Zero Budget

We're getting close friends.  So close I can taste it.  Almost time to get prequalified and start submitting offers on new homes!! Woo-hoo!!!
Downside: no $$ to spend.  At all. We need to save every penny for this upcoming massive purchase and since we had the brilliant plan to buy a fixer - we need all those other pennies for small details like cabinetry, doors and exciting drywall repairs.  So.  Spending stops now.  Luckily I already finished my Christmas shopping (point!) Unluckily, I spent a little more than I wanted and now we are on sort of in a Ramen Noodle and Mac N Cheese situation.  So I try my best to take things one baby step at a time....ok that's a crock, I am 100% Type-A, OCD full throttle jumping in with both feet kind of girl - but without stripping my family of basic nutrition and heat this holiday season I vow to (aka "try") to take things one frivolous spend at a time.  Up first - no new clothing.  WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! (that's me crying like a baby)
But seriously, I can do this.  I know how to sew, tailor and be creative.  Not as good as I can shop but I can make it work.  So rule #1 - no clothing purchases (except for dress shoes for my son because his gigantic feet have outgrown his old ones) and I better find a good sale...and a coupon...

So shop my own closet...sounds boring.  Mimosas and shop my own closet? Ahhh, now were getting warmer.  Lets see if I can do this. Stay tuned.

Thanksgiving Decor

I like to dress up the house for the holidays, I like the way it makes us feel "festive" and such. Especially since I always have tons of ideas to incorporate into each season or holiday and most of them never happen....sigh.  So I at least try to add a little flair so to speak.

This year I reused our Halloween pumpkins from the boy's preschool trip and plopped them on top of some faux wood candlesticks (target purchase circa 2006) kept our family sign up because I love the darn thing - and seriously what's more thanksgiving than family.  I had some old dried mini pumpkins from last year that I stuck into a glass candle holder, kept my lantern up - not too much going on huh.  I did want to do a thankful tree, and I've seen them online and on Pinterest and think they are so cute and a way to have everyone be involved with the season and decor.  I grabbed some branches from the backyard, cut out some leaf shapes onto card stock, punched holes and threaded them - presto instant tree. I'm in love, the kids love adding leaves, and we're meeting the "festive" goal. Cost = 0

No Spend Challenge Day 8 - Theme Park Day

So I'm a little behind on my posts but I have them all jotted down on post-its ready to upload - who doesn't love post-its?!?! "I invented post-its!!!" (name that movie...)
Ok anyway, so we had a trip to 6 Flags last Saturday and whatever it was to motivate me to cash in my coins I am thankful for!!! Why is everything so expensive there!!! So here are a few tips I want to share that made our trip less expensive and will make our next trip less expensive (live and learn right...)

1. Pack some snacks people.
Now I don't mean wheel in an ice chest with a full on picnic, because they do say you cannot bring outside food and drink.  BUT, if you have kids it's worth it.  And like I said we had snacks in our diaper bag and a small lunchbox with milk/ bottle inside to stay cool and no one said a word!!! Some snacks I would recommend; nothing that can melt!!! We brought crackers with cheese in the middle (ie; Ritz, Late July, etc), squeezable applesauces - you know the ones they look like baby food pouches, pretzel sticks, trail mix.  That's all we brought, nothing fancy, but enough to snack between lunch and keep our blood sugar up.

What I will do next time is bring some snacks for my husband and I.  I was so worried about the kids, I didn't bring anything for us! We starved!!

2. Bring Water.
One tiny bottle of Dasani water was $3.29 - enough said. And pack milk if you need it for babies/toddlers.  We brought some for the baby, but my 3 year old wanted some and we had a VERY hard time finding it.  Also it wasn't cheap - and he only drank half of it.

3. If you are going to eat a meal in the park - split it.
Ok so I was assuming it would be pricy for lunch.  $15.00 for a corndog & fries I was not expecting.   A lunch plate large enough for my husband to eat during superbowl - also not expecting.  Split a lunch plate (yes they all come as meals there - no a la carte) for 2 kids, especially little ones! And honestly my husband and I could've split his BBQ plate as well....especially if we had brought some snacks for ourselves...sigh

4. Carpool
Parking is $20 a car - enough said

So those are my tips, hope you have fun if you make a trip out there!

Trip to 6 Flags - $0 (Complements of my in-laws for tickets & parking)

No Spend Challenge - Day 7/ save those pennies!

