Archive for July, 2009

After much running around and celebrating the patriarch of the family we took a day off to rest and hang out. My sister in-law and I did drive around and found some thrift stores (I got 2 pairs of jeans for my youngest son and one pair for his older brother). Plus we stopped for groceries on the way back. Totally non-essential extras for everyone to share, but I bought it, so it’s here in my Grocery Challenge journal for all to see: $16 on soda pop and ice cream.

At least its a new week.

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Once again, no expenditures for the day. We were at a party hosted by my father in-law’s sister. Yum! Grilled burgers, dogs, lots of side dishes, fresh fruit and desserts.

AND some fabulous beer from the Great Lakes Brewing Co. I don’t think I’ve ever had such great tasting beer EVER. Lots of flavor. Very smooth. I had 2 ales and a lager and would rate them all “A” beers. Now I just need to find a source for something this good in Virginia. I may have to take up brewing if I can’t because I just don’t think I’ll be satisfied with anything else. (champagne tastes on a beer budget?)

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I knew tonight was going to kill our budget… it was my father in-law’s 75th birthday, which was the reason for our trip to Ohio. His brother and his wife flew out from California and his sister flew in from Texas to help celebrate — so we went out for dinner… and we picked up the tab. Even if we only calculated the meals by my husband, my son and me, I think we went over. Hubby has the receipt in his wallet. I have to do the math yet, and will get to that once we get home.

Even if we went over budget this week, I’m still going to keep “playing.” It’s a personal challenge for me. Back in February or March I’d challenged myself to not spend more than $100 in groceries for the MONTH, and I was only $20 over, and most of the money I’d spent was on soft drinks. (BTW, that $100 was including household goods and personal products.)

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Another day of no spending, and since we were at my in-laws, all meals were provided. The dinner was fabulous — a bounty of wall-eye fish that my father in-law caught in Lake Erie and had in the freezer.

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As we were on the road this day, I didn’t do any shopping. However, we did stop for fast food and spent about $17 on dinner for three at a fast food restaurant. All other snacks and beverages were just what we packed in our ice chest.

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