Food Waste - 6/25

Food waste this week is a definite improvement over last. I have about 12 grape tomatoes, 1/2 cup of cheese goldfish crackers and a few other random cracker.


No milk went bad this week. I downsized to a quart and that is working out well. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions on how to deal with leftover milk!

It Ain't Easy Being Frugal

Does Frugality ever make you uncomfortable? Perhaps, because I am new to conscious spending, it occassionally makes me uneasy. Perfect example, during my grocery shopping trip last week, I didn't received a discount to which I was entitled. When you purchased 4 Kraft products at Giant, you got a dozen eggs free ($1.99 value). When I checked my receipt (a new skill for me), no free eggs.

Fortunately, I reviewed the receipt prior to leaving the parking lot, so I returned to the store and requested a refund. The customer service clerk was very nice, but have to admit that I was a little embarrassed asking for a $1.99 refund.

When Good Budgets Go Bad

It is amazing how one day of running errands can turn a good budget month into a bad one. Just 2 days ago, I was pleased to be well within my budget for the month. Today, not so much.

Let me explain. I set for myself a budget of $500 a month for what I classify as household consumables. That includes food (obviously), but also basics such as laundry & cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. It includes anything needed to run the household, that needs to be replenished/replaced on a regular basis. When I came up with the budget, though, I didn't take into consideration some other items which aren't as obvious (at least to me) that fall into the household consumables category. Things such as light bulbs, lawn fertilizer, beauty products and prescriptions completely slipped my mind.

So in just one weekend, I spent $147.56 of my household budget on 'other items'. It didn't seem like I was spending much when I was running errands, but it really adds up. I bought:

4 boxes of coffee - 33.88 (Mr. has a K-cup coffeemaker)
2 bags of lawn fertilizer - 96.44
1 CFL Flood Light Bulb - 7.94
1 Package of Cotton Balls - 2.11
1 Birthday Card - 3.17
1 Package of Recycling Bags - 4.02

I tried to rationalize to myself why my weekend purchases shouldn't be part of the budget. Really, is fertilizer a household expense? And replacing a light bulb with a long lasting CFL bulb, that should be a durable good, not a consumable, right?

Wrong. When I really look at what I am budgeting and my long term goals, I have to be honest with myself. No more hiding of expenses or rationalizing why overspending is OK. Those are bad habits from the old days, and this is a new time. I have $68.94 left in my budget for the month, and I am going to stick to it.

Menu Plans

Menu planning went well last week. I am pretty happy with how meal planning is help to control the shopping and food waste. It also eliminates the 'what's for dinner' stress every night, which is great.

Saturday
- Hot Dogs on the Grill
- Baked Beans

Sunday
- No cooking - dinner with my parents

Monday
- Smoked Sausage and Potato Casserole
- Green Salad
(this got bumped from last week)

Tuesday
- BBQ Chicken
- Grilled Veggies

Wednesday
- YOYO (you're on your own)

Thursday
- Cheeseburger Mac
- Green Salad

Friday
- Freezer Meal

Shopping - June Week 2

I hit 2 stores this week, because the sales made it worthwhile. Fortunately for me, I have 3 grocery stores in my neighborhood, within a few blocks of each other. This week I shopped at Safeway and Giant.

The Safeway price on ground beef was pretty good this week. It was $3.49/lb for 93% lean (the only kind I buy), so I stocked up by buying 10lbs. They also had a 'Mix and Match' sale. If you aren't familiar with the M&M sale, here is how it works. Basically, there is a list of products. If you buy 10 items from a list of products (which are already on sale), you receive an additional $5.00 off your purchase. In this case, I bought 4 Lays, 4 Hamburger Helper, and 2 Betty Crocker Frostings to qualify for the discount. I didn't need the HH or the Frosting, but when I combined the sale price with coupons, the HH was Free and the Frosting was only $.29. Also, with the purchase of 2 12 packs of Coke products (there is a Diet Coke and Coke Zero hidden in the back), I received 5 32oz Powerades for Free.

All together, I spend $56.77 at Safeway (after $54.44 in Bonus Card and Coupon savings).

At Giant, Hebrew National Hot Dogs were Buy One, Get One Free. I love a BOGO sale. I bought 6 packages to stock-up for our Summer grilling. Otherwise, there wasn't anything terribly noteworthy in that shopping trip. I had a bunch of coupons that were about to expire, so I picked up a mish-mash of pantry items.

Also, we were running low on water, so I picked up some of that as well.

At Giant, I spent 79.94 (after Bonus Card and coupon savings of $40.56).

So far, my total for the month is $283.50. Not bad considering my budget for the month is $500. Also, in the past 2 weeks, I have filled the freezer with Ground Beef, Hamburgers, and Hot Dogs. Next week, chicken is on sale, so once I stock-up on that, I should be able to go without buying meat for quite a while.

Food Waste - 6/18

Food waste this week is quite an improvement over last week. And everything pre-dates my menu planning, so I don't feel too badly.


