What time is it?

It is definitely not the time to panic. Panicking does not allow us the luxury of making sane choices and decisions. Instead a touch of panic can leave you with poor choices and dire consequences.

I have no idea what all of you are going to do with your personal state of economy, but I have decided it is time to make a few adjustments to our personal state. I'm going to just fine tune a few smaller items to help us maintain.

1. Continuing combined errand runs. I've been doing a great job at this one. I will not go to town, which is 7 miles round trip to the edge of town, unless I have 2 or more reasons.
2. Keep the furnace off. Well, for as long as I can. This weekend was excruciatingly hard to do. It has been getting so cold around here. Luckily my DH is on board with this one. We saw in the paper that there will be 70's in the coming week and that is helping us to not breakdown and turn it on. Really difficult when DD3 complained of hair freezing after a shower. :-)
3. Indoor temperature 60 degrees. When the furnace goes on, this is where the thermostat will stay. I have the space heater in the office, for my fingers and we will run the fireplace for a while at night when everyone comes home.
4. Turn off and Unplug. I am checking, double checking and reminding everyone that all things not in use, need to be turned off. If the kids knew such things, they would probably call me a 'broken record', a bit before their time. I'm also scouring the outlets to insure nothing is plugged in, silently draining our electric.
5. Aldi and The Drug Store Game. Both my new found loves. Aldi is saving me a ton of cash of food. The Drug Store Game is filling our personal care needs without using the cash. Both are becoming worth my time by the huge dollars saved.
6. What's for dinner? We are eating all left overs. Last week, I made Chicken Noodle Soup, Chili and the very expensive birthday dinner for DH. That is it! Those 3 meals fed all of us for 7 days. There will be no food hitting the trash. We eat all the left overs right away.
7. Good-bye Trainer. Leaving my trainer was so hard. I don't think there are words to describe my fear and anxiety from this choice. Yet, I am very happy with my investment in the health club membership. Already, my price per 1 hour visit is below $34.55 and I have a full 11 months left! That is $10.45 less a visit, with the savings growing each day.
8. Meatless Meals & Homemade More. The best way to drop the ever growing grocery bill is to make meatless options. A few of my favorites: Veggie Soup, Spinach Lasagana and Pasta with different sauces. I'm also planning to bake more bread and other items to help heat the house and save cash all at the same time.
9. Short Wash and Dry Less. The cold means no more clothes drying outside on the line. I plan on purchasing a rack for in the laundry room. I am still utilizing the 9 minute shorter wash cycle and am rushing to my dryer at the first ding - not waiting for the dryers last 10 minutes.
10. More Work. I am, as you can probably tell from my less frequent posts, spending more time working. When the dollars come in through normal work, it is going directly towards our debts. When it comes from an extra like online or surveys it is going into extra emergency savings. Or as I am calling them - residual income streams. They are creating tiny little increases in my cash flow and building a safety net, just in case.

No one item above is going to help me save us. Yet, all items help us to live with in our means and take less of a sucker punch from the world around us. Providing room to pay down our debts and help to secure our future.

Anything can happen at anytime. There are no guarantees. So, why not move on the side of caution to make the future a little less volatile?

Higher Grocery Costs?

We have all seen our dozen of eggs go from 79¢ to $1.29. Remember milk for $1.99? High price increases across the board have left me with the knowledge that I need to plan on spending more for food and supplies in our home.

I have always worked to keep this category under $200 a week. And up until lately, this has been a doable thing. Even with a house full of regulars and irregulars. :-)

Lately, due to time and worry, I have ignored my grocery spending. Frankly, I just didn't want to know. I know this is bad, but it is true.

I have made a ton of changes to my shopping in the last 8 months.

1. Buying generic laundry supplies
2. Buying less bulk
3. Starting the Drug Store Game!
4. And Shopping at Aldi!

Instead of these things showing me instant proof of my savings, they only served to confuse and mix up the numbers.

For instance, the only generic laundry supplies that work are best priced at Walmart. Walgreens does sell them, but their price is higher - unless on sale.

Our bulk supplies for paper products and food basics has been less often, due to the laundry sale. I just avoid this trip. So, I have been paying more to keep the garage refrigerator full with drinks and bring home DH's Charmin. Although, in August I did make another Sam's run. Where I brought down my total cost for a 3-12 role packs of Charmin from Walmarts price by $6 alone.

