January Grocery Budget Recap and Analysis

I set a budget of $300 for the month of January expecting that I would use a lot of things fro the pantry and freezer and severely limit my grocery shopping.

The totals are in (technically, there's one day left but I don't anticipate needing anything bad enough to necessitate a trip to the store) and the final numbers show that I only ex ended the monthly budget by 7% (or $21).  I think this is a great result because it includes not only two runs to the grocery store this past weekend but also some buying of non-necessities and stock up items.

I think I can do better, though.  To keep myself in check, I've set a budget of $275 for February. 

What makes me think this will work?  I still have an abundance in both the freezer and pantry AND I have 40 pounds of chicken arriving towards the end of the month.  I really need to get some space cleared I the freezer for all that chicken!  Not t mention that February is a short month.

I have a tentative menu started for February up through the 15th.  

What I may need help with is some new recipes to try.  Nothing on Pintrest is appealing to me...

Update: Personal Challenge

WooHoo!  I was able to stay out of the grocery store until ... Wait for it ... Saturday evening.  We ended up going out for dinner Friday night and then I made a pot of Chicken Soup for dinner Saturday night.

After dinner, I ran to the store to pick up a couple of things for Saturday evening and Sunday morning breakfast.  I seem to recall that my purchase was almost $50.  Then today, Monday, I went back over to Publix to get what I needed for the rest of the week - plus a few extras.  I changed my mind of two menu items halfway through the the store so I ended up with a couple of things that I won't need until next week.  Today's purchase was about $53. 

I'm anxious to see where I stand in spending for the month.  I could be close or I may have gone over but I have been more conscience of what I'm spending and I have limited my trips by 50%.  I'm a work in progress.  Just 8 days until the end of the month and it may be possible to have no more grocery trips in January.  We'll see.

New Foods #2 - Tomato Soup

As my second new recipe of the year, I selected The Prudent Homemaker's Tomato Basil soup.

Since I am on a pantry challenge until at least tomorrow, I made a couple of substitutions.  I made half a recipe and used a can of crushed tomatoes instead of diced.  I also substituted a half cup of 1% milk instead of the cream because I am somewhat lactose intolerant.

All in all, it was pretty good but we felt that it lacked something in taste and we weren't really happy with the consistency.  Next time, I will stick to the diced tomatoes (I didn't like the thick lumpy texture and really didn't like the tiny skins) and maybe add a little extra boullion and maybe some extra garlic.  

DH indicated that he would either like it "broth-ier" or more "smooth."  It holds great promise but not quite to our liking - yet.

Now, I'm off to find my next new recipe.

A completed project

XWhen we remodeled out master bath nine years ago, we installed a curved shower rod to make the shower feel wider.  It has worked well but I recently discovered that the bracket was actually cracked on both ends and at risk of falling.  It was going to need to be replaced.

I found a curved Moen shower rod at Bed Bath and Beyond that was $39.  I used a $25 gift card making the out of pocket expense $14 plus tax.  I realized after I made the purchase that I might could have found a coupon online but didn't have one at the time.

This morning I carefully removed the old rod.  The screws had completely married themselves to the anchors so they came out as a whole unit leaving bigger holes than expected.  I smoothed them some and added some spackle.  

The instructions came with small templates.  I used a laser level to create horizontal lines on both the right and left sides.  Then, I used one of my quilting rulers to create perpendicular vertical lines and placed my templates in place.  The instructions called for two screws/anchors at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions.  I elected to add a third screw/anchor on the "inside" 3 and 9 o'clock position for extra insurance that it would not sag.  (This had been an issued with the previous rod.)

After the anchors were in place, I attached the rod.  Two screw positions were actually into studs so I just substituted a beefier wood screw in those two areas.

It's up and working.  I still need to patch the holes and touch up paint before I clip in the decorative covers on the ends.

A Personal Challenge

I'm watching my grocery spending carefully this month to: save money, determine a starting point for our budget and as a push to use our pantry and freezer inventory.  I set a guide of $300 for the month and I think I am at or below budget for the 17th of the month.

To stay on budget, I need to stay out of the grocery store.  So far, so good. 

Tonight, I'm cooking some field peas (DH's request).  I thought these were frozen but they were dried and had been put in the freezer.  I will likely serve these tonight with a ham steak and again tomorrow with some smoked sausage.

In trying to use what I have, tomorrow's dinner will be a smorgesborg of goodies:  smoked sausage, salad, leftover beans and rice, plus whatever else I find to go along.

Thursday, I will be trying a new recipe - The Prudent Homemaker's tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich.  (This will be the second new recipe this year.  I've heard that it's good.)

Also..

In non-food money saving, our shower rod in the master bathroom has developed cracks in the bracket and we are concerned that it will just give at any time.  I stopped by Bed Bath and Beyond today and got a new rod.  It was $39 (it's the curved kind) but I was able to use a $25 gift card that I had.  Tomorrow, I will take the old one down and put the new one up.  I will probably have to patch the walls and do a little paint touch up as well.

Disappointments

I've been working on a post summarizing my quilting over the past year.  Unfortunately, every time I work on it, something happens and I loose my work.  It will probably evolve into a "mini-series" of post so I can get it done.

