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February 1, 2017 · Leave a Comment

January 2017 Meal Plan

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Meal Planning

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Welcome to the second end-of-the-month-meal-plan-posting.  Even though this is only the second time, I’m really liking posting our meal plans after we’ve gone through them for the month.  It’s much more representative of what we’ve spent and eaten than what we’ve planned for meals at the beginning of the month and hoping we stick to the budget.

I mean, while I have the best intentions when I create our monthly meal plan, what we spend and eat for the month all comes down to when I get to the store, what we have on hand, what we’ve recently eaten, and honestly, what everyone feels in the mood for.  If everyone is in the mood for soup, meatloaf is going to have to wait!

There have been times this month where we’ve incorporated more leftover items into the next night’s meals, and it has really helped reduce our spending for our meals this month.

January 2017 Meal Plan

Now before we get to what we ate throughout the month, here’s what I take into consideration when I plan our meals.

We’re a family of 5.  Hubs and I eat smaller adult portions.  Our kids are 11, 7 and 5.  Sometimes they eat more than we do, other times they barely pick at what we serve.

I don’t stock pile shop, but we do try to plan our meals from what we have on hand.  I also like to combine meals with like ingredients to help stretch our budget and reduce food waste.

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.

We 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.

Breakfasts are usually oatmeal, cereal, toast and peanut butter with fruit, cottage cheese and a fruit, or yogurt with granola.   It may seem limited and boring, but keeping breakfast choices simple makes it much easier on our hectic morning routine since Hubs is out the door at 6:30 and the boys are on the bus at 6:50.  I am trying to get better at baking a quick bread for the mornings as well.

Lunches are packed each day for Hubs and the boys, while Lady Bug and I 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 and Nilla cookies, are also divided out at home and sent in to school in snack containers.

During the summer and fall, I freeze and can what I am able to grow and get cheap from local you-pick farms and farmer’s markets.  It enables me to keep what we eat fresh and local, but also limit our preservative and additive intake.

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Pancakes, Eggs & Bacon
Salisbury Steak
Sloppy Joes
Chicken & Waffles
English Muffin Pizzas
Chinese Take Out
Leftover Chinese Take
Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Mixed Vegetables
Monkey Bread, Strawberries, Homemade Whipped Cream
Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Chicken with Gemelli & Gruyere
Nachos
Chili, Leftover Nachos
Birthday Party: Leftover Pizza; Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Leftover Chili
Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans
Beef Stew
Leftover Chili, Leftover Beef Stew
Chicken Enchiladas
Cheese Steaks & Chips
Dinner Out: Birthday
Cast Iron Chicken, Mashed Potatoes & Peas, Pan Gravy
Beef Stroganoff, Green Beans
Potato Soup
Chicken BBQ Sliders, Tater Tots
Tacos
Pizza
Chicken Parm Tenders with Spaghetti
Salmon Cakes, Rice & Peas
Strawberry Pancakes & Eggs
Cast Iron Chicken, Rice & Corn
Leftover Chicken Parm & Spaghetti

This month we spent $475.66 on groceries.  That’s the lowest amount in quite a while, and I think there were a few different things that helped contribute to it.

For the first part of the month we were able to save money by using up a lot food we had left in our fridge and pantry from over the holidays.  By the middle of the month, our weekly bill was pretty high because we needed to replenish a lot of basics, as well as a few snacks.  I did stop at Weis a two or three times this month to check out their weekly deals, but for the most part keeping our bill low for the month was simply by planning around our freezer and pantry more than anything.

By the end of the month I had decided to make blueberry bread to have on hand for breakfasts.  While my intentions were sincere, the bread didn’t last long at all.  Nearly half of it was gone within a few hours of making it!  The kids loved it as an after-dinner dessert just as much as they enjoyed it for breakfast.

Overall for January, I was able to keep our grocery budget to under $500 for the month.  That’s remarkable for us!  I try to budget around $600 each month for food and snacks.  This may seem like a lot for some, but for our diet restrictions, it’s pretty low.

How did you do on your grocery budget in January?  What was on your January meal plan?  I’d love to hear in the comments below!

January 2017 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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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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