Two Frugal Cats

This week was pretty low key, we stuck to our meal plan quite closely, resulting in no food waste this week, which always makes me happy. Hannaford had some nice sale & store app coupon matchups again, and I caught a few decent stock up sales at Shaw's. I expect that we will stay on budget for January, as our pantry and freezer stocks are full. What We Spent Papa's Produce 2 Half-Pints of Organic Blueberries - $2 Total: $2.00  Shaw's - Trip 1 1 Can Tomatoes with Green Chiles - $0.50 (clearance) 16 Snickers w/ Peanut Butter - $0.76 (clearance, B2G2 sale, and coupon matchup) (3) 12-packs Schweppes Seltzer - $8.98 (not pictured) 3 Pillsbury Roll Products - $3.47 (5) 16-ounce Blocks of Cheese - $14.95 2.78 lbs of 90% Ground Sirloin - $8.26 Taxes & Bottle Deposits - $2.66     Total: $45.05 Shaw's Trip 1 Groceries Shaw's - Trip 2 4 Jars Prego Pasta Sauce - $4.47 6 Boxes Twinning Seasonal Tea - $7.96 (holiday clearance) 1 12oz. Can Tomato Paste - $0.64 (clearance) ...

 Christmas is a special time for many families to gather and enjoy a meal together. This year due to COVID, our group was a small one, but we had fun and enjoyed lots of food, fun, and laughter.   The Family Christmas Tree While many families have traditional dishes, or like to splurge on expensive items, I wanted to show you that it is possible to have a hearty, crowd pleasing meal while sticking to a budget. To make things extra interesting this year, our area was under watch for a major wind and rain storm that was supposed to bring power outages.  While we were lucky that the storm was not nearly as powerful as expected, it did mean that I had to plan all food so that it could be converted to stove-top only cooking (propane cook top). Thus when I was looking at sales leading up to Christmas, I was choosing items that were easy to prepare, or could be prepared in more than one way. I also want to note that I did not plan this meal to be budget conscious!  The onl...

This week was busy with some unplanned family events, but better late than never! 1| A Well-Stocked Freezer to the Rescue  I was asked to make a few meals for a family member in need. I pulled all the ingredients I needed from the freezer and churned out two casseroles, a blueberry breakfast cake, biscuits, and burritos. I did make a stop at the store for a few items, eggs and tortillas just in case. I also had to send Ben down the road to the gas station to pick up some milk as mine was sour when I opened it. Oops! Overall very little out of pocket and many mouths fed! 2| I Remembered My EZ Pass I carpooled with my mom to help a relative pack their apartment. We used my EZ Pass to save on tolls, made sandwiches so we didn't have to eat out, and had a great time catching up. 3| I Was Gifted A Set of Corelle Bowls My Aunt who is cleaning out her apartment gifted me her Corelle nesting bowls that she no longer used. They just happened to be in a print that I was coveting! 4| Wood Spl...

What We Spend (WWS) and What We Ate (WWA) is a recap of our weekly grocery spending and meals. You may noticed that a good amount of what we eat is not what we purchased within that week. That's because we buy primarily what's on sale, along with some fresh items, and pull the rest from our pantry or freezer stock. These sale items go into the stock rotation. Look out for future posts that explain my approach to meal planning and grocery budgeting. The concept of WWS & WWA comes from blogger Kristen at The Frugal Girl , and other bloggers who do similar recaps, but I liked Kristen's version the best. What We Spent | May 30th - June 5th, 2020 Shaw's 6 boxes of pasta -$1.98 (store sale; $0.33 each) 4 cartons Florida's Natural orange juice - $7.08 (store sale, $1.77 each) 4 packs Klondike Bars - $3.96 ($0.99/each, store sale) Frozen Spinach, 16oz. - $.99 (after $1 off any frozen item coupon) 4 Fage Sour Cream - $3.60 ($0.90 each after coupons) Sliced Italian Bread ...

Ebisu - 3.5 year old male orange tiger  Ebisu came to us from the Pope Memorial Human Society Shelter in Thomaston, ME during the summer of 2017 when he was about a year old. He is one of the most expressive and affectionate cats I've ever met, in many ways   more dog than cat. He loves snuggling (being under foot), bird watching, sun-bathing, and spending every waking minute attempting to eat something. Grayson 2.5 year old male black & white tuxedo Grayson, aka "Master Grayson" is a sweet, sensitive feline who is an avid bird enthusiast, morning snuggler, and resident chatterbox. Grayson came to us through a friend as an 8 month old kitten in early 2019. Playful and smart, Grayson is more independent than Ebisu, but loves being close to his people. We are fortunate that our cats get a long fabulously, often sleeping and playing with one another. The both know how to come when called, and sit on command. We don't know what we'd do without them! I would be rem...

So, why a blog? A few reasons really. Sit tight. Probably the most obvious, especially if we've met in "real-life," is that I like talking about food - shopping, recipes, whose got the best deal, my favorite store (Market Basket if you were wondering), etc. Many friends have asked for tips on lowering their food budget, so I thought, why not put all those tips in one place? Plus, I'd like to capture ideas and recipes for myself in a fun curated manner. Next - surprise surprise - I like reading food blogs. I follow a multitude of food bloggers who cover everything from baking, budget meals, canning/preserving, frugal living, and cooking for two. Over the years I've taken inspiration from these bloggers, tested their recipes, tried out their tips, and followed their lives and blogging journey. I feel that for a long time this has been a one-sided relationship, and that since I enjoy the content and effort others have put out their, maybe I should contribute my own i...