So, with the spending freeze, I was able to keep $25 under the budget last month. Making a menu plan for the week really helps me save money and stick to my budget. Plus, it's nice to already know what I'm making for dinner.
John and I are also trying to stock up on some food storage and other items, according to a little schedule we got in our ward. I cleaned out the cupboard in our laundry room to store some extra stuff in, and I found a card telling me that my washer costs $8 a year to operate - based on 8 loads a week and we only do about 3. It will certainly pay for itself soon.
![[Comments]](/nb//themes/Default/comments.png "6 comments")
(6) Mon Feb 04 2008 16:13:
We are trying something new with grocery purchasing in our household this year. I'm on a budget! This month I have $250 to spend on groceries, baby food and Target stuff (toiletries, diapers, wipes etc.) We are also participating in a money saving project going on at the Mommysavers message board. In January we went on a three-week spending freeze - necessities only. Now we are on a modified spending freeze. We can buy some "wants" but they have to be on our approved spending list for 24 hours before we can buy them. This is supposed to limit impulse purchases, which aren't a huge problem for us. However, I haven't put any treats on the approved list, so I've been baking a lot. In fact, I just made some gingerbread. If it's any good, I'll post the recipe later.