Summer Plan Update
Since I last posted about this, I've done pretty well with my food planning and buying. As you've seen, I've been posting a lot - because I have been going to town making foods and then eating them. My food waste is even lower than it normally is, because nothing has been escaping me as I peer around looking for new things to make with things I've had for ages. I'm going to start doing an update every Friday, so that it posts on the same day as Food Waste Friday. Apparently Friday is my no-recipe-just-tell-you-guys-random-stuff day
I've spent about $14 since that last post on food. And $6 on Vitamin Water. I'm not including those Vitamin Waters in my food budget, because they're a twice a week treat that I will stop having as soon as they stop being on sale 2 32-ounce bottles for $3. Plus, they're really not food. Aside from those (which I drink Friday and Saturday), I've pretty much just been drinking juice (yay POM!), water and tea (of which I have a truly boundless supply).
In the junk food arena, which I constantly battle an addiction to, I had 2 bag grabs of chips, 1 large bag of chips and 2 candy bars. I only, however, paid for 1 grab bag. The rest was "purchased" with CVS monies. So I don't really count those in my food budget either, since I didn't actually spend money on them.
Of my $14, 1 dollar was for chips. $4 of that money was spent buying sauerkraut to replace the kraut I'd try to buy at Wal-Mart but which hadn't actually been placed in my bag. I was already home when I discovered this, and figured it'd cost more in gas to go back to Wal-Mart than it would just to buy a new jar. So I bought a new jar. So... yeah. $7 kraut, basically. I also bought some pickles, and eighth of a watermelon for Francis and I to share, a bell pepper, and I bought something(s) else which I can't for a life of me remember.
Oh, I also spent $10 at a dinner with a friend. So that puts me $4 over my budget, but if we don't count that extra kraut money I'm still good to go.
All in all, this is working out really well. I haven't been making a ton of money lately, so this project is corresponding nicely to my desire to slow the rate at which my savings gets used. It's also really awesome seeing some of the stuff that's been languishing in my freezer get used up. I used an entire bag of frozen fruit; some in the turnovers, some just straight to my belly (I discovered that I find the texture of previously frozen fruits quite pleasing). I used the last of the spinach and some of the corn. I discovered some pitas in the freezer which I will enjoy making things with them the upcoming days. There is so much more fruit that I don't even know what I want to do with it. Happily, the corn, brussels sprouts and such I found are easy. It's hard only to choose what to do with them, not to come up with ideas. And my god there's a lot of meat. But at least there's some progress happening there. My ultimate goal is to not put anything new in the freezer, and to empty it to the point that all that's left is Francis' stuff and staple items (flour and such, though I'd like to work through a lot of those).
I've spent about $14 since that last post on food. And $6 on Vitamin Water. I'm not including those Vitamin Waters in my food budget, because they're a twice a week treat that I will stop having as soon as they stop being on sale 2 32-ounce bottles for $3. Plus, they're really not food. Aside from those (which I drink Friday and Saturday), I've pretty much just been drinking juice (yay POM!), water and tea (of which I have a truly boundless supply).
In the junk food arena, which I constantly battle an addiction to, I had 2 bag grabs of chips, 1 large bag of chips and 2 candy bars. I only, however, paid for 1 grab bag. The rest was "purchased" with CVS monies. So I don't really count those in my food budget either, since I didn't actually spend money on them.
Of my $14, 1 dollar was for chips. $4 of that money was spent buying sauerkraut to replace the kraut I'd try to buy at Wal-Mart but which hadn't actually been placed in my bag. I was already home when I discovered this, and figured it'd cost more in gas to go back to Wal-Mart than it would just to buy a new jar. So I bought a new jar. So... yeah. $7 kraut, basically. I also bought some pickles, and eighth of a watermelon for Francis and I to share, a bell pepper, and I bought something(s) else which I can't for a life of me remember.
Oh, I also spent $10 at a dinner with a friend. So that puts me $4 over my budget, but if we don't count that extra kraut money I'm still good to go.
All in all, this is working out really well. I haven't been making a ton of money lately, so this project is corresponding nicely to my desire to slow the rate at which my savings gets used. It's also really awesome seeing some of the stuff that's been languishing in my freezer get used up. I used an entire bag of frozen fruit; some in the turnovers, some just straight to my belly (I discovered that I find the texture of previously frozen fruits quite pleasing). I used the last of the spinach and some of the corn. I discovered some pitas in the freezer which I will enjoy making things with them the upcoming days. There is so much more fruit that I don't even know what I want to do with it. Happily, the corn, brussels sprouts and such I found are easy. It's hard only to choose what to do with them, not to come up with ideas. And my god there's a lot of meat. But at least there's some progress happening there. My ultimate goal is to not put anything new in the freezer, and to empty it to the point that all that's left is Francis' stuff and staple items (flour and such, though I'd like to work through a lot of those).
Junk food junkies unite! Keep your receipt from walmart. They actually keep track of that left behind stuff, and if it got to the service desk, then next time you're out there, you should be able to get the sauerkraut replaced.
ReplyDeleteIn other news- I think I need to start doing this CVS money thing...
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ReplyDeleteLol, we really do struggle with the junk food thing, don't we? I don't know why it's such a problem, because I know eating this crap makes me soooo much hungrier throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteOh, seriously? I didn't know that about Wal-Mart. I don't think I have the receipt anymore, but I'll definitely look. And I'll keep them in the future.
The CVS money thing is pretty inconsistent in what it gets you and how often, but you can always get toiletries deeply, deeply discounted, and periodically they email you coupons, mail you coupons or give you their "extra bucks" that you can spend on junk food or whatever else you want. I use them for junk food, personally. :)