Making Your Own Butter

I will be the first person to admit that I was very intimidated by the very thought of making butter. The only image I had running through my mind was me churning butter with a an old crock and butter churn. Let me tell you...gone are those days!

Making butter definitely goes on the easy list. If you've got the ingredients and an extra 20-30 minutes, you've got delicious, wholesome butter.

Now, I know that a few months back we were trying to cut the butter out of our diet because of high cholesterol issues. So you may be asking me why now all of sudden I am singing it's praises. The more I began to think about things, the more I realized I didn't understand nutrition at all. I went with the flow, and just assummed that the labels on products, the scientists behind those products, and the food companies knew and spoke nutrition. Unfortunately, it couldn't be further from the truth. Butter is not processed; it contains all natural, un-fabricated ingredients. Did you know that the actual color of margarine is grey and it is then bleached and colored to look like butter? Um, gross! Now is not the time for a big butter vs. margarine debate, but if it is something that you are interested in, I urge you to read this article, as well as this one about the processes that margarine goes through.

Back to making butter.

You can do this with store bought heavy cream, as long as it isn't ultra pasteurized. However, I have only ever used raw cream that I have skimmed off of my raw milk.

Take your cream and pour into a food processor, and process.





I process mine on a 1 or a 2, but it moves pretty fast. It usually takes about 15-25 minutes and the butter starts to form.

Now is the time to turn it off and pour off the buttermilk--but keep it. While it isn't cultured, it is still good to use in some recipes.

After you have the buttermilk poured off of the butter, add some ice cold water and process for about 5 more seconds. Drain off the water, and repeat. When the water is no longer cloudy, you can finish repeating this step. You are trying to remove the rest of the buttermilk from the butter which will help the butter keep a bit longer.

If you want to, now is the time to season your butter. I prefer not to add salt to mine, but if you desire to, add in a dash of sea salt.

*Different Variations*

• Add about a tablespoon of raw honey to your butter and mix up, perfect on dinner rolls or warm biscuits.
• A teaspoon of basil and a dash of grated Parmesan Cheese for a nice Italian Herb Butter.
• A dash or two of cayenne pepper; depending on how brave you are.

After you've seasoned it, or not, form it and refrigerate.

One thing to note, homemade butter, since it is lacking all preservatives, doesn't last as long as store bought butter. In addition, it takes a lot of cream to make a fair amount of butter. Because of this, I won't make all of our needed butter, but we do like it as an added treat with our homemade bread. There is just something gratifying about making butter. Not to mention the flavor is better! Using and making butter works for me!

This post is linked to:

• Frugal Friday
• Works for Me Wednesday

Benefits of Raw Milk

If you would have told me a year or so ago that my family would be relying on a local farmer for our milk, I would have called you crazy. My naive mind thought that store bought was the way to go. Obviously not with just milk, either. But boy has my mind been changed!

The more I look into what is really in (or in some cases, what isn't in) store bought food, the more I want to avoid it. We've switched to homemade bread products made with fresh ground wheat, homemade snacks, and I grow and preserve as much food as I can. Other than finding a good meat source (which I think I have already) the only thing I needed to do something about was our dairy products.

I'm not going lie. This was a very hard decision for me. It took many, many months for me to finally jump in and do it. And really, it wasn't me that did it, the farmer did. They had some extra milk, and wanted to know if I wanted it. If I didn't, it would be poured down the drain. Not being one to waste, I jumped on it, and I haven't looked back. The family loves it!

Benefits of Raw Milk

1. During the pasteurization process, milk store bough milk loses roughly 60% of it's calcium.
   
   
2. In addition to losing that much calcium, it loses all of it's phosphate. Doesn't sound too important--but it is! Phosphate helps your body to absorb (or use) the calcium.
   
   
3. Raw Milk is higher in B12 (here is great article on the importance of Vitamin B12)and Vitamin C, as well as many other vitamins that are completely destroyed by the pasteurization process.
   
   
4. Raw milk contains beneficial enzymes and amino acids that aid in digestion and vitamin absorption.
   
   
5. Many "lactose intolerant" people are able to drink Raw Milk because it is easier to digest.
   
   
6. Store bought milk goes rancid, where as raw milk just sours. Sour milk can still be used in baking; makes great muffins, breads and pancakes.
   
