Fun in the snow

Hannah thoroughly enjoyed playing in all the snow last week! Now that it's getting warmer, she and Dave enjoy playing around outside in the morning. She says new words every day-most recently she has learned "boy", "oh my", "walk" and "kikky" for kitty.



I am still as undecided as ever on whether we should invest in mutual funds or real estate. Or rather I keep making a choice and then changing my mind the next week. Right now we are trying to cut our expenses so that we have more in savings and more to invest.

Now I'm discouraged again

I know I've been writing a lot about grocery budgeting lately.

The total for January was $536.78. Compare that to:
December: $757.50
November: $688.92
October: $654.91

So that's a savings of over $115 compared to our lowest previous month. I was really pleased to hit our goal of $550 monthly budget. We even stocked up on milk and bread to freeze that should last us at least 3 weeks into this month.

Then I watched another blogger's video series on getting a better grocery budget. She said with a little time and effort, you should be spending $20/person/week. Wow. We spent about $45 and I thought I used a lot of time and effort.

I know I should be happy about our savings. We are doing much better. It's just kind of a slap in the face when you think you are doing well and someone basically says you are not.

Anyways, here is the menu for this week:

Lunches:
Sandwiches
Pasta Pizza Leftovers (made on Sunday-menu is from Mon-Sun)
Cheese Quesadillas
Sandwiches
Chicken & Pasta Leftovers
Cheese Quesadillas
Sandwiches

Dinners:
Logan's Roadhouse (Dinner to celebrate friend's birthday)
Chicken Mozzarella
Chicken Mozarella Leftovers
Chicken & Pasta
Frozen Pizza (likely a Digiorno since they are $3.99 at Target this week!)
Pork Chops
Pork Chop Leftovers


I'm happy with our dinner recipes, but I'd like to get some more variety for lunch...

Weekly Grocery Budget

We did really well last week!

Meijer: $87.14 (Saved $15.66)
Meijer (Trip 2): $4.03 (Saved .55)-This was just to get some jello and pudding.

Total Spent This Week: $91.17
Total Saved This Week: $16.21


Still making progress! Cutting coupons and buying things on sale is really helping us. If we can get our budget to $550 this month, I'll be happy.

More Bible Verses

So I have two new verses for my scripture memorization goal.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Revelations 3:15-17

That one I have memorized. It definitely is one of those verses that pierces your soul. I certainly struggle with being "lukewarm" in my faith and often forget how much I need Jesus. He alone is the author and perfecter of my faith.

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21

This is the one I am working on. As you can see, it is a lot to memorize! I can paraphrase it, but I'm working on really knowing the words. I hope to apply this by frequently talking to Hannah about Jesus and making every thought captive to Christ.

Speaking of Hannah, she now says "amen" and attempts to say "Bible". She also folds her hands to pray when we prompt her. It's so adorable!

Weekly Grocery Budget

We did even better this week!

Here is what we spent:

Target: $17.39 (Saved $.59)
Meijer: $73.05 (Saved $16.55)
Walgreens: $9.66 (Saved $6.33)

Total Spent: $100.10
Total Saved: $23.47

Between tracking our budget, cooking, using coupons, and buying store brand/items on sale, I am so encouraged by this endeavor to save money on our grocery budget.

Next week we will have a budget of $125 which still keeps us with our $600 monthly goal for January.

I Am

I Am...happier than I was a few months ago.

I Want...to be pregnant.

I Have...little motivation for housework.

I Wish...we could both be stay at home parents.

I Hate...ignorant sayings.

I Fear...Hell.

I Hear...voices outside.

I Search...for the best ways to spend, give, and invest our money.

I Wonder...what our family will look like in 5 years.

I Regret...my attitude during my first pregnancy.

I Love...my family.

I Ache...for those who have lost loved ones.

I Always...check my email.

I Usually...fall asleep on the couch.

I Am Not...a fan of sports.

I Dance...way less than I used to.

I Sing...in the car.

I Never...eat seafood.

I Rarely...walk anywhere.

I Cry...when I get overwhelmed.

I Am Not Always...as servant hearted as I could be.

I Lose...time when I waste it online.

I'm Confused...about the different types of mutual funds.

I Need...more time in the Word.

I Should...have made wiser choices.

Grocery Budget

Well we definitely went over our $150/week budget. However, we did stock up on a lot of items. This should mean that the next few weeks will be low enough to hit our monthly goal of $600. This is down from the $650-700 minimum we were doing before!

Here's what we spent at each store:

Aldi's: $48.25
Meijer: $75.11 (saved $20.95)
Rite Aid: $30.31 (saved $8.49)
Walgreens: $15.05 (saved $11.90)
L&L: $2.75 (saved $.60)

Total spent this week: $171.47
Total savings this week: $41.94

So we went over budget by $21.47, but we stocked up on meat, toiletries, and fruit.

The goal next week is to spend $100 or less. Considering we usually spend between $150-200, I'm not sure how this will go!