The Cost of 'Free'

What do you think when someone says, "Nothing is free"?

Personally, I detest it. It seems so pessimistic and unfair. But, I suppose, we do not live in a just world. Life isn't fair. I'm slowly realizing that it's true -everything does cost something.

I recently signed up to take surveys in exchange for gift cards. Sweet. Free stuff to take surveys? Sure I'll check that out! It soon became clear that I would invest nearly 3 hours of my time to get that 'free' $10 gift card. That's not free at all!

Searching for coupons, deals and free stuff costs me time, thought and energy. I must invest myself to find these $1.00 off deals. ... is it worth it?

What about love? Surely love is free? Not from humans it's not ... it requires time, thought and effort. To love requires an investment of myself in someone else's life.

I think the word 'free' is overused and widely abused. (mostly in the name of gaining attention and generating sales) Nothing really is free. It may not cost any money, but it's sure not free. I should say here, that 'free' is still my favorite price! I love not paying money for things. What I am saying, is that we need to first count the cost.

Do those surveys cost you hours of your time to gain a free Tshirt? How could you better invest those hours?

Do your many projects cost you hours, days and weeks of your time that could be better invested elsewhere?

I often wonder, 'If I were to die in a month, what would I do differently today?'

Questions like these help me to align and re-align my priorites, and 'keep on the right path'. In those moments when I really don't want to read a story to my children, or even speak to them gently I remember (sometimes) that, if I knew I only had a month to live, you can bet every dollar you have that I would definately take the time to read stories and speak gently! ... I pray that as I practice living this out, that it will become the 'norm' instead of the occasional success :)

Some helpful verses:

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?"

Luke 14:28

"When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule when she gives instructions"

Prov 31:26

"A wise person thinks a lot about death,while a fool thinks only about having a good time."

Ecclesiastes 7:4

How I Save Money in the Kitchen

Prone to waste food, I try to pinch every penny in the kitchen. ... okay, not EVERY penny ... I throw away styrofoam plates when I use them, and use paper napkins ... but I'm pinching more pennies than before. The goal is improvement, not perfection.

Anyway, here are some of the little things I do that, I think, go a long way to stretch my grocery dollars:

• limit chocolate milk.
• My son loves chocolate milk, and would drink nothing else if I allowed it. For a long time I did allow it - it is milk after all, and he's a growing boy, right? Yes ... but we don't really need to drink ONLY chocolate milk. Now we do white milk mostly, and add water and juice to the selection too.
• No more chocolate chips.
• I'm baking more raisin cookies, pies, and healthy muffins. ...I thought I might go into severe shock and withdrawal without some source of chocolate in my house, but it's been fine. And, when I do need a chocolate fix (I used to climb into a bag of chocolate chips for that...) I bake a brownie. ... of course, having a giant Toblerone bar on hand from Christmas has really helped to take the edge off :)
• Ration raisins in baking.
• This one is a slow, sneaky process. I don't want to be cheap with raisins ("we eat oatmeal raisin cookies for the raisins!"), but I think I can use fewer raisins and still have a satisfied family. ... they haven't said anything so far ... :)
• Use leftovers
•  This one is big for me. I had no idea how much planning and creativity is required to fully use a meal (and subsequent leftovers). So, I'm working on better meal planning. If I plan to serve Ham Roast on Sunday, then Monday I can use some in sandwiches for lunch, chop and use in Quesadillas or pizza for supper, and freeze the remaining (chopped), for omelettes, quiche, or these Cheesy Apple Bacon Muffins.
  

These work for me so far. How about you? What are some ways you pinch pennies in the kitchen?

.

Cheesy Apple Bacon Muffins

They're really more of a biscuit than a muffin ... but we like them. I think next time I'll add a bit more butter and a sugar ...

Here's the original recipe I was given:

2 cups          flour 

1/4 cup        sugar (I'd use 1/2 cup next time)

4 tsp            baking powder

3/4 tsp         salt

1 cup           milk

1/3 cup        butter, melted

1 egg            slightly beaten

1/2 cup        finely chopped, unpeeled apple

3/4 cup        grated cheddar cheese

2/3 cup        crumbled, crisp bacon (or 'real bacon bits', ham ...)

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend well. In another bowl combine milk, butter and egg. Mix well. Add to flour mixture, stir until just blended. Fold in apples, cheese and bacon. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. (I think I might try dropping onto a cookie sheet next time) Bake in 400F oven for 15-20 minutes or until browned. Enjoy!

