A Lesson in Frugality: Day 7

Tonight is pizza.

Leftover italian sausage, mozzarella from WIC check, onions from pantry, homemade sun dried tomatoes from this past summer, on-hand seasonings, and homemade dough (ingredients on-hand).

We've decided to see how long we can keep going on this. While the husband & kids are making pizza I'm attempting to plan a cost-free or low-cost menu for next week.

A Lesson in Frugality: Day 6

I'm sick.

I have strep for the 3rd time this winter.

It is so very frustrating.

My sweet, and so very awesome husband made my favorite "get better" food--Ham & Bean soup. We had a ham hock in the freezer, and beans in the pantry. I had made chicken stock from our chicken bones last night. We have leftover cornbread, but I might bake some more. Total cost $0, nada, nothing, zilch. Everything was on-hand.

My kids love beans. E especially loves black beans. I love when she eats them, b/c she gets this black goo on her face that dries & makes her look like she has a 5 o'clock shadow. Like a little bean eating hobo.

Oh my, that was random. Yes, I'm very sick.

A Lesson in Frugality: Day 5

Tonight we had a roasted chicken, rice, corn and green beans. So far, we haven't spent more than $32 this week on groceries. I have plenty of chicken left for salads, sandwiches, and maybe a pot pie.

Two more days left. I'm quite impressed with our experiment.

A Lesson in Frugality: Day 4

Tonight's meal:

Hawaiian burgers on hot dog buns (b/c that's what we have)**

Rosemary oven-fried potatoes sprinkled with parmesan**

Cornbread

Green beans

I still have a whole chicken and leftover italian sausage. Plus, beans, beans, and more beans. I'm wondering how long we could continue doing this experiment.

**Hamburger from the clearance bin ($2.95) and bag of potatoes were purchased. Everything else was on-hand.

A Lesson in Frugality: Days 1-3

On Sunday morning we woke up to my precious daughter's cries.

"I so cold, mommy."

Indeed. It was 51 degrees in the house.

The ignitor on the furnace had broke, and we called a repair man. Over $200 later we were thankful for the extra money we had put in savings over the last month. Though, disappointed that it wouldn't be going towards getting us ahead--still thankful we weren't going backwards.

However, it still meant that our budget would be extra tight, and we were in dire need of groceries.

If you've kept up with the blog, you know that our family has determined to reach some goals in 2010. Finding a new way to manage our money is one of the goals. So, we decided to get creative with the menu this week.

I sent my husband and son on a "hunt." Their task was to search the pantry, freezer and refrigerator, and write down all possible meal-making items. They made a great list. I had even forgotten about the butternut squash dumplings.

**The challenge this week would be to stick to 1/3 of our normal grocery bill--about $50, and still make nutritious, delicious meals.

Sunday, Day 1: Leftovers. We ate everything we could find. The kids had beans, noodles, rice, and peas. My husband and I had leftover chili.

Monday, Day 2: Dinner with friends. Our contribution to the meal: A salad made of romaine, napa cabbage, carrots, toasted almonds, dried cranberries, and apples. All found in the house.

Tuesday, Day 3: Spaghetti with italian sausage and caesar salad. This was a menu item from last week. My folks surprised us with a visit & dinner out, which bumped this menu to today.

**So far we've spent just over $30 on staple items like bread. We also took advantage of our WIC checks to purchase milk, cheese, peanut butter, eggs, and a few other items.

We were also blessed by some good samaritans. On Monday morning I found cash in an envelope on our windshield. It's enough to ensure that we have a complete and balanced menu this week. God is good.

Four more days to go. I have no idea what we'll eat tomorrow. I'm thinking it's going to involve potatoes.