End of Month Recap - March

The end of another month.  For once this one didn't seem to fly by.  It actually felt quite long.  I'm loving the weather we're ending on compared to how we started March :)  Bring on spring!!  I feel like I did quite well on my goals this month.  Here's the rundown.

Cost Savings

1.  Make as much food as I can from scratch.  I actually made most of the stuff on my list, plus some extras.  Here's a list of the homemade foods I made during the month:

whole wheat bread
whole wheat bagels
english muffins
crunchy granola bars
chewy granola bars
wheat thins
whole wheat vanilla wafers
whole wheat chocolate chip brownies
cooked/froze (didn't have time to can) white beans
whole wheat pita bread
whole wheat hamburger buns
cashew butter
dried apples
ice cream
whole wheat croutons
whole wheat bread crumbs
3 birthday cakes
chocolate chips
Thousand Island Dressing

2.  Keep better track of sales and spending.  I have been keeping track of both all month.  I am already starting to see a trend in some sales.  But this will take a while to have the full effect.  It is also good to see how much we actually spend on food every week/month to give a baseline.  I will expand on this idea next month.

3.  Use less.  I've been doing pretty well with this.  I can tell for sure that my shampoo and conditioner will last much longer than usual.  This is something I will continue to implement and find new areas to try.

4.  Eat something besides cereal for breakfast.  This one has really surprised me.  I haven't had a bowl of cereal in over a week now!  We've only been eating cereal twice a week at most lately.  I used to not be able to live without my big bowl of cereal first thing in the morning.  But now I'm enjoying eating a variety of other healthy food.  And I love that I'm getting a lot more fresh fruit in my diet now.  Plus I haven't had to buy cereal in weeks.  And I doubt I will have to for months.  We've had the same boxes of cereal in the cupboard all month...and they are only half empty.  This is definitely proving to be a huge cost saving and step up in our eating.  I do still enjoy cereal.  But I don't HAVE to have it every day now.  The other big factor for me here is portion control.  I'm realizing that by not eating cereal I eat a much more manageable portion for breakfast.  And I feel so much better.  When I eat cereal I give myself way too much...but then I can't waste it so I eat it all.  Then I start the day feeling stuffed and sick.  When I eat other things I feel a lot better because I eat the right amount, not too much.  This has been a wonderful experiment and something that will now be part of our regular habits.

Sandwiches/Bread Items
 
It was fun to experiment with various sandwiches.  And I realized it's a great quick prep meal!  I will be incorporating more sandwiches into our meals in the future.  Not every week, but once in a while for sure.  I still have a lot of recipes I didn't get around to trying.
 
Potty Trainging
 
The potty training is moving along well.  Still taking our time.  We do potty time multiple times a day.  And whenever Rebecca is ready and starts asking to use the potty we'll go from there.  We're being very relaxed about it.
 
Birthday
 
I managed the jump from my 20s to my 30s :)  I don't feel any different, but it does make me think twice about things sometimes.  I'm a mature adult in my 30s.  I don't need to act like I'm 20 anymore.  I wanted to be treated like I'm 30, so I have to act like it :)  I'm actually kind of enjoying it already.
 
So, there's the recap for March.  A month full of change and progress.  Check back tomorrow to see what's on the agenda for April.