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