Want to know what the Costco prices are to decide whether it would be worth it to have a membership or purchase items at Costco? Queen Bee Coupons has compiled a list of 850+ items at Costco and how much they cost per ounce to help you out.
Summer Bucket List
Classic View
Grid View
3 Books I’m Reading This Week + What I Read Last Week
I took a few weeks off from posting my book updates because in between life and writing my own book, I’ve just not found a lot of time to read more than 5-15 minutes per day, if that. At that rate, it takes me quite awhile to get through books! But I finally have an update for you!
Books I’ve Finished Recently:
All In — I’ve been so blessed by all three of the Mark Batterson books I’ve read so far and was excited to dive into this one. It did not disappoint. Mark always motivates me to dream big, aim high, and jump out and do. It’s not enough to plan or dream if I never do anything with those plans or dreams. This book challenges you to go “All In” for God. To not hold back. To not settle for less than everything you’ve got. You might not agree with everything you read (I rarely do when I read Batterson), but I guarantee you’ll be challenged.
Eight Twenty Eight — I knew very, very little about this couple before this book showed up on my doorstep from the publisher. Honestly, I’m not sure what I think about it. I didn’t particularly care for the writing style as it kept jumping back and forth between different time periods making it feel disjointed. I also don’t know what I think about marrying someone who was just your boyfriend and you’d only known for 10 months before the traumatic brain injury. I get why Larissa (his now wife) would want to stay by his side, because she genuinely loved him, but the book just left me feeling unsettled and hurting for her. That said, I don’t know them personally and it’s not my place to question decisions they’ve made. You can watch a video of Ian and Larissa here.
Manage Your Day-to-Day — This book came highly recommended to me by a friend whose book recommendations I value, and I found it to be very worthwhile. It inspired me to evaluate how I’m spending my days and make sure I’m putting first things first. I loved the differing perspectives and thoughts from multiple voices in this book.
Own Your Life — Since the time my children were babies, I have been so challenged by reading Sally Clarkson’s writings. She’s inspired me to embrace each day, find simple ways to cultivate beauty in my home, and take time to invest in myself so that I can better nurture and bless my family. If you are a busy woman who longs to live a life of meaning and purpose, you’ll be blessed by reading Own Your Life. It’s packed with heartfelt encouragement and practical strategies to savor life more and make each moment count. {I received a pre-release copy of this book. It releases in a few months.}
Books I Hope to Finish This Week
I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t) — I’ve had this one started for quite awhile, and it’s good. It’s just deep and it’s taking me awhile to get through!
A Proper Pursuit — I’ve not started this book yet, but am hoping to have some down time some evening this week so I can actually read a fiction book from cover to cover. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve done that and I’m itching to just get lost in a good story!
Love, Skip, Jump — Multiple readers have told me I must read this book. It looks good and I can’t wait to dive in!
Podcasts I Listened To:
Brilliant Business Moms — So someone suggested this podcast to me when I first started writing my next book (it’s on how to increase your income, increase your impact, and not lose your joy in the process). I turned on one episode and listened for a bit and wasn’t all that impressed. So I turned it off. In all honesty, I was just going to delete it off my iTunes playlist, but then, a few more people highly recommended it, so I listened again — this time to most of an episode. And I loved it.
I’m glad I gave this podcast a second try as I’ve learned so much and been inspired in very practical ways from it. Highly recommended — and be sure to listen to more than just 10 minutes of one episode. I’ve found that the value in these is really in listening to an entire episode. Hearing these women entrepreneurs unpack what has and hasn’t worked and share their stories is highly educational and beneficial!
Movies We Watched:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier — We’ve loved all of the movies in this series and, once again, we not disappointed with this one. I loved that there was a clear good versus evil storyline, that the film was very clean, and that it was action packed. In fact, Jesse and I were planning to watch half of it one night and then finish it the following night. But we got so caught up in it that we just couldn’t turn it off! 🙂
And, of course, we’ve been watching lots and lots of baseball. How about our Kansas City Royals?? Silas and Jesse are HUGE fans and it’s so fun for me to see their team doing so well in the post-season. 🙂 We’re pretty stoked about Friday night’s game! 🙂
What have you read recently? What are you planning to read this week? Any good book recommendations for me?
