ugh....

so far this year is a bust, isn't if funny when you set out to do something, God throws a monkey wrench, a sink and a two ton kidney transplant into the mix. So, We have been stop start with going to ohio, because tim, while attempting to give a kidney, hurt his leg because the transplant team kept him on his side for seven hours and he lost blood flow to his right leg. It caused a condition called ischemia. It's been a week and he just started walking today. I wont get into the whole thing but I will start over again next week. You know what they say. Don't quit quitting.
chris

Grocery shopping and the pitfalls of cash....

Well, I allowed myself 100 dollars to shop for a family of four. I got most everything, however, I now realize that either I have to fundamentally change what we eat or increase the food budget by about 40 dollars so I can stack my pantry. I was able to buy meat for dinners, potatoes, cat food and litter, milk but not bread (which i will have to make with flour I purchased three days ago. I already have eggs, but no oil. I think I will have to have a pantry budget and a food budget. It is looking like 440 dollars a month then. I would feel like I am cheating but looking at it, and trying to be healthy as well...I just can't see how I can buy fruits and veggies and meat and starches and pet supplies, cleaning supplies etc. for 100 dollars or less a week. Heck, a gallon of milk is 2.68. A pound of hamburger is 2.62. I skipped oranges and orange juice, and just got apples and bananas..The apples were 4 bucks. NOw you look at one gallon of milk, one bag of apples, and one and a half pounds of meat, and you've already got 9 dollars. Cat litter was six dollars, so 15 dollars right there. Then cat food was three so 18. I bought chicken thighs for 4.98 for four and a half pounds. So, 23 dollars there. Potatoes were 2 dollars for 5 lbs. 25 dollars. I found cereal for 1.89, mulitgrain cheerios, that makes 27 dollars. I bought 5 cans of beans for .60 cents a can, (we are at 30 dollars) but didn't have to buy rice because we already have it. If I had, that would have added an additional 2.60 to the food bill. Our commissary charges a 5 percent fee on all purchases which most people don't get when they purchase food as well. So for one hundred dollars, it's a five dollar fee. I bought two more pounds of hamburger and some sweet italian sausage for spaghetti. That was a total of 7.50. Coffee for 6.50, mac n cheese and .59 cents a box, 8 packages of ramen, a package of carrots, head of lettuce...i could go on and on. Maybe someone has some good ideas. Maybe I am still doing something wrong. ???? I was or would have been on this budget, unable to buy eggs, bread, oil, pasta and still purchase meat. It ain't like i am buying steak. Just hamburger, pork and chicken. Every package of meat besides the bulk frozen chicken was under 3 dollars. So, looking at it this way 7 nights of meat is 3 dollars plus sides, veggie and starch. If I look at that 100 dollars as only food...no soap or laundry or pet supplies, maybe it would work then. If I divide 100 by 4, that is 25 a week a week per person, 3.58 per day, per person or a dollar twenty per meal per person. That is without buying anything but food. Okay then. Maybe I need a home maintenance, pet budget outside of the food budget. If anyone thinks this is cheating let me know. I am doing this in an effort to seperate our wants from our needs. We, unlike many people, are able to afford more. I am not going to say we are bad off, we aren't. I just feel that we need to start putting our money out in a more resonsible way. We were spending 600 a month. We bought a lot of things that got thrown away. There was a lot of waste that I would like to eliminate. I wold also like to take the money I am no longer spending and use it for rotating long term food storage.
tired and going to bed now,
chris

Eating out

Okay, so tonight My hubby and I went out to dinner while using a free large pizza coupon which we received last year. We decided to use it up so we went tonight. We got a free large pizza, then decided to get sodas and bread sticks, which cost $6.60. Using our 10% military discount, our night out came to $5.98. Not bad. This is the last time we eat out this year. We felt it wouldn't be very frugal to not use a 15 dollar coupon. I was supposed to go grocery shopping today, but since I hadn't had a chance to make a list or even decide what we were going to eat for the week (on a hundred dollar budget). I skipped it and we made do with what was in the fridge (eggs for b fast, peanut butter jelly for lunch, and we all managed to have pizza, me and Tim at papa teddy's, Sophie at a friends house, and Kate from the two pieces we brought home). The cat was out of food, so we made do with a large can of tuna and any broccoli scraps that were left over. He thought it was a treat. I have also had a really bad cold. My little brother left his airborne stuff ( he is back in las Vegas so it wasn't like we were going to mail it)and I have been using that instead of buying cold medicine. I am feeling better already. So, to the frugal round up ....I did eat out, but for 5.98 instead of 25 dollars. I am making time to make a menu and will post tommorrow or the next day on what that looks like and I am repurposing old cold medicine. Not too bad.
till tommorrow,
chris