Household $30 budget
Efferent to clean coffee cups (2). $2.50. Dollar Tree
Mop $9.99 Menards
Smoke/CO detector $44.99 Menards
Bamboo cutting boards $6.99 Aldi
Total: $65.46 $35.46 over budget
Personal Care $30 budget
Colgate toothpaste. (3). $3.75. Dollar Tree
Kleenex (12). $14.98. Sam’s
Mike haircut. $14. Great Clips
Qtips. $1.25
Total: $33.38. $3.38 over budget
Allocation: $364 $13 / day
Cushion: $186.09
YTD. 31 days
Total $149.08
Grocery. $86.06
Eating Out. $63.02
What We Ate: Melt in your mouth chicken, apple and orange salad, pesto and cheese florentine rice; Ham, hubbard squash, black eyed pea salad; Tuna chowder, Raisin Bran muffins; Chicken piccata, florentine rice, salad, garlic and cheese bread; Vegetarian bean curry, yogurt and fresh fruit, homemade flatbread; Chicken piccata, zucchini, Italian rice balls; Ham loaf, mixed wild rice, banana and yogurt ; Stuffed pepper soup, chicken sandwich ; Pasta with spinach , sautéed cauliflower, garlic cheese bread , fruit and yogurt; Leftovers; Tacos, guacamole, beans and rice; Valentines Day: Savory Italian cheesecake, baked Parmesan zucchini, yogurt and fruit, vanilla wafer cake;
What We Bought:
Giant Eagle: Parmesan, provolone, sharp cheddar cheese (3#) $10.95 Sale items
Erie Food Cooperative: flax meal ( replace eggs in baking) 1# equal to 70 eggs $6.29
Sanders: Cauliflower, zucchini, yogurt, donuts $7.95 All sale items.
Auldi: cheese (2#), avocado (2) $5.77 Sale items
Total: $30.96
Eating Out:
Butchs Diner $9.01 lunch with the ladies
Sam’s Club $3.66 lunch on way to dc
Italian Restaurant $32.02 Dinner with Mike and Gail
Frederick Social $22.00 Lunch with kids
Pizza for national pizza day $15.50
Sam’s Club $2.80 lunch on way home
Total: $82.19
Our trip to dc really added to the cost, but I am fine with that.
Two Week Total: $103.15
YTD: 46 days
Total: $252.23. $5.48/day. $2.74/person/day
Grocery: $117.02. $2.54/day. $1.27/person/day
Eating Out: $145.21. $3.16/day. $1.58/person/day
Remaining Allocation: $260.85
Cushion: $186.09
1. I set myself a bit of a challenge with the food budget this year. So I have to keep frugality firmly in mind. Ergo, soup making. A great way to vary flavors with minimal cost. I made tomato basil from bits and pieces in the freezer; Greek egg and lemon with juices left over from New Year’s Day; beef bourguignon with beef left over from Christmas; Spanish bean with dry garbanzo beans; tuna chowder;
2. I saved quite a few dollars by making our bread products:: artisan whole wheat, English muffins, corn muffins, Rye bread, regular white bread, bagels, pizza crust, croutons, Irish soda bread . I can make them for cents on the dollar and it is very satisfying.
3. We got a pork shoulder roast for $1.69/# and used it to make breakfast sausage. The small amount of bone was used to make stock.
4. We needed to stay in a hotel room one night and, as usual, we used credit card points to pay the bill.
5. We used a $15 gift card to help pay for a lunch out.
Remaining Allocation $335.17
Previous Two Weeks
Grocery $40.03 $2.67/day $1.34/person/day
Eating out $27.80 $1.82/day $0.91/person/day
Total $67.83 $4.52/day $2.26/person/day
What We Ate: leftover taco pizza, rice and bean tacos or burritos, orange and onion salad; Tuna chowder, corn muffins, salad; Beefy noodles, green bean casserole, Fruit and cottage cheese; Ham loaf, baked beans, roasted beets, salad; Taco soup, cheese quesadilla; Smoked sausage, baked beans, carrot and raisin salad, corn muffins; Greek egg and lemon soup, spanokatopia; Rotisserie chicken, sausage and cornbread stuffing, corn, cottage cheese and fruit; Chicken sandwich with homemade French fries; Pasta florentine with chicken and garlic bread; Cottage pie, garlic bread; January 25. Burns Night. Vegetarian haggis, bubble and squeak, soda bread, shortbread (2); Spanish bean soup, cheese toast; Beef bourguignon, pork sandwich;
What We Bought:
Giant Eagle: ground beef (3.6#), potatoes (5#), digiorno pizza. $12.12. All were sale items
Giant Eagle: grated Parmesan (1#). $2.18. Sale item
Costco: dried onion, rotisserie chicken. $10.48
Aldi: leg of lamb for Easter $19.47 Sale item
Aldi: dry black eye peas (2#) $1.78 Sale item
Eating Out:
Panera Bread $2.69 Breakfast at Clinic
21.36 lunch at Clinic
Erie Yacht Club $11.17 Lunch
YTD 31 days
Total: $149.08 $4.81/day $2.41/person/day
Grocery $86.06 $2.77/day $1.39/person/day
Eating Out $63.02 $2.03/day 1.01/person/day
New cushion $186.09
I relied in my stockpile this month a lot. As it should be.
