Menu Planning

I know there are a trillion blogs out there that have menu planning ideas, instructions, down loads and there is a good reason for that. Menu planning is key to a frugal lifestyle. You are probably already aware that the best area of your budget to save money is in the grocery column. The best way to save money at the grocery store it to make a list of what you need and stick to it. But in order to make the list of what you need, first you need to know what you and your family will be eating that week / month. That brings us right back to menu planning. Here is a download of my February menu plan.

February Menu Calendar

As you can see it’s just a simple excel spreadsheet listing each day’s dinners. I don’t include lunches because that usually is either leftovers or a salad in a jar for us. Weekday breakfast is usually something I make over the weekend like muffins, whole wheat waffles and /or boiled eggs that we eat on all week. The main thing that helps me is a dinner menu, so I’m not stopping at the grocery store on the way home because everything I have is frozen. Planning = savings.

I make my menu around what I have in stock. The things we grow and “put up” including fruits, vegetables, eggs, pork and the venison that the Z Man harvests. That means that my grocery list is mostly made up of fresh veggies, milk, butter, flour, sugar…. the main staples of cooking. I make a monthly menu and then I do one large monthly grocery purchase. I buy all the things that will keep for the month without spoiling. Once a month grocery shopping has saved us quite a bit. Making a menu, making a list and sticking to the list, I have found is the best way for us to stay on budget with our grocery shopping.

It’s also important to include special dates in your monthly menu plan. For example you’ll see that for Super Bowl Sunday I have seafood nachos and buffalo wings on the menu. Both of those recipes I had to buy specific items for, so I put crab meat and wings on my shopping list. It’s not about depriving yourself of good food or eating cheap food, it’s about planning so you know in advance what you can afford and there are no emergency shopping trips because I forgot to set out the whatever to thaw. It’s just a little tool that keeps me on track, and one less thing I have to think about each day. It also helps me with meal ideas, I can refer back to a menu or add a new recipe that I want to try. How many of those do we see on FB every day? Yep, it’s that simple, but such a big help.

So, what’s on your menu for dinner tonight?

Till Next Time,

Lori

Simple Is The New Special

One would wonder why she would start a blog right before the busy season at work. Well, I did….. and that’s exactly why I haven’t posted in almost 5 months. But, things have settled down a bit and I’m looking forward to getting back to the Z Life blog.

It seems like everywhere you look now a days someone is talking or writing about “keeping it simple” The Z Man and I were talking just the other day about how “simple is the new special”

But sometimes just because it seems simple, doesn’t mean it is. It takes a lot of work to run a home on a budget, it takes a lot of work to make a monthly meal plan, it takes a lot of time and thought to do the things that make it look like our lives are simple.

Sure, you may see me hanging clothes on the line and think well how simple… but I just can’t throw a load of laundry in the washer any day, I have to check the weather and make sure it’s not going to rain so I can hang them to dry. Can you imagine what clean sheet night would be like if I didn’t plan it for a sunny, dry day. Sure we have a dryer, but I would much rather sleep on line dried sheets instead. And, if I don’t have to use the electricity to dry clothes, I would rather save our money.

You may see me eating leftovers for lunch and think, gosh she is so simple, she never eats lunch out “it’s always leftovers” How boring…

Well, that’s not so simple either, because more often than not that is a container of soup I’ve pulled from the freezer that morning, which came from a weekend of cooking soups, using the stocks that I made from the chicken (bones) I roasted and put in the freezer.

We may seem simple to some, but in reality it takes more planning of the details to do the things we do.

This past weekend consisted of spending Saturday with my parents, cutting down (dead) trees and eating homemade peach cobbler. We worked hard, ate good and enjoyed every bit of it. Sundays at the Z house is usually getting our chores done around the house and eating some good food and watching football. Although, I’m sad to say that my Redskins and the Z Man’s Steelers aren’t having the best seasons so far.

So, maybe simple is the new special… but I think we all have different perspectives of “simple”

The Z Man and I love our special life and I’m looking forward to slowing down a bit and simply enjoying it.

With Love,

Lori

Emotions Can Be Dangerous…

First let me apologize for not having posted in what seems forever. I’ve missed it so much! I believe this post will give you some insight as to why it’s been so long…

How can emotions be dangerous especially to your financial goals you ask?

Ok, so maybe you’re not asking, but I’m back to the blog world now and have a lot to share. 🙂

The harvest season (meaning the over time pay season) at my job begins in April and ends in October. This is the time of year that I count on to bank some extra money.

Let me interject here that this is a very high paced, service and retail oriented business. With that, comes all the stresses that you could imagine.

I’m not complaining, let me just say that I am very thankful for my job, all 6 days a week of it. But, I am tired. We are all tired and are already looking forward to fall. And, I’ll admit that there is something a little sad about wishing your summer away. But, it is what it is.

Anyway… The Zman and I have given ourselves a 5K financial goal this year. Meaning we want to save an additional $5,000 over our current savings into retirements, and other savings.

But, let me tell you how I just about blew the whole plan!!! You’re about to read how emotions can be dangerous, especially to your finances!

