I think the budget is blown.....

Well, that didn't last long did it??

I have been doing so well too!

Anyway, dad got flown down to Perth on flying doctor on Friday. All well but had to stay until Tues to go back for a check up. I picked him up from his hotel on Sat morning, and promptly forgot all about the budget! Well, actually I didn't, everytime I bought something, I WAS thinking about the dollars over my allocated $140, but thought I could probably make it up.

Lets see...

Last shopping total at $66.68

Tori went to Kristy's for a sleepover and took $8.20 stuff from Coles. Most of that came back, plust Kristy paid Tori $10 for looking after Tahnee!

then $15.15 at IGA, included nachos ingredients for Tori to cook that night. Also block of cheese, on special for $7.99 - Good enough reason to give up, I reckon :)

then spent $19.00 on fruit at Trees A Green. Driving past it on the way home from picking up Dad, noticed the fruit man parked out the front. Bought a tray of peaches, 2kg lemons, 3kg plums and 2kg of nectarines for $19. We worked out it was probably around 10kilos, not bad at nearly $2 a kilo!! Still have some left, and they are beautiful!!!

Then spent $61.68 at WW, and $7.45 at the fruit and veg.

Then a shop at Foodworks $52.13 (included a piece of lamb and a piece of hogget to roast for Aust Day)

Am going to include $13.40 for 2x pizzas bought last night for tea.

And finally $32.38 today at Coles.

So..... total of $275.87......so if I allow $140 budget x 2 weeks = $280, I am left with $4.13 until Tues.....I CAN DO IT!!

I didn't menu plan on Mon night, but for the next few nights we had left over roast meat and vegies.

Last night was the pizza, tonight Brody isn't home and Tori has had a couple of toasted ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches. I have had (am having!) a couple of beers!

I plan on having maybe a quiche, zucchini and haloumi fritters(still have the haloumi cheese in the fridge, and it was too damn expensive to not eat!) well, that is 2 meals that will take me up to Mon night, when it is time to menu plan again.

So overall, I spent too much in week 2, but managed to balance it in week 3. I guess that is what half (maybe most) of budgetting is all about. Being able to afford the weeks when you need to spend more and make up for them the following week.


Sandy

An interesting read...

This is a blog I read every day

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/



Sandy

New week....

So, carrying on from last weeks shop, which cost $128.82... I spent $9.35 grabbing some snacks to take to Kristy's Sat night (bit of a cheapskate aren't I), also took some eggs and pumpkin though :) and then went to a fruit and veg shop on Sunday with Kristy and Tori and bought a punnet of blueberries for $1.99 (they were so yummy!!!)....so grand total for Week One was $140.16!! Pretty good :) Fridge looks a little bare though :)

Menu for this week is:

Tues: pumpkin soup with damper
Wed: left overs (Tori is sleeping over at Kristys)
Thurs: Chicken Involtini and vegies
Fri: Nachos (Tori cooking)
Sat: Homemade hamburgers
Sun: Roast chicken and vegies
Mon: zucchini and haloumi fritters with salad

Mmmm, interesting week! I bought the damper today from WW, marked down to $1.49, and it must be 30cm across, it is huge!! The chicken Involtini things are thighs wrapped around something and with italian seasonings, they were 99c each, so I bought 5, that will easily do the three of us.

Todays shop cost $49.18 at WW and $17.50 at the fruit and veg shop, total $66.68. So still a bit left over. Didn't get any catalogues, so would still like to buy a few specials to put in freezer/pantry.

I have worked out tonights meal cost me:

Pumpkin - free
onion - free
2 x garlic cloves - .50c
chicken stock powder - .10c
pinch of sugar - .05c
sprinkle of nutmeg - .05c
1/8 cup milk - .05c
damper - $1.49
butter - .20c total $2.44 serves three - Impressive!!

Imagine if we ate that for a whole week :) Actually I probably could, especially if I saved heaps of money :)

Breakfasts for the week are porridge, toast and/or eggs, and weetbix. Tomorrow night I will cook up some tomatoes and onions for me to have on toast a couple of mornings.

Lunches for me are whatever is leftover, or I will take some tuna and crackers or bread. I always take a couple of bits of fruit. Brody helps himself during the day, and Tori is fed at daycare. Once she is back at school, I will need to plan lunches a bit more.

