Well the last two months have definitely gotten away from me. January brought many illnesses to my family. We ate many pots of soup this month. I managed to cut my grocery spending by $200.00 in the month of January. This was a HUGE milestone for me. February has also come and gone. February brought crisis to my family. My grandma who was 86 passed away from a major stroke. The past two weeks have been spent in hospice by her side remembering the good memories. Since I was not at home much the last few weeks. I have went over budget in February, but March started out well. I am truly eating out of my freezer and will try to give weekly updates this month on how I am cutting my grocery costs.
I am also trying to cut household costs. This week we have taken the plunge and canceled the satellite tv. I could not understand spending $100.00 a month on TV. I will also update on how the kids are handling this. So far it has gone well. They are playing with toys that have been forgotten over the last few months.
1/3/11
Dollar a Day Challenge Report Day Three
Today marks the third day to this wonderful challenge. I want to let you know that this challenge has started with a wonderful bang. For the past few days my family has been sick with the wonderful stomach virus that is plaguing the area. Of course my wonderful children started this bug in our house.
To stay faithful to this challenge, I set out making a large pot of Chicken Soup (recipe will follow). The cost for the chicken was $3.40. I also used onion, celery and carrots that cost around $1.00 for all. I used water for the base of the soup. This soup simmered on the stove all day New Year's Day. It smelled wonderful. I made a few noodles before I served it and this fed us for the past two nights. I figure the cost for dinner was about $2.00 each night. That left $3.00 for the other meals. We had cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. I am fairly certain we have stayed under budget for the past few days.
I am happy to say that this goal seems to be attainable. Now I am off to find a recipe for today. My daughter wants cavatelli. Will this come in under budget? I am not sure. I am certain that this recipe will feed us for a couple of meals, so that helps figure in my cost. I also have to tackle the grocery store today. I will post a menu later today.
To stay faithful to this challenge, I set out making a large pot of Chicken Soup (recipe will follow). The cost for the chicken was $3.40. I also used onion, celery and carrots that cost around $1.00 for all. I used water for the base of the soup. This soup simmered on the stove all day New Year's Day. It smelled wonderful. I made a few noodles before I served it and this fed us for the past two nights. I figure the cost for dinner was about $2.00 each night. That left $3.00 for the other meals. We had cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. I am fairly certain we have stayed under budget for the past few days.
I am happy to say that this goal seems to be attainable. Now I am off to find a recipe for today. My daughter wants cavatelli. Will this come in under budget? I am not sure. I am certain that this recipe will feed us for a couple of meals, so that helps figure in my cost. I also have to tackle the grocery store today. I will post a menu later today.
12/29/10
Block Two
With the holidays I was very behind in the layer cake quilt along sponsored by Moose on the porch quilts. I am supposed to be starting block five this week, but only finishing block two. Thankfully, I will have time this weekend to finish up the rest of the blocks.
I am very new to quilting. I really have never made a quilt andI probably need to take some classes to really learn how to quilt. It is not perfect. I have trouble matching my triangles when I quilt. This block came out a little different than what I had wanted. I messed up when I cut the pieces, and didn't cut the right amount of fabrics. Since I only have the layer cake fabric to use, and I have sworn off spending any more money on fabrics for a while, I had to work with the mistakes I made. I think the block came out okay. It is a little small, so I may put a border on this block. I really am glad I started this quilt along. It is forcing me to work on something I may not ever had done before.
The quilt I am making is very colorful. It is going to help me beat the winter doldrums. Here in Iowa it is very snowy and cold, although it is supposed to warm up today to 40 degrees.
12/24/10
Challenge for 2011--$1 per person per day
Okay...Today I decided to take a challenge that Jan at cjpattersonontheranch has joined in on. The concept is simple, feed your family for just $1 a day. That's right. $1.00 per person per day. The proposal is that if you make a menu and buy only loss leaders at the grocery store, then you should be able to accomplish this. I am a bit skeptical, but I will try.
As a mom and student, I am trying to live as debt free as possible. Over the last year, I have really looked at the grocery budget. We spend about $600 on average each month. Trust me that is one large amount. I must say though, I have not shopped much this month. I have tried to build my stockpile over the last year. The last half of the year, I have seen my grocery bill shrink. I have totally eaten from my stockpile this month. Feels great to have a month of grocery savings and be able to use this on Christmas shopping.
I have found with a little planning, we can accomplish about anything we can set our minds to. My family is no exception. I will be taking next week to work on my meals in my freezer. My daughter has a very rigorous dance schedule and I am gone two nights out of the week. this leads to a very sketchy plan for dinner most nights. Due to necessity, We need to stop the eating out those two nights. With a little planning, I am sure we can do this. If anyone wants to join me in this venture, leave a comment. I may need encouragement a few weeks into this. Good Luck to all who have taken on this challenge. Now I will be off to plan some meals before my Christmas gets too hectic.
As a mom and student, I am trying to live as debt free as possible. Over the last year, I have really looked at the grocery budget. We spend about $600 on average each month. Trust me that is one large amount. I must say though, I have not shopped much this month. I have tried to build my stockpile over the last year. The last half of the year, I have seen my grocery bill shrink. I have totally eaten from my stockpile this month. Feels great to have a month of grocery savings and be able to use this on Christmas shopping.
I have found with a little planning, we can accomplish about anything we can set our minds to. My family is no exception. I will be taking next week to work on my meals in my freezer. My daughter has a very rigorous dance schedule and I am gone two nights out of the week. this leads to a very sketchy plan for dinner most nights. Due to necessity, We need to stop the eating out those two nights. With a little planning, I am sure we can do this. If anyone wants to join me in this venture, leave a comment. I may need encouragement a few weeks into this. Good Luck to all who have taken on this challenge. Now I will be off to plan some meals before my Christmas gets too hectic.
11/8/10
Layer Cake quilt along
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Originally uploaded by alwysxstitchn
Not too bad for my first attempt at quilting. I have sewn since I was a young girl, but have never made a quilt. I go into quilt stores and buy material, only to have it sit and wait to be used. I decided to start this quilt along to try my hand at quilting. Perfection is not what I am looking for, but practice yes. This is the type of motivation I need.
After much deliberation, I chose the "birdie" layer cake made by moda. I love this fabric. There are pinks, greens, blues, and yellows. For the first block, I chose the blue and brown combination. I was hoping that this quilt would make a wonderful cuddle blanket for me while watching tv, but my daughter saw this block and claimed it for herself. I may be making another trip to the quilt store this weekend. Oh well. The picture is a bit fuzzy, but still a wonderful block. A few mistakes, but a work in progress.
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