The Walgreens Drug Store Game has been fun and I have saved some money, but being new I am not positive on the full effect of these efforts.

Finally, oh how I love Aldi. Eggs @ 90¢. Milk from $1.99 to $2.40. Ice Cream 1/2 the price of Walmart. Aldi had me at OPEN!

In the end, I am bringing in multiple receipts each week. :-( This is the messy part. So, it is not as easy to see my savings.

With the end of August complete, we are 8 months done in the year. That is 35 weeks complete. Which would mean I would have spent $7k at this point in groceries and cleaning supplies. I keep the total cost together.

If you factor in the huge graduation party I threw that added in another $1k of supplies and groceries, you know this year has been expensive.

I was elated to see that my total cost is $6902.90 for the first 8 months. I can't believe with the party and higher prices I am still in my budgetary limits!

I guess coupons, the drug store game and Aldi are my gems for survival!

$100 a week

Can you really feed your family on $100 a week? I would think you would have a better chance when they are young and not yet exposed to as many processed foods. Or MC Donald's for that matter.

Consider it the Kool-aid factor. Once a child has drank the kool-aid of junk, it's hard to pull them back to health.

I could do this back in the 90's when my kids were young and I was a single mom. Prices were just better on everything. The main way I kept the cost low, was to eliminate meat. Meat was the huge hole in my grocery bucket.

We ate a lot of rice and eggs or as I call it "Poor Man's Meal". Funny the kids still love this meal.

In this article on MSN, the gal even bought bananas. In my neck of the woods, bananas are expensive and I would have a hard time on $100 a week, justifying this purchase.

The largest cost cutter for me, then and now, besides meat was cereal or other breakfast foods. Why does breakfast cost so much? I think the companies providing breakfast foods are taking advantage of the most important meal of the day.

In the above article, she DOES NOT use coupons. WOW! For breakfast foods, coupons are a must - or you better be buying the generic cereals that are not full of the same or better nutrients. Reading the labels will place the fear in the soul of a mother looking to feed her child a healthy meal. A rule in my home is -

Sugar can not be one of the first 2 ingredients.

That one rule, limits what breakfast foods you can have. Although, my kids learned at a young age to grab a box and read the ingredients. All was good until a grandparent bought then the crap. Then shopping for cereal became a war.

I am a mean mom.

I would make my own healthy pancake mix and oats were a life saver. But I used coupons or bought a comparable generic.

Walmart Shopping Deals

Headed to Walmart on our way home yesterday from my Gramps. DS2 lost his mouth piece for football. I have no idea how. Thankfully, these things are relatively cheap, we are on our 3rd one already and "real" football practice hasn't even begun.

So besides that 97¢ purchase, I scored:

• 2 Head & Shoulders Shampoo (Trial Size - for this winter) @ 97¢ ea ($1.94) - $3 off coupon = $1.06 paid to me.
• 1 Old Spice Deodorant @ 97¢ - $1 off coupon = 3¢ paid to me.
• Renuzit Tri-Scents (since the bedroom one is working so good, I thought I get one for the basement) $7.87 - $5 off coupon (on the package - saved my coupons hopefully for sale) = $2.87
• V-8 Fusion $2.98 - $2 off coupon = 98¢

Not a bad trip. While there I check on that L'Oreal Shampoo I got free from Walgreens. Because I love it and I wanted to know the price in comparison to Walgreens $4.49 a bottle. Walmart sells it for $3.47 a bottle - roughly the same as Pantene. So, without a special deal at Walgreens I will purchase it at Walmart. Currently, I have 2 $1 off coupons. Barring another deal somewhere, I will go back to Walmart and make the purchase prior to expiration.

Economical Changes

It's almost 2 weeks now since I made the decision to stop the summer eating out spending. For some crazy reason, we had been eating out a lot. Not spending a fortune, but still spending more then we needed too.

Not to mention, missing out on quality family time because of it.

I think with the kids getting older and off on their own, my DH and I were just thinking that eating out was easier. We/I was getting lazy. It's just hard to go from cooking for a huge crowd to just 2 or maybe 3 if we can round up a child. :-)

With the vacations looming, I decided we had to begin adjusting to our new stage in life. Just because the kids are growing up and leaving us, doesn't mean we throw all financial strategies to the curb for the easy answers.

So, since July 8th, we have had all but 2 meals at home. One meal was actually for a tip only - I had a certificate. The last meal out was on Saturday and that was for some family bonding. We took DS1 who was heading out on his road trip and DD2 out. Neither of which we do we get a lot of time with anymore.

