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March 26, 2019 · Leave a Comment

April 2019 Meal Plan

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Budget· Frugal Living· Meal Planning· Saving· Ways We Save

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April in our family for the last 3 years has meant we’re running around every weekend with soccer games.  But I’m so happy to report that this April that is simply not the case!  My standing rule for each of the kids and their extra curricular activities has been one outside of school activity {ie, paid for} as long as they keep their grades up.  They can get so bogged down with the activities they do in school – like marching band – that it can get really hard for me to keep up with multiple activities for one kid.  Let alone 3.

April 2019 Meal Plan

So this spring, they’ve all decided to stick with their theater and dance classes, which I am perfectly fine with!  No more running around 2 times a week per kid, not including the games.  Oh… the games… Saturdays are for gardening again!!

We still have a lot going on this April.  My middle has SongFest rehearsals, and the concert at the end of the month.  There are two practice performances for my theatre boys, and a few doctors appointments.  There are also some late starts for my clan because it’s standardized testing season in PA.  To top it off, Lady Bug is scheduled to get her adenoids out at the end of this week, so we’ll be laid up at the beginning of April.  You can bet that there are lots of quick meals that are simple and palatable on an uneasy stomach are on the list!

Beyond basing our meals off our schedule for the month, here are some other things to consider while reviewing our monthly meal plan:

I plan only our dinners.  Unless it’s noted, sides consist of a fruit or veggie, possibly a grain, and is based on what I have in my fridge and pantry.  You can check out my 30+ frugal pantry staples to see what I always have on hand without going over budget.

We try to have one big meal each week, and it’s usually a roast.  Throughout the rest of the week I use the leftovers as ingredients for the week’s remaining meals.  For instance, a roast beef then becomes ingredients for beef stroganoff, beef quesadillas, vegetable beef soup and so on.

Breakfasts are usually oatmeal, cereal, toast or bagel with peanut butter and fruit, cottage cheese and fruit, or yogurt with granola.   It may seem limited and boring, but keeping breakfast choices as simple as possible makes it much easier during our hectic morning routine.  Hubs is out the door at 6:30 and the kids and I are out the door at 7.

Lunches are packed each day for Hubs and the kids, while I currently eat at home.  Lunches are either sandwiches, salads, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, or leftovers as the main course.  It’s served with a fruit/veg, yogurt or cheese, a drink and a “treat” {gummies, chips, etc}.  Snacks, such as crackers, pretzels and Nilla cookies, are also divided out at home and sent to school in smaller snack containers.  While packing lunches every day does raise our grocery bill a little bit, it saves us well over $250 every month, making it well worth it.  To see what supplies I rely on for our packed lunches, you can check out my 7 must haves for packed lunches.

I don’t stock pile shop –we simply don’t have the pantry space– but I do shop for weekly sales, mostly for snack items like crackers, pretzels, and so on.  While this may not be the best of healthiest option for snacks, and I far prefer fruit for their snacks, I have found that dry snacks are easiest when divvying out snacks.  And they’re also is the least messy/sticky for in the classrooms and backpacks.

During the summer and fall, I preserve what we are able to grow and get cheap from local you-pick farms and farmer’s markets.  It helps me keep what we eat fresh and local, but also limits our preservative and additive intake {I have allergies to multiple things, including preservatives, and my middle gets migraines with certain food additives like MSG}.


Sloppy Joes & Fries
Pizza
Roast Beef & Baked Potatoes
Cheese Steaks
Roast Chicken Dinner x2
Tacos
Chicken Sammies
Beef Stroganoff, Green Beans
Ham & Gnocchi
Shepherd’s Pie
Chicken & Broccoli Stuffed Shells
Chicken & Rice
Vegetable Beef Soup
Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans
Pierogies
Holiday Meatballs
Meatball Subs & Chips
Tuna Noodles
Patty Melts & Fries
French Toast, Bacon & Eggs
Ham Potato Soup
Pancakes & Eggs
Monteray Chicken & Rice
Cast Iron Chicken & Orzo
Salisbury Steaks, Mashed Potatoes & Peas
Cheesy Chicken Shells
Meatloaf, Garlic Potatoes & Corn

Need some more inspiration for your meal plans?  You can check out our past meal plans here!  Also don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, where I have a whole board dedicated to meal planning, as well as boards for soups, chicken recipes, and so on.

