budget update....
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budget update....
| Fri, 03-31-2006 - 4:47pm |
Hi Everyone, I intro'd myself last week and I wanted to share that I have done really well this week. I have only used my debit card once(before it was 10x's a day-nothing big but a coffee here and there adds up). I made our menu at home off of things we had in the pantry. I used cash mostly and a check for gas, but the biggest thing that I did was track every penny. I actually really enjoyed it-not surprising w/my Type A personality-LOL! We still have not much extra in our checking after bills, but at least we are not into our overdraft or taking from e-fund. I am paid bi-monthly and DH monthly, so is going to take a while to bulid some cushion, but I am here for the long haul and have been lurking here alot lately. Take Care, Monica

Good Job, Monica! It sounds like you're really working hard at watching your spending, and the fact that you actually enjoyed it makes it all the more better. :-D Hopefully, through all your hard work and effort, you'll start to see your debt totals go down. :-D
Hugs,
Pat :-D
Monica, too cool!
Hello,
I like the idea of making a menu from the contents of the fridge and pantry. My DH was grumbling the other night that he was hungry. He started thinking about his "options". At 11pm on a Sunday evening, there were only a few fast food restaurants open nearby. I've been trying to help him stay on his low carb diet (he has 40-50 carbs a day .. not *too* low), so I suggested we avoid Taco Bell. I mentioned we had plenty of food in the house.
He grumbled again about "feeling guilty making you cook" when he's hungry and I'm not. If you hadn't noticed, my DH is grouchy when hungry. Anyway, I got tired of the grumbling and headed to the kitchen. I made a menu out of the convenience foods (canned green beans + microwaveable beef tips & gravy, etc) and handed it to him. I had found 10 full sized meals that would take 10 minutes or less to cook!
Presented with all of the low carb & tasty options, he decided to pass on heading out to Taco Bell. After all, with 10 meals in the house, he couldn't justify the expense just because he was craving beef tacos. He had beef tips & gravy instead, with a range of canned veggies I warmed up.
Sometimes we need a little reminder that there's "plenty to eat" even when the fridge looks a little bare. It looked bare because all of the "fresh" food had been eaten (so I don't have to toss anything) and all that was left were items that could be refrigerated pretty much indefinitely.
By the way, the menu was mainly created out of these Hormel Microwaveable Meals that I purchase from Publix when they go on sale:
http://www.hormel.com/brands/brandview3.asp?id=104
We only get the ones that have "meat + sauce", since the dumplings, noodles, or rice that comes with some of them wouldn't match his diet. Personally, I find them slightly bland, but they are great for a night when you've caught the flu and just want something easy to make.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
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