2015 Budget and Meal Planning Challenge

[Moxie]

Anyone want to join me?

 

Two of my jobs as the SAH adult are the budget and the meals--if I'm being honest, were this a paid position, I'd have been fired several times in 2014.

 

Time to improve!!

 

If you want to join me, I have a few steps I'm taking right now that I'll share.

 

Budget

I'm paying close attention to all Christmas related expenses. Next year, I WILL divide that number by 12 and put that money aside each month.

 

I bought a cheap notebook that I will use for tracking budgets, bills, special projects we're saving for, everything financial. I'm going to have that ready to go for our last Dec. paycheck.

 

I'm going through 2014 and thinking about what should have been saved for monthly instead of paid at one time (medical bills, insurance, etc.).

 

I'm getting estimates on some big household projects so we can decide if we're saving up for them this year or later.

 

Meal Planning

Ugh. Pretty much praying for divine intervention at this point. Like Scarlett, I'll think about that tomorrow!!

 

Anyone else? I'd love more ideas!!

[Gentlemommy]

Sure! I'll do it with you! We are buying a house, at the end of December, so January will be a great time to tighten our belts.

[MomsintheGarden]

We've done a lot of belt-tightening over the past couple of years, and these are my best tips for saving money in the food budget:

- Keep a price book. We've learned a lot from it, and now most of our grocery money is spent at Aldi. Wal-Mart is surprisingly more expensive than Aldi and the salvage grocery stores. Costco is pricey, but has a couple of things that cause us to keep our membership going at least some of the time (we let it lapse after stocking up).

- Raise your own food if you have the time, land, a good fence, and motivation to try to get good at it. Otherwise don't! We grow a lot of our own food. I estimate I spend an average of 2 hours/day on food garden related tasks, including the extra food prep involved in washing/trimming/cutting up loads of dirty veggies from the garden (today it was celeriac - there is no dirtier veggie to cut up than that!).

- Eat in season. When oranges are cheap, we eat oranges. When they aren't, we eat something else.

- Eat cheaper food. We eat a lot of beans, soups, and casseroles, and eat very few slabs-of-meat-with-1-starch-and-a-veggie meals.

- We stay out of the stores and try to stretch the time between trips to as long as possible. Having two fridges helps.

 

Best wishes saving money. It can be fun if you look at it like a game. I try to remind myself that when it gets to be a drag.

[Scarlett]

I really need to work on this too.....

[TammyinTN]

I'm in...we move mid-Jan to a larger home and I want lots of new furniture and beautiful things to fill it.   I'm going to tightening our budget so as not to go into debt.  

 

Every item is up for debate in our budget.

 

[Baseball mom]

I'm in.

[greenvneck]

Count me in. I feel like we are hemorrhaging money. 

[MomtoCandJ]

I'll do the meal planning and I'm also going to do the 2015 declutter thing too, I'm doing all this in preparation for nursing school, I start prereqs in May :)

[SharonM]

Count me in. 2015 is going to be a very interesting time in my life. Mil is buying a house and we will be moving together with her. She is no longer able to take care of herself, as she has RA in her hands and shoulders.  So when we combine households I will be trying to combine the way she eats (organic, lots of veggies NO FAST FOOD OR JUNK! and the way we eat... I hit McD's 5 times this week!! :huh:. I am busy with work and school, as are my adult children. Dh is currently living with mil and getting her house ready for the market.

So I need a plan to make organic pizza and have meals prepped to avoid the run to whatever place we are craving... help. Plus 3 out of 4 of us need to drop serious weight!

[sparrow]

Yes, I'd like to join. Our income decreases dramatically in the winter months. Every year we say we need to make some changes so things aren't so tight for 4 months. We have already decided to de-clutter, and make some extra money while doing it, by selling on eBay. I have at least a half dozen Vera Bradley purses that need to go.

 

I'd really like to plan out a rotating menu of 20-30 family favorite meals that I can mix and match. It just seems so daunting :P .

[swellmomma]

I;m in, but I also know I join all the challenges this time of year and by Feb have fallen off the wagon and forget about them

 

[Seasider]

I will take the meal planning challenge if I can lean on Divine intervention for the budgeting!

 

Honestly, the meal planning has kicked my tail all this last year. I need some accountability here. I am on my way out the door but will follow this thread and come back later for details.

[anmom]

I need some motivation as well!

