April Month End Budget Update

I took a huge blog posting break in the middle of the month with Spring Break and everything else going on after my shoulder surgery and my son's broken arm so I didn't post my normal middle of the month update.  There was also a little break in the grocery shopping.  Below is everything that I purchased this month with a breakdown of what I paid to the best of my memory at this point.

My monthly budget is $160 for all my household goods and groceries.  I shop sales and use coupons to make the most of my budget.  I frequently get things at the lowest price that I can so that I make meals from the freezer or pantry for super cheap on a monthly basis. I took a quick inventory of the items in the freezer and the items in the pantry to see what I needed to use to figure out what I was going to make.  It seemed like I had plenty to get through the month so here is what I got.

Aldi $23.53

It was the first trip to the store for the month and it was luckily after a doctors visit so my husband got to do all the heavy lifting.  We got some things that we were out of like corn tortillas, turkey, tub butter, pepperoni, cheese and chicken fries.  My husband wanted some rolls and bananas so we grabbed those.  We also were out of ice cream bars so I grabbed those but I think that they melted by the time we made it home even with the cooler.  We got three bags of chips because they are $0.75 at this store and we really enjoy them.

Giant $6.35

I went to get something that was free on my card so I got the Chobani yogurt.  My son picked out the free fruit which I used later in the month for my ground orange chicken because it didn't get eaten.  We also decided to get the Gerber because it was cheaper at Giant then it would be at Harris Teeter during super doubles.

Safeway $2.83

My husband took my son to get doughnuts and they got 4 of them!!  I don't know what he was thinking but he didn't really tell me that there were four but they both ate one on the way home and brought another which I got to eat some of.  Of course, I had a gift card for Safeway which he didn't have with him so he didn't use it.

Harris Teeter $6.20

It was the first day of super doubles and I got the free bacon and Life cereal.  I also got the Challenge Butter which I thought was going to have a catalina but nothing printed out.

Harris Teeter $27.18

I did a second transaction even though the first one wasn't super successful but the customer service gave me money back which I took off this transaction because that is what the catalina would have come off of if I got it.  The cashier also rang up the lettuce as cabbage so I got that money back too.  I got the chicken tenders for $3 per bag with two more coupons that were in my stash.  I got the Tide for $0.97 each even though I didn't need any because the price was too amazing to pass up.  I got the eggs for $0.87 per dozen.  The sugar was $0.97 per bag.  The Dunkin Doughnuts coffee was $1.97 after sale and coupon so I got it for my cousin.  The Roast beef was $1.99 after sale and coupon each.  I got the free Life cereal.  I got the Starburst jelly beans for $0.79 per bag.  We needed the potatoes and they were cheaper at HT then Aldi so I grabbed them here.

Harris Teeter $14.46

I went back to Harris Teeter to get some more deals which were mostly looking for the Cheez-Its because I just printed the coupon from Kelloggs Family Rewards.  This store had a few of the other jelly beans that my son and husband were looking for so I grabbed four for $0.79 each.  I also had a rain check for free cottage cheese.  I decided since I didn't have a lot of things in the cart that I would also get my husband beef jerky which was $2.99 per bag after sale and coupon.  There was some meat on clearance so I thought it would be great to make some chili and it ended up being around $1.70 per pound after all discounts which was an amazing deal.

Harris Teeter $7.23

It was my last trip to get deals so I decided to grab three more ground beef so that I could make a huge batch of chili.  I also got to make a batch of tacos.  It was super tasty and I got to freeze some chili and beef for later too.

Harris Teeter $0

My parents were in town and my dad used my Harris Teeter card to buy lots of wine but things didn't come off because I guess it wasn't entered in correctly.  I ended up at customer service and got over $15 credited back so my groceries were free since they would have been $12.62 before taxes.

Wegman's $6.00

We got a bag of ice for my shoulder ice machine to cool it.  It sadly only lasted two rounds for me to ice my shoulder but at least I could ice it down while on vacation.  My husband also got ice cream for my son so that he could have ice cream cones every night.  We didn't take any pictures so you just have to take my word for it....my husband didn't even save the receipt and he paid cash so I have to take his word for it but he said that he rounded up to $6 for a donation so it seems to make sense.

Wegman's $17.17

We cleaned out the garage while we were visiting my cousin and we got all of the recycling and so we went and put it all the in recycle machines.  You get $0.05 per can or bottle in New York so we got to get a credit on the groceries we were getting...although they paid for it up front but we cleaned out the recycling area in the garage and then the bin that had all the recycling in it.  YUCK!  I paid for the groceries at the store because they got take out the day before and they were getting take out for lunch when we made it home.  I was going to count it under take out but couldn't decide and left it under groceries.

