buy something that goes bad before you use it up. When I buy cheese at Costco, I will freeze some of it as we canāt eat it all before it goes bad. I do the same thing when I buy bagels. And that saves me money as I will not need to buy it again for a while. The key is to know what your family will use and whether or not it is something that can be frozen or stored for the future.
Melonie K. says
I am totally cracking up over the Lucy picture – I feel the SAME WAY about donuts, Lucy!!! š
Luke says
In week one you say “A bakery treat or a meal out on a date day with my husband does not count as a grocery item. Those fall into different categories like household goods and entertainment.”. Wouldn’t the donuts count as that? We count food prepared by restaurants (no matter if eaten there or at home or in the car) under entertainment.
I’m just fascinated by this $100 a month goal. In April, I started a $50 a week goal for food groceries ($225 for the month) plus another $100 for non food groceries. Week 1 went well ($37), but week 2 is already at $67!
Gigi says
So if she eats a donut on the side of the road, then it counts as a date, right? Thatās what I read.
Mavis Butterfield says
If we bring food home to eat like a pizza or take out, I count it as groceries. Had we both gone to the donut place and ate there, it would have counted as a date/entertainment as there would have been some element of adventure in it.
GrannyB says
The donuts are totally a part of this adventure you are on. Refinishing the floors, cooking in the living room, no kitchen!! At this point, it is totally entertainment or at least it is for all of us out here in blog land. We are all thankful we are reading about it and NOT living it!!
Pauline in Upstate NY says
Luke says
Thanks for that clarification. I think for us, the “entertainment” category for restaurant food was a way of delineating between food quality. In other words, we treat restaurant food as entertainment because it is unhealthier than food we prepare. We didn’t want to treat it as an equal replacement for groceries.
Stephanie H. says
We are in the middle of remodeling our entire main floor which means we are living in our basement and cooking in it too. I completely understand your feeling of living in an episode of hoarders. Good luck. Hang in there.
LindaT says
Our dog Yancy knows when my HH goes for pizza and goes absolutely nutso when the truck reenters the driveway. Aren’t they amazing? I don’t know how we ever lived without a dog!
Pat says
I love the picture of Lucy and the doughnuts!
Dana Robinson says
I got one think Mavis need to publish a cookbook .. I would be on the top of the list to buy it . Just a happy suggestion.. love you and your blog .. been following since you would go see the happy grocery produce man …for free chicken produce…