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| A Daily Sight - The Trumpeter Swans here for Winter |
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| Snuggling |
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| Waiting For Spring to Fly Home |
Today I had to go run some errands for our business - but I did not stop at the grocery store. You see, there are eight days left in the month and $8 left in the budget. We have lots of food to eat in our cupboards, fridge and freezer and other than buying milk when we run out I think we can make it.
This budgeting is not forced. We could afford a much larger grocery budget but several years ago I realized how much we were spending on food per month ($1200 per month on groceries and $400 on eating out - yes, it is true!) and decided it had to stop so we could spend that money on things that make our life better like travel. We now eat a full varied diet for $425 for two people and try and only eat out once or twice per month for about $100. This month I stocked up on coffee and fish. I still have loads of chicken and ham in the freezer along with scrimp, scallops and some salmon. There is one ready meal (chili as made a big batch last week) and lots of ingredients in the cupboards to round out our menu. Next month I shall try to find some beef sales.
So, now until the end of the month is a test to see if we stay on budget. We shall see. Tonight we are having a fish fry!
Hi Cheapchick,
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoy weeks like this. It brings out the resourcefulness in me. We have some of the best meals when I tell myself that I have to cook with what we've got left.
You'll do great! I'm sure you'll come up with a varied and interesting menu for the week.
The internet is my biggest help on the resourcefulness area. I recently made a casserole out of stuff in the fridge that hubby said was one of my best dishes ever. Worst case scenario we have a few soup and sandwich meals. Cheers!
DeleteWe are spending very much alike. I pulled up a graph of last year's spending and TBG was so happy and proud when he saw we spent a total of $688 for the year eating out. Of course should add $200 for meals we paid cash. But that still is a respectable amount. He sees my monthly grocery totals because I save the receipts in the kitchen and then tally them up. Finally, he is being good too about either giving me his receipts (on the rare times he goes to the store), or making notes on the other receipts with the amount he spent.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your fish fry!
Your cooking is great - so healthy. I get inspired by your cooking posts by the way!
DeleteI love to grocery shop but I love to rack my brains to make meals out of what I have.
ReplyDeleteI always try to have a well stocked pantry so I can make a lot of my fave meals. I love asian so I always have ginger , good soy, oyster sauce and green onions on hand.
I bought some pork in a asian grocery and it was cheaper and better quality han a regular grocery store
For 6$ I made 8 portions of stir fry / ramen bowls so I will be buying some more!
Oyster sauce is on my next list of things to buy as we do tons of stirfrys. I haven't figured out if we have a good Asian grocery store here - they are generally cheaper. I have to do some investigating!
DeleteI've never seen so many swans on one place! How neat!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I truly suck at is grocery shopping. I can come home with $150 worth of stuff and still have nothing to make for dinner. Half the cart has toilet paper, paper towels, dog food, cat food, kitty litter, shampoo and body wash. The food items usually consist of cereal, bagged lettuce, milk, bread, some ground chicken or turkey, frozen veggies and coffee. Pitiful.
They are very neat birds. I feel spoiled that I get to see all the lovely snowbirds here all winter. Ducks, geese, swans. You might like my next post :)
DeleteFirst time commentor: Ok. I need your help! No pressure! Lol. Hubs wants to retire January next year. Discounting my disabled son (since he has appetite/tongue-sensory/gag-reflux issues), it's just the two of us and I spend TOO MUCH FREAKIN' MONEY on food for us. If possible, would you please consider giving a 'sample' monthly or bi-weekly (he gets paid bi-weekly) shopping plan for food? Thank you...
ReplyDeleteMy reply has just been posted in my most recent blogpost - Cheers and thanks for asking!
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