Little Shop of HORRORS!

Well, the shopping trip happened. I finally got to execute my superb grocery list. I walked into Kroger confident that I was going to come in around $50. I think it was in the produce section (the first section I go to) when I realized that I would be lucky not to blow my entire two week allowance in this one shopping trip. The list that I thought I had stripped to the core didn't look so stripped after all. I guess I never REALLY looked at prices before. I mean, I've compared prices, looked at sales ads, and usually always decide on the best deal for the buck even if it is more expensive than the smaller size. I think of myself as a decently thrifty shopper. All this changed in one visit to the seafood aisle.

There it was, the cooler full of shrimp in different sizes, shell-on, shell-off, cooked, raw, the talapia, in the different sized portions, and even crab legs. I was hunting for shrimp so I could use up the gumbo mix we have in out pantry. Well, shrimp quickly got marked off my list because it was 1/5 of my budget. Now, usually, I think, "Ugh, this is kinda pricey, but we like shrimp and the kids eat it, so I'm going to go ahead and grab it." Not today. I just marked it off the list.

This trip was so much harder than I thought. As I keyed in every item in my "grocery calculator" app on my phone, I realized that I passed the $50 mark before I even got to the dairy section. This was probably the most stressful shopping trip I've had in a while. There were small victories, like when the woman shaving the ham in the deli put it up on the scale and it was only .89lbs. instead of 1 lb. and I said nonchalantly, "that's fine" all the while thanking God that I didn't have to pay the whole $5 for that ham. I also realized that getting ham shaved makes it look like more and act like more than it is. Pretty awesome.

The nerves really started kicking in as we made our way up to the registers. I was just praying all the way through the store that God would make this food go further and that He would perform some miracle. Well, I was sure that I probably came pretty close to the $100 mark. I kept watching the screen and saw it continue to creep up and, at times, jump up. $81.65, $83.42, $90.13, there is the bacon, and kept getting closer and closer to $100. At the end, the cashier asked if I had my Kroger card.  What? I hadn't entered my Kroger card yet??!!! There is still hope!! So I quickly entered my number, since I had lost my card years ago, and behold I saw the total go down very quickly. Why, it went down to less than $80. All this saving reminded me that I still had coupons! Yes! I pulled them out of my pocket and viola...$75! Ok, so I totally went over my hopeful $50 for this week, but I am happy that I got out of Kroger with $25 to spare for next week.

This week was a little more expensive because I had to buy 15 pounds of flour so I can make my own pizza crust, biscuits, and even some bread. My pinto beans will make a couple weeks worth of burritos and I can freeze those easily. I did buy some things to make ahead and freeze for weeks to come. I'm hopeful that, if nothing else, my deep freezer will get cleaned out. I will be using whatever I can find in there and hoping it gets us through.

I also came to the realization that we will not be eating the way we're used to eating. We are going meatless a couple times a week and we will be eating  more eggs since our sweet chickens pop those out for free. This isn't a bad thing. It's not like we don't have the money to go out and buy something if we HAD TO have it. I just want to live on less.

I keep praying that God will make our food go further. He has always provided for us.

Xandra

Getting Ready to SHOP!

So tomorrow is the big grocery shopping day. So what am I doing?? I'm pouring over grocery ads, looking at store coupons that I've accumulated and that haven't expired. My husband probably thinks I'm crazy and my kids know not to disturb me while I'm feverishly writing down prices and using the calculator app on my phone. Now, I have a bit of ADD and I'm not the most organized person. I really have to concentrate on stuff like this, so I'm a bit crazy right now. I'm sure once I learn the ins and outs of all this, it will get easier.

I'm really nervous about tomorrow because even though I do all the shopping for our family and I try and get good deals, I've never had a budget. This is so scary. I'm going to take $100 out of the bank and that's all I get for food for 2 weeks. To top it all off, the ads this week are pretty lame, especially compared to last week's Labor Day sales. Now, I don't have the Sunday coupons, but I am going to start collecting those this week. That will add a whole new mess of crazy because of coupon doubling, but making sure I don't have digital coupons on the same thing otherwise they can't use the paper coupon and double it....UGH!!!!!

This week, I am planning for one week's worth of meals, hoping to get that for $50. I'm looking at my list and almost in tears because I know how much these things cost and it's just not adding up. I'm really trying to be as conservative as possible, but I think I'm going to have to do more trimming. I can't feel defeated already. I'm going to double check my pantry and freezers to see what I can use for other meals. Heck, I might start all over tonight. Who knows. Wish me luck!

Xandra

Food, Food, Food

I have a love affair with food. That's one of many reasons I'm overweight and have high cholesterol. That's also why our food bill each month exceeds $700. $700!!!!!!!??????? Holy crap! That's almost our house payment. The cost of food is high. The cost of healthy food is even higher. Well, fruits and veggies are great, but my kids and husband love a box of mac' and cheese. (ICK!!)