Shared Oct 8, 2014
comment
Gretchen’s Target Shopping Trip: Spent $3.94 out of pocket for 10 items!
Gretchen’s Target Shopping Trip: Spent $3.94 out of pocket for 10 items!
Target Shopping Trip
2 Pledge Floor Care – $3.50 each, used 2 $2/1 printable AND $2.50/2 Target printable AND $1 rebate from Checkout 51 – Free plus $0.50 overage after coupons and rebate
1 NYC Mascara – $1.97, used $1/1 printable – $0.97 after coupon
1 NYC Concealer – $1.79, used $1/1 printable – $0.79 after coupon
2 Celestial Seasonings Tea – $2.33 each, used 2 $1/1 coupon from the 10/5 SmartSource insert AND 20% off Cartwheel coupon – $0.86 each after coupons
4 Tresemme Hair Care (On Sale Buy 3, Get $5 Target gift card) – $3.99 each, used 2 $5/2 coupon from the 9/28 RedPlum insert – $0.24 each after coupons and “gift card” (The gift card sale did not ring up at the checkout and my cashier kindly offered to just take $5 off instead. So it ended up being $0.24 each after coupons and money off.)
Total before coupons, rebate and sales: $35.47
Total after coupons, rebate and sales: $3.94
A Week of Weight-Loss-Friendly Dinners for Under $35
Amanda at Full Plate Living has a great post up on how to make A Week of Weight-Loss Friendly Dinners for Under $35. Here’s a snippet:
Maybe $35 isn’t an impressive price point for you. That averages out to $5 per dinner for two people. However, some of these recipes would serve 4 at my house. And I can pretty much guarantee there would be leftovers.
Perhaps $35 sounded good to begin with, and I just made it sound even better. You’re welcome.
Either way, you have a week of high-fiber dinner recipes just ahead.
Click here to read the full post.
Shared Oct 7, 2014
comment
Get FREE Personalized Organizational Help + Join the Get Organized Challenge!
Get FREE Personalized Organizational Help + Join the Get Organized Challenge!
Do you need some help getting organized? Davonne Parks is offering Free Personalized Organizational help to those who struggle to get organized.
Just submit photos of your mess with a short list of questions about that mess. Davonne will reply within 72 hours with encouragement and specific steps you can take to declutter and get organized.
PLUS, anyone whose mess is featured on her blog will receive a free copy of her new book, Chaos to Clutter-Free. (Your mess can be featured anonymously.)
In addition, Davonne is doing a Get Organized Challenge. Anyone who joins and completes the challenge will receive a either a $5 gift card to a coffee shop or a free copy of one of her ebooks.
As an added bonus, everyone who submits their mess by Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 11:59pm EST will automatically be entered to win a $50 Amazon gift card!
Head over to DavonneParks.com to learn more and join the Get Organized Challenge.
Cutting Back on Caffeine (whose idea was this anyway??)
So, I’m working on cutting back on caffeine this month, as part of the 12 Months to a Healthier You Challenge. And yikes, this is harder than I thought.
I switched to only using cream or half and half in my coffee a few months ago (I know, no sugar, people! Can you believe it??), but I do love me my coffee.
However, I’m determined to follow through with this challenge, so I’ve cut back to 1 and 3/4 cups per day instead of my usual two cups. I plan to slowly keep cutting back until I’m at 1 cup per day by the end of the month.
I’ve already decided this may not be a habit I decide to stick with. Because coffee is one of life’s little pleasures to me and something I savor every day! 🙂
How are YOU doing on cutting back on caffeine?
P.S. Pictured above was my lunch today. I “Trim Healthy Mama-fied” the Blueberry Crisp from Bread & Wine and it is SO good! I cannot believe how much I love this way of eating… I never thought that sweet-tooth, carb-loving me would survive without sugar and lots of carbs. But I’m not just surviving; I’m thriving — and it’s been five months now, so I think we might be able to officially declare it a lifestyle change??
10 Goals For This Week
So last week wasn’t the most productive week goal-wise, but we had out-of-town guests for two days, I had a half day of coaching with some folks who flew in from New York, and I spent hours and hours on my book manuscript. It was definitely productive, just in a different sense!
