First Week of April with $200 out of $400

$400 per month on groceries. Yes ma'am. Or sir. Whichever you prefer. $400 to shop for all natural/organic products.

Right now, we really cannot afford to buy a whole cow or poultry straight from the farm. It's literally hundreds of dollars. Well, maybe not for 1-2 whole chickens.

Vons, Albertsons, Save Mart, Wal-Mart, and other big chains are starting to carry all natural meats, eggs, and dairy along with their organic produce. Granted organic produce is absolutely not the best quality (its still in the grocery store nevertheless), but you still have to look around. Yes, you can drop $100 per week at a health food store like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. But really, where do we shop to find the best deal?

It depends on what your plan is. Yes, that nasty P word. You must meal plan before you buy anything. Otherwise you will drop that $100 and try to figure out what you're going to make each day. Who wants that stress?

Meal planning usually takes place on Sundays. It doesn't matter what time, but this gives me time to figure out how much and what I need to get me through the week.

It's quite easy and if you have a hard time meal planning, check out plantoeat.com (I am not an affiliate). I did use their free trial, and you know what? It's simply amazing. If we weren't on such a tight budget, I would definitely use them. If you are trying out a new diet, you can search Pinterest, other blogs and websites and actually bookmark the recipe. The best part about plantoeat.com? It even makes a shopping list for you!

After you get your meal plan written out, find a store you like best and watch their sales. I know there aren't a ton of organic produce, meat, or dairy on sale every week, but when there is, pick up a couple extra items if you can freeze them for later. If not, then don't worry about wasting your money.

I personally hate shopping at Wal-Mart, Albertsons, and all those big national chains. I dread giving them such big portions of my husband's hard earned paycheck. So what store <i>do </i>I shop at?

I love Fresh and Easy for their organic, reasonably priced, smaller sized stores. I can get in and get out rather quickly. They always have a large selection of almost everything organic in their store. Some items are priced higher than others, but hey, I'm not buying everything that says organic. If I'm in a quick pinch, they do have organic-not raw- milk. They have organic honey, organic syrup, along with non-organic foods (for when hubby goes with me-bad idea).

As for flour, I purchase sprouted flour at a local health store. We have a Lassen's that carries their whole wheat sprouted flour in the bulk section. I love bulk bins! Especially when this particular flour costs $4.19 per pound (don't tell hubby). My body cannot tolerate white flour (no gluten allergy), so I buy this when I know I will be baking something (tortillas, bread, etc.). I still am working on learning how to bake with this flour, so bear with me!

We also did try drinking the grass-fed milk. My son loved the cow on the front and how can I tell him no to milk? The only weird thing about it was the lumps in your glass (cream tidbits). Other than that, we loved the flavor! Cost: $5.69 for half gallon.

Another awesome find at Lassen's was their selection of One Degree sprouted grains cereals. They had four or five to choose from! :) My tummy was so happy! Add this to the grass-fed milk and my body loved me. Now since this cereal is a little expensive, only I eat maybe 1/2 a cup of cereal. Not kids. I'm not big into sugary cereal and cannot stand the taste of cornflakes, so this was perfect for me. Cost: $5.69 for a 12 oz box.

Early this month, I ran out of laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent! Agh! Not a good thing when your brother is coming from Washington! So for these items, I get my washing soda, borax, and lemi-shine from Winco. They do have organic dairy, but I have yet to see any organic produce besides lettuce. I will write another post on household cleaners on here soon!

What has Jenn bought so far?
Lassen's: Ancient Sprouted Maize Flakes Cereal  $5.69
          Grassmilk, Whole, Half Gallon                   $5.69
Fresh N Easy: Eggs, Brown, Cage Free Dozen     $3.99
          Bananas (Not Organic)       6 bananas         $1.14
          Organic Mini Cucumbers                            $2.99
          Organic Carrots                                           $1.69
          Organic Kale (won't buy again)                  $2.99
          Organic Apples                                           $1.99
Winco: Washing Soda            3 boxes @ $3.15    $9.45 (seems really high compared to the last time I bought it)
       Borax                                                              $3.97
       Fels Naptha                6 @ $.97                      $5.82
       Spicy Tuna Roll    tsk tsk tsk                          $4.98 (how did that sneak in there?)
       Lemi-Shine                 2 @ $3.97                   $7.94 (ouch)
       Cream Cheese (school snack)2 @ $1.78       $3.56
       Non-Organic Baby Carrots (school snack)    $ .98
       Whole Olives (school snack)     3 @ $.98      $2.94
       Sliced Olives                   2 @ $.58                 $1.16
                           Bring your own bag                  -$ .06

                              Grand Total:                            $71.94

                                                 $200.00 (first half of month)
                                               - $71.94

                                                127.00 left for groceries until next week. I always put all my change into the piggy bank to go towards debt at the end of the year (hubby doesn't know this).

That's not too terrible is it? Other than the household cleaning supplies and school snack- I'll have to show you what I made with these three items. Big hit with 5 year olds!

Although my brother is coming into town this week, we also have a 5 year old turning 6 that I have to buy groceries for... all for $127.00 Can we manage feeding three adults and two young kids until the 15th?