Frugal Tip - The Ketchup Incident

Just a friendly tip - don't leave your toddler alone in a room with a ketchup bottle, and a meal he'd rather not eat.

Otherwise, he may just turn a perfectly fine (though, admittedly bland) shepherd's pie, into this hideous sight:

Note the half empty Ketchup bottle? Yeah. Guess he didn't want to see the peas and carrots. And, for the record, I did not make him eat his mess. I couldn't do that. I can't even look at that! Eeew!

So, to summarize, monitoring the use of condiments in your home may help not only to properly nourish your children, but also to save you the expense of replacing them. (uh, replacing the condiments, not the children!) :)

Free Stuff Here

I found a neat website for free stuff (yes, I said 'neat'... I may have just dated myself)

Anyway, I found a free Pampers Potty Training Kit here as well as a few other things. (like Underjams) Check it out!

Save Money Here - Canadian Money Savers

Couponing in Canada seems very different from our American friends whose deal finding can turn me green. (large packs of diapers for $5?! Baby shampoo for free?!) But, there are ways to save and pinch pennies up here too..

Here, Kris Abel (the tech guy for Canada AM), has laid out for us several great sites where we can find deals, freebies, and coupons.

Save.ca Choose your coupons, and they mail them to you! Here are the ones I got last week:

P+G Everyday Solutions- coupons - you choose 'em, they mail 'em.

Red Flag Deals.com  - is a site I'm learning to use
                                      (which means I've spent time
                                      and saved no money so far ...)

I'm also learning about Swagbucks. Apparently, one can earn swagbucks to redeem online merchandise. This is another site I'm learning to use which means I've spent time and earned nothing. Seems like the earning deals are available to only US citizens ...

How about you? Where do you find deals?

10 Commandments of Frugality

I came across this great photo-article called 'The 10 Commandments of Frugality'.  Check it out here!

I think the most mind-bending one for me is, "Thou shall not pay full retail price".

Really?! REALLY?? How on earth one does avoid paying full retail for most things??I don't know if this is possible in Canada - seems American information is the easiest to find, and frugality in the US just doesn't translate quite the same for Canadians. Basic principles may be similar, but couponing to get most everything free or less ... wow. I haven't seen that here!

What do you think?

Full Price Fumble

Today's grocery trip was a bit of a fumble. This ...

and this ...

...together cost me $52.19. Everything here was full bore retail except for the Energizer batteries which happened to be $3 per package. (no thanks to any planning on my part)

I'm surprised at how disappointed I am that I paid full price for everything. I hope that's a good sign!

Of course, my forgetfulness didn't help today... I forgot to bring my coupons (found them too late at the check out), and I forgot to check the mail for grocery flyers before we shopped.  I also forgot to bring my grocery money! I ended up using the bank card instead. (oops)

(also, after I organized my messy disgrace of a pantry, I discovered I did have potatoes in there afterall! Grr. )

BUT ... tomorrow I hope to stock up on some nice sale items that we'll eventually need. (and by eventually, I mean in a week or two - I'm just starting stocking up, after all!)

Superstore has these items on sale - tomorrow's the last day.

NN Tomato Soup - case of 12       $4.98 limit 1(reg. $7.88)
Ziggy's Ham  (luncheon meat)       $0.89/100g (reg. $0.99-1.20)
NN Facial Tissue                            $0.68 ea, limit 4 (reg $0.78)
NN Macaroni + Cheese                  $0.48 ea, no limit (reg $0.68)
NN Instant noodles (case of 24)    $5.48 ($0.23 per pkg) (reg $0.40ea)
Photo Prints 4x6s                           $0.10 ea, min order 100 prints (reg $0.29)
Naval Oranges                                 $2.48/bag

Sounds good to me! Much better ;) ... just hope I remember to bring the grocery money!

Neatness Counts - Before and After

Does it drive you crazy when your workspace is a jumbled, disorganized mess? I can almost feel my blood pressure rise with each day I allow any area of my house to look like this...

 Behold the nightmare I call my pantry! Bwaa-a-a!

I'm afraid so. This is my scary pantry. Horrors.  But, when I finally dared to touch it ...

Aaaaaah. Peace of mind.  I can actually breathe deeper now.

The appearance of my home really does affect me more than I realize. Even if it is 'just' the pantry. I think efficiency necessitates cleanliness. ... does cleanliness also necessitate efficiency? ...

