Market Report - April 12

I missed last week's posting, but rather than playing catch up I'm just going to go on with life.

$39
2 yellow honeydew
9 oranges
6 medium heads broccoli
3 red onions
9 lemons
10 limes
14 tangerines
6 yellow grapefruit
2 lbs globe grapes
2 lbs black seedless grapes
2 lbs jalapeno peppers
6 mango
Green grapes

Staying on track to spend $300 this month too.  It can be more of a challenge when I don't spend the time to plan a bit.  Not a lot.  I'm not a planner, but sometimes even I have to give in and write things down.  The biggest challenge I face right now is my teenager wanting stuff that's not in the plan and complaining that she's "hungry" when she had the opportunity to eat dinner.  She also doesn't want to fix anything herself right now - a bit of a princess period going on.  What she means when she says she's hungry is "fix me something because I didn't like the last thing you fixed"  It doesnt' happen.  She's the youngest of 4 and I quit being sympathetic years ago.

Another challenge that's just starting is keeping up with meals on the weekends. We have a job that requires us to be out of the house a lot and it can be difficult to plan sometimes.  I'm determined to get better at it.  A new cooler is probably going to be needed since during the hot part of the summer anything we take with us will spoil.

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

March 21 - Market Report

I spent $43 today.

Lots of goodies today

2 yellow bell peppers

3 orange bell peppers

12 roma tomatoes

green grapes (free)

4 kiwi fruits

bucket of spinach

2 boxes of clementines

4 lbs of sweet potatoes

2 lbs of globe grapes

4 lbs black grapes

9 lemons

9 limes

1 small head brocoli

24 blood oranges

2 boxes of strawberries

lime pepper

ancho powder

chives

Lime fiesta spice

some sort of salad peppers.  don't know what kind but they were only $1, so I decided to try them.  They're not spicy at all.

Then I got home and had a salad.

In addition to my market trip I spent $5 on cheese, $7 on rice and chickpeas, & $4 on feta.

This is week 8, but payday comes in the middle of the week, so I have one more market trip to get through.  Going to have to shop light next week - but that should be doable.  Right now I have $37 left for that trip.  That does put 5 trips in March, but not all months are created equal.  :-)

The $300 - Market Report March 14, 2015

Today at the market I spent $50.75  12 on non produce and 38.25 on fruits and veggies.

I got 

4 red bell peppers

4 yellow bell peppers

10 limes

12 lemons

12 small gala apples

3 pomegranates

1 package green grapes

1 package black grapes

4 packages blueberries

8 package strawberries

2 small heads of purple cabbage

5lbs of sweet potatoes

2  bundles green onions

6 oranges

1 small head broccoli

2 bundles organic carrots with greens

3 bundle beets with greens

rose water

pomegranate molasses

local honey

The pomegranate molasses in incredibly intense.  I have lots planned with it. 60 calories to a tablespoon but for most things I wont' need more than a teaspoon.  I'm thinking of making some dressing with it for my lunch time salad this week.  

The strawberries were a great deal, but I have to sort through them and freeze some SOON.  $5 for 8 packages so it was worth the effort.

I have been eating sweet potatoes after my workout.  I enjoy them and they are easy.  Plus beet smoothies this week. Yummmmmmm  (everyone making a gagging face should stop.  Beets are sweet and tasty.)

The current budget stands at 

$96 for the next two weeks.  We will need cheese, but not a lot else.

The $300 budget update

I had $206, but I've spent some since then.

Here's the breakdown

$206
-  44(farmer's market)
-  20 (4 packages of hamburger on markdown)
-    5 (cheese)
-    5( goat cheese)
-    3 (gluten free freezer waffles)
-    3(butter)
-------------

I have $146 left for the month.  That's not too far off target.

We've been eating well.  Had one of those chickens from month 1 the other day, tonight we'll have porkchops and I've had some fancy salads for lunch.

Like this one.  It has pomegranate seeds that I froze when I ended up with several of them on sale.

