Spending Update:
This week’s entertainment budget looks large this but it’s including som extra purchases that I was reimbursed for:
Under food and dining, I have $192 in spending. A hundred of that was for groceries for some cooking projects I had on the go this week. Other than that, entertainment and everything was on track over the past week.
Life Under Construction
Google-Fu and You:
One of the ways I’m doing this is by shopping my fridge/freezer/ and pantry first. I found some long lost food items in the pantry like tomato juice and it was nearing its expiration date. Using my Google-fu, I looked up some recipes for tomato juice and found an amazing teriyaki marinade, a spaghetti recipe, and a beef stew recipe. I got busy in the kitchen and made the spaghetti and Teriyaki marinade over the last few days and will make the beef stew tomorrow. The beauty of this is that I was able to freeze the left overs (including the marinade) and now we have meals for later in the month.
Meal planning and cooking is actually my husband’s thing and he’s pretty darn good at it so I don’t want to mess with his system – my husband is an Engineer and routines are very important to him. 😉 He’s been pretty open to me fooling around in his domain but I don’t want to “helpful” myself into taking over when there’s no need for me too. I know being that “helpful” is not always one of my more attractive qualities – just ask husband. (Read bossy and know-it-all when I say “helpful!) 🙂
Updates on My Monthly Challenge:
In regards to my monthly challenge, I have only been doing pretty good with everything. My impulse spending has been okay and I haven’t gone over budget because of any super-poor financial decisions. The worst of my month is over and it should only be getting better from herein out.
I was also pretty good with keeping myself amused when I was too stressed out to work on the crappy task. Mostly I focused on working on the blog or cooking and doing things around the house. I got outside to get some yard work done. That was pretty much it for physical exercise but I’m happy I’ve gotten out when I did.
In terms of scheduling a couple hours a day to do my crappy task, I was able to do it all in daily chunks and send it off in time for the deadline. It took a lot of digging through stuff and putting together a bunch of really different pieces but it got done and finished. Mission accomplished!
My final monthly goal was to start hiking at a local park at least three times a week – so far this has been a fail, I haven’t gone once! There are still a couple weeks to go, though!
How is your June going so far, readers?
Link Love:
Are ya gonna eat that? Becoming a Curmudgeon *Really fun article about those darn kids and their rocking and rolling music.
Budget and the Beach Random Thoughts about Coming Home *Tonya makes the weirdness of going home sound like the best thing ever – hahaha Tonya Summits, love it!
Budget Blonde 4 Budget Friendly Adventures in Christchurch New Zealand *A nice guest post about New Zealand. I think I need to start reading more travel blogs, I can get excited about a specific place and plan something specific instead of just having “traveling” being some random future goal!
Canadian Budget Binder The Grocery Game Challenge *Mr. CBB asks the question of when is the best time to grocery shop? It’s a good question because it can get busy and stressful!
Nice work experimenting in the kitchen. That’s something my wife is good at and I’m terrible at, but it’s always fun to try new foods. Some are good, some aren’t, but at least you learned something. And didn’t waste food.
Hey Matt
laugh, Yeah, we’ll have to see if the orange peanutbutter cocoa square things are any good – it’s an unlikely combination but we’ll give the ol’ college try!
lol google-fu! Never heard of that. I’m so bad about using every last bit of what’s in my pantry. Good job on that! That’s funny you mentioned your hubby is an engineer and likes routine because I have a lot of friends who are engineers and they are the same way. Thanks for the blog mention! Glad you liked it!
Yeah, Engineers are a special breed but they’re cute! (At least I think so). I loved your going home article, it was awesome. The Tonya Summits were the best – “we think you’re depressed…” heheheh, loved it!
Hmm, a Teriyaki marinade recipe, huh. I may have to look that up. The hubby and I have been trying to watch our sodium intake and things like premade sauces are the worst! Sounds like you’re making good progress on your goals, keep up the good work! 🙂
Premade sauces are really bad for sure! The teriyaki merinade did call for quite a bit of soya sauce which has a lot of sodium but you can probably modify that! Thanks for stopping by!
I have no idea what GOOGLE FU is as I thought it meant something else lol. It’s good to hear that you found ways to use up the products before they expired. Too often people throw money down the train or in the trash because they cook too much and don’t like leftovers or they just don’t eat the food. Meal planning is so important as well as grocery shopping lists and sticking to a plan. I hope I can get you over to post your grocery shop each week with us. If you want to lower that budget, my team of Grocery Game Players will help get you there. We’re all in the same boat! Cheers mate and thanks for the GGC mention.
Yeah, I looked it up online and it seems to talk about being an “expert” at finding the answers to questions online. I thought it sounded cool and decided to use it as a verb. Sometimes it’s good to make up new ways to use a word. 🙂