Step 1: Meal Planning

Do I need to preach on the importance of meal planning? I didn't think so.

Sunday: granola bar
            soup & plum
            hamburgers (I really pushed the limit on the ground beef in the freezer. I've gotta use it tomorrow, or it's going in my food waste pile...yikes!!)

Monday: eggs
            salad & nectarine
            lean cuisine

Tuesday: yogurt and granola
            stir fry
            chili

Wednesday: granola bar
            kabobs
            SmartOne

Thursday: powerbar
            soup & carrots
            burrito

Friday: cereal
            salad
            roast beef rolls & yogurt

Saturday: fruit
            lunch out w/ the family at Mexican Restaurant!
            dinner? Who knows? Hopefully something light and healthy after that lunch. Haha


          
          

time to buckle down.

I've been slacking lately. Not being as careful as I should be about my money. I've been making all my payments and all that, so I thought I was good. But now I'm really starting to feel it. 


My car is busted. 


I absolutely HATE my car. I have for a long time and I've been wanting to get a new one. But now it's really on it's last limb and I have NO money to replace it. None. Nada.  


Now I'm really wishing I had been saving more and spending less. 
So I'm going to get back on track


Back to meal planning, food waste etc...


I've already put my netflix account on hold. Course that only saves me $10. But hey, that's $10!

Meal Planning

I got my bountiful basket on Saturday and I can't wait to eat all those yummy fruits and veggies. I also have absolutely no money left in my grocery account so I have to be super diligent about my meals this week. So I've decided to plan my breakfasts too. Why? Because it's so important and yet I hate eating it, so I don't. Well this might save me money, but it's unhealthy. I also hate waking up early enough to eat breakfast, so I eat it at work. At my job, it's tough to eat at work though. We're constantly talking and typing, so breakfast has to be cold and portable, hopefully bite sized. These factors make breakfast even more of a challenge...

(Today was pretty weird because it was Russ's birthday and we went kayaking! Luckily, I did pack a picnic of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, peaches. Yum. It was a great day.)

Tues: pancakes and jam
       tuna sandwich, plouts, carrots
       bbq chicken, corn,
Wed: grapes and a granola bar
       Salad, peaches
       foil dinner
Thurs: Almonds and banana
       hawaiian ham sandwich, grapes, yogurt
       broc-potato soup
Fri:  peaches and ...
       chicken fettuccine, pineapple
       ravioli, green salad
Saturday: banana yogurt parfait
       leftovers,
       chicken potato broc bake, corn
Sunday: granola bar and whatever fruit is left
       pb and honey, banana
       I'll prob have dinner w/ my parents

Lunch for tomorrow

 I could probably eat for a dollar a day if I ate nothing but junk. I really think I could. It seems the healthier I want to eat, the more expensive it is. It's a balancing act, I guess. What really helps is meal planning. No one can say it enough. Here is my lunch for tomorrow. I have a tuna sandwich on arnold thins I got on sale. Some cucumber slices and carrots, some cheddar cheese and a plout. I honestly can't say how much this cost me because well I don't know how I'd figure out how the plout and cucumber cost me since I got it with the whole bountiful basket package. I bought the tuna so long ago I don't know what  I paid. The bread was 2.50 for 8 'buns' so thats...$0.32. The cheese- I can't remember probably 0.33. The carrots came in a huge package of like 3lbs. I just don't know how to do that math. Anyway, I can tell you it's cheper than eating out and it's way healthier for me. I'm kind of excited to use this container too. My sis gave it to me a long time ago and it's been sitting in my cupboard. I've been reading all about these bento boxes and such. I saw this today and decided to pull it out. It kinda does help see the components: the main sandwich, the veg and the fruit, and keep it balanced. I'm pretty excited.

The rest of the week's meal plan is coming soon...

Bountiful Basket Pickup Day! Day 2

I am really digging this bountiful baskets deal. Today was pick up day- bright and early at 7:00! I raced over there this morning and back to be at work at 8:00. It's so worth it.
In case you've never heard of them before- it's $15.00 for a regular order, $25 for all organic and then you can get extras like blueberries and bread. I just stick with the basic basket and then it's $1.50 for tax. It comes in 2 laundry baskets 1 full of veggies and 1 full of fruit.
So for a total of $16.50 I got all of this.

Here we have:
3 english cucumbers
1 bunch (I think of 6 or 7) bananas
1 head of romaine
5 lbs yukon potatoes
7 ears of corn
1 mini watermelon
1 pineapple
1 bunch of red grapes
1 head of broccoflower 
6 peaches
3 tomatoes
9 plouts 

I definately think it's worth $16.00. In the weekly ad at my favorite market, mini watermelons are 2.50, pineapple is 0.78/lb, grapes are 1.98/lb, and peaches are 1.18/lb. If I bought this there, it would add approx $11.00!
Now, I don't buy cucumbers or lettuce for more than $1 ea so that's another $4. Or ears of corn for more than 0.25/ea. Add that to the total above and I'm already at $16.50!

That doesn't include the potatoes, broccoflower, plouts or tomatoes!
Even if they were a dollar each, that'd make my total over $20.

Plus Bountiful Baskets are kinda fun because you never know what you're going to get. I've heard of broccoflower and plouts before but I've never had them before. I tried a plout and they're quite yummy. I probably never would have bought them otherwise! I'm pretty excited to try them!

NOT a frugal week for me!!

I've spent quite a lot of money this week!
1. It's R's birthday next week and we're going kayaking (i'm super exciting) but it was $65 just for the kayak rentals. Luckily it was cheaper than I thought and I had a coupon
2. I got new glasses. This I knew would not be cheap because I already got my contacts a few months ago and so insurance wouldn't cover a single penny. But luckily I did have my Flex Benefits card. BUT they came to just under $300! Technically, I didn't pay anything for them (and getting new glasses was a big reason I got the card) but if something happens to me health wise, I cannot rely on this money for deductibles of anything anymore.
3. I got a new phone. I've had this old phone for a while now and I finally went to get one today. I wanted a nice new one and these are not cheap! I paid about $100 for my new phone. (if it helps, I do love it)
4. I had to get my car re-registered this past week. That was about $120

HEAVENS!!! I REALLY need to buckle down and stay within my budget!! I think that I have so much disposable income and that is just very not true. Sometimes it gets so overwhelming!

This week's plan

I still quite haven't figured out my schedule yet, and now it's changing! Isn't that how life works? This is my last week at 2-10 and then starting Saturday, I go to 8-4. I absolutely cannot believe how fast these past few weeks have gone by. But there are going to be some pluses with this change, which makes me excited, but I haven't had a full time job working 8-4 in quite some time! I don't know how people do it. How do you get all of your errands done?
And for some reason I'm having a tough time thinking of meals for this week. Here goes:
Monday: big salad
             herb chicken and mashed potatoes
Tuesday: bean tacos
           bbq chicken
Wednesday: soup
            breakfast for dinner
Thursday: chili
          pita pizzas
Friday: honey mustard chicken
            dinner with my parents
Saturday: loaded baked potato
             hawaiian ham sandiwch

Yeah, these meals will probably change only because  I really couldn't think of anything better, and if I do...well then that's what I'll eat.