Well we have quite a few for this months pantry challenge and please feel free to join at any time! My rules are as follows, but feel free to fit these to whatever is good for you.
1. plan all meals from foods on hand
2. post what we eat for lunch and dinner
3. post creative ways we use leftovers (if you do, for instance SAM @ Sam, coffee, money and thyme said she used leftover hotdog buns as garlic toast great idea!)
4. Challenge means we are going to hit some low points, so how did you get around that? Did you adjust, change your mind,replace? Or did you cave....hmmmmdonuts...
5. buy only what you must have at the store, such as milk fresh veggies, fruit or if the have a awesome cannot walk away meat sale. (Chef Jul Owings is picking up pork buts for .89 a lb, never pass up a meat sale like that)
So tomorrow I have leftover shrimp in the fridge from today and Hubs and I will have Shrimp salads for lunch. Neither of us is eating bread right now, except as a treat on the weekends.
Dinner will be Tacos, with corn tortillas(in the fridge) lettuce, tomatoes, sr cream, salsa, cheese, fried burger with an onion and a can of black beans. All of which I have in the storage. The meat and beans will last for a couple of meals.
Ah February, the month of birthdays and hidden expenses.
My accountant appointment is always the first part of this month and then the bill is due (usually around $350.00) about the 10th. Ugh! This is usually offset by a small return, but I know we will get no return this year. So I called and asked for an appointment later in the month so the bill won't come until March! Just putting it off, but it will help me get other things paid and stay on course.
I always send My Aunt, (my dad's sister) $500.00 for her birthday to help pay her taxes. Dad asked Sis and I to help her right before he died. Sis sends her $500.00 at Christmas, this allows her to stay on her lake place. She will be 86 this birthday.
I have another debt of about $1050.00 that I want to cash flow out of the budget
We will need money to got to daughters, gas, groceries, daughters birthday, grandsons birthday, Valentines chocolates, for Hubs mom and dad and the girls, and grandsons. I will have to work hard.
Continue all my savings plans that I started
Pay an additional $1000.00 on the mortgage.
So how am I going to do all this? I have no idea. Aunties birthday is the 11th so I hope to have the $500.00 by the 6th? Also will have to have cash to leave for daughters. Those are the first two things I will conquer and then onto the $1250 bill and the extra $1000.00. We will not get home from daughters until the 17th which does not leave me very much time in the month to scare up money. Boy am I going to need to be creative. Does anyone know how to spin straw into gold? Need your recipe please.
Okay there you have it. Do you think I can do it? I don't know folks, it is going to be iffy. I will however give it the college try.
Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.
KIm
5. I will buy fresh veggies, milk, eggs. If there is a terrific meat sale maybe.
Well, I ate an egg sandwich with baked turnips and sweet potatoes for breakfast. Strange, I know. I am taking my turkey and cheese sandwich to work, right after I pay my car tags (shall post amount tags cost afterwards and let you know amount), and I will have the greens of the turnip greens with rice and the “ pot likker” that is makes, for supper. In between will be copious amounts of chocolates, dried mangoes, almonds, and potato chips. Yeah, no wonder I am not thin. I drink water (well, a little) and Diet Mt Dew (a lot).
ReplyDeleteCar tag fees vary greatly by county here, and the county next door is a lot cheaper. My car tag for 2006 Lexus was $33. The car tag for my little bitty Chevy Spark, 2019, was $122...ugh. Property taxes vary per county also. My property taxes for year ( with homestead exemption) on my 912 sq ft 2 bed one bath house in this little bitty town aware hours away from urban areas was $250. My property taxes for the year in my mom’s house, roughly same size, was $600. Her house is near largest university in the state and taxes are high in that county. However, we do have a very high sales tax, and locally they can add more, on groceries. I think it is 9 percent including local tax here. Maybe Anne in the Kitchen, and Practical Parsimony have a lessor sales tax, I do not know. They could probably tell you more. I know I have to pay it so I sort of ignore it. On another note, I froze the red velvet cupcakes I bought this weekend so I would not eat them all.
DeleteWow your taxes for property are really low, but your sales tax is high compared to ours. I really like Diet MT dew but Diet coke is my drink of choice. You reminded me to boil some eggs with that egg sandwich.
DeleteI think it is great that you help your aunt with her taxes. Hope you have a wonderful visit with your daughter and family. Wish I knew how to spin straw into gold, but whatever amount you save will put you that much closer to your goals.
ReplyDeleteI think I can do the pantry challenge for a couple of weeks without buying anything except milk and eggs and chocolates. Getting low on chicken so hoping for a sale. Have a GC for takeout for Valentine's meal. Lots of fruits and veggies in misfit box to use. Should be doable.
