Thrifty Thursday

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I have plans for tomorrow to share some things that we are spending money on this week but first I wanted to share some ways that we are saving money this week.

First up shopping at Dollar Tree.  I have discovered that for the boys and Lily, I can purchase body wash for $1 a bottle. This bottle last around 2 weeks so $2 for a month is much cheaper than $4 a bottle at most other places. I also buy conditioner just to change things up.  This trip I was able to grab sandwich bags and snack bags for $1. I am not anti-plastic but it does bother me to spend 5 or more cent on a bag that ends up in the trash after one use. I found fold top sandwich bags as less than a penny each so I am good with tossing each day. I did also purchase sandwich bags with a zip top to use for other things.   Snack bags will be used for freezing small serving such as 1/2 cups.

Ordering vitamins and supplements via Amazon. Both Lily and Kendall are on a daily iron supplement. I ended up saving 50% simply by ordering it on scribe and save on Amazon plus this allows me to order and forget about it!

I purchased a good bit of extra fruits and vegetables last week. Things have been slightly more hectic than I anticipated so we have not used up as much. Today, I made a new crockpot meal with sweet peppers. I also cut up and froze two bags of peppers and onions to be used in spaghetti sauce when our tomatoes start to come in.  3 cups of chopped celery was frozen. I discovered that I have purchased 3 bags of onions recently. So Kendall and I chopped up two bags to freeze. We ended up freezing 7 cups of diced onions. This way it will not go bad and they will be super convenient to use as well.

I was also able to use 5 small containers of vegetables that were sent to us from the school lunch program.  This cleared up space in our freezer and also made an awesome pork fried rice meal.

Sheets were washed and hung on the line to dry in order to save electricity.

We have eaten all dinners at home this week which is a huge savings.  I have eaten a couple of lunches out and one breakfast but these are much less expensive than even one dinner meal.

What have you been doing to save money?

Monday Menu Post and Summer Cooking

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My first full week of summer vacation and week #3 of no oven. We have not received any confirmation of when our new stove will arrive but it was scheduled for this Wednesday. I honestly have not hope of this happening but….   I am definitely a cook for the weather, in the winter and fall I like “soup Sunday” and lots of warm comfort food. However in the summer, sandwich and salads please. This summer as with most summers we have a swim meet on 4-5 Tuesday evenings. I like to take lots of food with us because the kids swim hard and get hungry. The only down side is the prep time. This  morning (Monday) Lily, Kendall and I spent about an hour cutting up watermelon, cantaloupe, peppers and tomatoes.  We made a pasta salad for lunches and for dinner tomorrow which will also help make things easier in the morning. Things to remember as you look at the menu- NO oven, fully stocked freezers and pantry( I am refusing to go to a store this week). Zach is at baseball camp and we have a swim meet!

Breakfast– Saturday-breakfast croissants  Sunday-Cracker Barrel  – Breakfast bowls minus the gravy. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday-choice of breakfast muffins, eggs, pop-tarts, sausage, oatmeal, cereal or grits, breakfast burritos, or omelets. Pretty much you find it and make it! Lily is making shakes for breakfast.

Lunch-  Saturday–Left-overs   Sunday- Way Back Jacks  I assembled a pasta salad. We have lots of salad and sandwich stuff, I made Matt several burgers while I was grilling hot dogs. We have several items left from school lunches and you always have left-overs.

Dinner-  Saturday-  Girls Chinese, Boy-hot dogs at the ball game.  Sunday-Left-overs   Monday-Hot Dogs and fried green beans   Tuesday-Pasta salad or sandwiches  Wednesday- Pork fried rice(from freezer combined with school frozen veggies)  Thursday- left-overs unless I get motivated Friday-Soft tacos.

Grocery Shopping

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As you are all probably aware our single biggest expense beside our mortgage has always been our grocery budget.  I think this is one of the reason that I am fascinated by grocery shopping especially reading about other people’s trips.  I have been keeping up with a grocery budget for 10 years now. When the kids were smaller our budget included diapers and 7 people which was around $850 a month. We have been able to significantly reduce our budget to $550. Last year during the pandemic, we spent an average of $631 a month for groceries. This included restocking most of our pantry and freezers in addition to everyone eating at home for 2-3 months solid. We did receive school lunches but by September even the kids were tired of the food.  This year with some focused effort we have spent an average of $383 a month for the first six months of the year. I decided to do some research and a “thrifty” budget for 5 people (kids over 10) is $822!  This makes me feel so much better! In addition, I can say that we are full our pantry and freezers both. This year I have been using Alexa to keep a running list of items we are out of. I have focused on purchasing these items and then sales.  IT WORKS!

