Eating from the Pantry

Money seems to be a little tight around our house lately. Not because we don't have any money, but because our family only has a certain amount to live on during the winter due to the nature of my husband's work (landscaping) and that money stockpile seems to be flying out the door or window or wherever it is that money flys out of. We are also in the middle of an unexpected bathroom remodel due to black mold and a wonderful leak. :) Let's not forget the holidays. We all know how money seems to disappear around the holidays.

So, I have decided to try to cut back my monthly grocery bill as much as possible. To begin that daunting task I have purchased 3 subscritions to the Sunday newspaper for $1 each. This will enable me to do some couponning. I'm also trying to clear out our pantry to have room for a stockpile. I'm also hoping to save some cash this week and next week from our grocery budget so that I can stock up on some of those great deals to save $ in the future.

I hope to keep this up for the whole month of December, but I already know that I am super low on meats and dairy. That means that is where the majority of my cash flow will go. Let's not forget all of those Christmas parties and baking days that come along with the Christmas season.

I hope to chronicle my grocery purchases here to get some idea of what I am spending weekly on groceries. I've never had a grocery budget before, so this is all new to me. Keep in mind I'm not trying to show you how much it would cost you, because you might not have on hand the items that I already own. I'm just trying to figure out how much I'm saving/spending. Here's where I'm at so far:

Dec. 1st-  Donuts from Papa- $0
                Beans in the crockpot with corbread- $0 everything in pantry
              
Dec. 2nd- Cereal for breakfast-$0
                Sandwiches for lunch- $0
                Beans leftover add in cajun seasoning and bacon $0

Dec. 3rd- Oatmeal, bagel/cream cheese $0
                Tomato soup, chicken noodle soup (can) and crackers $0
                Tonight we're having waffles from scratch and sausage that we have in the freezer $0

As good as it look to not have had to go to the store, yet, I'm sure that it's going to get much more difficult from here on out. We happened to have these things on hand, but there's not a whole lot left in there. Very little meat. Very little cheese.