Is Time Money?

At what point does the time invested in searching for deals outweigh money saved? Is the effort and work worth the money saved? Is it actually worth my time to seek out deals, coupons and freebies?

On one hand, during our brief time immersed in financial education, we learned that "The rich don't work for money". "The rich invent money" (create assets that produce money) Poor people trade time for money.

This makes sense when we know that we can 'invent' many things, but we can't 'invent' time. We each have the same number of hours in a day. How we spend, invest or waste it is up to us.

It makes sense. It is true. But, most people we met seemed to view this from a greedy, judgmental and selfish point of view.

On the other hand, when talking about stewardship, what is the best use of my time? The bible tells us it is good to work with our hands. Actually - here are the things a Proverbs 31 woman does or is: (NLT)

• finds wool and flax and busily spins it
• brings her food from afar
• plans the day's work for her servant girls
• inspects a field and buys it, with her earnings she plants a vineyard
• hard worker
• watches for bargains; her lights burn late into the night
• her hands are busy spinning thread
• extends a helping hand to the poor, opens her arms to the needy

This is an industrious woman. Actually, it looks like she's found a balance between business ('inventing' money through creating assets), and trading time for money. Hmm. And, notice that she does not judge or condemn the poor, but helps and opens her arms to them? Nice! She's got it all! She's got the knowledge, work ethic, and the heart.

I began this post completely confused, but after ranting a bit it's a little clearer. The answer seems to be what I've heard three billion times in my life - BALANCE!

Right. I knew that.

Thanks for letting me rant :)

How Do You Save Money?

Methods and techniques may be as varied and numerous as the people who use them.  I'll show you mine if you show me yours ...

Here are some ways I save money (or try to..)

• re-using bags, wrap, boxes, cards, and anything else I can think of
• menu planning
• participating in the Eat From the Pantry Challenge
• Using the envelope system
• and, I'm trying to figure out couponing in Canada. ... a whole lot different than our American friends.
• finding cool sites with deals and coupons

Okay, your turn! How do you save money?

Please use the Mr Linky to link to your post about how you save money. -not your homepage, but the actual post. Please just include a courtesy link back to Frugal Steward 101 in your post ;)

Thanks for sharing!!

What We're Eating (2 week menu plan)

Okay, I'm ready to save mega bucks by using a menu plan. ... I think. I'm nervous about committing to a menu plan (what if I don't WANT chicken on Thursday??), but I think balance and flexibility must be part of a successful menu plan. (or part of a successful anything, for that matter)

So, here's what we're eating based on what I have in our pantry and freezer:

Week 1:

 Monday:        Lunch = sandwiches
                       Supper= meatloaf, potatoes, corn
Tuesday          Lunch = sandwiches
                       Supper = lasagne, salad, garlic bread
Wednesday    Lunch =  soup
                       Supper = steak, potatoes, corn
Thursday        Lunch = sandwiches + soup
                       Supper = chicken, potatoes, stuffing, corn
Friday            Lunch = macaroni + cheese
                       Supper = pizza
Saturday        Lunch = leftovers
                       Supper = beef stew
Sunday           Lunch = roast (beef, pork or deer...)
                       Supper = leftovers

Week 2

Monday          Lunch = sandwiches

                       Supper = Fried roast + potatoes

                                                               OR

                                     Chkn Fettucinni Alfredo, Salad

Tuesday          Lunch = sandwiches

                        Supper = meatballs, gravy, mash potatoes, corn

Wednesday     Lunch = soup

                       Supper = Spaghetti, meatsauce

Thursday        Lunch = soup

                       Supper = tacos, salad

Friday             Lunch = macaroni +cheese

                       Supper = Chicken Pot Pie

Saturday          Lunch = soup + sandwiches

                        Supper = leftovers

Sunday            Lunch = roast, potatoes, carrots

                        Supper = leftovers

That's it. I love looking at other people's menu plans (especially when they have pics & recipes for what they're cooking). Maybe one day I'll have pics and recipes for you too :)

Re-Use Your Christmas Cards

Time to put away all those Christmas cards ... and I just don't want to throw them all away. I KNOW there's something I can do with them to give them new life, and maybe even make them into a gift.

Here are some ideas I found.

Luminaries

Zakka Life has a great crafting blog with all kinds of great ideas. The Luminary craft is a gooder. I'd like to try that one. Thanks, Zakka Life!