April 2019 Meal Plan

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makingcentsmatter

This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid model, and your house does not have unlimited space. I was standing in our kitchen when I took this picture, the kids behind me making lunch.
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Our district is carefully monitoring our local infection rates, and we are currently in a hybrid form. That means they divided the district into two groups; half are in school on Monday and Tuesday, the other half on Thursday and Friday. They are offering an all remote option, but Verizon for some reason supplies our house with speeds so slow that it would shock a tortoise. Remote was a no-go.
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This set-up has taken some trial and error to get to where we currently are. Because no matter how prepared you are and how much you've planned, once you're in the weeds, actually doing it, there is no telling how your best-laid plans will work.
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Our home is a 1800sqft one-story, open living area, 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom, ranch-style house in a very rural area. It has no home offices. No guest bedrooms. Yes, that is a desk in the corner of our dining room. 🤣
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Each kid gets their own color bin for their school work. This includes school-issued Chromebooks and other standard items they need to get work done - headphones, pencils, and so on. When we are done for the day, we clean up everything, place them neatly in these bins, and place them in cubbies (on my current left) at night while the Chromebooks charge.
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I do NOT bother to clean up at lunchtime. It would take us more time to clean up and reset everything than it takes us to eat lunch. So we only pack it all up for the day and call it done.
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During the day, I sit between my younger two and field any questions they may have, troubleshoot technical issues we all have, and be the overall bouncer when things get off-topic. My high schooler will occasionally emerge from his bedroom, which opens to the kitchen. So he is close by when he has questions.
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Please remember that with all things in life, you need to work with what's available to you. And there is no shame in that. Don't ever feel like you're not doing good enough because it's not picture perfect. Work with what you have available to you, and you'll do amazing things.
School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I’ve finally realized I haven’t shared our payoff numbers for July or August. Yeah……
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Please keep in mind, we are paid monthly on the 15th, but we don’t go by a “monthly” budget. So I have to go back and look at these numbers based off their due dates in the calendar. Because our pay falls in the middle of the month, I can’t tell you what portion of our income went to debt. It’s going to vary paycheck to paycheck anyways because our priorities vary with each check. Nothing is ever the same month to month, and pay to pay.
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That said, inJuly we paid off $2,694.43.
In August we paid off $1,673.40.
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The difference here is that our priorities shifted between the two months.
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During August, we were doing more prep for whatever school would look like this year, and we had some savings goals make their way to the top of the list as well.
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Of those goals, in August we made progress!
EF Reimbursement: $146 / $1,200
Checking Buffer Reimbursement: $227 / $500
Vet Sinking Fund: $40 / $200
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Remember this is a journey, not a race. There is no point wearing yourself ragged and still making no progress. Make progress where you can, and celebrate it. Even if it’s $5.
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It’s progress, and that’s what matters!
While I wait for the canner to finish the last rou While I wait for the canner to finish the last round... I rearranged our recipe binder. It's only taken me 8 or so years. 🤣😶😭
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I miss the days when zucchini was my problem. Now it's tomatoes. I can only find so many ways to use up spaghetti sauce! So the next 50lbs or so will be chili base and unseasoned sauce.
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On top of this school is starting with a hybrid in building & online system. And I'm seriously slacking on some things I need to do. I'm not good at juggling multiple things and the balls are falling. But I keep reminding myself... be patient. This too shall pass. This is only a phase. So I pick and choose what's the most important, focus on that and go from there.
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So if you feel overwhelmed with your current phase, remember, this too shall pass. It's okay to rearrange priorities. It's okay to take a breather.
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This too shall pass.
If you didn't start finding interesting ways to ge If you didn't start finding interesting ways to get rid of the squash, can you say you even planted any?
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Good news, I'm almost caught up! Bad news, the garden has more.
Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins can come in super small packages. I thought I'd spend $380 to clean the band instruments in this house. I ended up spending $234. So the remaining $146 can go to reimbursing what I pulled from our EF.
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No matter the win, celebrate it!
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What are some wins you have had lately?
In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumber In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumbers, 5lbs blueberries, and countless zucchini and squash with more on the way! My weekend is spoken for... and this isn't all of it. 😳
Rather than looking back through all our non-month Rather than looking back through all our non-monthly bills for the year and try to remember what I paid and when I paid it, I make a note of how much it was on our bill pay tracker. That way I can easily tally it up at the end of the year, set our sinking funds next year accordingly, and not spend more time than is necessary on this... because kids and all.⁣
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Anyone else do this? Do you have a different method of tracking these expenses?⁣
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This particular printable is in my Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MakingCentsMatter⁣
It's also part of my budgeting workbook, also in my Etsy shop.⁣
Good news though... there's a very similar free version in my resource library as well. Links are in my profile.⁣
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#budget #budgeting #sinkingfund #savingmoney #savings  #cashbudget #cash #cashisking #frugalblogger #frugalmom #frugalliving #financialgoals #budgetprintable #personalfinancetips  #personalfinance #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogress #bs1 #bs2 #bs3  #makingcentsmatter #financialfreedom #debtfree
Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these tw Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these two things are NOT the same to me.⁣
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𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you're using all of your money for expenses with none left over for savings. This usually happens when you're not aware of where you are spending your money, and how much you are spending. For us, this happened in the form of those tiny expenses that can add up to even larger expenses, and then an unexpected bill comes and you have nothing left to cover it.⁣
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𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you are giving every single cent you earn a job to do that aligns with your priorities - like in sinking funds, savings, expenses, debt payments, etc - until the next paycheck. You have the money on hand to cover some unexpected expenses, and you are mindful of your spending so that you're not leaking money through small purchases.⁣
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This doesn't mean that there still aren't bad months. Murphy's Law does happen. But you are aware of the spending, aware of the priorities, and where your money needs to be allocated.⁣
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So... just because you're budgeting paycheck to paycheck doesn't mean you're living paycheck to paycheck.⁣
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June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forw June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forward to a paycheck since we first made the switch to monthly pays. It was so bad we've got a new order to things.⁣
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Good news is that if our state keeps closing things down, we should hammer this out in no time!⁣
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To see the full breakdown of how bad June's paycheck was, check out the June 15th Budget Review on our YouTube channel here https://youtu.be/gXoEo33hIYQ. Link is also in the bio.⁣
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