So we save our change.  When we do pay in cash the change just gets thrown in our car console or to the bottom of the diaper bag, so we started collecting it into a container and we go cash it in at a coinstar now and then and reap the benefits. 
It usually works out to be a good amount of change!!
So we have a family day planned tomorrow to go to 6 Flags, which my in-laws have generously planned and purchased the tickets for us (seriously how nice is that - those suckers are expensive!) So I knew we would need some food, drink (hell yes they sell alcohol in the park there!!!!) whoops - sorry lost my train of thought, and snacks, etc. so I went to coinstar today and cashed in...$60 in 6 weeks. point!...double point.
So we will take that (minus $2.60 cause I promised the kids a redbox movie night) to use at the park tomorrow.  nice!!! AAAAAnnnnnddddddd, my husband's best client/partner said he wants to take us to Tahoe for the weekend on him!!!! WHAT! An actual perk of owning your own business! I must be dreaming!
SOLD!
Can't complain here :)
Hopefully I have some theme park tips to share after tomorrow's extravaganza. Oh plus a dress refashion.....lots of saving going on here!!!

Cashed in coin - +$60
work from home
cleaned the car
way too much laundry
Total Spent - $0

No Spend Challenge Day 6

I did good today :)
I can actually say that!! Woo-hoo! I did get a little bored and ended up finally doing a little project of turning a cheap ikea table into an ottoman, which I already had all the materials for - so awesome!!! Point!! (Tutorial to come later)
All in all, I think I can do this.  I think I just need to keep myself busy with other things (like the 10 million projects I have sitting waiting to be done) and I'll be good.

I got this.
Piece of cake.

Ottoman revamp
work from home
Total spent - $0

Bringing Cocktail Hour Back

So in attempts to save some $$, I've decided to bring cocktail hour back. Case in point: pink lemonade martini

Super easy and delicious,

Pour one part vodka into shaker filled with ice

Add 3 parts pink lemonade

Shake

Pour into martini glass

So pink and summery!

No spend Challenge Day 5 - The $150 accident

So in terms of not spending any extra money today I did great! Under budget for my weeks worth of groceries ($93) point!!! Dodged variouys Victorias Sectret emails claiming 65% off swimwear (enter sad puppydog face here) and even bypassed the Old Navy stuff a bag sale (40% of everything - even clearance).

Until...

iPhone drops.  iPhone shatters.

Yep $150 replacement fee. 

...but...good news! I only had to pay to replace the back glass! Only $30! Woo-hoo!!!

Groceries, phone disaster, work from home

Total spent: $30 outside of grocery budget

No Spend Challenge Day 4 - Epic Fail

So yesterday (day 4) ended up being a little more unorganized than originally planned.  I had to hand over keys to a new buyers (ggod part) but by the time I got the kids and on my way home it ended up being way later than I thought it would be and were not even close to our house by 7:30pm (bad news) And since my kids usually eat at 6:30 pm all hell had broken loose.  Quick dinner pick up (ah-hem) this is when planning on my part would have been useful - even if it was PB&J. Boo!

Drive Thru at In & Out
Total Spent - $18.90

Better luck next time :(

Pinned it, Tried it....Kale Chips

So part of my pinterest board I have a section where I post the items I've actually tried, bought, etc.  Yes people actually do stuff that they pin!! Since I needed kale for a recipe last week - but not the whole bunch, I took the rest and decided to try kale chips.  OMG, so good, so easy!!! Here's what you do:

 

preheat oven to 225

wash and dry kale, and remove stems from inside of leaves.  Not all of them (duh) just the main large one in the middle.  And rip leaves to desired size.  Mine were about 1 to 1 1/2 inches. 

Toss in a bowl with just enough olive oil to coat and desired seasonings - I just did kosher salt and pepper.  mix well so all leaves are coated and spread on a baking sheet so that the leaves aren't touching. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crispy. 

Let cool & enjoy!! Yummm!! I'm obsessed with them :)

*Bonus: I already had all the ingredients = free snack. Point!!

No Spend Challenge Day 3/ Easy Summer Pasta

Day 3, and it took everything I had not to stop at Starbucks for a latte.  This is hard :( But I didn't, and I survived and have an extra $3 still in my wallet as a bonus. Only 27 more days to go.

On the upside of my non caffeinated afternoon, I helped some buyers sign escrow papers for their new house which means....commission. coming. soon. woot woot!!

