• Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals

    Encouraging our kids to eat healthy lunches

    The best part about making lunch for your kids to take to school or for your husband to take to work is you know exactly what they are eating each day.  There were a few days when the girls would come home from school hungry and cranky, after asking them what they had for lunch I would occassionally get the answer……”yogurt”.  My girls really do like yogurt, unfortunately it is not the most filling nutrition to help you get through the rest of the school day.  Which is just one of the reasons we decided to start making the girls lunches this year.

    Here’s what they have in their lunch boxes:

    • PB&J Sandwich
    • Freshly Sliced Plums
    • Lime or Raspberry Jello (sugar free)
    • Freshly Sliced Summer Squash & Cucumbers
    • Yogurt Cup or Stick
    • Freshly Made Banana Bread
    • Snack – Bag of Peanuts or Biscotti
    • Drink – Gatorade or Reduced Sugar Juice

    After Halloween I picked up the “candy corn” baggies which the girls love!  I was able to get 100 candy corn baggies for $0.25 cents on clearance.  The girls smile when I put in a “fun” bag and it helps me stretch the budget so it’s a win-win for the family!

     

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    I am slowly adjusting to quieter grocery shopping trips, I miss the girls chit chat.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Dollar Tree and Rite Aid | Save A Lot

    Dollar Tree Groceries:

    • $1.00 at Dollar Tree for a loaf of Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread.

    Rite Aid | Save A Lot Groceries:

    • $5.24 at Rite Aid | Save A Lot for a package of Cheese, fresh Peaches, fresh Plums and fresh Nectarines (the fruit was on sale and were great for the girls lunches).
    Groceries from BiLo

    BiLo Groceries:

    • $9.97 at BiLo for 2 gallons of Milk and 1 container of Country Crock Spread with Calcium (BiLo still has the least expensive milk on our side of town $3.49 per gallon and the Country Crock was on sale.  I used two reusable bags and BiLo gave me 10 cents off my entire purchase, every little bit helps.)
    Groceries from Ingles

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $21.60 at Ingles for 1 bag Bananas, 1 container Red Raspberries, 1 container Grape Tomatoes, 1 bag Green Grapes, 2 containers Strawberries, 2 Turkey Lunchables, 2 Chicken Lunchables, 1 Sweet Onion, 1 package Cube Steak (about 3 pounds) and 1 package 93% Lean Hamburger (Everything was marked down on clearance or on sale except the Lunchables which were $1.  The girls asked if they could have them at least a couple times a month as a special “treat” for their lunches at school, I decided to be extra nice and see how well they eat them, the ones I picked up don’t expire until Nov / Dec so we have a couple months to try them out).

    This week I spent $37.81 on groceries.  Even though I was only a little under on my budgeted amount for the week I would like to see it even lower.   This week I was able to stock up on several staple items as well as lunch bag items that we were needing.  I wish the milk prices would go down because that is a large chunk of the amount we spend on groceries each week.  Hopefully next week is an even better and we can come under budget for the week.

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.