Food and Personal Goals of the Month - March

The first day of March...makes me very anxious for spring!  Hopefully it will be here soon.  I'd be happy to just get into the 40s and get rid of the snow :P  I'm so ready to be able to play outside, take walks, etc.

Over the last couple months I've been thinking a lot about money.  I think it's on everyone's minds these days with our economy and so many people without jobs.  As a stay-at-home mom I don't have an "income."  Since I don't bring in money I've been thinking of ways to not spend money.  The less I spend, the more we earn as a family.  That is how I "make money" at my "job."  So for March that will be my main goal...start a cost saving plan.  I've always been a saver, not a spender.  So this isn't something totally new to me.  But I've been trying to think of ways to save even more.  This will be ongoing and I know I won't be able to do it all in one month.  But here is my starting point.

1. Make as much food as I can from scratch.
I already make a lot from scratch.  But I know I could do more.  So I'm going to keep track of the things we buy regularly...and see how much of it I can make.  This will save us money and probably be better for our health.  Here is the list I've come up with so far.  I know I won't get to all of them this month, but I want to at least try to do some of the main ones.

-bread *
-bagels *
-english muffins *
-crackers *
-canned beans
-tortillas
-pita bread *
-cashew butter *
-granola bars *
-ice cream *
-raisins
-cream soups
-croutons *
-bread crumbs *

2. Keep better track of sales and spending
I started a while back to go through grocery receipts and make a spreadsheet of prices, sales, etc.  Then I got busy and stopped doing it.  So I need to get back in the habit (which I've been doing for the last few weeks already).  My goal is to keep track of our weekly spending...and categorize it to see what we're spending money on.  I will also keep track of sales and hopefully be able to find a pattern of when items go on sale that we regularly buy.  Then I can know when to stock up and only buy things on sale.

3. Use less
This is a very simple thing that could make a difference.  Just use less.  All it takes is a little thought and effort.  Easy things to cut back on are shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste...things like that.  I could probably use half the amount of shampoo that I normally do and still get my hair just as clean.  Probably most of us use more than we actually need...we just don't think about it.  The little things can add up.

4. Eat something besides cereal for breakfast
This is something I've been working on already for the last few months.  This month I'm going to set a more specific goal.  Eat 3 non-cereal breakfasts per week.  Cereal is so expensive...especially when you buy cereal that is good quality (I'd like to not buy much if any of the big brand cereal).  So by cutting our consumption in half it will really make a difference on our food spending.  And it will be good for our health.  I'm already good at food planning.  So adding in a few breakfasts a week won't be too difficult.  (Edited 3/4/10) Just realized yesterday that this will also add savings because it will cut back on our milk consumption.  I pretty much only use milk on my cereal.  So if I don't eat cereal I don't use milk.  Justin drinks it with dinner, but that's it.

For my food goal this month I'll use one of my homemade items.  Since I want to start making all of our own bread I figured sandwiches would be a good food for the month (not to mention it's a very quick and easy meal...always something I'm looking for).  And other items involving bread as well.  I got an electric knife for Christmas, so that will really come in handy to slice bread thinly for sandwiches.  I already have one evening of sandwiches this week.  In addition I'm going to make bread pudding and possibly homemade croutons for salad.  And hopefully as I work on making bread I'll get better at it.  I definitely need some practice right now :P

We are moving forward with potty training.  Rebecca seems more and more ready.  Yesterday she told us she had to go.  And she sat on the potty for a bit (nothing happened).  So we'll still take it slow, but my idea is to add in at least one "potty time" every day...see how she does.  I guess it's time to say bye-bye to onesies.

Finally...in less than 2 weeks I hit the big 3-0.  Very scary!  I don't really have any specific goals to go along with it.  But just an overall hope and excitement to start a new decade.  My 20's have been full of ups and downs.  I've gone through so much and have changed so much.  I can truly say I'm in a much better place now than I was when I turned 20.  And the things I've gone through over the past 10 years have really shaped me and made me a better person.  God is always working on me, so I can't wait to see what he has in store for the coming years.  I've always felt younger than I am, so we'll see how long it takes me to really grasp that I'm 30 and not in my 20's anymore.  And maybe, just maybe people will stop thinking I'm in high school now ;P

Here's the recap:

-Cost saving plan
-Bread items/sandwiches
-Potty training
-Birthday