Month: July 2012

Project Food Budget / My Healthy Budget: July Month 9 / Week 4

Project Food Budget Weekly total: $62.04

My healthy budget goal is to eat seasonal (local if possible,) home-cooked meals while sticking to a $400 monthly budget for all food including groceries, dining out, entertaining, vitamins/supplements, and gardening.

There’s two of us eating (mostly) 3 meals per day. My husband occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.

July – Month Nine, Week Four

This week, I spent $62.04, with a monthly total of $379.97. That leaves $20.03 for the rest of July.

Yikes, I hope I’ll make it this month. It’s going to be tough, but I might give myself an extra few bucks to get by if I need it. I will try to stay within my $400 budget though.

The thing that seems to be slightly throwing me off is the meat CSA. I have a stockpile of meat in the freezer so I’ve been trying to use it; I don’t think my choices would necessarily be the choices I’d make if I didn’t have all this meat to consume!

Lesson learned! We don’t consume enough meat to warrant a meat CSA again! We’ll do things differently next winter. I will probably place one or two large orders and drive to the farm myself for pickup, instead of them delivering every month for 6 months.

Weekly Totals:

Dining Out: $25.00
Groceries: $37.04

Spending Details

Whole Foods $13.87 (inc credit $11.82 refund): fresh ground peanut butter (sale! DH has been bugging me for peanut butter muffins), bulk sucanat sugar, bulk organic rolled oats, canned organic diced tomatoes, organic low sodium chicken broth, Grafton 2 year cheese, organic bananas, (2) limes, organic plums (sale), and local (CT) eco peaches.

Market Basket $10.48: watermelon, cantaloupe, salsa

Meat CSA $: $12.69 skirt steak (Luckily, products from the Meat CSA are paid in full, so technically no real money is actually spent, but I apply the cost to my budget as we consume it.)

Week of Meals

  • Thursday: Bread pizza with salsa and feta
  • Friday: Chinese takeout
  • Saturday: Skirt steak braised with canned tomatoes, onions, garden jalapeño, baby bok choy over pasta
  • Sunday: Dinner with mom
  • Monday: Leftover skirt steak and tomato sauce over white rice
  • Tuesday: Roasted garden potatoes, garden eggplant, and onions topped with a fried egg
  • Wednesday: Bread pizza with salsa & feta – my ole standby meal when the budgeting gets tough!

Want to Join the Project Food Budget?

project food budget

It’s never too late to join the Project Food Budget!

If you’d like to participate, get the details and let Emily know you’re on board!

Here’s who else is budgeting:

Project Food Budget / My Healthy Budget: July Month 9 / Week 3

Project Food Budget Weekly total: $87.92

My healthy budget goal is to eat seasonal (local if possible,) home-cooked meals while sticking to a $400 monthly budget for all food including groceries, dining out, entertaining, vitamins/supplements, and gardening.

There’s two of us eating (mostly) 3 meals per day. My husband occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.

July – Month Nine, Week Three

This week, I spent $87.92, with a monthly total of $317.93. That leaves $82.07 for the rest of July.

Yeah, spent a little bit more than I’d like this week, but I needed to stock up at TJ’s. With $80 left though, I think I’ll be okay for the next fourteen days, since I should only need produce. Fingers crossed! 🙂

Dining Out: $12.80
Groceries: $75.12

Spending Details

Amazon Subscribe & Save $5.45: 6 pk Wild Planet tuna – had account credit of $7.25 – good deal!

Trader Joe’s $48.23: watermelon, bananas, 6 pk organic kiwi, frozen wild blueberries, peanuts, organic raisins, walnuts, raw almonds, shelled pistachios, balsamic vinegar, organic raspberry spread, peanut butter (USA not organic), organic half & half, and feta cheese

Market Basket $8.74: Athena melon, bananas, and instant yeast (yes, I’ve decided to go back to instant yeast.)

Wilmington MA Farmers Market $12.70: Beets, carrots, fennel, green beans, summer squash, and baby bok choy

Week of Meals

  • Thursday: Hot dogs on bread with side of leftover roasted potatoes & onions
  • Friday: Leftover frozen pizza
  • Saturday: Roasted beets, onions, kousa squash with bulgar topped with feta, fried egg & pea pods
  • Sunday: Summer veg soup with leftover frozen beefalo brisket, and barley
  • Monday: Leftover soup over pasta
  • Tuesday: Leftover freezer beefalo tomato pepper sauce with added fresh veggies topped over barley
  • Wednesday: Stir fried green beans,  baby bok choy, with quinoa and fried egg

Want to Join the Project Food Budget?

project food budget

It’s never too late to join the Project Food Budget!

If you’d like to participate, get the details and let Emily know you’re on board!

Here’s who else is budgeting this week:

Project Food Budget / My Healthy Budget: July Month 9 / Week 2

Project Food Budget Weekly total: $110.57

My healthy budget goal is to eat seasonal (local if possible,) home-cooked meals while sticking to a $400 monthly budget for all food including groceries, dining out, entertaining, vitamins/supplements, and gardening.

