Meal Plan: October 1-15

Vegetarian:  cream of celery soup; taco pzza; cheese calzones (2)

Low Meat:  homemade chicken noodle soup; mashed potato casserole; beef and been tacos; scalloped potatoes and ham; chicken noodle soup; spaghetti and meatballs; chili;Cajun red beans and rice; tuna noodle casserole

Meat:
hotdogs; pot roast


Vegetarian:  4

Low Meat:   9

Meat:  2

Not great but not bad.

Buying and Eating: October 1-15

Monthly Allocation:  $369.20
Cushion: $1008.96

What We Ate:  homemade cream of celery soup; homemade chicken noodle soup; mashed potato casserole; beef and bean tacos; scalloped potatoes and ham, cucumber salad; hotdogs, sauerkraut, three bean salad, chips;  chicken noodle soup over mashed potatoes; spaghetti and meatballs; taco pizza; chili; cheese calzones and popcorn; Cajun red beans and rice, salad, fruit; pot roast with potato, onion, and carrot; tuna noodle casserole, peas, salad; assorted leftovers

What We Bought:

Aldi:  winter squash (6.11#)  $2.99.

Giant Eagle:  canned kidney beans  $0.23

Bread Store:  everything bagels, pumpkin spice English muffins, whole wheat bread, rye bread $3.71

Price Rite:  olives, basil, cottage cheese (2#), yogurt (2#)  $8.87

Total:  $15.80


Eating Out:

Lunch with friends. $10.05
Breakfast with Dad  $14.00
Breakfast with Ginger  $7.34

Total:  $31.39

2 Week Grand Total: $47.19

Remaining Allocation:  $322.02

Quarterly Linus Project and Yarn Costs: July- September

July:

Pet Blankets  5
Linus Project Blankets  5
Operation Gratitude Scarves:  5


Yarn at Goodwill:  12 skeins for $11.88 or $0.99/skein, near where we are camping

Yarn at Goodwill:  7 skeins for $6.93 or $0.99/skein, near where we are camping

Yarn at Goodwill:  10 skeins for $7.36 or $W0.74/skein, near where we are camping

Yarn at Salvation Army:  7 skeins for $3.99 or  or $0.57/skein near where we are camping.

Yarn at Goodwill:  1 skein for $0.99.

Yarn at Goodwill:  9 skeins for  $6.72 or $0.84/skein

August:

Took some time away to work on a few gifts for friends and family using some of my cotton yarn stash.

Pet Blankets: 3
Linus Project:  4
Project Gratitude  4cents

Totals: Linus Project Blankets:  16
Operation Gratitude Scarves:  16

Pet Blankets:  10

Yarn:  $85.69 for an average of $28.56/month

September

Yarn at Goodwill using 50% off tag and military discount    35 skeins for $14.50 or about $0.41/skein

Yarn at Goodwill:  22 skeins for $14.29 or  65 cents/ skein.

Yarn at Goodwill( in  Canada:  $26.39 for 26 skeins

Linus Project:  7
Operation Gratitude Scarves:  7
Pet Blankets:  2

Totals:  Linus Project Blankets:  16
Operation Gratitude Scarves:  16
Pet Blankets:  10
Yarn:  $85.69 or an average of $28.56/month.

Frugal Things In September

1.  Hosta free off of Freecycle.  We got four to fill in gaps in the front yard.

2.  Cat Food free with coupon.  I will donate to the animal shelter.

3.  20%  off at a new grocery store.  We only bought the loss leaders and we saved an extra  $2.19.  Every little bit helps.

4.  $10 off $10 purchase at Staples.  We ended up with 6 mega rolls of Charmin and a gallon of spring water for making vinegar.  We paid 46 cents.

5. We got two $5 gift cards at Giant Eagle when we went there to get our flu shots.  That translates to free groceries.  I bought Christmas treat foods.

6.  We shopped at the bread store and our four items cost us $4 instead of the normal retail price of $17.86.  That's $13.86 we saved!

7.  A free 8x10 photo from Walgreens.

September Households and Personal Care

Personal Care:

Toothpaste (2)  $2.12  Dollar Tree
Two haircuts  $24  Great Clips
Body lotion (large!)  $7.30. Amazon

Total:  $33.42
Too high, but may be the new reality.

Household:

Efferdent (for cleaning)  $1.06  Dollar Tree
New lampshade for living room  $13.33  (we received a $1.40 military discount)  Lowes
Toilet bowl brush  $1.06  Dollar Tree

Total:  $15.45

Meal Plan: September 16-30

Vegetarian:  cheesy potatoes; Vegetarian pot pie; Mexican baked potatoes; cheesy calzones; taco pizza

Low Meat:  spaghetti and meatballs; pizza; potato, hotdog and sauerkraut casserole (2); bacon and lentil soup; Cajun red beans and rice

Meat:  stuffed pork chops; sandwiches; ham; brats; pork chops

Totals:

Vegetarian  5
Low Meat  5
Meat  5

Nicely Balanced

Buying and Eating: September 16-30

Remaining Allocation:  $255.31
Cushion:  $883.41

What We Bought:

Staples water for making vinegar  $0.46

Tops:  cantaloupe, celery, Italian bread, macaroni and cheese (3) $3.86

Bread Store:  bagels (2) English muffins, cinnamon swirl bread  $4.00

Zehrs ( in Canada):  cookies, mustard, crackers, pretzels,pop tarts, pizza (2)donuts (6), bread,cheese, ham, roast beef  $35.65  For meals while we were there.

British Grocer(in Canada):  marmalade mixture (2)   $12.05  for making homemade marmalade

Bulk Bin ( in Canada):  rye flour, dried figs ( for fig pudding at Christmas) unsweetened coconut  $12.98

Price Rite:  brownie mix  (5), cheese (6)  $9.45

Save a Lot:  olives (2), cream cheese (4), Polish sausage (3), bananas  $13.93

Giant Eagle:  perogies  $2.13

Tops:  bacon, Folgers, Alfredo sauce, salami (1#), cucumber (2), sweet peppers (2), hot peppers (6), beef broth  $13.34

Groceries:  $107.85


What We Ate:  stuffed pork chops, mashed sweet potatoes three bean salad;  cheesy potatoes, butter beans, green beans, salad; spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and salad; pizza and pretzels; sandwiches and fried potatoes; Vegetarian pot pie, fruit, garlic bread;  ham, macaroni salad, three bean salad; poyato, hotdog and sauerkraut casserole, roasted beets, fruit;  btats, macaroni salad, three bean salad;  leftover casserole; Mexican baked potatoes, corn, salad;; cheesy calzones; Vegetarian taco pizza; pork chops with apples, onions and cabbage;  bacon and lentil soup


Eating Out:
Breakfast with Pat  $19.79
Lunch before movie  $2.12

Total:  $21.91


Grand Total for Two Weeks:  $129.76

Remaining Allocation:  $125.55

New Cushion Amount:  $1008.96