I started this week with $219.53 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 the month. Here are weeks one, two, and three.
Would it be weird to say that I like pantry challenges? It’s been a fun four weeks, coming up with new ways to use some of the random stuff in the pantry and fridge. It’s more fun when the recipe turns out (mini-cornbread muffins, Spanish rice, tex-mex black bean dip and pesto risotto) than when it doesn’t (*cough*honey quinoa bread*cough*), but hey – I can’t win them all.
It’s also refreshing to realize that you can make a lot of the things we typically buy at the store from scratch instead. And it’s very nice to see extra low numbers in the grocery budget!
So I cleaned out my purse this week and found something interesting…
But a quick side note – how is it that purses somehow seem to get REALLY heavy – almost overnight – when there’s only a receipt or two extra inside? One of life’s mysteries I guess…
Anyway, after tossing some expired coupons and finding chapstick that I thought I had lost on an airplane (back in December… I really should clean this thing out more often!), I found two receipts for the past two weeks that I hadn’t accounted for in our budget.
See! I told you it would probably happen again!
Savemart – $3.81
Mission Artisan Ancient Grain Tortillas – 2.39
Yellow Onion x2 – 1.42
This is from two weeks ago when Mr. Crumbs picked fajitas for dinner. I don’t know how I forgot to include this one, but I’m gonna go with “the little monster that hides at the bottom of my purse was hiding it.”
These tortillas are really, really good. They don’t have hydrogenated oil and they’re full of natural grains like quinoa, millet, amaranth, sorghum and teff. So, so tasty! These are also the same tortillas I used to make chicken verde enchiladas… the first time. They are a little pricey, but if you’re looking for whole grain tortillas without having to make them yourself, these are worth it.
Savemart – $3.59
Another trip, but this was a one-item stop for ice cream. Remember when I tried to sneak black beans into brownies without Mr. Crumbs knowing? Well this is the trip that I was talking about. Don’t know how this one slipped my mind… ahem.
Asian Market – 1.81
We ran out of spinach earlier in the week, plus I needed parsley and wanted some ginger for smoothies. I don’t know what the individual prices were – all that I had on the receipt was my total for the transaction. However, I did realize (after I got home) that I needed parsley instead of cilantro… go figure!
August Pantry Challenge Final Total – $228.74
If you could close your eyes for a moment and picture a short, pale, reddish-blonde-haired woman jumping up and down and spinning in circles with her arms waving wildly in the air – without making a sound – that would be me. I’d be screaming at the top of my lungs if it weren’t for the kids napping the next room over. 
Seriously, I am SO excited to see our final pantry challenge numbers so low. I went into the challenge over-confident, thinking that I could spend $100 or less for the entire month. All that did was set me up for failure. A realistic goal truly is saving 20-25% of the total budget as I saved 24%, nearly on the dollar.
What am I going to do with the savings? We’re not going out to eat, that’s for sure!!
What about you? How are you counting your crumbs this week?
Very nice work ! You really nailed it this month !
Thank you for the encouragement!
Ahhh, but dear – did you forget the $5.39 purchase last night at Save-Mart? Two for one Breyers ice cream? Cookies-n-cream and chocolate?
Nope, that comes out of your play fund.
Didn’t know it even existed !
Congratulations Tiffany!! It’s always exciting to meet your goal! We started a kitchen remodel on Monday, so during the months of June and July, we were eating whatever we could from the pantry. The fewer things in the pantry, the fewer things I was going to have to move out of it!
I was quite successful, too. It’s amazing what one can find in a pantry! Because I currently don’t have a kitchen, we now trying to live out of the freezer supplemented with fresh veggies from the market. “Salad” and “grill” are my mantras for a few weeks. My grocery bill has definitely been lower than normal this summer!
Thank you Mjskit! Eating from the freezer with fresh veggies is such a wonderful way to “get back to the basics” of eating. I’ve heard that you can bake on grills. Maybe it’s not impossible to enjoy your buttermilk cornbread recipe without a stove afterall!
Congratulations Tiffany!!! My Pantry challenge failed miserably with both of my kids going back to school but that’s okay. We have re-focused and plan on blowing it out of the water in September.
Thanks Amy! Back-to-school is a hard time to be (mostly) limited to what’s on-hand, but I think failures are a blessing in disguise. They’re filled with opportunities to learn from so that the next attempt is successful. Thankfully, grace is abundant!!
Tiffany I really enjoy reading your blog,you are an inspiration,I’m trying to be as successful with my budget as you,I’m working really hard at it,and I must tell you that you make put enjoyment in the struggles,thanks.
Jo ~ You are so sweet! You have brought a smile to my face and made my afternoon. Thank you!
Wow, you were really successful with your pantry challenge! It’s been a week when grocery shopping simply didn’t happen for us so I imagine I’ll be clearing out our pantry a bit over the weekend.
woo hoo, way to go! I’d love to hear more of your p90x experience, btw – been loving the high protein green monster smoothies – my toddler thinks they’re the bomb, lol.
Thanks!! My P90X experience has been good. Didn’t really see results until week 5, but also didn’t REALLY concentrate on protein intake until week 4. Getting through week 1 was the toughest. Now that I’m seeing the pay off, I don’t mind working out so much!
Wow! Great job. Seriously our budget is twice this and I can’t seem to get it lower. Urgh. I am curious if you’ll see a slightly higher September due to starting out with a diminished pantry?
I just tried homemade hot dog buns tonight. Loved by all! I didn’t use your recipe since I don’t have and don’t want to buy vital gluten. I used this recipe and they turned out wonderful – in case you ever want an alternative recipe.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/beautiful-burger-buns-recipe
Thanks for the optional recipe Leah!
Thanks Leah! I’m still trying to use the pantry as much as possible, and I’ve (mostly) shopped for the month to replenish any staples we used up. I’m finding that planning and cooking efficiently, and planning many leftover meals, really helps to keep our bill down. I’m not sure if September will be higher or not though – I guess time will tell!!