We're still at it! The sticking to the super tight no-wiggle-room-budget, I mean.
This month one of us is getting paid almost every weekend. I get paid on the 15th and the last day of the month (and when a payday is on a Monday or a weekend it goes through Friday night). This can make it kind of hard to work with, but the Lord knows I've done it all on paper for many years. It's that actually sticking to it thing I have an issue with.
Anyway, in my notebook, I devote one page to each paycheck coming in that month, and I list the estimated amount of the check at the top of the page (I have figured out the exact % taken out of mine so can get it within a dollar or two, and C's is always the same since he's salaried. )
Then I start subtracting amounts for the bills, most important first. Of course recently, the overdraft amount is the first thing to come out since the check covers it as soon as it get deposited. Then whatever's leftover I have to figure out how to fit as many bills as I can under it, going by date something might be repo'd or turned off. So far so good. I was surprised when the guy from the electric company showed up Thursday morning when I'd planned on paying it online that evening. That sucked cause it added $10 to the amount I'd budgeted for it due to a trip fee, but it got paid any how.
Since our food storage is a lot less than it was starting out last week, I've had to get a few things I didn't get last week on the grocery list. I stuck to a very basic pared down menu using what we have as much as I could. Fortunately Save A Lot still had ground turkey rolls for $1 each, so that helped a lot. Dollar General Market had fresh broccoli on sale as well as cheese, and Save a Lot had 10 lb bags of potatoes on sale, so we'll have twice baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese one night. I'll mash some and have cottage pie one night, and we can have baked potatoes for lunches a couple days as well. I had to get more brown rice since I was out, but now I can make taco soup for dinner one night and another batch for lunches. So glad I stocked up on $1 large cans of diced tomatoes at DGM when I did.
Tonight we had cheeseburger macaroni which used two boxes of store brand mac and cheese (like Kraft) per directions on the box. They were 39 cents a box at SAL. Then I browned a roll of the turkey ($1.00) and an onion (3 lb bag for $1.29 so each onion was like 21 cents each.) Add a little salt and pepper, and it made a big bowl of cheeseburger macaroni that was scarfed down by everyone. Since the mac and cheese boxes were so cheap, I got 4 more boxes which can be made as lunches through the week too. C is on vacation starting Monday, and the girls have Fall Break til Wednesday.
Other items on the menu are "spaghetti" - actually using rigatoni pasta I got for 69 cents a bag at Sav Mor and a $1 can of pasta sauce. I have learned now that I really don't like rigatoni, but we'll eat it til it's gone anyway. Also have Hamburger helper which is still on sale for $1 a box, so that's pretty cheap by itself and I could get something with a flavor other than the cheeseburger mac. And finally pork chops. Thankfully a while back, Sav Mor had pork loins (huge ones) cut up into chops and had them on sale really super cheap, so I got 2 packs and we separated them into big freezer bags 5-6 in each. we still have one bag of 5 chops left. So it'll have to be a night that we don't expect people for dinner other than the 5 of us... but I swear it seems like we're always feeding someone else. Still, if we have it, and they're here, they'll eat with us.
In other news, the company I work for which is a gaming company, decided to let us know how much they appreciate all we do for them, (I'm on the Customer Service team). They sent us each a box of some of the games they make or expansions of games we already have. So, this weekend I've been playing those with the kids and friends who came over Friday when C and I were both off work. It was a great and free way to have fun. I heard they're sending out another gift package soon as well. Not games though, something more along the lines of collectable reward things. While it would be amazing to get a cash bonus instead (hah!), I can't wait to see what's in the next box. I seriously work for an amazing company - well two actually - one is where we actually do the work and the other is the one who does all the boss-employee stuff... if that makes sense. We're contractors if you get technical, but we worked for the main company first, and they arranged for us to get all hired together by this other company to manage the payroll and hiring/firing/taxes etc stuff. Fortunately, both companies are awesome.
Oh, also wanted to note, my husband's articles will be posted each Monday, so when the first one is up, I'll get the link so y'all can check it out if you feel like it. If you're not nerds or geeks, you probably won't be interested lol.
Anyway, it's reallllly late and I'm rambling now. Hope you're all having a great weekend.
