Can we REALLY Do This, Week 1

We finally finished week one of frugal living. It wasn't THAT bad.

The good parts:
*I only went to the store ONE time. The weeks with daily trips to the store was grating on my last nerve. We used what we had.
*We had dinner at home every night.
*Money stayed in my wallet.
*Most things I bought at Aldi were as good as name brands, if not a little better.
*Our lunch on Friday was covered by a Genghis Grill gift card that Hubby received for his birthday. 

Unfortunately, we blew through almost all of our $50 entertainment budget on Saturday. Our oldest had a friend sleepover, while the youngest had an 8:00 volleyball game. I couldn't muster getting up early enough to take a shower AND cook breakfast. So donuts it was! Then after the game, we went out for a REAL breakfast with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Saturday night Hubby took the girls to the Daddy/Daughter Sweetheart Dance and he had covered the cost of the tickets with some of his birthday money. Sunday lunch was covered by the church in appreciation of the children's Sunday School teachers*.

The entertainment budget will have to be re-aligned.

Week two has started off with both of us getting gas. My car was $52. I'm not sure what Hubby's gas bill was. I made a trip to Aldi once again and spent $79. Plus, I went ahead and used the grocery budget to cover our idiot, sock-pooping dog's heartworm/flea pill. That was $26.

We made our own Valentines this year instead of buying them.

 We had a lot of fun making them!  Hubby and I might take advantage of some Pappas gift cards we have for lunch on Valentines Day. Pappas was running a special if we bought a certain amount of gift cards we would receive "bonus" gift cards as well. Hubby needed them to give to some of his team members after working some horrendous hours back in December. Thankfully, Hubby's boss said to expense them.

So bring on week 2!



*whew

Can We REALLY Do This?

Thanks to my recent passion for Pinterest, I've come across some great blogs that have craft ideas and DIY remedies for everything to do with house cleaning. I've started following several of the blogs and a recent post after the New Year caught my eye. The blogger had taken on a challenge of "31 Days of Nothing". Which is basically re-thinking every penny that goes out the door. Every. Penny. Instead of giving those pennies to someone else they chose to keep them.  You can find the post here. She had taken on the challenge brought on by another blogger.

Hubby and I hardly think twice when it comes to spending money. Shame on us!  We don't give going out to eat a second thought.

Yes, we've gone through a popular financial management class. But after several years we got lax about it. So I guess we thought it was time to shake it up again.

After reading how her progress went for week one I had to forward the post on to Hubby. We read each and every week! It sounded intriguing. What could it hurt if we tried it*? So Hubby broke out the budget and we tweaked and tweaked. Our goal wasn't necessarily the same as the one I got the idea from. We were shooting for a monetary goal.

The two things we couldn't touch, in my mind,  in the budget was the line item for children's clothing and the gift fund. Kids clothes DO wear out**.  And there will be a birthday party sometime, somewhere around the bend that the girls will be invited to.

This is how our  31 Days of Nothing budget looks:

Grocery $200/2 weeks
Entertainment $50/2 weeks
2e's blow money $50/2 weeks
Hubby's blow $0/2 weeks!

From the first paycheck we were able to scrape off $450. The second paycheck we're able to get an extra  $550. Paydays for Hubby fall on the 5th and 20th of every month. So the first week will start off on February 6th for us. I went to the bank and got what little cash I needed***.

I went to Aldi after going to the bank. I purchased 39 items for $84.41. Some of the items included, but not limited to:

turkey bacon $2.29
Moo tubes $1.99 (Go-gurt knock off)
milk $1.99
eggs .99/dozen (2)
chewy granola bars $1.59 (2)
raisin bran $1.89 (2)
honey wheat bread $1.29 (2)
bag of tilapia filets $5.99 
pork tenderloin $4.71

I also purchased three pounds of ground beef, chips, mac & cheese, pink pancake mix****, soda, produce, frozen veggies, butter, and other necessities. I didn't need any fruit because I still had plenty from a get well basket Hubby's office sent him. I also had just gotten some other fruit for my daughter's volleyball team for the after the game snack. I also had a big bag of chicken breasts in the freezer.

I have no menu written down, but I know tonight I have chicken breasts thawing and some bread crumbs. Throw in some frozen veggies and we're good to go*****. Tuesday night is always breakfast for dinner. Wednesday I'm thinking tilapia. Thursday will probably be salisbury steak and Friday might just be a free for all. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

The key this month is to eat what we have. No trips on a whim to the store. 

I'm glad this challenge happened to fall on the shortest month of the year! So here's to our week one. This could be a very interesting experiment!

* I ask with trepidation!
**or they need shoes
***aaaaahhhhhh!!! Can we REALLY do this?
****Valentines Day is coming
*****They won't be frozen when served, they'll be steamed.