All You Challenge Finals August 11, 2009

Goal:  To eat healthy, waste less and spend wisely under a strict budget of $50 a week for a family of 2.5

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Budget: $200 ($50/week)     Total Spent: $155.96 (-$10 Kellogg’s MIR = $145.96)

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Spending Breakdown

Groceries: $102.53

Household/Toiletries: $11.89

Restaurant/Fast Food: $41.54

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Extras (click links for details)

Week 1:  Budget Recap, Shopping Trips, Menu

Week 2:  Budget Recap, Shopping Trips, Menu

Week 3:  Budget Recap, Shopping Trips, Menu

Week 4:  Budget Recap, Shopping Trips, Menu

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Final Thoughts

I’m happy to say that most of my budget went towards fresh produce which we purchased weekly at the farmer’s market.  I truly enjoyed trying new recipes and creating well balanced meals for my family utilizing fresh produce and supplementing with items I already had in my freezer/pantry.   I found that I wasted a lot less by spending wisely on fresh produce and cooking from scratch using what I already had available!  I also realized that we developed a healthy eating habit that I hope will continue throughout our lives.  My hope for my child(ren) is that they grow up to be healthy, wealthy (in knowledge) and wise (in spending)!

All You Challenge – Budget Recap Week 4 August 9, 2009

My Budget: $50 (includes groceries, household/toiletry items & other food expenses)

Household/Toiletry Purchases: $3.04

Grocery:  $29.27

Restaurant/Fast Food: $16.00

Week 3 Total:  $48.31

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Notes:

• Phew!  Just made it under my budget by $1.69!!  This week’s spending included 2 jumbo packages of Pampers that I practically got for free (just tax)!
• For more details on my shopping trips, look HERE.

Shopping Trips 8/3-8/9 August 5, 2009

Budget: $50     Actual:$48.31

Monday

Airport Deli – Bought a tomato basil sandwich and water.  Cost: $12

Tuesday

Hubby’s Lunch – $4

Stop & Shop – Spent $14.09 on the following items…

The Cheerios, Tropicana, Casacade rinse agent & Beech Nut fruit ended up being free thanks to coupons and Stop & Shop’s double $1 coupons!

CVS – Spent $2.31; Received $16.99 ECB

Wednesday

no shopping

Thursday

Stop & Shop – Spent $2.48 on milk and peaches (used a $2 coupon for milk & peaches were $1/lb).

Friday

no shopping

Saturday

Farmer’s Market – Stocked up on fresh veggies and a sourdough baguette; spent $12.70

I’ve never seen a purple pepper before, so I am very curios to try it!

CVS – I couldn’t resist doing another CVS trip this week to take advantage of the Pampers deal.  I normally use cloth diapers, but decided to buy a few packs for an extended trip that’s coming up in a few weeks.  My total was a whooping $0.73!!!!!    This is what 73 cents got me…

Purchase:

2 Pampers $20

Jack Links $3.99

CVS Chapblock $0.25

Early Edition Newspaper $1.50

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Coupons:

-$5/$25 CVS Coupon

-(2) $2 Pampers (P&G mailer- no longer available)

- FREE bag of Jack Links

-$0.99 CVS Chapblock

-$7.99 & $4 ECB

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Total Before Sale & Coupons: $34.46

Total After Sale & Coupons: $0.73 (just tax) +  Received $5 ECB

*Notes: The Chapblock coupon gave me $0.74 OVERAGE – I was happily surprised by this since I was originally bummed I got the worst August Freebie Coupon…IMO it turned out to be one of the BEST!

The Early Edition only had 2 out of the 3 coupon inserts, but I did get the FREE Glade Candle coupon!

All You Challenge – Week 3 Budget Recap August 4, 2009

My Budget: $50 (includes groceries, household/toiletry items & other food expenses)

Household/Toiletry Purchases: $2.42

Grocery:  $1.72

Restaurant/Fast Food: $10.14

Week 3 Total:  $14.28

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Notes:

• I really didn’t have a chance to buy a lot of groceries last week since we were away since Thursday.  I’ll have to catch up this week (week 4), and hopefully stay under budget.
• I am glad we didn’t spend that much on restaurant bills while we were away.  We planned ahead and found a hotel that offered free breakfast; I also brought snacks from home with us.  Most lunches and dinners were at various uncle’s and aunt’s places so they were FREE.
• For more details on my shopping trips, look HERE.

