Today we spent $40 on the necessaries at a local wholesale store. We needed beans, and other condiments to last us over the next 6 months. :-) on top of the $20 a week.
As for tonight, we are baking some Italian herb bread. To have along with chicken pasta sauce over basil fettuccine which is being slow cooked/baked/mixed and chilled as we speak.
The total cost of this meal to feed 6.... $4.
We are using some frozen chicken breasts, some oldish flour, and some pasta sauce which is about to expire.
I cant wait to start back college soon, and I am hoping to actually get some solid followers on this blog. Hopefully, some people will start their own $20 a week blogs. :-).
Nick and I couldent post pics of the bread we made... Its not very attractive right now. However, we will set the table for dinner tonight and then take some amazing photos (hopefully!)
Ta-ta for now!
Showing posts with label twenty bucks a week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twenty bucks a week. Show all posts
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
$20 a week items
Well after doing the meal plans I believe we have a few issues to clear up:
#1. You are going to need a good spice rack! Such as
This is one that I have. Spices are the flavor of life. You will be using them EVERY day. I cant emphasis this enough. You can completely change up boring dishes.
#2. Get the basics down. Before the new year, get in some dry pasta, beans, canned tomatoes, frozen peas (The biggest bag you can find), frozen kernel corn, Bread mixes (You can make your own bread and save a fortune!), tuna, canned veggies, tomato sauce, pasta sauce, canned chicken. Etc... That's the main ones I can think of.
#3, Nick and I are so busy in the first few weeks of January, that we survive on slow cooking. The one we have is
It is amazing. :)
#4. get up and get peeling! Essential for surviving on $20 a week. Keep the peels and start a vegetable garden with fresh compost.
In the summer this will keep your costs down.
#5. Use what is in your pantry! Dont go over the $20 budget, if your missing a few ingredients in the meal, substitute. Use one type of bean instead of three.
#6. Clip some coupons.
#7. Go to your local Farmers market. Grab some fruits and veggies. Bargain prices :). If they are still more expensive than your local store, haggle with them. And bring proof. If you haggle loud enough, they will probably match the price you are asking.
Later today will be the first food plan. I will post the recipies underneath the scan of my plan.
Keep the recipies in a word document. This will be useful for reusing specific meal plans.
See you all later.
Please feel free to comment!
#1. You are going to need a good spice rack! Such as
This is one that I have. Spices are the flavor of life. You will be using them EVERY day. I cant emphasis this enough. You can completely change up boring dishes.
#2. Get the basics down. Before the new year, get in some dry pasta, beans, canned tomatoes, frozen peas (The biggest bag you can find), frozen kernel corn, Bread mixes (You can make your own bread and save a fortune!), tuna, canned veggies, tomato sauce, pasta sauce, canned chicken. Etc... That's the main ones I can think of.
#3, Nick and I are so busy in the first few weeks of January, that we survive on slow cooking. The one we have is
It is amazing. :)
#4. get up and get peeling! Essential for surviving on $20 a week. Keep the peels and start a vegetable garden with fresh compost.
In the summer this will keep your costs down.
#5. Use what is in your pantry! Dont go over the $20 budget, if your missing a few ingredients in the meal, substitute. Use one type of bean instead of three.
#6. Clip some coupons.
#7. Go to your local Farmers market. Grab some fruits and veggies. Bargain prices :). If they are still more expensive than your local store, haggle with them. And bring proof. If you haggle loud enough, they will probably match the price you are asking.
Later today will be the first food plan. I will post the recipies underneath the scan of my plan.
Keep the recipies in a word document. This will be useful for reusing specific meal plans.
See you all later.
Please feel free to comment!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
How to eat cheap on mall trips
Nick and I have been doing a lot of shopping recently. Also, we have been working our butts off trying to get promoted, get our degrees finished, and finalize our house purchase (Short sales=No fun for the buyer!).