So back to saving money.  As you know I like to keep my grocery budget tight, which means in the summer I can make this delicious, low cost pasta and it keeps bellies full and budget in tact. point!

Summer Pasta (Based off Barefoot Contessa's recipe)

Ingredients:
pasta (I like angel hair)
garlic
olive oil
cherry tomatoes
basil
parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese
salt & pepper

First make some garlic oil; on low pour about 1/4 c olive oil into a  small saucepan with about 3-4 cloves of garlic finely minced.  Let cook until fragrant, but don't let it burn - it will stink up your kitchen fast.  and linger - ewww.  Set aside.

Meanwhile cook the pasta according to package

While that's cooking chop your cherry tomatoes in half, and julienne the basil. (the hummus is a snack. I get hungry when I cook)

I like to add mozzarella so cut up small cubes of mozzarella, I'd say about a cup. Also pour yourself a glass of wine, you deserve it :)

When the pasta is cooked, drain and pour into a large mixing bowl.  Add the garlic oil and toss.  Add in the tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix, mix, mix.  Sprinkle parmesan on top and you're done. 

 

Delicious.  Cheap.  vegetarian.  healthy.  love it <3

Day 3
Client Appts/ Kids to Grandmas
Total Spent: $0

 

No Spend Challenge -Day 2/ what to do with: Peaches

So today was day 2. I spent $15 - BUT here's why; another goal on top of spending less includes getting in shape so the hubs and I decided to actually use the gym membership we pay for yearly. They have a kids club and its $5 a kid, therefore with 3 little monsters dropped for an hour ($15) we got in some quality workout time :)

But I will share a money saving tip today and a new skill: canning. Yes, old school, mason jar, grandma does it, wear an apron canning. Wasting less goes along swimmingly with saving money and when my extended mother in law gave me a ton of organic grown peaches from her tree I was stoked!! But how many peaches can you really eat before they get "too ripe". So I looked online and found some canning tutorials and went ahead and tried it. I will say it made me feel quite domesticated. Very June Cleaver :)

 

 Here's what I did:

Washed and dried all the peaches, then with a paring knife made a tiny X at the bottom of each peach. 

Then I put the peaches (in batches) into a small pot of boiling water for a few minutes.

 

Meanwhile make up some simple syrup.  I don't like mine super sugary so I use 1 cup of sugar to 3 cups water.  Boil until sugar is completely dissolved - set aside :)

Once the peaches have been in the boiling water for a few, transfer them to an "ice bath" (bowl of water with ice cubes) for another few minutes. Then transfer to a towel to dry.

Once all peaches have been boiled, iced, dried - then peel.  The skin should peel right off, just pull gently from that "X" mark you made.  Easy peasy. Then cut into desired size (I did halves) and put into clean jars.  Don't stuff, but I try to get as many in as will fit comfortably :)

 

Seal up tightly with lids and place in a pot of hot water for 25 minutes.  Dry off and you're done. 

 

All ready for peach pie, cobblers, or just for a snack!! Magical. Cost - $0



A successful day I must say :)
Gym workout, canning trial (success), relaxing Sunday
Total spent: $15

No Spend Month Challenge

So I have been a bad blogger :( but life's gotten busy, business is booming and a whole bunch of other BS excuses. So I'm back and back to saving some $$$$!!! I've seen a few money saving challenges on other blogs and Pinterest so I thought I would give it a go. Can't hurt to try, and I've been spending a little more than I should've the last couple months...oops. So here it is 30 days, starting today, no extra spending.  I'm motivated, but already have the urge to online shop. I can do this, I can do this. 

Day 1

2 client showings 

1 remodel appt

Dinner/snacks/coffee brought from home

Total spent = $0

Yessss! Great start :)

What I Got for $100 This Week

So, here is whats on the menu and what I got for my $100 this week:

.80 lb quick oats (bin)       .79
1 gallon milk                   3.59
1/2 gallon milk                1.99
cheddar cheese                2.03
colby jack cheese            2.94
vegtable juice                  3.79
veg. juice tax                     .10
lean ground beef              2.99
chicken breasts (2.5 lbs)  5.03
Ground turkey                  4.99
pint blackberries                 .99
.79 lb broccoli                  1.18
pint grape tomatos             .99
.35 lb green beans             .35
green onions                     .34
2x avocados                     1.54
english cucumber             1.50
bunch parsley                    .50
org. baby carrots              1.50
org romaine lettuce           1.99
1.49 lb apples                    .73
pkg white mushrooms       1.29

