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Wordless Wednesday- Annie
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Monday Menu Planning- 11/13/2017
Aghh I am so frustrated today because we have been to the grocery store twice today. We are still doing really well on budget but I hate going to the Grocery store. My goal from this point forward until vacation is NOT to visit the store. It may means some interesting meals but twice in one day is the limit.
Breakfast- Saturday- Breakfast Burrito bowls. Sunday- Cereal and milk, Monday and Tuesday – Cereal and milk, Wednesday- Choices of eggs, fried bologna, grits, French toast or toast. Thursday- Cereal and milk if there is any left. Friday- Baked oatmeal-probably pumpkin
Lunch- Saturday- instant Mac and Cheese. Sunday- Beef stew. The kids have a full week at school and I am eating at work at least once if not twice because they have my favorite sandwich on special. Kids are eating 2 sandwiches, soup on one day and 2 grab and go days. I will also take left-overs at least one day this week.
Dinner- Saturday- Pizza using a gift card and 65 cent. Sunday- Oyster Stew, Monday- Hamburger Helper- this use all our ground beef. Tuesday- Chicken soft tacos- using left-over salsa chicken. Wednesday- Salisbury Steak, mashed potatoes and fruit. Thursday- Steak and baked sweet potatoes. Friday- Spaghetti.
Thursday Thoughts- 11/09/2017
Our car insurance jumped by $40 and when I called to find out why, I was assured it was nothing that I had done but that rates in my state had increased that much. The second piece of “great” news was that Gieco will only insure in NC for six months at a time due to rates.
On a slightly better note, I have been seeing an advertised special for Sirus radio that included 30 days of free service. This is usually awesome for us as we are traveling to and from Florida. Matt checked into it today and it was actually a 60 day free trial. This is awesome and will make driving a little bit easier for all of us.
I am actually looking forward to the month of December because it provides an extra pay check! My goal is to end the year on a positive financial note!
We are fast approaching our Disney trip. Everyone is super excited. Which means they are also pretty eager to make money by extra chores. The benefit for me is that means I should have time to get my decorating done prior to the trip. This weekend, my plan is to put up the snow village.
All three kids had dentist appointments today, no cavities for anyone!
Baseball Wordless Wednesday 11/08/2017
Monday Menu Planning 11/06
I have to admit I did not stick to the grocery shopping plan last week. Harris Teeter was running an awesome sale on items that we use and can be store for a long time. I decided it was worth the trip to grab the items. I took my mother for her first trip of couponing with me. I was able to purchase cases (12 packs) of soda for $2.67 each, Hamburger helper (87 cent each) can vegetables (34 cent each) and pasta (67 cent a box). I can say that I am not over my goal of $150 this month and fully expect to stay on track the rest of the time. You will notice a lot of left-overs on the menu. I don’t want to waste food and I also don’t plan to leave any left-overs in the fridge during our trip. You will also start to see some “more creative” meal on the list as we are focused on using the food we have here.
Breakfast-Our standard choices now are toast, French toast, eggs/omelets and fried Bologna. Saturday-Omelets Sunday- Big breakfast including eggs, sausage. gravy and grits. Monday- choices , Tuesday and Wednesday- choices Thursday- baked oatmeal and Friday choices.
Lunch- I actually picked up 5 bags of chips during my shopping. We are planning to open these one bag at a time to use for school lunches. Saturday- sandwiches , Sunday- Taco soup or Stuffed green pepper soup, both left-overs. Kids are having sandwiches, grab and go. I have a salad for Monday Chicken Salad wrap on Wednesday and left-over on Friday.
Dinner- Saturday- pizza-dills Sunday- chicken nugget biscuits Monday- Meatloaf muffins, mashed potatoes, green beans and fruit. Tuesday-Chicken nugget parmesan , Wednesday- Breakfast casserole Thursday-cube steak nachos . Friday- steak and baked sweet potatoes.
Wordless Wednesday- Trunk or Treat
October in Review
This was a different month for us. On the positive side, we did not put any “regular/usual expenses” on credit cards. But on the negative note, our debit load did increase but this should be the highest it goes and from December forward it is the focus!
Debit Reduction: Did not happen see above
Blog Post: This is my 12th post of the month. I seriously need to up my game. I did notice that I did not even post regularly on Wednesday this month so pictures should be an easy addition.
Days on Treadmill: Goal Met! We walked a total of 20 days this month!
Groceries- Goal met! We spent $291 on groceries this month! Two months in a row, below budget. I am hoping for a third! I will say that we have cleaned out and turned off one of our freezers and plan to turn off our third refrigerator prior to our trip. The pantry is also starting to look empty. My current plan includes a minimal month for November with a huge trip to Costco planned for December. I am also very hopeful that Food Lion will run it’s quarter back sale in January. I will be re-evaluating our grocery budget at the end of December. I honestly think that I will raise this to at least $600 next year because of the growing kids that live here.
