My Wednesday Pantry-$3.00 Meal Plan Shop

      Last night I had a few things I needed for the house so decided since I was venturing out to a store, I'd go ahead and try my 3 Meals for $3 each challenge. This is just the shop, mind you, and I wasn't doing any cooking at 8:00 when I got home. For this challenge, I am allowing myself, unlike my Dollar Tree challenge, to use basic spices and oils from my kitchen. Think of this as an interest post, entertainment, or perhaps something to do if you want to tighten your belt some week. It is in no way meant to say how anyone else should or could shop since prices and dietary needs vary. It also isn't, even though I had more options, the healthiest shop. As I had just bought a 2 pound bag of long grain rice, and a share of a 10# bag of basmati, I was trying to avoid rice. My intent was to make three meals that would serve at least three people, or two people and two children, or two people plus lunch leftovers, which is our families situation right now. Next week I'll share the results.

Here's what I bought, with prices (receipt picture at the bottom of the post):

• 8 pack hotdogs
• 2 can chili beans
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 pound white bread-sandwiches, toasties, and bread crumbs
• 1 box macaroni and cheese
• 2 pounds carrots
• 2 cans potato
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 8 ounces cheddar ( cubes were an in store special cheaper by  a dime over the block)
• 1 can pork and beans

Plan:

Meal 1

Toastie Dogs

Roasted carrots

roasted  potatoes

Meal 2

Chili

grilled cheese sandwich  

Meal 3

Cheesy pasta bake

Steamed carrots

Pork and beans

     I had a sort of idea when I went in, but took advantage of a few lower priced items and managed to be pretty close to $9. I think it is much easier to make 3 meals for $9, than it would have been making a single meal with a $3 shop. Many ingredients are intended for multiple meals. I had no interest in  soaking and cooking beans so went with canned versions, which had the advantage of already being flavored. Originally I intended to buy a roll of ground turkey, but the price was not indicated, I didn't feel like asking the skeleton crew in Aldi and chose to do a meatless chili instead and something with hotdogs. I'm worried the potatoes will be bland, and the cheese pasta bake will be salty and unsatisfying for DH, though I'm sure I will like it. The chili, since I am limiting the ingredients, might come off more like a chili soup, but with the grilled cheese,  DH won't mind. I might have a couple different options to try, but still thinking it through. Have you ever done a budget challenge like this? Am I a bit loony with my self imposed challenges?

Bold February Household and Grocery Challenge

      February starts Monday and it is a nice neat tidy four week month with no lingering days since not leap a year. I decided this was a good month for a very bold Household and Grocery (H&G) budget challenge-aiming for under $350. I'm further challenging myself by deducting $22 for  the cost of two pizza's I ordered and were delivered yesterday, from my great nieces for their dance booster club. These are 26 ounce pizzas so more than enough even with DH's pizza appetite, for a meal each. If you are not familiar with this brand, they started as a company that  sold to  bars and pubs, quick food items where no kitchen was needed and baked in pizza ovens I remember before they were available in stores, people would specifically plan a night out to include a stop at a bar that carried Heggie's. 

     DH did a large household shop three weeks ago, so I'm stretched to think if we need anything related to house or people care, but pup will need dog food, both his canned that we mix, and his jumbo bag of kibble, so this will eat up close to $40. Perhaps we'll need more kitchen wrap, and I do think I am low on my toothpaste and mouth wash, so assume another $10 for all of that. As my self decided rules, if I find a good stock-up price, I'll do so. I'm at liberty to only include the cost of what I buy for the month, and deduct surplus from future monthly budgets. I don't though split the cost of things that last multiple months, like pups dry dog food, or  the mega bottles of shampoo and laundry soap DH bought last month. Oh-TP, I do want to add two multi-packs this month. We opened the  last multi-pack last week, and I want to have a spare. 

     Right from the get go then, I am probably  aiming towards a grocery spend of $260, or on average $65 per week, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for two people, and  I'd like to add pantry items back to my stores as well. I don't want to deplete the freezer or pantry, even though I could be even lower if I do not restock. But I want to do both-low spend and restock. Take out meals will be separate, towards the combined entertainment and meals out budget. Regardless, I hope to whittle $250 from my on paper February budget. 

