Homemaker Shop Talk 1

I've said in years past on this blog that our aim is to be debt free. Completely debt free. As in house and everything. we started that venture almost four years ago by selling everything in our home that wasn't nailed down. For reals. The problem with that was, it got us out of some bills really fast, but then we were left without the basics: furniture, kitchen table, transportation that worked for our entire family, etc. Before you knew it, our debt was down, our credit looked great and -- you guessed it -- this lady wanted a new couch. And a van so I wouldn't be stuck in the country by myself while Mr. was at work in the summer.(PS-- country is slang for not close enough to bike to friends and family)
Ugh. Right back in debt. I think our intentions were good before, but we were really in a desperate spot: lots of money going out with minimal coming in. We scrambled out of it, but it didn't stick. Although we opened a credit card again, our budget has shifted and we're in a better place. But still, we want to owe money to no one. So we're living cheap and dumping as much as we can onto those bills we don't want. This time is different as we chip away at it through sweat and hard work (Mr. works a lot of OT now). It was too easy before and we didn't learn our lesson. Hear me?
So. One area I want to mess with is our groceries. Grocery shopping is the one area in my life where I feel in control. Where I know what I'm doing. Where I am confident. I had this grand vision of stocking up our staples in June and filling in with dairy and produce on a weekly basis the rest of the summer (or until we're desperate again for another big trip). We spent our normal grocery budget all at Costco this month (normally I will buy meat and such there, then go to Winco weekly for the rest of the month).
The plan is to only use 1/4 of our grocery budget on dairy and produce the rest of the summer by heading to the farmer's market --on the bike. Which will also save money. and will load us up on experiences. And fun. And maybe, just maybe riding the bike that much will shave off some of the flab on this ol' body. One can hope.
So. The plan. I made a list of thirty of our favorite meals, bought the ingredients I need to have them a few times over, and stocked up. So far, it's working fine. Milk, butter, cheese, lunchmeat, pepperoni for pizza night, meat, chopped veggies and some fruit for smoothies are all divided and chilling in the freezer. The pantry is stocked with flour, sugar, rice, canned tomatoes, pasta, condiments, etc.
I've been making bread in the bread machine, slicing it in half (because the loaves are so tall) and freezing them. I also made pizza dough, cookie dough, pie crust, etc ahead of time to pull out for meals and desserts.
It's been 14 days, we had company for four of them, and still our freezer is full and I have options. Our fruit is running low, which I expected, so we'll supplement with smoothies the next two weeks. Next month I'll go to the farmer's market once a week for whatever we need.
It's kind of exciting! (Which is sad if you think about it. I remember when the thought of vacation was exciting. Or road tripping it solo was exciting. Ha! Such is this life.) Hoping it works the way I plan so that I can use the other 3/4 of our food budget the next few months to pay down bills faster. Our goal is to get out quickly, but in a way that we have to suffer a little for it so that we will remember why we never want to be in debt again.
How about you? What do you do to save money on a monthly basis? Are you a coupon lady? Or do you grow everything on your own and can it? Or have you found a magic loophole that lets you eat out and still save money? Do share!
One final note: I read on another blog somewhere (maybe here that part of the curse in Genesis was that man would have to toil for food. I don't think this is supposed to be easy, nor do I think this should be our main goal in life. I try not to obsess about everything going on in the food world because it gets me frazzled about things I can't control. I feed my family what I can on our budget with my human abilities and trust God to care for the rest. He is faithful and as long as our salvation is secure in Him (IT IS!) we are ok.
I do still take responsibility to do my best with what He's provided. Stepping down from my soap box now.
I love this kind of talk, discuss with me! :)
P.S. As I typed this, Fo repeatedly asked for cereal for breakfast (which we do not have because it is too expensive) and then proudly announced that we're having steak for dinner. Um...I might need to catch the girls up on this budget of ours ;0)