Well, we have been on our tighter, more aggressive budget for one week now! I thought I'd update a little on the various things we're figuring out along the way, just to show that a budget is ever-evolving and it definitely takes two people to collaborate on it.
First, we decided on our new grocery budget. We are allotting $75 per week now instead of the $50 we had been doing before. We also added in $20 per month for Shelley's dog food, which makes our total monthly grocery/household items budget $320. Obviously this is never set in stone and we will reevaluate if necessary, but we thought that was a good place to start. I actually went grocery shopping yesterday on our new budget and felt very encouraged. I was able to shop at Kroger for our regular weekly items and spent just over $50, then went to Costco and bought 6 pounds of ground beef (which should last us at least three weeks) and a bag of bananas (which just happen to be cheaper there) and spent $22 and some change, so for this week we're right around $73. It felt good to be able to buy not only the necessities, but also to stock up on ground beef for a few weeks since that just makes menu planning and life a little easier. Whenever I buy ground beef in large quantities I almost always go ahead and brown it all at one time rather than portioning out the raw stuff to cook later. It saves time when I'm cooking to already have the meat browned and ready to go. I saw this idea for cooking ground beef in the crockpot and it makes life SO easy. I just pack all 6 pounds into the crockpot, add some seasonings and a little water, and leave it on high for 3-4 hours or until brown. I usually do this while I'm home so that I can check it periodically and give it a stir, but I actually forgot about it yesterday and ended up leaving it in way longer than usual (to the tune of 9 hours on high!). I thought for sure it had burned, but miraculously it was fine! I then portion it out and freeze it. Super simple!
Second, we have realized very quickly that this has to be a team effort. When we got married 6 years ago, I tried being involved in paying the bills and checking the bank account online and ended up feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. I'm a control freak by nature, so I wanted to control every little bit of our money but wanted Billy to do the dirty work (such as paying the bills and handling logistics). After arguing and feeling overwhelmed and anxious about money, we decided that I would take a step back and trust Billy to handle it. This worked fine and isn't a bad way to do things, but with our new financial goals we have to do this together because it's just too much for one person to deal with. Billy is fantastic at paying the bills and recognizing where everything goes (he's definitely a numbers guy) so he still manages the logistical aspects of our finances, but I just have to be "in the know" now. That's kinda hard for me, to be honest. I either want to know everything or nothing at all, and sometimes knowing everything is NOT fun.
We had a "heart-to-heart" last week that brought me up to speed on our spending habits and it was....painful. I had to recognize that I was making some big mistakes (Billy was too, so it's not just me) and that was hard to hear. I especially have a hard time when I realize I've done something wrong, because I feel guilty and then tell myself I'm a failure. I immediately went to that place during our talk and Billy could see it happening and snapped me out of it. God bless him. After some tension and drama on my part, we resolved that this has to be a two-person effort. Billy has great vision and is the big-picture type of person. Me, I'm very much a let's-get-through-this-day type of person who sees all the little details. Individually, that might make budgeting a bit of challenge, but together....we can totally do this! Billy has the vision for our future and can see our goals (he says 5 years is short term, I say that's long term...again, an example of how we see things differently!). I can see some of the day-to-day stuff and handle more of the little details that help us stay on track throughout the week. Now that we are both up to speed, I'm feeling even more confident and excited as we move forward.
Third, our first week on the budget we ate out only once! This is a big deal for us, as we usually have dinner out at least once during the week and then eat lunch or dinner (or both) out on the weekends. I'm also really bad about swinging by a restaurant and getting a drink, which doesn't seem like much when you're spending $1-$2 but it adds up fast. We went to Roanoke on Saturday, so we ate lunch out while we were there. We also got milkshakes from Chick-fil-A as our date night treat (Granny and Poppaw graciously offered to watch the girls so we could get out for a couple of hours). Other than those two things, we haven't purchased any food or beverage from a restaurant! I have been more thoughtful about menu planning and making sure I give myself enough information so that I have EVERYTHING I need and don't have to make a last-minute run to the store (which ends up increasing the impulse purchases). This is our menu plan for this week:
Breakfast:
Any combination of oatmeal, toast, fruit, pancakes, and/or pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (from freezer)
Lunch:
Sandwiches (peanut butter or cheese for the kids, roast beef for Billy)
Quesadillas
Macaroni and cheese
Leftovers throughout the week
Dinner:
1. Creamy chicken and potato soup with English muffin bread (this was a last minute meal I threw together with what I already had because I didn't make it to the grocery store on Sunday afternoon and it actually turned out great!)
2. Sausages and leftover soup for Billy and sandwiches for the girls (I had book club and took leftover soup with me as we usually do a soup and salad night there)
3. Whole chicken in the crockpot (I just coat the chicken in seasonings and pour about a cup of some type of soda over it, then let it cook for 8-ish hours on low) with cheesy hashbrown potatoes (a new recipe that I'm making tonight)
4. Spaghetti casserole (I double this recipe and divide into two 8x8 pans and put one in the freezer for another week), green beans, and bread
5. Crockpot creamy tomato soup (this is a new recipe, so we'll see how it turns out!) with grilled cheese sandwiches
6. Crescent roll chicken pockets (using the leftover chicken from the crockpot meal), easy oven roasted potatoes, and veggies
7. Soup from the freezer with homemade bread (8 of us did a soup swap back in August so we've been having a "freezer soup" every other week or so, which also gives me at least one night of dinner that is pretty much already made! I think we're doing venison stew this week)
Extra items I plan to make this week:
Cook ground beef in the crockpot (done!)
Apple dumplings
Crockpot apple butter (will also be canning this)
Applesauce (if we have leftover apples after making apple butter)
Homemade chicken stock
Having a very detailed menu for the week helps me plan ahead and not fall into the trap of just going out to eat. I keep my list on the refrigerator so there are no excuses about forgetting or not having time. I usually check my list first thing in the morning so I can mentally prepare for whatever I'm making that day and even get my prep work done in the morning. I also consult our calendar for the week when planning the menu so I can take into account things like book club or visiting family. I try to plan easy meals on days that will be fairly busy and the more time-consuming meals on days when I know we have no plans.
I'm feeling good about where we are in this right now. There's still a lot that needs to be discussed and evaluated, but for now I think we're making big strides. One of the things that's been on my mind lately is Christmas and we've already discussed how we're celebrating and spending this year. Since I have a lot of ideas about Christmas (it's my favorite time of year...I'm even listening to Christmas music as I type this post!) I want to share some of that in the next post. :)
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