Such is life.

Now, with less then 2 weeks till departure, I'm continuing the "eat at home" trend and cleaning out the food at the same time. I'm amazed how much I have here to make without shopping.

• Spinach Lasagna
• Brats & Veggies
• Chuck Wagon Grub (it's good - just a fun name) Think chop suey on brown rice
• Angel Hair Pesto
• Turkey Breast, Potatoes and Steamed Veggies
• Corn Dogs and Fried Zucchini

So far that is what I have with ZERO shopping to do. SWEET!

$2 Coupon For V-8 Fusion!

I absolutely love V-8 Fusion. In fact, my whole family loves this delicious and nutricious juice.



I buy the Peach Mango Light version. Every 8 oz serving is like getting 1 full serving of Veggies and 1 full serving of Fruit. With a taste of fruit juice everyone will love.

Save $2 and try it on your family today!

Walgreens Moves Like Lightening

I just went shopping at Walgreens on Friday and sent in my rebate request. Okay, I didn't send it via snail mail. Walgreens has this awesome online rebate claimer. I love easy. Plus, they are saving the Earth with no envelope and stamps. Not to mention guarding my fortune building by saving me that 42c the USPS wants of my rebate.

I just received an email say that my $14.30 will be added to my gift card within 4 days.

That's my $13 plus the bonus 10% for adding it to my gift card.

Test Driving Aldi's

Haven't been to Aldi's in years and I've never been to the new one they just built by me. Wow, how things have changed. No one told me they sell alcohol now. Go figure. I didn't buy any, but at $2.99 a bottle, I'm not sure I'm missing anything. The price says - young drinker and Cold Duck to me.

Anyone out there old enough to be a part of the Cold Duck crowd?

Anyhow, I needed Milk and Eggs. I wanted to try Aldi with my debit card when I need a little, just in case I had troubles with the new debit card. Thankfully it went smoothly.

The prices are great at Aldi - I'm not sure about quality, but time will tell. I bought:

• 2 Gallons of milk - $1.99 ea ( I paid $2.19 at Walmart last week) 40¢ saved
• 34.5 oz can of coffee - $4.29 (paid $6.99 last week) $1.70 saved
• Large Eggs - $0.99 - (can't find a receipt, but guessing $1.79) - 80¢ saved
• 2 cans tuna in water - 49¢ ea (I buy big can for $1.97) - 99¢ saved
• 50 Ct Ibuprofen - 99¢ (Advil ~ $3.99) - $3.00 saved

I also bought a couple other things that I don't have a comparison - just wanted:

• 2 cans of cherry pie filling - $1.69 ea
• 5 Pack of Sausages - $2.49 ( I think I pay closer to $4)
• Cinnamon rolls - $1.49
• Extra Jumbo Shrimp - $6.99 (making kabobs)
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - $1.99
• Red Licorice Twist - $1.25 ( I know I can get these for 99c elsewhere)

So if all the stuff on the bottom just averages about the same at wallyworld, the my total bill paid of $29.11 would have cost an extra $6.96 with tax.

A thing I noticed for Pringle lovers - Walmart sells them for $1.96 - Aldi's was 99c.

Laundry detergent was available for $1.99. As well as fabric softener. Bleach was 99c.

Yogurt - terrible deal even if money wasn't an issue - theirs has 120 calories for the light version and 220 calories for full flavor - my Dannon Light and Fits are 45 & 60 calories debating on the size. Plus, they have a ton of good vitamins, unlike the Aldi counter part.

Aldi's will never be my main store, because most of their items are processed and boxed. But it will become a regular stop, since it is so close and I can grab a few select items at rock bottom prices.

5 Bags - $134.77

When you walk out of the grocery store with only 5 bags and you paid $134.77, we've got a problem.

My $200 a week budget is NOT going to feed the whole crew for a week. In fact, I only purchased enough food for 3 days. In all honesty, I did make a large purchase of corned beef, but dang - who'd a thought I'm paying for the whole side of beef.

My bread - 100% Whole Wheat - went from $2.49 a loaf to $3.09. (+24.1%)
I remember buying Ground Round at $1.42 a pound years ago - I just paid $4 a pound.
Last week, at Wal-mart I paid $2.99 for a gallon of milk - 40¢ cheaper then this gallon.

Thats it - my family needs to stop "living to eat" and start "eating to live". Could someone out there please tell them for me.

