Lucky Robin's Personal Finance Blog

I did really well on this. I spent maybe $75 on groceries for the entire month of June. I saved $750 from eating from the pantry, freezer, and garden and not going out to eat at all. I only went into the grocery stores to buy milk and a little bit of vegetables. I stopped by a fruit stand for cherries a couple of times. In season WA state cherries are something I seemingly can't resist.

I did videos of the meals if anyone wants to see them. If you go to the actual entry they are hyperlinked and you can just click through. They don't seem to be hyperlinked otherwise.

Week 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5v1V_ExMTk

Week 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEkj54qsp2U

And if you are curious to see how I did my meal planning under these circumstances, I did a video on that as well. I really learned a lot about myself and my habits from this challenge. I was also surprised at just how much more variety I had in my meals than usual when I buy groceries more often. I had thought it would go the other way, but it didn't.

Pantry Meal Planning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LdgFPZ4aQM

$600.00 Old Balance
+400.00 Deposit
-------------------
1000.00 New Balance

$750 came from the grocery and eating out budget that I saved from doing the Eat from the Pantry Challenge for 4 weeks.

$2715.91 Old Balance
+__10.00 Weekly Deposit (6/25)
------------------
$2725.91 New Balance

$1274.09 to go to hit 4K.

$2705.91 Beginning Balance
+__10.00 Weekly Deposit
-----------------
$2715.91 New Balance

$1284.09 to go to hit my goal of $4000.

This has gone much better than expected. I did give in any buy fresh local WA state cherries and the husband got his jar of bread and butter pickle chips and the yogurt he likes. He doesn't like what is on hand that the kids eat. Otherwise no spending on groceries this week.

I am starting to see space in my freezer again and that is good. I will need that room and any more I can make when we purchase a half a beef later this year and for when we butcher our 30 meat chickens in 10 more weeks. Not to mention the 8 rabbits we are doing this week, though I may debone and can it instead of freezing it. I like having it canned, but I don't like picking out the bones when I open the jar.

Anyway I posted this week's meal plan. I deviated somewhat from my last meal plan, but not from the pantry challenge really, other than to get those cherries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8duz3Dlkoc

Monday:
BBQ Chicken Legs
Broccoli/cauliflower
Cherries
Home canned corn
Chocolate

Tuesday:
Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches
Chili for boys
Chicken noodle soup for the girls
Strawberries
Kohlrabi

Wednesday:
Brined pork chops
Fried potatoes
Home canned Applesauce
Broccoli/cauliflower

Thursday:
Sloppy Hoppies on homemade buns
Sweet potato fries
Blueberries
Salad

Friday:
Meatloaf
Fried potatoes
Green beans
Snow peas

Saturday:
Homemade pizza with ham, sausage, pepperoni, bell pepper strips, onion strips, basil
Salad

Sunday:
Tacos
Strawberries

$2663.91 Old Balance
+__10.00 Weekly Deposit
+___9.00 Egg Money
+__23.00 Coin Jar Money
-------------------
$2705.91 New Balance

$1294.09 to go to hit my goal of $4000.

$400.00 Old Balance
+200.00 Deposit
---------------
$600.00 New Balance

$400.00 to go to hit my goal of $1000.

I feel like I am starting to settle into a routine now between the garden and the farm chores and making all of my meals from what is available here and not by making a quick run to the store or getting take out. As the garden moves into heavier production more time needs to be spent there.

I have harvested a pound of snow peas from the garden this week, 2 bunches of kale, 1 head of lettuce, 2 bunches of green onions, and 3 kohlrabi. My broccoli is getting close to harvest size, which astounds me. It is all so early, but with this weather, I can't blame it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzII-hvqugA

I am enjoying the cooking this week more than I have in a long while. I don't know if it is just access to super fresh ingredients from the garden or knowing it is all food I grew and/or preserved myself, but it feels different. I haven't felt any resentment over cooking like I sometimes do. I mean I love cooking, but I am often irritated when it all falls on me. This last week I don't seem to care about that. It's like an attitude has shifted. Of course the children are helping far more than they ever have before so maybe that is why?

Some things were quite challenging since the hot water tank that feeds the main kitchen went out and had to be replaced. We couldn't use the dishwasher and every pot and pan that we cooked in had to be hauled down to the half-kitchen that had hot water. That went on for 5 days, but we got a new tank put in and had hot water again last night.

As promised here is the video of my meals for the first week of the challenge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEWnzVbQ7UA

I am looking forward to the rest of this challenge. It is good to be feeling so positive about it.

I forgot to add in the $10 weekly deposit on Thursday to the JMF.

$2653.91 Old Balance
+__10.00 Deposit
---------------
$2663.91 New Balance

$1336.09 to go to hit my goal of $4000.

So far the Eat from the Pantry/Freezer/Garden Challenge is going very well here. The garden is really getting going so I am very happy with it. Tomorrow will be my seventh day on it, so after dinner I will post a video with all 7 meals so you can see what I've been doing if you want.

