Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping

Earlier this week I decided to finally do the meal planning I had been talking about.  I went through the Kraft Foods website and picked out a bunch of meals that sounded good, then made a grocery list of what was needed to make them.  This was new for me. Usually I end up buying a lot of the same things and we get into a food rut!

For the next two weeks, I'll be making these for dinner:

• "BLT" Pasta
• Cheesy Chicken Tostadas
• Crisp-and-Creamy Baked Chicken
• Easy Bistro Chicken
• Easy Layered Taco Pie
• One-Pan Chicken and Potato Bake
• Polynesian-Glazed Meatballs
• Portabello Mushroom Sandwich
• Quick 'n Easy Pasta
• Shrimp, Tortellini, & Spinach
• Slow-Cooker Tex-Mex Chicken

We also have some other quick meal things that I picked up because we have a few days where we get home late.

I went grocery shopping on Friday night and I started cooking these dinners Saturday night.  So far I've made the "BLT" Pasta and Polynesian-Glazed Meatballs.  They were both very easy to make and delicious.  They are going to be "keepers" for future meals.

The only thing I have an issue with in all this is how much food costs these days.  I spent $180.98 on two weeks worth of food (not including the mini trips I'll have to take to replace milk, bread, etc.).  We don't buy a lot of meats and use generic and/or sales whenever possible.  I admit there are a few items where I've tried the generic and didn't like it so I stick to the brand name food.  I didn't like the generic frozen chicken tenderloins so I buy Tyson. It's only about $1.00 more and the taste and texture is much better quality.  

Here is the breakdown of some of what I bought:

• 24 of the items I bought were generic/grocery store brand
  
• Only 9 items could be considered meat (including precooked meats, lunchmeat, frozen, etc.)
• 11 items were fresh fruits and vegetables
• I saved $22.22 in sales and "buy one, get one free" offers
• I did buy two subs for dinner since I didn't get home from shopping until past 8PM

The only upside to all of this is that buying groceries and cooking dinner at home costs less than going out to a restaurant.  Now THAT'S expensive!

Attempt to Get Back on Track...

...Or at least I'm going to try.  

I've updated everything on the sidebar now as well as NetWorthIQ.  It's not looking good, but I didn't expect it to what with the student loans being added to it all.

I made several payments to the truck loan.  We are now down to $7,131.24 left on it and I don't owe them another payment until January.  Of course, I'll continue to send them in because I want it gone!  My extra loan payment "savings" is up to $145.69 so I'll only need $87.07 to send in another extra payment along with my regular payment.

I received my homeowner's insurance statement.  The payment is due in December and is paid through my mortgage escrow account.  I would love to not have a mortgage escrow account, but they are required on VA loans.  As usual the policy covers some pretty stupid things like volcanic eruption, which may be needed if I lived in Hawaii, but I live in a flat state with barely a hill; and grave markers (is there something I don't know about?).  The good thing is that it looks like it will be going down $14.97 from last year's premium.  It's not much, but it'll still lower my monthly mortgage payment.  That's $1.25 a month that I can put towards something else.  

I have all my monthly bills paid for the rest of the month and we still have another payday to go this month!  The next bill is not due until the 7th of next month and it's the only one for the next two pay periods!  I've already made sure I did a big grocery shopping.  We are set for food other than refrigerated items we go through quickly.  I spent over $215 so it better last!  So I think this is a good time for auto maintenance.  I need an oil change and new battery and DH needs an oil change, some other routine maintenance yet to be determined, and a couple of new tires.  We'll have to do some pricing.  For tires we like to check them out on Tire Rack to get reviews and pricing.  We bought my new ones on there earlier this year.  We had them delivered to a local shop to be put on and we couldn't be happier with them.

I believe that may bring me up to date for now.  If I think of anything else, I'll add another post later.

Fuel and I Messed Up

Firstly, I want to ask what is up with gas?  The prices are going down, but it is still costing us the same to fill up!  There is something seriously wrong with this!  If it goes up a penny, then our cost skyrockets, but when it goes down .20-.30 cents, then our cost doesn't go down.  Totally crazy!  We're already up to $309 for fuel costs this month.

I readily admit that I messed up for this 2-weeks already.  I was so used to the boys being out of school that I didn't budget in the costs of them going back very well.  Plus groceries were more than normal due to school lunch items.  So I'm going to be short during this 2-week period.  Therefore, I'll need to take some out of the different savings funds I have set up to get by.  Not a lot, but enough to lower a few of them and have to play catch up later.  Thankfully, they are not areas where I need a lot of that money right now anyway and I have plenty of time to catch up.  

Oh well!  I guess it happens on occasion.  As long as it doesn't happen all the time, though I do now expect I may need to do some additional tweaking for the next few paychecks to get back on track.

Free Samples, Town News, and Filing

I got some of the samples in today:

• Oatmeal Crisp sample
• Mario Badescu samples including: Enzyme Cleansing Gel, Special Cucumber Lotion, Glycolic Eye Cream, Drying Mask, Collagen Moisturizer SPF 15, Drying Cream, and Strawberry Face Scrub.