Strategies:

• Meal planning
• Maximizing leftovers
• Increase plant based meals
• Stretch meat (I firmly believe American meat portions sizes are too large)
• Bake snacks-but don't over do this (I'm telling myself)
• Limit junk food/snacks (for my health goals as much as the budget)
• Portion control (for me-DH can eat as he wants)
• Add variety with new recipes/twists on the same old

     What I don't plan is overdoing starchy meals and skimping on fruit and vegetables. I'm also not going to run to multiple stores to chase loss leaders either-likely this will be one large Aldi shop, and supplement only for fresh food, quick in and out. DH will want good football foods for the Super Bowl on February 7th and one of the pizza's will do for that, but will keep an eye to other affordable pub substitutes like haloumi grilled cheese (still have two blocks I'm rationing and they have fall best by dates), and homemade buffalo chicken strips. The Super Bowl is an event to put on the calendars in the dreary month of February and I'm taking advantage of it! I'm debating putting beer and seltzer on the H&G budget as we have neither in the house right now, or putting in the entertainment budget. We have plenty of other liquor though, several bottles of wine, prosecco, vodka, whiskey, and rum, so nobody fear I won't have my occasional indulgence. I'll figure out the alcohol rule as we go along.  

     Your thoughts? Is this more than enough or do you have visions of DH and I eating beans and rice every day or eating every crumb from the pantry? For reference, I  converted the $65 to Canadian, UK, and Euro conversion rates as of  1/29/2021. I have a lovely smattering of readers in other places so would love to her your conversation and if you feel this is an adequate budget.

• Canada-Dollar 83.02
• UK-Pound 47.40
• Euro  53.55

What to Cook When the Cupboards are Getting Bare

I was pretty spot on last week in my menu plan. Some careful shopping, a minor rogue purchase by DH, and I am left with only $12.50 in the September budget. Pup will need food before the month is over, and there will be a need for some things to stretch next weekend. Considering I started the month with a holiday weekend where I tend to let a little loose with my purchases and DD1 joining us for two weeks, though she bought much of her own food, I think I am going to finish the month under $375-for all household and grocery. I had cooked and thawed hamburger so ended up making a hot dish Friday night instead of burritos and those are moved to this week.  There is leftover Daal for the girls as well.

• Sunday-Pork loin, potatoes, apple sauce, steamed veg
• Monday-Pasta fagiole soup 
• Tuesday- Veggie or pork fried rice
• Wednesday-stuffed peppers + leftovers for DD2 who eats before going back to school for show choir practice
• Thursday-Spinach and cheese ravioli with red sauce
• Friday-tacos, burritos with rice, beans, and cheese rice hotdish with vegetables
• Saturday-Red lentil Daal (for the girls) Cauliflower Rice/Fried Rice because the red lentils went bad and DD1 improvised DH and I met friends out for dinner

On my Friday off, I baked several mini loaves of Oatmeal-Pumpkin bread, with a very old can of pumpkin, bought after Christmas 2016 on clearance but dated to October 2019. I am now down to just a few cups of flour, hardly any vegetable oil, and the sugar is very low. time to stock up baking supplies next month. Three of these loaves went into the freezer for the week ahead. I mentioned a careful shop. I spent $19.67 at Aldi's and bought the following to create the menu for the week ahead.

1 gallon milk
1 jar marinara sauce
1 28 ounce can tomatoes
10 pack flour tortillas 
8 ounce brick cheddar 
1 dozen eggs 
3 pounds apples
2 large sweet potatoes 
Saltine crackers
Honey Nut fake cheerios
loaf of bread
microwave popcorn

My creativity is working overdrive to stretch what is in the house. I'll let you know how successful things were next week. I'm not planning any leftover nights as I think anything leftover will go in lunches. 

Sunday-Turkey breast roast, steamed carrots, cous cous 
Monday-Bean, cheese, and rice burritos with sweet potato wedges
Tuesday-Spaghetti and marinara, meatballs for DH to go along with it
Wednesday-Three bean vegetarian chili and crackers
Thursday-Tuna noodle hot dish and macaroni and cheese
Friday- Homemade pizza with cheese, olives, and onions (this may end up being the last Papa Murphy's coupon for a freebie)
Saturday- Hamburger patties in gravy (like Salisbury steak) rice, and vegetables

DH is sort of with me on this challenge, so I don't think he will go off on a shopping tangent, though came home yesterday with two bags of potato chips and ice cream. I'm calling those entertainment as they are for his football watching. There is a reasonable amount of variety, but even I, a rice lover, might be getting a little weary of rice. Perhaps I'll find some little goodies tucked away to  pep the menu up a bit. What's in your cupboards and on your table this week?

Financial Foolery Wop Wop Wop

"Hold onto your britches; it's going to be a bumpy ride." September will be the financial beast of all beasts. Last month I reported that we were able to save a good chunk of cash, but know September would see the rest of the vacation bills. Little did I realize that DH's check, his last check in August had both of his vacation weeks paid, plus his commission  for a week. I thought one vacation week would come on the September 5th check. I thought it seemed high, but was hoping he just had a really good start in August. Well no. So now in September, we are going to live off just one paycheck really for him, and two for me, a 1/4 cut in what I mentally was planning for. Did I mention we are squeezing financial blood out of a turnip this month? I doubt we will have any cash savings, but I will stretch and stretch some more to not have to tap too far back into savings after we have been making progress. 

