Making Progress

I haven't always been good at budgeting and paying all the bills on time. It has only been about eight years now since I came up with a way for me to pay them all, on time, and be sure that each one was taken care of each month. Before that, Havoc and Chaos lived at our house. We dreaded for the phone to ring, because it might be someone calling, demanding a payment. I was always paying late charges, and re-connect fees. Even when I had a high dollar job, I couldn't remember to pay bills sometimes. It wasn't that I didn't have the money to pay them. Oh, no, it was that I didn't have a plan. No way to make sure the payments had been made.


After we moved into our first travel trailer, and found our first campground job, I decided that since we were making a lot less money than before, I had better find a way to handle paying the bills. A better way than before. Hell, any way would be better than before. So, I bought a little spiral notebook. I made a page in it for each month, and wrote the name of each bill on it. I made columns for NAME OF BILL, DATE DUE, DATE PD, AMT DUE, AMT PD, NOTES. As soon as each bill was received in the mail, I filled in the date due and the amount due. When I paid the bill, I wrote in the date paid and the amount paid, and any notes, such as check number, and if I talked to someone, their name, etc.


After a couple of years, as I had better access to the internet, I started paying each bill online, either at that company's website or through the Online Bill Pay option from my bank, which is free to use. I started paperless billing, and going online at the beginning of each month to get the information to fill in the blanks. This system has really worked for me. My little notebook actually lives on the dinette seat right next to where I sit most of the time, so it is handy at all times, as a steady reminder to use it.


After I write in all the date due and amount due information at the beginning of the month, I am ready to start paying bills. As I pay them, I write in the dates I paid them, and the amount paid. When the payments clear the bank, I highlight that payment in the book. I know at a glance what has been paid, how much they were paid, and that the payment has been taken out of my account. In the years that I have been using this method, I have only had two payments that didn't make it to the intended place on time. When those two people called me, all I had to do was take out my little book, read them the payment confirmation number from the notes I had made, and tell them it had cleared the bank on X date. And that was that.

Having this method is really good for us, as we are seasonal workers. What this means is that for a number of months each year, we don't work. Which means we don't have income. Which means we really have to plan for those months. During the season, when we are working, I usually pay more than the amount due on most things. During the off season, I pay the minimum amount due. So, having that AMT DUE is very important. Doing all this has helped me stay on budget through eight winters.


During the winter just past, we made another plan, one where we get all the bills paid off. It is very exciting to me to be able to do this. I have never in my adult life not had bills to pay. Of course there will always be the bills for satellite TV, for telephone service, for auto insurance, those things we pay for on a monthly basis. But credit card debt, medical bills, things like that, have always been a part of life around here. Until now.

Last winter, I got out another notebook, and made a priority list for paying off those bills. I made a list of how much we owed to each place, and what the interest rate is on each one. Then I made a Priority List For Paying Off Bills. (Isn't that a great name for it!?) Last payday, I paid off two bills. One of them was a credit card we have not used since 1997 and have been paying on ever since!!! This payday, I paid off two more. The plan is coming to be!

Time To Confess: 55 Days Since The Last Big Shopping Trip

Way back on February 27 was the last time we made a big grocery shopping trip. I had made a personal goal to post a recipe for what we ate for dinner every night until the next time we shopped, but as you know, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. I am not so good at sticking with the program on things like that, but I DO enjoy this budget thing. It helps me stay somewhat on a grocery budget when I have to publicly report how well or how bad I did with a goal.

So, here are the results of this last venture:

Wal-Mart and Frye's 2-27: $416.33
in-between trips thru 4-20: 222.35
-------

total grocery bill 55 days $ 638.68

That comes out to $11.61 per day, or $81.62 per week. Not as good as I wanted, but not as bad as it could have been. We bought a ham for $10.00 the week before Easter; I bought some chard, artichokes, asparagus, and avocados at various times when we were out. This also includes shopping at some small stores that had high prices.

I also have to say, that we had about 1/4 of the ham left, as well as the ham bone; some tilapia; and a couple of other things that could have made about 6 more days of meals. I would have stretched it out that far if we hadn't been getting ready to go to our job at the Grand Canyon. So, what do you think? Good or bad?