It all started on Monday…

The ZMan was working night shifts this week, which means we pass in the morning before and after work with just enough time to kiss hello and goodbye. 😦

When I get to work, the phone starts blowing up with customers needing and wanting and complaining and praising and you name it we had it going on. The full spectrum of a customer bringing us homemade chocolate chip cookies to being called every name in the book and crying. It makes for a l-o-n-g day. A long week, a long summer!!!

Earlier this year The ZMan and I had decided to pass on our annual beach trip this year to work on our $5K challenge. (I know poor me, right!) Well…..

By Monday afternoon I had decided that we were in fact going to go on our annual beach trip, but not only that… we were also going to go out and buy a truck and a camper so we could go on our annual beach trip, because I didn’t want to stay in a cabin anymore. And, well I deserve it because I work hard, and people can be mean, and I’m tired, and I need a break and I and I and I and I and I……

Yep, I was ready to wipe out our entire savings, and take out a loan to finance our well deserved camper and truck so we could go on a week long beach trip. It was going to be great, and honestly I thought it was the best idea ever. No matter the cost and giving up a full week of pay with overtime to do it, it is going to be GREAT!!!

Oh Yea, I can feel the sand under my feet and taste the salt in the air now……

Sidebar here…. I have done this before. Several years ago I made plans for us to go camping and reserved a spot in the campground at the beach for a camper that we didn’t even own yet. Then we bought our camper for our vacation. The lady taking my reservations asked me what size camping site I needed to fit my camper in and she got a real big kick out of the fact that I was reserving a spot for a camper that we didn’t own yet. I suppose size does matter sometimes 🙂

Anyway…. back to my story… I came home from work and gave The ZMan every good reason why we needed to do this, could afford it and would save money in the years to come because of it. Heck, it’s like an investment!

He was an absolute saint to me. He listened and agreed that yes he thinks we deserve a nice vacation too. So….

We were looking at campers and trucks, and talking about what kind we wanted. I was making dinner, having a glass (or three) of wine, beginning to relax, and even getting excited for us getting new toys and going on a great vacation. I was feeling so much better, having fun even.

That’s when The ZMan (the Saint) blindsided me with the sweetest voice and loving eyes and said “but Babycakes (that’s me by the way), what about our $5K plan?”

That one question set my world right again. I immediately looked up to the sky and thanked GOD for loving us. I am blessed with a perfect life with the love of my life and sometimes I forget that. The ZMan absolutely talked me right off the ledge. Well, he did more than talk, but that’s between me and him 😉

I am blessed with a Husband that loves me enough to understand and even entertain my emotional (crazy) splurge ideas and take part in honest conversations about how great this or that might be, and then bring me back home to what is really important to us. Our future together.

No our life might not “seem” perfect to others because we work hard, eat leftovers, hang our clothes on the line to dry, recycle, repurpose and reuse, shop at Goodwill, drive older cars, heat our house with a wood stove, and try to find more ways to save.

But, we think it’s perfect, and that’s all that matters to us.

So, we will not be buying a camper or truck, and we are sticking to the plan and passing on going to the beach this summer.

Thank you so much for letting me share my little story with you, I hope you enjoyed it. I’ve missed blogging and can’t wait to get back to it full on.

Y’all Take Care!

Lori

The Switch Has Flipped…

Now that it’s just the ZMan and I at home, I’m trying to cut back on the amount of food that I cook. I still want to cook enough to have leftover for lunches and perhaps to freeze a second meal for later use, which makes dinner time a breeze.

In combination with that I’m also trying to cut back on the amount of electricity we use. Not only because we are facing “another” rate increase in May, but because I’d rather keep as much of our money as we can, and it’s the right thing to do. Another form of waste I’m trying to cut out.

These two efforts have led me to use my toaster oven more instead of my conventional oven. It uses less energy, and smaller meals are by design a requirement.

The problem was I only had the one baking pan that came with the small oven, that was really getting a work out and limiting me to what I could cook.

Then I came across these smaller cast iron pans. You can see them on top of the toaster oven.

First let me tell you I love to cook in cast iron cookware. I love that it will go from stove to oven and that they will literally last forever. I even use my cast iron on top of the wood stove to cook.

I love that my kids will someday inherit my cast iron cookware and then their kids and so on…

Finding these little babies has allowed me to really open up the meal options while still using the toaster oven.

The toaster oven gets warm enough that I can even heat a side dishes on the top of it.

I love that (pardon the pun) the switch has flipped and I am always trying to think of ways to cut back and save, instead of just tossing it out, cutting it on, or buying a new one.

I’ll admit it does take quite a bit of planning, but thinking about a process instead of just jumping into it always works out best doesn’t it. Kind of like the measure twice and cut once theory.

Sure, I still have my impulse times that I shoot from the hip and make a stupid purchase, but they are a lot less frequent now which is allowing the hopes and dreams jar get a little more full.

Are you thinking of ways to cut back or perhaps to off set the electric company increase that’s coming? I’d love to know what your ideas are.

Y’all Take Care!

Lori