   
7. We skim off the cream on some of our gallons, and I use it to make butter, or for my coffee. 2 birds with one stone.
   
   
8. Less is more. Raw Milk will fill you up faster since it still has all of the nutrients and cream.
   
   
9. Raw Milk tastes so much better.
   
   

Things to keep in mind: Only buy from farmers that feed their cattle green grass and that do not use antibiotics. Also make sure that the farm is clean, and that the milk is stored correctly.

These fancy processes that our food goes through isn't necessarily a good thing! I've come to really love Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions. It is a definite eye opener, and it will change the way you look at food.

Taking a closer look at real nutrition, which was one of my 2009 goals, and finally switching my family to raw milk works for me! There is no turning back for us!

This post is being linked to Works For Me Wednesday

Clearanced Fruit

Every once in awhile I get lucky and I stumble upon great clearance sales on fruit at the local grocery store.

I rarely pay full price for bananas since they go on clearance quite often. Although they are usually browning a bit, these bananas are great for freezing or using right away.

• Slice up and flash freeze individually and then place in a gallon bag. These are great for smoothies, to use in baked goods later on, or even for banana foster (a new favorite in my house!)
• Peel and freeze whole. I've frozen then in the peel before--some were easy to get the peel off, while others were not. Peeling them before hand eliminates this hassle.
• Use right away in banana bread/muffins, cakes, smoothies, banana foster :), oatmeal, etc.

A recent stop into my local grocery store yielded me a great score of clearanced bananas and apples! I was so excited at my find since it is rare that I find apples this cheap-- .29¢/pound!! I brought home all that they had, which was almost 4 pounds. I was dreaming of all the different things I could do with all those apples.

• Made lots of fresh apple juice with my new juicer. Boy, oh boy am I addicted to that thing! Fresh juiced juice does not even compare to commercial juice.
• Sliced, cored, and peeled a big batch for the freezer. I added some cinnamon and sugar and froze to use later on in apple pie.
• Ate fresh.
• Smoothies.
• If I had gotten more I would have loved to make some apple butter or apple sauce. Mmmmm!

Clearanced fruit saves money--as long as you use it up before it goes bad. Saving money with clearanced fruit definitely works for me!

Have you ever gotten any good deals on clearanced fruit? What is your favorite use for it?

FREE Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs

It's almost summer time which means lots of outdoor barbecues and picnics! So, hurry on over and get a coupon for a FREE package of Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Hot Dogs.



This is an awesome coupon--so sign up while you can. Kraft is not putting a cap on how many, but it only lasts until midnight tonight! Registration is fast, and you should receive your coupon by mail in about 4-6 weeks. (Thanks to Freebies4Mom for the heads up!)



I recently had the pleasure of doing a review for the PREMIUM Beef Hot Dogs, courtesy of Oscar Mayer and HomemakerBarbi.com. You can see my first ever video review on Oscar Mayer's YouTube channel.



Now, before you go over there and get a good morning laugh let me say this: I was VERY nervous..hence all the blinking! I have no idea why I was nervous..I just was. I'll blame it on my husband! ;) Willie made his first YouTube appearance as well in the video, as well as our youngest, Noah. Noah was not coaxed in his answer either. He came up with that all on his own.



Anyway--go check it out and find out what we had to say about Oscar Mayer's new PREMIUM Beef Hot Dogs and don't forget to register for your FREE coupon! They work for me!

Calling All Bakers and Cooks!

I love to bake! To me, it is very rewarding to work up something for my family to enjoy.



A few years ago, I would have served up a cake made from a cake mix, today you will more than likely get Chocolate Infused Depression Cake, Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins, Strawberry Shortcake or some other from scratch dessert. I love sharing my recipes with others, and I like it when others share their favorites with me.



That is where you come in.



A friend of mine, Kate from Cooking During Stolen Moments, has partnered with Share Our Strength to create the Virtual Great American Bake Sale. Each year Share Our Strength asks people to host bake sales in their communities with all of the proceeds going to their ultimate mission - making sure no child goes hungry! The virtual bake sale is going to spread this movement to the blogosphere. We all know the power of the blogosphere!

For this backwards WFMW, I'm asking for recipes to be added to the Virtual Great American Bake Sale. Kate has all the details on the Cooking During Stolen Moments site, so head over there to see how you can participate. But, you better hurry--deadline for entries is April 5th.

I can't wait to get the e-book and try out all of the different recipes you have submitted. Sharing, and helping others, definitely works for me!

