Saturday, February 22, 2014

Spending Strike Week 3 Update


We're in the homestretch of our month long no-spending challenge. I can't tell you how happy I will be to do some actual grocery shopping next Saturday! This coming week will be interesting as we're getting very low on just about everything. I'm armed with a meal plan so that helps.

Josh has done wonderful and been a great sport when it comes to not going out to eat with his friends after bowling league on Monday nights. That there has saved us probably between $10-$20 each night. In fact I think they all have been eating at home instead so everyone should be saving a little bit of money.

Gas/Cars: I've been so much more intentional when it comes to running errands, etc. If I need to stop by the library, I make sure to do it on a day when the girls have dance lessons and I'll be over that way. Things like that. I did fill up the van yesterday because I was down to 1/4 tank and with the frigid weather we've been having, I hate to let it get too low. But I'm now confident I really can go a full month on one tank of gas, as I mentioned before, this week would mark 4 full weeks since I didn't top off the van before our strike actually began. 

Groceries: Last Saturday I made a quick stop to spend my $8 for the week on produce. I grabbed bananas, salad mix, apples, grapes. I did also use a coupon I had received from our blogger gathering in November for a free bag of flour. Josh and I discussed it and we thought it fell in line with our "rules".

Yesterday I grabbed things we would need for the upcoming week: bananas, apples, tomato, peppers, a head of lettuce and I will probably try to grab a pineapple at another store since they're on sale this week and I still have a bit extra to spend.

Other than those items, we've really only been eating from the pantry, fridge and freezer. We're making a good dent in all the produce in our freezer from last summer. Tomorrow I'll be roasting the turkey we picked out from our CSA farmer back in October. Most of that will be incorporated into our meals this week.


Meal Plan: Our menu for the last several days has consisted of the following:

Friday {Valentine's Day}- Waffles, bacon and eggs
Saturday- Pizza and salad
Sunday- chicken quesadillas for kids and Buffalo chicken lasagna roll-ups
Tuesday- Steak, baked potatoes, sweet corn from the freezer
Wednesday- Parmesan crusted chicken, rice, salad
Thursday-  Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans from freezer
Friday- Taco salads using tortilla chips


Besides having to replace our garbage disposal and the minor bathtub fix, we haven't had to spend any other additional money on household repairs.

Six more days, we've got this! I haven't honestly missed going to any stores, with the exception of purchasing actual groceries, that is really the only hard thing about our challenge. I look forward to relaxing and staying home most of our weekend. We've enjoyed watching movies at home, reading and being with our kids. Next week in my post I'll recap our last few days of the challenge as well as what we've learned and any changes we'll be making permanently.

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