June's Budget

This was the first month that L and I followed our "new" budgeting system that we created. It was pretty successful for the most part - we only went over our grocery budget a little bit. This is impressive considering we had pretty much eliminated dining out (minus a couple quick meals, and one date night equipped with a paid babysitter).

I think the biggest thing that helped our budget was meal planning. We planned all of our meals around what was on sale, and worked hard to create meals with what we had in the house. I made a lot of substitutions on recipes - some worked, some didn't. Also, since there's a new babe in the house, simple meals were the focus.

Speaking of new babe, we pretty much dreaded any dining out with two kiddos, so that was good incentive for avoiding restaurants. Nothing like a crying babe and a demanding toddler to simplify living, right?

So overall, we spent less in spending than we do typically, and stayed pretty close to our grocery budget. Still, I think we could have done a little better as far as stretching meat and using even more ingredients that we had in the house. We'll see. I don't feel like I sacrificed on produce, though this month we'll focus more on the farmer's markets, so we should incorporate more fresh ingredients in our meals.

Let's hope that even with me returning to work next week (yikes!), the budget will continue successfully.

Praise of the Day:
That our God provides