Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Wednesday, I stand corrected!


 Okay Kim stands corrected.   My comment or rant about the woman spending $277 on groceries for her family of 6 was not correctly thought out. As I have never shopped for a month.

Many people pointed out that she might have been shopping for the month for her family, and this may have been an average shop if you consider the number of people who are eating.  If hubs and I stick to $70 a week, multiply that by 6 and you would get $210 a week. So, $277.00 is not far off.

I wasn't trying to be critical as much as I was amazed that anyone could afford that.  Hubs retired 6 years ago and even when our three daughters were home our grocery budget was no more than $40.00 every week back then.  But I supplemented with a large garden for 5 months of the year. I canned and froze food. I gleaned where I could, as in free potatoes, onions and fruit. Hubs hunted, and we always had venison (although I did not like it). I had a huge storage, and only bought loss leaders.  I just taught myself to pinch pennies.  SO now when I see people doing a regular shop for a family, I just can't understand it.  That would be a grocery budget of over $1000 a month.  When Hubs brought home, $907 on one paycheck and $889 on another and that was it for the month and that was only 6 years ago you can see how I would panic.

Hubs has his appointment with the oncology surgeon today in Pullman. We will get a date for his surgery hopefully today.

I was very happy with what I got done in the shop yesterday, I even have those two remaining bridesmaid dresses that I wanted to get hemmed, cut and ready to go, but I had to get thread to match one of them and I was also out of bustling buttons. SO, first thing on the agenda for this morning is to get those dresses hemmed before we leave for the doctor.

Tonight, we are having, tomato, cucumber, onion salad, form the garden.  Then I will do a stir fry with green beans, cabbage, yellow squash and zucchini, and onions all from the garden. I love this time of year when the garden starts to produce, and you just plan your meals around what is out there. Anne in the Kitchen reminded me of the 6 egg whites I have in the fridge when she posted about a quiche/frittata recipe.  I have to make a couple of quiches and use those up, but that will be easy with all the produce I have right now especially peppers. Kim is going to pull a lb. of Italian sausage from the freezer.

Our eldest daughter Jethelyn just called from a kitchen gadget store in Denver asking me if I needed anything.  I love me a kitchen gadget.  I was telling her about this post, and she reminded me of her childhood and how the other parents would bring in fast food or junk food from a gas station for their kid during late play practices.  I would be bringing in two or three plates of food covered in tin foil.  Like a pork chop, homemade applesauce, a baked potato, green beans, and some kind of homemade dessert.  I had to feed Jethelyn, Hubby who was usually in the pit, and I would feed the show director. If I brought food in after school it was always a batch of cookies, or a sheet cake, or a couple of loaves of fresh bread or rolls, with butter and peanut butter because many kids had parents who did not bring them food and they were hungry. Kids always commented to her, but not in a bad way.  It is not that I never brought in fast food, it was just not a norm.

Good memories, bad memories.

Well, I am off to get something done, oh by the way Rhitter started a new blog, now let's get off her case as we all knew this was going to be a cluster when she moved close to her daughter and ex-husband.  It's called a do over folks, and we all need one from time to time.  Support is important not criticism.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.


Kim

29 comments:

  1. Thanks Kim for the love. I know my flaws, and don't need anyone to make me feel defeated.

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    1. I don't know your blog, but we definitely all have our flaws - I'm sorry if you're getting negativity!

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    2. Rhitter - I am sorry your blog is gone. I will miss you. You are going to flourish this is just a bump in the road. People who attack you are attacking you are facing their own insecurities. Good Luck and Enjoy the reset...

      Melissa

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    3. Thanks! Here is the new site - https://coffeewithrhitter.blogspot.com/

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    4. People just piss me off. I mean getting out of debt is hard especially if you have other problems like I have, so I have your back.

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  2. I too often brought my kids what dinner would be served at home when I wasn't working full time. Brain food!

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  3. Well, I must be totally doing something wrong because $277 is typically what I spend for 2 of us for 2 weeks, maybe 3 weeks and we hardly buy any meat anymore. This also includes personal care and cleaning supplies.

