It's only week two, but we've had two monetary blessings!
Last week, we received an Aldi giftcard that helped us buy our weekly groceries. This week, after being accepted to our first apartment together, we realized that because of the amazing place we found, we would be spending less than we had saved for! Meaning we can actually survive this month without being constantly stressed about money!!! Ahhhhh!!! I'm thrilled! I probably haven't been this happy in months since I'm constantly counting dollars. Now, we didn't have a massive amount of money saved up, so I'm not able to just go out and buy whatever I want. But this does mean we can spend possible $200-300 on groceries this month safely. I liked this money to stick around as long as it can, so I'm definitely sticking with my original 'budget like crazy' grocery plan.
Last month we spent around $245 on groceries. My goal for that month was to spend $200 or less. This month I don't necessarily want to put a cap on my budget. I would love to spend less than what I did last month, that certainly would be a fun relief. However, I found that by trying to only spend $200 and failing every week to meet my budget due to little things needing to be restocked wrecked my spirit. I was down on myself all the time, even though I was doing quite well on spending less, I just wasn't living up to my own expectations. So in an effort to have a healthier mental state, I'm giving myself some slack, and not having a solid spending goal.
Also, full disclosure, I'm just a normal human. Meaning, I rarely keep to an exact schedule or menu even when I have one set. There were nights last week where I was too tired to cook or blog so I had a faster dinner, leftovers from eating out over the weekend, an emergency Emma needs pasta meal...things happen, and we had to push some meals further into the week. That's pretty typical for us. And it's kinda helpful too since I only plan in general 4/7 dinners a week.
So some recipes have gotten pushed back or ingredients were used for other meals. Such is life. I will continue to post throughout this process, but I'm only sharing the recipes of quality. So if you don't see something, it either didn't come out absolutely perfect, I'm currently writing about it and it's just in draft mode, or I haven't even made that recipe yet.
Alright so here's my receipts from this weeks shopping trip.
I spent $96.84 on groceries. Also, I bought 10+ items that will be used over multiple weeks, maybe even more if I freeze vegetables that don't get used before they rot.
This definitely isn't my personal best for a low budget shopping trip. But given the fact we have three different meats this week, I was going to spend more. This brings my monthly total up to $177.28. This number is pretty high. Not the number I want to see if I'm being perfectly honest. Which means next week is when I get to show y'all what I'm really made of. And that I am looking forward to.
The Weekly Menu
Breakfast:
Coffee
Smoothie
Cereal
Lunch:
BLT Whole Wheat Sandwiches with Avocado and Deli Meat
Emma's Roasted Vegetable Soup
Chia Seed Fruit Parfait
Chips
Dinner:
Hotdogs *bought last week and frozen until used* and Sweet Potato Fries
Pesto Risotto with Mushrooms
Slow Cooker Ribs, Italian seasoned Zucchini, and Oven Roasted Corn on the Cob
Quinoa Power Bowl
Snacks:
Baby Dill Pickles
Carrots
Cherries
Peaches
Ice Cream
I call this week my All American food week.
It just screams summer meals.
And that is precisely what I need!
Honestly I can't even wait.
Lunch has been moved to now.
I need to dig in!
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