Monday, March 30, 2009

March 30

I picked up our March Angel Food box on Saturday. We ate half the rib-eye steaks and half a bag of the french fries and still have the rest of the box to use this week and next. I am NOT going to the supermarket this week. No, I am not. Little experiment here, I am going to see how far I can make this box and the rest of my pantry go. We are going on a short, cheap vacation next Wednesday and I am going to stretch it until we get back, after Easter. Of course, we'll be eating Easter dinner at the grandparents so that will help, but with the extra cash we'll be spending on our yee-haw Arkansas trip we just don't have the money for anything else until April 15. I think I can do this. Wish me luck.

So far in April: $30.00 for the Angel Food box.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

March 25

I got to looking at my grocery receipt from yesterday, wondering how in the world I spent seventy some dollars on food for three planned meals. Turns out I buy lots of soda and kool-aid when it's on sale. Oh, I can get it cheap, like a dollar for a 2-liter or $2.50 a 12-pack and I got really excited to get a big canister of kool-aid mix for $1.50, but it adds up. I just don't like water. I want taste. Sweet taste. Good taste.

But. I am giving it all up.

Once I finish my stash, it's water, tea, juice, and milk for us from now on. Tap water is free and tea can be made very cheaply and a few teabags go a long way. My dad cannot live without his soda so we can get our carbonation fix when we go there. I have always watered my kids juice 50/50, this can stretch a 64-ounce jug to four or five days. Now, I think I'm going to start 75/25 to wean them off of it and onto water. With the exception of Adam, they don't like water anymore than I do.

So that's my new plan. I am hoping to save at least five bucks a week this way.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

March 24

If it's Tuesday, it must be grocery day.

I've been off on the grocery trips due to spring break. The last time I went to the store until today was March 13 where I spent $64.03. Today I spent $79.13. Combined with the big trip I made at the beginning of the month, I have spent $227.57 at the grocery store this month. Not too bad. Of course, we were gone a few of those days, but still.

We are still working on the Angel Food groceries. The week before spring break I was able to make supper each day just on the stuff from those boxes. I'll go Saturday to pick up April's boxes. I also need to hit the double coupon store sometime this weekend, but I hope to only get free or nearly free things there.

At HEB this month if you buy a 12 pack of pop-tarts you get a 3 pack of Horizon Organic milk singles free. The pop-tarts were $2.50 and the milk was $2.99. Each week I had a coupon for a dollar off pop-tarts so for $1.50 I took home some mighty tasty Hot Fudge Sundae pop-tarts and healthy milk to pack in the kids lunch. Not bad.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

March 11

I spent $74.25 at the pediatrician's office today. Apparently our ultra crappy insurance company has decided not to cover immunizations for my middle child. The baby, sure she can have some, but middle child not so much. WTH? I see nasty phone calls in my future.

I spent twenty some dollars at CVS for pull-ups, band-aids, and female necessities. I got what was on sale, but man, they charge heavily for that stuff.

I also wanted a new deodorant. I always buy whatever deodorant I can get dirt cheap on sale and with coupons, but now I'm down to my last one and it's a scent that I am almost sure has been triggering my daily migraines since opening it last week. I saw Secret, which I love and never buy because it is so expensive, on sale for $3.99 and if you used your CVS card they'd give you $1.00 so it was like getting it for $2.99. I had a $2.00 coupon in my purse so I was like SCORE! When I checked out the cashier was having a hard time making my coupon work and I wasn't paying a lot of attention because all three of my kids were trying to steal candy bars (I mean, what do that think putting that crap down there so low?) and finally he tells me he can only take $1.37 off and I was like what the heck for? and apparently the deodorant rang up $1.37. OKAY. So I got it totally free and they paid me my CVS dollar to take it! I am going back tomorrow with another two dollar coupon to do it again and then the next day I'll use both my dollar coupons so I can get two more free awesome, unscented Secret deodorants! I am excited just thinking about it!