If I had the kitchen in, I would do more baking stuff, and different meals. At the moment I am picking easy cooking meals really.

Just because every post needs a photo, this is a bowl of cherry tomatoes I picked:

Sandy

It's Time to Budget....

...now that we have a wedding coming up......Mum and Robin are getting married in NZ on 5th September.....CONGRATULATIONS!!!

So, my plan is to spend $140 a week on food. This will include toiletries and dog food.

To keep me accountable and to show Kim that I can do it (fingers crossed) I am going to post what I spend.

To help, I am going to do a weekly menu and for this week it is:

Tues: roast chicken and vegies

Wed: sweet and sour fish with rice (broccoli, cauli, carrots) - Brody is cooking!!

Thur: wraps (marinated steak and salad inside fajita wraps)

Fri: Sticky Licky wings with fried rice (use leftover rice from Wed night

Sat: zucchini slice and salad - Tori is cooking!!

Sun: everybody get their own - Tori and I will probably have poached egg on toast

Mon: salmon patties and salad

So there you go, I think it is a pretty well balanced week.

This is the recipe that Brody is using for the sweet and sour fish

http://www.birdseye.com.au/Fish-and-Seafood/Sweet-and-Sour-Fish-Recipe.asp

I did my food shopping after work and spent the following:

Woolworths $105.32

Bakers Delight $ 7.00

Fruit & Veg shop $ 6.50 = Total $128.82, so I have $11.18 left.

I will need more fruit, so I will top up on maybe Saturday. Fruit and Veg shop was very small because I already have a good stock still from the Growers Market and I am eating my home grown pumpkin, potatoes, onions, rocket, tomatoes and baby spinach. And of course my eggs. Wow, all of that would really help cut down costs :)

I have never really had a dessert each night, so I am not really planning those in my budget. I did buy a jelly mix today, so I will make that up for the kids. I will also make a date slice and look for a microwave banana muffin recipe as I have some bananas to use. I have a good supply of fresh fruit for us and also some tins of fruit for back up and some yoghurt. Could always make a rice custard or baked custard, that would be pretty cheap for me with free eggs, if I find a microwave recipe.

For next weeks shop, I will have a look at the specials catalogues that Coles and Woolies drop off, and try and base my menu around what is on special. This should help save a few dollars as well.

To help reduce my expenses, I am going to cut costs in other areas as well, eg: I am going to make my own washing powder again. When I run out of powder, and make a new one, I will post how I do it.

I will see how this $140 works out, and in a couple of weeks I might give myself an alcohol budget....GASP!! Big breaths ..... :)

Sandy

Tori's Birthday Quilt....

Tori turned 12 on Nov 27th.

Tracey made her this quilt. From October to Christmas she completed 5!!! I keep on telling her that she could sell them.

Tracey has named them all, and Tori's is called 'Tori and Nanny Meryl's Garden', as some of the fabric is called Grandmas Garden :)

Sandy

Sunday afternoon...

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year :)

Am doing some tidying up inside today, along with time on the computer. I am spending 30mins on computer and then 30mins cleaning and then back to 30mins on computer, then back to cleaning, blah blah blah :) Working a treat. Have done a load of washing (lounge room cushions and stuff), vacuumed through, tidied lounge and dining, in the process of the kitchen now, as such as the kitchen is!

Had to share my pumpkin though. I cut it yesterday, picked it probably a couple of weeks ago. And look how fantastic it looks. I just steamed it in the microwave, along with some of my potatoes, and had them with brocolli and peas and roast chicken for tea last night. Yummo!!

I picked another one a couple of days ago, and it looks like another will be ready in a few days (the plant has really died off). Both of these 2 aren't as big as the first one though.

On the garden front, I have planted some runner beans, some more spinach (the gorgeous red stemmed one) and some baby cucumbers.

Today, Tracey and I went out to the Armadale Growers Market, they only started up in Nov. Bought some lovely organic fruit and veg. and some apple juice! On the way back called through the Maddington Swap Meet, and managed to get a couple of rhubarb plants, some chocolate mint, a couple of pink flowering plants and an eggplant. Will get all of them planted tonight, when it is cooler.

Sandy

Sandy