My aunt from Texas lets me know she’s in town so we head to Independence (60 miles away) to join them for lunch. I had enough gas left in my tank to make it there and back and my Dad paid for our lunch. Once again, I’m learning so much about being generous, especially from my parents. They inspire me!
Free Lunch
Today lunch is on our own at the conference. I had budgeted in $20 for this so I could buy my lunch and Nat’s lunch but cool thing happened! Another friend of mine offered to pay for my lunch so I gladly accepted. (I had paid for her conference registration back in December and she kept wanting to pay me back and I kept telling her that I wanted to bless her. So she really wanted to buy my lunch to bless me back. Sowing and reaping right there!) AND I was given $10 from the women’s ministry team to go towards my lunch because I was volunteering at the event so I was able to give that to Nat and pay for most of her lunch. Love it!
Nat asked if I’d do dinner with her after the conference. I decided I could put the $20 towards this dinner. But she offered to pay. (I had paid for her registration as well……again, sowing and reaping at its finest!)
So I’m still at $40.18 with 5 days left in the month.
Free T-Shirt
The women’s conference is finally here! My mom blessed me by buying me a “Beloved” t-shirt at the conference. I had determined that I wouldn’t buy one because it didn’t fit into the budget. Once again, I love generosity! And let me point out that I am not being that kid that says “Oh Mom I’d really like a shirt but I have a really tight budget.” She asked me if she could buy me one. So I’m not going around begging for charity because of a budget I put on myself. Just wanted to get that straight. 😊
Grocery Shopping Distractions
I ran to Sam’s Club with my mom and three kids because she needed to pick up some things for our church’s women’s conference. I ended up grabbing a bunch of bananas and a 24 pack of Dr. Pepper but she graciously paid for them. I just love generosity.
Then we headed over to Aldi – at lunch time – and I made some poor financial decisions. I should have learned from my HyVee cereal experience not to shop with extra people but it seemed like it would be fine and we really needed groceries. I only spent $45.24 which is really good for me on a normal week. I typically spend at least $50 – $75 at Aldi each week. But I’m on a budget now and $45 is over half of my remaining budget. I did go in with a list and a meal plan but I diverted from my list a bit because I was distracted. No more excuses! I just need to remember to shop alone with the least amount of kids possible.
$40.18 to go. Only 8 more days.
Eating Out
We head home so we fill the tank with gas again and stop for lunch at KFC. Both came out of hubby’s budget again but I decided stopping for fast food on road trips is just not wise. We spent over $20 when we could have made PBJ sandwiches for under $5. I’m learning!
Road Trip Cheat Day
We went out for lunch at Joe’s Crab Shack but again, hubby’s idea to go on this trip so it came out of hubby’s budget. We were careful about what we ordered and chose to share a meal.
We stopped at Walmart to pick up some Dr. Pepper and sugar for our friends. I don’t know about you but when I’m out of town I typically feel like budgets no longer apply and I can spend unlimited money! So I’d usually buy lots of snacks and such but I resisted because I’m on a budget. And I only spent $4.76. It felt good.
$85.42 left. 11 days to go. This is starting to feel like I might actually make it!
Road Trip
We made it to our friend’s house without stopping so we didn’t spend any extra money on snacks. We ate left over pizza because I was not going to let that pizza go to waste.
We were able to bring some food we had at home to contribute to our meals for the weekend and our friends blessed us with food all weekend.
We went to a coffee shop and our friends used a gift card for our drinks. So sweet of them!
Grocery Shopping Gone Wrong
I remember I got a HyVee gift card for Christmas and decide that doesn’t count towards my budget. Sure, it’s not sustainable. I won’t have $50 extra for groceries every month. But I do this month! So I run to HyVee after picking the kids up from school…at lunch time…with an extra 4 year old…on a limited budget. Yikes!
I learned quickly that shopping with all 3 kids plus one and when we’re all hungry and tired is a TERRIBLE no good VERY BAD idea. Lesson learned.