Gas: Fail! We are over budget this month by $75. I did have another flat tire this month but other than that gas is a huge expense for us.
Earnings: We are continuing to focus on bringing in every extra penny we can. This month was an average month
Swagbucks = $175 Matt earned $75 and I earned $100
Ibotta= $20 Matt was able to cash out this month.
Shopkicks= $5
Total $200
November is a fun month with our trip to Disney!
Monday Menu Planning 10/30/2017
For the next month, menu planning is one of the most if not the most important thing that I will be doing. The goal for the month of November is to use what we have, buy only what we need for this month. I do plan a huge Costco trip after we return from our trip. I did make some changes to the plan last week but it actually saved us food! Left-overs instead of steak, so of course I just moved the steak to this week. This weeks plans look different because I am off today (Monday) but will be work on Saturday.
Breakfast- Our standard choices now are toast, French toast, eggs/omelets and fried Bologna. Saturday-Bacon and pimento cheese biscuits Sunday- cheese grits. Monday- gravy biscuits, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday and Friday choices.
Lunch- Snacks are our biggest concern at this point but at least the kids like popcorn and with Halloween it gave us a couple of extra days. Saturday- left-overs, Sunday- Taco soup. Kids are having sandwiches, grab and go, chicken and stars soup and wraps. I have a salad for Tuesday, Chicken Salad wrap on Wednesday and left-over on Friday.
Dinner- Saturday- left-overs Sunday- hot dogs at the church trunk or treat Monday- Country style steak with left-over sides Tuesday- IHOP (gift card and kids get a free pancake) , Wednesday- Chicken stuffing (new recipe in crock-pot), Thursday- left-overs are my bet but I may add something . Friday- steak and baked sweet potatoes.
Definitely need to keep a good handle on using up the left-overs so I may plan on this at least once a week for the next several weeks.
Thankful Tuesday Thoughts 10/24/2017
I am reminded today that we start in November next week, so I need to be thankful for even the small things.
First Matt was able to design and create some really cool shirts for our Disney Trip. The best part is that we purchased both the shirts and the vinyl using gift cards earned from Swagbucks so total out of pocket equals ZERO. 
Next the weather has finally started to feel like fall. In fact we are suppose to receive our first official frost this week. Because I was able to get off work earlier today, we picked the rest of the pepper and pimentos from the garden. I froze 4 cups of green peppers and saved enough for several omelets in the next week. 
We have been searching for ways to save money. I am thankful to have discovered two. First Matt has been able to arrange Roku boxes in the house so that we have turned in 3 of our cable bill. I am thinking that this should reduce our total cable bill by around $30 a month. The best part is that it will not affect any of our viewing! Next, because we are attempting to eat out of our freezers and pantry for the last couple months of the year, we are able to clean out and unplug one of our freezers. This will also allow it to be clean really well prior to our purchase of a cow next year. I am also thinking that after our trip we should be able to turn off a refrigerator as well. Finally, by watching the weather and opening and closing windows we are currently in our second full week of no heat or air.
Monday Menu Post
To be honest, I am starting to get a little freaked out over here, the pantry and especially the freezers are starting to look empty. Don’t get me wrong, we are not out of food. In fact I sat down today and planned out our meals through the month of November and we have enough to cover that many meals if we use what we have and don’t just give up. So I am trying to make myself more accountable by posting a meal plan in addition to any failures (going out to eat) that occur.
Breakfast- sadly all the cereal has been eating. Our standard choices now are toast, French toast, eggs/omelets and fried Bologna. Saturday- Omelet with green peppers, onions and cheese. Sunday- Sausage,egg and cheese biscuits. I will say that keeping chopped onions and green peppers make life much easier and quicker in the morning. Monday and Tuesday – choices, Wednesday- Baked oatmeal, Thursday and Friday choices.
Lunch- I did buy a couple of items to use for lunch this week. Saturday- McDonalds, Sunday- Wraps and left-overs. Kids are having sandwiches, grab and go, tomato soup and wraps. I have a salad for Monday, Orange Beef for Tuesday, Chicken Salad wrap on Wednesday and soup on Friday.
Dinner- Saturday- Chicken from Costco, potato salad and slaw from the party Amanda gave last week. Sunday- twice backed potatoes and more left-overs (yes we need to clean out that many) Monday- Steak Fajitas (using beef stew) Tuesday- Taco, Wednesday- Chicken and Broccoli, Thursday- debating between left-overs soup or Breakfast. Friday- steak and baked sweet potatoes.
Now to just stick to the plan!