Sticking to a $400 budget in December was the hardest thing so far.  With food to bring to Christmas gatherings, New Year’s, plus eating more fast food to cope with the busyness of the holidays I was way over budget.  Last month I was under budget by $100 so I spent that plus my $20 blow money to make up the difference.

Week 1 Food Spending: $98.99

Week 2 Food Spending: $176.77

Weeks 3&4 Food Spending: $244.34

Total December: $520.10 (This is a direct result of eating out!  We are still under the $550 official Grocery Shrink recommendations, but I could do better.

This month, we ate quite a bit from our pantry.  I opened the last 8 lb bag of shredded chicken purchased from Dirty Don’s several months ago for $5.  We used it to make cream cheese enchilada nachos (I made the enchilada filling in my electric skillet, then stirred in the sauce ingredients and served the whole thing over tortilla chips with shredded lettuce, cheese and salsa.  Yep, it was awesome.) We also used it over homemade Caesar salad for our New Year’s Eve supper. And there’s some left…..

Another quick meal was chili mac.  I used frozen ground beef mixed with ground turkey (because turkey is cheaper and lower in fat, so stretches the meat and the budget while still giving the beef flavor.) I used the electric skillet to brown the meat with onion and garlic, then stirred in chili powder, canned beans, rotel tomatoes, and the dry noodles from two Aldi brand boxes of mac and cheese.  I added 2 cups of water and brought it to a boil, reduced heat to a simmer and then   After 20 minutes we stirred in a little milk and the 2 powdered cheese packets and topped with a fresh shredded cheese.  This was not up to my “healthy” standards of food, but it was doable in our kitchen situation, and the kids loved it.

Christmas Eve we were assigned the bread and chips for the Coffman family gathering. Darren ran to the bread outlet and got whole wheat buns and sandwich thins, plus Bonnie’s favorite super thin tortilla chips.  (Which she served with her awesome homemade salsa.)  He also made a quick Wal-mart run for fresh rolls from their bakery.  Normally I would have baked all the bread from scratch — but an oven is handy for stuff like that.

New Years Eve we canceled our traditional party with Darren’s Best Man and his wife. I was still coughing up a storm and didn’t want to pass this nasty virus on.  My alternate plan was to go to bed early and let the family fend for themselves for food.  At the last minute I changed my mind and stopped at a conventional grocery store on the way home from running errands to see what deals were available.  (I was surprised how many other people were grabbing stuff at the last minute.  That place was packed!) I grabbed some sale priced chips, ingredients for homemade chicken caesar salad; pizza rolls (our family’s favorite junk food), kettle corn, and our favorite sodas.  It turned out to be a really fun party with just the 8 of us.

We ate out a lot more than usual the first two weeks of the month, but that spending was tempered by our parents helping us with meal prep while I was so sick.  Darren’s mom sent over homemade chicken soup (with homemade noodles); chicken soup with barley the next week, and my mom made chicken soup too.  (They were all 3 very different and very delicious.) Also, my mom bought deli pizzas one night and baked them at her house, then brought them over for our family to enjoy.  I know not everyone is blessed with such helpful parents and inlaws.  I’m super thankful.

Here’s my week 2 spending list (Thought I had blogged it….but can’t find it.)

Here’s week’s 3 and 4: