Happy Veddy Skeddy Halloween!

All the candy has been purchased and the stockings hung by the chimney with care...oops - wrong holiday.  Either way, all the candy has been purchased - $50 worth.  I bought extra as Halloween falls on a Friday night and we expect at least 60 plus trick-or-treaters.  Is it just me or is the candy much more expensive this year?  I still like handing it out so I guess I can't complain - plus if we couldn't afford it we would shut the lights off (bah humbug).  Hubby and my stepdaughter will watch scary movies while I act as the official treat-hander-outer as I can't stand horror movies.

We survived Tropical Storm Ana which was really not much more than a normal Fall storm here with a 1.5 hr power outage in the middle of the night.  I woke up just before the power went back on thinking how much I needed my morning tea - and wouldn't you know it but the power came back on!  Other parts of the island were hit a bit harder with some minor flooding and tree damage but all in all, Tropical Storm Ana went out like a lamb, thank goodness.  Our new bed was delivered and is much easier on hubby's back, and my stepdaughter is enjoying sleeping on our old bed which is loads better than the fold out couch she has slept on for the last couple weeks and is still basically an almost new bed.


Yeah, after bragging last month about being under my $450 grocery budget ending the month at $288 - well, this month I shot that all to smithereens.  $705!!! But, we now have a third adult(17) in the household who flew in with nothing in terms of basic bathroom and personal care necessities, most of which had to be immediately purchased not on sale.  I was thinking of increasing the budget to $550 and will see if that is sufficient.  One must at least try to keep grocery expenses in check.  We did have several nice family days this month with my Stepson here for Thanksgiving and a weekend away at Quadra Island where we took all our own groceries so don't have any regrets.  I am not going to lie - I might even be guilty of buying more expensive ingredients turning to food to give our family some stability and comfort this month.

 I am hoping for much better results for the November grocery budget.   The fridge and freezer are still pretty full although I am finding it somewhat difficult to figure out what to eat each night with someone in the house who has been mostly raised in a semi-vegetarian household (except weekends at our house).  My stepdaughter is trying a bit of each meal, eating things like red meat that were banned in her previous household.  I am also trying to make sure we have tons of veggies and fruit available at each setting (tonight 2 homemade pizzas, one with meat and one strictly veggies) to make her feel more comfortable.  I am also teaching her to cook which was left off at her previous household.  Last week she made oven baked cod with scallops and butter with my verbal direction and only her hands - and was super impressed how easy it was and how good it tasted.  I am one of those cook from scratch in 30 minutes or less people and her Dad is the spend 2 hours in the kitchen gourmet cooks.  She will learn something from one or the other of us before she is ready to move out and has to fend for herself on a daily basis.

Life is on track and moving along relatively smoothly considering all the changes our family has been through this month - thank goodness!  Have a great weekend everyone!