Lightening Online

I think I’m going to like Mondays for the next 2 months. It’s kind of exciting using cash for groceries when I’m used to using plastic. I usually use plastic for a number of reasons - one of them being I find it hard to track various amounts of cash in my purse. However, I’ve been using a plastic zip lock bag and just throwing that in my handbag when I go into town and that’s working well (so far - it has only been 1 week).

Week One Progress

Total Spent: $45.30 leaving me $84.70 in the “kitty”. Yah!!!

I did deviate from my shopping list a little and bought damper rolls (on special), yoghurt (on special - MUST get back to making my own), garlic bread to have with the pizza (yum!) and some pastry sheets.

Didn’t buy any of the salad items (didn’t need) so other than that it was milk, bread and bananas.

We did deviate from the menu plan a little (which is pretty normal and not really a problem). Spag bol sauce ended up feeding us for 3 meals instead of 2 so we had lasagne one night (with enough left over for lunch the next day - yum!!!!)

Week Two Menu Plan

Monday - Lamb Chops

Tuesday - Steak and Mushroom Soup in Slow Cooker

Wednesday - Fried Rice

Thursday - Chicken Pieces

Friday - Hot Dogs with cheese and bacon (Lleyton’s favourite)

Saturday - Meat Pie

Sunday - Quiche

All served with veg/salad depending on whether and my mood.

Week Two Shopping List

Fruit & Veg

(Bananas are getting expensive again - hope that doesn’t last too long.)

Milk

Bread

Anything else that jumps into my trolley Good specials if I think we’ll use them in the next couple of weeks.

Image via WikipediaI have $130 in my newly labelled “Grocery Money” snap lock bag. The Challenge? To see how much of that I can hold onto between now and next Monday.

Including today, there are 9 Mondays left this year. That gives me $1170 in Grocery Money in total. I wonder how much of that I can hold on to? Quarter? Half? None? LOL. Better NOT be none!!!!

Bear in mind I have not been tracking my grocery spending over the past few months so I have NO idea how far $130 will go, even with my pantry/freezer challenge.

The Plan?

1. Menu Plan (see below)

2. Avoid Specials Brochures that encourage me to buy stuff we don’t really need anyway

3. Shop with a list and STICK to it

4. Don’t let DH loose in the supermarket!

5. Blog it to keep me accountable.

This Week’s Menu Plan

Monday - Spaghetti Bolognese (already in slow cooker)

Tuesday - Tuna Patties (have 12 tins of tuna I bought at $1 each to use up)

Wednesday - Tacos (makes use of the leftover spag bol sauce)

Thursday - Chicken Patties (no idea how I’ll make these yet - have chicken mince, will experiment)

Friday - Homemade Pizza

Saturday - Chops and Vegies (chops in the slow cooker with french onion soup mix)

Sunday - Pasties

Shopping List

lettuce

tomato

bread

milk

fruit

Already have: meat, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, frozen veg, pasta, cheese, taco shells, pastry, swedes

Image via WikipediaA little while back when grocery prices started rising rapidly, I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I stopped tracking how much I was spending. I started to pay less attention to how much I was spending. Denial can be quite an effective coping tool. At least in the short term.

One problem with no longer tracking our grocery spending has been the amount of food accumulating in this house.

I have a chronic problem when it comes to food. I buy TOO MUCH. I hoard food. I think perhaps it has something to do with living so far away from shops. Or perhaps it’s just a sickness I have.

Last year’s “can I get the grocery spending under $100 a week on average” challenge was great for keeping my hoarding tendencies under control.

The good news about the cupboards, fridge and freezer overflowing with food is that our overall bill has obviously not increased quite as much as it would seem (not that I know exactly how much given I’ve been in denial for some months now).

The bad news is that the cupboards, fridge and freezer ARE overflowing and we’re going to see some food wastage going on here if I don’t do something soon.

If there is one thing I HATE, it’s throwing money into the rubbish bin (via spoilt food).

The chaos my overflowing cupboards are causing was highlighted the other day when I was berating myself for forgetting to buy icing mixture when I’d been shopping. I wanted to make lemon slice for morning tea on Sunday and knew I had used up the last of the icing mixture the week before and had planned to buy more when in town during the week.

Given the state of chaos my cupboard is currently in (a combination of too much shopping and a husband who shoves things in the closest spot rather than where it came from), I figured it was worth a little bit of a hunt in the back of the cupboard just in case a packet was lurking back there.

To my delight, I managed to find an unopened packet and the lemon slice was again on the menu.

Now for the confession part.

I actually found not 1, not 2 but 4 packets of icing mixture lurking back there. ROFLOL. I don’t think we’re going to run out in a hurry.

All of this to say…

It’s time for a PANTRY CHALLENGE!!!!

And a fridge and freezer challenge.

What is a pantry challenge?

Basically you buy as little as possible while focusing on using what food you already have on hand.

I made a great start today by spending $300 at the supermarket (*blush*). And yes, I’m having trouble finding places to put things.

So, I guess the challenge is starting tomorrow!!!

The great part of this challenge is it should help me with another challenge I’m about to start (which I’ll fill you in on soon).

So, who’s with me? Anyone else in need of a pantry/freezer challenge?

P.S. Ironically, I posted a post similar to this less than 2 months ago:

I’m No Mother Hubbard

*sigh* Wonder if I’ll get on top of it this time around?