I do want to share what my stock up trip to Costco looked like this week.  I spent $298.70 on Thursday at Costco.   This did include a 6 month supply of Tide Pods. They were on sale for 18 cent a load so instead of grabbing a single box I grabbed 2.  This was $40.  I also purchased AAA batteries which should last the reminder of the year but added $16 to my total. I grabbed 2 additional bottles of Pantene Shampoo that were not on my list which was another $15. Other sale items included 4 bags of chips/popcorn, and 2 boxes of chips for our beach trip.  I also grabbed a Rotisserie Chicken for dinner and croissants to use for sandwich for another $10.   The rest was spent on items I had on my list such as dish washer tabs and butter.

My goal for the rest of the summer is to keep spending to a minimum so that we can use any additional grocery budget to cover the purchase of our new stove!

Monday Menu Plan

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We are on week 2 of no oven. Still going strong and actually no repeats yet!   We have the expectation of the oven arriving next Wednesday (June 16th) but I am not holding that as a promise. The kids are officially out of school!  I am working Monday and Tuesday.  We also are enjoying lots of fresh veggies from the farmer market.

Breakfast– Saturday-Cinnamon Roll waffles  Sunday- Biscuit King Wednesday,- Breakfast bowls minus the gravy. Monday,-  TuesdayThursday, Friday-choice of breakfast muffins, eggs, pop-tarts, sausage, oatmeal, cereal or grits, breakfast burritos, or omelets.

Lunch-  Saturday–Taco Bell    Sunday- Gregg’s  I assembled a pasta salad and Matt has hamburgers to round out his week.

Dinner-  Saturday-  Graduation party    Sunday-Left-overs (only once this week!)   Monday-Grilled Chicken with zucchini and broccoli.  Tuesday-Arby’s due to piano and ball game  Wednesday- Hot Dogs and Tator tots  Thursday- Costco chicken and squash Friday-Soft tacos.

Saving on Saturday

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I knew that I needed to add something to the front of the square foot garden to complete it. I still had some empty space before it starting to go down the bank.  After watching an episode of “Homestead Rescue” Matt and I decided that we wanted to add to our strawberry beds.

The cost of lumber is currently sky rocketing and I did not want to spend alot on this project.  I also know that strawberries grow well on the ground just not our ground. After much thought and consideration, I decided I wanted to make a strawberry hill.

Of course this involved a trip to Lowes, where I purchased a cedar fence for $27.

I also purchased top soil and garden soil to round out the mix.  Total spent at Lowes was $100. I had previously purchased another roll of landscape paper for $10.  This is the result without strawberries.

I will be moving some strawberry plants in the next several weeks. The goal plant/move 5 or 6 plants which should spread over the summer and fall and hopefully in a year cover the whole area.  Check back for a strawberry plant picture!

 

Total spent on the project $110!   I hope this means the square foot garden is complete!

5 Things Friday

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  1. Today was Zach and Kendall’s last day of school for the year. Lily actually has class until June 9th officially.  We no longer have elementary age children!
  2. I have 2 work days left before summer vacation from my regular school system.  This included 6 meetings so I am not looking forward to these days at all.  I also will start back serving kids in Guam on Sunday evening this week.  I will be working 2-3 hours per week so hopefully this is the right balance.
  3. We have survived the first full week of no oven. It appears that we have another 2 plus weeks before we can expect delivery.
  4. I am going to break down tomorrow and buy a couple of zucchini  and squash plants.  The ones I planted did sprout but don’t appear to be doing much else. The leaves are a strange yellow color. My mother said they got too much water but I am thinking it is probably the seeds themselves.
  5. I already have a busy week schedule with a dentist and eye appointment on Wednesday!   I really can’t wait for my break to begin!

Menu Planning

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This is definitely a different week.  First today is Tuesday and I am just now posting a menu plan.  The reason is Memorial Day and the end of the month.   I also really want to get my 15 blog post this month!   Second, our oven is currently not working and it will be mid-June at the earliest before we have the new one installed. And the biggest reason the school count down is on!  I have 5 days to work for the year.  I can see the end now just to make it! But those 5 days also include one or more activities after school and late meeting on most.  Busy the normal we are use to! This should also be one of the last weeks that we NEED to eat out for our sanity. I am hoping to start only eating out on the weekends.

Breakfast– Saturday-bacon and egg salad sandwiches on toast Sunday- Items from the freezer before church.  Monday,- Biscuit  Tuesday,- Breakfast bowls minus the gravy.  Wednesday, Thursday, Friday-choice of breakfast muffins, eggs, pop-tarts, sausage, oatmeal, cereal or grits, breakfast burritos, or omelets.

Lunch-  Saturday–Sushi buffet for our anniversary   Sunday- Chinese   I assembled a pasta salad and left over pizza or dippin days make it easy this week.

Dinner-  Saturday-  Left-overs (YES there is a end in sight!)   Sunday-Hamburgers   Monday-Spinach Ravioli  Tuesday-Pizza from local place    Wednesday- Chicken sandwich and Fries  Thursday- Ballgame Food  Friday-Steaks and potatoes- not sure how yet but will make it happen.