I honestly cannot believe that we have gone 14 whole days without eating out. Again, there were nights this week when the convenience of ordering a pizza or running out for fast food would have been bliss, but we didn’t. I’m sticking to my menu plan! We even had a couple of vegetarian options – Grilled Cheese and Vegetarian Lentil Chili – which went over pretty well.
Here’s how the spending breaks down this week:
Groceries and Household Items: $26.96 (Kashi Cereal for 16 cents a box from Target tastes oh-so-good!)
Baby Supplies: $71.15 (This seems quite high, but as we have budgeted $170 for formula and diapers for the whole month and this is our first purchase, I think we are going to come in under budget. I also received 2 free canisters of formula from the manufacturer for just simply asking.)
Gifts: $13.25 (I managed to get some items on sale and use a 20% off coupon in order to get this gift and the card for a steal. I hadn’t budgeted anything for gifts in January, but as I also hadn’t budgeted for any extra income, it more than evens out.)
Grand Total: $111.36
I also had a few goals I set for myself last week:
- Post more items on eBay (convince husband to go through his books)
- Make my own Dishwasher Detergent (courtesy of Flitter Bugs Blog)
My husband didn’t go through his books but decided to go through the video game box instead. I was actually quite surprised, but I didn’t argue when he asked me to sell a total of 8 of his older games on eBay. I put all 8 of them up for auction and all 8 of them sold!! Before fees, we made $108.52! So we didn’t quite pay for our expenses this week, but we certainly came close!
We had some inclement weather early this week followed by some pretty frigid temperatures. I avoided subjecting myself to the snow and bitter cold and wasn’t able to make it out for the ingredients to make the dishwasher detergent. Instead, I decided to read a book I had picked up from the library over the weekend. The book is Miserly Moms: Living on One Income in a Two-Income Economy, and it is slightly outdated with its pricing examples, but nevertheless, has timeless ideas on how to accomplish being a stay-at-home parent. We’re already following most of the guidelines, but there were several tips and tricks I hadn’t considered. It’s a good read, and I would recommend it to anyone trying to cut costs.
We have also started implementing a routine for our baby. Now this sounds like it should have a big “Duh!” attached to it, but when I’m at home with him all day, it’s easy to let him determine both of our schedules. This really isn’t part of our “Spending Diet”, but it sure makes sticking to a budget and a menu plan a lot harder when you’ve had a very unhappy baby crying most of the day. Calling for take-out seems so tempting. We’re making some progress in the routine/crib department, but our baby has a will of steel and isn’t making it easy on any of us.
So I’d love to be a super go-getter for next week’s goals, but I don’t want to set the bar too high:
- Start Working on a plan for a Freezer-Cooking Weekend
- Put away our Christmas Decorations!
everydayway 