Budgeting - Grocery Shopping

So, like many of you, my husband and I are not made of money - much to our dismay. My husband has no college loan debt (thanks, ROTC!) but don't worry, I have enough for the both of us. But, we're very lucky that we're a DINK family - dual income, no kids. So, we have chosen to take a pretty aggressive repayment schedule for my loans, and at this point, we should have them all paid off by early 2018. (More on that later, if anyone is really interested in it.)

But, that aggressive schedule means that my ENTIRE paycheck each month goes to loan payments, leaving us to live off of his salary. We're lucky - military families really do get compensated well - so it works for us now. But, we have to stick to budget. We allot for $75 on groceries every week, which is $300/month.

It's just 2 of us, and even though my husband eats enough for 4, I try to portion all our meals for 2 people, even if that means he snacks a little before/after dinner. This month, being a short month with our trip to Virginia, I decided to try my hand at meal planning for an entire month. I spent $97.48 at our local Kroger, and have our meals 90% done until we head east on the 22. I did NOT clip coupons - I'm so not good at it - but I found some great deals today.

Major Deals I Found!

• 2.5 lbs of Salmon for $9.99 -- these filets are pretty thick, so they should last us 3 meals
• 2.5 lbs of Tilapia for $9.97 -- these filets are pretty small, so I'll have to make L two for each one I make for myself, but I think we can still get 4 meals out of them
• 3 lbs of ground beef for $7.77 -- we really don't need an entire pound per dinner, so I split this up into fours and put them each in their own sandwich bag and popped them in the freezer - we should be able to get 4 meals out of them
• 6 lbs of chicken for $13.18 -- theses breasts are HUGE and I split them up and bagged them in individual servings (2 breasts per bag) and we should still get 5 meals out of them

I have all the meals planned out, with the exception of 2 nights I'm in Atlanta for work, and my birthday. We'll need to pick up some little stuff here and there, but for the most part, I think we're set!

To see the recipes I'm planning on cooking this month, check out my December Meals Pin Board. How do you effectively pinch pennies? Any tips we should try out?

XO - C

Thanksgiving 2013

Like I said in earlier posts, we weren't able to make the road trip we had been hoping for this week due to flight schedules and guard shifts at work - but, you won't hear me complain. My small sacrifice was well worth the chance for other families to be whole on this holiday.

We had a "Misfit" Thanksgiving - and I'm beginning to understand how military friends can quickly become family. I always saw it - my Dad is still in touch with Navy friends - and was anticipating it, but I'm thankful it's happening for us now. We've been in Tennessee for about 3 months now, and I was beginning to fret that we had NO friends. L has a few buddies he's working with day in and day out, but with my work schedule, I hadn't had a chance to get real involved anywhere here to make friends. Working from home also inhibits friend making, and we haven't had time to find a church we really like.

But, we met up with another couple to see "The Hunger Games" last week and decided to do Thanksgiving together, and we had a blast. I think we have our first two friends!

My family always made sausage balls to snack on during brunch/lunch until we were ready for dinner (around 4 PM.) So, I made some to contribute to the meal. The same recipe my family uses can be found here. But it's so easy!

• Mix together 1 lb mild sausage (or spicy if you're brave!), 1 1/4 c. Bisquick, 2 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 block of cream cheese. (I tried to use my mixer, but found it was easier just to get those hands dirty and mix it the old-fashioned way)
• Roll them into 1 in. balls and line on a cookie sheet - bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes - or until golden brown

In the past, we've made them with soy-sage (for my vegetarian cousin), and added jalapenos for variety. There are many ways to mix it up, and they're always an easy treat! They're great warm, they're great cold, and they keep for days.

So today, we went out to get our Christmas tree. $30 at Home Depot and $12 for a tree stand - not too shabby! We bought our lights there as well, but on Wednesday, so they were $5 a pop, and we got 3. (We also had a major disagreement about what kind - he was raised on white lights, I was raised on color. We settled on white, but what do you prefer?) I've had lots of my ornaments for several years, and many are too feminine for my husband's taste, but we'll phase out some of the older, homemade ones, and start to collect some of our own. 

Here's a glance at the set up (as seen on my Instagram):

Hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying a lazy day!

XO - Catherine

Thanksgiving Holiday

 

So, today I am off from work, and I'm spending the day prepping for tomorrow and getting some errands done. I've already grocery shopped - and Publix was eerily quiet considering - and have gotten some laundry done. I plan to do some Christmas shopping this afternoon and hope to straighten up my office some.

I have to admit - I have committed the ultimate southern girl crime - I powered through about 75% of our wedding thank yous within a few weeks of the wedding and then lost all steam. So, many many thank yous haven't been mailed yet. I'm hoping that "better late than never" applies for thanks yous, and I'm sending out the rest this weekend. Just in time to start holiday cards next week :) My husband will be thrilled. 

Tomorrow we're doing a Friendsgiving. The original plan was to travel to South Bend to spend the holiday with the in-laws, but flights returning from Afghanistan means L has to stay here and work periodically over the weekend. I'm nervous about tacking some traditional dishes, but our friends are cooking the turkey, so at least there's no worries there :) And hey, spending Thanksgiving here away from family is a small price to pay so that someone who has been deployed for several months can spend some much needed time with their family.

I hope everyone has a good day!

XO - C

Quick Recap

Wow - so I had abandoned my blog for a little while there, but had recently gotten in the habit of reading through blogs in the evenings on my iPad while me and L caught up on tv shows or read in bed, and it inspired me to get back to my blog!

Quite a bit has happened since April, and here's a quick recap:

My family threw me a bridal shower in May, and I had such a wonderful time! It was my first of 4 showers (I couldn't believe I was so lucky to have 4 showers!), and nothing fancy, but it occurred the day after I found out L passed Phase 1 of Ranger School and I was over the moon.

  

In June, L graduated Ranger School. He made it through without recycling, which only 20% of the guys he showed up with on Day 1 did as well. We went 62 days with a grand total of 5 minutes on the phone and nothing but letters. He probably lost 15 pounds, had some serious poison ivy, and needed to catch up on some serious sleep and eating, but he did it. I was seriously so proud of him - this day was the highlight of the summer until...

  

I finally got this guy down the aisle. We were married in August and made the move to Tennessee, and couldn't be happier! I'll do lots on the wedding and our apartment soon, promise.

 

I think Logan and I are off to a great start in this married adventure and I can't wait to share with you our routines!

Until next time! XO

Back at it Again!

So, I've been on a bit of a hiatus, but I'm back at it with a new post tomorrow!

Check back in for more info!

XO - C