Sprouts Total:                  $41.14


Jack Daniels BBQ sauce   .99
Gerber Fruit puffs             2.00
Gerber Lil' crunchies        2.00
powdered sugar                1.79
brown sugar                      1.79
can pinneapple                  1.25
20 pk frito lay chips          4.99
Taco Sauce                        1.79
2x refried beans                 1.78
pkg taco shells                   1.49
Campbells soup                 1.00
Campbells soup                 1.50
Pillsbury Frosting              1.58
2x dennisons chili              2.50
butternut sq. baby food       .71
apple/ carrot baby food       .71
broccoli/ pear baby food     .98
Barilla marinara sauce       1.00
Honey Bunches of Oats     1.99
18 pk eggs                          2.89
Mex blend cheese              2.79
64 oz OJ                             1.99
Sour Cream                        1.99
Silk Coconut Milk              2.79
8 pk hamburger buns          .98
loaf wheat bread                 .89
Tyson Chicken nuggets    3.99
NY strip steaks                 7.24
2.23 lb bananas                 1.01

(plus 1x coupon @ -.35)

Safeway Total:              $58.05

Grand Total:  $99.19

$.81 to spare!! Woot woot!

Now usually I do not splurge on steaks except they were on sale and my other meals were pretty low cost for this weeks meal plan - plus I had an extra meal left over from last weeks menu so I'm ahead of the game. 

Meals:
Balsamic whiskey steaks, mashed potatos & broccoli
Pinneapple soy shredded chicken sandwiches & home fries (*crockpot meal)
Ground beef tacos & refried beans
Veggie lentil soup
Knock off gourmet veggie pizza (mmmm - love)
Spaghetti with turkey meatballs & salad

Have a good week! Happy meal planning & money saving!!

Under the Weather - Chicken Soup

Unfortunatley last week 3 of us in my house caught that terrible cold/flu combo that has been going around.  Can I say YUCK!!! And of course taking care of 2 sickies caused this mama to get it the worst.  Typical. So in cases like this I am happy to have basics on hand to make my favorite chicken noodle soup.  Its delicious, it makes the house smell amazing, and it costs pennies.  I swapped out a meal from my planner (chicken bundles) and used the chicken I was going to use for that to toss into my soup.  perfect! I'll save the ingredients for the bundles for another night.  Here is my super easy recipe for homemade chicken soup:

Put some olive oil in a pot - not a ton, just enough to allow the onions and garlic to saute.  I'd say 2 tbsp.  but I always eyeball it.
Chop up 1 small to medium onion, and 1 clove of garlic - toss it in

Chop up 2 stalks of celery and 2 peeled carrots - toss them in too

Cook until these veggies are soft.
Add about 3-4 cups of homemade or store bought chicken stock (I freeze my homamade stock thats why the picture shows ice cubes - I throw them in frozen) and about 1-2 cups of water.

This depends how brothy you want your soup to be versus the veggies and chicken and pasta.  I like mine about half and half so I use 3 cups of stock and about 1 1/2 cups of water. 
Let this mix come to a boil.
Add thin spaghetti - eye ball it - again depends how "noodly" you want your soup. 

You can also use little star pasta for chicken & stars, in the store its called stelline.
Let the pasta boil for about 7-8 minutes.  Add chicken and some parsley if you like.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Done! Delicious homemade chicken soup in about 25 minutes thats about a million times better than any store bought brand.  And if you have the basic ingredients on hand very cost effective!

Stay healthy this winter, its a bad strain of viruses going around!

Pantry Staples - Bread Crumbs

I absolutley love when I can get something for free that I use constantly.  My daughter asks me sometimes what I do for my job, I tell her "Mommy makes something out of nothing" - she loves this (and secretly so do I) One thing I use a ton of are bread crumbs, sometimes a lot sometimes a little and I always seem to run out just when I need them because it's something I assume I have a lot of in the cabinet but come to find out in my mid cooking Tyler Florence zone that I have run out. (anyone else ever do that??) Uggghh, instant bad mood...enter wine. ok much better.  Anyways - bread crumbs are one of those items so I started making my own and keeping them in the freezer - yep the freezer.  That way I don't have to toast them or anything, they stay fresh. 
What I do is when the end of the bread loaf is down to the heels (which my family doesn't eat the heels? not sure why...) but I just toss those suckers in the food processor, process til crumbs and done!

