I had to do some traveling for work this week to Dover Delaware for a trade show and I was treated to a nice hotel stay with  some good food.  They even gave us a $25 voucher to do some gambling in the hotel casino.  But honestly to tell the truth, that’s just not my thing anymore.  I would rather be home with the Z Man, the babies, the chickens and even Myrtle, our bird.  I’m just a homebody now and happy to be one.

Frugal Five:

• Before I left I made the Z Man lots of meals for his breakfast, lunch and dinners while I was traveling.  Chicken soup, pesto chicken pasta, sausage and cheese strata.  He ate good too while I was away.
• The trade show host provided us with $25 vouchers to do some gambling in the hotel casino.  I gifted $10 of mine to a co worker, but I still ended up winning $52 and walked away from the 1¢ slot machines that I was playing.  I know I’m such a big shot right, playing the 1¢ slot machines. 😉  That’s right 1¢ instead of the $1 machines.
• I brought back the hotel amenities (shampoo, coffee, teas) that I did not use during my stay.  I did not hoard extras, I just brought home what I did not use.
• Last week when I made smoothies I ran out of fruit, so I decided to use some blackberries the Z Man picked last summer that I had in the freezer.  Well, remember when I mentioned that I’m big on texture when it comes to my food.  There were so many seeds from those blackberries in my smoothie that I just couldn’t do it.  So instead of tossing the remaining four smoothie set ups I had in the freezer I just thawed them out and removed the blackberries and refroze them with different fruit.  I wasn’t about to waste the other ingredients.  Throwing food away is the worst waste.  In the words of Dennis the Menace….  “You Can’t Waste Food!”
• I bought groceries last night after work, stuck to my list and bought nothing extra.  I needed to stock up on fruit for my smoothies, which isn’t cheap.  I spent $75 which brings my grocery total to $149 for the month, leaving me a balance of $151.    Here is what I bought….

At least there is a little more color in my grocery purchases this week.

OK, your turn, what frugal fun did you have this week.

Till next time, Y’all stay safe out there!

Lori

I did well with my January grocery budget of $300.  My total spent was $212 leaving me $88 to sweep into my FA savings account.  You can read more about the Freedom Account Savings here. 

Unfortunately the grocery savings for January will go toward my hospital and physical therapy bills from cutting my finger.  Cutting your finger – NOT frugal!

I will keep my grocery budget for February at $300, because like I’ve said before there are some months that we will meet that budget.  This year I will include the garden expenses of seeds and plants, because our gardens do supplement our grocery expense all year.

As for meats – our pork and venison expense comes to around $550.00 a year.  But that cost is for about 700 lbs of meat.  No we don’t eat 700 lbs of meat in a year, we barter, gift and sell quite a bit of it. 

We track our expense and revenues for the chickens and the egg sales separately.  But, I do use a couple dozen eggs each week.

The meats and egg portion of our grocery budget is factored in annually.  A good estimate is that we spend approximately 90¢ per pound of meat.  That does not factor in the electricity to run the freezer….

Friday’s Frugal Five:

• Set up our February budget in Dave Ramsey’s Every Dollar.  This was pretty easy to do using last month’s amounts.  There is one travel trip this month to be considered and of course Valentines Day.  Also keeping in mind that it’s a short month.
• Returned my library books and audio books on time avoiding late fees.
• Hung laundry on the line and inside on rainy days to avoid using the dryer.
• Returned a dog lead that I purchased and it broke with in a couple uses.  It was cheap and a purchase I shouldn’t have made anyway.  Our dogs are small, but when they get sight of a rabbit they will take off like a bullet.  Must have a sturdy lead for their walks.
• Bought groceries for next week and stuck to my list.  Avocados are on sale right now, so I like to make several batches of guacamole and freeze it when they go on sale.  It freezes wonderfully as long as it’s in a size container that will be used up in a single setting.  I hate brown guacamole.  But, if that happens you can always turn it into a salad dressing.

Here is what I bought:

My groceries are very green and brown this week.

I spent $74.00  leaving me $226.00 left of my February budget.

What’s not included in grocery picture is our weekly milk which is $20.00 a month and chicken breast which was $19.00

Hope you and yours have a lovely weekend.

Till next time, Y’all stay safe out there!

Lori