2025. Frugal Things in January

 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.

2025. Buying and Eating: January 16-31

 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.