Cash Spending Update 10/2019

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!