Aldi $22.94

I had to get a few things when we got home from vacation.  I got most of the things that we had run out of or that went bad while we were away.  I also splurged and got ginger for a new recipe that I was trying.  It turned out really well so I am excited to use it for other recipes too!!

Total Retail    $319.03

Total Savings  $185.14

Total OOP      $133.89

This month was a little different because it included Easter and spring break.  I worked hard on Swagbucks and ordered a $50 gift card to buy  Easter basket stuff.  My son had a Target gift card from his birthday and he decided to buy a Nintendo Switch case and clearance Easter candy.  I ordered another gift card from My Points to pay for the rest of the transaction.  We also used up a lot of Home Depot and Lowes Gift cards to get the other things we needed for the house.  We still have a lot of gift cards to use in the coming months to stretch the budget further.

Eating Out

We also got a gift card from My Points for Burger King which paid for lunch after a day of appointments and errands.  My son had two gift cards to Sweet Frog so my husband took him there while I went to physical therapy.  I think we used our Starbucks gift card to get some deals too but I didn't make a note of the date.  We went to Delia's for lunch and my parents paid for it.  We went to Seneca Falls and got lunch there which was paid for by the restaurant because they knew my aunt.  We got take out pizza and Cheesecake Factory that my aunt paid for while we were visiting.  It has been a busy month with lots of special occasions which we tried to plan ahead for and use gift cards that we had or earn with points.  At the end of the month, we ordered two Pizza Hut pizzas to pick up after a soccer game and errands on the way home for $11 which was my total eating out amount.

I hope that you had a great month and found lots of great deals!!  Maybe not my best month because I didn't pay attention to sales and stock up but every once in awhile, you need a break which I think that I got from shopping this month.  Hoping for some amazing deals for next month to stock up again!

Menu Plan Monday 4/29

Monday- Chicken fries, Chicken Wraps and Homemade Fries
Tuesday- Grilled Marinated Chicken with White Rice
Wednesday- Pasta: Beef Ravioli
Thursday- Roast Beef Sandwiches
Friday- Ground Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Saturday- Frozen Mini Beef Tacos or Chili and Chips and leftovers
Sunday- Chicken Tacos with white rice

Last week we have most of the meals according to plan.  We had Chicken Fries, Chicken Wraps and homemade fries on Monday.  Tuesday was Trader Joes Frozen Mini Tacos with white rice.  Wednesday was Chicken Parm Pasta.  Thursday was Chicken and Rice Casserole made from scratch.  Friday was Ground Orange Chicken with white rice.  Saturday was leftovers with pancakes, pizza and orange chicken.  Sunday I baked the lasagna from the freezer.

I have been trying to use up the items in the pantry and freezer so that I can clean up everything and start with new.  My family isn't super big fans of this because then there isn't always all the things that they love and they have to try new things.  I cleaned up and took inventory of the items in the one pantry.  Hoping to find more as I search through the freezer.  I think that there might be some chili in there which I would like to make for dinner this week so there is a goal to all my cleaning.

I hope that you have a good week planned with lots of yummy food!!

Zero Down Debt Book Review

I was looking at the library for some interesting budgeting books to share.  Zero Down Your Debt: Reclaim Your Income and Build a Life You'll Love by Holly Porter Johnson was one that the library had that was interesting.  I think that this was a great explanation to help people set up a budget and learn to live with it.  The book gives concrete examples and helps through the whole process of modifying and finding the best fit for your life.

How to get out of debt and enjoy debt free living with the powerful "Zero-Sum Budget" method

Zero Down Your Debt ─ How to manage money and experience debt free living: Getting into debt is a piece of cake, but getting out? That’s the hard part. Fortunately, award-winning authors Holly Porter Johnson and Greg Johnson offer actionable tips and advice in their new book on how to get out of debt and enjoy debt free living. The secret? The “zero-sum budget”— the black belt of budgeting methods and the answer to how to get out of debt and pay off that debt quickly. They should know: It helped them wipe out $50,000 of debt.
How to get out of debt: With just a pen and a piece of paper in your arsenal, you’ll learn how to implement a zero-sum budget and become debt-free – once and for all. The zero-sum budget’s primary tenets are giving every single dollar earned a purpose — whether it’s for bills, debt repayment or savings — and using last month’s earnings to cover this month’s bills. All you need is the know-how, some willpower, and a positive attitude to transform your financial situation. Let Holly and Greg Johnson show you how to put zero-sum budgeting to work for you.
In Zero Down Your Debt you will learn to:

