Last Weeks Frugal Accomplishments

December 2 - 8

The husband and I came to an agreement regarding the grocery budget.  We put it into practice this week and it has been a success.  He has agreed to a $600 per month grocery budget; for us this includes all household and hygiene items as well as food for family members and fur babies.  I put $150 cash in an envelope at the beginning of this week for us to use for our shopping.  We spent $156.45 this week so we went a little over the weekly amount but are still definitely on track for the agreed to monthly amount.  This is an area that has caused a great deal of stress for me over the last year and a half and it is so encouraging to have had a successful week.  To top it all off, when assessing how the week went the hubby and I both thought that we had eaten well over the week; there was no sense of deprivation.  This is huge; this totally increases the odds that we can persist and succeed.  Accordingly, most of the successes of the week that are noted below have to do with food.

So, here are a few of my successes for the week:

-One day I unexpectedly became responsible for dinner after having been out of the house all day.  I was so tired and so tempted to just get some pizza.  I resisted that temptation.  Instead, I thawed ground beef in the microwave and made tacos.  I added a bit of diced pepper that I had harvested from the garden just before the big freeze.  This one lonely pepper was beginning to shrivel but I got to it just in time and it added a nice little something to the meat.  I served it with taco shells that I purchased at a highly discounted price because the packaging had been damaged.  Of course, the taco shells had been broken just a bit, as well.  We just used the broken bits of taco shell to make taco bowls.  Everyone enjoyed it, maybe even better than pizza.

-Our little group of homeschoolers get together for a science group on Wednesday mornings.  Then those same kiddos have pottery in the afternoon so we have taken to having lunch together; we affectionately refer to this as lunch club.  When deciding where to have lunch I spoke up and requested that we select some place that is inexpensive.  Everyone else seemed relieved.  We ended up having Chinese at a restaurant that has been around for 24 years but none of us had ever been to it.  It was so cheap and so very good!

-Bishop's pottery studio hosted an open house and pottery show and sale.  Bishop participated and sold some of his pottery.  He earned $45.  They also had a special for that one day that allowed me to buy $100 gift certificates for 20% off.  I purchased $300 worth for $240 as I knew that Bishop's class (pottery, drawing and painting) would be coming due soon!

-The hubby made an excessive amount of bacon one morning for breakfast.  He then utilized it for lunch - he made a pasta dish akin to pasta carbonara.  He used  a box of fettuccine that I got for 66 cents as the box was slightly damaged.  It was very delicious and satisfying.

-For St. Nicholas Day we cobbled together a feast using what we had on hand.  Herb made schnitzel and served it alongside dirty rice and a tomato salad that were leftover from lunch.  The tomato salad would normally be made with balsamic vinegar and olive oil but we were out of those ingredients so he used red wine vinegar and sesame oil.  He also added some olives that we had leftover from Thanksgiving.  I made a pitcher of lemonade using some concentrate that I had in the freezer so that the beverage would be a little festive.

-I haven't pulled out any of my Christmas decorations yet so I improvised for my St. Nicholas Day centerpiece.  Using part of our grocery budget I had purchased the gold coins and chocolates and spiced cookies so I put them in a wooden trencher alongside some oranges removed from our fruit bowl and mixed nuts leftover from Thanksgiving.  Beautiful and festive and everyone has enjoyed grazing on it all week.

-Speaking of not having decorations out yet...  I wanted to put together our advent calendar but didn't have out our most traditional one.  Last year I did something unconventional and bought one from Aldi with little chocolates in it.  I had saved the calendar thinking that I might try to make a variety of homemade chocolates to put in it.  I didn't make any progress throughout the year on learning how to make proper chocolates but that calendar was readily available in my food storage pantry so I just put some mini chocolate bars in it.  I used part of the grocery budget to get the candy and the remainder will be put in the stockings.  It was convenient and fit in the budget!

-At one point during the week the hubby had it in his head that he needed a couple of whole chicken fryers.  He kept texting me whenever I would be out and about asking me to get these chickens.  I simply replied that I would only get them if I were already going to the store for something, I wouldn't make an extra trip, and if there was enough money in the envelope.  He accepted that.  One morning he went to the store with the envelope and purchased two fryers that had just been marked down.  Success.

-The hubby was also amenable to having a conversation about menu planning.  He is accustomed to cooking what he is desiring when he desires it and that is not the best way to keep a grocery budget under control.  One day he got several meat items out of the freezer and when I asked what he had planned he said that it depended on what the family wanted to eat.  I suggested to him that there was a different way to plan menus based on the best use of our resources - that we make those items that utilize perishables first and those that utilize shelf stable items towards the end of the week.  He heard that and enacted that.  Another success.

-I got my 2019 planner for $5 after using Walgreens rewards when purchasing.

-I got that planner just in time as the very next day I had the need to use it to schedule some time with a photographer.  There is a photographer in town that has decided to do a project - 40 Women Over 40.  I simply made an appreciative comment related to the project on his facebook page and he invited me to participate.  I agreed.  I will get a makeover, photo shoot and $250 in prints just for agreeing to be part of the project.  I am a little overwhelmed but a lot delighted.  I haven't had a professional picture taken in probably 17 years and being the family photographer there just aren't that many pictures of me.  I think that the timing is perfect as I explore who I am separate from my role as homeschooling mom.  Isn't this cool?

-Even at the end of this week there are no Christmas decorations out but the living room has been taken over with Christmas wrapping supplies.  I typically don't love to wrap presents but I have been having a good time this go around.  It has long been my goal to only use brown craft paper for my wrapping (and any gift bags that I might still have on hand).  I have steadily worked my way through my wrapping paper stash over the years and have resisted the urge to buy any clearance paper.  I like the idea of using the craft paper (that I get at the dollar store) because it works for all occasions, there is no need to have different types of paper for Christmas and birthdays (adult vs child) and baby showers, etc.  I just use different ribbons and tags for different occasions.  I think that this approach is going to work for me.  So I pulled out the tags that I punched from scrapbook paper and vintage ephemera.  And I pulled out the ribbon that I have owned for years after buying it a thrift store, and the twine that I purchased at the dollar store and the ribbon that I have purchased at Hobby Lobby on 50% discount.  And I wrapped some gifts.  I love them.  I think they are beautiful.  I know that they are frugal.  And they are so me!