Feeling Better Now

That gluten I got in those daily vitamins knocked me on my hiney. I am finally feeling better, so maybe I can catch up with everything. And I finally had a phone call from the manufacturer of them, telling me which one of the pills in the daily pack contains the wheat, the B12 tablet. I let them know how sick it made me but they offered no compensation. I don't know yet if I am going to continue taking them without that one pill or not. It does seem like a waste of money not to, but FabGrandpa may take them if I don't, since the gluten does not bother him.

I was planning to give a recipe a day from the meals I was making this month, but for the last few days, it has been simple simply prepared basics. You know, roasted chicken thighs, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, stuff like that. So what I will do is just put up the dinner menus since Saturday. Yeah, boring, I know. But the last time I talked about cooking here was last Friday when I made that Mexican Seafood Soup. So, here is what we have been having:

Saturday:

Baked Chicken Thighs
Rice Steamed Broccoli

Sunday:

Italian Mushroom Stew
Rice
Pear Salad

Monday:

Gluten Free Fried Chicken Livers! mmmmmm:


Mashed Potatoes
Gluten Free Gravy
Sweet Peas

Tuesday:

Chicken with Salsa and Rice (Thanks to my mother-in-law for that recipe!)

Wednesday:

Corned Beef Hash
Cooked Cabbage

Thursday:

Chili with Gluten Free Cornbread

We are doing really well on the overall budget, too. I stopped doing the Cash Monday posts, and several readers have asked me about that. It was just so boring to write about after we got out here to the desert, because there is no where to go to spend money. We haven't even taken money out of the bank some weeks because there was no need to. So, my suggestion to anyone who wants to stick to a really tight budget? Move to the middle of nowhere, only go grocery shopping once a month or less, and stay out of stores. You'll do just fine.

I have to give a little more info about those yummy Gluten Free Fried Chicken Livers. Years ago, when all my children were young, they all loved fried chicken livers as much as I do. Now, I know liver is not something that everyone likes, but my family did. I used to cook more than was needed to feed us all, so I would have some to take to work with me for lunch the next day. I had to hide them in the back of the refrigerator so my children would not sneak downstairs and eat them in the middle of the night. More than a few times I didn't hide them well enough and had none to take for lunch. So I have weird kids!

After I made my chicken livers on Monday, I called Becca, my daughter, who is also a gluten free girl, and told her how good they were. She was really excited to hear about it and said she was going to make some, too.

For anyone who would like to know how to make them:

1 carton chicken livers
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix
salt and pepper to taste

Drain and rinse the chicken livers. Dredge in the Bob's Red Mill Baking Mix. Melt the Crisco in a skillet, and let it heat up on medium heat. Place the breaded chicken livers in the hot oil, cover and let cook for two minutes. Remove the lid, turn the livers over, replace the lid, and let cook another two minutes. Remove the lid, turn the livers over, and resume cooking without the lid for about three minutes more. Turn again, and cook on that side for another three minutes. Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all the livers are cooked.

To make the gravy, drain off all but about 4 tablespoons of the Crisco from the skillet. Add about 1/4 cup of the Bob's Red Mill Baking mix, and stir well, cooking until the mix is browned, about 2-3 minutes. Add 2 cups of milk (any kind of milk will do, cow, soy, hemp, almond). Stir and cook until thickened.

I was sooooo in Georgia Girl Heaven!!

As Promised

But first, I wanted to talk about making a monthly menu. One of my bloggy friends, Terri, of Terri Terri Quite Contrary, wrote this:

"I wish I were so organized with my shopping. Sadly, for lack of more time and energy, I end up grabbing a few coupons and just tossing whatever looks good in the cart. Nothing lasts long with teenagers in the house anyway."

Now, I will confess that it does take some time, but not as much as you might think. You see, last winter when I was yet again in the off season, living off our savings until spring came and we went back to work, I made up four monthly menus, and saved them in my "Budget" folder. So now, when I need to make a menu for a month, I might use one of those as is, or I might use it as a starting point to make a new one. Another thing I did when I was sitting around doing nothing last winter, was make a complete shopping list for each of those four monthly menus. So, now that I have the menu and the shopping list ready and sitting on my hard drive, all I have to do is print it off, shop my pantry first, and go to the store.

