I finally have a minute to sit down and look at how the past month has gone with our cash spending plan. I also wanted to give more information on some of the questions I’ve been asked over the past few weeks.
First, and foremost, we haven’t really been sticking to the plan. I think it’s a combo of a couple of things. One, we didn’t come up with a meal plan like we should have. The meal plan was supposed to be centered around meat we already had plus whatever veggies I could find at the farm market. The goal was to spend about $20-30 dollars per week on groceries. This is completely possible because we have a mostly fully stocked pantry and 2 full stocked freezers. The second reason is that I was constantly on the move. That also factored into not having a plan. I should have planned much better for being busy. But I didn’t. So our plan was not on track. I don’t want to say it ‘failed’ because parts of it were successful and we started in October so we would have time to work out any kinks. So I’m not going to say it failed but rather it needs some tweaking.
So let’s talk details. As I said above, one part of the plan was to eat from the farmer’s market. The pic above is one haul from the market. I think I spent $18 on the above produce, plus I bought 2 waffles (one for me and one for my friend because she drove us to the market) for $8. Another thing we don’t have to spend money on, at least right now, is meat. We bought a half pig and 25 pounds of ground beef back in the spring. We had some meat leftover from the previous purchase so our freezers are full. Of course we’re at the end of the growing season so we do have some canned and frozen stuff too. But I really like fresh veg and by shopping at the farm market I’m ensuring that we’re eating seasonally. Unless you get busy and you don’t plan. Then you run on fast food and power bars. And lots of coffee. And that also means you don’t stick to your budget or stick to your healthy eating plans. But that’s all theoretical, right?!?!
I think that’s the biggest way we live frugally is to have food stocked up. We buy all our meat from a local farm. I know I’ve talked about it here before but I’ve known the farmers for many, many years now and I love their meat. But we also spend a lot of money on food. It’s weird. But we’re trying to get away from that and source our food as locally, and seasonally, as possible. Of course now we have the composter up and running so there’s less food being wasted. We used to give scraps and leftovers to the chickens, but we’ve been without chickens for a year now. There are plans to get egg layers next spring and I’m happy about that. But for now, less is being wasted. I also forage for a lot of things and make a lot of our products. I want to start branching out with those products but I love saving money by not buying laundry detergent, soap, household cleaners, etc.
We also save money by making our own decorations. I look around for things that we can use that are found in nature or at the local farm stand. I also shop our own items that have been in storage for 2 years now. I just started hanging up curtains and seasonal decorations that I brought back from storage. I love yard sales too! And little hole-the-wall antique/junk shops. They’re a lot of fun. I buy most of my clothes from thrift stores (unless JCrew Factory has a good sale, then I buy some clothes from them).
I don’t mind spending money if it’s something that will help with the homestead. For example, we like growing mushrooms. So we order kits every year (at some point I want to learn now to inculcate logs, but that will have to wait). Or taking a class. I’ll spend the money if I think the class is worth it and it’s something that will help me down the road. A good example is the beekeeping class I took a couple of weeks ago. Not only did that give me the basics of beekeeping but it also led to me teaching a class there. So it’s a win-win.
And now the updates to our new cash spending plan! I know, I know…it’s what you’ve been waiting for. Who cares about growing mushrooms, right?!?! Give us the deets! So, if you recall from the original post, we are taking out $400 cash every month and our spending categories are: food, gas, and pets. I also forgot to add to that plan that some money goes to the Mister for his ‘spending’ money. I think I’ll take out the pet category because their food gets ordered online and we can add that as part of our monthly bills. I just ordered new food for every one and I have the kitty litter as a monthly delivery via Amazon. So let’s scratch that category. So our new categories are as follows:
1. Food/Eating Out/Supplies ($300)
2. Gas ($100)
3. The Mister’s spending money ($100)
And we’re upping the monthly cash spending to $500. We’ll see how we do and hopefully we can start cutting that back little by little. And we made a menu for the next week and will (hopefully) continue to do that every week. And because I haven’t been eating that great lately I’ve incorporated some of the Whole 30 recipes back into the menu. So our grocery bill will be a little more than usual this week, but I’m okay with that. It might actually even out though since I haven’t shopped the past couple of weeks but was eating fast food. As long as I can eat healthier and have snacks and lunch then I’m good with spending just a little bit more. I won’t be hitting the farm market this week due to scheduling conflicts so I’ll go to the grocery store instead.
