We ended up having to replace our Bronco, and upgraded hubby to a Soccer Mom driving a Minivan! Much better mileage than the Bronco but also means once again we had to take on car payments that I was really trying not to have to do again. This will make things even tighter for us but not too bad overall where payments are $185 a month for 16 months. We may just pay that off when our tax refund comes but will have to see. She is high in miles but was a good price and running in really good condition so we are hopeful she will last as long as we need her too! Yes The Bronco was Bob, our minivan is now known as Annie!
So far this month I have managed to only spend $130 on groceries which includes dog food, feminine products and toilet paper. This has been working out fine for now as I have been combining it with what we had already in our pantry/ and freezers. I also entertained visiting family one day which fed 8 people and made a dish to pass for our potluck family reunion!
When my family visited, including my oldest brother I have not seen in 15 years, I made limed chicken lettuce wraps ( limed chicken, fresh diced tomatoes and grated cheese wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves) corn on the cob, cucumber salad and fresh cut cucumbers. For dessert I made a totally healthy raw foods, mango/kiwi with coconut cream and raspberry frosting in a walnut crust! There was plenty of limed chicken left so yesterday I heated it up and added taco seasoning to it, then made these into tortillas with taco sauce along with freshly cut tomatoes and cut up romaine lettuce. We still had a whole pie left too so had that for dessert. Today will be black bean tortillas with tomato, shredded cheese and romaine lettuce on multi grain tortillas.
As you can see, even with a tight budget, we have been eating quite well, and very delicious foods!
I really need to sit down and come up with a new budget, maybe tonight, or if not perhaps tomorrow. I know I can not play around and it is highly important I get one in place as every penny counts right now. Hubby just lost 3 days of work from a combination of getting sick, then in a coughing fit threw his back out, so this has me posting things and trying to sell off a few things to make up for that loss and hopefully I can sell enough before I go in for surgery next week!
So yeah there you go it is a combination of what we need to do of lowering expenses, increasing income, creating a working budget and establishing a growing savings in preparation of leaving Michigan in 19 or so months! I know this is going to take some real hard work and effort, but I also know if I commit to it, we can do it!
August hit us, and hit us hard but we are still standing and will march on filled with gratitude for this opportunity to expand, grow and continue building character.
How has your August been going?
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