Starting Seeds: A How-To

With all the talk about gardening the last few days, I have received a lot of questions on how I do things. For more about why we chose seeds, see this post.

Here is my basic list of things to keep in mind when trying to grow plants from all those precious little seeds.

• The back of your seed packet, most of the time, will tell you how far in advance of your last frost you should start your seeds. As a general rule, most of them are 4-6 weeks before last frost. You can find out your last average frost date by going to this website.
  
  
• Then you will need something to start your seeds in. I got my flats from a local greenhouse that was going out of business., or you can find them online. You know the six pack of plants that you buy from Wal-Mart in the little black containers? That is what these are, except, there are 48 to a sheet. I love these, and I will definitely be buying more in the future. If you cannot get your hands on these, you can buy Jiffy pots almost anywhere that sells gardening goods. I, personally do not have much luck with the things, but I know a lot of people do.
  
  
• Then you are going to need "dirt" of some form. Seeds need a lot of nutrients and such to get started. I used Miracle Grow Seed Starting Potting Mix to get mine started. So far so good! I did look for one that had very little, if any peat moss. I did this for a couple of reasons, the main one being that there is speculation that the peat moss slows germination, especially in peppers. Not sure if that is fully true or not, but I wanted to get as quick of germination as I could.
  
  
• Keep your seeds moist, do not let them dry out! But, you also do not want them swimming in water, either. Once they have sprouted, make sure that you water the dirt, and not the leaves of the new seedlings. Watering the leaves encourages mold, which could eventually kill your new seedlings. I don't think you want that!
  
  
• I used Saran wrap to cover my flats, or you could use a plastic dome. This held the moisture and the humidity in so that the seeds can germinate. Once the seeds have germinated and are up, you should remove your cover.
  
  
• I know a lot of people use grow lights. I do not, so I do not have experience in this area. I do know, though, that you want to keep them relatively close to the new seedlings, but leaving a couple inches between the seedlings and the light. Also, your light (or your seedlings) need to be able to be moved up or down, as to allow room for your new seedlings to grow. I keep my seeds in my greenhouse so that they receive plenty of light, plus the temperature is alot warmer in there. If you do not have either one of those, you can just place your new seedlings in a sunny window.
  
  
• Using a fan next to your growing plants will help to strengthen your plants before being planted outside. You can also exercise your plants by gently running your hands back and forth over their tops.
  
  
• Once your seedlings get their second set of leaves, they should be transplanted into a bigger pot. Doing so gives the roots more room to grow and support the plant on top. This will help prevent them from getting too leggy and eventually dying off.
  
  
• Before your plants are ready to be planted outside they should be hardened off. Your seedling are used to a regulated environment, and we all know that the outside is not! Basically all you need to do, is set your seedlings outside for a few hours at a time, slowly increasing the time, for about a week before they are planted outside. Armed with your last average frost date, this will help you determine when you should plant outside. Also, if you have a local University Extension office, they can help you with plant dates as well, and any other questions that you may have. Plus, it's free!

It's working for me ! Although, my camera cord is not! I had lots of pictures to share--but I cannot for the life of me get my pictures to transfer to my computer. Hopefully I will be able to update later.

This post is also linked to: Frugal Friday over at LifeAsMom.

If you have any questions, just let me know! If I don't personally know the answer, I will do my best to find it for you.

Using up candles

I don't know about you, but I have a major infatuation with candles. I love them, and they are all over my home. The only problem? I can almost never get the candle to burn all the way down to the bottom. Even if I follow all the rules to candle burning, it just doesn't happen.



My solution? This beauty:

It is stylish, fits right where the candle was, and it warms up the candle, melting the wax and letting off the scent. It works wonderfully. Almost better than burning the candle itself.

Another positive in using a candle warmer, no open flame for little fingers.

You can put small, or big candles in these warmers as well as any pieces of leftover wax that you have. Just make sure that you have a glass candle holder in place, and throw any small pieces of wax you have in there. It will warm up and melt all the wax together, therefore using it all up instead of wasting it!

If you are feeling really creative, you can pour the melted wax into molds and make your own tartlets. Be sure to be careful, and follow the safety precautions.

When the candle has lost of all its scent, you can dispose of the melted wax and easily reuse the glass jar for any other projects you have going on.

They work for me!

