MPM 9/28/09

Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Pinto Beans, Corn Bread

Chicken Fingers, Spinach-Bacon Mac & Cheese

Vegetable Soup, Corn Bread

Spicy Chicken Noodle Casserole, Green Beans

Here lately I've only been planning 4 meals and that's worked really good for us. This past week we ate BBQ two nights in a row. One night I cooked a pizza for the boys and the Hubs, and I had leftover spaghetti. I love leftover spaghetti. I think it's one of those things that just tastes better the next day! It's so good! We also had dinner with the Hub's mom and step dad Friday night. And today, Sunday, we just had grilled cheese and leftovers from last night. Like I've said before, I'm not going to let anything go to waste. Food is too expensive!

In attempt to save more money on our grocery/household budget I'm planning on trying to make my own baby wipes and eventually I'd like to try clothes detergent. Just this past week I've started using 1 TBS borax mixed with 1 TBS baking soda and a tsp (I actually just squirt a small amount of it in there) of dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher. And every once in a while I put vinegar in the rinse aide thingy. I tried to find recipes for homemade dishwashing detergent and didn't find any that had great reviews. The best thing I read was that you actually don't need a lot of dishwashing detergent in your dishwasher. Adding the borax and baking soda just extends your detergent so you buy it less. Right now I've just been scooping it out of the box but I'm planning on buying a medium size plastic container to keep under my sink and mix equal parts borax and baking soda. The borax was around 3$ for a big box of it and baking soda is 1$ at WalMart for 1 lb. So, if you buy the cheap dish detergent and add your extenders, it will save $$ in the long run. Now, I'm sure there are those of you out there who don't mind spending $$ on that kind of thing and think that it might be more of a hassle to do it my (new) way. But hey, for us, every penny counts! :) As far as the baby wipes, here is the recipe/method I'm going to be using. Comparing the costs: around $17 a year for homemade wipes or around $100 a year for store bought. Pretty decent savings. Two other things I'm attempting to do to save:

• Only buying paper towels (6 pk) once a month. We go through paper towels like crazy! So, I'm limiting myself. I'm using more hand towels but throwing a few extra hand towels in a load of towels isn't costing me anything. I just started on our 4th roll tonight and I've got to make it to the 14th before buying anymore! When it runs out.. it just runs out!
• Household shopping once a month. I'm attempting to buy all of my household items once per month. This will help me keep a better watch on my grocery bill. I've made a HUGE master list that includes anything and everything (from shampoo to cotton balls) we may possibly need. And my idea is to just check that list before I do my household shopping and get what we need. I know the more I do this the better I will become at gauging how much we need per month, if we can make it one more month with "whatever" or if I need to go ahead and purchase it. The only exception is if there is a great deal on something. If that is the case I'll go ahead and purchase it. For instance, I did my first household shopping trip 2 weeks ago. Then last week I bought 2 tubes of toothpaste because it was on sale and I had a coupon. I got 2 Arm and Hammer Total Care toothpaste for around $1.20 each. In the end I think this will help me save by taking a look back over how much money is going to household items and how much I'm spending on groceries. Because before this month it had been all jumbled up together. This will help me see where I might need to put a little more effort into saving and budgeting!

I'm searching for new ideas all the time so if you have any let me know!