The ad said cereal was on sale so I spent time in the aisle finding the cereal that matched the ad. Then 4 year old had to go potty. NO!! But I’d rather take the hard trip to the bathroom than have to take her home in wet pants. On our way back to the cereal aisle we grab 4 free pieces of fruit plus some free samples of pizza. Delicious and messy. I grab two pizzas for $8 each…one for my family’s lunch and one for a friend. Then head back to the cereal aisle and complete my selection. Kids are literally about to fall out of the cart this whole time so I’m balancing that along with trying to make sure we aren’t leaving a trail of orange bits and pizza sauce. We finally get to the check out line and to my dismay the cereal rings up full price – $16 total for cereal that’s on sale for $10. Long story short, after waiting on a manager we find out the ad starts…………tomorrow. No!!! “Do you want to put it back?” asks the sweet little teenage girl behind the register who has no clue about being on a budget or shopping with crazy toddlers or buying groceries to make sure she can feed her family! I think “Oh gosh…yes I want to put it back! I’m on a budget! I can’t spend an extra $6 even if it is a gift card! But I just went through mild torture to get to this checkout line and to put it back would mean that all that was for nothing.” I walk out with the overpriced cereal and feel deep regret.
Lesson learned: don’t shop when you’re hungry and have extra toddlers.
At least it was just a gift card.
We eat that whole pizza by golly! Ha!
We made plans to travel to Des Moines this weekend to visit friends so I start thinking $90 left…eek! I’ll spend that in gas alone. I guess it was Lance’s idea so it should probably come out of his budget, right?! Right. Haha! Judge me if you want but it’s my budget challenge so I’m making this up as I go.
To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate
A grocery run was necessary today. I made a meal plan for the week yesterday attempting to use items we already had at home so I basically only bought milk and eggs and a few other things to complete our meal plan for the week. $22.54. Check.
$90.18 Left. 17 days to go.
Then, my friend from China texts me ecstatic because after years of waiting and applying and reapplying and driving miles and miles to the state capitol and meeting with her attorney countless times, she finally received her green card in the mail! Today! She can finally apply for a job and use her abilities to bless this city! Yay!! But problem…she wants to celebrate with dinner at HuHot. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity………and I have $90 left for the month. I have 5 people in my family. Eating at HuHot will cost at least $35 plus tips. It just doesn’t fit. I’m prepared to reluctantly tell her no but decide to text my husband to get his thoughts. He tells me it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and we’ll just take it out of his budget. Haha! Cheated again. But it was worth it. We ended up buying our friend’s dinner too because it was her birthday so we spent $87.55. We both LOVE blessing people so I need to make an effort to plan ahead better for blessing people. Maybe I could even start selling some baby clothes to bring in money so that I have extra. It’s a good thought anyway.
Life Without Coffee
Our coffee pot bites the dust. Hubby attempts to fix it but it seems that it will be more expensive to replace the missing piece than it would be to simply buy a new machine. Problem is…I only have $112.72!!! If I want to feed my family this month, I sadly decide the coffee pot must get relegated to the bottom of the spending list. Sad day! Thankfully we have a French press and it can get us through the month so we aren’t completely caffeine deprived. Ha! But I stay up til midnight researching coffee pots and find one I imagine I’d love. Then I search websites for the lowest price and sign up for BB&B emails to get some 20% off coupons. This is new for me! I usually just run to Target and buy whatever is on the shelf. Wow. This budget challenge is helping me grow already! 😊
Our friends ask us to have fondue with them tonight. I consider getting a babysitter but….$112.72 holds me back. My parents take Dinoman overnight and our friends decide to bring fondue to us right at bedtime so we can put the girls in bed at home and enjoy a kid-free double date. I would typically go to the store to buy things to provide for the dinner but I decide to just use what I have…which consists of steak, apples, carrots, and homemade French bread! Yum! So I didn’t have to spend extra money and we had everything we needed. I even made chocolate chip cookie bars. It was a fabulous date night and didn’t cost us any extra.
Mom Challenge 