[Deb in NZ]

I'm in.  I've gotten the menu planning habit down pretty good this past year, but budgeting needs a lot of focus as we've completely ignored it since dh got laid off 4 years ago.  What we thought was going to be a temporary situation looks to be the new normal for us & I think we need to make a more responsible plan for our future.  Any plan will be better than our current winging it attitude.  I know what I need to do, but doing it is another issue.

[Guest]

I;m in, but I also know I join all the challenges this time of year and by Feb have fallen off the wagon and forget about them

Maybe we need a Sticking With Challenges Challenge.

[FO4UR]

I'm in. 

 

Our food portion of the budget needs serious work.

 

 

[Guest]

If you are looking for inspiration, I love the YouTube channel How Jen Does It. She has a video on monthly meal planning and a series on budgeting. I'd link but I can't.

[Meadowlark]

I too, would love to trim our food budget. The thing is, if you don't like beans...what is there else to eat but meat? I'm a Midwesterner who grew up on meat, starch, veggies for dinner. I feel cheated when I don't have meat, lol.

 

I go to 3 different stores for the sales, stock up at Sam's club, we hardly ever eat out, and have a garden. Our budget is still crazy and my kids are still young. My husband doesn't mind spending money on food because he sees it as inevitable, but the rising number is concerning me.

 

I'd love to hear tips!

[La Condessa]

I'll join. I'm generally pretty good about sticking to a budget, but with rising food prices I've really struggled to stay within the food budget for the past year or so. Also, this year has really walloped us financially between two moves in six months, an accidental double payment on student loans, and medical bills (pregnancy complications, birth, emergency life flight & hospital stay, baby with numerous medical tests & treatments), so we're ending the year several thousand dollars in debt which we need to dig out of. So budget-wise I need to work on both the food specifically, and also on squeezing wherever I can.

 

I have many times tried to start with meal planning and failed. I'm going to give it another go.

[Χά�ων]

We've done a lot of belt-tightening over the past couple of years, and these are my best tips for saving money in the food budget:

- Keep a price book. We've learned a lot from it, and now most of our grocery money is spent at Aldi. Wal-Mart is surprisingly more expensive than Aldi and the salvage grocery stores. Costco is pricey, but has a couple of things that cause us to keep our membership going at least some of the time (we let it lapse after stocking up).

- Raise your own food if you have the time, land, a good fence, and motivation to try to get good at it. Otherwise don't! We grow a lot of our own food. I estimate I spend an average of 2 hours/day on food garden related tasks, including the extra food prep involved in washing/trimming/cutting up loads of dirty veggies from the garden (today it was celeriac - there is no dirtier veggie to cut up than that!).

- Eat in season. When oranges are cheap, we eat oranges. When they aren't, we eat something else.

- Eat cheaper food. We eat a lot of beans, soups, and casseroles, and eat very few slabs-of-meat-with-1-starch-and-a-veggie meals.

- We stay out of the stores and try to stretch the time between trips to as long as possible. Having two fridges helps.

 

Best wishes saving money. It can be fun if you look at it like a game. I try to remind myself that when it gets to be a drag.

The bolded has been the best thing for me to keep stuff out. I do not go to the store to pick up something on sale. I do not even watch the sale ads. The reason? I will find things I do not need. If there is something I want I write it down or put it in my amazon account. I let it sit for months. I live my life. If it is something that turns out to be something that will improve my life I reconsider it and save up for it. When I have the money put aside, only when I have the money, I start looking at sales and comparing prices. I grab coupons or, if I really want it, I pay full price for it.

 

The last things I bought where new dishes, my first set of nicer dishes in 15 years.

Shadow boxes to display my son's medals and vacation souvenirs

 

 

Everything else I bought was a need. Food, clothing or transportation related. 

 

 

Food I have started stretching meals.

 

Shredded cabbage, a couple of carrots and an onion make a cheap soup to eat before the main meal. I sometimes add a small amount of raw sausage to the pot. I chop all ingredients up, cover with water and all it to simmer. 

 

Cabbage appears in 2-3 meals a week. 

 

Beans really are a magical fruit. Use them often. 

 

DIY salads. I am on a salad kick but found it so much cheaper to make my own. I chop all ingredients into small pieces. 

 

I use less than a serving of meat to help it stretch. I increase veggies.

 

Cook from scratch. A current favorite easy to make meal is crustless potpie. Brown ground meat, add a TBL butter, stir in flour, add water stirring slowly as it thickens. Add cooked frozen mixed veggie blend. Serve yourself before the boy child inhales in all. Stupidly easy and I cannot believe I have not made it sooner. Of course if you are able to cook pie crust, add a pie crust. 