Activity Village has some neat ideas too:

• Scented Sachets
• use the whole card or whatever shape you choose to cut from your card. Glue edges (leave room to insert scent!) Fill with potpouri (or put a few drops of scented oil on a cotton ball and use that) Seal. Punch a hole, tie a string, hang and enjoy. Could make a neat gift too.
• Napkin Rings
• Why didn't I think of that? ... plus, cloth napkins are more economicaal than paper ones :)
• Candle Holder
• Cut strips from your favorite Christmas card, glue to a jar (leave room for the candle to sparkle through) and voila. Could get all fancy and creative with this one, and make another great gift.
• Christmas Confetti & Shapes
• shred it, punch it into a million little confetti pieces or stars, flowers etc, and use them for scrapbooking, centerpieces, gift bag filler (the shredded stuff, anyway!) .. not sure exactly what we're supposed to do with confetti ...
• Paper Nativity
• If you're lucky enough to have received a card with a nativity scene on it, you could cut them out and use them as an advent scene.
• Lacing Card
• Our everyday one has a bee on it. Great craft, great for motor skills. (Just glued paper to cardboard, poked holes and there we go)

These are just some ideas. I'd love to hear more.

I'd especially love to hear how to reuse pictures - photo Christmas cards are great, but then what? Who puts those in an album? I sure don't. I usually toss them. (sorry to those who expect me to keep them forever) I don't want to throw them out, but what can be done with them?? Ideas?

Grocery Day - Couponing In Canada?

The first grocery shopping day on our new budget was a success.

Last year's grocery budget = $250 biweekly
This year's new budget      = $150 biweekly

Just a note: our American friends seem to have a fantastic coupon system. I see the couponing pros frequently finding items for free, or for $0.09 with a coupon ... this kind of thing. I have found no such Canadian couponing. I think we have to do it differently here.

... and I found one way this week.

Extra Foods recently had their 'Dollar Days'.  (If you missed it, don't worry, they come around often.) Several great deals on things I'd planned to buy anyway-

Flaked Tuna   5/$4
Tampons        2/$7
Pork'n'Beans  5/$4
Tomato Soup 3/$1
Green Beans  5/$4
1L Apple Juice $0.80

They also happened to have their 10%, 12% or 15% off day on Mon and Tues.
Yes, please!

I moved my shopping day to Tuesday, bought the sale items AND the regular price items I planned to buy on Friday, and got 12% off of it all. Yay!

I got all this for $109, and have $41 left for milk, eggs, bread, etc.

I'm not only spending less on groceries, I've actually got $50 in the 'kitty' for ... well, whatever! I can take advantage of a grocery sale (like today), put it towards the sausage we buy from a local farmer ... apply it to the calf we hope to buy in spring ... whatever.

Granted, this is just the beginning. ...I'm going to miss sales, forget to budget certain items, toss aside diligence and buy chocolate that's not on the list. It's okay. BUT, I'm going to keep going until I get it. I'm serious about this, so I've got to get it :)

I'll keep you posted :)

Meal Plan = Save Money

I'm beginning to understand how meal planning can save money.

• I shop less often (out of the store = no impulse buying)
• I buy less
• instead of buying whatever I might need, I buy only what I know I'll need
• with a meal plan, I'm forced to learn how to portion better. When I portion better, I waste less.

Meal planning, I notice, requires some kind of technique. No, I don't have one yet, but I did learn something. I sat down to make my schedule of meals for the upcoming two weeks. I began listing our favorite meals .. then I realized "I'm doing this backwards!"

I went to the cupboards and freezer and listed what meals I could make from what I had. A quick peek through everything, and I had a list of 40 suppers, 8 lunches, and 5 variations of breakfast. That's nearly a month of eating! The only thing I would need to buy would be lettuce for accompanying salads. Wow.