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    1. I don’t think you are doing anything wrong. My grocery bill includes large amounts of dog food, cat food, paper towels, toilet paper, beef products, organic spinach, etc. but I seldom eat out. Everyone handles stuff the best they can and prices vary drastically over the world.
      Cindy in the South

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    2. There are so many factors to food budgets - for my family of four I easily spend $300 a week - but I have two teenage sons and we live just outside NYC so prices are high!

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    3. I buy all paper products and animal food at other stores and don't add it in to my grocery budget so that helps keep it low, but if you factor those things in... yikes!

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  4. I love meals from the garden. Mine was just a big plate of veggies and ranch dressing today. Tasty on a hot day

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  5. I don’t think I have seen that blog so I will go read it. I don’t know why anyone would be ugly to anyone else about their trials in life. My life has been a train wreck on a roller coaster, despite having a good job. I like to say I put the fun in dysfunctional….. lol. I said that somewhere else on the internet and some nasty person jumped on me. I suppose having a good attitude upset her. I have discovered lots have not been divorced with little kids so maybe they don’t understand the putting out fires daily, I don’t know. But if someone is not paying my bills, they don’t get a say in my life and how I handle it. I chose to handle things with humor, if possible. Nobody needs to jump anyone going through stuff. If they can’t be supportive, they don’t need to say anything at all. Cindy in the South

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    1. Can I quote you to the trolls and supposed friends who criticize me roundly?

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    2. PP you can quote me anytime and you have handled the trolls well. Hold your head high, they have no idea what you have actually gone through. Cindy in the South

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    3. Cindy from the South... I love your positive spin! Here's the URL https://coffeewithrhitter.blogspot.com/

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    4. Thanks Rhitter94! Cindy in the South

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    5. People just want to be nasty sometimes and it is uncalled for on this platform or any platform.

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  6. I remember about 50 years ago that my mother in-law commented that a young relative was complaining that her 3 kids cost so much to feed that they could hardly afford it. My mother in-law then said that said relative just didn't know how to cook so it didn't cost so much. So these problems have gone on even in easier times.

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    1. Oh I totally believe that, know how to cook is a big help in saving money.

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  7. I guess it’s impossible to know what the purchase was: a monthly shop, a weekly shop, party prep, groceries to take on a vacation, etc. no way to know if it was frugal and wise or a luxury over doesn’t they can’t afford.

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    1. I was just surprised as it was so high and I have never spent that much even at Christmas. I should not judge.

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  8. Hope your husband's oncology appointment went ok, and I pray that he will be cancer free soon. Sending lots of hugs and prayers.
    I don't know how some people can afford what they do, but I can only try to do the best with what I have been given.

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  9. I spend a fair amount on food. Generally a minimum of 100 a week for just me. As a family when kids were with. We spent a lot on food. We (I now) good food. We like varied an exotic foods and we buy lamb along with hamburger. We drink wine and soda and coffee. As I di now only not coffee. We never had a garden or a place to As such or many of the other options mentioned above. It's a budget choice I expect.

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    1. I am sure it is,I was just comparing it to my budget and that was unfair.

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  10. My sister and I were laughing at what Mom packed for lunch for us when we were kids. We never had the goodies like everyone else had. One girl in particular brought an individual package of chips and one of those packaged cakes with pink coated marshmallow toppings Every . Single . Day.
    Nothing spells first grade envy like watching your nemesis have a treat like that when you looked at your own lunch : a ham sandwich with the slice of ham so thin you could read a book though it (no cheese but Mom did put one dill pickle chip on it) , some kind of side item like crackers, and either 1/2 apple or 1/2 orange.
    BTW the above mentioned girl was only my nemesis during lunch. Other than that she was a really nice kid.

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  11. LOL Lunch time envy!

    My mother usually packed too much for my school lunches. I usually gave part of it to a couple of students I knew had very little.

    I confessed the her the second week of school. She asked me how much I ate and who I shared it with. No free lunch programs in those days! She started packing it a little differently so it was easier to share with two friends.

    Lunch wasn't special. Usually a peanut butter sandwich, some fruit, crisps and a small treat. We weren't wealthy, but my parents loved children and did not like to see them in need if they could help a little. :-)

    ...Taja 🏜️

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