Harris teeter trip: 3/29

This is one of my trips to Harris Teeter today.

Total before coupons $100.23
Total after coupons $6.62

Week 1: Making a Meal Plan and sticking to it *Update*

Well everyone, I had a bad start to my week. I am gong to give it to the Lord because that is the only One who can help me through this. I have been unable to begin my Meal Plan. By next week I should be able to start and stick to it.

Week 1: Making a Meal Plan and sticking to it

Okay so this is going to be the official start to my meal planning. I have gone through my pantry and my freezer and planned meals around what we have already. This way I can stick to a budget in the beginning and not get overwhelmed about this whole thing. So here is my dinner plan for the week, we are just going to wing it for breakfast and lunch this week since we usually have waffles, pancakes or muffins for breakfast and leftovers for lunch.


Sunday: fried fish, macaroni and cheese, cabbage

Monday: hamburger with gravy, rice, corn on the cob

Tuesday: chicken, cheese and broccoli casserole

Wednesday: homemade pizza, chips

Thursday: baked ham, string beans, mashed potatoes

Friday: tacos with lettuce, tomato and cheese

Saturday: grilled chicken and hot dogs with potato salad and baked beans



Now....I just have to stick to this.

Wish me luck!!! I will update with pics BEFORE we eat :)

My new house: New Beginnings...

This is my new house. We moved in last week. Being able to live here with my family is an amazing experience. We have only lived in small apartments. Now all the kids have their own rooms and that is the best part of all.

One of the next things that I want to tackle is decorating. When I was younger, I used to hate the home section of ALL stores. I thought it was the most boring part of the store, but now that is the first section that I go to so I can look at what that particular store has to offer.

I can't wait to have our first housewarming party and invite family and our close friends. We are all so excited. This is our new beginning....

Grocery Trip 3-17-10

I have finally decided to start budgeting how much I spend on groceries.

I recently moved to a smaller city and there aren't as many stores as I am used to shopping at. There are basically two stores. They are Piggly Wiggly and Food Lion, neither of which I normally shop at so this is going to be a big adjustment. I made my meal plan out for the week and decided to try out the new stores.

I made my meals for the week based around what I already had in the kitchen and freezer. After making my list I wrote a shopping list of what I needed. That list turned out to only be produce and a couple of small items. I went to Piggly Wiggly and went shopping for my produce. I picked up bananas for $.49/lb and tomatoes for $.99/lb. I thought that was pretty cheap, but I was wrong. In front of me was a reduced produce rack that was the motherload. On it was everything I needed...tomatoes, bananas, green onions, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, corn on the cob, potatoes and carrots. I bought just enough for the meals that I needed so that I wouldnt waste it because these items wouldn't last as long as the fresh items. I also picked up a head of lettuce and some frozen broccoli that wasn't reduced.

I walked around the store and surveyed my new surroundings just in case i needed to come back for a quick run.

My total was $13.27

It felt so good to get such a great deal.

Learning to budget....

This is an amazing series. It is so inspirational. Check it out!!!!
I have always wanted to start budgeting but I never had the time to start, or at least I thought I didn't. By reading this series I now have the tools to begin my journey to financial freedom.