I also admit that not everyone has the need or the desire to shop for an entire month at a time. I didn't used to do it. When I lived in a regular house and acted like a normal woman, I went to the store every week, and didn't even make a list. If I forgot something, there was a Publix Grocery Store less than half a mile from my house.

But now, I have this new life, you see. I live in a travel trailer, where the whole house has about 300 square feet, and the refrigerator/freezer is a whopping 8 cubic feet combined. And I share this space with another person. And both of us like to eat. We like to eat a lot. And one of us has to eat a special diet, that is free of gluten. Right now, we are living in a remote area, where the closest decent grocery store is at least 50 miles away. Wal-Mart is an 80 mile drive. Shopping for groceries is an all day affair. A love affair it is not. Hence the once a month shopping. Oh, and did I mention that all of the refrigerated and frozen things I buy have to fit in two coolers in the back of the truck for the ride home? I have to be organized to make it all work. What is the point of buying it if I can't put it in it's proper place when we get it home, I ask you.

However, if you would like to save both time and money, making a menu and a shopping list is very useful. It could also save you some time if you are the primary grocery buyer and meal cooker. If you post the monthly menu where everyone in the house can see it, someone might just make a meal for you one day. Without you asking them to.

Another thing is, just beause you have a monthly menu doesn't mean you have to eat the meals in the order they are on the plan. I just print out the plan for the month, and mark off each meal as we eat them, so I know what I have still on hand. Adn I only plan the dinners, because breakfast is just breakfast. It will either be eggs, pancakes, or leftover eggplant parmesean. It has worked for me. Your mileage may vary.

And, to address the part about nothing lasting in a house with teens. Honey, you ain't seen how much FabGrandpa can eat! I solved the problem of him eating things I had planned to cook by giving him his very own cupboard. Yes, the FabGrandpa cabinet has nothing in it except for his snacky and lunchy things that he can eat any time he so desires. It makes him happy, it makes me happy, and so life is happy here. No more of him eating my special olives for that thing I wanted to make.

Ok, I think that about covers it. If anyone wants one of my monthly menus with a shopping plan atached, let me know. I'll think about it.

On to the recipe I promised. This morning (ok, this afternoon) we had scrambled eggs with zuchinni and onions. I chopped up a zuchinni and half an onion, sauteed them in some butter in a skillet, added three eggs, and scrambled them up. Yummy.

Dinner was Eggplant Parmesean with a side of this:



I made the bread using up some flours I had on hand, because my online order from hell has not arrived YET. Here is the recipe I used:

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup potato flour
1/4 cup corn starch
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup water
1 pkg yeast
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 pkg unflavored gelatin
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup olive oil

Heat the milk to lukewarm in the microwave, about 45 seconds. Add the brown sugar and yeast, set aside. Mix all the dry ingredients together well. Add the eggs, oil, water and milk. Beat well with electric mixer. Scrape all the dough into the center of the bowl, spray with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with olive oil. Spread the bread dough on the pan into a rectangle about an inch and a half thick. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut the rectangle in half. Cut one half into six bread sticks.

I served the bread with home made pesto, fresh mozzarella cheese, cherry tomatoes, and garlic stuffed olives.

The main course for dinner was Gluten Free Eggplant Parmesean

1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 cup milk
1 cup gluten free flour (you can use whatever your favorite flour is. Tonight I used half white rice flour because I was using up the rest of the box, and half buckwheat flour. but any flour is ok, as long as you like it)
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
8 oz gluten free spaghetti noodles. (I used Deboles corn angel hair pasta, but you can use any gluten free pasta you like)
1 16 oz jar gluten free spaghetti Sauce. (I used Classico Traditional Sweet Basil. Again, you can use any brand you like, even make your own, just make sure if you buy prepared that it is gluten free)
2 cups Italian Blend shredded cheese or 2 cups mozzarella cheese.

Cook the spaghetti according to directions on the box, drain, rinse, set aside. Meanwhile, sprinkle the eggplant with salt, and let it weep. Rinse. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Dredge each slice of eggplant in flour, dip in milk, then back in flour. Fry in olive oil over medium heat until browned on each side. Drain on paper towels.