I also got the water/sewer/garbage bill today.  It went up to $68.00 from last month's $66.22 so I'll need to look into that, but they do say they are on conservation rates so the more used the more it costs.  We'll see.  

But the neat thing about getting the bill is that it comes with a little newsletter about what is happening in our city.  I knew they were building some new fire stations (3 to be exact), but what I didn't know is that the one replacing an old station I go by all the time is being built for free due to "an exchange site agreement" with Kohl's Department Store.  Apparently they agreed to pay for it to be able to build their new store on the main road where it would get more traffic instead of behind it on the street over.  

1. That is so cool that the city actually agreed to it and was smart enough to see a way to save us taxpayers money and still get a new fire station.  The entire city is a PUD so I supposed it only could take place since both sites were within the PUD regulations to make the switch.
2. I'm excited to know that we'll be getting a Kohl's and so close to where I live.  I've heard a lot about it, but I've never had one near me to shop.  I guess I'll see what all the fuss is about when they finally build it.  I don't expect that will be anytime soon because the old fire station is still there until the new one is built.

The other news I actually got on Saturday from my DH.  He stopped by our local Albertson's, which is across the street from where this new Kohl's is supposed to be, and he found out they are closing down.  We don't shop there much, but it is the closest grocery store for quick pick-ups and stuff.  The cool news though?  Publix bought them and will be opening up there after a little remodeling!  I love doing my grocery shopping at Publix.  The one we usually go to isn't really that far away, but this one will be much closer.  Yay!  

On filing news, I've started scanning a bunch of documents and magazines articles/recipes into folders on my computer.  I am determined to get my papers down to a minimum!  But it will be a long, long time before I'm totally done.  My goal is to do a little bit at a time while keeping up with anything new that comes in as well.  We'll see how it goes!  I also need to buy some more CDs so I can back everything up once I'm done.

2-Week Pay Period: July 31, 2008 and End of Month

It isn't often that both the end of a 2-week pay period and the end of the month coincide.  This was also the end of a 3-check month.

End of 2-Week:

• The first thing I decided to do is to redirect my extra 1/2 mortgage payment transfer amount of $442.60 to my new extra loan payoff savings.  I just don't really need it for the mortgage so I figure it'll do me more good paying off some debt.  So along with some additional funds I managed to move over there, I was able to make two additional payments on the truck loan.  So this month I've made payments for August, September, and October.  And I still have $90.03 left in the extra loan payoff savings.  When it reaches another payment, then I'll send it in as an additional payment.
  

• I paid $100 for my August credit card payment.  I only owed $19.00, but I'm used to paying extra.  Besides I've had to use it more often lately because of the boys' dentist appointments.  
  

• I scheduled our cell phone bill for August in the amount of $63.75 (that's for two phones).
  

• I paid $99.91 on a doctor's bill for what was left after copay and insurance.
• I transferred the blow money for my husband and me; and the allowance for the boys.
  

End of Month:

• Groceries: $213.59
• Dining out: $184.31
• Husband's Work Lunches: $138.10 (can you tell bringing his lunch to work isn't working?)
• Gas: $570.21 (it's going down!)
• Prescriptions: $8.20
• Dental: $313.70

All our bills are now paid through the next pay period due on August 14th.  I may still need to update some of the numbers in the sidebar later because:

1. the mortgage payment hasn't gone through yet and I like to see the exact loan amount remaining after the payment.
2. interest in the savings accounts are not showing yet.
3. I always check the truck loan after the checks have cleared as the total amount due is usually lower (I tend to overestimate the interest and underestimate the principal).

I believe that about covers this last 2-weeks and last month.  Let's hope August is a good one!

Good Day

Today was a good day financially speaking.  While I did spend money, it wasn't as much as I was expecting.  YAY!  Well, I spent less in one place and a little more in another, but it was all for good.

OK...first I had to bring my boys to the dentist.  This was our first time here because the pediatric dentist they went to before closed his office in our city and now only has his office in the city to the north of us.  Not a long distance, but inconvenient when they have appointments during school time and I don't have time to pick the other up.  Then they both have to be pulled out of school!  Anyway, this was a new pediatric dentist, who like many dentists nowadays does not take insurance.  AT ALL!  Not a big deal because our last one didn't either.  That means I have to pay for everything up front, send in a claim form and wait for reimbursement.  I was expecting to pay hundreds of dollars today on my credit card on two kids for cleanings, x-rays (including an additional panoramic for one), and flouride treatments--to be paid off whenever the insurance company got around to sending me my money.  Nope...no such thing!  As a courtesy, this dental office will take a copay only, send in the claim for you, and bill you for any remainder not paid for by the insurance company.  So instead of hundreds of dollars for this initial visit I paid $50.70 in total--for both of them.  That is great considering the statement with the breakdown said the total for all services rendered was $507.00!  I still have to bring them in to take care of some other issues, but I expected that to be on top of the full bill I would have paid today.

