Since buying our new house I find myself asking every month it seems, where did our money go? Since there is a phased remodel in the plans, all possible money must be set aside to support this effort. Rob and I have determined that we are going to pay cash as much as possible, so with that we must have discipline to save money for this little endeavor.
Initially it was very easy. The one benefit of being laid off with a package, you get this 3rd paycheck of sorts that can automatically be saved. Saving is VERY easy under these circumstances. The difficulty lies in saving during ordinary times. 2 paychecks enough bills it seems to keep an island afloat and life happening all around you.
We are reverting to our Dave Ramsey lifestyle in many ways. Not that we have gone that far astray from when we used his methods to get our finances under control. At any rate, I have been slowly assessing where our money is going since the start of 2013.
It seems we like to eat out...A LOT. Alright if we are honest its probably me or Hannah, much more than Rob if I am being honest with you. I know many of you think I am some super mom that gets it all done and works. The truth of the matter is that cooking is the LAST thing I want to do when I get home from work. Getting up as early as I do now, when I get home I want to take a nap. However, there are chores yet to do and cooking is last on my priority list, mostly because I do not feel I am that good at it.
I am actually alright at cooking, but if I didn't have Hannah and Rob to feed, I would probably subsist on PB&J, Spaghetti, Diet Coke and Chocolate Milk. Since my family needs nutrition and we must teach Hannah about healthy food and portions, I must face the evil task of nutritional cooking. Don't get me wrong I like food and eating, but healthy isn't necessarily mixed in with that. I like ground beef instead of turkey. I like red meat instead of white meat. I am not IN LOVE with vegetables of any color or variety either. Bread...well bread is a different matter I LOVE it. And that is the problem isn't it? Bread is bad, so now we limit that as much as possible. Food isn't fun anymore.
So, what is a girl who would prefer not to cook, but must save money and consider nutrition to do?
Apparently, I have to cook. Planning would be optimal, but cooking is required. I have made it a goal to pay to eat out on only 2 occasions in the month of May. First for my Aunt's birthday this weekend and for Rob's birthday at the end of the month. In between, cooking and cooking alone will be my source of food.
In recent months and years fast food (pizza not included since it doesn't deliver fast) consumption is way down for us, but we still would eat at restaurants 2-3 times a week. Add a pizza in there every couple of weeks and viola, your money is zipping through your fingers at an alarming rate.
Now, I have meal planned before and really only successfully for 2 weeks in any given attempt. I have determined that planning the week in advance is bad, since you just don't know what you will feel like eating until the day comes. So I am going with a different approach. I have made a list of all our go to meals and will ensure we have the ingredients for those dishes in the house. Then on Sunday if someone has a meal request we can shop for the special ingredients required.
There is a problem though. Since we have typically eaten out a lot, our go to list is only about 15 things long. You can run through that and get to monotony pretty quickly if you aren't careful. If that happens we are doomed to failure. So now what do you do?
Well right now I think about what meat I have a lot of or haven't had in awhile and go to my good friend www.allrecipes.com and search for recipes that use that ingredient. See if there is something that looks appetizing and can be augmented for my picky tastes (I am no foodie). Tonight we will have turkey Sloppy Joe's, using the Sloppy Joe's II recipe from all recipes.
In an attempt to hold myself accountable I will try to post regularly how my challenge is going. Mostly I hope I find it fulfilling so we can save money and I can maybe enjoy cooking a little more than I do now.
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