[Jenn121]

I am in. I also am at a lossto compensate for the need to not eat beans. I am nursing a little one and if I have even the smallest amount of beans she is in serious pain for about 48 hours from gas.

 

I am so tired with the baby and life I have let my meal planning and budget slip. I am also a too soft with my picky eaters. I am also adjusting to a newly diagnosed gluten issue for DD13

 

 

[swellmomma]

SO I did up my budget for both December and January and I want to slap myself about how much I have wasted since September.  My income will only be this good for another 2.5 years and then it drops by half so I need to learn to stay on track and get out of some hole's I am in PLUS I have 4 beds reserved for a sailing trip for April 2016 (for me and my 3 oldest kids to do a 1 week trip learning how to sail and whale/wildlife watching and learning about the aboriginal tribes that live(d) on each of thoes islands we will be go around/to) that I have to pay for by Nov 1 2015. In addition to paying for all my college classes out of pocket.  And I realized I am wasting so much money this term that if I stick to a budget I will have enough to pay all my classes, all my regular bills, the sailing trip and still have money in savings for emergencies, I am flabbergasted.  

SO I am starting this budget challenge immediately since I get my first pay cheque of the month on Friday.  I have to pay $1700 next week for my term 2 college classes (taking 4), my mortgage, utilities and food Friday, plus a few other preapproved payments that come out and each of the teens needs a gift for their cadet christmas party for Tuesday.  Sunday while we are in the city we are doing a massive grocery shop and when we get home I am doing enough freezer meals to take us to January.  That was we will have nutrition convenience foods without resorting to the drive thru.  So  it saves us money and calories.  ANd will hopefully help me maintain a grocery budget with my eye on this trip we have to pay for.  No cheese burger will taste as good as that once in a lifetime opportunity will feel.

Now I have a few days to figure out what meals I want to make and organize the grocery list and plan out breakfasts/lunches for the next week too as I am out of the home 70ish hours(youngest 2 staying at gramma's as a result) all next week and want everyone to stick to the plan without resorting to take out.

I am going to miss my Tim Horton's coffee though and changing my spending habits will be hard (I shop when my mood is off, even if it is a single item at the dollarstore.  ANd if not shopping I eat),  I need to come up with fresh coping strategies or I am going to mess this up by the 15th of January.

ETA: oh my word I have been losing sleep over how I could have wasted so much money so I printed off all my online bank statements.  I did NOT waste it like I thought.  After having a much smaller income for the last 2 years I spent Sept-Nov months catching up on way over due bills.  I was looking at my Dec budget based on average bill not ones that were crazy amounts in arrears. I had to catch up on a couple months of mortgage and $1000 on the power and $600 on water etc. I couldn't figure out how I was so broke all term when looking at my dec budget.  THat makes more sense.  Because I no longer have those excess utility debts to deal with etc.  Maybe now I can finally sleep without worry again.

[TammyB]

I despise cooking.   And meal planning.  And I need a good, swift kick in the back side to get in gear to do both.  :)  I guess that means I am in.  

 

[Tsuga]

I'm in. We make slightly below the median for our area and I'm tired of money down the drain because I do not pack my lunch. Enough.

 

I am an Excel maven... but I don't do it enough for home. :(

[JustEm]

I'm in! This has been a terrible year with me managing our budget and meal planning. In the past I've done both phenomenally well but this pregnancy has taken all the energy and motivation out of me so the budget went out the window back in august. As long as all bills get paid I haven't been worrying but if I want to meet our future goals I have to stop wasting money and start saving it again.

[Evergreen State Sue]

I'm in - especially the budgeting part.  One thing I've learned is if you want to plan how much you need for next Christmas, you really need to divide the total amount by 10 or 11 instead of 12 months.  That way you have the total amount available by early November and be ready to catch sales. 

[ScoutTN]

I'm in too. Tried YNAB last year and failed miserably so maybe back to a yellow pad and pencil for me.

With no plan money just disappears!

Meal planning I do, but need to do it more frugally.

[HS Mom in NC]

I'm in.  I've got meal planning down, it's cost cutting I need to improve on.

I got the meal planning completely under control recently by getting better organized. It took time over more than a year.