Great, let me know how you do
Delete. It's nice to use up those little bits of this and that!
We have quite 2/4 birthdays in February as well. I spent $0 on dining out in January, and we will intentionally spend on dining out in February.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think I can hit a lower budget than January ($250 lower), which is my target. I've already baked in paying for very discounted delivery service, which means we'll just fill in with a few meals around the edges, and produce/milk.
With my husband & I also fasting 2-3 days/week, it should have the carry on impact of reducing our produce & other food needs a bit as well.
We're going into the challenge with lots of food in the freezer & pantry, so feeling good so far!
Great, yes February is an expensive month for us between the birthdays and Valentines. But it is a short month and usually pretty gloomy weather wise so having something to celebrate makes it better!
DeleteAh, the spinning straw into gold recipe...my only idea for you is to see if there is anything you could sell (like an old video camera, camera, tape deck, record player, lawn mower, something old that you don’t use but has some value). And don’t worry if this months cash flow is light, when we paid off our mortgage, I had to find $10,000 a year from “straw” and it happened, although never in a monthly predictable amount. I will write later as the days food happens. Happy frugal February!
ReplyDeleteThe first day of this challenge went well. I made a batch of split pea soup and we ate some leftover cornbread (from the freezer). One batch makes three meals for the two of us, so two portions went into the freezer. We ate a late breakfast so the pea soup was an early dinner. Spending wise, we went to Winco and did our February shopping ($58) but I pruned the list down to just things we really needed, and deleted anything that was a stock up item. Then off to Sam’s club for gas, then a farm outlet for some tangelos, and then home. Overall, while I did spend money, it was for the right things. Thanks for doing this challenge!
DeleteThat is a good idea. I have some more things to list on the market place, not sure how much they bring in, but anything will help right?I love split pea soup and corn bread. But during the week I am trying to do low carb.
DeleteIf I knew how to spin straw into gold, I would have more money. I just paid my property taxes, so that wiped out a chunk of money.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have to save $200.00 a month for those puppies.
DeleteI already have adjusted the menu plan this week to account for a soup mix lingering in the pantry that needs to be used. The good thing is that will make two meals (with a sandwich likely) and extend my menu options to go farther in the week. I'm also trying to reduce carbs (not cut out as that would be a fail), an increase fruit and veg for weight loss.
ReplyDeleteI really hate low carb but it is the only way I can keep weight off. When I was running 3-5 miles a day it was no problem, but now I refuse to buy new clothes.
DeleteI'm in. January was stock-up month so there is sufficient protein in the freezer plus frozen garden veg to use. I pick up my farm-fresh eggs Wednesday (4dz EOW) and paid for 2months last pickup.
ReplyDeleteFebruary is a big insurance month for us: both vehicles and both homes.
Great Elle. Yes February kicks our butt financially so I always have to be careful.
DeleteI am doing the challenge but I am leaving the Take Out night in my food plan. We have a travel and entertainment budget that our dining out was part of. Since we have done no travel nor had any entertainment since the Covid restrictions began that budget amount is huge. ( I do include the Disney/Hulu/Espn streaming as part of the t and e budget because we never would have gotten that if not for covid)
ReplyDeleteHey we will be eating out some with our travels I am sure. We would not have survived the last year without Netflix.
DeleteI’m fasting today so it’s just Hubsbands meal. He’ll have LO BBQ pork on a bun with french fries, all from the fridge/freezer. His lunches are almost always sandwiches with chips and a brownie or two after. All from pantry supplies.
ReplyDeleteI’m in several on-line auctions. That money comes from a personal account so i won’t count that.
Good luck with all your goals! I’m always amazed at how you get so much done, but you do! No doubt you’ll rock i this time, too!
Debbie
Thanks Deb, I don't know, I really need to pull off a miracle.
DeleteThis is a great idea! I also stocked up in January to the tune of 1280.00 for 2 people. I just need to stay out of the grocery store. Soda, veggies and dairy will be our only needs. Lunch was a frozen dinner and dinner will be a frozen lasagna which will net several more lunches. One disclaimer is I don't have a fully functioning kitchen as its under construction...still.
ReplyDeleteWell that is not fun. I remember our kitchen remodel a few years ago and it was a nightmare. I can see why you are opting for frozen entree's.
DeleteMy menu plan for the week is up on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI had yogurt for breakfast, and then lunch was a granola bar and a piece of cheese. Supper was what I listed on my menu plan.
God bless.
You my friend are a light eater. I love that a granola bar and a piece of cheese. Sounds like one of my lunches.
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