Grocery Spending

I went to the a local farm to purchase my produce this week and here is what I bought.

Carrots: $1.58
Cherries: $8.00
Blueberries: $5.00
Tomatoes: $4.00
Lettuce: $0.59

Total: $19.17

Then I went to Cooper’s Foods to purchase the rest of my groceries.

Bananas: $1.05
Peaches: $4.24
Milk: $4.99
Sour cream: $3.69
Eggs: $3.99
Cheese: $12.99
Chicken breast: $9.17
Chicken breast: $8.23
Bacon: $4.99
Juice crystals: $2.19
Chips: 2 @ $2.50 each = $5.00
Tortilla chips: $3.99
Rice spaghetti noodles: 3 @ $3.99 each = $11.97 (Pricey hey! Oh how I miss the $1.00 wheat noodles!)
Rice rotini noodles: 2 @ $3.49 each = $6.98

Total: $83.47

Grand total: $102.64

I am happy that for the month we are about $150 under budget. Since I purchased meat and pasta noodles this week, which seem to be the most expensive for me, I should be able to come under budget this month. :)

We are excited for H’s week off and do plan to do a couple of outings this week. My parents informed me that they are both coming to visit next month!! I just saw my mom last month, but I haven’t seen my dad since July 2008! So I am really excited. And they are coming a week after my birthday, which is really nice! Ohhhh! So far this is a great summer!

Weekly Budget Review

Here is how I stand, half way through July.

I am really happy with our spending this month. I really hope that this continues throughout the rest of the year, considering we have a Saskatchewan Christmas trip to save and prepare for.

The $50 you see listed under entertainment was added this weekend. H and I went out for dinner on Thursday night, and spent $30. H had a really rough week at work; his manager was less than pleasant. The dinner out really helped our relationship, considering we have both been under a lot of stress lately. The little night out will probably be it for the month, which is a huge improvement from other months, so I am okay with it. :)

I really hate the amount we spend on transportation. That is the only area that we may go over this month. H takes the car with him to work all week, except Thursdays. Which is usually my errand/grocery shopping day. This week was different because I was able to stretch our food a couple extra days. The paper route has increased our transportation spending by approximately $100 or so per month. But again, we need the car, we need the paper route, so we are okay with it. Well – we HAVE to be okay with it, lol!

Other than that, this month is going great. Which is something that I haven’t been able to say in quite a few months. :)

How are you doing so far this month?

Homemade Yogurt & Other Updates!

For those of you who follow me on twitter, yesterday I was tweeting about making my first batch of homemade vanilla yogurt. After letting it sit overnight, I am happy to say that it turned out and it tastes great! I am going to play around with it some more to see if I can make it a little thicker.




I followed a recipe that I found online, and had planned on taking pictures for you guys during the process. But since it was my first batch, taking pictures was the last thing on my mind! :P

I did find a great walk through on The Frugal Girl’s blog. The process I used is pretty much the same as hers. If you are interested in making this yourself, check out her post.

I am unsure if I will continue to do this long-term. I like the idea of knowing exactly what is in the yogurt, but cost wise, it may be cheaper for me to buy store bought yogurt instead. Since H doesn’t like yogurt, I am the only one here to enjoy it. Whole milk usually runs anywhere from $4 to $5 and I can usually find a “2 for $4.00” deal on yogurt at Superstore. If I had more people in my house eating yogurt, making it myself would be the cheaper route, but that’s not the case.

It was fun to make, and now I know how to make it. So when I live closer to my parents, and start a family of my own, I can make jars full! :)

Employment updates…

H was informed by his boss that they should be back to work either on the 27th or the 29th. So the layoff will only be for a week and a couple days. Not the end of the world. Of course things could change by then - but as of right now, it’s not looking too bad.

We are both applying for jobs. So far, no responses. My temporary layoff from the call centre expires on August 10th (I think) and I just heard that the call centre is laying off another 50 or so people.

So it looks like I will not be getting a call back, which is completely okay with me. As much as I hate being laid off… I hated the call centre more!

I had a meeting with my employment counselor who told me not to apply at places like McDonalds (even though that's how desperate I feel right now!). He said to apply for comparable (wage & skill wise) jobs. I have only been on EI for 6 weeks now, and he says I have lots of time to wait for an opportunity. Which I completely agree with. And I am totally having fun being suzy homemaker! ;)

I also had a meeting with the bank regarding the consolidation loan. I am still waiting to hear back from her, and I hope to hear something by the end of this week!

Using what you already have!

Since venturing down this “frugal” path, I have tried to look outside the box and discover ways I can reuse things. Things that I already have on hand and using them for more than what they are typically designed for. It’s been interesting, and some of the looks that I get from H makes me feel like a crazy person. BUT! Thanks to all you other crazies, I am able to go on. :P

Rina over at Gotta A Little Space wrote this great post last month on new uses for things you already probably have on hand! Check it out for some more great ideas.

Things that I do in my household…

Clothespins is probably where I first started. I don’t think I have ever used clothespins for… pinning clothes. They are the cheapest and best way (in my opinion!) to hold together open bags. You know - you don’t want those chips going stale! Clothespin to the rescue. They are great!

I use an old laundry basket as my recycling basket. We have one of those bright blue traditional recycling buckets - but it’s so tiny, it was always overflowing and buying a new, larger recycling bin didn't make sense to me.

