Grocery Budget Challenge

I’ve been dabbling in budgeting. I say “dabbling” because every time I make out a budget I blow it. Go figure. Well, I decided that with the holidays coming up (ie. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years) I should make a practice run with my grocery budget. I have (for no other reason than that’s what I came up with) $180 for a family of 4 (that includes myself and 3 teenage boys). Possible? I guess we’ll see. I’m challenging myself to stick to this and I’ll record my progress here on Learning 2 Live 4 Less. It starts today and I’ll run this for a month – December 10th will be my verdict day.

Day 1

Stopped at Wal-Mart on the way into work to pick up the following:

20 oz Coke $1.38
24 pk Wally world Water $3.98
Great Value Creamer (big container) $3.86
Banquet Chicken Steak Microwave dinner $1.00
Banquet Sweet & Sour Chicken Microwave Dinner $1.00
Croissants Baker reduced $1.50
Great Value Applesauce cups $1.56
Great Value Nonfat Dried Milk $16.42

Total $30.70
Balance $149.30


This trip was spontaneous so I didn’t plan it too well. I needed lunch for the day and for tomorrow. The water is a staple at our house. As for the Nonfat Dried Milk? Oh let me tell you it’s my favorite ingredient to have. Before you say ooo and gross. Let me let you in on my secret. Ok It’s not MY secret but I learned it and live by it. I even have a cheat sheet on the side of the refrigerator to refer to. We go through a ton of milk in our house. The boys still drink it like they did when they used Sippy cups. I save the so called “good” stuff for their drinking and cereal use and then fall back on my powered milk substitutes for cooking, baking, and a few little recipes that the boys love. These included Magic Milkshakes, vanilla milk, and even Hot Cocoa Mix. My favorite site for quick, inexpensive recipes www.hillbillyhousewife.com is a great resource for some do it yourself home concoctions. The point I started with was why I buy powered milk. While it’s not our first choice for drinking, it does come in handy when we run short or a freak ice storm lands like it did last year. Plus, a gallon of milk runs about $ 3.50 maybe $2.89 on sale these days (prices may vary by region ) The box I bought today makes 80 quarts or 20 gallons of milk. Roughly broke down means for less than a dollar ($0.821) a gallon I would save more than enough to justify the hassle of using the powdered version. Again, we still buy good old fashion milk but this is a great addition to stretch our dollar.



Back to my original posting topic: I need to do some grocery shopping tonight and I’ll let you know how I do. I don’t have the first coupon to use (shame on me) but I am going to our discount grocery store because well, I always shop there.  I’m off to make a list and get what we need. First I’m going to do some recipe surfing then list making. Wish me luck!

FRUGALLY FUN FRIDAY!

YAY! The weekend is here! It has been a very hectic week at work and with the first full week of school coming to a close, I think my family could use some good ol’ fashion fun. This gave me the idea to share a few frugal fun ideas.

Let’s all go to the movies! Let’s all go to the movies!
Movies are always entertaining but even the matinee can cost a small fortune. We’ve found a few alternatives.

Public Library – One of the best kept secrets on the planet. Most public libraries have a great selection of VHS & DVDs that you can check out for several days. You can usually check these out for little to no money. To find a library close to you check out the public library link here.

RedBox - This is the best rental option in the world...at least I think so. You've probably seen them around town. Its a movie vending machine basically. For $ 1 a day you can stop by and check out a movie with no late fees. Simply pay $1 a day for each day you keep it. I think it stops at $25 (max charge) after you've kept it 25 days they stop charging you and you now own a new movie. One of the great things about this program is that you can sign up to receive text message promotional codes and receive a free movie (usually on Mondays) but some holidays they run specials for additional savings. Sign up here to get your SMS text message promo code

You can also create a movie co-op with your friends and family and swap movies to catch all the latest and greatest movies without killing the piggy bank.

There's nothing like having the family around a table with a good old fashion board game. One of my boys favorite moments was this past winter when the electricity went out and we sat in the floor and played Sorry by candle light.

Here's some great games (with links to where to get them):

Another great game that does require some electronic stimulation is Scene it! You play it along with your DVD player and test your knowledge of all those mindless hours of TV or movie watching. There's different versions so there something for everyone. Such as:

Movies, Disney, Seinfeld, Friends, Harry Potter, TV Edition, Nickelodeon, Pirates of the Caribbean, Marvel, Star Trek, Turner Classic Movies, The Simpson's, Music, The 80's, Scene It Jr., and a ton more. Its a lot of fun and lets the kids think they're still "Plugged in"

And my favorite is having a cookie decorating contest with the kids. Bake up a bunch of cookies and gather some decorating things such as frosting, sprinkles, etc. and let the kids decorate up a storm. We've done the best looking, ugliest, funniest, and most unique cookie. The winner, well, the winner gets to eat his cookie!

Whatever you get into the best part of having a frugal Friday night is getting to spend some down time with your family and friends. You really don't have to be that creative. Some of best times involved things like a lamp and a wall to create shadow puppets and even just a box that amazingly teenagers can turn into hours of interesting fun. Just remember not to compare it to the big expensive amusement parks and you'll relax and have fun.

Freebies

I'm a freebie junkie! I admit it. I'm so bad that my wonderful parents who I share a driveway with had to trim trees coming up the driveway because the UPS man said his truck was getting beat up by them with all my deliveries of the freebies. I even seem to be able to get a good dent in my Christmas Stocking stuffers with all my freebies. So I've decided to attempt to share weekly my little finds. They aren't always gold but sometimes you can really hit pay dirt.
Here's some for the day

Quaker Delights Bar
Nature Valley Bar
Free planning calendar with $20 of Nestle savings
Free Scrubbing Bubbles Shower Caddy
Free Sample Kit - Scope Outlast
Bodycology sample
FREE Downey Fabric Softener
Honey Nut Cheerios®FREE* sample and a $1 coupon
Total® Blueberry Pomegranate sample
Taster’s Choice Stick Pack Samples
Free Sample Somersault Snacks

These are a few of them for today. I noticed most of them seem food related...I gravitate toward edibles. I'm going to attempt to post a few freebies every week. Hope you enjoy and find something you can use.

Changing up a bit

I've been reading a lot this summer. Mostly really silly fiction but also some things on the Internet and have really gotten interested in Homesteading. Basically, I've been in the slow lane to homesteading without even realizing it. I started another blog a few days ago but decided that really I didn't need 2 blogs about roughly the same thing...learning to live for less or learning to live with less. So this morning...Eureka! It hit me. I'll combine them both. This blog was really just to keep me on track and let me share my victories and losses - so why not share both here. So I've moved my posts from over there to over here. Hope you all enjoy them and I don't bore you or give you the impression I've lost my mind...that I did when I had kids! ha! ha! So enjoy & let me know what you think!

Me