My kids are eating more. I knew it would come, but they ate alot before, so it still surprised me just how much food we would go through. Brian is working a really physically demanding job now and he's eating more too... and on top of it all, I've been working at getting healthier foods into us. That seems to equal more $$. We didn't get any venison last year, so thankfully people have blest us with extra meat, we've had quite a bit- beef, venison, elk, it's all been a great blessing. But I have had to buy some too, which I normally don't have to. I'm thankful that hunting season is only 2 months away and there will be 5 of us out hunting this year. Each of us can get 3 deer, so I asked Brian to set aside money for processing... because frankly, I don't want to butcher 15 deer. If we get an elk or 2 we would be set. I should start praying now, eh? :-)
Looking back on my blog I found that I spent $250 for groceries in April 2008 (menu here). I impress myself. LOL! But I know I was doing a "pantry challenge" at the time.
Since then I really have changed what we eat so much. I look in the pantry and there are:
Dried bean and rice
2 boxes of pasta (penne and macaroni noodles)
raisins
A couple cans of crushed tomatoes and tomato paste
Salsa
Various spices to replace the ones that are almost used up
Hot Chocolate mix that I bought at Costco before we went off sugar and now I don't want to use
Candy from making our "traditional" ginger bread house (and I'll continue to save the candy... we'll use it up this Christmas- why toss it just to buy more?)
These days I have a budget of $650. month. I have a really hard time staying in that budget. We eat alot more fruits and veggies than we used to, for my "quick" meals I get things like high quality sausage that just need to be heated on the grill.
I try not to buy much canned stuff, because from what I've read the plastic lining of alot of cans has BPA in it. (Please do your own research on this if you have questions, I'm not an expert). I try to only buy things that I know what the ingredient list says and nothing with nitrites/nitrates or the dreaded MSG.
Last night we had a delicious dinner- steak, corn on the cob, grilled zucchini and asparagus and some fresh peas. I don't usually make bread/rolls in the summer because of the heat. But as I looked at my plate with all the meat and fruits and veggies, I realized how much I have changed. And maybe $650/month is really good for a family of 7.
Nap time is over, so I'll have to stop my ramblings for now.
Have you been changing how you cook? If so, how and why and how is it affecting your budget?
LinkWithin
2 comments:
I think you're doing really well :) I'll pray you get an elk (or 3!) too!
Interesting post...sounds like your're a great budgeter! cheers for hunting too! I almost wish we needed to go hunting this year... my Dad filled our freezer a year ago and it's still pretty full.
We need to work on budgeting better in general, but gardening actually helped our "budget" this year because it seems one of the biggest expenses on our grocery bill is always fresh produce. Trying to use less sugar since Eve came along, so honey, molasses, and maple syrup (we're addicted to it on our whole wheat pancakes that we tend to eat 3x/week..yikes!) are also spendy. I think I need to do some research and re-evaluate where to buy many of my groceries.
Post a Comment