I survived the first 7 days of the $25 Per Week Budgeting Challenge. The first week is always the easiest since I’m starting off with a full fridge and pantry, gas in the car and plenty of perservenance.
The last time I survived week one I had a surplus! This time is pretty much the same scenario In fact, this week I ended up spending money on a few relatively frivolous things.. We’ll see if that come back to haunt me over the next week or two.
This is how the budget broke down this week:
Wednesday: $0
Thursday: $0
Friday: $5 Overdue Book Fine from the local library This was not an expected expense but my kids tried to check out books and they couldn’t due to the built up late fines so I had to use 20% of our weekly budget to get the restriction removed)
Saturday: $7.44 for a Bag of Cat Food (Normally we would have purchased a much larger and less expensive per weight bag of food, but in order to stay in budget this month, we only ended up buying a 3.5 pound bag)
Sunday: $0
Monday: $0
Tuesday: $7.16 on a half dozen donuts from Dunkin Donuts. (I had all that extra money burning a hole in my pocket apparently!)
TOTAL SPENT FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK: $19.60
Surplus rollover to next week: $5.40
We are running low on gas in the van, and I”m almost out of milk. Plus this week we ate almost all the fresh produce in the house, so next week IT GETS REAL. Wednesday: $0
Thursday: $0
Friday: $5 Overdue Book Fine from the local library This was not an expected expense but my kids tried to check out books and they couldn’t due to the built up late fines so I had to use 20% of our weekly budget to get the restriction removed)
Saturday: $7.44 for a Bag of Cat Food (Normally we would have purchased a much larger and less expensive per weight bag of food, but in order to stay in budget this month, we only ended up buying a 3.5 pound bag)
Sunday: $0
Monday: $0
Tuesday: $7.16 on a half dozen donuts from Dunkin Donuts. (I had all that extra money burning a hole in my pocket apparently!)
TOTAL SPENT FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK: $19.60
Surplus rollover to next week: $5.40
We did run out of soda this week, so I dragged out my soda stream to make some sparkling water and diet "cola." I use the term "cola" loosely, since Soda Stream's version isn't exactly the same thing as Diet Coke but beggars can't be choosers. (I wish I could buy actual Diet Coke Syrup!)
In case you wondered what our pantry-only meals looked like this week these are the dinners we had:
Wednesday: Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry (Frozen stir fry veggies, boneless skinless chicken breasts and Soy Vay Teriyaki sauce cooked together on the stove.)
Thursday: Grilled Chicken Salad (We set up a salad bar and everyone makes their own)
Friday: Slow Cooker Bourbon BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
GET THE RECIPE HERE
Saturday: Leftover pulled pork
Sunday: SUPER BOWL PARTY. We ate mostly appetizers and junk food, no real meal was served.
Monday: Grilled Bratwursts
Tuesday: Frozen Pizza (We had soccer practice and the girls were leading the color guard at the town hall meeting. Normally we would have eaten out, so frozen pizza was the budget friendly, fast and easy alternative.)
You can see I use my grill a lot. Both indoor and outdoor. I have one of those Lean Mean Grilling Machines and I love it since I can wash the grill grates in the dishwasher (it has 4 types of plates that are interchangeable so you can grill or make waffles all on the same machine!)
When the weather is good I use my gas grill since that means no dishes to wash, but we have been in flood conditions for the past few weeks.. no grilling for me!
