Budgeting

Okay I have to admit at having a couple of sleepless nights since I turned in my resignation last week. One night I stared at the ceiling in terror and thought, "What have I done?" However, once the light of day hit I felt encouraged and decided to roll up my sleeves and come up with a plan.

I've always tried to keep my food bills under a certain amount each month, but I do have to say that I haven't done a great job at sticking to a budget. I mean I go to the store with a general idea of what I want to spend but if I see something I want, I buy it.

However, I'm trying something totally new for me. Sticking to a dollar amount and not going over it at all. In fact, trying my best to stay under it so that I can apply the savings to another category in my budget.

My pantry was fairly full this week. We are having a very tight week financially so I wanted to stick to $50 for groceries and paper goods. It's not easy with prices being what they are.

I hit 3 stores and did very well. I did have a gift card to one grocery store for $15 so that certainly helped. If I didn't have that, I would have gone over. But I'm still proud of myself.

I spent $45.53 and this is what I got...

8 mangoes
5 lb. bag of potatoes
3.83 lbs. of bananas
11 oz. dried cranberries
1 head of Romaine lettuce
2 cucumbers
2 - 1 lb. bags baby carrots
9 lb. shank ham (I can get about 3-4 meals out of this)
12 - 28 oz. cans of tomatoes (sauce, whole, puree, diced)
1 bottle extra virgin olive oil
1 can baking powder
2 - 5 lb. bags of sugar
1 pint blueberries
2 - 4 packs of Scott toilet paper
2 gallons of milk

Pretty cool, huh? I'm actually having fun trying to do this. Hopefully, next week will be just as good.