Happy Tuesday!

Wow, this weather has been so nice! Albeit the temperatures have been what they'd normally be in June and we set a new record yesterday. Still, I'll take this and the pollen any day over cold weather.

I have to clarify something on grocery budgeting. What I posted down below is not the final total for the month. I needed to make that clear! We will be hitting around $600-$650 before it's all said and done. I already have a few more things to add to the total as we have a new, ahem, member of the household.

Well, we finally took the plunge and got a dog! James and the children are thrilled. Hopefully I can warm up to the idea more as time passes. :) I guess I am still in the child rearing stage so much that it's hard to think of nurturing a dog. Also I can't get used to the idea of doggy hair and smell. Eeeewwww! Oh and dog breath is terrible!

Here are a few things that I have done the past few days to save a few bucks:

* I baked and froze a bunch of muffins and orange bread for breakfasts later in the month.
* One meal I cut the amount of sausage in half to put in nacho dip for a lunch. It was just as tasty and I have the other half of the roll for another time.
* I've been using all homemade laundry detergent and have been hanging more wash outside to dry.
* We have been using our attic fan as much as possible versus running the heat pump units.
* We drink water at lunchtime. The children have finally gotten used to the idea. At first they thought I was nuts! It helps cut down on milk consumption or my having to prepare more tea. The children drink milk or juice at breakfast and have tea at supper. Water is the norm in between meals.
* Instead of cereal we eat a lot of homemade granola. Initially the cost isn't much cheaper than cereal until you add in the factor of us not being as hungry in a few hours. The fiber in granola really helps to keep us full longer. The same goes with the whole wheat in our muffins and bread.

I hope to add to our money saving lists as I think of ways that we save to keep our bills down lower. Have a beautifully wonderful day in the LORD!