Here's the Supper list:

3 - Pork Chops, Potatoes, Corn
5 - Chicken Noodle Soup, Biscuits or Buns
3 - Chicken Fettucinni Alfredo, Ceasar Salad, Garlic Bread
3 - Pizza
4 - Potato Soup, Biscuits, Salad
3 - Chicken, Stuffing, Potatoes, Carrots
2 - Holubshi, Potatoes, Corn
2 - Sloppy Joes, Rice
2 - Spaghetti & Meatsauce, Ceasar Salad, Garlic Bread
1 - Lasagne, Salad
6 - Beef Stew, Bread
6 - Steak, Baked Potatoes, Peas / Carrots

Suppers = 40

Here's the Lunch list:

5 - Chicken Salad Sandwich
2 - Macaroni & Cheese
8 - Tuna Sandwiches
2 - Tuna Noodle Casserole
1 - Chicken Nuggets
2 - Ham & Cheese Crackers
4 - Tomato Soup with Soda Crackers

Lunch = 24 (plus we can usually have leftovers for lunch)

Here's the Breakfast list (loosely estimated):

4 - Waffles, strawberries
10 - Oatmeal
4 - Omelette
10 - Cereal
5 - Pancakes

Breakfast (loose estimate) = 33


Hmm. 40 Suppers, 24 lunches and 33 breakfasts, and all I really had to buy was salad, milk, eggs and bread. I had no idea there was so much food in our house!

At this point you may be wondering, "Yes, but what about when you depleat your supply? How do you maintain a low grocery budget THEN?" I'm with you. I wondered too. Then I was reassured by Life As Mom's post, "But What if I Can't Refill My Pantry?".

Anyway, Week 1 of the menu plan saw some changes, mostly because I do not yet portion properly. But, I'm hopeful :)

Have any tips on how menu planning has worked for you? What do you do? I'd love to learn from your experience ... :)

Pantry Fears ...

New to 'eating from my pantry' and cutting back my grocery budget, I can't help but think ... what do all of these pantry-pros do? What does their pantry look like? Their freezer? Is mine too full? To empty? Should I stock up or stock down?

Amidst these subconcious worries, I found that I'm not alone. My fellow bloggers have the same fears but offer encouragement. To briefly sum up some of Life As Mom's encouraging points,

• We're not the same
• everyone's pantry will look different
• Our budgets are different
• Our reasons for doing this are different.
• You get to choose
• you decide on your own budget, shopping schedule, meal plan, pantry appearance and style - full or empty

I was encouraged to hear that. Thanks, Life As Mom. Now I can move forward confident that I'm shaping this plan to my family, my budget, and my taste.

BTW - to those of my friends who made fun of me for suggesting 'soup files' (freezing soup in ziploc bags - flat - and then storing them like a file) ... well ... there are others (teehee) I love, love, love the picture of this woman's freezer. I see she has soup files. Yes! I want my freezer to look like that.

Aaaah. Order.  "Caint hardly wait" :)

How On Earth Can I Cinch My Girth?

That's right. I said 'girth'. Time to tighten the belt, honey. I'm talking major budget cutting time.

Our 2010 Financial Goals require some savvy stewardship. Cutting the budget by $500 may require an iron will. ... I'm gonna give it a hearty go!

Here are some things I plan to do that will help to cut costs.

•  just a note - most of my saving efforts will revolve around food and groceries. Categories that were hardest hit in this budget reduction were 'Eating Out' and 'Groceries'.

1. Participate in the "Eat From the Pantry Challenge"
1. eating what's already in my freezer and pantry will cut spending immediately

2. Meal Plan
1. careful planning, then shopping according to that plan, should reduce the amount of impulse buying I do. I won't need to buy all those 'just incase' items. I'll know what I need.
3. Make the Freezer my friend.
1. with my own meals in the freezer, I won't need to order in, eat out, or buy frozen or pre-fab meals. Home cooking is less costly ... just requires some work and planning. (Please note - my freezer doesn't often look this neat and tidy. ... it also doesn't always look this stocked. ... just so you don't start thinking I'm awesome at stocking my freezer. It was a good day, so I took a picture.)  :)

4. Snack Plan
1. I noticed this week how often I snack on boxed, bagged and canned items. Chips, crackers, chocolate ... they're fast, they're easy, and they're costly. I know I could save money here. I plan to have snacks available in the cupboard and freezer (fruit, muffins, cookies, granola bars), and maybe it wouldn't even kill me to pop some popcorn instead of diving into a $2.00 bag of chips....
5. Lunch Plan
1. Mac & Cheese, Chicken Nuggets and Tomato Soup in a can have been our best lunch-time friends. If I plan a bit, I think I can save some money here AND inject some nutrition into our lunch times :) I figure I can stock our freezer with some quick-and-easy home-made lunch meals like ..
1. Pizza Pops
2. Pig-in-a-blanket
3. Mini Pizzas or Pizza Buns
4. Mac & Cheese Casserole
5. Tuna-Noodle Casserole
2. I could also try to have enough leftovers on-hand that lunch is right there in the fridge. That's usually plan A, but ready-made freezer bites are always handy!

