Turns out that it’s a pretty good coffee creamer, so all is not lost. It doesn’t taste bad, it is just way too thin and runny to be construed as eggnog.
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A friend of mine mixes half skim milk in her already low-fat eggnog, basically making it gross flavored skim milk in my opinion. I asked her what is the point in that and she says it’s too thick otherwise. Yuck.
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I drastically reduced my take-out in November, and then spent a lot more in groceries. Ultimately, it meant a bit of $ savings and noticeably less fun.
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I have used up the spool of black thread in my sewing box. That is a lot of darned socks, fixed buttons and etc.
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We only bought the food we needed this week! We ate most of the perishables and leftovers are going on holiday with us as snacks etc (extra fruits, some bread and ham will become sandwiches etc).
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I am doing a lot of new things with my kitchen. I am trying to cycle out the old way of using my freezer and gradually fill it with homemade frozen things (75%) and protein (25%). My old strategy was 90% protein but I don’t think that’s serving me as well anymore.
Today we will go to Aldi and the produce store. I think Aldi will be expensive because another thing I’m trying is eliminating Costco. Costco was totally worth it in NYC because of the relative costs of things in smaller stores, but there are a lot more well priced small stores here (like Aldi) and I’m increasingly getting less and less at Costco. The latest Costco list is so small it’s not even worth the charge for Instacart delivery, so we’ll see how much I can get at Aldi and how much I need to buy online or at another low cost retailer in the area.
Meal plan for the week! I didn’t end up making the chili cornbread casserole so I still have that in my back pocket if I need it too.
Breakfast- Breakfast Sandwiches (egg, cheese, sausage)/Soft Boiled Eggs + Apples
Lunch- Vegetable Pizza Wraps (mozzarella, parmesan, tomato sauce, mushrooms, peppers, garlic, artichokes, potatoes)
Dinner #1- Jackfruit Chicken in Adobo + Mexican Rice + Pico de Gallo + Ham Hock Pinto Beans
Dinner #2- Vegetable Red Curry (coconut milk, peppers, bamboo shoots, potato, carrot) + Spicy Tempeh + White Rice
Snacks: fruit, chocolate chip cookie cake, crackers
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Ok, I spent $95.48 on groceries plus $24.32 on household items. Not too bad! What do other people spend on household items, like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, detergent, etc?
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It’s so satisfying to use up craft supplies, isn’t it?
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I have a can of jackfruit and haven’t know what to do with it. Will have to try it with adobo!
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I’m going to try and track spending this pay period, and maybe even estimate additional spending.
Spent so far:
- Meds: $4.56
- Giving Tuesday donation of cat food to the Catcade (shelter where our cats came from) via Chewy wishlist as they were matching donations that day. $17.77
- Flea meds: $143.38. This gets us through the move date, basically.
- Groceries: $60.45
- Gym membership autopay. DAMMIT. I really need to call and cancel that. $29.99
- A bottle of wine and some rice crackers from Whole Foods: $13.53
Future spending:
- I need to get ingredients for rum balls. Nilla wafers, cocoa, confectioners sugar, corn syrup, we already have the rum. So, that should run, I dunno, $10 or less?
- On Saturday I’m going to goth night, solo because Boyfriend is out of town. This likely will be my last one before moving. $15 admission. Let’s say $15 for the lyft home (because safety, we usually leave around 2 a.m. and I will not do CTA alone at that hour). I am going to try very hard to make myself take the bus there (using what’s left of my monthly pass), but I see the snowflake on my weather app that day so we’ll see. Oh, and I think coat check is $3. I won’t drink because mask and also woman alone.
- 2 online fitness classes on Thursday and then the following Wednesday, they are pay what you can, suggested amount $10 so that is what I normally pay. So that’s $20.
OK, that comes to $332.68 and my goal is to keep non-rent/bill spending under $500 per paycheck. So, I seem on track. This also means that I can Lyft to goth night and still be under. And also maybe treat myself to vegan takeout while Boyfriend is gone.
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Oh, I forgot I had to pay TWENTY BUCKS in postage for a priority mail flat rate box. The fuck? I guess rates went up? I get mine discounted thru Etsy and Amazon Handmade, for my orders. It’s been a while since I’ve mailed anything personal.
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I buy all of my household items (for the most part) at Costco because I hate running out, and I never pay attention until I’m out of something I need, so it’s just easier to always have a ton on hand! I probably spend $40-$50 every 3 months for household items (toilet paper, laundry soap, cleaning supplies, paper towels etc). The laundry soap lasts me almost a year, but the TP is an every 3 months purchase, dish soap every 6 months and paper towels every 9-12 months. I’m very minimal with cleaning supplies, and use dish soap and water for most things and bleach spray after meat in the kitchen, or for most areas of the bathroom.
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Same here. Buy Costco, on the sales cycle (except TP which doesn’t have one). Not sure what I average since I don’t split out beyond “general household” which at this point can have anything from toilet paper to kiddo toys to office supplies to holiday decor.
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Oooh how do you keep track of the Costco sales cycle?
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By having been a Costco shopper my whole life lol 
it was my first CC at 16 (thanks ma!)
More seriously though, I follow an Instagram account the posts the sales brochure as they come in, and I just make sure to add to my grocery list from that. And from there I just have developed a sense of how often stuff goes on sale, and I stock up accordingly. Diapers, dish soap, laundry soap all go on sales. Paper towels and toilet paper do not. Ziploc’s do go on sale. Stuff like that.
ETA
https://instagram.com/costco_empties?utm_medium=copy_link
You can look back and see all the past sales booklets on here. But if my recollection serves, diapers or twice a year, and dish soap and laundry soap are both quarterly, Ziploc‘s are like three times a year. Some stuff has one really large sale each year though under the big Procter & Gamble sale, so it depends on what brands of stuff you get there.
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That’s adorable.
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Gotta give my parents credit, they set me up well for a good credit history and CC habits.
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16 year old me would have gone straight for the giant tub of jelly belly candies.
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I was all about chocolate covered raisins
No but really, my mom lived in another city and my dad worked a ton and all my brothers had moved out, so 16 is when I started doing all the grocery shopping among others things. So SOME real food was bought lots of minute rice and bananas and PB and jelly lol.
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I have a friend who’s in deep financial shit because of catastrophic medical bills. Everyone, including me, has been encouraging her for the better part of a year to put up a gofundme. And she finally did, through another friend.
I want to give to her but am uncertain of a reasonable amount. Particularly because I did not budget for this, as she’s been so resistant to asking for help, I never thought she’d actually put one up.
What do?
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