Colorful salads are the best!

Market Report - March 7, 2014

It's hard to believe that one week ago it was snowing.  Today is bright and happy and sunny.  Picked up the big kid and headed off to the market.  Spent $44.  I need less from the grocery store this week, so the $4 isn't going over budget.


And I got cactus!  I love cactus.

My $44 bought

1 lb green beans

8 large apples

4 head garlic

some free grapes (I like free stuff)

28 mandarin oranges

4 cactus paddles

3 packages blueberries.  Really really really tasty blueberries!!

4 packages strawberries

3 pears

2 cucumber

1 bag tangerines

6 naval oranges

12 lemons

10 limes

10 plums

1 head cauliflower

2 small head purple cabbage

Nobody in my house ever lacks vitamin c!  Between the peppers and citrus fruits we have an abundance of C in our diet. 

The cactus is going to be used in omelettes tomorrow and then in a soup.  If you're not a fan of the feel of okra you might not like cactus.  I'm from a southern family so I don't mind slipperiness of okra or cactus.  Just part of the foods I consider normal.  My grandmother used to fry up okra and I may give fried cactus a try.  By necessity I am gluten free so I'll have to find a good batter that's GF.  When I do I'll post the results and recipe (if it's tasty) on www.kruelwich.com

We were good on peppers this week so I was free to splurge on extra strawberries and blueberries.  What we don't get eaten will go into the freezer before they spoil.  I don't see many of them making it to the freezer.

The 300 - finding things to cook

Menu planning on a budget is a bit of an art.  Not a hard art that takes years of training and dedication - more like learning to use a Spirograph.  IT's easy and pretty fun when you get it right.

I've enjoyed the past month of eating well on the cheap but I'm feeling the need to stretch my cooking wings a bit.  A lot of cookbooks call for stuff I have no idea how to get.  I knew what rose water was but had no idea it was so pricey.  Luckily a little goes a long ways and I found it cheap at the market.  Still looking for black currants.

This past weekend I stumbled across a cache of old cookbooks at a thriftshop.  They were the kind that churches put out as fundraisers.  I snapped up all 16 of them because those are the kinds of things I hoard.

As I was going through them I realized that they are a treasure of things that can ACTUALLY be cooked and usually for less.  These are the recipes that people used and while I need to modify some, they are a great place to start.

I reviewed the oldest one on my other blog

Here's a link.

 http://www.krulewich.com/2015/03/daily-fare-party-flair.html

I went through that one first because it had the most personality.  :-)

The $300 - starting month two

I didn't quite make it in month 1.  I splurged and we went $17 over.

Going to give it another try this month.  I do have a lot of leftovers and stuff in the freezer, so we are in pretty good shape starting out this month.  I just need to stay on track and use that stuff.

This week I spent $47 at the market.  $37 on fruits and veggies and $10 on Hummus and Tzatziki sauce.  Both came from a local restaurant/specialty store.  The hummus is probably  my all time favorite variety.  They just get it right.

For the $37 I got

5lbs black grapes

2 bags key limes

12 roma tomatoes

1 bag radishes

2 honeydew melons 

4 beets

3 orange bell peppers

3 red bell peppers

1 spaghetti squash

1lb poblano peppers

4 lbs sweet potatoes

9 oranges

5 nectarines

2 very small head broccoli

3 cucumbers

2 red onions

I also spent money at the grocery store

$17 porkchops (two packages on clearance - lots and lots of porkchops)

$6 thin sliced steak

$7 crumbled goat cheese

$1.50 purple cauliflower

$1.50 orange cauliflower

$5 goat cheese

$5 cheddar cheese

$2 cottage cheese

$2 sour cream

That means I am at $94 for the month.  I have enough meat to last me probably the entire month now.  I might buy some bacon, but we'll see.  I still have some chicken and ham in the freezer from last month.  I also have broccoli soup base ready to go and tons of fruit for smoothies.  We were also given some fruit this week, huge tubs of pineapple and mango and two fruit plates.  The fruit plates came from a vendor at the market.  It's good to be the balloon lady.  Anyway, I suspect that in a worst case scenario I have enough food in the freezer and pantry to feed the family for a month.  We would lack in fresh fruits and veggies, as well as snack food - but it could be done.  That's kind of  where I want to keep it.  I don't want so much I never go through it, but I do want a backup supply for when something happens and we can't work for a couple of weeks.  