Tomorrow I’ll go to the bank and transfer money and get out $500 cash. We’ll be less than $1000 away from our end-of-the-year savings goal. That includes the $1000 in the emergency fund. Ideally I would like to have the savings goal not include that $1000 fund but a goal’s a goal at this point. Once we reach the end-of-the-year goal, we’ll see if we can hit the next goal of having the savings account be at the first goal and then have $1000 on top of that! I’m not sure that will happen depending on how much subbing I do for the rest of this year. I hope you were able to follow that ‘logic’! LOL!!
Okay. Now for your viewing pleasure, I have our weekly menu as well as our shopping list.
The Menu:
Sunday (tonight): homemade pizza
Monday: leftover pasta
Tuesday: pork, acorn squash, applesauce, brussel sprouts
Wednesday: chicken meatballs with roasted red pepper sauce, pasta
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: coconut curry chicken, basmati rice, veggies (one pot meal)
Lunches: leftover chili from last night’s dinner, butternut squash soup with bacon and kale
Breakfast and snacks: smoothies; yogurt, fruit, and homemade granola
The shopping list:
kale
brussel sprouts
coconut milk
basmati rice
peppers
walnuts (look for walnuts in freezer before purchasing!)
ground chicken
fresh oregano
fresh thyme
fresh parsley
capers
fruit
yogurt (really should make my own though)
milk (raw milk purchased separately)
sweet potatoes
coffee
I’ll check back soon and let you know how it’s going. I do have a couple of other random updates too! We finally had our first frost this past week! Of course I’ve had the garden put to bed for a few weeks now and everything else is inside for the winter. I’m trying to overwinter the sage, basil, fig, avocado, rosemary, mint, and lemon balm. We’ll see how it goes. I’ve ordered all my 2020 planner items. I have a filofax that I love and want to use. I’m going to start booking classes for 2020 as soon as I get all my inserts installed. And one of the inserts I ordered was a menu/grocery shopping one! Let’s hope that inspires me to stick to the plan. Maybe I’ll do a post on my filofax set up once everything’s in place. What else? I think that’s it. I’ll be back this week with some roundup posts on things that have been happening: beekeeping class, NYS Sheep and Wool, and whatever I can find to tell you about (that shouldn’t be a problem!). Thanks for sticking around this far. Tell me what your budget plans are! Did you start a plan, or already have one in place? I need all the inspiration I can get!! Is there anything else you want to know about–cash spending or otherwise? Let me know!
Bekah
Great work sticking with your plan and modifying as needed. Some folks may have thrown up their hands and quit, but you guys are seeing it as a challenge to be met. I love it! We’re working on our budget for next year as well. Hoping to shave off some spending in order to save for some BIG house projects (new roof and driveway). We spend quite a bit on groceries…but feeding two teenage boys is spendy! I know I can cut back a bit on our food budget, but I would rather leave some of my budget there and cut from other areas that aren’t as important to us. We’ll see how it all shakes out.
chickenlibrarian
I guess I should have mentioned that it’s only 2 of us so overspending on groceries is really unnecessary. You have 2 teenage boys! You’ve got to feed them! So I get not cutting back on groceries but rather seeing where else you can cut back. I like a good budget so we’ll keep working on it. It feels good to find the perfect stride and know that you are saving money and not overspending. I don’t think we’re quite there yet (I really need to figure out how to purchase supplies for the business and save money at the same time. I was just told about a place to purchase my containers which is a big part of the expense of my classes and kits). Anyway, thanks for sharing about your budget!! It’s always helpful to see where people are spending and saving.
Tracy
Keep on keeping on, I say! Getting back to it is always part of the process, I believe. No one ever said, “and then I did this forever.” (Well, for the most part.) 😉
Thanks for sharing out your details, Kristin. I believe it’s useful to learn how other people do it (save, spend, plan). It’s how we learn to make our own habits better. We just did a huge grocery shop at the store ($200) which also included replacing some staples. We knew going in about how much it was going to cost and planned for it. I have a “grocery shopping” post coming up. Noodling on it.
