The 50 Cent Meal Challenge week six and what we ate last week

 The 50 Cent Meal Challenge is a joint effort between two sisters in different regions and with different challenges.  Tina lives in Ohio with her husband and son, and is learning to stretch her shrunken budget while trying to develop an old fashioned, basic approach to cooking.  Jen lives in New Mexico with her husband and they are Foster Parents who are learning the art of flexibility. They live on a single income and are joining this challenge for the sake of the challenge.  Tina and Jen are planning their family groceries on a 250.00 budget for 6 weeks.


                                                         September 19-25


This was the last week of our challenge. Did I make it or did I bust the budget? I don't even know yet! 


I came home from the conference in Alb with a horrible case of Bronchitis! And nobody was home to pamper me. So I spent the week on the couch watching t.v. sleeping and coughing. Not the best week. It was pretty good for the budget though cause I really didn't have an appetite at all for most of the week. I lived on cereal, orange juice and my mom brought me chinese and that lasted for 2 meals for me. 


Sam came home on Friday and I made Aussie Chicken for dinner and Panna Cotta with balsamic strawberries for dessert. So glad to have him home!!
Saturday we had cereal for breakfast and leftovers for a late lunch and had a late dinner with some friends at Denny's ( 41.00 included in the budget).


Weekly budget     41.66
Amount spent     -70.72
                                29.06 over budget


Did I make it????


Drumroll please......










I came in 2.57 under budget! 


To be fair the only reason I came in under budget is because we were out of town for a time and because I was sick. But those are the numbers.


I did learn a lot during this challenge. 

• I buy way too much unnecessary stuff. 
• It forced me to focus on not loosing produce (and other things)
• Cutting trips to the store makes a huge difference 
• bake from scratch (not something I love to do but saves tons of cash)
• I will stick to a set budget from now on, because I know I can do it!
• I really like challenges!

                     The 50 Cent Meal Challenge
                                                        Track Tina's progress 

The 50 Cent Meal Challenge week 4 & 5 and what we ate last week

 The 50 Cent Meal Challenge is a joint effort between two sisters in different regions and with different challenges.  Tina lives in Ohio with her husband and son, and is learning to stretch her shrunken budget while trying to develop an old fashioned, basic approach to cooking.  Jen lives in New Mexico with her husband and they are Foster Parents who are learning the art of flexibility. They live on a single income and are joining this challenge for the sake of the challenge.  Tina and Jen are planning their family groceries on a 250.00 budget for 6 weeks.


Ok I have slacked off, I know, so here is the catch-up post of weeks 4 and 5.
Week 4 September 5-11

• Monday
• Pancakes
• leftover beans
• Chicken and rice casserole
• Tuesday
• Cereal
• Pb&j sandwiches
• Leftover chicken casserole
• Wednesday 
• Cereal
• Sandwiches
• Tuna Casserole
• Thursday
• Cereal
• pizza rolls
• Green chile enchiladas (I forgot to add the chicken..)
• Friday
• Toast
• tuna casserole
• leftover enchiladas
• Saturday I don't remember what we had!!
• Sunday
• cereal 
• Out for chinese ($8)
• snacked

The only thing I had to buy at the store this week was Milk 3.49, cereal 2.48,  bread 2.18 and mushroom soup 1.32 and a few other misc. items.
Total 29.47


Week 5
September 12-18
Sam left on the 12th and came home on the 23rd. I went out of town from the 14th-17th. So Monday and Tuesday and Sunday were the only days I was home. Monday and Tuesday was me and the three girls and when I got back it was just me.

• Monday
• scrambled eggs
• pizza rolls 
• chicken strips and mac and cheese
• Tuesday
• cereal
• pb&j
• Chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes and corn
• Wednesday I left for Abq. for our women's conference. We ate out the whole time so I couldn't really include that. I came back Saturday night.
• Sunday
• Out to Denny's with friends, their treat.

I didn't need anything from the store for monday and tuesday. But I did buy the house sitter a pack of cookies 2.98. 


Weekly budget          83.32
spent week 4&5      - 32.45
                                50.87 under budget


Amount left in budget 73.29






                The 50 Cent Meal Challenge 
                         Track Tina's progress 

Wordless Wednesday (kinda)

These hot air balloons were right outside my living room window the other day. 

 You could hear the flames and all they were so close.

The kids loved watching them float by.

The 50 Cent Meal Challenge week three and what we ate last week

      The 50 Cent Meal Challenge is a joint effort between two sisters in different regions and with different challenges.  Tina lives in Ohio with her husband and son, and is learning to stretch her shrunken budget while trying to develop an old fashioned, basic approach to cooking.  Jen lives in New Mexico with her husband and they are Foster Parents who are learning the art of flexibility. They live on a single income and are joining this challenge for the sake of the challenge.  Tina and Jen are planning their family groceries on a 250.00 budget for 6 weeks.

         

                  August 29-September 4

• Monday
• breakfast burritos (egg, potato and green chile and cheese)/cereal(shredded wheat)
• Leftovers from the weekend
• Leftover chicken from the weekend
• Tuesday
• breakfast burritos/cheerios
• Carl's jr. with the little girls(15.00). Sam had leftovers
• Sandwiches and chips and salsa
• Wednesday
• shredded wheat cereal
• Pb&j
• velveeta skillet dinner (bbq chicken)..not a fan    
• Thursday
• shredded wheat cereal
• leftover skillet dinner
• chicken pot pie
• Friday
• fried eggs sandwich
• Denny's (20.00) (just Sam and I)
• roasted chicken, mac n cheese and a veg
• Saturday
• scrambled eggs/granola bars
• fend for yourself and random leftovers
• snacked
• Sunday
• Breakfast burritos or scrambled eggs
• ham and beans with cornbread
• dump cake.. What? we had a late lunch..It has fruit in it...

This was a before shot of the dump cake, I would have took an after shot but it didn't last long enough!

Ok so I need to justify and rationalize all the eating out we did this week. Ok first Carl's Jr. We went there because we had an out of town appointment for one of our foster girls. So really that was not a fun thing it was necessity, right? Yes. With 2 hungry little girls, I'd say so. It was also a learning experience, only order 1 chicken strip meal for the girls to share and bring extra clothes for ALL kids even though they have been potty trained for years...cause you just never know and you might have to go to Sam's Club with a little smelly girl. Lesson learned! Ok Denny's. It was our date night only during the day. The kids had appointments and Sam had the day off. Perfect time for a date right. Well we couldn't see a movie so we went to Denny's. So technically that could come out of a different budget, say entertainment, but we'll count it. 

Oh at Sam's Club (smelly little girl in tow), I got some granola bars and apple juice and Milk. That was 16.05. I had to pick up a few odds and ends at Wal Mart for 11.68 for a total of 27.73, going over my allotted 25.63 by 2.10. Not bad. But then we had to go and eat out and that was 35.00. 

Weekly budget 41.66--this week 25.63
Amount spent                  -62.73
                              -37.10


Amount left in budget 105.74   3 weeks to go


         The 50 Cent Meal Challenge 
                  Track Tina's progress here