Needless to say, we needed a bit of a release! After window shopping for around a hour (Okay...Maybe I got a dress and a sweater....And a big union jack trunk...) we were hungry and thirsty.
Because I am frugal, I always carry around a power bar in my bag. Also I carry round a reusable coffee cup (for car rides...Saves the $10 trip to Dunkin), and a bottle of water.
Nick was really REALLY hungry and decided he wanted some Chinese food. At $7 for a plate, its kinda pricey I think! So instead of both getting one $7 meal, we split it. It was very easy to do and the staff at the establishment did not mind one bit. It saved us from having to both buy a plate and a drink. We shared my water and were pretty full after. I think chewing the food slowly, and drinking water between each bite really helped us stay full.
Another piece of news yesterday... I got Tonsilitus...AGAIN! I get this around 5 times a year and the ENT doctors still wont remove them. It drives me insane, but I guess they are there for a reason.
After a panicked call to my sister in law, we got a antibiotic script called in to our local grocery store.
Now, this grocery store has a deal where some Prescription Antibiotics are FREE. You heard that, FREE!
I got a 14 day supply and it made me feel great not having to spend more money.
However, today we have blown the budget. We just brought some storage trunks to keep our stuff in before we move. They are pricey but so useful... We managed to get up to 50% off each one by shopping around. I am still tempted to go back and get the BIGGEST one there. We have a lot of stuff that needs to be stored...
Well that's my random entry for today. I feel kinda worn out being sick, so this article is kinda all over the place.
Needless to say, we needed a bit of a release! After window shopping for around a hour (Okay...Maybe I got a dress and a sweater....And a big union jack trunk...) we were hungry and thirsty.
Because I am frugal, I always carry around a power bar in my bag. Also I carry round a reusable coffee cup (for car rides...Saves the $10 trip to Dunkin), and a bottle of water.
Nick was really REALLY hungry and decided he wanted some Chinese food. At $7 for a plate, its kinda pricey I think! So instead of both getting one $7 meal, we split it. It was very easy to do and the staff at the establishment did not mind one bit. It saved us from having to both buy a plate and a drink. We shared my water and were pretty full after. I think chewing the food slowly, and drinking water between each bite really helped us stay full.
Another piece of news yesterday... I got Tonsilitus...AGAIN! I get this around 5 times a year and the ENT doctors still wont remove them. It drives me insane, but I guess they are there for a reason.
After a panicked call to my sister in law, we got a antibiotic script called in to our local grocery store.
Now, this grocery store has a deal where some Prescription Antibiotics are FREE. You heard that, FREE!
I got a 14 day supply and it made me feel great not having to spend more money.
However, today we have blown the budget. We just brought some storage trunks to keep our stuff in before we move. They are pricey but so useful... We managed to get up to 50% off each one by shopping around. I am still tempted to go back and get the BIGGEST one there. We have a lot of stuff that needs to be stored...
Well that's my random entry for today. I feel kinda worn out being sick, so this article is kinda all over the place.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
A thought for Vegans
This week Nick brought me home some rather odd looking sushi. Normally when I ask for my "Avocado Roll" I get a sushi roll topped by avocado. This time I sent Nick and actually got something completely different. It was some rice paper with avocado, cucumber and carrots inside. It came with a sweet red chilli dressing and it was very good.
The amount of calories in this dish was perfect. A round 200 calories and I was full for a very long time. However it did cost $6 when buying it from the store.
I found a way to buy the rice wraps online and save myself $4. And if I grew the vegetables at home, my cost would me minimal. I love avocado and cucumber. Its refreshing and very healthy.
So after all this research and thinking, it came to my attention that Vegans must have a really great immune system. As well as a cheaper shopping trip.
One week next year we will keep to the $20 budget, and eat completely vegan. I think we will loose a lot of weight. But I am also worried about loosing some muscle mass. Its definitely food for thought.
The amount of calories in this dish was perfect. A round 200 calories and I was full for a very long time. However it did cost $6 when buying it from the store.