Monday, March 9, 2009

March 9

No spending on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Well, except to pay the jumpy house man and the big cookie place. But that goes on our birthday budget.

I won't be spending today or tomorrow either because I AM NOT going to the grocery store this week. I think I can make it all week on stuff we have here.

Our dinner menu for this week is:

Monday: Cheezy Cabbage Casserole with baked potatoes
Tuesday: Chicken Fritters with mashed potatoes and carrot slices
Wednesday: I'm going to the rodeo with a friend and the husband can do whatever the heck he wants for dinner.
Thursday: Chicken Stir-Fry over rice with potstickers
Friday: Gumbo
Saturday: Steak and baked sweet potatoes and carrot slices
Sunday: Leftovers

Everything except the gumbo came from Angel Food Ministries. The gumbo was made by my mom at Christmas and promptly frozen for just this sort of occasion.

Friday, March 6, 2009

March 6

Yesterday I spent thirty bucks to order our Angel Food box for April. Technically it's the March box, but since I pick it up the last day of March and will be using the food in April, I will count that thirty bucks toward our April grocery budget. There's gonna be ribeyes in it!

But I spent $55.00 in February for the boxes I am using this month so with Tuesday's grocery trip I've spent $139.41 total this month. And it's only the 6th of the month. Oy.

I do think if I work at it, I can still keep our bill under $250 this month. I have planned meals until the 18th on the food from the Angel Food boxes and with that shelf staple milk they sent I may not have to make it back at all next week. Whatever would I do next Tuesday morning?

Also, the husband refinanced our mortgage today. He was going to go with a 30-year at 4.85% which would've shaved over $400 bucks off our monthly payment and, incredibly, bring it very close to what we paid for that old house. That crappy old house that was half the size and price. But in the end, because interest makes him develop a tic, he went with a 15-year at 4%. FOUR PERCENT! It makes our payment more, but we'll still be saving about $250 a month.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

March 3

Well, I didn't keep it under $75. Yeah, I know, I could bring a calculator and keep track, but with a list, the coupons, and two kids I need to keep wrestling back into the cart, no thanks. I'll take my chances.

I spent $84.41 at HEB today.

Tuesday is my regular grocery day, but that is the last day of the sales ads. They were out of a lot of the things I went in for that were on sale. I was rethinking my strategy while in the store and thinking maybe I might want to change my grocery day to Friday, but then I remember that thing called "the rain check". Why do they call it a rain check? I have never gotten a rain check before, but I remember my mother getting them all the time. So when I checked out, I asked the cashier for rain checks and she was happy to give them to me.

Anyway, I saved $15.95 with coupons.

Some of the deals I got:

Little Smokies 50 cents each. On sale for a dollar and I had a dollar off two. They'll be nice to serve at the birthday party this weekend.

Minute Rice 82 cents On sale and with a dollar coupon

Crisco olive oil, 16 ounces $3.78 Used a dollar coupon and the in-store coupon for a free $2.15-one pound box of Barilla Plus pasta.

Carl Buddig Deli Cuts Ham $1.50 On sale with a dollar coupon, regulary priced $3.29.

And a tank full of gasoline for $24.02. A bargain considering what it was six months ago.

Monday, March 2, 2009

March 2

I didn't spend any money today! Yeah!

Tomorrow is my grocery day and I'm hoping to get out of there spending less than $75.

I want to see how far the Angel Food boxes will take me so I'll log it in here.

Yesterday for lunch we had half of the bag of breaded chicken fritters and some of the apples.

Tonight we're having the frozen salisbury steaks with 1/3 of the bag of frozen french fries and some frozen green beans I already had.

Last night for dinner the husband treated his skiing friends to steak and expensive vegetables and a frozen apple pie. With all these apples here he BOUGHT a pie? He did not give me the receipt because he knows I'd be ticked at him. And, well, yes I am. I try hard to spend frugally on groceries and he probably blew half our budget on that one trip. Grrrr.

So so far, I've made two meals on the angel food groceries. They say it will last a week for a family of four. We'll just see....