May is a 500 dollar month for our family. All of our bills are paid. As far as the rest of the month goes, we're only allowed to spend 500 dollars. Check this space to see what I'm buying, where I'm cutting back and how well we're actually doing with not going over budget.
--Click here to read my feelings about Week 2.
--Click here for Week 3.
--Click here for Week 4.
Week 1
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Groceries for the week of 5/1-5/7:
Planned List:
Brown Sugar
bananas
spinach
avocado
kale
red pepper
apples
pasta
parsley
cannellini beans
kidney beans
butter
raisins
salsa
tofu (2)
eggs
Deviations from the list:
chocolate chips
veggie chips
chocolate strawberry bar (because scouty needed a special treat for being so good at school. And I needed the rest of her special treat for being so hungry.)
Garlic Powder
Baby Food
Milk Thistle
Total spent on main grocery trip this week= $62.94
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Gas for the week of 5/1-5/7:
$30.02 - Thursday, my car
$26.41 - Sunday, Kurt's car and the lawnmower
Total spent on gas this week= $56.43
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Other spending for the week of 5/1-5/7:
$5 - Friends of the Library Book Sale
$2 - Parking at Scouty's Dentist's Office
$36.91 - Mother's Day gifts
$11.88 - Extraneous groceries, on Saturday.
26.23 - Formula
Other spending this week, so far= $82.02
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Meals for this week:
Breakfast and lunch
-Double Banana Muffins - for breakfasts and to have with salad for lunch
-Spinach salad with miso/tahini dressing
-Smoothies
-Whole Grain Pancakes with Pureed Berries and Honey
-Oatmeal
Dinner
-BBQ Tofu Sandwiches with Avocado and Spinach, served with frozen mixed veggies and -garlic.
-Linguine with White Bean Sauce and spinach.
-French Toast with Baked Apples.
-Kale, Kidney Beans and Tofu with garlic.
-Loaded Cornbread (baked with jalapenos, cheddar and frozen corn), Black Beans and Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Salsa.
-Scrambled Tofu with veggies and toast.
This week should be easier because we had supplies left over from last month that I planned our weekly menu around, so I was able to spend less on food. I already had flour and yeast and other baking necessities, so all of the bread products were already covered.
Week 2
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Groceries for the week of 5/8-5/14:
Planned List:
Kale
Broccoli
Spinach
Rice
Orange Juice (small size)
Ginger
Tofu
Eggs
Cheese
Cheerios
Chili Powder
Pasta
Salsa
Shampoo
Bananas
Formula
Deviations from the list:
Baby food
Baby puffs
Frozen Yogurt
Blueberries
Total spent on main grocery trip this week= 61.77
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Gas for the week of 5/8-5/14:
20$ Kurt's car
30$ My car
Total spent on gas this week= 50$
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Other spending for the week of 5/8-5/14:
$5.70 after using a gift card to buy the new Elected Album
$13 Etsy. I don't want to talk about it.
$3 Parking
$2.85 after buying dinner with a subway gift card
Other spending this week, so far= $24.55
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Meals for this week:
Breakfast and Lunch
Salad
Oatmeal
Smoothies
Whole Grain Pancakes
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Dinner
Kale, Beans and Fresh Baked Bread
Pasta with Sauce and Tofu "Cheese"
French Toast and Baked Apples
Note: My mom bought us dinner on Thursday, and we used gift cards to eat at Subway for dinner on Friday, so that saved us a few more days of going without grocery shopping.
Week 3
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Groceries for the week of 5/15-5/21:
Planned List:
I'm not really planning a list for this week. We're still pretty well stocked from last week, thanks to a few meals out, courtesy of friends and family. I'm just going to try to make it as far as I can without needing groceries, or sacrificing nutrition. We have tons of spinach and bananas, some broccoli, frozen veggies and Kale. I'm confident that we can eat a heavy veggie diet for several days this week without needing supplies. I'll let you know when I absolutely have to go shopping!
Total spent on main grocery trip this week= __$0__
I didn't spend ANY money on food this week! Our cupboards are satisfyingly bare.
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Gas for the week of 5/15-5/21:
$15.00 - Kurt's car
$20.00 - Kurt's car
$20.00 - My car
Total spent on gas this week= $55.00
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Other spending for the week of 5/15-5/21:
$45.89 - Formula and baby food (I was in the neighborhood of Costco, so it only made sense to stop in. We're totally stocked on these items for the rest of the month, though.)
3.99 - Juice for Scouty
Other spending this week, so far= $49.88
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Planned meals for this week:
Breakfast and Lunch
Cereal
Salad
Oatmeal
Banana Smoothies
Whole Grain Pancakes
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Dinner
Kale, Beans and Fresh Baked Bread
Broccoli with Orange Sauce and Brown Rice
Veggie Chili and Cornbread
Scrambled Tofu with Salsa and Toast
Kale and Tofu Sandwiches with Herbed White Bean Spread and Salad
Note: I'm add $13 back into my total because the etsy purchase I made fell through. Also, I won $10.50 this week from the hip mama weight loss competition, so I'm including it in our "money left to spend." (You can consider that second one cheating, if you want to, but I say it's on the up and up.)
Week 4
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Groceries for the week of 5/23-5/31:
Planned List:
spinach
bananas
frozen berries
sweet potatoes
apples
tofu
jelly
sliced provolone
flour
salsa
tomato sauce
black beans
kidney beans
milk
pasta
peanut butter
cereal
vinegar
cocoa powder
raisins
Total spent on main grocery trip this week= $62.74
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Gas for the week of 5/23-5/31:
$10 - my car
Total spent on gas this week= _______
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Other spending for the week of 5/23-5/31:
Other spending this week, so far= _____
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Planned meals for this week:
Breakfast and Lunch
Cereal
Salad
Oatmeal
Banana/Berry Smoothies
Whole Grain Pancakes
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Grilled Cheese
Pasta and Sauce
Banana Bread
Kale from the garden
Dinner
Kale, Beans and Fresh Baked Bread
Broccoli with Orange Sauce, Tofu and Brown Rice (I never got around to making this last week)
Pasta with White Beans and Spinach
Scrambled Tofu with Salsa and Toast
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Kale wraps, with cornbread and salsa
French Toast with baked apples
Note: As of Saturday night, both of our cars are relatively full of gas, we're stocked with food, and we're slated to eat out a few times with family members this week. So. While $18.17 seems like an impossible amount to survive on for the next 9 days, we've got everything we need already. It's just a matter of living simply and no going anywhere far away until payday. (At least that's what I hope.) Wish us luck!
I'm pleased to announce that we made it through our 500$ Month. On the last day of the project, we spent our last $8 on candy. We did it!
We have $.17 left to spend, this month.