Well, I decided that I need to make more of the stuff I usually buy pre-made or out of a box from scratch. The stuff I LOVE to eat at restaurants, I need to learn how to make from scratch so I don't feel so deprived. I know it takes a long time, but for me, it's worth it. It's healthier, tastes about the same and I feel like I'm a chef as I talk through the recipe as though I'm hosting a Food Network show. Yeah, I know, lame.

I love to cook and make things from scratch, but this is taking it to a whole new level. I'm going to make my own refried beans, my own pizza crust, my own mac' and cheese without the crappy powdered cheese, and anything else that I can figure out. Heck, I can even make my own pasta.

So, when we got out tax refund in, Matt (my husband) and I went out to eat! I love to eat out. Like, seriously LOVE to eat out. I love fast food, slow food, any food as long as it's out. Well, we went to this new pizza place in the big city of Little Rock, Mellow Mushroom. It's a chain with a few places scattered throughout the country. We ordered the "Holy Shitake" pizza and the first thing that came out of my mouth after taking that first sweet bite of pizza bliss was "holy shit-ake". I had never tasted such a wonderful pizza in my entire life. It was loaded with 3 different kinds of mushrooms, a wonderful garlic aioli drizzled over the cheese and then sprinkled with fresh scallions. The crust was soft and chewy with a nice crunch and sprinkled with parm. cheese. OMG!!!! Just talking about it makes my mouth water. Well, that meal set us back $50. I know for some of you that's no biggie, but fifty bucks for 2 people to eat is nuts-o for us unless it's an anniversary or something. Well, I was so in love with this pizza that I kept thinking about it days after we ate there. I couldn't get it off my mind and I knew that we couldn't eat out anymore. I had to find a way to make this luscious, mushroomy deliciousness. To the interwebs I went!!!!

Thank God for the internet. I keep thinking "what if the world ends and I can't find recipes anymore? I must print these off and keep them in a safe". Anyway, I looked and looked for a "holy shitake" copy cat recipe and I finally found one. Now, I had never heard of a garlic aioli before and I just knew that it would be mediocre at best because I wasn't eating out. Well, I was in such a hurry that I bought a premade crust and the mushrooms. Long story short, it was a success. I thought I was the most awesome wife in the world for recreating this masterpiece of a pizza. Yeah, the crust alone cost $5. Ugh. I knew I had to bring the cost of this meal down, so I decided to make my own crust.

My kitchen looks like 25 lbs. of flour just blew up in it. Is this really worth it? YEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!! I have made something healthier, yummier and way cheaper than a premade version. I made 3 large pizza crusts for only $2. I put one ball of dough in the freezer for another day, but seriously, y'all, that's awesome.

I know saving only $3 isn't that big of a deal for most of you, but I got one more crust out of it and it's better for my family. $3 here and $3 there really adds up.

I really hope I can keep this up. Living this way is turning out to be more time consuming, but I want to get back to basics and spend more time at home with my family. On to my next adventure...refried beans.

Xandra

This is me...

Well, I'm just a normal stay-at-home mom. We live paycheck to paycheck, get overdraft charges every once in a while (uhhhh, maybe a little more often than that), and pray that we make it until the direct deposit comes through. Let me be clear, we are not super irresponsible people. My husband is pretty tight when it comes to money. I LOVE to eat out and spend money on things that we do need, but we just don't need them right away.

Recently, it got pretty bad. We got our tax refund checks in and "caught up" on things we needed to buy. Needless to say, we blew through $2600.

Now, before you judge, please know that I am a person being honest to you so I can get better. I feel like if I put this out there and talk about my struggles to complete strangers, I will somehow be held accountable. These are not things that I easily admit, but I promise to be completely transparent and honest about these struggles.

Ok, now that's out of the way, I can get on with telling you my plan. I HATE stressing about debt. That is not how God has called me to live. God has called Christians to live within their means and be able to help others in need. Our family can't even feed ourselves some days, how are we going to be able to feed others??!!  This is where this blog comes in. I am tired of living this way and I'm determined to get out of debt, not live paycheck to paycheck, and get back my life.

Our family has decided to do the "cash only" plan. I am going to try and feed my family of 4 on $50 a week. I know this sounds CRAY, but I'm going to try. That is my goal. I'm going to treat it like a game. I am also not going to spend a crazy amount of time looking at sales, coupons, etc. I just don't have time for that. I home school my 2 boys and cook three meals for my family a day. I know this will be tough, but I'm hoping it's worth it. 

So, this is going to be a journey with ups and downs and twists and turns. I will probably fail some days and splurge on something stupid, but I'm asking your forgiveness now.

I would love some helpful tips on saving money. And again, please be kind.

Xandra