I found a way to buy the rice wraps online and save myself $4. And if I grew the vegetables at home, my cost would me minimal. I love avocado and cucumber. Its refreshing and very healthy.
So after all this research and thinking, it came to my attention that Vegans must have a really great immune system. As well as a cheaper shopping trip.
One week next year we will keep to the $20 budget, and eat completely vegan. I think we will loose a lot of weight. But I am also worried about loosing some muscle mass. Its definitely food for thought.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving.
Getting ready to take the blog world by storm, coming up with a few more posting ideas. :)
A lot of people have expressed interest in this blog, and we seem to have a lot of non believers!
Today we are having a feast, and running it off later. Yesterday I (K) ran 4 miles and did 30 mins on the elliptical...As well as some free weights. 900kcal total, just to get ready for today. Hopefully tonight I can get in some Plyometrics and cross training.
The key to this $20 a week journey is planning. At the start of the week we will show you what we are buying, what our plan was, and our food shopping trip. We will do a blog, youtube video, and a podcast. So every week you can follow along. Its going to be fun, and a great way to save money.
People are wondering what exactly we are going to do with the money, firstly, we are going to put some in to a 401K. Secondly, we are going to be improving the house we are hopefully buying, and working on our goal to have it paid in 9 years.
Eventually, I would like to get health insurance too. As a sufferer from Crohn's disease, it would be great to eventually be insured.
We are very lucky to have family and friends supporting us through this journey, and people have to realize we cannot eat out anymore. We are going to be the most annoying people for the entire year! But hey! We got a point to prove in todays economy.
What else was there..... This is a very unplanned blog post!
Oh yes! We are kicking the soda habbit. Only teas and water for a year. :) I wonder how that will feel... Another thing is that we will be working on 3 books on eating cheap and cooking. There are so many cookbooks, but none address the cost factor.
So this weeks goal for my reader:
Get your spice cabinet organized. Spices are the key to "Spicing it up!" Haha! They are essential to making food interesting.
Ask for a slow cooker for Christmas, and also some food storage containers.
Think of 10 goals you would like to accomplish next year. Write them down, and stick to them. Put them on the mirror. Put them on the fridge, and put them on your door!
Find your local farmers marker too. This is essential to eating cheap.
We will also start planing vegetables once we are in the new house.
That's it for now!
A lot of people have expressed interest in this blog, and we seem to have a lot of non believers!
Today we are having a feast, and running it off later. Yesterday I (K) ran 4 miles and did 30 mins on the elliptical...As well as some free weights. 900kcal total, just to get ready for today. Hopefully tonight I can get in some Plyometrics and cross training.
The key to this $20 a week journey is planning. At the start of the week we will show you what we are buying, what our plan was, and our food shopping trip. We will do a blog, youtube video, and a podcast. So every week you can follow along. Its going to be fun, and a great way to save money.
People are wondering what exactly we are going to do with the money, firstly, we are going to put some in to a 401K. Secondly, we are going to be improving the house we are hopefully buying, and working on our goal to have it paid in 9 years.
Eventually, I would like to get health insurance too. As a sufferer from Crohn's disease, it would be great to eventually be insured.
We are very lucky to have family and friends supporting us through this journey, and people have to realize we cannot eat out anymore. We are going to be the most annoying people for the entire year! But hey! We got a point to prove in todays economy.
What else was there..... This is a very unplanned blog post!
Oh yes! We are kicking the soda habbit. Only teas and water for a year. :) I wonder how that will feel... Another thing is that we will be working on 3 books on eating cheap and cooking. There are so many cookbooks, but none address the cost factor.
So this weeks goal for my reader:
Get your spice cabinet organized. Spices are the key to "Spicing it up!" Haha! They are essential to making food interesting.
Ask for a slow cooker for Christmas, and also some food storage containers.