All You Challenge Menu – Week 4 August 4, 2009

Monday (heading back to NY)

Breakfast – Coffee, sausages & pastries (Free breakfast at the hotel)

Lunch – Tomato Basil Sandwich & water (airport)  Cost: $12

Snacks – Soy Joy bar & Kashi trail mix bars

Dinner – Bagels with cream cheese & Taro chips (scrounged for food late last night when we got home)

Tuesday

Breakfast – Chai Tea & pop tart for me, V8 & Kashi bar for hubby, fruit & cheerios for my daughter

Lunch – Brown & Wild Rice Stir-Fry for my daughter and me.  Approx Cost $2; Turkey sandwich for hubby (purchased at work) Cost: $4

Dinner – Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Garlic Naan Cost: $4.50 (plenty of leftover for lunch and another meal!)

Wednesday

Breakfast – Coffee & fruit

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Porterhouse Steak, chive & butter mash potatoes, fresh corn on the cob.  Approx Cost: $10 (includes lunch for tomorrow).

Thursday

Breakfast – Coffee,cereal & fruit

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Shrimp & horseradish cheese croquettes (used leftover mashed potatoes); peas

Friday

Breakfast – coffee, cereal

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Hot Dogs and carrot sticks

Saturday

Breakfast – coffee, scrambled eggs with pesto & multigrain toast

Lunch – Miscellaneous leftovers & Terra Chips

Dinner – Tapas

Sunday

Breakfast – coffee, pancakes & bacon

Lunch – Canjun Shrimp Po-Boys

Dinner – Spinach Raviolis, garlic bread & squash medley

Shopping Trips 7/27-8/2 July 28, 2009

Budget: $50     Actual: $14.28

Monday

• no shopping

Tuesday

• Stop & Shop – Spent $1.72 for the following items:

Wednesday

CVS – Spent $0.42 (just tax) on the following items:

I love CVS!!!

Thursday

Traveling to Missouri.  Spent $10.14 at Wendy’s (at the airport) for lunch.

Friday & Saturday

• no shopping or expenses

Sunday

Bought the Sunday paper for $2 at the gas station…of course I can’t go without my weekly coupons especially when it’s the first Sunday of the month

All You Challenge Menu – Week 3 July 27, 2009

Monday

Breakfast – Coffee, Special K cereal & a peach

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Lasagna w/ Italian Sausage & Spinach, Onion Bread.  Total Cost:  $5.00 (includes lunch for all of us)

• The Italian Sausage was on sale for $1.79/lb a few weeks ago.  I had a meat coupon for $5/$15 so I got this among other meat products for cheap!

Tuesday

Breakfast – Coffee, Homemade Zucchini Bread & Fruit

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Ham Steak w/ Roasted Beets & Sweet Potatoes; Avocado Tomato Salad.  Cost: $6

• The Roasted beets & sweet potatoes were delicious and very simple to make.  Here’s the recipe for 2 people:

Ingredients

2 peeled & diced beets

1 peeled & diced large sweet potato

1 medium onion diced

salt & pepper to taste

garlic powder

sugar

olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss beets in a bowl with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil then place it on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Place in oven for 10-15 minutes.  In the meantime mix the sweet potatoes, onion and 1-2 tbsp of olive oil (just enought to nicely coat).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper (I just eyeball seasonings), 1/2 tsp-1 tsp sugar & garlic powder (you can adjust seasonings to your taste).

Mix sweet potato mixture with the beets on the baking sheet and cook until tender and slightly browned; mix every 15 minutes while cooking.

Wednesday

Breakfast – Coffee, Zucchini Bread & Fruit

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Big Salad & leftovers from the week

Thursday (leaving for a family reunion in Missouri)

Breakfast – OJ & cereal

Lunch – Wendy’s Home Style Chicken Combo with water (shared it with my hubby & daughter) Cost:$10.14

Dinner – BBQ at our aunt’s place

Friday

Breakfast – Coffee, waffles & sausage (Free complimentary breakfast at the hotel)

Lunch – leftovers from the BBQ

Dinner – Turkey, salad, potatoes and green beans (at our uncle’s cabin)

Dessert – Pound cake with fresh fruit (YUMMY!)