We will have another show choir payment due and DD1 needs a few new or new to her clothes.Thrift store hunting we come. We have to do something about the front door before the cold comes or we will leek way too much energy out the door without the storm door and a better sealed door. Murphy really is a swell guy, isn't he? I've no regrets on the vacation but dang if I feel like I'm being given a bit of a slap. Lucy pulling that football away from Charlie Brown-I know how he feels. 

Maybe this is the month I can figure out how to sell some stuff on the Facebook trading site. That would be a help. My frugal list of fun? Oh yeah, bring that list forward for both September and October. Pantry, freezer, and low cost vegetarian options-yes please. We could all use a lighter diet after the mega eating in Europe. Small portion sizes-not where we seemed to eat. This is frustrating, but now I can show my true tightwad skills. I am thrifty-hear me roar. 

August Wrap Up and Final Vacation Costs

August is in the books. In totaling everything for the vacation, we came in at $15,552, which was higher than I thought it would be, but this is every penny for the most part spent including the dog boarding. Most of the balance not prepaid will be paid in September when the final VISA is due, so where the vacation lands us in our overall budget will be finalized when I report September. Ground Transportation was much higher than I budgeted. Seeing the reality of how the Metro system worked and the amount of stairs, learning how Google Maps lay out walking distance and reality of actually walking lugging suit cases, meant we added nearly $250 in ground travel in taxi and Uber. We also added $70 worth of insurance on the two rental cars. We also added a few spontaneous activities such as a movie at the Grand Rex, the largest theater in Europe, on our last Friday night since it was a bit rainy and added the catacombs for our kids. We weren't as economical in cooking either since it was so hot, but we did keep expenses down by eating a lot of cheese, bread, crackers, and wine at home at the end of the day as opposed to at the restaurants.

There are so many things that I would do differently had I known more, but that is often the case of traveling outside your known area. Some things were less, many were more than I imagined, but overall I am satisfied with our budget. This was five people,three countries, two weeks after all and was roughly the same per person we spent when we went to London, and DH was only there one week, so actually we financially did better. I'll still recap the trip and give my opinion on what was worth it and what I'd do differently. Below is the recap in terms of our annual spending priorities.

1.      Fully fund the Roth                                              $13,000

2.      Once in a lifetime family vacation                        $15,552 ($3,000 added +$552 overage)

3.      College Fund                                                       $12,000

4.      College and Show Choir Road Trips                   $  1,500

5.      All State Camp                                                    $     650

6.      Home Upgrades                                                  $  9,000                                                                                                                                  $51,702

Annual Savings Goal          $38,702 ($51,702 priority budget-$13,000 from savings)

Roth                                          $13,000

Taken from Savings                 -$13,000

Vacation expenses paid             $11,751

College/Show Choir trips paid   $ 1,282

All State Payments                    $   650

Cash Savings Increase             $  3,067

Total Savings achieved             $16,750

Balance to save:  $21,962

Eek! This accounts for the last three check pay period I received on August 31, leaving just four months to reach this target. There is a small sliver of possibility of making the target because I'll have tapped out my deferred compensation by mid October so my take home will be more, pus I have a raise at the end of November. DH will also max out his deferred comp, but since he is commission, I can't put any strong estimates as to what if anything, he'll increase. For now, I'll just keep tracking, keep squeezing pennies and see how close we can get. The home upgrades/improvements will either need to be scaled back, deferred, or we tap beyond the Roth into savings. With college on the horizon next year, we know this vacation was a splurge. We will keep ourselves busy with more thrifty get aways for the next five years. 

Really Creative Meal Planning and Budgets

We ate well this past week, though my plan was quite skewed. It does help to have a big list of possible meals to pick and choose from. We had no take out or deli meals, though DD 2 had a birthday meal out with friends and a field trip that included lunch at an Italian market/restaurant. this was what the menu looked like this week.

• Monday-Leftovers-Turkey meatloaf, Sloppy Joe's, and assorted stuff from last weekend
• Tuesday-I was fed too well at my meetings, and DH ended up just making a pizza. DD2 had a birthday meal with friends before her orchestra concert
• Wednesday-We ate the leftover frozen pizza (I again was fed well), and I made DD2 a quickie friend rice with veggie and egg when she got home form work
• Thursday Boneless BBQ chicken thighs, baked  potatoes 
• Friday-chicken tacos, Spanish rice, beans, and cheese
• Saturday (for tonight)-Chicken, rice, and broccoli hotdish

I vow to make my self imposed $380 challenge for May. I have a balance of $28.45 until June 1 and today is May 25th. We're just going up to the cabin either later tonight after DD2 works, though she has an online paper due by 11:00 p.m. so depends if she needs to complete, or early tomorrow through Monday night. We then have Tuesday-Thursday meals to plan for. I forgot a package of greens at the lake last weekend, but still should be good, so am not bringing another green salad, but will bring some vegetables and either dip of hummus. I have many other ingredients in my freezer an pantry to supplement these items.