• Unlock the powerful potential of your paycheck to help you save more and get ahead faster
• Seize control of your money by creating a simple monthly plan that actually works
• Understand the root causes of your debt and how to get out of debt
• Use a step-by-step plan to eliminate your debt once and for all and enjoy debt free living
• Identify and avoid budget vampires that drain your bank account and wreak havoc on your savings
• Prepare for unexpected expenses and survive financial emergencies

It was well written and super interesting stories that my it easy to read.  I thought that it was a fast read that was super helpful on such a tough subject and it included many personal stories that you could relate to in order to make all of the topics easy to understand.  The chapters walk you through the process to set up a budget to make sure that you are paying all your bills and saving money a tthe same time.  It give information about how you can be spending all your money at any budget and where to cut back to try to make ends meet and pay off debt.  I found it is be a good guide to the way that I do things as well (although I do prefer a good excel spreadsheet instead of paper and pencil because it is something that I can copy month after month so that I have a record of everything for the last few years).  I hope that you find this book super helpful and it helps you figure out how to make a budget and live within your means to make the most out of your life.  If you are already doing that, it might also help to figure out how to budget and change your budget to best fit your circumstances.  I hope that you enjoy the books and the stories as much as I did.

Not Quite Over You Book Review

I had this book on reserve because I like everything by Susan Mallery and I saw it in the new release section.  I thought it was a little great that I got to read Not Quite Over You (Happily Inc) by Susan Mallery which was the forth in the series so quickly after reading the third book in the series.  It was great to get to see more friends in this small town.

Susan Mallery, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fool’s Gold romances, proves there’s nowhere better than Happily Inc to rekindle first love.

Silver Tesdal has a head for business and a mouth made for kissing, and banker Drew Lovato has his eye on both. But ever since he was dumb enough to let her go, she’s kept him at a distance. When the bank turns her down for a loan, Drew sees a double opportunity—he can finance her brilliant, unique idea to rock Happily Inc’s wedding industry and win back her trust.

Despite her reputation, Silver’s not as tough as she seems. Losing Drew nearly destroyed her. Still, his kisses are as tempting as his offer to invest in her business. If she can’t quite get over him, maybe she should get under him and knock him out of her system once and for all.

But her best laid plans begin to unravel as Silver finds herself falling even harder than when they were high school sweethearts. Which means that she’ll have to come clean about the secret she’s been hiding from him for years—and risk losing him forever.

I hope that you check out this book and the rest of this fun Happily Inc series.  It was super enjoyable to see the small town in action once again and with another great story that was hard to put down.  Silver has been a figure in all the other books and this was the book where we get to know lots more about this amazing character.  It was interesting to see her interact with Drew who was her high school sweetheart and she how so many things changed but so many things stayed the same.  Both Drew and Silver are working together and they are building a business relationship when the old flame re-ignites.  The two of them have to figure out how to work together in business and in a relationship.  They have lots of things come up like Drew's mom and Silver's friends marriage.  I know that it seems a little crazy but the ups and downs in this book are filled with interesting drama that you have to read to believe.  They involve getting to know a child and police coming to break up a party as well as a night in jail but you will have to pick up the book yourself to find out what I mean.  It was a great story, filled with great characters, that made this book hard to put down.  I hope that you check out this book and enjoy it as much as I did.

Cooking on A Bootstrap Book Review

I was looking for new cookbooks and I found this one.  Cooking on a Bootstrap: Over 100 Simple, Budget Recipes by Jack Monroe was one that came up in my search because it is super new and popular.  The introduction was interesting because I didn't know anything about the author so it gave a lot of information about her and information and her style of cooking.

Award-winning cookery writer and anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe is back with Cooking on a Bootstrap: a creative and accessible cookbook packed with affordable, delicious recipes, most of which are vegetarian.  Winner of the Observer Food Monthly Best Food Personality Readers' Award 2018.  Jack Monroe is a campaigner, food writer and activist, her first cookbook A Girl Called Jack, was a runaway bestseller. The sequel Cooking on a Bootstrap makes budget food fun and delicious, with 118 incredible recipes including Fluffy Berry Pancakes, Self-Love Stew, Marmite Mac ‘n’ Cheese and Hot Sardines with Herby Sauce.  Chapters include Bread, Breakfasts, A Bag of Pasta and a Packet of Rice, Spuds and Eat More Veg. There are vegan, sweet and what Jack calls ‘contraband’ dishes here, as well as nifty money-saving tips. With her trademark humour and wit, Jack shows us that affordable, authentic and creative recipes aren't just for those with fancy gadgets or premium ingredients.  Initially launching this book as a very limited black and white edition on Kickstarter, Jack reached the funding target in just one day. This beautiful edition contains illustrations and original full-colour photographs to really make your mouth water.