The good news? My manuscript is getting closer and closer to being done — I’m working on chapters 8-10 the next few weeks and then I’ll be sending it out to a few different people to critique, then it will be another round of edits, and then I’ll officially turn it in! Yay!
I’ve poured my heart and soul into this and I can’t wait to share it with you when it’s published. I’m also excited to be in the home stretch because it means that I’ll have more regular sleeping routines, more of a social life, get to hang out with the people I love more, and get to actually read more of other people’s books again! 🙂
Last week’s goals:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Finish reading Teddy’s Button aloud to the kids at lunch time.
2. Have a movie night with Jesse.
3. Write a love note to Jesse.
4. Spend 30 minutes decluttering our house.5. Work on another craft/sewing project with Kaitlynn.
Personal Goals
6. Work on reviewing and memorizing Romans 1 and Romans 2:1-2.
7. Finish reading I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t), A Proper Pursuit, and Love, Skip, Jump.
8. Run or exercise at least 5 times.
Business Goals
9. Work on chapters 7 and 8 of my book manuscript.
10. Work on Price Comparison project for All You magazine (I’m gathering some local prices for an upcoming feature they are doing in their magazine.)
This week’s goals:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Finish reading Teddy’s Button aloud to the kids at lunch time.
2. Have a movie night with Jesse.
3. Write a love note to Jesse.
4. Write thank you notes for my birthday gifts. {Yes, I turned 33 last week. I can hardly believe it! But I’ve loved every one of my 33 years, so I’ll take it… even if it does sound old!}
5. Work on another craft/sewing project with Kaitlynn.
Personal Goals
6. Work on reviewing and memorizing Romans 1 and Romans 2:1-2.
7. Finish reading I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t), A Proper Pursuit, and Love, Skip, Jump.
8. Run or exercise at least 5 times.
Business Goals
9. Work on chapters 8 and 9 of my book manuscript.
10. Work on draft of my first article for an upcoming magazine column. {Pretty stoked about this opportunity and cannot wait to share more in a few months!}
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives! You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
Shared Oct 6, 2014
comment
What you do think of when you hear the phrase “find your purpose”?
What you do think of when you hear the phrase “find your purpose”?
For one section in my upcoming book, I’m exploring the concept of purpose, living on purpose, and how to discover and live out your purpose.
I’d love to get your input. What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “find your purpose”? Leave a comment or shoot me an email (crystal @ moneysavingmom.com) with whatever comes to mind. There are no right or wrong answers!
Thanks so much! And remember that all comments and emails you submit may be published in my book so if you’re not comfortable with that or would prefer to remain anonymous, please let me know when submitting your comment.
Thank you SO much for your help with this book project! I am thrilled with how it’s coming together and cannot wait to share the finished product with you! It’s supposed to be out in bookstores November 2015. Yay!
Shared Oct 5, 2014
comment
How I Saved Today: Goodwill 50% off sale + my favorite way to eat oatmeal
How I Saved Today: Goodwill 50% off sale + my favorite way to eat oatmeal
My neighbor had told me the week we moved here that all Nashville-area Goodwill stores run a 50% off everything in the store the first Saturday of every month. I’ve been meaning to check it out every single month since we moved, but it finally worked out for it to happen today.
Silas had an early soccer game and Kaitlynn had ice skating at the same time, so I took Silas to his game and Jesse took Kaitlynn and Kathrynne to ice-skating. After soccer, Silas & I went over to Goodwill (it was right on our way home!) to check it out.
The store was quite crowded — and I could see why! The prices after the 50% off sale made most items less than $3, with many as low as $0.99! For the most part, almost the entire store was at garage sale prices or better.
The only downside? There was a LONG line at checkout. Even though they had multiple registers open, I guessed that you’d probably have to stand in line for at 30 minutes just to make it to checkout. So I decided that there wasn’t anything I needed enough to stand in that long of a line today. But it was fun to check it out and I hope to go back some other first Saturday of the month when I have more time and am prepared to stand in a long line! 🙂
One way we save a lot of money is by eating oatmeal. We typically eat it at least 3-4 per week. Usually for breakfast, but sometimes for lunch or a snack.
Today I had oatmeal for lunch. I cooked it my favorite way — just a little crispy on the stovetop and then added a heaping teaspoon of coconut oil and a half teaspoon of vanilla. It’s plain and simple, but it’s filling, nutritious, and inexpensive. Plus, it’s a quick and easy meal or snack to make!
