Goals Update

1. Establish emergency fund and not be below 50% of the goal amount by December 31, 2010 (barring an emergency at the end of the year). Funded 2/5/2010
2. Pay off Mastercard. Done!
3. Start and maintain a price book. Started 1/17/2010 but haven't touched since
4. Finish 2 large unfinished projects. Painted DS's room 8/2010
5. Finish 2 small unfinished projects New showerhead 2/2010
6. Complete 2 cross-stitch projects. Finished one 7/2010
7. Establish an exercise routine. Uh, not yet
8. Purchase either a refrigerator or hot water tank with cash. Not likely to happen

Well, this isn't really as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm not sure the emergency fund goal will be fulfilled at the end of the year, and I'm pretty sure I won't be purchasing the refrigerator or hot water tank this year. Every time I think I'm starting to make headway on my financial goals, it's a 1-step-forward, 2-steps-back sort of thing, which is discouraging. I did purchase a used Ford Taurus from some friends of ours with cash, so maybe that can be substituted for the refrigerator? :-) I've kind of given up on the price book. I pretty much shop the sales anyhow and don't really have room for a huge stockpile, so other than target prices for meat, I'm finding it wasn't as much of a help as I thought it might be. I should be able to finish the three goals regarding different projects -- it's just a little harder to find time now that most of our weekend afternoons are spent out on the road so a couple kids can get some driving hours in. haha Maybe I should go back to monthly goals that are a little more fluid over the course of a year!

Meal Planning Update

So far, my new method seems to be working quite well. Granted, it's only been 1 week, but so far, so good. I have stayed under budget with my grocery spending, we did not get fast food for dinner once this week (yay!) and my son has been quite happy to get a specific answer to his daily "what's for dinner" question instead of the usual "I don't know yet." I would like to be able to get a better handle on leftovers, either being more proactive in freezing them, reusing them in a different meal or not making so much to begin with, so that is also something I'm working on. This afternoon I'm going to get a head start and work out the meal plan for the following 2 weeks since I get paid later in the week and will be hitting the stores either Thursday or Friday. I've been bad about putting off making a list and getting coupons together until the last minute this summer, and I'm working on getting more organized again with that, too. I'm hopeful that I've found a system that will work long term, or at least until the kids "fly the coop" in a few, all too short years!

Meal Planning, Take 3,560,983

Well, at least it seems like I've tried this 3,560,983 times! I'm trying something new-to-me that many other people do, I'm sure. In reading $5 Dinner Mom's book, she mentioned how each day of the week has a theme. Monday is chicken, Tuesday pork, etc. I've keep thinking about it, and it seems like that would be a smart thing to do. Not only will it help with not being bored with meals, but I'm hoping it will cut down on the grocery bill a bit too. Not that I've been going over budget or anything. Nope, not at all! haha

Anyhoo, this is what I will be attempting over the coming weeks: Monday = chicken; Tuesday = beef; Wednesday = crockpot/roast/one-pot meal; Thursday = leftovers; Friday = pork/pizza/pasta; Saturday = new dish/longer prep meals; Sunday = pizza with Grandpa. My shopping list this time was much simpler and shorter. I picked out 2 recipes for each category, and really other than some basics that we're low on after my baking spree last weekend, we just need chicken, hamburger and a few "buy every grocery trip" items.

I'm also attempting cash-only again, so we'll see how that works. My goals here are to keep the grocery budget under $250 a month and to simplify meal planning and grocery shopping. Hopefully this will work out better for me and there won't need to be an attempt #3,560,984 for a very long time! :-)

I Think We're Becoming Foodies!

Us? Foodies on a budget? I have to laugh at this. :-) We love shows like Top Chef, Chopped, Iron Chef America, if nothing else but to see what weird culinary preparations they come up with. Now 95% of the time, we'd never even think of eating the dishes these chefs prepare, but we are becoming more adventurous (for us) in trying different meals.

We did the bi-weekly grocery shopping last night. Having both kids with me ensured that I would blow the budget right out of the water, and that I did. I can't be too upset, though, because the majority of the overage was spent on different fruits that they wanted to try. Candy and junk food I can say "no" to quite easily; fruits and veggies, I can't. Papayas are new to us, and I'm going to attempt guacamole for the first time with fresh avocado. Not too outrageous but a little more variety than the usual strawberries and bananas. (I did buy those; only the bananas actually made it home - DS ate 16 oz of strawberries in the time it took us to drive 1/4 mile from Aldi's to Wal-Mart. Not that he's a growing boy or anything!)

But what really convinced me that we are becoming foodies is when I picked up a bottle of balsamic vinegar and calculated in my head that this is the 6th variety of vinegar I now have in my pantry - white, red wine, white wine, cider, fish and chips and now balsamic. Five years ago, I'd only used white, cider and fish and chips vinegars and probably never even heard of balsamic! I also bought fresh basil leaves and pearl onions. These are definitely not ingredients that my mom would have used. Makes me wonder what ingredients my kids will cook with in 20 years. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll have to go google a recipe to make and use a balsamic reduction. haha!