Think of 10 goals you would like to accomplish next year. Write them down, and stick to them. Put them on the mirror. Put them on the fridge, and put them on your door!
Find your local farmers marker too. This is essential to eating cheap.
We will also start planing vegetables once we are in the new house.
That's it for now!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Busy People.... Still able to survive on $20 a week!
A typical day in our lives is very crazy. We are both really driven to get our degrees; however, we realize we need to work too (Just to survive in this economy.)
Sadly, we are living in one of the most depressed areas of the USA, with little or no opportunity. The wages here are low, and the opportunity for promotion is low.
We spend our days between work, other work, and school. We hardly have two hours together sometimes (Awake time that is…)
One of the comments people have said to us, (Upon mentioning this blog idea) is that “You are too busy to eat on that little of a budget”… Well here we are proving everyone wrong.
Let’s take a look at a typical day for Nick and me:
Tuesday:
5:00AM- Nick up, shower, dressed and out the door. Grab packed breakfast+lunch.
6:00AM- Dogs wake up Katie, take them out, go for a walk, come back in and make coffee.
7:00AM- Read news, update blog, go over homework due, write emails, check up on training clients.
8:00AM-Clip Coupons from newsletters, check out coupon websites, put dinner in slow cooker.
8:30AM- Katie Head to work (Nick eats early brunch which is packed)
9:00AM-Work, I have the best job in the world though!
2:30PM- Nick home, take puppies out, Nick does homework and cleans.
5:00PM- Katie heads from work to college, Nick heads to class (Or on a night off, does homework!)
10:00PM- Finished for the night, come home, eat dinner. Katie pack lunches for next day, prep dinner for slow cooker in the AM, watch some shows, groom the dogs, play with dogs, and pass out.
Our sleep schedule is REALLY bad right now. Some nights its 11pm before we are in bed, other times its 9pm. It’s an exhausting schedule but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Although most people would grab fast food and rack up a huge bill, we choose not to. I like to be in control of what I put in my mouth, and especially in to my husbands. We love running and working out. Fast food just is not good for us.
While we were trialing our $20 a week diet. We ate a lot more vegetables, and at our work we got a lot of compliments on how healthy our food was.
The key for busy people is preparing the night before, and SLOW COOKING. I can’t emphasize how much I love my slow cooker. I make everything in it.
It’s actually really energy efficient too.
Another great idea, is buying certain vegetables in bulk. I use onions in everything. Until I can grow them next year, I will be buying a huge bag of these every month to keep me going.
These are just little ideas that we will go over day by day in the New Year. Just to give you a idea of where this is going.
Sadly, we are living in one of the most depressed areas of the USA, with little or no opportunity. The wages here are low, and the opportunity for promotion is low.
We spend our days between work, other work, and school. We hardly have two hours together sometimes (Awake time that is…)
One of the comments people have said to us, (Upon mentioning this blog idea) is that “You are too busy to eat on that little of a budget”… Well here we are proving everyone wrong.
Let’s take a look at a typical day for Nick and me:
Tuesday:
5:00AM- Nick up, shower, dressed and out the door. Grab packed breakfast+lunch.
6:00AM- Dogs wake up Katie, take them out, go for a walk, come back in and make coffee.
7:00AM- Read news, update blog, go over homework due, write emails, check up on training clients.
8:00AM-Clip Coupons from newsletters, check out coupon websites, put dinner in slow cooker.
8:30AM- Katie Head to work (Nick eats early brunch which is packed)
9:00AM-Work, I have the best job in the world though!
2:30PM- Nick home, take puppies out, Nick does homework and cleans.
5:00PM- Katie heads from work to college, Nick heads to class (Or on a night off, does homework!)
10:00PM- Finished for the night, come home, eat dinner. Katie pack lunches for next day, prep dinner for slow cooker in the AM, watch some shows, groom the dogs, play with dogs, and pass out.