I am a bag hound. I keep all cereal bags, bread bags, fruit bags etc.. I re-use them for anything and everything. Rather than wiping out a Ziploc bag to hold something, I use my “old” bags first. Cereal bags are great as a wax paper substitute and I have even used it for freezing.

Cereal boxes make great filing boxes. I cut mine down, put some
cute scrapbooking paper on the outside and it looks great for holding bills.

It’s true, wrapping your celery in tinfoil will keep the celery fresher, for longer.

Ice-cream buckets and glass jars. An obvious one!

Baking soda. I cannot say enough about it! It’s probably my favourite household product. I use it for… cleaning everything and anything, toothpaste, face exfoliator, (I have tried it as shampoo - didn’t work for me), in the fridge, in the garbage can, in the kitty litter. You name it!

There are probably other little things that I am missing, but I am really curious to know some of the things you do in your household - to multipurpose items that you already have on hand. I would love to know some more ideas!

Weekly Routine

Ever since I sprained my ankle last month, I feel like I am spending far to much time in front of the computer. During the healing process, it was understandable. I couldn’t really walk for very long, and even now, when I walk on my ankle - it’s very sore the next day. But I need to strengthen it, so I need to get off my butt!

I love reading all your blogs, communicating with friends via facebook and chatting with some of you on twitter (for those of you who don’t have a twitter account, I encourage you to create one! It’s a lot of fun chatting back and forth with other bloggers!).

I have a bookshelf full of books that I haven’t picked up in… far too long! I have an elliptical machine that is collecting dust and a kitchen that needs some much needed attention.

I have created a weekly schedule for myself, and I have wrote out various things I need to accomplish throughout a two week period. Everything from cleaning my living room to scooping the kitty poop. Because this is the first time I have ever NOT worked, I haven’t really adapted into any kind of routine yet. I don’t have “garbage days” or “laundry days” I kind of just do it as it comes (like when I was working). Which isn’t bad - but it’s easy to forget to actually do those things with no schedule.

So that is going to be my focus for the next 2 weeks. To see if I can put myself on a set schedule and maintain a better household.

If you are currently not working, or a stay at home mom, how do you manage your time? I would love to know what your routine is, or if you have one.

Grocery Spending

Yesterday when I looked in our fridge and saw the lack of food, I decided to go grocery shopping. I am going to see how long this can last us, hopefully I can make it stretch 2 weeks, but we’ll see.

Again, I went to a local farmer’s market. Here’s what I bought:



Tomatoes: $4.00
Onions: $1.90
Spinach: $0.79
Mushrooms: $1.78
Potatoes: $3.99
Celery: $1.39
Bananas: $1.54
Green onions: $1.18
Blueberries: $5.00
Cherries: 2 @ $5.00 = $10.00
Cucumbers: $1.00
Eggs: $3.50

Total: $36.07

Then I stopped by Superstore to purchase the rest.



Tortilla chips: $4.28
Rootbeer: $1.66
Homo milk: $4.48 (I’m making yogurt!)
Rice noodles: $1.48
Plain yogurt: $2.89
Sour cream: $3.48
Black beans: 3 @ $0.88 = $2.64
Kidney beans: $2.64
Tomato sauce: 3 @ $1.68 = $5.04
Tomato paste: 4 @ $0.48 = $1.92
Vinegar: $2.47
Cheese: $9.99
Salsa: $2.29
Taco seasoning: $0.97
Bacon: 2 @ $3.47 = $6.94
Ground beef: $10.89

Total: $64.06

Grand total: $100.13

Not bad at all. The only thing I may need to pick up next week are some more cherries! They are SO SO SO good! I really love all the available produce during the summer. :)

Today is definitely another no spend day! H and I haven’t left the house, and don’t plan on it either. It’s so hot here in BC today, and again, I have to say it. I LOVE having air conditioning! We are peaceful hermits! The worst thing is sitting in your 3rd story apartment, sweating!!:P

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

Week Review

I thought I would start doing a weekly review on how I am doing financially. This will help me keep track and make me more accountable in terms of my spending.

Since we found out this week that H is going to be laid off (right now it’s looking like a 2 week layoff) we have decided to live on only our necessities. For our variable spending, food and gas is really all we need to spend. H will need to do an oil change on our car while he’s off, but doing it at home will be $20 or so cheaper than taking it somewhere.

Here is where I stand so far:

The $20 in entertainment was spent last weekend; H and I went to see Ice Age 3. Super cute movie by the way! And the $10 you notice in the clothing/gift category was spent thrifting earlier this week.

I am pleased with the lack of spending so far this month. Due to the layoff, I am hoping this is all the unnecessary spending that will be done this month.

H did receive a job offer yesterday. He had to turn it down because it interferes with our paper route. The offer was a janitorial position, cleaning a local bingo hall and pub. REALLY not ideal, but right now, he will take pretty much anything. It would be for 5 hours a night, starting at midnight. The paper route we have is really hard to get, so we didn’t want to stop doing that, for this temporary layoff.

Initially I thought that I could do the route by myself and that he could do this cleaning job until he finds something else, but he would need the car. So that didn’t work either.

But, that is okay. Another opportunity that fits our schedule will come, I am sure of it.

And really, imagine cleaning up after drunk people!!