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The kids and I spent the day out of town visiting one of our friends (who is a priest) at the parish that he is currently. We had lunch out, took a tour of the church and school, and then hung out at the rectory with him. It was such a nice day, even though it also reminded me how much we all miss having him at our parish.
It was just the kind of day that I needed. I have been really depressed about work (I work very part time out of the home) and some big changes. I’m trying to just let it go and do what I have to do, but that’s just a lot easier said than done, isn’t it?
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Another nice thing from today was what one online friend left on my Facebook page out of the blue:
Angie, I love witnessing your joy in and faithfulness in all the little things that make up being a mom and a homemaker. You Rock!
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Is it wrong that despite all of these nice things, I just can’t shake the bad mood about the work thing? Is it wrong to feel like I wish I would have gone to college for something I really loved? (And maybe that I would have skipped out on getting a masters degree just because I felt like I needed something to do?)
Grumpy Angie has an ugly attitude, doesn’t she?
(Hey – this is just in interest of full disclosure that sometimes, I get in a really bad mood. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns prancing around in my head.)
~ 4 ~
I think that last week I mentioned that my Jesse Tree ornament swap is coming up and that I needed to finish up my ornaments. Know what? They are as far along as they were last week when I wrote about them. All I know is – they have to be done in about a week. No room for excuses!
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This week, I wrote about using Doodle books to encourage creativity over at Curriculum Choice. Have you ever tried some of these Doodle books? We have a copy of Super Doodle (a lot like this book, but not exactly), and it’s really fun. Although, I will admit that I might like it more than the kids do.
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I have been looking at my food budget quite a bit lately, as we’ve been trying to get our spending under control. I’m curious about what your budget for food is each month.
If you don’t feel comfortable sharing an actual number, maybe just share what percentage is it of your family’s take home pay each month. (Also, please share if your food budget number includes groceries only or groceries and dining out.)
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Anyone else want to send the kid from the new Toyota Highlander commercial (the one that calls his parents lame) into an extra long time out? What kind of marketing campaign is this?
Now, you know what commercial I really love though? The Halloween Snickers one with the kids in the grocery store with the lady from the neighborhood, Mrs. Jensen. (As a matter of fact, I’m planning to buy extra Snickers for Halloween as my personal thank you to Snickers for making me laugh so many times.)
This post is linked to 7 Quick Takes and Weekly Wrap Up.
Our family of 4 is $80-$100 a week… $347-$434 a month. We eat out MAYBE twice a month, and only on kids eat free nights. Luckily there are KEF’s almost every night of the week here… so we take advantage.
Erin P´s last [type] ..7 Quick Takes vol 2
@Erin P,
What are some of your favorite Kids Eat Free restaurants?
@Angie,
Steak and Shake has KEF every Saturday and Sunday- as long as the adults spend $8 or more for each kid.
Kazbor’s (a local sports bar/grille) does free kids on Tuesdays. Our bill was $25 for 3 adults!
The rest are escaping me right now… basically there’s one every day of the week if you look for it. Also check out kidseatfree.com it’s a searchable database.
Erin P´s last [type] ..7 Quick Takes vol 3
Our grocery budget is now up to about $200-$225 a week. This does not include eating out (we probably have takeout every 10-14 days). Awful, isn’t it? And this is with me only buying what is on sale and couponing. It’s hard to believe that a few years ago I had it down to $100 a week consistently.
theveganasana´s last [type] ..Sweet Potato & Lentil Curry
@theveganasana,
I can’t believe you managed to get it down to $100/week for your crew. That is crazy impressive. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t do it right now. There’s only so much time in a day.
We try not to eat out. At all. My disclaimer is that my littlest cannot eat anything anywhere without throwing her digestive system completely out of whack. But my husband occasionally meets his mother for lunch, and sometimes I have him pick up sushi for date night after we put the kids to bed. Still, we try to budget under a hundred dollars for eating out each month. It’s reasonable, unless it’s a birthday month.
But without eating out our grocery budget goes up, and all of the gluten-free specialty flours and other foods are so much more expensive. I’m still trying to work it all out, but I’d say we probably spend 5-600 a month on groceries now. For four of us on a gluten free, veganish diet. Baking and cooking nearly everything from scratch. And that’s shopping sales and buying store brands.
Michelle´s last [type] ..Fitting In
@Michelle,
Knowing how expensive things were when we went to somewhere like Whole Foods, I can understand why your bills would be that much for specialty foods. I’m surprised they’re not even higher. Good for you for keeping the cost down!
Angie,
Count it a blessing -I would hate to meet the woman who has only rainbows and unicorns dancing around in her head. It would be a scary thing!
Samantha
We are a missionary family living a support based life style here in Oregon. Due to these economic times our support is down. This trickles down (more like FLOODS down) to our grocery budget really fast. So … for our family of 4 (kids are 11 and 8 ) our grocery budget is $125 – $200 per MONTH. Not a lot huh?? But … God is faithful. We always have what we need.
Enjoy your blog! Thanks!
Hi Angie!
Just had to respond – there are times in my life that I feel like everything is yuck and why didn’t I do this and that (when I very well could have) but then I look at my kids….if I had went to school, gotten my Doctorate, done internships, etc….I would JUST be starting a family now – and probably not with my husband -(because likely, we would not have met)….etc, etc. It isn’t always enough to get me out of my funk right away, but it sure is an eye-opener! Besides, I agree with Samantha – only unicorns and rainbows = boring!
Grocery bill: Seven people – 2 adults, 5 kids (ages 12 down to 2) and we spend $500 per month. This doesn’t count eating out (because we almost NEVER do) nor does it count our “big” purchases – such as deer hunting, the annual pig in the fall or the down cows that we turn into roasts and hamburger. This could, however be pared down more (which I am working on) by limiting the junk food – I must admit that it’s tempting to buy those fruit roll-ups because (look!) there’s a 50 cents off coupon – but NO, we don’t need them!
Jessica´s last [type] ..Halloween Shopping!!
Oh, jeez – I’m embarrassed to say how much I spend at the grocery store! All these other moms put me to shame!
We get $60 out every Friday for Starbucks, haircuts and other weekly cash spending. We never eat out, I bake all our bread and have even started making my own pizza dough. My husband works from home, so there are four of us here all day, every day. And he has eaten enough sandwiches in his lifetime, he informed me, and wants real food for lunch. I also spend a lot on bulk paper plates, and we only just got out of diapers, so it adds up. Plus, I don’t really separate it from my grocery budget when I toss a pair of kids sweats or a few coloring books into my WalMart basket – to me it’s all WalMart/Costco/Groceries in one big category. And that probably adds up to over $1000 a month.
Oy, it hurts me a little to write it down like that…
I try and try to bring it down, but I also have food goals that involve eating healthier and more organic stuff, so it’s a fine line.
Blech. Now I’m depressed!
Deb´s last [type] ..Just Finish Something Already!
@Deb,
Don’t feel bad, Deb! Our budget for groceries and dining out each month is $750, and we ALWAYS go over that. We’re working hard this fiscal month (started near-ish the beginning of October) to see how close we can keep to that amount. We’re hoping that coupons and more responsible shopping can help us to keep under that amount. (fingers crossed!)