Our sleep schedule is REALLY bad right now. Some nights its 11pm before we are in bed, other times its 9pm. It’s an exhausting schedule but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Although most people would grab fast food and rack up a huge bill, we choose not to. I like to be in control of what I put in my mouth, and especially in to my husbands. We love running and working out. Fast food just is not good for us.
While we were trialing our $20 a week diet. We ate a lot more vegetables, and at our work we got a lot of compliments on how healthy our food was.
The key for busy people is preparing the night before, and SLOW COOKING. I can’t emphasize how much I love my slow cooker. I make everything in it.
It’s actually really energy efficient too.
Another great idea, is buying certain vegetables in bulk. I use onions in everything. Until I can grow them next year, I will be buying a huge bag of these every month to keep me going.
These are just little ideas that we will go over day by day in the New Year. Just to give you a idea of where this is going.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Welcome to the new blog
This blog will be started on the 1st of January 2011. It is going to be a 365 day journey of a young couple proving to the world that you can survive on $20 a week. Not only that, but it’s also possible to lose weight, tone up and feel great with that $20.
Our names are Nick and Kate; we were married on New Year’s Eve 2009. We have spent the last year spending quite a bit of money and now need to cut back. Both of us have 2 jobs, plus full time school, and one hyper puppy/fur kid.
This is K right now, I am a 21yr old female who moved countries to marry N. :) After paying for all our visa expenses, we saved up to buy a house and pay off a car. It wasn't easy but when N married “Miss Money Saver” it made it so much better.
Every day we will be showing you: How much food we ate, what we ate, and when. I will also be doing some Podcasts starting January 1st and some Vlogs.
I am a Personal Trainer and Lifestyle Coach. I spend my weeks convincing clients over, and over again... That they can eat healthy for just as cheap as eating sugar. I hope to now be able to prove it.
Before the year begins we are allowed to make some big purchases to supplement our eating. They are the following:
* A vegetable Patch
* Two fruit trees
* fishing equipment
* Some Herbs and Spices
* Bread-maker
* New cook wear (Trust me, we need it!)
All of this is on our "Santa" list. It’s also going to help us eat healthy, and keep our food at $20 a week. We also have a slow cooker, and an egg cooker.
Once a month we will also be having a themed week. Such as "Vegan week", "Raw food week" "Meat Week" etc. It will be good to change it up a bit, and I would be interested to see how our fitness levels do.
We will also be composting, recycling and working out at least 5 days a week.
One other thing we will be using is weekly coupons. For anything from Groceries to Medication.
We would love it if anyone wanted to follow along with us. :-) This is something we are very passionate about.
It’s a huge change, I hope to start a movement eventually... This sugar eating environment needs to be stopped somewhere.
So around now you may have some questions….
What does the $20 a week buy you?
You should be able to get $20 worth of food only. If you can do it on less, and still afford necessities, so much the better!
We will be setting aside $10 a month for items such as detergent, toilet paper etc. I will also be doing some videos showing you how to make detergent and cleaning products yourself.
Can you eat out?
We are actually going to try and not eat out for a whole 365 days if we can. If it’s something that we cannot avoid at all (Nick is in the Navy Reserve) then we will allow for this and show you how he saved money.
What about Alcohol?
Both of us have made a commitment to stop drinking as much by the New Year. We are thinking of actually eradicating it for 365 days…But we have too many nice friends who buy us beer and wine…
That being said, on New Year’s Eve we will give you our decision. We are thinking of going T Total and making our own beverages for cheaper….We shall have to see.
My family is bigger than 2 people. Can I still do it on $20?
I would recommend $10 for every family member, if you feel as though you still need another few $$ to get better food for children and babies. Go ahead. I do not endorse starving your children.
You can’t possibly eat enough food for $20 a week?
Actually yes you can. Nick and I trialed this for 2 weeks and ate like kings. We roughly had 2100 calories a day each, and burnt off 400 calories running. We didn’t actually think it would work either, but somehow it did.