For more useful tips, make sure you visit Rocks in My Dryer and ro find more frugal ideas head on over to Biblical Womanhood.

Photo Source

Loads of Veggies

I usually don't buy large amounts of veggies at a time, unless I can get a good deal on them. My last grocery shopping trip found me with 2 bags of onions and 8 green peppers!! I already had a partial bag of onions at home, and 2 green peppers. I almost didn't get them, but the deal was just too good, and I had a little extra room in my budget.

What in the world was I going to do with so many veggies?!

Insert handy dandy food processor.

I seeded the green peppers and threw them into my food processor. Chopped it up for a few seconds, and bagged them up in freezer bags in "cookable" portions.

I ended up with about 10 little baggies of green peppers all for $1.78...or .18 cents a bag!!<br>

I removed the outsides of the onions, cut it in half and threw them in the food processor. I already had one bag of onions on my list for the week, so I just chopped up one bag of onions. It yielded 10 little baggies of chopped onions, in 1 cup portions. For these onions it only cost me .59, or .06 a bag!

This is much cheaper than using those dehydrated onion pieces, and can be used almost interchangably. You end up with almost twice as much onions for a 1/5 of the price.

This definitely works for me! A little time here, will save tons of money later!

Lesson Learned

Since we have started this gazelle intense mission of paying off our debt, all of our extra money that isn't already allocated, is thrown at our debt. It has been so nice to watch our numbers go down month by month.

We knew sometime around the summer that we needed to buy a new stove, so I slowly began saving money back for this hefty purchase. The stove I needed was almost $1000. My meager $60/month was taking forever.

Then came the demise of Mrs. Range. We continued to save up, and make due with my oven that wouldn't close.

Aggravating, yes. Impossible, no.

The crazy number plugging side of my brain was working in overtime trying to figure out just how long it was going to take me to save up for this $1000 stove. I kept trying to rationalize and justify ways that I could just take our snowball and buy my stove instead. (**By the way, if you ever find yourself having to justify or rationalize anything, that is when you know that that particular decision is not right. Look the other way and move on. You should never have to justify a decision.**) Afterall it was a necessity. We had to eat. And we needed this fancy $1000 double oven, right?

Wrong.

This past weekend Mrs. Range decided that she wasn't going to close at all. Unfortuntely an oven that is wide open tends to be a burn hazard, and it doesn't cook near as well. We needed to do something quick. A $1000 stove was just no longer an option. Period.

We turned to the idea of used. Thankfully we came across one on Craigslist for $50!! We picked it up, and it is perfect. Definitely not the $1000 double oven that I had in mind, but the oven door closes and it has 4 working burners. Who knew that my $50 stove works just as well as the $1000 would have? Hmm.

We were able to use the money we had set back to pay for our new to us stove, and use the remainder to throw at our debt.

Definitely better than throwing $1000 at a new stove. Atleast on this budget. I still hope and dream that one day that double oven will be sitting in my kitchen cooking me up some food.

Until then, Craigslist definitely works for me!

FREEBIES!

I love some free stuff. Period. And, when they come with coupons, it makes it even better! That is why I try to sign up for as many samples and freebies as I can.



I've gotten free razors, bracelets, Post-It Notes, Cereal, Snack Bars...the list goes on and on. All of these are things that I would have used at some point anyway...so why not have them mailed and be free?! It's just a double bonus if the company decides to send a coupon!



VocalPoint is an awesome company that sends lots of great coupons (some for free products!) and sometimes actual products (Venus Razor, Kashi Bars). If you haven't joined, I highly recommend it!

Here are some current sample/freebie offerings that are floating around:

Glad Force Flex Trash Bags

Huggies Good Nights

Free Cookie Cutter

BioFreeze (my husband uses this all the time!)

Lipstock Chapstock

Free Mini Flashlight or Poncho

Free 1 year Subscription to SELF Mag

Free Wildlife Calendar

Shopping List from Marie Callender

Tampax Pearl

Kotex Thin Liners




Free samples and freebies in my mailbox, definitely Work for Me!!

WFMW

It's Wednesday again..and time for another edition of Works for Me Wednesday.

My husband and I, in an effort to not only live more frugal, but to lead a healthier lifestyle, have come across all sorts of new things. I'm not a pill taker, I despise medicine of all sorts. Generally, the only time I will take anything is if my migraines get unbearable.

But, a friend of mine recommended a supplement, and I've been hooked ever since.