Spread about 1/2 cup of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of an 11 X 13 casserole dish. Put the spaghetti in the casserole dish on top of the spaghetti sauce, and spread around evenly in the dish.

Place the eggplant slices in a layer over the spaghetti. Pour the remaining spaghetti sauce over the eggplant layer. Spread evenly over the eggplant layer.

Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of the casserole. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

This casserole freezes well, and reheats well. Serve with a tossed salad or with bread and pesto.

Time To Go Grocery Shopping Again!

Remember when I went grocery shopping the last time, and planned to have it last at least a month? We went to Wal-Mart and did that big shopping trip on January 19th. I spent a total of $304 for groceries that day, which included toiletries, paper good, and other miscellanous stuff as well.

In between times, we went to a local market for things like fresh veggies and fruits, milk, eggs, and ice cream. We spent another $197 in those in between trips. So, for 38 days, we have spent a total of $501 for groceries. That comes to About $13 per day or $92 per week.

I also still have a pound of breakfast sausage, a pound of bacon, one can of salmon, 4 cans of tuna, a can of spam, and 6 pounds of dried beans, along with an assortment of canned goods. If we really wanted to get down and dirty with the frugalness, we could put off going grocery shopping for at least another week, maybe two. But we aren't--we're going to do the big shopping trip again tomorrow.

As usual, I have made my menu plan and then made my shopping list. Tomorrow I'll post my menu plan for the coming month and let you know how we did on the shopping.

Budget Report Week 10 Cash Monday

We did really good this week. We decided to only take out $120 from the bank. At the end of the week, this morning I had $5 and some change in my pocket, and FabGrandpa had $6.00. We did go out to eat and use the debit card, for $27.00. So, even though we used the debit card, we are still under budget because we didn’t take out the entire $300.


Also, before we left Phoenix we went grocery shopping and spent somewhere around $300. That was 3 weeks ago, and we have only had to buy milk and bread since then. So, today, we drove over to Buckeye, Arizona, 80 miles away, to Wal-Mart to replenish the pantry.


Here is the menu for the next 3 weeks—we are going to try to make it 4 weeks this time before going back to buy groceries:


Salmon Patties/Peas/Mashed potatoes
Tuna A La King with Rice and canned fruit
Spaghetti/Salad/Garlic Toast
Mac & Cheese/Fried Chicken/Green Beans
Pork Roast/Potatoes/Carrots
Leftover Pork/Rice/Baby Lima Beans
Chicken with Salsa/Rice/Pear Salad
Meatloaf/Fried Okra/Diced Potatoes
Blackeyed Peas/Collards/Cornbread
Eggplant Parmesean/Brussells Sprouts
Chili/Cornbread
Black Bean Nachos
Beef Stew/Biscuits
Chicken with Garlic and Spinach over noodles
Bean Soup/Cornbread
Pork Chops/Green Beans/Mashed Potatoes
Tuna A La King/Rice
Goulash/Rice
Pizza/Salad
Salmon Patties/Corn/Potatoes
Roasted Chicken/Green Beans/Potatoes
Italian Mushroom Stew with Italian Sausage


We probably won’t eat all those meals in the order listed, but I listed them to show that I was able to get all the ingredients I needed to make these 22 dinner meals (plus breakfast and lunch stuff, and snacks) for under $300 for two people. And with leftovers, we should be able to stretch this out for a whole month.


I got us a couple of treats, too. Some garlic stuffed olives in Napa Valley Chardonay; some Black Olive Tapanade; some of those Mexican cookies FabGrandpa loves so much, the Surtido Rico ones. So we’re not even doing without good stuff, y’all!


Just so those of you who read this who love us and all, we are not on the brink of bankruptcy. We are just trying to eat a healthy diet without spending all our money on food. It is a challenge to do this, so it has become sort of a game to spend as little as possible and still have good food. With the prices of gluten free items out the roof, it is even more of a challenge. So, in addition to the Monday Cash thing, we are adding this monthly grocery shopping into the mix.


And as usual, I will let you know in a month how we did on this.