Saturday

Breakfast – coffee & pastries (Free complimentary buffet at the hotel)

Lunch – Turkey sandwiches & leftovers

Dinner – Beef Strognaff with salad

Dessert – Angel Food cake with fresh fruit

Sunday

Breakfast – Coffee, Sausage, waffles & yogurt

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Hamburgers on the grill & fresh tomatoes

Dessert – Ice Cream

All You Challenge – Week 2 Budget Recap July 26, 2009

My Budget: $50 (includes groceries, household/toiletry items & other food expenses)

Household/Toiletry Purchases: $1.20

Grocery:  $46.14

Restaurant/Fast Food:  NONE

Week 2 Total:  $47.34

• Just made it under budget by $2.66
• For more details on my shopping trips, look HERE.

Shopping Trips 7/20-7/26 July 22, 2009

Budget: $50     Actual: $47.34

Monday & Tuesday

• no shopping

Wednesday

• I had my husband stop by Costco after work today mainly to pick up milk which is $1.99 a gallon.  Of course, Costco runs are never just a 1 purchase shopping trip.  He paid $30.74 OOP (we will get 3% cashback from our Costco AMEX card) for the following items:

• It’s a little more than what I hoped to spend, but the shrimp ($11.99/ bag) will make 2-3 meals.
• Costco also has the best avocados in town so we’re willing to pay $1.50 per avocado vs $1 at the local store…somethings are just worth paying more for!
• If you’re wondering why I buy such a big jug of vinegar, it’s because I use most of it for laundry.

PS – That little hand on the right-hand side, not included in the price 

Thursday & Friday

• no shopping

Saturday

• Spent $15.40 at the Farmer’s Market this morning.  This is what we purchased:

Bread $3

Clams (2 dozen) $8

Fruit & Veggies: $4.40

Sunday

Went to CVS this morning and spent $1.20 ($0.85 of it was TAX!). I received $11 EB to use on my next trip.  This is what I purchased:

All You Challenge Menu – Week 2 July 20, 2009

Monday

Breakfast – I had a plum w/ Chai Tea, hubby had yogurt, and my daughter had homemade applesauce, oatmeal & a Soy Joy bar.  Approx Cost: $1.50

• I made my own chai tea  – I love steeping the looseleaf version.
• I made a batch of natural applesauce and froze them in 2 oz containers for my daughter…it’s healthier and cheaper than store bought.
• The Soy Joy bars were free from CVS a few ago so I bought 20…I’m glad my daughter actually enjoys them.

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Whole wheat spaghetti w/ Italian sausage, zucchini & Trader Joe’s Arrabiata Sauce; sourdough garlic bread on the side.  Approx Cost:  $4

• I love Trader Joe’s!  Once a month or so, we stop by there to pick up a few items one of which includes this sauce.  Although I can buy pasta sauce for really cheap or even free at my local grocery store, nothing compares to this Arrabiata sauce…this one’s worth the splurge!!

Tuesday

Breakfast – Chai Tea, yogurt, and a plum, cheerios & yogurt nibbles for my daughter.  Approx Cost: $1

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Vegetable stir fry with rice $4 (includes tomorrow’s lunch)

Wednesday

Breakfast – Chai Tea w/ Apple Craisin Cookies; V8 and apple for hubby; oatmeal & apple shavings  for my daughter.  Approx Cost: $2.50

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Balsamic Chicken Drumettes; peas; leftover rosemary garlic potatoes.  Approx cost: $3.00 (includes tomorrow’s lunch)

Thursday

Breakfast -  Cafe latte w/ Special K cereal; V8 & apple for hubby; scrambled egg & cheerios for my daughter.  Cost: $1.25

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Pasta w/ Cajiun Shrimp & Tomatoes; Salad on the side.  Cost: $8

Friday

Breakfast -  Cafe latte w/ Special K cereal; cafe latte & apple craisin cookies  for hubby; cheerios & fruit for my daughter.  Cost: $1.25

Lunch – leftovers

Dinner – Digornio Flatbread Melts  Cost: FREE

Saturday

Breakfast – Coffee, Fried Eggs, Bagel & Bacon  Cost: $1.50

• Eggs are free from my MIL.
• The weekend is when we always have a nice sit down breakfast

Lunch – leftovers & guacamole w/ multigrain chips.  Cost:$0.25

Dinner – Clams w/ Chive Butter Sauce, Edamame. Cost: $9

Sunday

Breakfast – Coffee, French Toast w/ strawberries  Cost: $2.25

Lunch – Hot Dogs & guacamole w/ multigrain chips.  Cost:$0.50

Dinner – Beef Enchiladas with the Works  Cost: $4.50