An experiment

A few weeks ago Dan and I were talking about our budget and discussing how we could cut down our expenses. We've recently made some major purchases and while we do have the money to pay for them, we want to continue to make extra payments on our mortgage at the same time. So we were brainstorming ways to cut down our expenses so I wouldn't need to pick up some extra shifts at work. Dan made a few comments about our grocery and miscellaneous allocation every month and alluded that maybe I could decrease those. I just laughed. I already feel that getting healthy, balanced meals with the budget I've got requires a little ingenuity (and I'm OK with that). Dan, however, isn't so convinced. So I've challenged him. For the month of October, Dan is in charge of the grocery and miscellaneous cash (we use cash for our expenses). He will be planning the menu and doing the grocery shopping. Now he's not so sure he should have opened his mouth.

I've placed a couple of stipulations on the menu though. We cannot have macaroni and cheese every night and I do want some fruit and vegetables. He also cannot use all of my freezer meals and all of my canned fruit. I'm actually looking forward to October and I think that at the end of the month, he'll have a much better appreciation for what I do. :-)

In an effort to help him out a little, I've inventoried my pantry. I figured I usually have a mental idea of what's in there, but he doesn't. This is something I've wanted to do for awhile but him planning the menu has given me the impetus to get it done. I made an Excel spreadsheet with everything in the pantry with room to expand and write in new things that aren't currently on the list. This way I'll be able to glance at how much of a certain staple I have on hand before I go to the store. And I'll know how much jam, etc I have so next year I won't have to hunt through the shelves to figure out how much of each kind to make.

I'll let you know how our experiment goes.