Reminder: The grocery budget is set by the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program limitations in my state for a family of 4. That amount is $668.00. While not personally in need of the SNAP program, I was curious as to whether or not a family could eat in a paleo-esque way while staying under the SNAP guidelines.
May - $124.49 in un-budgeted expenses.
Husband will be rueing the day that he showed me how to order through Amazon Prime on his account. It has been my downfall! I ordered Pink Himalayan salt - 2 different kinds. Total? 38.03. Now, I had planned on trying Himalayan Pink Salt, but I only budgeted $15.00 for it. So, $23.03 in un-budgeted expenditures. I also bought several books, and a couple of other food items.
5/15 Great Lakes Unflavored Gelatin, pack of 2 42.32
5/15 Tulsi Tea 4.98
5/22 2 copies of "No Regrets Parenting" 12.00
5/25 "Paleo Slow Cooking" by Chrissy Gower 18.16
5/25 "The Best 4 Years" by Adam Shepard 24.00
I was inspired by this blog to try to Tulsi Tea Jello for Hormone Healing http://empoweredsustenance.com/tulsi-gelee-for-natural-hormone-healing/
When I ordered the Gelatin, I got it almost immediately. It took almost a month for the tea to come in, and by that time summer was in full swing, and I am just now getting to slow down and think about making this Gelee this weekend. I will let y'all know how it goes. :-)
Groceries for May - $514.90 (Underage of $153.10 to be added to the grocery rollover of $135.93 for a total of $289.03 in the grocery rollover slush fund)
June - $260.06 in un-budgeted expenses.
June has shown me that Summer is not the time to try to do a spending fast. The kids are home, and we are on the go more. We have taken 2 trips to Branson and had loads of fun at Silver Dollar City and White Water. I did not take the time to pack any snacks or quick treats, and I wound up utilizing drive-thru way too often. I know better. My lack of preparation for our trips cost resources to the tune of $183.78 in the month of June. I am annoyed with myself, because I KNOW better. Ugh. From that, I can tell you that Chick-fil-a's Grilled Market Salad is DELICIOUS, but it is also $6.99. McDolalds' side salad is also nice, but I have to order three or four of them as a meal, so it is a good thing they are a buck each. I also found out that I am much more inclined to hit the drive through when my girls have a friend or two in tow.
My kids went to my Mom's house (Camp Grandma) one at a time, so they each got a week on their town, thus a two week separation and I got one kids for a week for two weeks in a row. Since my Mom fed my kids while they were at her house, I thought covering the meal on the way to Camp Grandma would be the thing to do. It was $41.28 at Denny's for 5 people.
I have a good friend whose husband is in a group of guys from work who get together and smoke meats. Husband has purchased racks of ribs from these guys before for 20 bucks a rack. These suckers are AMAZINGLY GOOD! My lovely friend told me that her husband, Handsome, was going to be smoking some meat, and did I want to get my hands on some? YES!!!! She went to Sam's Club for some racks of ribs, where there are three in a pack. We agreed that I would get one pack. She asked me for the money for the ribs themselves (sssshhhhhhh, don't tell her Handsome that he was working for free) so I got three racks of AMAZING ribs for $35.00. Totally un-budgeted, but definitely worth it!
One of the trips to Branson was to have fun with my sister and her husband, with their 4 youngest children. At the very beginning of the week, Uncle Foodie's father died, and he and my Aunt left to go to his funeral. They emptied their refrigerator into our two refrigerators in our condo's. I have never met the man, but I am very fond of his son, and my Aunt sings his praises, calling him the closest thing to a saint that has ever walked the earth. He will be very missed.
As a result of their upending their perishables into our laps, and added to the fact that my sister and her husband live a 12 hour drive away, I wound up taking home quite a bit of the vacation food. I had made entree purchases large enough to feed 2 families for each meal. When I brought them home, each planned vacation meal became - in fact - two meals for my family. I can foresee buying only odds and ends to supplement what I have in my freezer for a couple of more weeks before having to make a large food run. That could be good, or that could be bad. When I do my large haul once a month, I keep to my list and am efficient. In my weekly trips, I also stay fairly on point. My worry is that by going to the store as I need things, I might get a little off track and impulse buy more often. I will watch for that tendency.
Groceries for June - $479.75 (Underage of $178.25, added to $289.03 for a grand rolling total of $467.28 in the grocery rollover amount)
In consideration of the fact that I was the recipient of the contents of my Aunt's refrigerator, I am going to deduct $150.00 from the rollover amount. $150.00 is an definite over-estimation, but I like to over-estimate, rather then under-estimate for budgeting purposes.
So.... New rollover amount? $317.28 :-)
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