Even if you don't have these stores or enjoy swiping your rewards card at other stores, you can always shop for the conventional clean 15 at regular grocery stores. <a href="http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list.php">Here </a>is the full list of the EWG's clean list. The numbers with the lower number have the most pesticides. Yuck! Eating organic should not be considered a trend.

Clean 15:
andpoint of pesticide contamination:

    Onions
    Sweet corn
    Pineapples
    Avocado
    Cabbage
    Sweet peas
    Asparagus
    Mangoes
    Eggplant
    Kiwi
    Cantaloupe (domestic)
    Sweet potatoes
    Grapefruit
    Papayas
    Mushrooms

Not a lot of these are on our weekly shopping list :( Sad.

Monthly Budget

Budgeting


As you know, we are a one income family. Hubby makes around $63,000 per year. So how do we make it in this golden state? Prayers and patience. Our kids do not get everything they want. Heck, we don’t even have cable, but we are thinking about getting internet in our house. :)

So what does our budget look like? Well,  if you’ve been reading my earlier posts, you already know we spend $400 on good quality natural food.

Bako Depot’s Budget:
Salary            $63,000
Housing         $1,015.00
Car payment $750.00
Car Insurance $74.00
AAA              $0.00
Cell phone     $156.00
Netflix           $9.00
ATT/ Internet $0.00
PG&E           $49.00
Water             $51.00
Gas                 $69.60
Student Loans $156.00
Ret/Life Insur $280.87

CASH
Grocery         $400.00
Gasoline (Auto)
Co-Pay/Medical
DMV/Smog Check
Car Maintenance
Cow
Entertainment
Kids Activities
Household
Home Improve/Tools
Clothing
Hobbies/Toys
Garden
Dining Out
Pets
Gifts
Medical Bills
ATM Withdrawal
TOTAL EXPENSES  $3,010.47

Summary
Salary         $3,430.06
Expenses    $3,010.47
Savings
Leftover Funds $419.59


That $419.59 is the rest of the paycheck to pay for dining out, clothes, tools, medical bills, and absolutely everything else. It’s really not much, is it? Lately, that $400 leftover has been going to $6,000.00 medical bills from hubby and they are still coming. This is why I’m afraid to get the mail! Everytime he goes in, which is often, it usually costs us $300. Granted we have really good insurance, but it takes a plan to get anywhere including out of debt.

Decluttering

Simplifying Life in General. It all starts with your house, your rooms, your cabinets, and drawers. Scary isn't it?

A few household items

De-cluttering. It seems like a scary word for most of us, but slowly and surely, we can make it happen! It takes one day at a time and a goal. My goal when I first moved to our new house over two years ago was to be organized and simplified- much unlike our last house of chaos. We've lived here for a little over two years and it seems the only organized room in the house is the guest/kids bathroom. 

I have so many projects and goals that I want to do with my life and to me, it seems, they all need done right away (please don't tell me I'm the only one who does this)! Then I get overwhelmed and give up. Well, not anymore. Let's look on the positive side. The guest/kids bathroom is organized. That's one less area/room that's done! 

I'm also trying to simplify my pantry and eat healthier. We don't buy junk food (I haven't bought potato chips over a year) and the pantry seems full of canned and bottled food. Olive oil, canned oranges (for salads every night), jello, and a TON of condiments. We are always buying fresh produce (patiently waiting for the garden to produce) and it seems we are always spending hubby's hard earned money on bills, gas, and groceries- in that order. 

I went to look in my pantry to organize it and under the kitchen sink. The twenty bottles and cans of cleaners, detergents, canned and bottled never-expiring food made me realize we have so much and waste it all! We really need to get back to the basics! How did people survive in the 1950s? They didn't buy bottles of ketchup or run to the store because they ran out of butter!

One of my cabinets

I'm determined to go green- maybe not 100%, but a little at a time. Do I really need to spend $30+ on Tide detergent or $20 on dishwasher detergent gel pacs? I would love to spend that $50 on a Christmas gift for my husband or re-plaster the house (stucco exterior).

Our four year old daughter is starting to think that everything you ever need is at the store and that Daddy will always be able to buy those things. That's not how my husband and I grew up. Our parents did buy most to everything (food and household cleaners) at the store it always seems a lot of money went down the drain, all over the floor, etc. I don't want my kids to waste their money and support the outrageous advertising for commercial products. So in order to save money (I'm a stay at home mom with a 2 and 4 year old) I'm willing to experiment and teach my kids (and husband) that homemade is worth the effort!

I've done a lot of online research and I'm not going to make all these tomorrow, but weekly. I will have weekly goals and other projects on the list, so please be patient with me. 

My monthly goals are practically a to-do list. I'm not forcing myself to work only on certain days or hours, but as long as I can cross it off the list (I love lists)! These goals will be done Monday-Friday only- unless I need hubby's help. 

Each month I will clean and de-clutter one room, garden and pull weeds (sections), experiment with a new household/homemade cleaner, a from-scratch food, and overall, teach my kids and hubby what its like to not be reliant on commercial products.

The overall goal is to become organized, de-cluttered, and somewhat self-reliant with a two- and four- year old mixed in! 

My weeds never seem to stop growing!