In the meantime, this has been a challenging week here at the homestead. DH has experienced some frustrating and disappointing things at work and the death of a long time friend and mentor.

I have been on an emotional roller coaster thinking that a job (that I was told about at the end of October and have been waiting on them to move forward with hiring) may not happen.  I had this happen once years ago and it is frustrating and you end up being mad at yourself.  I'm thinking that I just need to let it go and move on.  If it ends up happening, great.

Pocket Change

I'm trying to clear clutter around here.  I decided that I would take my bucket of loose change to the coin machine at the bank today.  I really didn't expect much since it seems like I just rolled coins not a month or so ago.  Fortunately, my bank doesn't charge a fee to use it either.

It took a while to run it through.  I could only put a handful of coins in the tray at one time and then wait for them to go down.  Once I was all finished, I was astounded at the total - $76.18!  Woo Hoo!

I will be taking my rolled coins tomorrow and carefully unrolling each one there for the machine.  This branch won't take rolled coins.  I guess it is easier for them to just new money when they need it.)

I expect that I have about $120 dollars but I will probably keep a roll of quarters on hand here just for some change.  Never underestimate the peace of mind having some cash on hand gives you.  You never know when you might need that cash and not have the time to get to the bank of ATM.

Quilting Mini Series: Part One

As 2015 came to an end, I finished my Grandmothers Garden quilt.  It was hand pieced and hand quilted except for piecing some fabric for the background (a couple of seams).  It was something that I had never done (English Paper Piecing) and it was incredibly portable.  I used mostly scraps with some fat quarters to supplement colors.  

The final two quilts were T-shirt quilts I completed for the twins.  I didn't really enjoy this project.  First, I had to cut up shirts that had sentimental value and try to figure out how to get the biggest image and sit fit some type of pattern.  Of course, there were two..of everything.  I found that t-shirt quilts are expensive considering that you're not buying the "fabric" but you are having to buy the interfacing and it can be rather pricey.  I used fleece as the backing with no batting.  Never again.  The fleece gives too much.  I had about two months to get these done and somehow, I managed to get them completed by Christmas.  They were completely done by machine: piecing and quilting.

After the beginning of 2016, I went back to a quilt I started in the late fall.  More on this in th next episode.

New Foods - #1 Ham and Corn Chowder

Sewing Update is coming soon but in the meantime, here's another goal update.

One of my goals for 2017 is to try 26 new recipes.  DH loves soup and we always have ham leftover after holidays (particularly Christmas and Easter).  I found two recipes on Pinterest for a ham chowder that looked yummy so I combined elements of each.  I was also looking for a way to reduce/minimize the dairy since I am a bit intolerant to dairy.

The result was a tasty Ham and Corn Chowder recipe that quickly comes together.

3 T butter or margeraine

1 T bacon fat (optional)

2 stalks of celery, sliced

1 cup sliced carrots

1/2 medium onion, chopped

3 small baking potatoes (about a pound), chopped bite size

1 T flour

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp dry thyme

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp diced garlic (optional)

4 cups ham broth

8 ounces chopped ham

1/4 cup half and half

3/4 cup milk

Sauté vegetables (except potatoes) in butter and fat until the larger pieces are almost tender.  Add the flour and cook for one minute while staring.

Add broth, potatoes and spices.  Cook about 15 minutes until potatoes are almost done.

Sauté ham with cooking spray to heat through and get a little color.  Add to soup pot.  

Add milk and half and half and simmer on the lowest setting for 10 minutes.  If you soup needs thickening, add a slurry of one teaspoon potato starch and heat through.

Adjust your seasonings.  We liked the addition of some ground roasted garlic.  Garnish with parsley and bacon, if desired.

Makes 3-4 meal sized servings.

New Year - New Goal

I found it very difficult to keep blogging those last few (six) weeks of 2016.  It did give me some time to think about Goals for the new year and I've created a long and diverse list.  I realize that it will be difficult - if not impossible - to accomplish them all but they are goals, not deadlines.

Over the next few weeks, I will be updating my status on sewing and quilting projects and discussing my goals in some detail.  

The first of my household goals is to de-clutter.  I was working on this some in 2016 by trying to sell some stuff that we no longer needed and I will continue this into the new year.  I have also set a goal of purging (trash or give away) at least 100 items this year.  I would like it to be 365 items but I don't want this to evolve into counting trash.  In just the first six days, I have purged 22 items including a whole box of stuff that really belongs to my son. (He took the box home.)

The second goal is to be more efficient with my grocery spending and use of my pantry and freezer items.  January is going to be a strict budget month with $300 assigned to grocery spending.  I'm pretty much on target for that.  I will be tracking my spending throughout the month and will decided on a monthly budget for the year in February.  To make this happen, I need to:

     1.  organize my pantry and freezer and start using those items every time I can

     2.  Used coupons with sale items to reduce spending

     3.  Use leftovers and reduce food waste

     4.  Freezer meals at least once a week

     5.  Reduce meals eaten out

Next time, I will discuss my sewing and quilting accomplishments for 2016 and goals for 2017.