Due to circumstance completely beyond my control our food budget is half this month of what it was last month. Now to be perfectly clear, what I had to spend last month was above and beyond our needs, so this isn't a hardship, just a change.
The disadvantage of spending more then you need is that you get out of the practice and well, it's darn easy to get lazy. Let's face it, when you don't want to cook, which for me is 4-5 times a week, reaching for more expensive, easy, solutions, is going to happen. The odd thing is I am capable of cooking. I wouldn't label myself a gourmet, but I know the basics and can feed my family adequately with normal ingredients found in our pantry and fridge.
A good friend let me know that frugality is like riding a bike, so even if I let my skills skip, they're internalized and all I have to do is get on that bike again. I think I'll take her word on it.
I do have a few things that work to my disadvantage, like my deep seated aversion to menu planning. I don't know why, but planning weeks in advance is like all three boys, running in circles, chanting at the top of their lungs. I think part of the problem is it just doesn't work for me. See, I like to experiment, I start sifting through cookbooks and voila, I find all these cool recipes involving ingredients beyond my staples. That ups my grocery bill and I'm inevitably over budget.
I like spontaneity beyond meal planning. If I decide to make enchiladas, I'm not always sure what I want to put in them. Sometimes I like to add black beans, sometimes rice, sometimes beef or chicken and it's a toss up if I'll make red, green or Kent's favorite sour cream enchiladas. Last month I had smoked turkey in the fridge I needed to use up and I used that meat with red peppers and onion for the filling. They were different but still yummy.
That's how I cook. Streamlining when needed, embellishing if the mood strikes.
So maybe I need to switch to minimal planning. Like today, I bought two five pound chickens. They're in the crock pot overnight, before church I'll make enchiladas for dinner, put the bones in for broth to simmer the rest of the day and have enough meat left over for hopefully two or three more meals. You have to keep in mind I'm feeding seven at my house, so the volume of food tends to be a little more. One meal will be chicken noodle soup later in the week and the third meal is undecided. I'll probably toss some shredded chicken in the freezer for the end of the month so we're not completely burned out on chicken this week.
I'm not sure how I'll be working in Kent's late nights. At least two nights a week we're eating meals separate from Kent, he doesn't get off until seven or later and the kids can't wait that long. I will confess that these late nights are where my laziness on meals has really come in. I don't have the motivation to cook when we can't sit down as a family together. My picky eaters can also be a huge pain the tush and I don't like dealing with them without back up.
Call me a wimp.
So I'll have to figure that out as well. Hopefully my motivation today can rollover throughout the month and the change in budget will be an easy transition.
In all honestly I find it humbling when I remind myself we have money for food. With so many that try to survive on less, it's humbling to know how blessed we are to have hot healthy meals daily.