Meat is more expensive, how are you going to get enough protein?
This is one of my biggest concerns. It’s a dream of mine to compete in a figure competition one day. I believe where there is a will, there’s a way. We will start of the year with some protein shakes that we have left over. Hopefully we will be able to find some new methods for getting in protein, without having to pay huge amounts of money.
I will add more when I think of it. But that’s all for now!
Until January 1st 2011, I will up updating this blog with how to save money on cosmetics, and what big purchases to buy to help you on this journey.
See you next time!
Our names are Nick and Kate; we were married on New Year’s Eve 2009. We have spent the last year spending quite a bit of money and now need to cut back. Both of us have 2 jobs, plus full time school, and one hyper puppy/fur kid.
This is K right now, I am a 21yr old female who moved countries to marry N. :) After paying for all our visa expenses, we saved up to buy a house and pay off a car. It wasn't easy but when N married “Miss Money Saver” it made it so much better.
Every day we will be showing you: How much food we ate, what we ate, and when. I will also be doing some Podcasts starting January 1st and some Vlogs.
I am a Personal Trainer and Lifestyle Coach. I spend my weeks convincing clients over, and over again... That they can eat healthy for just as cheap as eating sugar. I hope to now be able to prove it.
Before the year begins we are allowed to make some big purchases to supplement our eating. They are the following:
* A vegetable Patch
* Two fruit trees
* fishing equipment
* Some Herbs and Spices
* Bread-maker
* New cook wear (Trust me, we need it!)
All of this is on our "Santa" list. It’s also going to help us eat healthy, and keep our food at $20 a week. We also have a slow cooker, and an egg cooker.
Once a month we will also be having a themed week. Such as "Vegan week", "Raw food week" "Meat Week" etc. It will be good to change it up a bit, and I would be interested to see how our fitness levels do.
We will also be composting, recycling and working out at least 5 days a week.
One other thing we will be using is weekly coupons. For anything from Groceries to Medication.
We would love it if anyone wanted to follow along with us. :-) This is something we are very passionate about.
It’s a huge change, I hope to start a movement eventually... This sugar eating environment needs to be stopped somewhere.
So around now you may have some questions….
What does the $20 a week buy you?
You should be able to get $20 worth of food only. If you can do it on less, and still afford necessities, so much the better!
We will be setting aside $10 a month for items such as detergent, toilet paper etc. I will also be doing some videos showing you how to make detergent and cleaning products yourself.
Can you eat out?
We are actually going to try and not eat out for a whole 365 days if we can. If it’s something that we cannot avoid at all (Nick is in the Navy Reserve) then we will allow for this and show you how he saved money.
What about Alcohol?
Both of us have made a commitment to stop drinking as much by the New Year. We are thinking of actually eradicating it for 365 days…But we have too many nice friends who buy us beer and wine…
That being said, on New Year’s Eve we will give you our decision. We are thinking of going T Total and making our own beverages for cheaper….We shall have to see.
My family is bigger than 2 people. Can I still do it on $20?
I would recommend $10 for every family member, if you feel as though you still need another few $$ to get better food for children and babies. Go ahead. I do not endorse starving your children.
You can’t possibly eat enough food for $20 a week?
Actually yes you can. Nick and I trialed this for 2 weeks and ate like kings. We roughly had 2100 calories a day each, and burnt off 400 calories running. We didn’t actually think it would work either, but somehow it did.
Meat is more expensive, how are you going to get enough protein?
This is one of my biggest concerns. It’s a dream of mine to compete in a figure competition one day. I believe where there is a will, there’s a way. We will start of the year with some protein shakes that we have left over. Hopefully we will be able to find some new methods for getting in protein, without having to pay huge amounts of money.
I will add more when I think of it. But that’s all for now!
Until January 1st 2011, I will up updating this blog with how to save money on cosmetics, and what big purchases to buy to help you on this journey.
See you next time!
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