Budgeting

I got up late today, around 9:30am. It was cool overnight so I thought I would walk a little bit later to take advantage of the sun warming it up some. The Stephen King story I'm listening to really has my attention. I look forward to walking every day because I have that book on tape. And the weather is so nice now. I love autumn.

After my walk I broke from routine and went to the store to pick up the food I'll need to get through the next week. I bought some fruit, almonds, raisins and smoothie mix. They only had 5 bottles of smoothie mix at Wild Oats. I'll plan to have a smoothie Monday through Friday. I'll have cereal or waffles the other days. I had some Cheerios Multi-Grain cereal this morning. That stuff is just so good.

I'm thinking that I need to compare prices at the regular grocery store and Wild Oats and see if I can do my shopping at Wild Oats. Their food is organic and healthier. I'm sure it will be a bit more expensive overall but I think I'll save in the long run because I can get what I need for meat instead of having to get a huge package. While I was shopping today I kept wanting to buy things that I already have at home (lettuce, granola bars, cheese). I didn't have a list and I didn't look in the fridge or cupboards before I shopped. That's okay, because this week we're going to make the most of everything we have in the house already. I think we have enough stuff to actually get through 2 or 3 weeks if I can really get creative.

The challenge for the week will be interesting. I'm sure I can get by without using the debit card and with drinking only water, but eating only what we have on hand will be a bit more difficult. I'm so used to going to the store whenever I can't think of something to eat. But I have a lot of meat in the house and I need to use it. I have pork chops, ground beef, and a huge package of chicken. I also have some deli meat so I can make sandwiches for lunch. I need to have a plan though: smoothies for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, fruit and almonds for snacks and whatever is on hand for dinners.

The hardest part will be getting David to not use the debit card. He doesn't use it that much, but I want to stick to the budget. We really need to stay within our allotted amounts in each category. This month we over spent on most things. I hope to do better in October.