Meat

Now that my income has been reduced by about $513 a month, it’s time for me to buckle down. I pay certain bills each month and Hubby pays the others. I don’t have $500 leftover at the end of each month. Needless to say, I’m trying tweak my budget. One of my responsibilities is groceries and I’ve decided that I can cut back in that area.

In the past, I wrote down what I knew I needed and then went to the store. If I found other stuff I wanted, I bought it. It was not strange for me to spend $200 at the store. And I went to the store every 2 or 3 weeks. That’s $400 a month!! Then if I wasn’t planning a trip but I needed something, I would go get that and whatever else struck my fancy. That’s crazy. I’ve tried to watch it closer lately and I’ve been researching the weekly sales ads. My problem is I don’t get the newspaper and therefore none of those coupons. So I’m doing my best with the stuff I can find on the internet.

Just the other day, Hubby informed me that until I use all the deer meat in the freezer, I am not to buy anymore ground beef. I can handle the ground deer burger, but not the deer steaks. I think it’s psychological. If it’s mixed into spaghetti or tacos, I can’t tell the difference. Just eating a deer steak, I can’t handle it. But I’ve been given a directive, so I must follow it.

I think meat is a good place to cut back at the store, so I told Hubby of my plan to try to plan menus using what meat stuff we’ve got on hand. He decided that he would go and write down everything in the deep freezer to help me out. Thanks Hubby!! Plus he threw out some old stuff.

Here’s what he came up with:

3 packs wieners
14 rib eye steaks
3 bags cooked shrimp
1 bag pre-made hamburgers
9 packs deer burger
20 packs deer steak
2 bags cooked hotdogs on buns
3 packs country style ribs
1 pack split chicken breasts
1 Smithfield ham
1 pork roast
1 pack kielbasa
1 bag French fries
2 bags hamburger buns
2 bags hotdog buns
a few bags broccoli and cheese
Frozen pizzas popsicles

A “pack” is 1 store bought package or between 1 and 1 ½ pounds having been packaged at home. I have hotdogs on buns because they were extras from Hubby’s birthday. The buns are also an overage from that. There are also some random frozen meals and pot pies in there. What the heck? We could have steak once a week for 7 weeks before we use up the ones we’ve got on hand.

Think I can spend less than $100 for 2 weeks of groceries just buying sides to go with all the meat I’ve got in the freezer? I’ve been planning!!!