There’s two of us eating (mostly) 3 meals per day. My husband occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.

July – Month Nine, Week Two

This week, I spent $110.57, with a monthly total of $230.01. That leaves $169.99 for the rest of July.

Geez, by the 8th day of the month, I blasted through a huge chunk of my monthly allotment! I am hoping I can stick to a $55 weekly sum for the next 3 weeks, but I will not be too upset if I have a little budgeting overage this month!

Dining Out: $26.00
Groceries: $84.57

Spending Details

Lots of produce and a couple of splurges this week: a turkey pie and olives!

Seven Acres Turkey Farm $17.50: homemade turkey pie & (2) dozen jumbo eggs

2 trips to local farm stand $11.12: blueberries, kousa summer squash, red leaf lettuce, and (6) corn on cob (from CT, eh, wasn’t the greatest, but not bad)

Wilmington Farmers Market $14.30: From Farmer Daves – beets, spring onions, cherry tomatoes (to die for!), and (3) small kousa squash. From Bountiful Basket Farm – Quart of mixed new potatoes (yum)

Whole Foods Market $34.60 (2) jars of Mindful Mayo with WF coupon, diced organic tomatoes, organic salsa, organic plums & peaches (sale), cantaloupe (sale), organic green grapes, 2lb bag o’ organic carrots, organic bananas, crumbled feta (sale), and olives from bar

Meat CSA $7.05: Ground beefalo (Luckily, products from the Meat CSA are paid in full, so technically no real money is actually spent, but I apply the cost to my budget as we consume it.)

Week of Meals

  • Thursday: Turkey pie (from farm) with stir-fried veggies
  • Friday: Take out
  • Saturday: Dinner at parents – Pizza
  • Sunday: Pasta topped with crockpot beefalo tomato pepper sauce
  • Monday: Baked eggs, feta & brown rice
  • Tuesday: Leftover freezer pork tenderloin & beefalo chuck with new potatoes, onions, and a big ole veg salad
  • Wednesday: Hot dogs, sautéed beet greens, & snap peas in corn tortillas with a large veggie salad

Want to Join the Project Food Budget?

project food budget

It’s never too late to join the Project Food Budget!

If you’d like to participate, get the details and let Emily know you’re on board!

Here’s who else is budgeting this week:

Project Food Budget / My Healthy Budget: July Month 9 / Week 1

Project Food Budget Weekly (4 day) total: $119.44

My healthy budget goal is to eat seasonal (local if possible,) home-cooked meals while sticking to a $400 monthly budget for all food including groceries, dining out, entertaining, vitamins/supplements, and gardening.

There’s two of us eating (mostly) 3 meals per day. My husband occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.

July – Month Nine, Week One

This week, I’ve spent $119.44, leaving $280.56 for the rest of July.

Dining Out: $13.14 (Wendy’s)
Groceries: $106.30

Spending Details

A few staple items this week, like olive oil and butter, and even though I have a freezer full of CSA meat, I splurged on sale chicken drumsticks @.99lb at Whole Foods, and a small tub of US-grown unsalted roasted cashews, which we haven’t had in the house for MONTHS!

I had three Applegate Farms $1 coupons that were set to expire, and Market Basket was having a sale, so I splurged on turkey bacon, deli slices, and hot dogs. Summer is here!!!!!

Market Basket $46.83: Applegate turkey bacon, Applegate sliced roasted turkey, Applegate beef hot dogs, 5lb bag o’ vidalia onions, organic peaches, bananas, (4) Chobani yogurts, Tub o’ plain whole yogurt, Fleichmann’s active yeast (3 pk envelopes), & California olive oil

Whole Foods $46.83: (4lb) Chicken drumsticks, peanuts, cashews, raisins, rolled oats, dried shredded coconut, canned diced tomatoes, organic valley cultured butter (coupons), organic valley half & half (coupon), carton of organic egg whites, organic pineapple, watermelon, & organic cherries…also returned the SAF Instant yeast.

Local Farm $7.15: (3) pickling cucumbers (.39 ea), large lettuce ($2), & blueberries ($4)

Meat CSA $15.84: Beefalo NY Strip Steak, wow, that was yummy! (Luckily, products from the Meat CSA are paid in full, so technically no real money is actually spent, but I apply the cost to my budget as we consume it.)

Week of Meals (4 days)

  • Sunday: Beefalo NY Strip steak (from CSA) with roasted potatoes & onions and large garden-fresh salad
  • Monday: Leftover potatoes & onions and bulgar topped with fried eggs
  • Tuesday: Baked chicken drumsticks with lentils and large veggie salad
  • Wednesday: Homemade veg Broth with leftover chicken, leftover lentils, and brown rice with veg salad

Want to Join the Project Food Budget?

project food budget

It’s never too late to join the Project Food Budget!

If you’d like to participate, get the details and let Emily know you’re on board!

Here’s who else is budgeting this week: