January check-in/ February plans

I ended the month of January over budget by 23.65. Not too bad. Since this is the first month of keeping month long totals, I'm not sure if this is a reasonable goal for us or not. The next couple of months should tell.

Even before MSM and FishMama started talking about freezer cooking for February, I had already made plans to do the same. I stocked up on staples (meat, flour, vegetables, milk) right before the snow and made a list of things that I could prepare ahead and freeze. As of right now, I'm starting the month off having already used a hefty amount of our budget. But, I'm hoping that by having several meals and/or partial meals pre-made in the freezer that I'll have to go to the grocery fewer times. I frequented the grocery more last month than normal. By reducing the number of times that I go to the grocery, I'm hoping to reduce the amount of money spent at the grocery.

I haven't left the house since Friday morning, so I've had 4 days ( counting today) to work on my freezer cooking plan. It's been nice to spread the cooking out over a couple of days rather than getting up early on Saturday morning and slaving away for a couple of hours. It's been very easy work, because most things I've cooked in my crock pots.

Here's what I've got so far: 2 dozen corn bread muffins
1 homemade sausage, onion, mushroom pizza
1 homemade ham, pineapple pizza
pinto beans and ham
black beans
teriyaki chicken
shredded chicken
cooked carrots
pancakes
mashed potatoes


I've got most of my cooking done for the next two weeks. I'll have to cook some sides, but that will amount to maybe 15 minutes total to get supper on the table. If we're still off for President's Day on the 15th, I plan to do more freezer cooking over that 3 day weekend.