Our waste for the week is:
- about 2 cups of milk
- 4 or 5 slices of ham
- 3 hard boiled eggs
- about 1/4 cup of chocolate frosting left over from a batch of brownies

I am struggling with the milk issue. We are not a family of milk drinkers. Somehow, a quart is never enough, but 1/2 gallon is too much. I need to figure out some uses for the extra cup or 2 of milk we have each week.

The Great A/C Debate

To cool or not to cool, that has been the question at our house for the past couple of months. In previous years, the A/C was turned on as soon as Spring arrived. Not a thrifty choice, but one that pleased the family. This year, I delayed 'flipping the switch' because electricity is so expensive. I have a budget for electricity, and I don't want to blow it when we can survive without it.

My husband (a.k.a., Mr) is a firm believer that the house should stay around 72 degrees throughout the summer, especially at night. Since I work from home (and therefore am not exposed to an air conditioned office all day), I can deal with temperature variations between low 60s and mid 80s. After much heated discussion, though, we reached a frugal compromise.

We turned on the air conditioner, but set the thermostat to 80 degrees. With the use of a couple of fans, Mr is comfortable. I am the only one home during the day, so I shut off the A/C if it isn't needed. And I am happy to report that we stayed under our electricity budget for the month. In fact, we reduced our usage by 20% as compared to the same time last year.

I am feeling great about our frugality today. A little sacrifice goes a long way, and I am celebrating this small success.

Menu Plans

This is my first attempt at menu planning, so I will see how it goes and adjust, as needed. My husband works in Sales, so I never know if/when he will be home for dinner, and if he will be hungry or not.

Breakfast (choice of:)
- Yogurt and Banana Bread
- Cereal
- Scrambled Eggs, Turkey Bacon, Wheat Toast

Lunch (choice of:)
- Leftovers
- Frozen Entree
- Sandwich and Salad

Dinner

Saturday
- Hamburgers on the Grill
- Potato Rolls
- Pasta Salad

Sunday
- No cooking - dinner with my parents

Monday
- Smoked Sausage and Potato Casserole
- Green Salad

Tuesday
- YOYO (you're on your own)

Wednesday
- Frozen Pizza
(my stepson has a baseball game, so we will be home late)

Thursday
- Spaghetti
- Garlic Bread
- Green Salad

Friday
- Mahi Mahi
- Brown Rice
- Veggie (TBD)

Frugal Shopping

I've always shopped with a list, but not in the frugal sense. The list contained the minimum I needed. Then I would buy whatever else I wanted, with no particular meal plan in mind.

This week I made a change. I browsed the weekly specials (and my freezer and pantry) to select some meals for the week. Then bought only what I needed and what was on sale.

I didn't plan a budget for the week, but I would like to be under $500 for the month. All of my shopping was at Giant and here is what I bought.


The lean cuisines were on sale and I had a coupon, so I stocked up. If there are no left-overs in the fridge, I have them for lunch. Also, the Steak-umms burgers were buy one, get one free. We do a lot of grilling in the summer, so I bought 6 boxes (only 1 is pictured).


Also, this week, I needed some non-food items. The Dawn was free with sale and coupon, but I was completely out of the other items, so I couldn't wait for a sale.

Finally, I bought a lot of drinks. We live in an area with well water. Our water isn't that great, so we don't drink it (even the pets get bottled water). Also, I have a step-son who is on a high calorie diet, so grab and go drinks with high calories (sweet tea and sports drinks) are a must.

For the week, I spent $146.79 (after bonus card/coupon savings of $61.40).

Food Waste Friday

Since deciding to make an attempt at frugality, I have been following some blogs on the topic. One that is very interesting belongs to Kristen, The Frugal Girl. Each week, Kristen posts her weekly food waste, with the goal being no waste. I am jumping on the bandwagon, so here is my weekly food waste.


I have to warn you, this is my first week, and it is quite frightening. You don't realize how much you waste until you actually document it.

Pictured is:

- a handful of baby carrots

- 1/2 bag of Dole Salad Mix

- 1 bag of green beans

- 1 lemon

- most of a tomato

- 1 cucumber

- a loaf of whole wheat cinnamon bread

- 4 hot dog rolls

- a bag of frozen cherry tomatoes

Not pictured, but also wasted this week are:

- 1/2 can of tuna

- 1/2 bag of Tortilla chips

As bad as all this is, I was, however, able to save:

- 2 very very ripe bananas (which became banana bread)

- a bunch of stale club cracker (which I used in meatloaf)

Overall, a very poor showing. The bright side is, it can only get better from here!

New Beginnings

I've always been a Shopaholic. Frugal wasn't even in my vocabulary. I lived by the mantra, "If you want it, buy it." And it worked out just fine for me. But over time, I have come to realize that material goods don't bring happiness. So now its time to make a change.


I want to become a Frugalista. My ultimate goal is to adjust my lifestyle to allow me to find a job which I truly love, without being worried about how much it pays. I know it won't be easy, there will be lots of challenges along the way, but I am determined to change my ways.


This is the beginning of my journey....