Here's my grocery list and cost estimate.

1 bag frozen boneless chicken thighs $6
1 box frozen hamburgers $6
hamburger buns $1.00
1 container grape of cherry tomatoes $3
1 cucumber  $0.50
1 bag carrots  $2
1 container hummus or dip $2
2 pound apples  $3.00
box of pasta $0.80
Jar pasta  sauce $1.50
1 container cottage cheese $2

Total: $27.80

Lake meal contributions
Chicken for grilling
hamburgers and buns
veggies and dip/hummus
green salad with vegetables
tuna pasta salad with celery
Tortilla roll-ups

Home meals
any leftovers
Crock pot pasta  with vegetables
Tuna hotdish
grilled cheese and bean soup (frozen)

I have frozen bananas and may make some bread later today or muffins to bring along to the lake. I'm making a pan of brownies regardless as I already have the mix. Lunches should be easy to scrounge, but we do have canned soup and pastas. We have oatmeal and bread for breakfast, plus a few eggs. No one will go hungry. I'll give a final testament at the end of the week since this is only a plan, but one I feel will be successful. 

I'm beginning to think ahead to June. We'll save $60 or so a month with no school lunches, but DD2 will be home during the day, plus potential of assorted extra kids. She'll also be gone for 10 days with a friend, but I'll send money along to contribute to road trip meals plus groceries while they are staying with her friends relatives in Kentucky. I'm helping a few friends with grad party desert bars, so ill fit that into my grocery plans. I probably think too much on our meal budget and planning, but it is an area I feel I can have control over. Challenging myself in these ways helps me feel like I can be more generous in other areas of our budget. 

Techie Expenses-Need To Build into Budget

I apologize for my absence this week writing or commenting on others blogs. I've had an insane work and personal schedule this week, plus not feeling very well, I've not even turned on my home computer since Monday. I've tried to keep up via my phone, but that has been difficult as my fingers don't work the best on the tiny screen. My little $250 computer that I've had for nearly four years is dying, or at least the part that gets me to the Internet is failing. I can only get to certain websites-this being one, but it won't move me through pages nor let me do any searches. I can get to YouTube, but last night it wouldn't open any of the videos. Turning to my phone, it is only two years old, but doesn't have enough speed or memory for the way I need to be able to use it. Add to both of these, our Internet has gotten painfully slow at home and it is time to invest in an updated  WiFi System. We still have a land line, but the phone has been on the fritz (we just have one in the kitchen), so haven't used or really missed it. 

Tech, love it or hate it, it's part of life and has to be planned for. I haven't priced computers for a while and I could still get by on a very low cost model for home use, but the cell phone and WiFi need more thought. Regardless of what I end up spending on the computer, we've got some investment to make very shortly. All my little pay bumps are sure being eaten away! Replacement of technology needs to be built into my families current budget better than just an incidental, no different than we think about other home repair and maintenance items. 

We started a sub savings account when we paid off our mortgage for taxes and insurances, which were no longer part of an escrow payment. About seven years ago when we had paid off a car, we added to that account by continuing to pay ourselves and have used for things like buying a car for DD2 to use. This is also the account that we could tap into to pay off the current interest free loan if we choose. We've tweaked that a bit over the years to include a budget for replacement items in the home instead of cash flowing them like the new dishwasher two years ago.  We did this after having to replace both the washer and dryer four years ago right after we had spent a small fortune on our UK trip. We were mighty glad to have had the sub savings account and not tap into our other savings, but realized we weren't accounting anywhere in our budget for these home replacement items. 

It's time to revisit that account again. Both insurance and taxes have gone up and we need to make sure we have tech replacement accounted for somewhere. Once I figure out what all this tech will cost and the lifeline of it, we'll prorate those costs into the savings as well. My guess is we need to increase this somewhere between $100 and $150 a month to really have a sub account to take care of these normal, but periodic expenses, maintaining peace of mind when we pay the monthly bills. We're giving ourselves until the end of the month to decide if we keep or ditch the land line, which if we ditch, would take care of about $50 a month to put towards the sub savings fund, still leaving a gap. Ugh, there goes my July raise. 

