30 Day Challenge - Day 1

In an effort to get back on track with both my blogging - and my life - I'm trying a 30-day challenge.  This is in response to seeing many other posts on the subject on a few other blog sites I have been following.  But what kind of challenge should it be?  There are so many different categories.

My plan is 30 days of Frugality - money saving practices.  I have been making an effort and doing much reading on the subject.  June just seems the perfect month to put much into effect because Beau will be done with school, so I will have a little more help around the house with the boys.

Oh yes, the boys.  On March 11, Beau and Scrappy welcomed a new little brother who we have nicknamed Chubbermonkey - or Chubbers for short.  This is because he is much more pudgy than Scrappy, even though he also suffers from Cystic Fibrosis like Scrappy.  I gained a whopping total of 4 pounds during my pregnancy - and Chubbers weighed in at 9 lb 1  oz and 20 1/2 inches long.  Did I mention that he was also 3 weeks early???  I can just imagine how big he would have been at full term!!

Baby Chubbermonkey

All 3 kids

Our family

Chubbers 11 weeks old :)

In addition to the challenges of a new baby, we also have many activities going on.  Scrappy is taking taekwondo and playing t-ball, and Beau is playing baseball in addition to having Girl Scouts.  We have our own troop now, and they have decided they want to meet over the summer.

Scraps just earned his 3rd orange belt stripe!!

Well, back to the challenge.


As it says in the title, today is day one.  For day 1 of the challenge, I am Meal Planning.  Sunday has always been my day of choice for meal planning.  The weekdays end up being too chaotic to make it.  Once I have my meals for the week planned, I will be posting that here as well.  (I do not include breakfasts or lunches in my meal planning.  For breakfast we usually have cereal or eggs.  Lunches generally consist of leftovers, sandwiches, or cereal since it's only me and Scrappy during the week.)

With my meal planning, I am also challenging myself to very minimal grocery shopping.  I do have to get milk tomorrow, so I will be doing some shopping with my WIC.  This is how I buy many of our veggies.  WIC also provides vouchers for Farmer's Market, which is also great until my garden starts producing.  (I will talk more about my garden in a future challenge post.) 

I should also mention that in the spring, my husband and I purchased half a hog.  At around $2/lb, it's a hard price to beat.  Plus we love pork chops, bacon, sausage, etc.  I don't order sausage from the meat market, just the ground pork.  I prefer to make my own sausage - it just tastes so much better!

Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: chicken & gravy on rice
Tuesday: BBQ ribs, calico beans, applesauce
Wednesday: tortilla pizza
Thursday: sandwiches & soup or chips
Friday: leftovers