I have $206 left to spend this month.  $120 will go to the market for fresh and then I have about $28 a week for other stuff.  I may have to cut back on my expensive goat cheese habit.  I do love my goat cheese, but I'm also pretty determined to stay under budget this month!

The $300 - month one, week 4, day 5

In the last week of month one.  I've already admitted that we went $17  over budget, but it didn't have to be that way.  I am starting to feel like we over bought on some of the produce items.  It's actually not easy using them all up in a week.  I still have butternut squash from two weeks ago and zucchini from last week.  On Saturday I will adjust my veggie spending accordingly.  I will need more peppers because I didn't buy any this week.  Learning to USE everything I buy has been more of a battle than I thought.  Less waste = healthier meals and more $$ in my pocket.  Next month I am going to focus on some planning.  I'm still bad at that.  I'm also going to get a Costco membership and see if I can cut our cheese bill down.  We go through a lot of cheese.  By we I mean my kid & husband.  I have issues with cheese, so I buy shredded to keep myself from devouring it.  The kid & hubbie like to have cheese on everything.  We saw a sign that said "The secret ingredient is always cheese" and that pretty much sums up their way of think.  :-)

I found this link to budget meals.  I generally like Home Tips World.  I see a lot of their stuff on facebook.  I have not gone through all of the meals, but some look promising.

http://www.hometipsworld.com/250-family-meals-for-under-5.html

A different kind of waste

I hear a lot of people saying that fast food is the only alternative for many poor people and how the $1 menu is the only way to afford the calories needed to keep yourself going when you are working with a limited budget.  I almost bought that. I will say that it's EASIER than dealing with buses and the like to get the food and cooking after a long day, but it's not CHEAPER.

image via http://ylakeland.com/food/eating-well-college-budget/

Right now my son, his girlfriend and their kid are staying with us.  Our food budgets are separate and I have noticed how much they eat out.  My youngest did a fairly conservative estimate and guessed that they spend at least $600 a month of food because they get fast food so often.  $10 a meal, twice a day x 30 days.  That does not include the amount they spend on soda and other junk food, but that's a rant for another day.


I found this chart online showing how much the various fast food companies sell each year.  41billion?  that is so so so much money.

Fast food can easily account for a huge percentage of your budget.  I know that when we had all 4 kids at home it was easily $30 for us to eat at a burger joint.  That was a few years ago, I image that it's even higher now.  But all of that money can buy real food. Food that won't leave you feeling hungry or icky.  The grease always gives me the icks.  I don't think anyone should give up anything 100%.  We still eat out sometimes, but not very often.  It's a treat, not a lifestyle.  That's my goal to maintain a healthier, budget and waste (not to mention waist) conscious lifesytle.

Some other interest graphics I found online.   Most are from www.Sparkpeople.com  They have some pretty wonderful resources.

The 300 - a swing and a miss

I almost made it under budge this month.  Over by $17.  Why?  Because my stress eating and allowing myself to purchase something decadent and bad pushed me over.  I bought foods we didn't need because I was giving in to using food as a medication.

And now I am forced to accept that it didn't just throw me off of my diet, it affected my budget goal and I'm over.

Something to think about for next time.

I'm not giving up though.  I am doing this for at least 2 more months, possibly longer if I can make it work.  I have plans for the savings.

I won't say $317 isn't so bad.  I know it is still a pretty small amount for 3 people, but I also see it as a failure.  Not because it can't be done, but because I chose not to do it.  I mad the choice that pushed me off track and now to show that I can indeed do it and stay on track.

The $300 - food waste

A huge part of eating on a budget is not wasting food.