The Saga of May Meal Planning

Happy Mother's Day to all celebrating being a mom, having a mom, or having or being  someone in your life that is special  in a mom like way. I took out the old church cookbook for some homey meal planning inspiration and I can't help thinking of all the mom like folks in the book. We're going for brunch later this morning. DD2 actually will be our hostess, so her grandma will see her for a bit.No gifts for me-I was adamant to all, though I would not be opposed to someone waking me up with the coffee pod already set and a cup  brewed and ready. 

I'm doing well in the household and grocery (H&G) department this month. I'm trying t keep my annual spending to $5,000, which gives me on average $400 per month, plus a couple hundred for overages. January I was self challenged to use up all the extras from Christmas and February if I recall was on target. March and April both had significant overages, but then March shopping went towards hosting Easter and in April I stock piled some paper goods, paper towels or Kleenex not needed for the rest of the year, and a two month supply of TP. I'm hoping therefore to keep May and potentially June to $380, but won't stress myself to do so.

Meals will be humble, but we have several cabin Sundays/weekends, so I tend to make extra food as additional folks could turn up. Leftovers can always be brought home for eating in the week. We have a lot of gift giving in both months with oodles of graduation parties and Mother's Day so tweaking the H&G to a more austere spending pattern will help the overall plan. I have to give Kudos to DH this past week. He only spent $26 picking up fish, tator tots, and sandwich rolls, lemonades, milk, and a couple pizzas. He did pretty darn well with controlling his rogue shop. I mean, he is an adult and if he felt like making fish and tots for supper last Thursday, who am I to always be slapping his hands? Plus, there are a couple pizza's to use if we  end up with a busier week, keeping us from take out. I'm not always an evil grocery  miser.

I picked up breakfast and lunch items yesterday at Aldi's as we were pretty low on both.We needed a supply of fruit and snacking vegetables, and those ate up a significant amount of my estimate for my Aldi shop, but I have an unopened container of hummus plus peanut butter that me and DD2 like for snacking. DH requested trail mix, also a pricey item. Building off what we already have in the pantry, fridge and freezer and my new shop, here's the possible meal plan for suppers for the week and carrying into the following week potentially to have two final low spend weeks.My spending on Saturday was $6.09 at the bakery which included $4.00 for lemon bars for DD2's friend/ my friends daughter who has been unwell and has missed a lot of school, $66.72 at Aldi's and $21.98 at Target, but I used a coupon and received a $5.00 gift card for buying $20 in  beauty supplies. My Target funds went to restocking DD2 in make up remover wipes and micellular water, myself with SPF 15 face lotion and a drastically needed new mascara, and a coral nail polish for us to share. I don't anticipate needing anymore H items for the month. I now have $20 in Target cards, even after giving DD1 some when she was home last month in appreciation of all the help she gave her sister during the snowy weekend. 

Meal Options. Nothing fancy here folks, but should yield a night or two plus lunch leftovers.

• Homemade pepperoni pizza
• Turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, stuffing, steamed Vegetables
• Tuna hotdish with peas and steamed carrots
• Boneless BBQ chicken thighs, baked, sweet potatoes and broccoli
• Loaded baked potatoes, with homemade chicken nuggets, baked beans
• Chicken, rice, and broccoli hotdish-my favorite
• Rigatoni and sauce and salad
• Ham, hasbrowns, steamed vegetables
• Tacos with hamburger, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes, refried beans, Spanish rice
• Veggie and chicken fried rice with Egg 
• Rice crust ham, broccoli, and cheddar quiche with garden salad
• Chili dogs with homemade fries
• leftovers
• frozen pizza

Status Of my H&G budget
Spending goal: $380
Spending as of May 13, 2018 $291 
$89 balance/2$45.50 per week for May 19th and May 26th
Pantry:Full

Lemonade Budget Cooking

My melancholiness from Friday is over or at least pushed aside.  Sometimes talking or in this case writing out angst, is enough to get the "ish" out of my system. On to other things. I learned a new term the other day from the Frugal Queen, called Lemonade Budget. Apparently it is the same as I've always referred to as the beer budget, as in champagne tastes on a beer budget. I guess that might say something of me that I didn't know the nonalcoholic version. Anyway, check out the link to FQ's favorite budget meal. As I try and not only keep my grocery budget in line, I also am challenged now with thinking through healthier options than my  simple carb loaded hotdishes and pastas. I've been wondering about my favorite lemonade budget meal, and how I can make it healthier. 

