Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs and bacon. I needed to eat a good breakfast because I had a mid morning appointment today.
I did not sleep well last night so I took an early afternoon nap. Now I feel better.
Dinner tonight was the fish sticks for Hubby and salmon for me. We each had a side salad with our meal.
I have my usual Wednesday night chat with my sister. I am so looking forward to it.
I hope you all have a nice evening.
This is all the grocery shopping I am doing this week.
Aldi’s was my first stop. I got 2 dozen eggs, some shells and cheese(for West’s stay), peanut butter cookies (also for West’s stay), unsweetened applesauce, 4lbs. of chicken wings, 2 cans of mushrooms, a party size box of Ritz crackers, a large bottle of Zesty Italian dressing, 2 containers of iodized salt, 1 box of tissues(not pictured) and a bottle of Avocado oil. I also purchased a mug and some reading glasses that will not be included in the food total. Here is my receipt:
I couldn’t resist the mug and I needed the reading glasses. So my total for food was $ 29.81.
My last stop was Top’s:
I am only showing the food prices here but I did get some greeting cards and some other non food items that Hubby wanted. We had a death in the family and Hubby’s secretary is retiring after 46 years. We wish her the very best of luck in whatever she does now.
The popcorn is a treat for Hubby and was $ 2.99. He also loves the peanuts so I got two bags since they were on sale for $ 4.99 each. The hoagie rolls were needed for dinners. They were $ 3.99. The family size oreos are a treat for West and were $ 2.99. The large box of goldfish is also a treat for West and was $ 6.99.
The potatoes are for brunch on Sunday and were on sale for $2.49. The au jus packets are needed for future meals and were an outrageous price of $ 2.49 each. The bacon was a coupon item and cost $ 3.99. The two cans of tuna( $2.09 each) and 2 cans of chicken($3.19 each) were stockpile items.
The SF marinade is for a future meal and was $ 4.29. The coffee was B1G1F so they cost $ 4.99 for both cans. The strawberries were a coupon item and cost $ 1.99. The ice cream is for West and was $ 2.99. The mozzarella cheese was needed for our hot Italian dinners and was $ 2.50.
So my total for Top’s was $ 65.72. So the total for my shops was $ 95.93. That leaves $ 99.68 in my budget for the rest of the month.
West is coming to stay with us starting Sunday for two weeks so I needed to load up on some treats and things. My son has been back at work for a month or so and my daughter in law is a college professor and needs to go into work for a couple of weeks. So we will be having lots of fun over the next couple of weeks with West before school starts.
For brunch this morning I again had 2 eggs and some mashed avocado. Hubby had some banana bread.
Neither Hubby nor I want take out tonight for dinner. Since we had take out for lunch over the weekend, that was enough for now.
So with my zero waste policy, we will again be having hot Italian sausage. Mine will be just on a plate like last night. Hubby will again use a hoagie roll.
I have ordered a new Keto cookbook that should come tomorrow. It is highly rated so I am anticipating making a couple of different meals from it next week. I have to mix it up so that I don’t get bored with my diet.
I have been having trouble with my camera. Hubby is looking at it now to see if he can find out what is going wrong with it. Sorry about the blurry pictures.
I hope you all have a good day.
I always think of my grandfather today because today was his birthday. My mom, my sister, and I lived with him and my grandmother from the time I was 3 until I got married. If they hadn’t taken us in when my mom left my father, I think my sister and I would have ended up in an adoption home. God Bless that man. May you be resting in peace Grandpa. I have fond memories of him and how he walked me down the aisle at my wedding. Unfortunately, he died a few months after that.
Today, it is 71 already and it is only 7am as I start to write this post. I think it is going to be a hot one.
Brunch today for Hubby was a ham sandwich. I decided to fry up the eggplant that my son had given me. I fried it up in a little avocado oil and sprinkled it with grated parmesan cheese. Yum.
I have been working hard most of today cleaning the house and the car. I think I am going to take a nap because I am beat.
We just ate dinner. Hubby had a hot Italian sausage sandwich on a hoagie. I had mine on a plate with sauce, grated mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan cheese. I just am not hungry when it gets this hot outside. We hit 88 today but the humidity made it feel like a steam bath. UGH. Do you seem to eat less in the summer?
I am off to read now. I hope you have a great evening.
Breakfast today was a slice of banana bread spread with cream cheese. We needed to eat something before we traveled to our son’s home. It’s many miles away. Sorry about the shadow. We took a loaf of banana bread to them for their breakfast tomorrow.