Budget Report Week 9 Cash Monday (OK, I'm A Little Late With This)

When Monday arrived this week, we counted up and found that I still had $45.90 in my pocket, and FabGrandpa still had $30. It was a great week, and we still were able to have some fun. We went out to breakfast twice, both times at Black Rock RV Village Cafe. They have a pretty good breakfast special. We drove over to Quartzsite, and browsed the flea markets there. We also did the drive up to Lake Havasu City and had both lunch and dinner up there.

Because we did so well last week, we only took $200 out of the bank this week. So, doing the math, FabGrandma style, (hahahaha) the bottom line is, not counting the disastrous week of Christmas, we had $75.90 in our pockets, took out $100 less than we were "allowed" to, add all that to the bottom line from week 7, and that puts us under budget THIS week by $297.21, which ALMOST makes up for the horribleness of week 8. And THAT makes me feel all better.

Budget Report Week 8 Cash Monday

Don't Ask. Really. We were THAT bad. End of story. I'll resume with week 9 where we tighten our belts and be really really good. (in the hole about $350, but it WAS Christmas, and we DID have to stock up on groceries, and we DID go crazy. And we are SO not counting this week. It was the failure of the century)

Budget Report Week 7 Cash Monday

Time for the budget report already!? We did a very good job this week--we still have $37.90 in our pockets after a very busy week. We went to breakfast twice at the 5&Diner, lunch once at a "not so good" Mexican restaurant, another lunch at Armando's Mexican Restaurant; went through the drive through at McDonald's twice, and Taco Bell once. I bought myself a new scarf while I was out Christmas shopping (the Christmas shopping money came out of another pile of money. Remember, our weekly $300 is for our normal, everyday living expenses, like groceries, fuel for the truck, going out to eat, sightseeing and such as that. And yes, I set budgets for everything.) FabGrandpa bought himself his favorite magazine and an expresso at the book store. And he picked up some lottery ticket scratchers and some ice cream for me while he was out and about one day.

So to recap, we still have the $37.90 in our pockets, making us under budget for this week. For the entire 7 week period, we are under budget by $127.31. So far, so good.

Budget Report Week 6 Cash Monday

This week was a little busy. We took the truck over to Chuck's Speed and RV and dropped it off for some custom exhaust work. Got a car at Enterprise Leasing for the day. Got an ultrasound done on my arm (NO, I haven't heard from the doctor yet!). And worked 5 days at the Christmas tree lot.

We took out the usual $300 from our checking account last Monday. Went out to breakfast 4 times: Once at Cracker Barrel, once at Fast Eddie's, and twice at Denney's. Picked up lunch once at Taco Bell, mmmm. And had a treat at Coldstone Creamery. If we had stayed out of there we would have made it under budget. Oh well, life needs ice cream once in a while.

The bottom line this week: We still had $13.35 in our pockets, but we used the debit card once at Fry's when we picked up milk and cereal, for $23.99. So, for the week, we are over budget by $10.64. But for the 6 week period since we started doing Cash Monday, we are under the budget by $89.41. Not bad. If you guys know how much self control this took, you would be cheering so loud I could hear you all the way out here to Phoenix!

Budget Report Week 5 Cash Monday

It's that time again, Cash Monday. This week we did pretty good. We went out to breakfast three times, once at Cracker Barrel and twice at Denney's across the street from the Christmas tree lot. We picked up lunch at McDonald's once (I had mine with no bun, of course). We drove across town looking for a particular store that sells Bio-Kleen dishwashing detergent because it is the only one that does not wreak havoc on my hands. (after we got there we found out they don't carry it in the store after all, but we got some really good stuffed olives instead)


This week, we have an appointment to get some work done on the truck. We got one of those superchips two years ago, which really does boost the horsepower on our Ford F-250. Now we are going to get a custom exhaust done, and that will improve the performance of the engine, too.

When we were in Pennsylvania in 2007, FabGrandpa had talked to a mechanic there who quoted a price of over $1300. We were pleasantly surprised when the guy here in Phoenix told us it would be only $890 and that includes heat gauges! So, that little job will take place tomorrow.


The same day, I am going to the radiology place to get the ultrasound done on my arm. They quoted me a price of $100, which will come out of my pocket since I have no health insurance. (we call it self insured. what else can you do?) We also have to pay for the service done on our refrigerator last week over at the RV dealership(more on that later). That will be $120 or so. We haven't paid them yet because we still have some things that need doing under warranty. We have to take the trailer back over there on Wednesday to finish that up.