You can add italian seasonings if you like the seasoned crumbs.  I just add to an airtight container and place in the freezer.  Lov-ing!!
I will say when you need to use them take them out and let defrost for 5 minutes or so, otherwise they will be in a big clump.  But this method is great for a couple reasons; I can add to the container whenever I have extra bread thats getting to that almost to rough/ stale to eat phase, I can use hamburger buns, bread, hot dog buns - whatever you have, and the best part - totally free since it's something I already have on hand.  Beautiful.

Quick Snacks

One thing that has always eaten up our food budget has been snacks. So in attempts to keep on track with our grocery budget and also keep on track with our eating habits, I started cutting up veggies and keeping them in an airlock container in the fridge. This literally takes minutes to do, and the kids (and us grown ups) can grab them for a quick bite, throw them in a ziplock - get this my 5 year old even asks to bring them for her school snack. Umm yeah - point!!

What I Got for $100 - 1/9/2013

I'm a little behind in posting this, as it is now Sunday and I shopped last Wednesday - but better late than never right!! So I did go a little bit over this week, but that just means I need to make up for it next week :)

Here is what I got and what we're having (had) this week:
cottage cheese 1.99
gallon milk 3.59
gallon milk 3.59
cheddar cheese 1.88
shredded parmesean 3.69
white cheddar cheese 2.07
frozen edamame 2.00
pkg boneless chicken 4.38
1 lb bag carrots .77
5 lb bag potatos 1.50
blueberies 1.25
1 lb broccoli crowns 1.31
1.80 lb cauliflower 1.59
celery bunch .88
bunch cilantro .34
1.3 lbs pears 1.14
2.27 lbs apples 1.11
garlic bulb .34
pint grape tomatos 1.50
english cucumber 1.25
bunch parsley .50
1.19 lbs zuchinni 1.54
2.7 lbs oranges .54
3.19 lbs oranges .64
org. romaine lettuce 1.69
org, kale 1.50
bunch radishes .33
1.75 yellow onions .88

Sprouts Market Total = $43.79

Gerber puffs snacks 2.00
9x gerber baby food 10.00
5 lbs sugar 2.89
2 lbs brown sugar 1.79
2x diced tomatos 1.58
kidney beans .79
pinto beans .79
2x refried beans 2.58
5 lbs flour 1.44
jar beets 1.99
2x progresso soups 2.00
italian seasonings 2.99
2x chili 2.50
large pasta shells 2.79
grands 2.49
fr. chopped spinach 1.99
18 pk eggs 2.59
qt. buttermilk 1.69
64 oz OJ 2.00
Silk Coconut Milk 2.79
sargento shredded 2.49
sour cream 1.88
loaf wheat bread .89
Turkey bacon 1.99
whole chicken 5.05
.45 lb bananas .81

Safeway Total = 61.54

Grand Total = $105.33

With this shopping trip I am making;
Dinners:
Roast Whole Chicken, mashed potatos, steamed broccoli
Cauliflower Mac n' Cheese & Salad
Chicken Bundles (left over from last week after a menu switch up)
Chicken Teryaki bowl w/ broccoli
Vegetarian stuffed shells
Crock Pot Minestrone

Other: Vanilla scones & Baked zuchinni fries

I stock up on salad fixings (kidney beans, beets, etc) to make an easy salad lunch with all the extras (a la Whole Foods salad bar) and it makes a boring salad fabulous. I also pick up cans of chili which the hubs loves for a quick lunch or even to make for a snack. The baked zuchinni are a test recipe so hopefully that works out cause they sound delicious!!

Spending Money for our Next Vacation

We are planning a family trip in a few months to Disneyland for my daughter's 6th birthday. The kids (and us) are really excited and anticipating the trip I am getting organized early on to save myself some time and money later (and as we all know time is money) So I made a couple of spending money jars for the kids to save up money by doing extra chores, extra good behavior or any change they find or are given. I took 2 spaghetti jars from our last lasagne dinner, washed them, printed out some labels with their names on them and stuck them on the counter. I let them decorate them with markers and disney stamps for a little personalization. They LOVE them. They are more eager to put their laundry away, make their beds, etc. which I love - Point for mom! These are so easy, and as well as giving them some spending cash at Disneyland (which we all know is sooo expensive - can we say $15 for a plastic Minnie bracelet!)it is teaching them about money and saving - two things the hubs and I firmly believe in. When we get ready to leave we will discuss how much they saved and how they want to spend it. I love when learning becomes a fun game :)