How did YOU save today? I’d love to hear!
5 Ways to Save On Family Train Travel
Guest post from Kaylea
I thought about taking the train for years before I booked my first trip, but every time I did a search through a travel agent website, the trip came up costing a lot more than I wanted to spend.
Looking back, I am sure I missed out on some wonderful experiences, and could have saved a lot of money on some of my long road trips, if I’d had a better understanding of the Amtrak system.
If you’re living with a train enthusiast who’s eager to take a ride on the rails; or, if you’re looking for an alternative to driving or flying for your next family trip, these tips will help you keep more money in your wallet.
1. Plan ahead….way ahead!
My experience with train travel is that the best prices are available four to six months in advance, and the cost can double over the course of that time. Yikes!
2. Learn the routes that serve your town and your destination.
Whether you live in a major rail hub or only see a train a few days a week, trains follow set routes – certain cities, certain times. Use the Amtrak route guides to figure out what trains serve your area and your desired destinations.
If you know what routes you’re interested in, you’ll be able to more easily identify the sales and options that apply to you. You can travel to a larger hub and change trains if a point-to-point option is not available – just make sure that your luggage will be permitted on each train in your itinerary!
3. Flip the trip – focus on the journey, not the destination.
Amtrak doesn’t go everywhere, and it’s often not the cheapest way to get from point A to point B.
When planning your next family vacation, ask yourself, “Where can we go via train?” You can cross the country with lines like the Empire Builder or the California Zephyr, or take a day-trip to a point of interest. Consider going half-and-half — take the train on your way there, and then fly home.
Pursuing a train trip without first determining whether your destination is well-served by train routes could be seriously expensive!
4. Join Amtrak Guest Rewards.
This is the Amtrak equivalent of frequent flier miles, and you can accrue points with each trip. You can also earn points via Amtrak partners, like hotels, airlines, car rentals, and online merchants.
I always join the frequent guest programs when I travel, but I don’t travel often enough to accumulate very much at any given company. The option to transfer points from other frequent guest programs is useful in this case.
Scraping together what I have scattered around has helped me to build my points totals more quickly. And if you don’t end up becoming a frequent train rider, you can redeem for gift cards or give your points away to a friend.
5. Plan a SmartFare trip.
Taking advantage of sales is an obvious tip, but Amtrak’s SmartFare sales are a bit trickier to plan around.
Amtrak posts their coach SmartFares weekly, typically at a 25% discount. Sounds good, but here’s the tricky part: your trip has to take place within the next few weeks! This is a challenge for vacationers, since there’s no guarantee that a desirable destination will be on the markdown table at the time you’re planning to travel.
One way to get a handle on SmartFares is to read through the history of the specials and sales offered over the last year. If you visit a train travel resource like RailServe or Amtrak Unlimited, and scroll through the history of what’s been posted, you’ll get a sense of what might be available for you.
Since SmartFares are coach fares, this approach may be more suitable for a day trip or single overnight than a cross-country journey.
I keep a list of a few destinations for which I’m watching for SmartFares to pop up – in my case, that’s our state capital of Springfield, the water park resort area called Wisconsin Dells, and the city of Galena, a walkable historic town. Using these inexpensive fares for a short trip is a great way to get your feet wet before deciding to take a longer ride.
Traveling by train has other advantages beyond simple economics. You can focus on your family instead of watching the road. You can move around the train and hop off at longer stops to stretch your legs. And the availability of bathrooms, sightseeing cars, and a café car keeps everyone traveling comfortably.
By train is our family’s favorite way to travel, and I hope it will be an enjoyable and economical option for yours as well!
Kaylea is a Chicago writer and technologist. Together with her husband and two daughters, she has taken seven overnight train trips in the last four years. Her e-book, Family Travel by Train: Riding the Rails with Kids Five and Under, is available via the Kindle Store.
OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!
Click here to download!
Shared Oct 3, 2014
comment
How I Saved Today: This Week’s Amazon Order (coconut oil & oats)
How I Saved Today: This Week’s Amazon Order (coconut oil & oats)
Thank you so very much for your kind, kind comments on my post yesterday on Why We More Than Doubled Our Grocery Budget. You have no idea how much you blessed and encouraged me with your graciousness and understanding.
