So last night I went through my freezer and pantry and made a list of every item I had. And although I did have some stuff in my freezer and a lot of starches in the pantry, I will still have to buy some things to make meals, plus milk and produce. But I was able to cross a lot of things off the list and reduce the amount. At least I am aware of what I have and with the meals I planned, I can clear out some of the older stock.

As I said yesterday, I grew up with the mentality that you should always have food in your pantry and freezer. Just in case. I don't have tons. I don't have a stockpile like an extreme couponer (although I am impressed by them). But I always have soups, beans, some veggies, pastas, and rice; things like that. So I'm trying this to see if I can just have less. I don't ever want to be where I have to go to the grocery store because we don't have anything I can make. Plus it take me 15-18 minutes to get to the store, so I don't want to have to make extra trips.

I made a grocery list yesterday. I have a pantry with food. And I have some food in the freezer. But my list is of all these foods that I want to make. Suddenly I am thinking....mark all of that off the list and only buy produce and milk. Am I being cheap? Or is this really the right thing to do? Maybe I should take an inventory and see what I can come up with? Maybe I could make it into a culinary challenge?

We celebrated my brother's birthday this weekend....a very last minute celebration. I was in charge of bread and dessert, which I thought would be easy and cheap. But it wasn't. My sister doesn't eat gluten, so I had to make sure I made something GF for her. And I stopped to get cupcakes because I thought it would be easier than baking. Well I should have just baked. I didn't think they would be very expensive for a dozen, but after she boxed them all up, she told me it was $40!!!! $40 for 12 cupcakes. Ugh. So I paid for the cupcakes. And my extra $40 for the week, went to that. One of my Rx was free, so I had an extra $20 from that, that I gave to my brother as his gift. So I have no extra money for the week, but at least I didn't have to take money from something else to cover it.

So I am thinking about my budget. Is my current budget good enough? What can I change? Is the living on cash/jar method the way to go? I have tried to do a budget through Mint.com, but it doesn't seem to work for me. I heard about YouNeedABudget.com today. I don't know anything about it except they want $60 for the year for the software. Are there other budgeting softwares? Should I stick with what I know?

Much to my surprise, I got a raise on Thursday and it was more than I thought I would get. I am excited to revamp my budget and see what I can do with the extra money.

I also survived the step daughter's birthday. I realize that I have a hard time budgeting when it comes to her because I want to give her everything. But she is only 18 once. At least that is my justification.

I also got an unexpected increase in our phone bill. My husband forgot to tell me that there was an upgrade fee that would be on our next bill. At least they are going to retro my raise back a few weeks, so hopefully the extra will cover it.

I have had 2 no spend days in a row!!! I love it. But today, I have to buy my lunch. But it seems like a NSD makes you gain focus. Suddenly you don't want to spend money.

I'm also gearing up for the weekend. My step daughter is turning 18! We already have her present and I have a budgeted amount for dinner. So it should go fine. I just have to buy some decorations, which I think I will just take out of my grocery budget for the week.