 

1. I gathered all "tried and true" recipes into one 3 ring binder (or whatever works for you.)  Tried and true means the majority of people who eat in the household like it. I cut out the pages or photocopied them or print them out. I put mine in plastic page covers so they don't get messier as I use them while cooking.  (I'm a messy cook but I clean up after myself when I'm done.)

I have another folder for recipes I'd like to try.

 

2. I didn't have enough tried and true recipes so I spent 4 evenings at the local Barnes and Noble after dinner, by myself, reading through recipe books for several hours each night.  I was ruthlessly honest about what I thought we would really want to eat and what I would really be willing to cook.  I left my husband with the kids several of those nights and with my mother another night. I found 3 new books that looked promising.  They were.

I also started watching America's Test Kitchen and after a year of watching and copying by hand easier recipes, I joined for a free trail period of 2 weeks (during our 2 week Fall Break and put the cancellation date on the calendar to cancel in time to not be billed) and printed out lots of recipes. Then I cancelled.

 

3. I put everything I wanted to try in my "like to try" binder.  If the family likes it, I put it in the "tried and true" binder.

 

4. I organize/color code by main ingredient. I scanned and printed each tried and true recipe on a color of paper coded for main ingredient.  Why?  Because if you drop a 3 ring binder or recipe box on a tile floor the rings will open and the recipes will fly out all over in a jumbled mess. BTDT several times.  It's easier to put things back together in the right category when each category has it's own color. When it's time to put a recipe back it's easier to do by color than looking for a labeled tab.  Also, when I'm using something up (leftover meat) I know exactly which section all the recipes that use it are in.

 

orange- breads, muffins, pancakes, waffles, etc.

deep blue-beans, lentils

bright green-salads, vegetable based dishes

light pink-beef

light blue-pork

bright yellow-chicken, turkey

light green-lamb

deep pink-desserts, sweets

off white-pasta, barley

 

If a recipe can fit into more than one category, I don't choose.  I scan it in each color and put them in each category.  This is about convenience when I'm up to my eyeballs planning things out for the next month, so spending then extra minute to scan and print it again is well worth avoiding having to remember where it could be. It also shows me at a glance if I have more recipes in one category (which you might like to do if you get a great deal on a main ingredient and buy more of it than usual ) or you can see at a glance if you have a wide variety of things (which some people prefer.) You don't have to read each recipe to know,  you can look at the color of the page it's printed on.  When planning for a month at a time, this can be helpful.

 

[swellmomma]

What is everyone's favorite freezer meal? MY kids were not on board when I first discussed the upcoming changes with them, but last night at work we had a nutritionist in for our staff meeting and my ds11 was there and now he wants to help prepare the meals so we can be healthier so he is getting on board at least as far as being healthy even if he won't be happy about me not buying the things he wants.

[La Condessa]

I found this website with a bunch of very frugal recipes: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/cooking/menus/winter-menu

I made her rosemary white bean soup the other night. Even my pickiest eater liked it, and it made enough for lunch the next day, too.

 

I also read a mention of keeping a grocery price book, which I had never heard of before. I'm going to try it.

[La Condessa]

double post

[Annie G]

What is everyone's favorite freezer meal? MY kids were not on board when I first discussed the upcoming changes with them, but last night at work we had a nutritionist in for our staff meeting and my ds11 was there and now he wants to help prepare the meals so we can be healthier so he is getting on board at least as far as being healthy even if he won't be happy about me not buying the things he wants.

 

My favorite freezer meal is spaghetti sauce.  I like that because if I'm in a hurry I just boil pasta to put the sauce over. If I have a bit more time I sauté or roast veggies to go in with it- zucchini, mushrooms, onions, peppers, broccoli, etc.     I cook the veggies fresh and I eat a big bowl of veggies with the sauce mixed in it and the rest of he family just adds a bit of veggies to their bowl of spaghetti.   Pretty low carb for me.  

 

It's a versatile thing to have frozen because you can use it to make a pasta bake, put it over baked chicken, etc.  There are TONS of things to do with it.   I was doing a freezer cleanout over the Thanksgiving weekend and found a whole box of breaded mozzarella sticks. I baked those and thawed some spaghetti sauce and my crew ate that for lunch- they had sauce leftover and dipped leftover french bread in it.  Me, I baked some zucchini sticks and dipped them in the sauce. 

[Penguin]

Count me in. I like cooking, but despise grocery shopping. And I have never succeeded at meal planning. I just downloaded the Meal Board app. Hope springs eternal.

