Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I Can't

The Headbangin' Housewife hates I can't. I hate it even more when someone tells me what they think I can't do. These words make me cringe every. single. time. I hear them. More and more these days people are feeling sorry for themselves. "I can't pay the bills". " I can't save money." "I can't budget." "I can't use generic products." "I can't find a job." "I can't, I can't I can't!" Alright people, do you want to know about me? Someone told me 10 years ago that we'd never make it in California on one income. It's not possible. Homemakers don't exist anymore. I said, "Really? Watch me!" Just so we are real clear here, we're about two paychecks away from the low income bracket, so don't think "Yeah, it's real easy when you have one big income," because we don't. Not even close. Now, I do realize that countless people are experiencing real hard times right now. So many people have lost their jobs, homes, and lives as they once were. Honestly, my heart goes out to them. But I've seen, first hand, two different ways people are dealing with the recent losses. The first half of people are collecting their unemployment, whining on their couch, eating takeout, in front of their cable TV, wondering how they are going to pay their cell phone bill. These people are filled with "I can't." They are at the point where they won't even try, and wonder why they lost their house. Now, the other half, they definitely take a day or two to whine, and then moved on. They already cancelled the cable and cell phone service, started cooking more and planted a garden to help feed their family. They gladly returned their car and got a POS because that money could be better spent on the electric and water bill. These are the people filled with "I can, and I will." They realize that it's not glamorous, and it's definitely not going to make their credit rating pretty, but the main thing is that they are trying.

I won't lie, living on a low income is tricky business. It's down right scary at times, but you have to get back up, dust yourself off and be willing to work for improvement. If you're not willing to trade wants for needs, then you have no one to blame but yourself.

I'm sure I'll write more on this topic soon. But for now, I want you to ask yourself which category you fit in. Are you willing to put in the effort it takes to survive on less? You'd be surprised at the good that comes from it. The sense of pride and accomplishment is amazing. Then, instead of thinking "I can't," you'll be saying, "Really? Watch me!"

Until next time, rock on my friends!

What's Cookin'?

Now that I've given you the grocery list for the week, I'll show you the menu. Breakfasts will be cream of wheat x2 (on hand because it's stupid cheap at Winco) cereal x2 (on hand because I have about 37 boxes) Baked oatmeal x2 (I'll bake and freeze this on Saturday) Scrambled eggs, toast, sausage links x2 all will have fruit on the side Lunches will be mostly sandwiches since the kids go back to school. We'll have egg salad (Hello Easter), tuna, and good old PB&J. We also have burritos and corn dog muffins leftover in the freezer from last baking day. All lunches will be rounded out with fruit, yogurt, homemade cookies and a drink. Dinners are Baked chicken with homemade gravy, rice and mixed veggies. I'm going to use the leftover chicken to make chicken stroganoff Hamburgers and homemade jojo potatoes Easter Dinner: Baked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, shrimp salad, deviled eggs and homemade rolls Leftovers on Monday (Woo hoo!) Ham and potato chowder with homemade corn bread Tuna salad and baked yams The added bonus this week is that I'll freeze the ham bone and chicken carcass for later and we'll have enough burger patties left for another dinner in the next couple of weeks. Desserts are going to be homemade cookies, cake bombs, strawberry shortcake and chocolate pudding pie.

There you have it. Easter week menu on a budget.

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

What's The Headbangin' Housewife Buyin' This Week??

The number one question I get asked about is how I feed all 5 people in the headbangin' household on $75-$100 per week. To answer simply, I shop by what's on sale. Period. No exceptions. Why? Because wasted food money is wasted concert money. Everyone's got priorities, right? So, here's the plan for this week. Save Mart: 10 lbs Cook's ham .99 lb=$10 2 lbs strawberries $2.67 (not my "happy" price, but it's for Easter) 2 (5lb) bags potatoes .67 ea=$1.34 1 lettuce .97 1 Best Foods mayo $1.98 w/store coupon in paper 2 doz eggs .59 ea w/store coupon in paper = $1.18 1 bag Moran's hamburger patties $5.99 w/store coupon 1/2 lb cooked shrimp $3.99 lb = $2 4 cans Green Giant canned green beans .59 ea =$2.36 1 bunch green onions .50 1 pack burger buns $1.29 1 (about 5lbs) chicken .99 lb = $5 1 pkg mushrooms $1.50 approximate total $36.78 Safeway: 2 Campbell's cream of mushroom soup .99 ea = $1.98 2 Farmer John sausage links .99 ea= $1.98 4 cans Bumble Bee tuna .50 ea = $2 approximate total $6 Raley's: 1 (12 pk) Coke $2.39 2 pineapples $1.57 ea =$3.14 1 C&W frozen vegetable .99 (use .35 off Q from Smart Source 3/21/10)= .64 2 Knudsen sour cream $1.50 ea ( use .60 off Q from 3/21/10 Smart Source) = $1.80/2 2 lbs yams .79lb = $1.60 1 Pillsbury cake mix .99 3 McCormick gravy mixes .49 ea= $1.47 3 Jello pudding mixes .99 ea (I found a Q in Bertha for $1.25/3) 2 Imperial margarine 2/$1 2 lbs bulk oatmeal .69lb (not as good as Winco, but I'll deal for one week) Approximate total $16.16 Approximate Grand Total $58.94 Only stragglers on the list that I need to grab are a few tomatoes, a red onion, a yellow onion, milk, bread, 1 lb pasta and some crunchy onions. Oh, and another thing...I can't lie to you guys. I'm really not going to buy the ham because I already have two in the freezer.

Stay tuned to see what I'm cooking with all of these goodies.

Until next time, rock on my friends!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

I Finally Did It!

As excited and nervous as I am about starting this blog, I finally did it! This is something I've wanted to do for over a year now, and rather than spend another year talking about doing it, I'm just diving right on in. Please be patient with me as I mess around with layouts and things over the next couple days. I promise to start posting soon about all the tips and tricks I use to get through the "mosh pit" that I call my life.