I make a killer macaroni and cheese.  The trick is to get the creamiest bechamel sauce first, at least 1/3 more than you need to cover the pasta, and then use a good mellow cheddar, and amply coat the macaroni. I've been experimenting with substitutions for the calorie laden cheese, 

Neufchatel cheese has 74 calories per ounce to 110 per ounce cheddar. In my recipe, I use at least four ounces or one cup of shredded cheese, but by using 2 ounces of neufchatel cream cheese plus only 2 of sharp cheddar, more punch per bite, and the recipe drops 13 calories per hearty serving, with no sacrifice in taste. Using olive oil instead of butter adds a healthy fat in the sauce and using whole wheat pasta ups the staying power. As I already use skim milk, the sauce is not that high in those calories, but even reducing 1/2 the skim milk with 1/2 cup of broth, drops another 10 calories a serving. While 23 calories isn't huge, if this is done on 14 meals per week, a pound of excess weight is gone without really doing a thing, not even factoring the health boosts of the oil and pasta, after 11 weeks, or 4.5 pounds in a year. 

Long game, right? If someone said I could be 22 pound slighter in five years without dieting, I'd want to hear what they have to say. Now I need to listen to myself and reinvent how I cook. I know about food, what can substitute for what; time to apply this and not just to my spurge meals. As I challenge myself to reinvent the humblest meals in my home, I'll share my successes and failures with you all.

Menu Plan is Just a Suggestion

I  menu planned on Saturday. Clearly this was not a plan but  list of suggestions for me. I've changed everything up, including not cooking Tuesday at all really, making myself an egg wrap and cutting up a cantaloupe. I'm not sure what DH ate when he got home, but DD2 made a quesadilla with black bean and corn salsa (from jar) and some of the melon. Last night was supposed to be spaghetti but after a grueling commute home as road construction season is upon us, I wanted to just crash. DH made a frozen pizza, of which I had two slices, and I steamed a load of frozen stir fry veggies. A dash of soy sauce and they were delicious.

Despite setting my meal plan aside, it is a smart exercise to know what food I have and at least a game plan to start the week. Tomorrow may still be fish or maybe Wednesday's spaghetti. Maybe I'll make a meatloaf with the hamburger that was going to be in the sauce. If it helps me not buy take out and fast food or go out to eat excessively, I'll keep giving meal planning a go.

This meant I haven't had the leftovers for lunches that I had intended. DH ate all the bread as he came home for sandwiches. I've been bringing a yogurt, fruit, hard boiled eggs,  and cottage cheese. I even stuck a frozen entree in my lunch bag Tuesday, not great for my improved eating plan, but at $. 88, not bad for my budget. I'm going to scramble a couple eggs to bring for lunch today with an apple. I find with not eating as many starchy carbs, I need a bit more protein or I'm dragging mid afternoon. If you meal plan, are you strict with your planning or do you use more as a guide? If you deviate, what are the reasons why?

 

April Financial Update

The April Piggy Bank has been fed. Well, actually, it went on a crash diet, but all good as we fully funded our Roth at $13,0000. We had to dip into savings to do so because our 2017 savings hadn't met this milestone yet by April 17. I did say 2017 would be a series of ups and downs due to inconsistent income from DH and the timing of when we made the various expenditures. I added a new section called Financial Goals Achieved and it feels good to have this one met. 

With the Roth funded, the new savings goal balance is $29,251 with eight months left, an average of $3,656. Since we already made the decision to fund the Roth, and it seems unlikely based on our monthly average of $2,771 that we will hit the target, we'll have to decide if we are OK with saving less towards DD2's college this year, or tighten decrease the savings targets in other areas.Still, I am staying centered as to the important things for my family to put money towards. May will be tight as the VISA charges for April for Easter, yearbook, bridal shower costs, Go Fund Me donations for my friends and niece,and my weekend at my daughters added up and will be on the bill due the end of May. Still, I've already paid for our hotel for nieces wedding, her gift, and a wedding gift for a May 6th wedding.

April Wrap Up

Annual Savings Goal          $40,417
January Deposits                $ 2,200
February Deposits               $1,283
March Deposit                     $4,901
April Withdrawal (Roth)     $13,000
April Deposit                        $ 2,700
Perks to Cash                     $      72 
Savings Goal Balance          $42,241

Financial Goals Achieved
Fully Fund Roth                  $13,000

Revised Savings Goal
Balance  May 1, 2017        $29,251

December Fun Money        $     480
January set aside               $       70
February Set Aside             $         0
March Set Aside                 $         0
April Set Aside                    $         5

Savings Goal Balance         $     405

2017 Goals-Recapped
 DH full 401K and Roth        $19,000
*Home Repair/Enhance       $ 5,800
*Travel                                  $ 7,500
College Savings                    $ 8,117
                                             $40,117
*Left these budget categories in tact even though we have made decisions to reduce travel costs and household maintenance/enhancement categories. I need the challenge. If you are tracking, how was April for you?

Rice Three Ways

A few weeks back, I was making something with rice, and thought I was going to be short. DH picked up rice among other things, buying a massive 5 pound bag. Because of storage, I normally buy  two pound bags, as a mishap with a large bag turned me off the bulk savings. I hadn't opened it, as I ended up with just the right amount still in my rice jar, so it sat unopened, flat, on a shelf until yesterday. With trying to stretch my grocery and household budget under $350, my goal to the end of the month is to stay within $103 for groceries, borrowing from the grocery side for the household items still needed. It was time to put the massive rice purchase to work.

