I started this week with $190.28 spent of my $300 monthly budget including food, household items and toiletries. Each week I crunch the numbers to see where I stand. Today marks the end of week three. Here are weeks one and two.
After spending two days camping in weather as hot as 103 degrees, coming home to our very moderate climate of 65 was so refreshing. Those two days were a small taste of what everyone (but us) experiences when summer comes and heat waves come through. Now I COMPLETELY understand when someone says they don’t want to bake bread until the summer is over. I couldn’t imagine purposely doing anything that would make my environment hotter than it already was!
Shopping last week was minimal, which lifted my spirits regarding the running total so far in the pantry challenge. Here’s how the numbers looked:
Costco – $21.25
Bananas x2 – 2.78
Half & Half – 2.99
Apples 6.49
Hebrew National Hot Dogs – 8.99
Bananas are for smoothies, half & half for coffee, apples for lunch and snacking and the hot dogs were primarily for camping. It was hard to include the hot dogs in the grocery budget since I probably wouldn’t have bought them if we hadn’t gone camping. But then I started thinking about the other three packages sitting in the freezer (bonus of buying in bulk) and how I’d use those in meals that would otherwise come out of the grocery budget, and then it wouldn’t really be fair to not include the hot dogs… so into the grocery budget they go.
By the way, if anyone is needing a taste review, these dogs were MUCH better than the last ones – and a great price too. They were on sale and the price per package comes out to $2.24. I actually walked by these while at Walmart (second, stop, see below) and they were tagged at $3.99 each. Wowzers!
Walmart – 8.00
Brummel & Brown – 2.68
Gallon Organic Milk – 5.32
A very, very basic stop. The original purpose was for firewood and propane (both for camping), but when Mr. Crumbs asked to bring potatoes for dinner (and NOTHING beats a campfire potato), I realized that we were out of butter and the stick butter we have in the fridge wouldn’t hold up so well in that hot weather. The kefir is still “growing” (I think) and needs one cup of fresh milk each day, so that’s what the milk is for.
Current August Pantry Challenge Total – $219.53
Looking ahead, this week doesn’t seem too demanding grocery-wise. There may be a stop for bananas, but otherwise we’re good on fruit. There’s still produce in the fridge, chicken and ice cream in the freezer and the brownies on the counter. If Mr. Crumbs can keep his craving for bacon under control, we may be sitting pretty at the end of this challenge!
How are you counting your crumbs this week?
I agree with you about the hotdogs. Hebrew national is by far the BEST hot dogs on the market. I always stock up at the start of summer when they are on sale. You know that your getting a quality product because they are kosher. We’ve had others, even some popular name brands, they all tasted cheap.
Yes, made with homemade buns – these were OUTSTANDING! Not a dog nor bun was left!
I love the flavor of Hebrew nationals too!!! They still have nitrites added to them, so I get other brands that are nitrite free if they’re available. But yeah, I really like ‘em. Hope the end of the week goes well for you! I used up the last of our grocery money today as well. Looking forward to next month, lol.
I wanted to go nitrate free, but convenience won the battle this time. Thanks for the encouragement! Running out of grocery money is never fun. Even with a great menu planned (which you do), it seems to make those last couple weeks harder!