8¢ More Each

On my regular weekly shopping trip this weekend, I picked up my new dietary staple - The Luna Bar. These are a must for me, since I tend to forget meals. Plus, if I just need a snack to keep my motor running to the next meal - why not one that is healthy and 70% organic?

Anyway, I generally buy a box of 6 Luna Bars for $5.47. This makes each and every bar cost 91¢.

The sneaky folks at Luna caught my eye right away, by the new smaller box. Further investigation revealed that each box now only carries 5 Luna Bars. The cost per box is $4.97. That makes each of my needed snacks cost 99¢.

Holy cow, that is an 8¢ increase. Or 9%, if you like percents.

How Many Meals Can You Get Out of $70?

What is happening at the grocery store? Prices are crazy. Everything seems to cost double what it did last year.

I ran to the store to get things for this week to eat and I barely covered the bottom of the cart. Felt like a cartoon, where the characters eyes spring out of their head.

I couldn't believe it - $70.

The whole ride home, I'm thinking how many days am I going to feed the 5 of us with this?

• Tonight - Ribs(on sale ha, ha), coleslaw, beans and 2 burgers for the non-rib eaters(with whole grain buns).
• Tomorrow - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, cut green beans
• Wednesday - Chicken Soup
• Thursday - Turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli/cauliflower mix
• Friday - Tomato soup and grilled cheese (grateful for lent)

Is this a good use of our money? Are we spending too much on food? Probably - look at all that meat I got. Of course, I also got a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread.

That is $14 per dinner. Which means we all will eat for $2.80 a night. Cheaper then McDonald's, but dang we eat good.

Maybe my family needs a bit more fasting. :-)

How do you people keep your grocery bills so low? I still have 2 more days in the week, not to mention lunches and breakfast - which at the moment I have covered. There is no way I could feed my family on $100 a week - unless we only ate rice and beans. Then of course, it would be even cheaper - cause they would cook my butt.

How to Tick OFF a Wal-Mart Checker

1. Have Concern For Our Planet
2. Look For Ways to Save Our Planet
3. Order Some Really Cool Designer Re-Usable Grocery Bags
4. Take Designer Re-Usable Grocery Bags to Wal-Mart.
5. Tell Checker you will be using your bags and DO NOT want theirs.
6. Watch Checker shrug and puff air out in her disgust.
7. As you are unloading your $200 worth of weekly groceries, watch her then ignore your words and place each item in a plastic Wal-Mart bag.
8. Try to remain calm as your face is turning 3 shades of red and her little turn style is getting loaded with groceries.
9. After unloading all your items on to the conveyor, walk past the credit card acceptor and pull your collection of Re-Usable Grocery Bags from your purse.
10. Undo them 1 at a time and start removing items from plastic Wal-mart bags and start re-packing everything in your bags.
11. When you are about 1/2 done she is going to tell you how much you owe. Remaining at all times behind her register. Smile and say........"Okay".
12. Continue packing your groceries correctly. Until you are complete and ready to go.
13. Then look up to see her - you b*tch face.
14. Then reach into pay with your credit card, that you will pay off next month.
15. Casually make your way back to the credit card reader and process your sale.

I completed this today, with my new bags. If looks could kill I would be dead. Although, I was very upset, by the checkers disregard for my wishes to save OUR Earth, I was more then relieved to know I held up her line to tend to my wishes first.

I wish I could get all of you to use Re-Usable Grocery bags. Wouldn't it be fun to cause a grid lock in the registers by tree huggers?

You really think Wal-Mart would take steps to encourage, not discourage.

PS. I turned 15 plastic bags into ZERO! Using only 5 Re-Usables.

Woodman's Market

All I can say is.....I LOVE THIS STORE. Yes, it is huge and no I do not like the big super stores, but this huge establishment - is not like the super W-mart or Targay. This supersized store is 100% grocery and man how the prices are unbelievably low. As you can tell, tonight was my first trip to the Woodman's Market.

Not close to my home, but I was out for other reasons tonight and have heard good things about this store and I can say - they were right!

What makes this store stand out:

• 200-250k square feet compared to 50-75k for your normal grocery store
• 70,000 different items to choose from compared to 15k at the normal store
• Bulk buying by the store, makes prices way cheap compared to normal store
• Buildings built with whatever is cheapest at the time each store is built
• Employee Owned!!!
• NO Credit Cards - Cash, Check and Debit Cards - but in an effort to keep costs low, they refuse to take credit cards and pass the cost on to consumers.

I will definitely shop at Woodman's again!

You should have seen the Organic products, or the milk prices, or the huge selection of produce, baked goods, meats. I was met with things I have never tried before - very exciting. Unlike my local store that has about 1/2 aisle of ethnic foods Woodman's had a whole section, marked by the country's flags - so cool.

I spent $90 tonight. Good thing I was tired, because I didn't know it was a cash/check/debit only store. I didn't have my check book, I don't have a debit card and I barely squeezed enough cash out of my wallet for my purchases. That would have been sooooo embarrassing.

If you live in Illinois or Wisconsin - go check this store out. Unbelievable. You have to see it.

1 more thing - Best selling hardcovers 20% off. Sweet!

My secret for bringing a family into full appreciation of you is simple, yet still difficult for most. I'm going to share it with you, just in case you have some kids gone wild that need to be reminded of the "power" of the mama! Or the papa if you will.

Large working schedule helped me lay the ground work. As the day's drug on and on with no end in site, except for my energy, our home slowly was drained and depleted of all stock up foods as well as perishables. It got so bad, that when I made a quick stop at the local grocer, I wasn't even covering a shelf in the fridge.

Now although I was not thrilled by the prospect of an empty fridge and pantry, I was a tiny bit ticked that there are so many drivers in my home and no one went shopping. Each and everyone could have helped, especially since school has gotten out. Our graduated daughter has been out since May 20th.

I went shopping this weekend....for wine. :-)

Today, after I completed my lease for the NEW TENANT.....Oh did I tell you I caught one???? Anyway, I decided to make a stock run. Little man needed to leave the house anyway. Sometimes he just gets lost in the blur around here. So, I made him come telling him it was for food, he almost broke his little "show it all" bony butt running down the stairs to the car.

We walked into the store and I grabbed a cart. He stood there. So, I said "grab a cart". He stared at me like I was speaking Polish and said "you have one." "I know, but we are SHOPPING." He knew by my emphasis that we were loading up.

I think the clerk was a bit overwhelmed when we got to the register. I even heard her gasp at the site. I felt like saying "get over it and get ringing up." I didn't though. My mission was only to stock my home. All obstacles and annoyances would be ignored.

After 2 hours shopping and hauling you know what I got when I walked through the door? I got mama lovin'. Hugs and kisses like only starving children can deliver.

I still got the power. :) Power cost me $334.93 today.

My First Grocery Trip of the Year

You read that right. Last night I made my first trip to do regular grocery shopping this year. I can not believe we made it so far. In all actuality I have not done the "shopping" thing, since before the kids left on vacation, the day after Christmas.

I know, I am a bad mom, wife ...blah, blah, blah. You need to give me some slack here, after all except for the afternoon at Wicked, I have worked every day since the kids left. Not only worked, the majority of days are hitting the 14-15 hour mark. Tired, I is! I came home after not eating all day at the laundry to an empty fridge and pantry. Left with no more time, I made my little man go with me, and we overflowed the shopping cart. Being tired is one thing, but tired and hungry, well frankly...I'm a b*tch!

The damage $198.36.

It was all worth it to see my family's faces glow when they saw all the goodies.

Then the words that took the wind out of my sails ... "does this mean you will be cooking again?"

I need a clone. Evidently that turkey dinner last week doesn't keep my spoiled family happy. I told you, they don't like to eat out. I don't blame them, home cooking is the best. Now, if I can only find some time. I would much rather be cooking too.

Unfriggin' Believable

Me, the constant baker, got up this morning made my pot of coffee. Cause Lord knows, I do NOTHING without my coffee. In fact, if you are fond of breathing, you are advised not to talk to me - until after the coffee.

Being motivated to keep my Christmas Party streamlined with no huge rush, I begin to make my homemade cheese cake. Pulling out my spring loaded pan, graham crackers and all the needed supplies.

I use all my muscle and cheat with my marble rolling pin, to grind up all the crackers. I melt the butter in the microwave and combine in the pan to make a beautiful graham cracker crust. At this point, I am even bragging to my husband. "It's going to be a good and productive day. It's not even 7 am and I'm on a roll."

Oh, it was a good couple of seconds. Until I opened my sugar canister. I have never seen it empty before. Like a two year old - I heard the UT OH loud and clear in my head.

