Monthly Shopping Goals: August 2015

I normally look forward to August every year.  This is the time of year where farm stands are starting to pull in some of their bounty, you can get marked down produce cheap from them from time to time and usually I'm harvesting a bunch of stuff from the yard and garden.

This year, however, has been really tough financially, on top of last year, so making trips for marked down produce is out. 

August is typically a high yield time in the yard and garden, but the combination of a very hot summer with little rain and such has hurt my raspberry plants (barely getting any and a lot of the berries I'm getting are about the size of a BB) made the fireweed die off almost as soon as it started flowering (and the blooms I tried to harvest are completely bug infested) and really...I'm glad I had a good year last year when it came to making jams and jellies and I'm glad I have parsley honey to pad out my harvest this year.

Yet, despite a somewhat disappointing preserving season and not wanting to waste any gas in my car, I've got a bunch of things I really need to get this month and some things I would really like to afford to add to my pantry.  I'm not sure how I'm going to afford it, in all honesty, but I'm going to put the energy out there and pray that God lends me a hand somehow.  Faith isn't easy sometimes, but as Matthew 17:20 says...

"I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."

I apologize to the non-religious out there.  I do try to make a point not to talk about religion (never talk about religion or politics, you know?), but during this trying time in my life sometimes faith is the only thing that is getting me through. 

So, how did I do with shopping goals for last month?  I managed to get everything on my list with the exception of 12 cans of cream of chicken soup (I only managed 8 and I've used two of those cans so far) and the flat of peaches.  

I ended up spending more than planned buying safe nuts that my son could eat and work on at occupational therapy.  I managed to find some dried figs cheap on Amazon (5.00 per 1 lb bag) so I got two and put them in with an order for a rebuild kit my husband needed and some crystallized ginger and things.  I actually, technically, got the figs for free as Amazon messed up my first order with my banana chips in it (they only sent me 1/2 of the allotted amount) and so they refunded me my money for the banana chips.  They offered to let me re-order the banana chips with 1 day shipping, but I decided to just get something else instead as even 1 lb of banana chips will last us a while.

I also picked up cheese powder and whole egg powder (I got 1 lb for 10.00 and some change on Amazon.  You have to STALK Amazon to wait for the cheaper options to pop up as they sell out nearly as fast as they get posted, but they are there). I also, by reorganizing (read gutting and redoing) my pantry I found cans of food storage I didn't realize I had, so I'm happy I'm set on dehydrated milk for a while.

So, here are my shopping goals for this month.

August Shopping Goals

Bulk Stores:

• Butter
• Cheddar Cheese Block
• Garbage Bags
• 2 Cans canned shrimp
• Corn Syrup
• Paper plates and quart storage bags (the rest of my daughter's school supply list)
• Lemon Juice
• 1 Flat Peaches

Regular Stores:

• Corn Muffin Mix Bulk Pack
• Oxy Clean (this goes on 5.00 Friday from time to time)
• Cat litter
• 6 cans cream of chicken soup 
• Garlic stuffed olives

Home Depot:

• Water Softening Salt (way cheaper there than at the regular stores)

Amazon.com:

• Poppy Seeds
• Soap (my son is reacting well to the Prudent Homemaker's recipe for laundry soap, so I'm hoping to get some more sensitive soap on Amazon)
• Coffee (instant powder for emergency storage)
• Maple Syrup Powder (I'm out and would like to get more) 
• Dried blueberries (found safe ones for my son's peanut allergy and they are really reasonably priced.  Here's hoping I can swing them).

Non-Food Related:

Target:

• School Supplies

Luckily I have horded school supplies in previous years, so the only thing I really need to get at this point at Target is modeling clay (if they even have it).

• Socks and Underwear for kids

My mom was awesome enough to send me a box of clothes for the kids in the next size up (thank you, mom!), but I really do need to get some new socks and underwear for the kids as they are starting to show wear and tear.   If I can find money in the next couple of weeks I might try and get the socks at Payless Shoes as I really like their quality of socks better than Target and I received a coupon in the mail from them for 20% off my purchase.  I'll just have to play it by ear and see how it goes.