This month one of us is getting paid almost every weekend. I get paid on the 15th and the last day of the month (and when a payday is on a Monday or a weekend it goes through Friday night). This can make it kind of hard to work with, but the Lord knows I've done it all on paper for many years. It's that actually sticking to it thing I have an issue with.
Anyway, in my notebook, I devote one page to each paycheck coming in that month, and I list the estimated amount of the check at the top of the page (I have figured out the exact % taken out of mine so can get it within a dollar or two, and C's is always the same since he's salaried. )
Then I start subtracting amounts for the bills, most important first. Of course recently, the overdraft amount is the first thing to come out since the check covers it as soon as it get deposited. Then whatever's leftover I have to figure out how to fit as many bills as I can under it, going by date something might be repo'd or turned off. So far so good. I was surprised when the guy from the electric company showed up Thursday morning when I'd planned on paying it online that evening. That sucked cause it added $10 to the amount I'd budgeted for it due to a trip fee, but it got paid any how.
Since our food storage is a lot less than it was starting out last week, I've had to get a few things I didn't get last week on the grocery list. I stuck to a very basic pared down menu using what we have as much as I could. Fortunately Save A Lot still had ground turkey rolls for $1 each, so that helped a lot. Dollar General Market had fresh broccoli on sale as well as cheese, and Save a Lot had 10 lb bags of potatoes on sale, so we'll have twice baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese one night. I'll mash some and have cottage pie one night, and we can have baked potatoes for lunches a couple days as well. I had to get more brown rice since I was out, but now I can make taco soup for dinner one night and another batch for lunches. So glad I stocked up on $1 large cans of diced tomatoes at DGM when I did.
Tonight we had cheeseburger macaroni which used two boxes of store brand mac and cheese (like Kraft) per directions on the box. They were 39 cents a box at SAL. Then I browned a roll of the turkey ($1.00) and an onion (3 lb bag for $1.29 so each onion was like 21 cents each.) Add a little salt and pepper, and it made a big bowl of cheeseburger macaroni that was scarfed down by everyone. Since the mac and cheese boxes were so cheap, I got 4 more boxes which can be made as lunches through the week too. C is on vacation starting Monday, and the girls have Fall Break til Wednesday.
Other items on the menu are "spaghetti" - actually using rigatoni pasta I got for 69 cents a bag at Sav Mor and a $1 can of pasta sauce. I have learned now that I really don't like rigatoni, but we'll eat it til it's gone anyway. Also have Hamburger helper which is still on sale for $1 a box, so that's pretty cheap by itself and I could get something with a flavor other than the cheeseburger mac. And finally pork chops. Thankfully a while back, Sav Mor had pork loins (huge ones) cut up into chops and had them on sale really super cheap, so I got 2 packs and we separated them into big freezer bags 5-6 in each. we still have one bag of 5 chops left. So it'll have to be a night that we don't expect people for dinner other than the 5 of us... but I swear it seems like we're always feeding someone else. Still, if we have it, and they're here, they'll eat with us.
In other news, the company I work for which is a gaming company, decided to let us know how much they appreciate all we do for them, (I'm on the Customer Service team). They sent us each a box of some of the games they make or expansions of games we already have. So, this weekend I've been playing those with the kids and friends who came over Friday when C and I were both off work. It was a great and free way to have fun. I heard they're sending out another gift package soon as well. Not games though, something more along the lines of collectable reward things. While it would be amazing to get a cash bonus instead (hah!), I can't wait to see what's in the next box. I seriously work for an amazing company - well two actually - one is where we actually do the work and the other is the one who does all the boss-employee stuff... if that makes sense. We're contractors if you get technical, but we worked for the main company first, and they arranged for us to get all hired together by this other company to manage the payroll and hiring/firing/taxes etc stuff. Fortunately, both companies are awesome.
Oh, also wanted to note, my husband's articles will be posted each Monday, so when the first one is up, I'll get the link so y'all can check it out if you feel like it. If you're not nerds or geeks, you probably won't be interested lol.
Anyway, it's reallllly late and I'm rambling now. Hope you're all having a great weekend.