I read the book from beginning to end and there was a story at the beginning of recipe that made it interesting.  There were stories that I couldn't really relate too so it wasn't a great book for me with some of them because it wasn't American but British which uses a lot of different terminology.  The recipes aren't really things that I really enjoy or would make so I don't think that it was a success for me.  There were a lot of recipes that she feels are budget friendly recipes with a lot of flavor and there is a great selection of vegetarian recipes which are probably great for those who are looking for them.  I was hoping to find a few recipes that I was interested in but I mostly liked the bread recipes. Although I don't know the likelihood that I will make them because I have my favorite bread recipe and my favorite roll recipe already.  I hope that you check out the book for yourself and see if you enjoy it.  I would love to know what recipes you think are your favorites.

Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4 Day Book Review

I went on a search for cookbooks at the library and I found this one that seemed interesting so I put it on reserve.  Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day by Leanne Brown was well reviewed.  The beginning had a great intro with lots of information about eating healthy on very little using the Food stamps program as the basis of this because it means that everyone should be able to make these foods.

By showing that kitchen skill, and not budget, is the key to great food, Good and Cheap will help you eat well—really well—on the strictest of budgets.

Created for people who have to watch every dollar—but particularly those living on the U.S. food stamp allotment of $4.00 a day—Good and Cheap is a cookbook filled with delicious, healthful recipes backed by ideas that will make everyone who uses it a better cook. From Spicy Pulled Pork to Barley Risotto with Peas, and from Chorizo and White Bean Ragù to Vegetable Jambalaya, the more than 100 recipes maximize every ingredient and teach economical cooking methods. There are recipes for breakfasts, soups and salads, lunches, snacks, big batch meals—and even desserts, like crispy, gooey Caramelized Bananas. Plus there are tips on shopping smartly and the minimal equipment needed to cook successfully.

And when you buy one, we give one!  With every copy of Good and Cheap purchased, the publisher will donate a free copy to a person or family in need. Donated books will be distributed through food charities, nonprofits, and other organizations. You can feel proud that your purchase of this book supports the people who need it most, giving them the tools to make healthy and delicious food.

It was an interesting theory to see all of the recipes that she could make for the low price of $4 per day so that everyone could afford them.  I liked the information in the beginning about how she decided to write this book.  It was interesting and insightful and I hope that everyone knows that it is easy to eat on less money a day and still make super healthy meals.  There are a ton of things that she recommends at the beginning like getting one thing and starting to stock up on a little more expensive things every week and it is a great way to do things.  I have made a list of recipes that I would be interesting to me which includes Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Bars, Pierogi, Flour Tortillas, Pizza Dough, and Fresh Pasta.  I am not sure that this ranks against the cook books that I would use but there were a few recipes that seemed interesting.  What do you think about this?

Alaskan Holiday Book Review

I picked this book up off the shelf with the new releases when I saw it.  Alaskan Holiday: A Novel by Debbie Macomber was a book that I thought that I didn't read but who could turn down that cute cover.  I was excited to get to this book and not disappointed when I finally for to read it.

Before beginning her dream job as sous chef in one of Seattle’s hottest new restaurants, Josie Avery takes a summer position cooking at a lakeside lodge in the remote Alaskan town of Ponder. Josie falls for the rustic charms of the local community—including Jack Corcoran, the crotchety keeper of Ponder’s famed sourdough starter, and, in particular, the quiet and intense Palmer Saxon, a famed master swordsmith.

Josie and Palmer become close during the long Alaskan summer days, but Josie knows that, come fall, she’ll be returning to reality and the career she’s worked so hard for. Palmer, on the other hand, would like nothing better than to make Josie his wife and to keep her in Ponder. But Josie can’t imagine abandoning her mother back in the Emerald City and sacrificing her career to stay in this isolated town—not even for a man she’s quickly coming to love.

Fate has other plans. Josie misses the last boat out of town before winter sets in, stranding her in Ponder and putting her dream job at risk. As the holidays approach, Josie and Palmer must grapple with the complications that arise when dreams confront reality, and the Christmas magic that can happen when they put their faith in love.

Josie is a chef who takes a job in Alaskan town when there is a little break before her dream job in her home town.  She makes a lot of friends and a great life in the small remote Alaskan town of Ponder.  She is supposed to be leaving to go home when her boyfriend, Palmer, proposes to her and she is upset.  She takes a sleeping pill to try to get some sleep and she misses the last boat out of town.  She is now trapped for the winter unless she can find someone else to take her out of the iced in area.  Her luck changes with help from the most unlikely place, Palmer.  It was a crazy good story and I thought there were tons of surprises with these great characters and more.  I thought this was a great book and it was hard to put it down once I got in and I was pulling for the characters to get what they wanted.  I ended up reading it all night once but it was super worth it.  I hope that you enjoy it and check it out too.