I'm back to blogging....

Or did you even realize I was missing? LOL

Sorry I did not announce I was taking a break fro here... it was a bit of step away or risk losing my last bit of sanity.

October was not a good month for my family. You all already know that I lost my aunt, I broke a bone in my foot, and my daughter lost her hamster. What happened after my last post was not good either.

On the morning of October 23rd, I received a phone call from my 19 year old away at college. He was informing me that a very good friend of his, and our neighbor was killed the previous night in a car accident. This news hurt our hearts greatly. This was the closest person my son had ever lost, at least that he is old enough to remember. He came home the following day, even though we offered to come get him right then, but he wanted to let his Professors know where he was going. I took the news very hard, harder even than the news of loosing my aunt. But then again, I had not seen my aunt in years, but our friend used to be at our house often. No parent should have to lose a child, death is a terrible thing to deal with, but someone so young just seems so much more tragic.

Also during this time, our mini van did not pass inspection. I sat for three hours waiting and then get an estimate for over $700 for what needs to be done to get it to pass the state inspection. When it rains, it poors!

I did not get much accomplished with my college classes for almost the next two weeks. The things that did have deadlines were not my best work and things that did not have to be done by a certain date just sat there, untouched.

I have finally gotten things pretty much caught up, and hopefully producing work that is more up to my usual standards.

So far November has been better. Dh worked on the van....and guess what? A few bolts were loose, and when HE took it to get re inspected, it passed! Let's just say that we will never go back to that place again. He did not even touch one of the areas they told me did not pass....so that right there tells you volumes! Anyways... I was just so thankful that we did not have to use our emergency fund for auto repairs.

I also got a wonderful sale price on bottom and top round roasts. I grind these up and pay less per pound than store bought ground meat! Plus, I know what is going into that package of ground beef that I put in the freezer.

I truly do plan to post more...now that school is back on schedule, and my emotions have come back to order. (I still get sad if I think about him, or I run across a picture of him with my kids, but that is just part of living)

I had tried to set a challenge figure to keep my budget at last month....but that did not happen, so I am starting again with November. I will post about that as I get my figures together.

Thursday, 10-16-08

Not alot going on... Picked my mom up yesterday so she can catch her flight Friday morning to go to Texas for the funeral.

I am behind on school work, but have plenty of time to catch up.

Trying to get back into the practice of keeping a price book, prices are getting all screwy! Yesterday I realized that basic canned veggies are 3 cents a can cheaper at Walmart than Aldi's! So... who knows what else I will find. Also trying to get back on track with a monthly budget. Need to do some adjusting now that there is only four of us here. I should get it down nicely.

Update on monthly spending

Hi all,

I have been wanting to post some pictures I have taken with my new camera, but we lost the programs I normally use when we got this new computer. LOL I will post them as soon as I can....promise!

Okay, back to the budget.

As of yesterday, I have spent $246.69 of my budgeted $350.00 for food, and $10.53 of my $50 for animals and misc.

Considering this is the 17th of the month, and I will not need to buy much for the rest of the month, I should be able to make my budget. I think I will use the excess to stock up on any meat sales that happen between now and the end of the month.

So...how is your grocery challenge going?

Using the USDA's Guide for grocery budget.....

I decided to look up the USDA's website to see what they had for their monthly food budget plans. (I always like to see how much less I spend than what they
"think" I should! LOL)

The most recent figures they have are for April, 2008 (here)

For their "Thrifty" plan for my family, I should be spending $694.07 a month on FOOD! Let me just say, even with my being lazy that last couple of months, I did not spend even close to that amount on food! I also did some stocking up and did not come close to that amount!

I am still planning on spending just $350 for this month, with a budget of $50 for non-food items (this will include pet supplies also). This is a very reasonable amount, since I have a nice pantry and have been working with a pantry for years.

Our garden is also starting to produce, so that helps keep costs down at the store. I also need to look into some new canning recipes so that I can stock up my pantry with home made items!

Getting back on the frugal bandwagon.

Okay,

I have been a bit lax on my planning in the grocery/meals department lately. (I know, that is not a new thing!)

This seems to be my "issue" when it comes to frugality! I just get tired of it! Plain and simple. It happens a couple times a year, but usually only for a couple weeks at a time. This time, it has lasted longer than normal. I am sure I could come up with all sorts of reasons "why" or excuses, but it really just comes down to the fact that I just did not WANT to.

So.... I am figuritively kicking myself in the rear and getting out my menu sheets, cookbooks and figuring what I have in the freezer and using that up with what is on sale each week!

Tonight will be chicken and dumplings because it is cold and rainy... perfect weather for a stew-like dish!

Wednesday will be spagetti with homemade bread.

Not sure about the rest of the week....but will get that planned before Thursday morning! LOL

With prices going up, I can not take the luxury of NOT planning and sticking to those plans.

I need to re-read my own stratigies for keeping my grocery budget down! (I need to go search my blog history for those posts! LOL )