So, while we are doing great on our spending money budget, we seem to be breaking the bank in other areas. This week's bottom line is: we have a total of $14.11 left in our pockets. That puts us under budget for the entire period by $100.05. That should pay for my ultrasound. Whoo hoo!

Budget Report Week 4, Cash Monday

We had a really good week this week. We spent a lot of money on groceries, because I cooked the Thanksgiving dinner for us and our friends, Charlie and Lynda. We had roasted chicken, squash casserole, sweet potato souffle, steamed green beans, and cranberry jello salad. It was all good.

We ate out at Cracker Barrel twice for breakfast, at the Chinese restaurant once for lunch, and at a Mexican place for lunch once. We also worked at the Christmas tree lot every day starting on Thanksgiving day.

At the end of the week, we had $59.99 left from our $300. The best week so far. FabGrandpa also had about $8.00 in tips from loading trees on people's cars, and I sold one apron for $25. Not a bad week at all.

With last week's ending total, we are now under budget by $85.94. Yay!

Budget Report, Week 3 Cash Monday

This week we did a little better. We went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel twice, went to lunch at a Chinese place once, bought a boatload of groceries (but it was SUCH a good SALE!). We filled the truck with fuel, and drove about 250 miles over to the Superstition Mountains on an all day sightseeing trip, where we paid for a guided tour of a gold mine, snacks and lunch at a ghost town (more on that later).


This morning we did the count, and have $28.52 left of our $300. So, this makes us at the end of week three, under budget by $25.95. So far, so good. And we're not sitting here bored to tears, either.

Budget Report, Week 2 Cash Monday

I am really embarrassed to have to say that we went over budget this week. You would think that $300 would be plenty for two people, but it just didn't work out that way this week. It was the purchase of those hair products that put us over the top, but we needed them and they will last us for a couple of months, so there, I have justified my indiscretion on the money front.

We went out to breakfast three times, all at Cracker Barrel; out to lunch once at that Mexican grill place; and out to dinner once, last night on our way home from Montezuma Castle. (more about that trip coming soon)

So, the bottom line for this week: in the hole by $39.37. Since we were under budget last week by $36.80, that means for the two week period, we're in the hole by $2.57. I'll work harder at it this week. Sigh.

Budget Report, Week 1

Last Monday was when I made a public commitment to sticking to a $300 per week cash budget. I said then that I would come here every Monday and give a report on how we did. So, here is the report for the first week of Cash Monday.


We went to the bank and drew out the cash, and divided it up between us. FabGrandpa got to hold $120 and I got to hold $180. Yeah, I was the divider, and I also was the one who had to pay for more stuff, so I got more money. It's just like that around here.


We went out to breakfast 4 times (all at Cracker Barrel); we drove out to Brenda once (about a 250 mile round trip); we drove up to Sedona once (about a 325 mile round trip); we ate lunch out twice (once for Mexican food, once for gluten free pizza in Sedona); we bought groceries, cigarettes, high dollar vitamins, and ice cream and milk at the convenience store (very high dollar!!!). As you can see, we had a very good time of it.


This is NOT how we live every week, but it was our first week on this budget, and our first week in town with our friends. So, we went driving more and out to eat more than we usually do, and will probably be doing more of the same this week.

The bottom line: We have $36.80 left of our $300 this week. Week one, on budget.

Project 365 Day 28

We have decided to put ourselves on a $300 per week budget for the winter. This means taking the cash out of the bank once a week, on Monday, and putting it in our pocket. Putting the debit card away, out of reach. This cash in hand has to pay for groceries, gas, cigarettes for him (yeah, I know, grrrrrr!!!), beer, going out to eat--basically whatever we want to do each week, we can do, as long as we have cash in our pocket.

We'll see how long we can do it. I think we should be able to have cash left over every week, he thinks it won't be enough. Last winter we tried to do it on $180 a week, but always fell short and had to get more money before the end of the week. So, I'll be posting every monday from now until the end of April, to say how we did each week. What do you think? Do you think we'll be able to live and have some fun on $300 per week?