No Spend Day #2 and Grocery Shopping

Yesterday was No Spend Day #2, I brought lunch to work, had enough gas in the car, and had no reason to buy anything. Life is good!

I find I tend to blow my no spend days by grocery shopping or forgetting my lunch. The grocery store is on my way home and I usually get to the traffic light, decide I need something and then turn in and end up buying more than I need.

I will say I did my first shop of the New Year on Saturday and only spent $21. Most of this was due to the fact I have enough groceries in my cupboard (lots of staples left over from last month and all my re-stocking of various and assorted goods). I have a bunch of food in the freezer that can be eaten, so it's going to be a thaw-out-the-food-in-the-freezer week. I have burger, chicken, frozen veg, a couple containers of soup, some great pesto and pasta sauce. I've not been thrilled with my soups recently, so time to search a couple cookbooks for new soup recipes.

I'll plan a Costco shop for mid-month and figure out the protein product of the month (chicken, beef, pork), shop for the bulk items I'll need and plan an ALDI shopping for my frozen veg and other items. Even though I have not posted my January budget (I know, lazy of me), I'm planning on a budget of $150 (including alcohol) and making better use of the food stuffs I have in the house.

I will say I love my bread machine. I use it at least once a week. I just have to remember to start it as soon as I come home, it can take up to 4 hours to make a loaf of bread. I am also going to budget and search for a variety of flours so I can make something other than a typical white bread loaf.