We love to eat as local as possible, too. I haven’t been able to hit the farmer’s market recently, and I need to get back into that habit. And not just for the food. The interaction with the growers and the relationships you can build can be very healthy. Social health is so important for physical well-being.
Gosh, there is ALWAYS so much I want to comment on in your posts, LOL! Let’s see if I can keep this meaningful, yet short:
– Your dinners are right up our alley – we have similar food tastes, I think.
– We’ve done the “purchase meat package from local farmer” and it can be a good deal. My father has also kept us stocked with venison through fall-winter-spring.
– Mushrooms: My husband just got his agar plates from Amazon yesterday. He’ll be starting some mushrooms and growing in the basement soon. We are going to grow them in coffee grounds as the medium. He is learning about mushroom (and garlic) farming. He signed-up for course with Cornell Extension on growing either mushrooms or garlic – I can’t remember which. ANYHOW, we’ve grown oyster mushrooms from a kit once before and they were awesome.
– Butternut squash soup with the bacon and kale sounds good! Share the recipe? 😀
– Organization: I love to find new and attractive ways to get organized. And I love my shredder. I saved a ridiculous amount of paperwork over the years.
Well, that’s me being brief. 😉 Always look forward to your posts! Thank you for the time, energy, and thought you put into them!
chickenlibrarian
Thank you Tracy! I really enjoying these kinds of posts. I think we can learn so much from each other and help inspire each other. And I love your ‘brief’ comment! 😂 I’ll try to respond as best I can!
I’m looking forward to your shopping post. I think that’s a great idea! And I hope that you or Mr. Gordon will share about the garlic/mushroom adventures. We purchase the grow boxes because they are so easy but they are costly. The logs are the way to go but there’s more work and knowledge involved with them. So I do hope you’ll share that too.
Butternut squash soup recipe will be forthcoming! It’s a Whole 30 recipe but I’m not sure if you can find it on the internet. But I’ll definitely do a post soon. Now’s the perfect time of year for it…and it will go along nicely with your soup making adventures (I know you have a clever name for them but I can’t recall what it is right now!).
I’m super excited about my filofax. The inserts should be here tomorrow and then I can get to planning and organizing. I’ll do a post on it just so everyone can see what I keep in it and how I set it up. I’m not an uber-filofax-organizer by any stretch but I like a good system that works for me.
Thank you for always reading and commenting and for always, always having something nice to say!!
xoxo
-k
Shugunna Alexander
Keep working and tweaking your plan my friend, at least you’re doing it. Your meals fir the week sound delicious, I should do a food prep menu. We sometimes cook a lot of meat for the week and then think of sides later, we waste a lot of food. I want to rethink our weekly meals and you’ve given me some great ideas, thank you 🙏🤗
chickenlibrarian
I really love doing the meal planning…I just get lazy sometimes. But we eat so much better when we do the meal planning. I’m cleaning out the fridge today and will do my meal planning around what’s left over. Let me know how your planning goes! I love the inspiration from other people and I like to know how it’s going. 😘
Melinda
I love how resilient you are–if something doesn’t work, then tweak it until it DOES! I feel like life is a constant game of that anyway. Just as you get one thing figured out something new gets thrown your way. But finding a base foundation is what saves me, and then just staying flexible with whatever comes my way. I did have a pretty good laugh over your grocery list, though. I won’t even tell you how much we spend on groceries here each week, lol. I would say it’s probably where MOST of our money goes. We never eat out, and I keep it super healthy but unfortunately that’s the food that costs the most! Anyway, love these “real life” posts! 🙂
chickenlibrarian
We spend a lot of money on groceries and it’s just the two of us! That’s a major reason for trying to cut down on that line item. You have 5 people in your family and the good food always costs more! Plus I am a food hoarder so we have lots of food available to us but it’s putting it all together that is hard. Sometimes I think I just like to have food stored away but no real game plan on how to use it. Seriously you should see the pantry, cabinets, and then our freezer situation. We could go months without shopping! Well we would need basics like flour, milk, eggs (until we get chickens again), those types of things. But we could really do without. I shouldn’t be putting this out because then everyone will know. And when the zombie apocalypse happens, everyone will be knocking on my door. 🤣