Just, thank you. You all are the best readers ever and I’m so honored to be on this journey with you!
Many of you have asked if I’d share our grocery shopping trips again, our Amazon orders, and our weekly menu plans. Now that we’ve figured out what our grocery budget is going to be and I worked up the courage to share about it with you (!), I’m planning to get back to sharing our weekly shopping trips and menu plans as often as I’m able to. I also plan to share our almost-weekly Amazon orders.
As I’ve mentioned multiple times before, we usually make a few bulk purchases on Amazon each week using gift cards earned through Swagbucks. This week, I bought three big tubs of coconut oil and 4 bags of oats.
We eat oatmeal for breakfast at least a few times per week and we use it in baking some, too, so we’ll probably go through the oats in about two months or less.
The coconut oil will last us much longer. I’m going to guess at least six months? We’ll see!
I love being able to use my Swagbucks credit to buy quality items from Amazon when they are on a good sale. And it’s so nice to make bulk purchases of things we use often so that I don’t have to worry about replenishing my supply as often!
How did YOU save today? I’d love to hear! Tell us in the comments.
Shared Oct 3, 2014
comment
12 Goals for 2014: September’s update {and my recent struggles with goal-setting}
12 Goals for 2014: September’s update {and my recent struggles with goal-setting}
Jesse and I spent time really discussing what my focuses should be for 2014 and we nailed down four areas that are my priorities for this year:
- Marriage: to continue to invest time and energy to strengthen and nurture our marriage and make it one of the greatest priorities
- Mothering: to continue to invest in our children with the goal of teaching them character, life skills, and raising them to be responsible adults
- Myself: to make my health a priority and to invest in my personal growth as a Christian, business owner, writer, speaker, and leader
- MoneySavingMom.com: to invest time into blogging — not just overseeing the business and my team, but making writing content pieces one of my top blogging priorities
Having these specific areas determined at the beginning of the year is really helping me to prioritize and giving me much clearer direction on when, where, and what to say no to this year.
September’s Update:
Can I just be really honest? I feel like I’ve struggled a lot with goal-setting this year. I think the move and many different life changes has thrown me for a loop.
I’ve grown a lot this year, I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve processed a lot. It’s been good, but it’s also meant that I haven’t made traction in many areas like I’d hoped.
I know I need to give myself grace and be okay that all of these changes have meant I’m moving at a snail’s pace or at a complete standstill in certain areas of my life. As you well know, though, my driven personality struggles a lot with the whole “give yourself grace” thing. That’s something I’m still working on. 🙂
In the mean time, here’s an update on how I’m doing (or not doing, as is the case with many of these!) on my goals this year:
Marriage Goals
1. Read 6 marriage books. (I’ve finished 4 marriage books so far.)
2. Write 50 love notes to Jesse. (I’ve written 35 love notes so far.)
Mothering Goals
3. Read 40 books aloud to the kids. (We’ve finished 9 books so far — yes I’m probably going to fall woefully short on this goal this year.)
4. Finish memorizing Romans 1 together.
5. Go through a cooking course with the kids. (I have been teaching the kids some cooking skills here and there but we’ve not done anything official yet.)
Personal Goals
6. Read through the Bible. (I’m mostly on track with this.)
7. Memorize Romans 2. (I’m working on this.)
8. Run a 5K race and go through P90X again. (I’m still hoping to make a race happen before the end of the year.)
9. Read 150 books/ebooks. (I’ve read 67 books so far this year.)
Blogging Goals
10. Write 150 substantive content pieces for the blog.
11. Write 50 DIY/Recipe posts for the blog. (I’ve written 35 DIY/Recipe posts so far.)
12. Blog about/participate in the 12 Months to a Healthier You Challenge (I finished September’s challenge.)
Did you set goals for 2014 yet?
If you’ve posted an update on how you’re doing on your goals for 2014, I’d love for you to share your link in the comments. Or, if you don’t have a blog, feel free to just leave a comment with an update on how you’re doing on your goals. Let’s encourage one another to live lives of intention and purpose!
If you’re brand-new to goal-setting, be sure to read my post on How to Change Your Life By Setting Goals.
Why We More Than Doubled Our Grocery Budget
It’s taken me weeks to work up the courage to write this post. But I finally decided the day had come… and I’m going to press publish on this, even if it means that some people don’t understand or are disappointed with me.
You see, for years, our family has been known by the fact that we have a really, really low grocery budget. In fact, this site started as an outgrowth of people’s interest in how we’ve kept our grocery budget so, so low.
The Lean Law School Years
I will never forget our lean law school years when we didn’t have more than $17 to $30 per week to spend on groceries, when we had to just drum up the best meals we could with what was on a great sale and what I could get for pennies with coupons, when we had many meatless meals because we couldn’t afford to purchase more than a pound or two of meat each week, when we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every single day for lunch for weeks and weeks on end.
It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t easy. But it was worth it.
Those short-term sacrifices eventually paid off into many long-term benefits. One of which was putting us in a position where we had the wiggle room to raise our grocery budget.
After my husband finished law school and our income had significantly increased, we toyed a lot with raising our grocery budget. And we did raise it a little — first to $40 per week and then, a little while later, up to $50 per week.
I Just Couldn’t Bring Myself to Spend More Than $50
I just couldn’t bring myself to spend more than $50 per week for groceries, though. {Note: The $50/week number was a little ambiguous because we do get free samples, review products, and high-value coupons from companies on a fairly regular basis because I’m a blogger. It was also a bit skewed because we buy some of our groceries with Amazon credit from Swagbucks. But for the past few years, we only spent $50 cash at the grocery store each week.}
After we moved to TN and we made the transition to Jesse being home full-time, I began noticing that $50 per week just didn’t seem to be cutting it. Not only has our family significantly changed our eating habits, but Jesse is no longer eating out each day for lunch. Plus, he is doing intense workouts three time per week and our kids are growing and have sports activities multiple times each week. Needless to say, we just seem to be going through a lot more food.
As Jesse has become a lot more interested in health and fitness, he’s also been doing a lot more of the cooking and he’s been loving trying out new and healthful recipes. He started wanting to spend more at the grocery store to purchase ingredients for different recipes he wanted to try.
Why I Was So Stubborn
In all honesty, I really didn’t want to raise our grocery budget any more. Why? Well, mostly because I felt like I owed it to you all for us to keep our grocery budget really, really low. I felt like I was being a fraud if I have a site called “MoneySavingMom.com” but didn’t also have some insanely low grocery budget.
So I kept saying “No, let’s just try to make $50 work.” I tried to get more creative. I tried to really look for bulk deals and local sales. I tried to think of new ways to stretch that money further.
It wasn’t working, but I kept being stubborn about it for a few more weeks. I didn’t want to let you all down. I didn’t want to be a hypocrite. And, to be perfectly honest, I know there was a part of me that prided myself in the low, low grocery budget we’ve kept for so long.
But I finally realized how silly I was being. In the name of not letting my readers down, I was making life difficult for my husband and kids.
Family Comes First — Or Do They?
I’ve always said that my family comes first. That all blogging decisions will be made first and foremost on what is best for my family. That I won’t let the blog trump my family.
Clearly, I was forgetting this mantra. And I finally woke up and realized I just needed to let go of my arrogance and stubbornness, admit that it was time for a change, and be free from guilt over it.
While this was happening with me, Jesse had been researching different meal plans online and he came across a site called MealFit that offers meal planning specifically for people who want to eat healthfully and live a fit lifestyle. I was really reluctant to pay for this service. It seemed extravagant, costly, and nothing that was in line with my usually frugal ways.
Handing Over the Grocery Budget
At the same time, though, I could tell that Jesse really, really loved the idea. So I did something very uncharacteristic: I handed the grocery budget over to my husband and told him he could decide on what amount seemed best.
We paid for a short-term subscription to MealFit and shopped almost entirely according to their weekly grocery lists. I thought that eating according to the MealFit menu plan was going to massively increase our grocery budget, but I knew that we’d recently trimmed our budget in some other areas by at least $90, so I was willing to try it out and just see what would happen if we shopped and cooked according to the MealFit plan.
It was really hard for me for the first few weeks, but I could tell that Jesse was loving it and I enjoyed almost every single one of the MealFit recipes. They are packed with flavor and nutrition and there have only been a few duds or ones that we didn’t love.