For so long it was a part of our culture.  Don't waste food - there are starving kids somewhere.  My grandparents grew up during the Depression and they did NOT waste food.  It was hoarded, preserved and enjoyed.  When you come from having nothing you learn to appreciate the abundance of our lives today.  During WWI this was encouraged by the government

Today I sometimes feel like the government encourages waste under the guise of protecting people.  That's a rant for another day.

Just going to worry about my own waste and what to do to avoid it.  I don't see myself as a wasteful person, but I have to admit that there have been things that spoiled because I simply didn't get to them.  Things I thought I wanted to eat that week, but just didn't feel like cooking until they were too far gone. Things that were on sale and the deal was "too good to pass up".  Yeah, it never is, especially when you buy too many to use up.  Things I forgot about.  Way too much food went bad and was wasted in our house.  I might as well have just ripped up the $$ I spent on it.

Meal planning helps, but I am never going to be my oldest and plan everything out way in advance.  I just plan on things I want to cook that week and go with what feels right that day - or what really needs to be cooked quickly. I'm doing a better job of checking things and seeing that I need to use that pepper or this cucumber before they are not so appetizing.

Buying less is an obvious way to cut back on wasted food.  Portioning it out into smaller sized and freezing them so I don't have to use it all at once.  

Serving smaller portions.  I've downsized the size of our plates and even then sometimes we end up with too much food on them.    I can't really believe we used to use those big plates and fill them up.  My body and more importantly, my  mind, are becoming satisfied with smaller portions.  

I save our leftovers and USE THEM.  That was another area I fell down in before. I would save the leftovers with the best of intentions and then toss them a few weeks later when I realized they were still there and uneaten.

Wasted food is a huge problem and it shouldn't be in a country where so many people go hungry.  How does that happen here?  We have so much but there are people among us who don't have enough to survive.  Kids who eat one meal a day.  I think it may be a combination of social program failures as well as personal failures and bad choices.  I'm not saying it's easy, but the maximum amount given in food stamps for a family of 3 in Missouri is $408 and I wanted to see if it was possible.  My own kid lived on $85 last month, so it's possible for one person who is willing to plan and cook.  I realize that people working two jobs might not feel like they have time to cook, but they are also not getting the food stamps in that amount.  And I do work.  I run two businesses and a charity organization.  I don't work quite full time this time of year, but in the spring and summer I work close to 70 hours a week.  It will be interesting to see if I can keep this going then.  You simply can NOT live on less by eating out all the time.  Even on the $1 menu.

Besides, it's good for the environment.

The $300 report

I had 132.97 after last week's trip to the market.  Then I went to Aldi's and spent $20 - not the $17 I had planned.  I decided I really wanted some goat cheese.  Mostly my budget challenge has made me skip the junk food, but I didn't do that so well this week.  I also spent most of my remaining non-veggie money at regular grocery stores, but that doesn't worry me.  I just had to restock on a few things and I won't need much at all next week.  I won't be going to the regular store next week at all unless I spend less at the market.


132.97
- 20.00 (Aldi's)
- 42.00(This week's Market)
- 30.47 (regular grocery store)
--------------
$40.50 left for the market next week.


We're getting better at leftovers and rotating food to make sure it gets eaten quickly enough.  I am also cooking smaller meals.  It has taken me a long time to learn to cook for 3 instead of 6 now that most of the kids have moved out.  My extra food often went to waste.

Last night I made lots of broccoli soup base.  I froze 4 bags of it so I can make soup later.

We used one of those chickens I bought the first week, but only one.  I made stock with the leftover bones.  When did stock become known as bone broth?  It's just stock.  Maybe I'll get fancy and call it bone broth when I cook with it.  I'm hip like that.

So far I have to say that in Kansas City it is possible to feed a family healthy food for a very low price.  I don't know about other places, because food deserts are very real.  Also I have a car.  Hauling that much home on the weekends would be a pain via bus.  I could buy half and then spend the other half at a the weekday produce market at Truman.  It's Wed. I believe and usually really good prices.  Still it would be a pain.

