Middle of the Month Budget Update for September

I can't believe how quickly this month has gone with back to school and keeping some of our summer activities going, I am exhausted.  Soccer started and we have practice once a week and games once a week.  Super glad to not be in some of the busier leagues that do more then one practice and more then one game a week because I can barely take this schedule (and my sympathy to the moms and dads out there that are doing that for young kids).  My son got to go to one last Magic Tree House Book Club because it is farther from school and homework doesn't start until next month.  We are also doing at least one more of the other book club that is closer to the house.  We have plans for a haircut for him this week before picture day!!

We got a new air conditioner this month because ours broke over the summer. The new one makes the area inside so much nicer...I took pictures while they were working and this was midway through below.  We also have dentist appointments and doctor appointments (mostly me) to keep up with.  There is so much happening that it has been hard to get to some of the other things that we have wanted to do.  We started a list and my husband said he was going to take some time off work so that we can get some things done.  First order of business is to try to get rid of the wood pile that is falling apart in the back yard from the previous owners.

My husband started working on that while I made a batch of cookies and mixes (pictured below) for the cupboard.  Sadly, we are getting really low on almost all the baking supplies.  I have two 5 lb bags of flour, one 4 lb bag of sugar and one 5 lb bag of white whole wheat flour left after the containers are filled.  I have no bread flour or anything else tucked away in the kitchen cupboards.  I am trying to get back to baking more and we might run out before the holiday rush starts.  I do have a few rain checks and I plan on going and buying some stuff to stock up the cupboard to hold us over but it was shocking!!!  I am sure my husband would be shocked since he was the one that I got to move all that flour to the new house but it was over a year ago and I can't believe it!!

Anyway, back to the month at hand!  My goal for our family of three is to spend no more then $160 per month on groceries and household supplies.  This includes the food, paper products, snacks and cleaning supplies that our family needs (and sometimes just wants).  In order to make that low budget amount, I shop sales and use coupons to get the most for our money.  I also cook most of our meals from scratch including muffins, breads, rolls, buns, scones and other treats.  With back to school snacks started, I have also been making popcorn which is what my son takes to school for his snack every day.

This month I have made some rice krispie treats which were really yummy because we haven't had them in so long. I had a bag of marshmallows so I decided to buy the Aldi brand krispies to try and they were exactly the same.  I also made scones with leftover caramel bits that I had in the cupboard and a free yogurt that I got (pictured above) with some chocolate chips.  I found a new recipe for Amish Cinnamon bread (pictured above) which I made as well...yum, recipe coming soon.  We enjoyed some homemade salsa (made with some jalapenos that I got from Little Caesars with our order, a can of fire roasted tomatoes, and frozen diced onions), homemade brown sugar and a few other things that I stocked up around the house.  I also made some hash brown from red potatoes which are a family favorite and homemade french fries.  All of these things help stretch the budget so that I don't have to spent as much at the store.

Here is what I got for the month so far!!!

Aldi $35.58- $0.85= $34.73 

I got a bunch of things at the store with a list that my son made me.  Love to find ways to have him practice his writing and make him feel useful.  We decided on pretzels, Nacho chips and tortilla chips, animal crackers, shortening, turkey, cheese and milk.  the red potatoes were on sale and the main reason that I was going to the store so I grabbed three bags.  YUM!!!  I decided on the rice krispie treats while in the store so I grabbed the Crispy Rice Cereal (mostly Nathalie's fault because she talked about them and they were on my mind).  it was a cooler day so I decided that I wanted lasagna so I grabbed mozzarella cheese and ricotta because I have the noodles and the sausage sauce in the freezer and extra eggs.  I also decided that I would get more vanilla because we were out and it was $1.99 but it rang up wrong and the lady had to give me money back after the fact...plus I had money in a found cart so it was a profitable day at the store!  I might have added a few things but I think that I did pretty well with the trip and we are using everything that I got.

Harris Teeter $0

I checked on the Saturday specials and saw that there was a free yogurt and free small cereal cup at Harris Teeter so I packed my cooler and dropped the boys off at soccer and ran into the store.  

I grabbed only the two deals and paid nothing.  I already used the yogurt to make scones and my husband will enjoy the cereal treat before work this week.  I love going to the store and spending very little on my order but I love even more getting some free stuff that I put to immediate use.

Total Retail $54.12

Total Savings $19.39

Total OOP $34.73

I hope that you are having a good month and getting lots of great deals!!!  I am trying to dig through the cupboards and find things that need to be used.  I just found a recipe for Honey Siracha Chicken to use a ton of Siracha that I have in the cupboard.  I will also be making some of my Worchestershire Chicken to use up that if I can find the box in the basement.  We have a lot of mustard in the cupboard so I think that it is going to be made into the Spicy Honey Mustard Chicken.  I don't know what is going to be on my list to buy for the rest of the month but I am hoping to have a few productive days and get some brown rice made and frozen and some lasagna made and frozen so that we have some easy meals on hand when we need them.  

What things do you do to use up the items around your house??