March Budget Update

Homemade pasta is one of our new favorite things and only costs 50 cents per pound to make.

We have are doing pretty well with the budget this year. Usually after three months in it sort of gets thrown to the wayside but not this year. We rented nothing from redbox this month so that kept us right on target for the $20 a year, the library helps keep that on track too.

The fuel budget for the 2 cars was over budget this month but we had to drive to West Virginia twice this past month and Mr Ladybug had to drive out of town two days for a class. Our budget is set at $100 and we spent $131. We were $31 under in January and $40 under in February so it balances out with some extra still saved up. One way we keep this in check is using Kroger Fuel points. I grab those gift cards like Lowes and PetSmart whenever they off 4X fuel points. We easily knock $40-$60 off our monthly totals with that. We also grab any dining gift cards we may use. It all adds up.

We are keeping totals of our garden for the year too. We have spent $101.36 so far. Thats for about 45 packs of seeds, at patchouli plant I had to have, some organic seed starter, some organic fertilizer and cow manure. We have also harvested $20 in lettuce and sprouts too. Thats organic prices since we are growing organic veggies.

We did purchase a Professional KitchenAid mixer with a meat grinder and pasta making attatchement. I have been on the fence for so long over this its not funny. We are like talking 10 years. I know lots of people who have them who have admitted that they hardly use it but do say when they do they love it. They can take up a lot of room plus they arent cheap. Mr Ladybug and I discussed this and he came up with the perfect plan, Our anniversary is in April as is my birthday and Mothers Day. we decided that the mixer would be our anniversary gift and they pasta maker is for my bday at the end of April and the meat grinder for his bday. We got such a good dea. The lowest price we could find for the Professional mixer was $319 but then we looked at Sams Club and they had one for $249. We found the other things cheaper on Amazon. In the past 3 months I had managed to save $150 on groceries so we put that towards it too.

It is cheaper to make your own pasta at home but it would take more pasta than one should eat to make up for the purchase. Making our own sausage will be a huge saving as well as the other things we decide to do. Dont worry we will keep those records too. We plan on making some sausage this weekend.

Budgeting like everything else takes time and patience and is most helpful if everyone in your house is on board. You will overspend sometimes but thats okay learn from your mistakes and carry on.  There will always be unexpected things pop up not matter how many categories you make. Just keep moving forward and before long you will see the saving rise and those little emergencies seem less scary.

To save $30 I use a vintage laundry rack to dry my pasta on. It will hold more than the ones you can buy in stores too!