Saving Without a Goal

I'm reviving this blog.  I've found it difficult to get excited to save without a concrete goal, but I have one now.  Our family does OK financially even though we live on one income.  Our needs and a lot of our wants are met.  However, there is a potential question mark trouble on the horizon with our income, so I want to be prepared with a heftier emergency fund.

My goal this year is to save 10K.  We already save for retirement, so this is just extra padding for our savings account.  $833/mo will be kind of tough.  We'll see if I can do it. 

Freezer Inventory

Oh my, there is quite a bit of stuff in my basement chest freezer.  Among the meat I found:

4 Teriayki chicken breasts
6 Greek marinated chicken breasts
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 whole chicken
1 slab applewood smoked bacon
1 venison roast
1 venison steak
2 pork loins
1 pack of two pork chops
1 lb. ground turkey
2 sirloin filets
1 pack Polish sausage
1 large Ukranian sausage link
1 lb. cod

I took out the chicken to defrost.  I'll stick in the crockpot for Wednesday's meal.

I also took out one of the pork loins.  I'll make cranberry pork either Friday or Saturday.

We have a lot of meat!

I also unearthed some frozen vegetables, a few loaves of bread and a lot of tomatoes from last year's garden.  I think I'll throw those in a big stockpot then run them through the food mill for some tomato sauce.  It's pretty easy to do.

July's Grocery Spending

I don't anticipate that I'll have to do any more grocery or household shopping this week, so I feel safe in posting my spending total.  I was $100 under my budgeted amount!  The total also includes some spending on the dog and some items for the household (batteries, foil, tissues, TP, dish soap).  I think this is great.  Especially considering $100 or so of this was for a party we hosted.

This Week's Menu

The menu for the remainder of the week:

Tonight: Chicken breast, green beans (had fish last night instead of chicken)
Tues: Turkey wild rice hot dish, sauerkraut
Wed: Leftovers
Thurs: White Chicken Chili
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Sirloin, sweet potatoes

Dinner Tonight

My intention today was to go inventory what's in our chest freezer.  That hasn't happened yet, so for dinner I think I'll just cook a couple of marinated chicken breasts for DH and me.  I'll see if I can dredge up some kind of frozen vegetable.  We are out of fresh veggies, except for maybe a couple of sad carrots.  I'm trying to see if I can make it a week without going to the store again.  We'll see.

I might make up some individual cheese pizzas for the kiddo, then freeze some for a later date.  I think I might be able to get 6 or 7 pizzas out of one recipe.

Trying to Save on Groceries

I decided to revive this blog, because my grocery spending is absolutely ridiculous and I have a savings goal I need to accomplish.  I feed three people and my grocery budget shouldn't be as high as it is.  The family includes one picky eater and two people on diets.  I can do better!  In May, I overspent by $250.  June was worse though.  I overspent by $300.  There were some entertainment costs in there as I had to host a couple of parties.  Those parties certainly weren't lavish by any means though.

I have some food in the freezer that needs to be eaten.  There are a few cuts of meat and some vegetables.  I have been spending a lot of money of summer fruits.  I can't resist Rainier cherries and all the berries available this time of year.  They go fast in our house too.  Still, that's not why our bill is so high.  I will need to review our receipts and see what's going on! 

This Week's Menu

Tonight: Boar sausage, kraut, chopped vegetables
Tuesday: Broccoli soup 
Wednesday: L/O
Thursday: Chili
Friday: Leftovers, eggs
Saturday: Chicken, roasted butternut squash
Sunday: Cabbage rolls