We went there to visit them for most of the day. It was so good to see and spend time with all of them. Hubby was so happy to meet their new dog, Ludo(bottom pic). He is just so huggable like a big bear. But of course, we had to spend some time with Nori(top pic) too. They are both terrific dogs.
We told them we would treat for takeout for lunch. Before we left this morning, I signed up for DiBella’s reward program and they gave me a 50% off coupon for our order. So submarines for 5 of us only cost $20.87. This comes out of our entertainment budget which has a ton of money in it because we rarely go anyplace or do anything since the sickness hit.
However on the trip to visit them, Hubby hit a dog who jumped out of the weeds right in front of our car. Hubby did his best to brake and try to avoid him but we heard the thud. Hubby started to get out of the car expecting to see an injured dog in the road but the dog ran off.
We went to the ranch whose dog we thought it might be and sure enough the dog was running around like nothing happened. Hubby found the owner in the barn feeding her horses. She was very apologetic but Hubby wanted her to look at the dog to make sure he was okay. He just had a little blood between two toes. Otherwise the owner said the dog was fine. She said he was only a year old and very rambunctious. The Lord was looking over us and that dog. Hubby seemed fine to continue on the trip to our son’s. I was a little shook but it went away.
We never even thought to look at our SUV until we were at my son’s home. No sign of any damage at all. Everybody was lucky on this one.
We just got home a few minutes ago and Hubby is settled in his chair to read the Sunday paper and do his crossword puzzle.
The reason I told you in my menu plan that dinner was to be determined is because of our trip. We didn’t know how hungry we would be when we got home for dinner. However, we each ordered medium subs. We only each ate 1/2 of our subs for lunch. So we have the other 1/2 left for dinner. Mine which was a Philly steak with cheese and grilled peppers and onions is pictured. Hubby had an Italian sub. I will heat mine up in the air fryer. But we will have a late dinner because we are both stuffed. I will be right back on my diet tomorrow.
If any of you have DiBellas’s near you, you can get the same deal of 50% off your first order by going through the link. It is good for, I think, 7 days.
I plan on continuing to work on my yearlong list of what is needed during that time so that I can shop for those things at the best prices.
I hope you all have a great evening.
Over the years, I have seen many people have what they call a Low Spend Month. So I have decided to do one for the month of August. If anyone would like to join me, let me know in the comments. I realize some of you are probably working on your stockpile so keep doing what you are doing. Being prepared for the Fall and Winter is so important!
I still have money set aside for stockpiling. If I see a great deal that fits into my stockpile, I will let you know. But in August I will be concentrating on spending less monthly grocery money.
Most of the time, I have $500. for a month’s worth of groceries. I will be cutting that amount by 50% for August. So I will have $250. for all of our groceries. Any money leftover in July will be put back into our savings.
We will be eating from our pantry which is our usual BUT with a twist. How many of you have a grocery item or two or maybe 10 or more that you purchased or were given that you have never used? You know the ones that you see in your pantries all the time and ignore. I know I do. They keep staring me in the face. Pictured above is just a few of the items that need to get used. The tuna and pancake mix will get used in the next week. I will have to see how to make the quinoa and I can’t even remember what I bought the xanthan gum for. Any ideas?
In August, I will be incorporating those items into our meals to use them up and not end up throwing them out which throws your money in the garbage. If I don’t know how to use an item, I will research for a recipe or ask you. I am hoping to use up a whole bunch of “odd to me” stuff.
I will let you know every day what we are eating and post recipes when I can.
I will take “you along” on every grocery trip so that you know what I am buying and why. Only needs or family requests(Hubby makes requests on a regular basis) will be purchased with only one exception! The things that West wants while he is staying with us for two weeks will be incorporated into my $250. grocery budget. I have to spoil my grandson while he is here visiting. That is just what Grandma’s do.
I will post our menu for the following week starting on Friday.
So you may ask, “Why are you doing a no spend month?” Because I thought it would be fun! We also have a savings goal that we are working on. We gave away $ XX,XXX. this month so we will be working on replenishing that money over the next year or so. Lowering the grocery budget will be a good start. Who knows, I may find out that we don’t have to spend $500. per month and continue to be able to save that 50% of our grocery money.
When you don’t have a mortgage, car payments, or credit card payments, money from investments accumulate quickly. So they will also help replace our giving money. At our age, we rarely travel anymore so we don’t do a lot of spending on items or travel like we did when we were younger. We spend very little on gasoline. Most our money goes into things we want or need for our home. Needed items like pest control, landscape maintenance, and fertilizing services, home maintenance, car maintenance, etc. And of course there are the normal bills that come with owning a home like utility bills, taxes, cable, house phone and internet, insurances, and the cellphone. Gifts for family members are also very important to us.