The next thing I know, I have emptied the whole pantry onto the kitchen counter tops. No backup anywhere. If you knew me, you would know this is just not me. I keep extras everywhere. From Brown Sugar to Mayonnaise. Due to my food less life as a child, I have a huge fear of there "not being enough". So, each time I open something, I put it on the list to buy another backup. I have no idea how this happened.

So, all Christmas preparations have come to a complete halt. This requires me to prepare another plan and make the best of my UT OH.

I guess I will wrap hubby's presents and get them under the tree. Then clean myself up and head to the laundry and the store. I think I am close enough to the big day to purchase the perishables now.

Help!!!

Not that you really can. I am quickly becoming my worse enemy. Most people would get a bucket of water and toss it on the fire, not me. I went for the propane.

Went shopping for groceries and a few other items. I got the last article needed for the kids Christmas jammies (tradition will be fullfilled), candy for the stockings, rechargeable batteries and charges (saving the earth), color books and crayons (looking to get them to remember their childhood), candy for the confirmation students and groceries.

Sit down......................

Oh no..................

I am bad!!!!!!!!!!



The total made my eyes pop out like those cartoons, you know what I'm saying.

$439.93

Yeah, you read it right.

oh well, got to go.

Grocery Spending November - Part 2

I know what your thinking, how could I need to go shopping again so quick in the month. I don't know really, except we had a need for more. Although my first trip for the month was just for the few select items on sale. I had to take advantage of the deals while they were there.

So, because we have to eat, I took the little man with me to help and headed for the store. We loaded up a cart in record time. Generally it takes me 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours to do the weekly shopping we were in and out in under an hour. I think Wednesdays are the day to shop. I didn't even wait in line.

Now the numbers:

Our First Trip for the Month -- $142.38 - $59.02 in discounts = $83.36
Last Nights Trip--------------- $150.19 - $13.34 in discounts = $136.85

MTD Totals ------------------- $292.57 - $72.36 in discounts = $220.21

This is only 8 days into the month. That means with an average expense of $200 per week, we are a little under budget. ($200 ÷ 7 days) x 8 days = $228.57. Yippee a whopping $8.36 under.

I'm not all that thrilled, but any savings is better than none. Here is an interesting calculation -

$72.36 in savings ÷ $292.57 gross cost = 24.73% savings.

Grocery Spending November - Part 1

Well, we are official into November and everyone in this house still wants to eat. Go figure??? So, with my coupon stash and ads from this mornings paper, I headed to the grocery. Not Wal-Mart. I need a break from Wal-Mart and Jewel had such wonderful Meat Deals for today only.

So, the total in my cart today was not bad even without my discounts. Although, my menu for the next few days is on the lower cost side. For example, tonight I am testing a new spinach lasagna, my husbands sister doesn't eat much meat and I'm hosting Christmas, thought I would do something to help her through the traditional family meal of lasagna. If the recipe turns out good, I may post it here, cause it was very inexpensive.

Total cost of groceries prior to discounts $142.38
Discounts and coupons $59.02 - No Lie, I'm so excited!
Total Cost to Charge Card $83.36

I also am trying something new. As you may recall I altered our Discover Card to be a cash back card. Generally we use this only for business, but I got to wondering what percent this card could earn me on cash back compared to my 1% back visa. So, I charged today's purchases on Discover, I figure I will be paying for it anyway, why not earn more if I can. If it comes back less, lesson learned. After all it's only $83 this time, a good time to experiment!

No, I couldn't wait one more day.

I went to the grocery store today, I couldn't wait one more day..because it is tradition for me to make my homemade chili on Halloween. This way the pot can stay warm while everyone is busy and people can eat when they can. No sit down meal tonight. Yea!!! It's Halloween!!!

I left the grocery spending at $634.45. I needed to keep my future spending under $165 or so. Then I went to the store today and filled my cart. I just couldn't help myself. They had beautiful pork loins on sale. Then I got to the freezer isle and I splurged on not 1, but 2 pints of ice cream. Hey, I had a hard weekend...all that abuse garbage. Everyone knows ice cream makes everything better. I did buy generic though. Boo. (I'm making a pouty face).

The grand total...............................................

Do you hear that drum roll............................................

$144.98. The crowd goes wild....she did it. I can't believe she did it.

Bringing my October Grocery Spending to $779.43. This is definitely going to help with that Christmas spending. Or maybe just the food money I will need for hosting Christmas this year.