[Evergreen State Sue]

Annie G. - Can you share your freezer spaghetti sauce recipe? We're low carb here and you have inspired me to use more spaghetti sauce.

[Annie G]

It's really easy- and since I don't add sugar, it's pretty low carb. 

 

1 large can Cento San Marzano tomatoes (See note below)

1 regular can tomato sauce (which is like 15 ounces I think)

1 6 ounce can tomato paste

1-2 pounds ground beef, lean

diced onion

few cloves of garlic

beef broth or beef bullion- can of broth or 2 teaspoons bullion(optional)

Penzey's Italian Seasoning to taste- I use about 1 Tablespoon (any brand will do)

 

 

Brown beef with a large diced onion and a few cloves of chopped garlic. Drain grease off if there is any after cooking.   Add to a stockpot with the other ingredients Squish the tomatoes when you put them in to break them up a bit- they'll fall apart as they cook. Simmer for at least an hour, until it's as thick as you like it. I like to add a cup or two of water, then simmer it until it's thick sauce.  I divide this into 2 containers, each serves 4 at dinner with enough left for a lunch or two the following day.  If I double or triple the batch, I put it in quart size ziplocs for our family of four...you might need more or less. 

 

 

Notes: The San Marzano tomatoes have no sugar added to them. So many brands use lousy tomatoes and add sugar to make them taste good. These are more expensive but are VERY good. I buy them at Walmart. They add salt but not very much, as there's only 120 mg in the whole can. 

I do not add salt when I'm cooking this (dh has 8 stents in his heart and I want to keep him around) and it doesn't seem to need it. 

 

You can make this as meaty as you like, or not. I usually use 3 pounds of beef when I double the recipe. 

 

This is SUPER easy to make a triple batch and freeze it in baggies.   It's also super easy to customize. Add what you like- diced peppers, shredded carrots, mushrooms, whatever. I usually just make it like above but have made it with all of the other things in it. My family prefers it without the chunks so I accommodate them. 

 

I think spaghetti sauce was the first thing my kids really learned to cook- they all like pasta. They loved dicing onion, squishing the tomatoes into bits, and stirring things.  Actually, they loved cutting stuff so much that they liked adding carrots, bell peppers, and shredded zucchini to it. But as they got older they found it less fun.g

[applethyme]

I'm in too. 

[foxbridgeacademy]

I probably should.  DH took a new job so we could afford to have health insurance and we bought a new car.  We are TIGHT.  I haven't felt this pinched in years.

[HS Mom in NC]

Favorite Freezer Meal

 

Vegetarian Chili

 

2 TBSP veg or olive oil

2 onions diced

1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped

2 TBSP chili powder

1 TBSP cumin

 

6 garlic cloves minced

 

3 cans (14 -15 oz) diced tomatoes

1 C vegetable broth

2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, minced (Comes in cans.  Freeze the chilies you don’t use.)

4 (14-15 oz) cans beans (mix and match kidney, black, pinto)

 

Toppings:

¼ c cilantro

Shredded cheese

Base option:

rice

 

Heat oil in Dutch oven or pot over medium heat.  Add onions, bell pepper, chili powder and cumin. Cook until vegetables soften (about 7 minutes.) Stir in garlic and cook for 15 seconds. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, veg. broth, chilies, and ½ tsp salt. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.

Add beans and continue to simmer, uncovered, until the chili is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.

 Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste or top with shredded cheese. Serve with corn bread muffins (freezable) or on top of rice. 
 

***Or instead of cooking in two 30 minute sessions, after you cook the vegetables, put them and everything else except the cilantro and cheese in the crock pot on low for several hours.  Freezes well.

[mellifera33]

I'm in! We have been eating too much takeout. December has been better--I've been forcing myself to cook. We have some long-term goals that we will never reach if we continue to fritter away ten dollars here and ten dollars there. We also need to up our retirement savings by a considerable amount. gulp. And alas, I need to get out of the habit of spending four dollars at Joann, seven dollars at Hobby Lobby, six at Michaels…you get the picture. lol

[HS Mom in NC]

I'm in! We have been eating too much takeout. December has been better--I've been forcing myself to cook. We have some long-term goals that we will never reach if we continue to fritter away ten dollars here and ten dollars there. We also need to up our retirement savings by a considerable amount. gulp. And alas, I need to get out of the habit of spending four dollars at Joann, seven dollars at Hobby Lobby, six at Michaels…you get the picture. lol

 

Yep.  That sounds so familiar.