Yes, We More Than Doubled Our Grocery Budget
After about 4 weeks of experimenting, we realized that, yes, shopping and cooking according to the MealFit menu plan did increase our budget — but not to a crazy high number like I was expecting. We’re averaging around $130 per week now for groceries for the five of us, including the cost of the MealFit subscription.
This is more than double what we were budgeting before, but it’s nowhere near the $250 or so that I’d initially pictured it might be. More importantly, my family is eating healthfully and my husband is much happier. He’s made many, many hard sacrifices over the years to allow us to stay out of debt and save aggressively and I’m so happy that he can now reap some of the fruit of that sacrifice.
So there you have it: the completely honest truth on why we raised our grocery budget. I have a feeling some readers will be disappointed and upset with me. And that’s the hardest part about me writing and putting this kind of post out there. I don’t want to disappoint people, but I also want to be authentic.
No matter what you think of me after reading this post, I hope you know how much I appreciate you being on this journey with me. My heart hurts for you if you’re in a season where you don’t have any wiggle room in your budget. Please don’t give up! I truly believe that someday soon, those short-term sacrifices will pay off in big ways.
How I Saved Today: Making Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
How did YOU save today?
I saved by making my own Pumpkin Pie Spice. I’ve been wanting to make a few different recipes recently that call for Pumpkin Pie Spice. Instead of buying it, I mixed up some of it myself with spices I already had on hand.
It was so easy to make. Here’s the recipe I used:
Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Mix all spices together and store in an airtight container. I used a clean empty spice jar.
Gretchen’s $40 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan
My husband is out of town for half of the week so I’m doing a simple menu based off of stuff in our pantry and refrigerator. We have quite a few random fruits and veggies in our refrigerator that I will be using up. I took this opportunity to buy a few fun snack items and stock up on cheese.
Dillons
2 Barbara’s Cereal – $2.50 each, used $1.25/1 and $1.50/1 printable – $1.12 each after coupons
1 Yoplait Go-Gurt – $2.79 (My son has been begging me to buy this for weeks now. He was beyond thrilled with this surprise!)
1 Kroger Frozen Orange Juice – $1.59
1 dozen Dillons Eggs – $0.99
Bananas – $1.06
1 Kroger Bath Tissue (12 double rolls) – Marked down to $3.99
1 Green Leaf Lettuce – $0.99
2 Sierra Mist – $1, used $1/2 printable – $0.50 each after coupon
1 gallon Milk – $2.50, used $0.25 Ibotta rebate – $2.25
1 pkg Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs – $3.46
Total with tax ($1.86): $22.48 (And I will get $0.25 back from Ibotta.)
Homeland
We recently moved to a new town and there is a Homeland store nearby. I finally got a chance this week to shop there and was excited about the good deals I got. I will definitely be shopping there more often now. 🙂
2 Horizon Mac & Cheese – $1.25 each, used $1/2 coupon from Summer Mambo Sprouts Savings Booklet (doubled) – $0.25 each after coupon
1 Stayfree Pads – $2.50, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – $0.50 after coupon
1 Pagoda Egg Rolls – $2.50, used $1/1 printable (doubled) – $0.50 after coupon
Buy 10, Get $10 off instantly:
1 Mayo – $2.99, used $0.75/1 printable – $0.49 after coupon and instant savings
9 Kraft Shredded Cheese – $1.49 each after instant savings (I will freeze most of this!)
Total with tax ($1.63): $17.93
Total for both stores: $40.41
Menu Plan for this Week
Breakfasts
Cereal, Fruit Smoothies & Eggs x 2, Toast & Juice, Oatmeal
Lunches
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Mac & Cheese/Veggies, Tossed Salad, Egg Rolls and Fruit, Leftovers
Dinners
Italian Chicken, Toasted Hamburger Buns (from the freezer), Tossed Salad, Steamed Carrots
Spaghetti, Green Beans, Tossed Salad
Tacos, Rice, Sliced Oranges/Apples
Pancakes, Eggs, Homemade Applesauce
Hamburger Vegetable Soup, Crackers/Cheese, Peaches (from my canning)
Venison Roast, 30 Minute Rolls, Steamed Broccoli
Dinner with friends