$100 A Week - What I Got 1/2/2013

In this household we have a strict $100 a week budget for groceries. We need to incorporate into this budget breakfasts, lunches and dinners (I work from home so no take out lunches for me, and my hubs brings his lunch to work). I often get asked "How the heck do you fit everything into $100 a week?" The answer - planning!! I'm not going to say its easy to start, it takes some time, it takes some imagination, but in the end I can feel confident that only $500 a month goes to groceries (I'll explain why $500 not $400 in a minute...) That way if a night comes up where I don't feel like cooking, we're sick, or out doing something it's not a huge deal and/or strain to grab take out or go out to dinner because we've kept on a budget for our everyday groceries. Here is how I plan and what I got (aka what were eating) this week: I plan for 5-6 full dinner meals. Why not 7? Because usually 1-2 nights we do a leftover night because we always have somethng leftover or a DIY night (usually Sundays) when Mommy (aka The House Fairy as my hubs likes to call me) can take a break. I take a look at the ads for the week and plan my meals from there. I usually do 2 stores because I can shop sales and get a lot more for my money. I realize this is a hassle for some, but I have the time to do it so why not! I always shop Sprouts because I think they have a great produce department and they offer double ad sales - every Wednesday you can shop from last weeks ad and the current week's ad. Bunus! And usually I also shop Safeway because their ad starts Wednesday and I noticed if I wait to get sale items there they sell out of things quickly. So after we drop of Miss M at kindergarten, the boy, baby and I head to the grocery store - and yes I do this with a 3 year old and an 8 month old..again PLAN (snacks, toys, iphone downloads needed!) I use a meal/grocery planning sheet I found free on pinterest, and plan my list according to that.
Here is what we are making this week:
Garlic chicken pizza and salad
Ground beef Tacos
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Creamy Chicken Pockets
Homemade chicken Strips & Fries
Cuban Burgers and spicy potato wedges

And here is our grocery list:
20 pk corn tortillas - 1.99
Loaf sliced wheat bread - 1.99
1 lb Quick Oats (bin) - 1.00
1/2 gallon OJ - 3.00
1/2 gallon coconut milk - 3.29
sour cream - 1.99
Colby jack Cheese - 2.59
Honey Maple sliced ham - 3.44
Mozerella Cheese - 2.59
White cheddar - 2.23
Apple Puffs (baby snacks) - 3.29
Jar apple sauce - 2.29
Can chili with beans - 1.99
Chammomile Tea 18 ct - 1.99
1 lb white rice - 1.99
Green Tea 18 ct - 2.99
2x organic baby food - .99 (1.99)
2 liter sparkling water - 1.00
1 qt. Chicken Broth - 1.99
Wolfgang Puck Canned soups 3x - 2.00 (6.00)
2 lbs extra lean ground beef - 5.47
2.5 lbs boneless chicken breasts - 5.09
1 lb bag baby carrots - .99
bag lemons - 1.49
pint blueberries - 1.25
1.31 lbs Broccoli crowns - 1.30
on the vine tomatos 1.46 lb - 3.64
1.62 lbs fuji apples - 1.43
1 garlic bulb - .34
pint grape tomatos - 1.50
4x hass avocados - 1.00
English Cucumber - 1.25
3.58 lbs navel oranges - .72
Organic romaine lettuce - 1.69
1.95 lbs organic pears - 1.93
2.42 lbs bananas - 1.67
.99 lb yellow onions - .50
BV Red Wine - 5.99
2 Gallons of Milk - 5.39
2 Dozen Eggs - 3.39

Total $97.87

I do have to say I double up on things to use through 2 weeks for example last week I bought a bag of potatos and only used half so I can use the rest this week for fries, and last week I bought hamburger buns thinking I would use them but didn't so they will go for the cuban burgers this week, and so on. It all evens out and I keep the balance at about $100 a week give or take (plus $100 a month at Costco for bulk items - which I'll go into another time) Its that simple! Sometimes I use coupons and sometimes I don't I just base my meals and snacks around whats on sale and what I can make myself from scratch (see previous posts) All in all its savings which means money in the bank which means I'm one step closer to my new house :)