I know that without the market I would struggle to have the same budget.  Regular grocery stores are so much more $$.  Maybe with careful shopping and going to a variety of stores.  Again, having access to transportation is key.  The house we lived in for awhile  as mired in a place where fresh was unobtainable for anyone without a car.  When our van broke down I had a choice - walk 7 miles each way for groceries.  5 miles to the closest buss stop but that only ran a few times a day and not on weekends at all.  if I wanted to keep the walk 1/2 mile each way I could go to two convenience stores or a Sonic.  I had friends who helped me get to the store and we only had to live that way a couple of weeks, but not everyone is so lucky.

There are some places in Kansas City where the only close grocery store has convenience store prices and limited access to quality fruits and veggies.  My son lives near one of those.  The veggies are always on the edge of going bad and way over priced.  Tons of processed and junk food for cheap.  He does live on a bus route though and it's only a 10 min ride to the nearest Aldi's, so I don't have much sympathy for him when he refuses to do that.

 I have not ventured into the various Asian markets around town but I have been told to check them out as well as the Indian markets for lower prices.  Maybe I'll do that next week and see what I can add to my pantry.  They are located in neighborhoods all over town, and could be a great option for people trying to eat well on a budget.

A belated Market report

I have been under the weather so my bike ride has taken a hit.  I'm going to be in KS forever!!  :-)

I did make it to the market on Saturday and went $2 over budget.  This is what I got.

2lbs pablono peppers

6 green bell peppers

3 red bell peppers

4 yellow bell peppers

3 mangos

6 grapefruit

3 smaller heads of broccoli

1 honeydew melon

3 zucchini

4 cucumbers

1/2 lb Serrano peppers

4lb strawberries

6 larger carrots

12 tangerines

6 oranges

6 lemons

2 bags of limes (about 18)

1 head cauliflower

10 plums

The bananas were free

We eat a ton of vitamin c.  you think I wouldn't ever come down with a cold!  It's actually not bad, just has me dragging too much to get anything done.

This week's Market Report

Another week - another visit to the market.  Today I came in $4 under budget, though I'm probably going to spend that at a traditional grocery store.

For my $36 I got

4 red pears
2 smaller butternut squash
10 kiwis
1 package of  habanero peppers
2 bags of spinach
1 giant bag of green onions (I have no idea what to do with that many, but it was only $1)
6 mangos
3 large red onions
4 baking carrots
4 grapefruit
1 lb jalapenos
1 lb poblano peppers
5 plums
7 limes
6 lemons
6 oranges
3 large avocados
2 bags of small sweet peppers


I still need to buy for the week
shredded cheese
snack food for the husband and kid
butter
maybe some broccoli

Before today I had $168.97 left over for the week.

Now I have 132.97

Two more trips to the market will use up $80 of that and I have only $17 a week left over for each of the 3 weeks.  I estimate I will spend $10 this week on additional items and think each other week will come in under too.  Basically, it's looking good for keeping it below $300 this month.

The $300 - Most of a week done

Slashing my budget means I need to make use of everything.  No more leftovers sitting around going bad.  That's a lunch or two just waiting to happen.

The other day I made my ground beef coconut curry with peppers

Recipe can be found on one of my other blogs krulewich.com  

http://www.krulewich.com/2015/01/ground-beef-coconut-curry-with-peppers.html

It works out to be less than $1 per serving.  It makes 6 servings for normal people, 4 for us because my husband loves it too much and will eat a HUGE serving of it.  Because there were only 2 people home I was able to have leftovers and we had it for lunch the next day.

I serve it on cabbage.  That one head of cabbage lasted me for 3 meals.  I didn't make it a centerpiece of any of them, but it was something I served stuff over or added to other stuff.  It cost me $1 to buy that head and I got 9 meals out of it.