Cheesy vegetable soup over rice: I had  loads of carrots and onions, and some celery that needed to be cooked up. I threw two onions, four wilted and smallish celery, and six carrots, all diced, in the crock pot with my last 6 bullion cubes, and 6 cups water, lots of black pepper, and garlic powder. When almost done, in went four smallish peeled and diced potatoes. One third of the mixture was taken out, pureed, and put back to thicken up the soup, along with the last cup of Colby-Monterrey jack cheese.. I served this, ladled over bowls of rice, for a hearty vegetarian soup, that didn't get sticky since I cooked the rice separately. I'll eat this a few days at work. I know it is carb rich, and lacks much protein, but we"ll eat with fruit and have enough servings of protein for other meals.

Rice Pilaf with vegetables: To go with some Italian meatballs, tonight I'll saute an onion in a few tablespoons of butter, then add 1 cup of rice, two teaspoons of garlic powder, 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning,stirring until the rice starts getting a little toasted. I'll add two cups of water,  a couple teaspoons of salt, half a bag of mixed vegetables, bring to a  boil, stir, turn down to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. 

Chicken, broccoli, and cheese hot dish: I'll make this dish ahead for Wednesday,Three cups of prepared rice, 1 cup of diced chicken, 16 ounces bag of frozen broccoli, 1 can cream of something soup (I think I have cream of mushroom), 1 can milk, salt, and pepper, and the last of the mozzarella cheese, all mixed together, then baked, covered, for 45 minutes to heat through. The moisture from the broccoli as it thaws and covering keeps it from drying out. If it does, I can make a quick white sauce to pour over. (I'll reserve a little rice for a rice crust quiche for Friday)

This will stretch our groceries for this week, and let em get to the weekend with a decent balance to do a medium shop for the last of the month, reserving a bit for milk, eggs, bread, and fruit for the last week. One week eating a higher amount of rice than usual might be dull, but hopefully the variation is enough to look like entirely different foods. I plan to make a batch of chili this month, and will serve with a heaping side of rice to stretch a bit farther later in the month. It's also time to give my daughters tomato risotto another try. Do you use rice in your cooking? Are there any favorites I should give a try this month? 

 

Conquering the Extra Curricular Budget

Show choir, traveling soccer, honors choir, and violin. DD2 is loaded with extras in her days beyond school. Add driving to the list, and the added car, gas, and insurance expenses, and the family of Sam has to find more techniques to stay ahead of the budget. Granted, some of the added gas money will be neutral, as her driving means I'm not using my car gas to bring her, and as there is not a double round trip (as sometimes I go home and then drive back), With her siblings, we provided one tank of gas a month, which covered school commute, and the basic school related activities. After that, they were on their own, and it came from their spending or earned money. This really helped them develop an appreciation of how costly the extra trips are, and that driving is a privilege and an added expense. We'll continue this plan for DD2. She will need to learn to never buy gas without a coupon, minimum of $0.05 off per gallon.She gets good grades, which helps keep insurance manageable through a good student discount-essential! 

2017 will be the year of brown bagging it, or "coolering" it, as it were. We'll use our lunch bag and small coolers for days out, and soccer nights and weekends. We will not leave the house without a refillable water bottle. For show choir, the expectation is for the kids to use the concessions, as that helps cover the host schools costs. I'll go with tradition, but still send her with a packed portable breakfast and snack for the bus ride there and home. (These are 15-18 hour days with travel and competition.) Show choir does a much better job with concessions.Typically the menus include soups, salads, pasta dishes, fruit, and vegetables, and not just the sports concession fare of popcorn, candy, hot dogs and pizza. Spending $10 on a lunch and supper when I know it is going to be decent makes a difference, and I just roll it into the cost of the activity that we budget for. 

We'll continue for the time being with the shared 30 minute lesson, and 15 minute private, which means we are getting 15 more minutes of lesson than if all solo, and she has more motivation to practise with her friend outside of the lesson. Generally, the teacher has at least one lesson time a month with a conflict, and that saves us the $30 for the week. I'll pay the full amount, and slowly build a credit, so we end with a month-two months a year with no lesson fees. Then, that months fee can go towards a future payment for another activity. 

I've talked about working opportunities to earn dollars in her various accounts. I will be putting those earnings in my newly coined "Rain Drops" fund, suggested by the Hawaii Planner. I like that phrase, as it goes with the theme of saving for a rainy day. All together, DD2's extra curriculars come to $3300. While a lot of money, it is nothing compared to what I'm sure other families have invested. Granted, we are involved in organizations that do a lot of fundraising and use volunteer labor, and DH and I put in our time dues to keep the fees low. These activities give her and us, a lot of enjoyment, so are worth staying in the budget. My job is to manage how that budget gets implemented. 