6. Grocery Cash
1. I use the envelope system to curb spending on areas where I tend to easily overspend, or where we need to save for a bigger expense. Groceries hasn't been included, but I think I'll include it now. No more swiping the card till my heart's content.Yup, cash only. And when it's gone, it's GONE.
7. Hand Made Gifts
1. I plan to make next year's Christmas gifts, at least some of them, and I'd like our kids to get involved making gifts for their friends too. I've got a 'hand made gifts' list growing every day ... I'll share that in a future post.
8. Buy Used
1. We bought our kids' gifts from garage sales and thrift stores this year, and they loved them. We made a great haul - keyboard, McDonalds cash register, Disney princess figures, books - we spent under $25 on both of them. I plan to do that again next year.

9. And Finally ... DO WITHOUT!!!
1. I will actually have to tell myself "NO!". No, I don't need curtains, blinds, books, movies, new dishes, expensive spices .... No, I don't need to go to that home party where I will, of course, buy something. Use something else, borrow or do without. Do ANYTHING but buy it unless I ABSOLUTELY MUST. ... I know I'll flounder with this one, but flounder isn't failing. I know I can do this.
2. Fix what's broken (rather than throw it out)
3. Sew it myself (eek. Time to learn a skill. I've been ... gulp ... dare I confess it? ... I've been paying someone $5-$10 - each time- to mend our clothes because I don't know how to sew and don't have a sewing machine! ... yes, time to learn a skill)

I think these will prove to be big money savers. Like so many things, this isn't just about the money.

• I want to be a good steward, not the lazy, wicked servant.
• I want to share. I always thought it was disgusting that rich people would spend their ever increasing wealth on themselves. Yet, here I am spending our increased income on us. Nothing wrong with enjoying what God's blessed us with, but we are also to share, care for others, and show love through deeds.
• I don't like sacrifice. Who does? But I like what will happen if I do it. I will be reminded constantly of God's provision, of my duty to manage it well, and of his wonderful favor. How blessed I am that he uses what he's given me to help others? Fantastic blessing. Definately worth the small sacrifice.
• Whether these goals are met or not, I will grow in self discipline and patience. I will acquire new skills. At the very least, I'll know myself better.
• Financially, we'll be in better shape for sure. Less monthly spending, and climbing our way to debt-free living! Woo! I can hardly wait!!

Well, here we go. Let's get frugal!

New Year, New Budget

Get out the plumb line ... time to see how we did. I love to see how many of our financial goals were acheived, and putting check marks beside many of them. I especially love setting new goals for the new year.

This year's goals:

• Spend less. Alot less. (over $500 less)
• Save up to purchase the following items for cash
• computer
• bed
• truck repairs
• Begin (and maintain) monthly saving for roof reshingling. (according to the plan, should be able to pay cash for the roof in Sept-Oct 2011)

These things can happen, but on a leaner budget. So, I took the shaver to our budget. ... then the knife. ... then the axe. After an hour, I had our spending down by over $500 monthly. It's going to mean sacrifices, but seeing the goals acheived is well worth it.

Our long term goal is to live debt free (mortgage free too), pay cash for what we want and need, and be able to use much of our income (half or more) for investing and giving. This year's budget will mark the start of some habits that will get us there. It looks like we'll be able to achieve this in 7-10 years. Not bad, especially considering our current debt load and the fact that we just bought this house!

The biggest budget cut was to our grocery bill. I hope to spend $300/month on our groceries. I've been spending $500. I KNOW I can spend less and we can eat just as well or better. It will require alot of planning on my part - meal and menu planning, and paying careful attention to each dollar I spend. It will require NO impulse buying (eek!), and creativity when supplies are low and there's no more money until next shopping day.  (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can)

Other items on the chopping block were .. well, everything.

• Childcare 
• Vehicle Maintenance
• Medical
• Clothing
• Household (ouch.)
• Entertainment
• Camping / Travel
• Tractor
• Eating Out (Big ouch!)

I've got some ideas on how to make this work, but for now I'm going to just bask in the joy of having it all perfected on paper. Aaaahhh. Good job, me.

Okay. That's enough basking. ... and now to the work of it :)