I still need to post updates for Saturday and Sunday but the first week total for just the All You grocery challenge is.... $98.07!!! Woo hoo! Under by almost $2!! Unfortunately that included having to return one of my beloved great deal on Olive Oil because of $11 at Starbucks, but hey, a win is a win.
This was pretty much starting from NOTHING, all scratch, no cheating (that I'm aware of). There were a few things that I had to use from our previous stores like milk and fruit and bread that I wasn't going to let go bad, so it would have been over $100 for the week in terms of the Fire challenge (including "theory" items, it was $119.52). But we've got a good stock going now and we have a lot of meat and sides so we'll do some more household items and stockpile building this week. Oh, and Kroger (King Soopers) trips!! Love that sale ;-) But really, we're a monthly budget family so we're doing alright. We expected to have to spend more initially to start rebuilding the staple goods.
And as for the full "fire challenge", we've spent $180/500. Higher than desired but you have to spend up front for these things. I'd like to be able to "buy" more clothes for the kids and another pair of jeans for me for work but we'll see how that pans out. I don't want to overspend just yet.
One great thing this week was that we found out we don't have to keep thickening Hunter's liquids! This is a HUGE savings. The thickener he used was a minimum of $25 for a big jug of it. We had to buy him little cocktail straws to drink from, but to go from Honey Thick liquids back to "Thins" (no thickening) is downright awesome. Way to go Wee Man!!
Other observations...
* Scott may not last. He is already unhappy with sandwiches and was sad he couldn't do an aus jus with the meat tonight. But he's managing and appreciating the lesson in minimalism as much as we all are. We're 1/4 of the way there!
* Chock Full O'Nuts Coffee is AWFUL!! Not even close to a substitution for New Mexico Pinon coffee, but I guess why it's so much cheaper, eh?
* Clearance diapers... great if they're Huggies or your kid doesn't have a sensitive bum... Hunter's butt looked like one of those monkey's in the zoo after using those Albertson's diapers for 2 days. They took both packages back but we're now out of diaper-bag-Desitin so hopefully it doesn't come back now that they're out of the house!
* Purex 3-in-1, good for cold washes, not so good for hots. The dryer part melts off before it ever gets to the dryer. Not recommended.
* Covergirl Outlast Lipstain, from my Bzz Campaign!! First of all, FREE (can't beat it), and decent makeup for second! I swear it wasn't just the color, it actually tasted like berries to me. And it actually did last for close to 4 hours, including eating a meal with oils in it. Their previous version was a bit cakey, this lipstain goes on as a color and you can put anything you want over it: gloss, chapstick, another color... but the key was that it lasted without the cakey feeling most long lasting lipcolors get. And my lips actually even felt a little more moisturized. I'd give it 4/5 stars (the color was actually a little too intense for my pasty-whiteness, but it blended nicely after about 2-3 hours).
* Mystery Shop! Got to do one today. The scheduler was a bit of a snot, but it was fun in the end and not too hard. Good free (actually money making) fun for the family.
* Cleaning, UGH, not fun with one bottle of cleaner, a sponge and some rags! But the house is clean... for now...
* Lots of "Borrowing" from friends and family, not ideal, but in a pinch, which one of us wouldn't go beg their mother in law for her Melanine Christmas dishes for a month?? I "borrowed" a 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup syrup, 1/2 cup milk (for Hunter's Sunday bottle), a vaccuum for the morning and an iron for an hour.
This was pretty much starting from NOTHING, all scratch, no cheating (that I'm aware of). There were a few things that I had to use from our previous stores like milk and fruit and bread that I wasn't going to let go bad, so it would have been over $100 for the week in terms of the Fire challenge (including "theory" items, it was $119.52). But we've got a good stock going now and we have a lot of meat and sides so we'll do some more household items and stockpile building this week. Oh, and Kroger (King Soopers) trips!! Love that sale ;-) But really, we're a monthly budget family so we're doing alright. We expected to have to spend more initially to start rebuilding the staple goods.
And as for the full "fire challenge", we've spent $180/500. Higher than desired but you have to spend up front for these things. I'd like to be able to "buy" more clothes for the kids and another pair of jeans for me for work but we'll see how that pans out. I don't want to overspend just yet.
One great thing this week was that we found out we don't have to keep thickening Hunter's liquids! This is a HUGE savings. The thickener he used was a minimum of $25 for a big jug of it. We had to buy him little cocktail straws to drink from, but to go from Honey Thick liquids back to "Thins" (no thickening) is downright awesome. Way to go Wee Man!!
Other observations...
* Scott may not last. He is already unhappy with sandwiches and was sad he couldn't do an aus jus with the meat tonight. But he's managing and appreciating the lesson in minimalism as much as we all are. We're 1/4 of the way there!
* Chock Full O'Nuts Coffee is AWFUL!! Not even close to a substitution for New Mexico Pinon coffee, but I guess why it's so much cheaper, eh?
* Clearance diapers... great if they're Huggies or your kid doesn't have a sensitive bum... Hunter's butt looked like one of those monkey's in the zoo after using those Albertson's diapers for 2 days. They took both packages back but we're now out of diaper-bag-Desitin so hopefully it doesn't come back now that they're out of the house!
* Purex 3-in-1, good for cold washes, not so good for hots. The dryer part melts off before it ever gets to the dryer. Not recommended.
* Covergirl Outlast Lipstain, from my Bzz Campaign!! First of all, FREE (can't beat it), and decent makeup for second! I swear it wasn't just the color, it actually tasted like berries to me. And it actually did last for close to 4 hours, including eating a meal with oils in it. Their previous version was a bit cakey, this lipstain goes on as a color and you can put anything you want over it: gloss, chapstick, another color... but the key was that it lasted without the cakey feeling most long lasting lipcolors get. And my lips actually even felt a little more moisturized. I'd give it 4/5 stars (the color was actually a little too intense for my pasty-whiteness, but it blended nicely after about 2-3 hours).
* Mystery Shop! Got to do one today. The scheduler was a bit of a snot, but it was fun in the end and not too hard. Good free (actually money making) fun for the family.
* Cleaning, UGH, not fun with one bottle of cleaner, a sponge and some rags! But the house is clean... for now...
* Lots of "Borrowing" from friends and family, not ideal, but in a pinch, which one of us wouldn't go beg their mother in law for her Melanine Christmas dishes for a month?? I "borrowed" a 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup syrup, 1/2 cup milk (for Hunter's Sunday bottle), a vaccuum for the morning and an iron for an hour.
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