In the past I have been guilty of not making the best use of my leftovers - even if it was a part of a vegetable that I should use.  Too easy to just let things sit in the fridge until it was time to throw them out.  I can't do that now.  Everything has to be used if I want to stay under budget.  

Waste not, want not.  That's a phrase that should have been my motto all along.  We live in a society of waste.  Huge amounts of good food are thrown out every year.  Food that SHOULD be put to use.  I'm going to do my best to keep the amount of food waste around here as close to zero as possible.

I'm a couple of days away from my market visit.  It's time to start a list of what I need this week.  Surprisingly I'm good on lemons.  I didn't use as many of  them this week as I normally do, but I'm running low on oranges.  We snack the heck out of them and of course the bananas are gone.  They are snapped up after workouts and I like to put one in my morning smoothie.  We still have more veggies leftover than I anticipated so I will be more cautious in my buying this week.  

French Toast

Starting my budget meals off with a bang.  The kiddo had a friend over so I got fancy for breakfast with French Toast and fruit.  Worked out to be $1/serving.

I realized it's going to be hard to calculate some things because  if I've had them in the house  won't likely remember how much they cost.  Also milk & coffee are luxury items for me so I don't count them against the budget.  

Milk as a luxury?  Yeah, I prefer the taste of raw milk.  It's WAY WAY WAY more expensive than regular supermarket milk.  It's also something that can be eliminated from the monthly budget if I feel tight that month.

With coffee, it's more complicated.  I'm not going to eliminate it and I'm not going to drink cheap coffee ever.  Maybe it's a necessity, not a luxury.  I do save money by roasting my own beans.  That makes it about 20 cents a serving most of the  time.    That's a big savings over 45cents a cup from the kind I buy when I purchase roasted.  Funny thing even that is cheaper than those darn K-cups which are not not not good coffee (and bad for the environment).  Some people think it's fancy and rave over them, but gag - no.

Coffee is an experience for me.  From roasting to hand grinding to pour over brewing.  I don't take cream or sugar in it very often now.  Good coffee will do that.  You learn to enjoy the taste and don't want to hide it with other stuff.  You can follow my coffee life on one of my other blogs www.krulewich.com  I'm posting my year in coffee there.  On my instagram I post a cup a day from my collection  I love thrift shops and have tons of cups.  Too many.  I'm displaying them this year and as part of my minimizing my life I will keep a select few and sell the rest.  They are almost all vintage cups and as much as I enjoy them - I just don't have the space.  I'll post a link when I get around to that.

Back to budget food:

Lunch is leftovers and dinner will be black beans cooked in stock made from the bones of those hams I bought yesterday.  I boiled them with some peppers and made 3 quarts of stock.  Two will be saved for later and one was used today.  Black beans with a bit of ham and some gf cornbread from a mix I have on hand.  Today's food will come in at around $3 per person.  That's a tiny bit lower than my goal.  Good, because some days will be over a bit.    It's a rough estimate of course.  I'm not sure how to count the ham stock.  Mostly those would be trash, but I was able to get some good eating out of them and turn the stock into several more servings.

Oh well, as long as I only bring in $300 worth of new groceries for the month.

The 300 - month one, shopping trip 1

Ham 14.35

chicken 3.45

chicken 3.54

chicken 3.57

tomato paste .39 (x3)

4 ears corn 2.49

bag of tangerines 2.49

green beans 2.50

diced tomatoes .89

hazelnut spread 2.49

shredded cheddar cheese 2.79

chicken broth 1.49

Gluten Free Bread 3.99

Tortilla chips 1.19

Sour Cream & Onion Chips 1.49

Spiral Sliced Ham 16.85

2 lt. Dr. Pepper 1.48

2 lt. Cream Soda 1

Apples 3.50

Pears  3.67

Pork Chops 6.17

Smoked Sausage 3.98 (x2)

