Weekly Savings & Pantry Challenge Update

This week was a hectic one.  I should have done a better job at keeping up with the little things I did to save money.

I did better at keeping up with my daily routines which meant meals were planned ahead of time.  I find that taking a few minutes the night before to plan meals means the following day goes more smoothly.

I made some birthday cards using materials that I already had on hand.

I found a bunch of postcards while cleaning out my craft room.  I used a glue stick to glue a plain piece of paper onto the back of each turning them into note cards.  I will actually use these for writing letters.

I picked garden produce again - herbs, cabbage, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, tomatoes.  I pickled a jar of Mexican sour gherkin cucumbers.

W and I took a last minute day trip to the beach.  We drove down for the day and took snacks, drinks, and tortilla wraps from home so there was no extra out of pocket spending.  The weather was lovely, and it was great to get away.  We were home in time to feed all of the animals.

Now for the pantry challenge update.  Last week I was certain that I could make it through this past week without going over the $16.49 remaining in my budget.  That was before a church dinner, snack purchase for beach trip, and stocking up on some very good sales.  Let's just say that I went way over.  I was not even close if I had decided to put a few things back.

It will balance out over the long run.  I bought extra cheese and cream cheese for making jalapeno poppers with jalapeno peppers from the garden.  W requested a few snacks which will last beyond this week.  I bought movie theater candy for our movie nights.  I have enough for the next couple of months.

Unfortunately I lapsed on keeping up with what we ate.  It was just one of those weeks.  I have decided to continue with a modified pantry challenge.  I am going to allow myself $25 per week for groceries.  I am also not going to stress about stocking up on any great sale items.  After all the point of cutting back on the grocery budget is to have money for stocking up.