Grocery Challenge: Week 1

Amount spent: $50.44
Leftover cash (for next week): $9.56

Lessons from the week: I didn't think I was an impulse shopper but apparently I am. But oddly enough, its in the fruit and veggie department. As I was walking through the store, I found myself wanting to buy cauliflower to go with our broccoli, avocado to go with falafels/wraps for the week and mangoes to eat. But since we have this budget, I wasn't able to be impulsive.

I was proud that I stayed under budget and that we ate healthy meals this week. I wasn't proud to spend what I did on vegetables. I am trying to continue with my regular habits of shopping only at Pricesmart (and not hopping around to other stores). But I might have to change that. Veggies were EXPENSIVE this week. I haven't spent that much on veggies in a LONG time. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I spend over $4 on broccoli and probably another $3 on lettuce. (dang storm on the East Coast). It was bad. But we have a meal plan, that included a dangerous craving for falafels/wraps.

Yes, we make a meal plan. And yes, it is too difficult for me to change it while I'm in the store shopping and realizing the expense that the veggies are causing me. Normally, the veggies aren't that much...but I guess I caught them on a bad week. The plus side is that the tomatoes were 68 cents a pound (score!).

My other confession is that I spend $17 on Advil and gripe water for Micah. I decided to not keep that in my monthly challenge since that would consist of 1/3 of my weekly budget. Plus, with the amount of sickness going around, I have a feeling that we will be purchasing more this month. And any parent knows that stuff is PRICEY! Hopefully this will be my only exception this month.

All in all, I feel as though this challenge is going well. I look forward to Fridays when our new week begins. Hopefully we will make it to the next week without spending anything else!

Joel's Hospitality

I took a pie plate out of the dishwasher this week and Joel grabbed it. He took it to the garbage and was going to put it in there. I told him to stop! First, I was going to keep it so that we can give cookies to our friends and second, if it wasn't going to be used for that, he should recycle it.

Well, Joel heard what I said, he took the pie plate to the freezer and started to gesture for me to open it. I took out the cookies and he loaded up the pie plate. When I asked him who we should give them to, he started to jump. I knew that meant he wanted to take them to the gym (where we go to jump).  I had previously mentioned to Joel that morning that we were going to go to the gym to see Simon. I sort of assumed that's who he wanted to give the cookies to.

When we got to the gym, he grabbed the plate of cookies, walked right up to Simon's mom Danielle and handed over the cookies. She was super excited (as was Simon who ate two cookies that morning!)

It was super cool to watch Joel pick up on the hospitality that Dan and I exhibit. All I really wanted that morning was for Joel to put my pie plate away for later use. But he had different plans. I'm glad to see that he's got his own sense of hospitality. I was especially glad to see him give the cookies away to friends that we met at the gym. He got to see first hand how blessed they felt. Good sharing Joel!

Bad Mommy!

 

Would you still love me...???

If I looked like this?

Dan and I ask this question randomly to one another...especially when we're acting silly or have dressed weird. Just a silly game we've played in our marriage. Its mostly to affirm our love for one another, for better and for worse, with our pants pulled up to our nipples or our socks tucked into our pants.

Yes Micah! We will still love you!

The Ups and Downs of Sleep

The Upside of 5 Consecutive Hours of Sleep: Um....5 consecutive hours of sleep!

The Downside of 5 Consecutive Hours of Sleep: When you wake up for whatever reason, whether your bladder, your baby, your toddler, your husbands snoring, or your mothers intuition, its REALLY hard to get back to sleep. Five hours of consecutive sleep, especially when that is the nightly average, makes you feel like you've slept the entire night and suddenly you wake up feeling refreshed and energized. Dang it! I still can't win!

But I will take those five consecutive hours of sleep over waking every hour and half any day!

Take THAT Top Chef!

I must admit. We've been watching a bit of the Food Network lately (mostly for when Joel is "watching" TV...its a safe channel-no violence and no annoying kiddie shows. Win Win).

But I've come to realize (thanks to another lovely blogger) that those Top Chefs have nothing on me.

Its one thing to make a gourmet meal. Its another thing to do it with a toddler and baby in your kitchen (and all their toys).

Especially when the baby is trying to pull himself up on your leg while you are trying to move around the kitchen.

Or the kids happen to empty the toy bin RIGHT in the middle of the kitchen.

I'd like to see those Top Chefs make their meals with a toddler and baby in tow.

Take THAT Top Chef! I do it every night!

February Challenge

Dan and I have decided to undergo a "fun" challenge for the month of February. We've decided to cut our food budget for the month in half. For each week in February, we will only have $60 to spend on groceries.

The reason? We have a TON of food in the freezer that needs to be eaten. Leftovers from previous meals, as well as enough food to feed a small army. Our cupboards are full of canned goods that we should use up.

Basically, I realized that I'm a food hoarder. Perhaps it has something to do with buying in bulk. Or maybe my mom's mantra to always be prepared. But regardless, we have enough food in the house to probably make it the entire month without buying anything. But we decided to have a few dollars to buy things like milk and veggies that won't last the entire month.

So why did we decide to limit ourselves to $60? I originally wanted to have a challenge to only buy from the outskirts from the store (aka produce, meat and dairy). But I found that to be somewhat overwhelming. I could picture myself justifying buying this or that...and I found the need to have that one item from the center of the store too tempting. Plus, if you are going to make a meal and need coconut milk or beans do I really have to change my meal plan based on that? And what would I do if we ran out of shampoo or diapers? Oil or peanut butter? So we decided to set a budget instead. Fifty dollars a week was the original plan, but removing that from the bank machine is a hassle, since we plan on using only cash. So sixty was agreed upon. It also happens to be about half of our food budget per week.

We are looking forward to the challenge but are realizing that it might be harder than we thought. We just realized that we are out of olive oil and that's a big budget item. So there is this pull between purchasing the large size like we normally do to save money in the long run verses the small bottle to "get us through" the month. It shall be interesting to see what happens!

A Boy and his Father

This Boy

and his father

are just two peas in a pod

Brotherly Love

Joel is taking his role as Big Brother very seriously

He takes it upon himself to feed and water Micah every day

Sometimes, Micah has to hold on for dear life, just to get a drink.

Some days, as much as Joel loves his brother, Micah just doesn't feel the same.
 

Mr. Potato Head

Concentrating on his piece of art

Fake smile for the camera

Look! I've got glasses too!