Acidophilus. It helps aid in digestion, and is similiar to the yogurt you now find lining the grocery shelves with bifidus regularis.

Originally, I didn't notice a big difference. But, that time of the month came and I suddenly noticed that I had no idea it was time. Why? I wasn't bloated up like a blimp like I usually am. It was then that it hit me, I felt really great. I wasn't near a puffy as usual.

I have no clue if this has to do with the acidophilus or not, but I also expirience fewer cramps. I never had them too bad anyway, but they are near non exisitent. The only thing I have changed is the acidophilus.

I buy the acidophilus in chewable strawberry wafers at the health food store. I do believe there are 100 wafers for around $7.50. It's natural. It's reasonable. And it Works for Me!

Plus....acidphilus is fun to say! :)

There are many other uses/benfits of acidophilus, a quick internet search will yeild numerous results.

WFMW

Well, last week I did homemade laundry soap, so why not do Fabric Softener this week?

This is really easy, and I have noticed that my clothes are just as soft, if not softer than with the commercial fabric softener.

I use an empty baby wipe container. To this I add 2 cups water, an 1 cup vinegar and 2/3 cup conditioner. For one reason or another I always have more conditioner left when my shampoo is all gone. This is a good way to use it up, or you can use it in place of shaving cream! Or, I've went to Dollar General and bought Suave Lavendar Conditioner for .75!! It smelled wonderful.

Use a fork, or a wisk and stir it all up until it is incorporated. Don't get too wild with it, or it will become frothy.

I use an old dilapitated sock that is way beyond wear for my dryer sheet. When I need it, I reach in, ring it out a bit, and throw in the dryer as usual.

One batch will last me about a week, sometimes shortly over. Just depends on how much laundry I have. A batch costs me about .40 to make, so about $1.60/mo. I will say that there is a slight vinegar smell sometimes when I pull the laundry out of the dryer. I don't know if I just don't notice everytime or what. But, the vinegar smell does not linger on our clothes.

It works for me!! For more WFMW posts, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've been wanting to share this idea for sometime now, but I wanted to show a picture with it.


Well, I'm impatient, and I decided to do it without a picture.





My Works For Me Wednesday is not necessarily a new concept, it has been circualting for sometime...Homemade Laundry Soap.





I was very skeptical at first, but since it is econmical, I thought I would go ahead and give it a whirl.





I'm glad I did. Since orginally trying it, I've done it 3 different ways (amazing that I never got a pic of any way, eh?). The first way was the dry method. No water added.





Second, I tried adding the items in a different order. Liked it, but not as much as I like way #3.





Here is what I do:

1. Grate a bar of soap into small flakes. You can use a food processor, or a microplane. I use just a regular Antibacterial bar of soap, or I've heard Fels Naptha is great (I cannot find it here). The only tip I have here, is to try to keep the bar of soap at a reasonable price, mine is a quarter a bar. Also, the Johnson Buddies Soap that we have been getting for free would also work!


2. Add 2c water to a pot, and add grated soap. "Cook" until all the soap flakes are melted.


3. Add 1/2 c each Borax and Washing Soda (not baking soda). These can both be found in most grocery stores in the laundry aisle. My local Walmart sells the borax, but not the washing soda. Again, "cook" this until fully dissolved.


4. I use an 8gal trash can, but you can also use a bucket. Add the soap mixture, and about 4-5 gallons water. Stir.


5. Let this mixture sit atleast overnight. It will become very "gel-ly" (I don't think that is a real word!).

The other way you can do this, is to add the borax, washing soda and HOT water to your bucket, stirring until it is dissolved, and then add soap mixture. It isn't near as thick, and the water amount is 2gallon, instead of 4.

I use 1/2 cup detergent to every load unless it is heavily soiled, then I use 3/4 cup.

I have 3 children, and a very messy husband, and I have never had an issue with stains. Of course I still pretreat w/Shout.

The price per load comes down to about a PENNY a load, unless I add essential oil. This jacks the price up since the oils are not cheap. When I did the oil, I added 1/2 oz, which made it close to .06 a load. I think if I were to do it again, I would add less.

Cheap commercial detergents (Purex, Sun, etc) are right around .06 a load, and that is if you follow what the package says you can get out of it. I've never been able to get that many out of 'em.

It is economical, and you don't have those pesky plastic containers to get rid of!