Afterwards we went back to the new SuperTarget because I forgot a few things...mostly groceries plus I wanted to look for some sort of mats to put under the pet's homes (DS1 has a parakeet and DS2 has a betta fish).  Well, I initially needed bread and milk, but the boys had some flouride stuff painted onto their teeth and they were told not to eat anything too sugary because they cannot brush their teeth tonight.  I didn't think I had too many items they could eat so I picked up some bananas and grapes for them to snack on.  Plus it was getting late so I added some deli chicken for lunch and some french bread for dinner.  I also remembered that I forgot DS1's protractor for school when I bought school supplies.  At the register I remembered that DH needed some cash, which we rarely carry.  So I tacked on the minimum allowed--$10.  The total was $36.80--not bad considering $10.00 of it was cash, $8.29 was for items other than grocery, and $18.51 for groceries.  That brings my total groceries to $213.59 for the month.

Groceries and School Supplies

I did pretty well when I went to the grocery store yesterday.  In total I spent $156.43, which mostly went towards food though I did buy some school supplies while I was there.  The school supplies only cost $12.80 out of that total.

So you are probably wondering why I'd buy school supplies at the grocery store.  Well, firstly it was convenient.  I was already there and didn't have to drive around spending gas money to go to another store.  Secondly, they were on sale.  For $12.80 (including tax) I got:

• 2-8 oz. bottles of hand sanitizer
• 2-8 count boxes of washable markers
• 3-24 count boxes of crayons
• 3-4 oz. bottles of glue
• 3-1 subject spiral notebooks
• 2-6 pack of portfolio folders
• 3-10 pack of #2 pencils

There were other supplies on sale, but I didn't need any of them.  Other things I needed were not on sale so I didn't buy them.

The rest was to buy food, which should hopefully last at least two weeks minus the occasional trip for milk and bread.

2-Week Pay Period: July 3, 2008

I'm a little behind due to some school work (I'm happy to say I received a 96% on my test yesterday) and I still have more to do (another test today and two papers due Monday).  So let's see if we can make this a bit quick today.

Because of the holiday (Happy Independence Day!) my husband got paid a day early!  YAY!  That helped out tremendously because I was in real need of groceries with the boys home for the summer eating everything!

This is what I did:

• Transferred $442.60 into savings account for 1/2 mortgage payment
• Transferred remaining $43.00 ($8.60 each) into 5 virtual savings accounts (set up in my Quicken program): Auto Purchase, Christmas, Home Improvement, Investment Property, Vacation.
• Transferred the boys' allowances ($6 and $2) and our blow money ($25 each) into virtual accounts.
• Transferred $100.00 into virtual Auto Insurance savings account to prepare for January payment.
• Paid bills due prior to next payday: $100 to credit card (already set up), $62.53 to cell phones (already set up), $14.93 to medical bill, $300 to heloc payment (interest and principal).
• Got my husband's medicine refill: $5.48
• Bought $111.17 worth of groceries.

We now have about $467.00 left to last until the next payday on July 17th.  That's not bad considering we won't be going anywhere today or this weekend.  I estimate over the next two weeks my husband will spend about $195 in gas and about $56 in food.  I expect he'll actually spend less.  This leaves us with $216.00 for any other incidentals that may pop up over the next two weeks.

May Numbers

Here are some numbers for May now that the month is over:

Savings--

• From our credit union we got a whopping $0.24 interest in our checking account and $0.82 interest in our savings account.  Woohoo...$1.06!!!!  Do you hear the sarcasm?  
• In our online savings account we got $6.59 in interest.  That really is a BIG woohoo!
• My VA benefit is scheduled to be transferred into our online savings account
• I've scheduled for $33.99 from our round up from checking fund to be transferred into our online savings account.  This is down from the April amount of $42.11, but my theory is that it also means we spent less.

Spending--

• Gas--$651.20 (I was really surprised this is still in the $600 range)
• Groceries--$423.40 (This comes out to $105.85 per week for a family of 4--not too bad)
• Dining Out--$147.85 (This is about $36.96 per week in dining out)
• Dining: Work Lunches (hubby)--$109.29 (This is better than April.  I'm hoping it will go down with him taking lunch to work a couple of days per week)

Grocery Shopping Day

I went grocery shopping today.  I really had no choice.  We still had food, but didn't have enough to actually put a meal together.  We were down to some serious scrounging!

Since we are at the end of a two-week pay period, I had to be careful in what I bought.  I was able to buy some extras, but really had to try to stay with items we really needed (at least until my husband gets paid).

Luckily, the grocery store we go to usually has buy one, get one free items every week.  I rarely use coupons unless I find them in the store for items already purchasing.

I spent $93.77 for $124.76 worth of food...saving $30.99 in total.  I used three coupons all found in the store.  I got 7 items free and found other items we use on sale.  I do buy some items that are generic, but not many.  Most of the items bought were brand name items.  In total I bought 48 items.  Of those 12 were generic store brand (8--frozen vegetables, 3--dry pasta, and a gallon of milk).

I've done better, but this wasn't too bad of a grocery shopping trip.