Weekly update- week two

Here is my second weekly update for the Savvy Spending Challenge. I’m sorry, but I have no exciting pictures or stories of grocery store victory this week. However, I have news that is equally as good- we didn’t go over our significantly decreased grocery budget!

This week’s grocery spendings:
$6 (plus change, but I can’t find the receipt in my husband’s office, and he’s out right now) on a quick run to the store last week, for a couple of small items
$14.44- Superstore (cheese, buttermilk, tortillas, etc.)
$7- produce (again, Ryan has the receipt)
$12.38- topping up on produce to get us through the rest of the week, and (with the extra $3 mad money that my husband found somewhere) ice cream, a beautiful splurge

Total: $39.82 ($37.61 was my remaining total from last week, but with the extra $3 my husband gave me, I came in pretty much exactly on budget, otherwise I wouldn’t have bought the ice cream!)

And what did we eat? Here’s my menu plan:

Monday: Our power was out all day (due to a large wind storm), so we ate lunch with a gift card we had for a local restaurant, and ate dinner with Ryan’s twin sister and her husband (part of the above mentioned groceries included some food towards that dinner)
Tuesday: Leftover black bean soup (made instead of tomato lentil soup last week), homemade bread, squash- Ryan’s Mom and teenage brothers dropped in and joined us
Wednesday: Sandwiches and sweet potato fries (and very yummy quesadillas for lunch, made with the leftover Mexican rice skillet with beans from last week)
Thursday:  Beef stir-fry over brown rice- with another family, I am providing the rice and most veggies and dessert, she is bringing beef and snap peas

And this current budget finishes on Friday morning, because that’s payday. If you didn’t read last weeks update, the reason for only a partial week of meal planning this time is that even though we started our budget two Fridays ago, I stretched out what we had until Monday, did a Monday-Sunday meal plan, and then had only Monday-Thursday to finish this week.

As far as other spending, if I am not mistaken, we have spent only a few dollars towards a movie on Monday night (as a thank you for taking us in during the storm), and 2 $1 packs of gum, when my husband needed to take out extra money and had to make a purchase to do so. The reason he has done things like this lately is because he is taking out extra cash from some savings and investments that we are taking out to put on the car loan.

And the amazing news is that at this precise moment, we’re down to only $700 left on the loan! Between the rest of this savings month, and some savings in December, we can do it before the New Year!!!

There you have it, our update on the challenge! You know, so far we haven’t felt like we’ve been missing out. We’ve stayed home a bit more, not made any impulse buys (like a movie or a treat out), and not bought anything extra for ourselves (clothes, books, etc.), which is just fine. We’ve enjoyed the books and movies from the library and borrowed from friends, and we just don’t need anything.

And, I just wanted to remind all of you that as you are seeking to spend less and save more this month, there was a giveaway announcement last week that some of you may not have seen.

Crystal from Biblical Womanhood and Money Saving Mom has donated a Supermarket Savings 101 eCourse! This eCourse will go to one lucky reader at the end of this month. All you have to do is leave a comment about how your family participated (even if not fully, to what extent did you try to cut your spending), how you did, how the experience was for you, or some ways that you saved money. Everyone who comments will be entered in a draw for this great giveaway!

If you’re interested in more ways to save, try checking out her frugality articles on Biblical Womanhood, or her newest blog, Money Saving Mom, which is just packed full of great, money saving resources!