lessons in budgeting 101

today was a challenge.  i was good, i was bad.  i had a medical appointment, and after that we wandered down the street to a farmer's market.  it seemed to me that most of the produce was way overpriced, so we didn't buy any.  but then i spied it.  honey.  not just honey, local DESERT HONEY! from all the pollens that are located naturally here in the mojave.  just what you need to strengthen your immune system.  okay, i blew the budget.  i should have just gotten the MEGA HUGE jar, but i went with the bear and a smaller jar, which ended up costing me $2 more.  i thought i could encourage little one to use the honey bear a little bit more if it was sitting there on the counter.  it's cute, it's friendly, it's a honey bear, for cripes sake.  spring will be here before we know it, so it's time to get some good local honey in all of us so our allergies won't act up come spring.   and i bought a baguette, which really didn't kill the budget.  that got divided into thirds, two thirds went in the freezer, and we had some bread tonight.  little one with her pasta bolognese, and me with my brie.  we'll have to add up what we've spent, but i think we've spent over half of our budget, and it's only the eighth of the month.  like i said, this is going to be a long learning experience.

so now, we've got to tighten our belts EVEN MORE.  i'm getting good at stretching one chicken breast so it feeds all three of us.  meat is getting to be less and less of a central aspect of our meals.  i've got a batch of kidney beans par boiled in the fridge, ready to be made into red beans and rice.  i just found a coupon in a magazine for $1 chicken sausage.  yes, i know that's not authentic, but it will be an introduction for little one, so that might be a good idea.  she's not opposed to the idea, so i'm good with that.

we're eating more rice, i've noticed.  i'm going to slowly make the switch to brown rice to bump up the nutritional value in our meals.  i'm going to have to reacquire my taste for it, and teach everyone else to like it, too.  so i see lots of beans and rice in our future.  and i'm going to have to break out the quinoa, too.  you can't go wrong with quinoa as a source of protein, as far as grains go.  now, if i can just get them to EAT IT.

so, 22 days left in the month, right around $100, give or take....i think it's less.  we're going to have to really take stock of what's in the house (we haven't finished that inventory yet.)  we have to go through the freezer and the cabinets, check what's good, bad, toss, donate, clear out, organize, you name it.  we've gotten two cabinets done, and that's a good start.

now, if i could just get a good night's sleep, i'd be unstoppable!