Baby steps....

I think it was a combination of having to squeak through financially when the hubby was between jobs, and the news report about unleaded gas at $4.29 per gallon. WHAT??? My purse strings have always been pretty tight (case in point, I haven't bought new clothes in 6 years) but we are definitely going to be pushed to our limits as things get worse.

So I have put myself on a mission:

Reduce my monthly food bill to $200, or as close to it as I can get.

Now, I live in Massachusetts - not exactly the easiest place to reduce spending in general...there's some weird high price vortex that takes effect mid-New Jersey and doesn't let up until halfway through New Hampshire. The part of MA that I live in isn't quite as bad as the immediate Boston area, but it's still been tough to keep the food budget at $100 per week.

My happy band of misfits currently consists of myself, my husband (who is a type 1 diabetic with a voracious appetite), and my 1 year old son who has apparently inherited his father's stomach. So I have the added challenge of providing meals that are relatively low carb for DH, and healthy with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies for the li'l sprout. Can't fall back on Ramen, prepackaged convenience food, or too much pasta. We are also planning to start trying for another baby in the fall, so I would like to make sure that the extra diapers next year don't end up breaking the budget.

I don't expect to hit the magic number right off the bat, I know this will take a lot of practice, planning, and creative cooking...It's a huge challenge to rethink the way I spend money on grocery trips, and an equally daunting challenge to retrain myself in the kitchen and get away from the easy (tr: more expensive) shortcuts at mealtime. Just have to take baby steps!

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