October grocery money journal -- spent $77.50 for the month

Not much to buy this month!! We need to make room in the freezers for turkeys and hams, so my shopping will reflect that.

Oct.4 QFC-- hoping for markdown milk. I find 6 gallons of whole milk for $2.29 each and a 10 oz container of mushrooms for $1.49. I spent $16.23. The mushrooms will be nice to add to vegetarian gravy. Most of the milk will go in the freezer.

Oct. 5 Dollar Tree. I pick up 3 quarts of soy milk and a 24 oz package of macaroni noodles. Spent $4. The macaroni is a regular at Dollar Tree, working out to 67cents per pound, a good price for our area.

Oct. 10 Cash and Carry wholesaler/restaurant supply. I need sugar, down to my last 1/2 cup. I buy 1 50-lb bag of sugar ($22.82), and while there find vegetable oil (soybean) in 35-lb container for $18.57. Spent $41.39.

Oct. 27 Dollar Tree to pick up 2 more quarts of soy milk. Spent $2

Oct. 28 Totally out of milk for rest of family. I had to buy a gallon of whole milk at QFC for $2.99. Only bought 1 gallon, and will hope to find marked down milk in the next few days. Spent $2.99

Total spent for the month, so far -- $66.61

Oct.30 Stop by QFC on way home from babysitting, hoping to find marked down milk, and YES!!, 11 half gallons of whole milk (what my daughter needs, and what I use for yogurt). I buy all 11 half gallons, at 99 cents each. Spent $10.89. Odd thing -- they also had gallon jugs of skim milk on markdown, but those were $2.59/gallon. By buying the half gallons, I only spent $1.98/gallon.

Some months, it's funny to look back at the month of grocery shopping and see what I actually bought. This month, I bought various milks, macaroni, mushrooms, vegetable oil and sugar. Doesn't sound like a whole lot of variety for the month, does it?



So, last month, we went over our budget, used up the surplus, and spent $63.17 into future months, for a carry forward deficit. Our budget for October is $160, less this deficit of $63.17, for a remaining amount of $96.83.

For the month of October, I spent $77.50. I finished the month with a surplus of $19.33. back on surplus territory -- that always feels so much more comfortable for me!

This week's lunch round-up: comfort food to help us slide right into fall

The daytime temps have cooled significantly, this past week. I think it's safe to say that it is fall, here, now (no more near-summer high temps, for us). The house is cooler, we're now using the furnace for several hours per day (made it to the 26th with minimal furnace use, though), and baking/cooking keeps me active and warm.

Here's what's on the lunch menu for our family, for this last week in October:

• crabapple sauce muffins (using the tail end of last week's crabapple sauce, plus some not-so-sparkling Martinelli's apple cider, as liquid)
• home-style macaroni and cheese (didn't have much cheddar left, so I added the cheddar we had, plus some shallots and ground mustard for zing, and a spoonful of canned pumpkin for that orange-y cheese color -- ;-) but don't tell my family!)
• leftover baked bean casserole
• leftover curried pumpkin-peanut soup
• carrot sticks
• blackberry-rhubarb sauce
• toasted mozzarella cheese sandwiches
• pbj sandwiches