For more WFMW posts, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW

** Yippee! I'm back in business. I wanted to make sure and give credit where credit is due...Here is the blog that I stumbled upon that mentioned the Handipoints system.**


**UPDATE** Blogger doesn't like me today..at all. I cannot go to any links, or read any of my fav blogs! :( They think I am a computer. (I know I'm awesome..but really now. Ha. Gotta find the humor somewhere.) Hrmph. So, I *think* that I have fixed the links (thanks for the heads up, Hayley!), but I'm unsure. Plus, I would like to give credit to who told me about Handipoints, but I can't yet because I can't remember exactly which blog it was....and I can't look at the one I think it was to confirm. Hopefully they will realize I'm only a human...and I REALLY want to read my blogs.
Last week I decided that I was going to change my own house cleaning schedule...and I would I have to say that I love it so far. Only one room to clean at a time instead of trying to keep up with the whole house everyday, along with a 3 year old, and all of the other 'house-wifely' duties. When I decided to do this, I realized that I had gotten out of making my kids do their chores. I always had chores as a kid. No ifs ands or buts about it. I think that it taught me a lot and I wanted to pass that along to my own. Plus, Nicholas has to have a routine/schedule. I honestly think that he would prefer for me to schedule every minute of every day for him.

Amazingly enough, I found something that made my kids actually enjoy doing their chores. I never thought it was possible! It is called Handipoints.

I'm not fully in the "know", but it kind of reminds me of WebKinz. Except everyone has a cat. The kids have been asking for these things for a while and I don't fully understand everything they do, but Nicholas says that they are similiar. However, he thinks that Handipoints is "way cooler!" I do too. Handipoints is FREE!

Basically this is how it works.

You go in and set up task charts for your child(ren). You can choose from the ones they have (there are tons) or you can make your own. Eash task has 2 sets of points. One they can set reward goals with (like going to the movies, having a picnic, or turn the points into cash), and the other one is bonus points that they use to buy things with in HandiLand. They can buy different sets of furniture for their house, or different outfits and costumes. It is also a little village that they get to walk around playing games, answering trivia questions to earn more bonus points, watching movies (small cartoon clips) in the cinema, reading in the library, finding the daily hidden stamp, etc. The children get to check off their own tasks, and the parent gets to grade them (and uncheck if they didn't actually do it!). If they score a B or better, they earn additional bonus points.

It is too cool! Educational, and free! Plus, they are enjoying earning their points, setting their own goals, and more than eager to do their chores.

Hopefully it stays that way! :)

This is what works for me (atleast so far...we started last Friday). For more Works For Me Wednesday posts, go on over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Works for Me Wednesday

I've never participated in WFMW, but I always read the other posts. Tons of great ideas. Since I have had some friends ask me how I make my lists for each store, go to several stores, and still sitck to my budget so I just decided to do a post on it.

I do my main grocery shopping on an every 2 week basis. This helps cut down on my trips to the "big" town which in turn saves gas (the "big" town is approx. 20 miles from my home)and those spur of the moment impulse buys. Even one small purchase can upset a budget if you do it every trip you make. You gotta watch out for those. There are times when I see a really good deal at a particular store (ahem..Walgreen's, sometimes a local grocery store) and I will go ahead and make the trip anyway but it is generally not a necessity or for a substantial amount of items.

When I am making my list for each store I always check the sale ads and my coupons. Sometimes I go off sales for our menu plans, sometimes not. That just depends on how much time I want to throw into it. Then I tally up what I think my total is going to be by the side of each item. If my total at the end comes to like $43 I will always round to $50, however the end total of all stores cannot be over my budget. This has helped me immensely since I now pay in cash (thank you Dave Ramsey!) and I also try to leave all my checkbooks and debit cards in the vehicle. This way I cannot cheat! I've done this before, and I get so mad at myself everytime!! :)

Like I have said before, before we were doing cash, we (um...I) were spending about $600 a month on groceries (this does include HBA, dog food, kids garb, etc..). Now that I am couponing and such, I changed my budget to basically $75/week. I am happy to annouce that after my first set of shopping this month, I am still on track, and actully just under my budget. This is how I want it, just in case I may have forgotten a random item needed to finish a recipe. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen and it can be rather annoying if I have already spent the whole budget.

This has worked for me for the past year, I've only made slight changes since the beginning.

For more Works For Me Wednesday Posts visit Rock In My Dryer.