6 bell peppers 4.00

24 bananas 4.00

3 yellow bell peppers 1.00

12 kiwis 2.00

7 limes 1.00

12 lemons 2.00

12 oranges 2.00

6 cucumbers 2.00

2 bags blood oranges 4.00

2 large sweet potatoes 3.00

2 lbs poblano peppers 4.00

10 Anaheim peppers 1.00

6 pomegranates 8.00

3 heads broccoli 3.00

2 cantaloupe 1.00

3 boxes of strawberries 3.00

For a grand total of 131.03

That leaves me 168.97 for the rest of the month.  I won't need more meat.  I have a chicken for each of the next 3 weeks plus two entire hams, pork chops and 4lbs of sausage.  I have some ground been in the fridge and some in the freezer, so I'm good on the meats.  I also have plenty of beans and rice.  I will spend about $40/week on more fresh fruit and that leaves me 48 for other things.  That's not bad at all.  

Next month will be more difficult.  I won't have some of the stuff in reserve like GF mac & cheese or potatoes.  I do however have quite a bit of canned and boxed foods that I need to use up.  I looked them over today and I will do an actual inventory sometime over the next week.

Month one will be doable and not even all that difficult.  I'm not sure I could go that low without the kick ass prices at our local market.  It's practically a produce wholesaler.  

Shopping

My week starts on Saturday really - being a balloon artist will really make your schedule different from everyone else's.  So I decided to start my menu planning on Saturday.

Made myself a simple (read, not ink intensive) planner and can print it out to add to my master calendar binder.  I also made a simple shopping list.  I can do both in just a notebook, but I always lose notebooks, I don't lose my master calendar.

Now I have to figure out why everything saves with gray background.  Right now I am using my husband's computer and he must have some odd settings.  When I do it on mine the background saves as white.  It printed from google docs with white.  I can't wait to be using my own computer again.  Ok, fixed it.  When I save things as jpg on this computer the background is gray.  That's why my squats pictures are so odd.  I save them with white, but this computer makes it crazy.  Saving as a png seems to have fixed it for now.

The $300 - planning

$300 a month for groceries is $392 LESS than the USDA says we should spend on a budget meal plan for a family our size.  It's even less than welfare figures - which is $4 a day per person.  I won't do it every month.  I'm going to try to for 3 months and if it doesn't work I will up it to $400 a month.  Still enough for me to save.  My goal is to spend $1.19 per person per meal and BANK $1.19 per person per meal.  That savings will come in handy during my slow season.  Work can be scarce during the winter and this year was tighter than most.  I don't want that kind of stress anymore, so I'm going to try to save 4x as much during the busy season this year.

That money is going to be set aside and not talked about.  Talked about money is vulnerable.  There is ALWAYS some crisis that sucks it up.  It's like the car or appliances know when I have extra money so they take it.  It's going to be my secret.

I have goals for the money.

1.  To have 3 months of income ready for the winter

2.  To have an additional 2 months of income ready for whatever

3.  To pay for the kiddo to take some classes at the community college.

4.  Race entry fees.  We love races and the community at them, but when you pay $30-80 per race per person it adds up!

That's a LOT I know, but my summer income is nearly triple my winter income, and food isn't the only place I am cutting back.  I'm trying to get the whole family in on it.  I know the kid is on board, just have to get the husband motivated!  His weakness is vending machines.  I'm going to assign each of us an allowance, so he can visit the machines SOME, but will know his limits.  

I guess getting my stuff together financially was one of my New Year's Resolutions, even if I didn't realize it a month ago.  :-)

The 300

My goal for the next 3 months is to stay below $300 a month for food for the family.  That includes our eating out money, but I have a separate budge for the milk.  I guess I could put eating out in a different category and then include the milk, but I did it this way since I always set money aside for meeting my farmer.

The $300 is for a family of 3 two of who can not eat gluten.  That's $3.57 a day per person for food for Feb.   There is not way to afford much junk food on that.  OR we can eat only junk food. I'll go with the first one.

I'm estimating that 160 of it or so will be spent on fresh fruit and veggies at the market.  That number goes up and down, but $40 a week is a good guess.


It will take some planning, but the savings will be worth it.