For those of you with kids at home, how are you navigating the expenses? Do you work more to earn, or cut from other parts of the budget, or a combination of strategies? 

Thinking Ahead to 2017 Financial Goals

My piggy bank is back. Despite being way off the mark in our 2nd half of 2016 goals, I found the goal kept me focused and better disciplined at identifying the trade offs spending requires us to make. Starting January 1, I'm going to start a blank slate in the savings department, establishing categories for each area we want to save. This may mean some months, because of the ebb and flow of DH's salary, we may have negative additions.

DD is helping to pay for more of her extras, particularly the travel opportunities through fundraisers, her little part time job, and saving gift money. It looks like she will have the opportunity to go to Ireland the spring of 2018. Some might question our indulgence of these trips, but traveling is a family priority, and her being able to do so within the parameters of an educational opportunity is a double bonus to me. I scrounged my senior year of high school, my parents added little bits to my account, and I had the opportunity to spend a summer in France before starting college. I truly believe that experience changed me as a person for the better and helped me understand the big picture of a global society  and what I most appreciate about my life in the United States. As long as she doesn't take these opportunities for granted, our long term savings plans are not jeopardized, I am OK with scrimping on a day to day basis, as is she. A new pair of jeans is a weeks worth of lunches on a trip, and hand me downs or thrifted versions wear the same. 

DH and I are not getting any younger. We are 55 and 51, with a goal of both of us retired by July, 2025. Neither of us see our 401 K, that's taken out before we see the paychecks, plus I have 5.5% taken out towards my pension, and 1% towards a health savings account. Those funds aren't missed, and will continue to grow. DH had some slow months so that meant his 30% contribution isn't going to reach the 24K pretax this year. We may still decide to do the catch up before the end of the year, but next year I want to plan better.  He gets untaxed perks and bonus's that end up being taxed heavily. So that we can ensure he is maxing his 24K, we'll set aside 30% of those funds as well. We also want to feed the after tax Roth and we are both eligible for the catch up so, total of $13,000. Goal: $19,000.

We made the decision in 2003 when everyone around us were moving into bigger and more luxurious homes to stay put, upgrade a few things to make our home more conducive to a family of five. We  beefed up our payments and paid off the mortgage in full. Keeping that home pleasant, inviting, and a place of welcome is my top, non retirement, 2017 priority. Starting with what will remain on January 1 from the home budget and adding new projects/purchases and we still have an aggressive goal.The project list includes new flooring for bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and entry, redo of the upstairs bathroom, some new landscaping, and either a new deck or a patio slab. Home furniture/goods purchase wish list is a new kitchen table (moving current down to family room with a new paint job for games and entertaining), patio table and chairs, and bedroom set of some sort for us. Any of these can be used/upcycled. We have $7,200 left from current fund. Goal: $5,800. 

Travel, oh I love you so. DD's Costa Rica trip will be paid for before years end, but Ireland is on the horizon. We are planning a frugal driving vacation to Yellowstone, plus want to build up a Europe or cruise fund for 2018. DS can't afford the airfare home, and that is my gift to myself for Christmas. Add a few weekends away for soccer, show choir, and family time and we have a hefty target. Goal: $7,500

The last but not least category is to work towards having at least an additional year of college tuition, room and board at a state college saved in cash, above what is already put away for her before her freshman year. I've done the projection calculators as to what costs will be for 2019 to 2023 and came up with $87,200, average $21,800 per year. We'll have 32 months to save the additional target. 2017 Goal: $8,117.

My heart is racing, but these are just goals. The grand total becomes, $40,417 or $3,368 per month. Realistically, I don't see it even remotely possible to make this, but seeing the numbers and what the money will go to should help our resolve to not waste, think about each purchase, and identify ways to add revenue. This is beyond ambitious as it means we are saving/targeting 58.5% of our income (including the 33.25% pretax that comes out before net pay) and living entirely on only one of our take home earnings. If successful with the Roth and topping off the 401K, the long term savings rate is 45% of gross income. All this assumes our base emergency/6 months minimal living fund is kept in full, but not adding to it. Maybe 2017 is the year I get creative and finally sell/unload some of the items no longer used or loved, chipping away at the totals. Maybe there is some untapped earning opportunity for one of us. The point is, we have goals with our money and no where in the list is  shopping as a form of amusement, over stocking my closets with more stuff, eating out every week, or seeing all the latest movie releases. Who else is thinking about financial goals for 2017? What strategies will you deploy to get there?