I had to shift some things based on what I had already and the kids wanting pizza, but for the most part I stuck to last week's meal plan. This week's will be:

Monday:
Southern Fried Rabbit (this got shifted)
Fried potatoes
Cole slaw
Grapes

Tuesday:
Lamb chops (for me and the kids)
Pulled pork (for DH)
Broccoli
Canned pineapple

Wednesday:
Rabbit enchiladas
Mexican rice
Salad
Canned nectarines

Thursday:
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Garlic bread
Snow peas

Friday:
Brined pork chops
Fried potatoes
Green beans
Applesauce

Saturday:
Homemade pizza (pepperoni, ham, bell peppers and onions)
Cole slaw

Sunday:
Rabbit bacon cheeseburgers
French fries
Salad
Strawberries (frozen if not enough are ripe yet)

Today is payday so I distributed money to 3 different funds today.

Down Payment Fund

$30,500.00 Beginning Balance
+__,500.00 Deposit
--------------
$31,000.00 Ending Balance

$49K to go to hit my goal.

Tire Fund

$200.00 Beginning Balance
+200.00 Deposit
-----------------
$400.00 Ending Balance

$600 to go to hit my goal of $1000.

January Money Fund

$2523.91 Beginning Balance
+_100.00 Deposit
--------------------
$2653.91 Ending Balance

$1346.09 to go to hit my goal of $4000.

I sent $225 to the January Money Fund today.

$2298.61 Starting Total
+_225.00 Amount Added
-------------
$2523.61 New JM Fund Total

$1476.39 to go to my $4000 goal.

I also sent $200 to start the Tire Fund Today. The goal for that is $1000.

So DH texted me and they found a bed for the extra four nights so we won't have to worry about the four days he had to take off to be home for DD's graduation. I won't have to touch the college fund, the January Money Fund, or the Emergency Fund. So now I can focus on building the JMF and the Tire Fund with no stress hanging over my head. Or at least no more stress than usual. Which is quite a relief.

I sold 2 dozen duck eggs this morning for $9. I gave her a discount since she brought me a dozen egg cartons.

We had one litter of kits born today. Ruby had 5 reds. We are still waiting on Serenity and Phoebe to have their litters. They were due on Sunday, so they are overdue now. Phoebe has pulled fur, but other than building a very nice nest, Serenity shows no signs of being in labor. Hopefully I will come out to more kits in the morning.

As I said in my meal planning post I am going to try to go the whole month eating only from the Pantry/Freezers/Garden. I did go and buy flour and sugar today. I will only buy milk, but I will go u-pick some strawberries to make jam as I won't miss out on making jam for the year when the local berries are in season. I do have a jar of pectin so I won't need to buy that for making jam.

I picked my first snow peas today. I am so happy to have them. We will have them in this week's stir-fry dinner. It is only one serving's worth, so if we put it in the stir-fry we'll all get to have some. We should have a ton more in a couple days and then we can each have a serving of them.

$2258.43 Beginning January Money Fund Total
+__10.00 Weekly Savings Deposit
+__30.18 C1-360 Interest
-------------------
$2298.61 New January Money Fund Total

I have decided to take Mrs. Frugalista up on the eating only from the Pantry challenge. My only exception will be to buy milk and also strawberries for making jam, because it is jam making time and my own strawberries will not be enough for that. I will start tomorrow. Today I had to go and buy flour and sugar because I was low on the former and out of the latter, and I can't make jam without sugar.

The garden is doing well enough that we will have lettuce, kale, chard, snow peas, and kohlrabi from it this week. And the broccoli is starting to head up so we should have some later this month. We have canned nectarines and applesauce and pineapple for when we run out of fresh fruit. And our own strawberries are just starting to turn color.

I am hoping to make it the whole month.

Tuesday:
Picnic Ham
Baked potatoes
Green beans
Fruit salad

Wednesday:
Chicken and Vegetable Stir-fry
Fruit Salad

Thursday:
Baked turkey thighs
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Salad

Friday:
Duck in rabbit broth in the crockpot
Baked potato soup
Kohlrabi

Saturday:
Southern Fried Rabbit
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Cole slaw

Sunday:
Brined pork chops
Fried potatoes
Applesauce
Cole slaw

Well, it looks like DH will be able to get 4 extra days this hitch to make up for the 4 days he will miss by staying over for DD's graduation. There is plenty of work for him to do. It all hinges on whether or not they can find a bed for him at work for those 4 days. I really hope so, because to not have to scramble and cut back and take money from other savings categories to cover this would be very nice.

He will know sometime tomorrow. I was not looking forward to depleting the January Money Fund, which was what I would have to do if he can't get the extra time at work.

Househopeful asked what the January Money Fund is about. Every year over the Christmas holidays, DH's work shuts down for a couple of weeks. So he has to go his usual 2 weeks off from a regular 2 on/2 off shift, plus 2 more weeks off. So he ends up with 4 weeks off in a row with no pay. Now we are used to budgeting for the 2 weeks off and we stretch the money to cover the whole 4 week cycle. But when those four weeks off come up (be it in January or December, we never really know until closer to time), that gives us four weeks we have to stretch money over, which is a lot harder.

This year I started saving for that time period quite early. When we were paying off debt and the mortgage I generally didn't start saving for it until September or October, but now I can save all year for it. Usually we can count on DH's Christmas bonus to help some, but last year most of that went to fixing the leaking moon roofs in the van. So I don't want to depend on the Christmas bonus for anything, because who knows what might come up. So hence this fund.

Plus we still don't know what our tax situation is going to be for next year. Since we only lived in the house we sold 1 out of the last 5 years before it sold, we may have to pay some taxes on the sale. Maybe not, but we won't know for sure how much of the remodel and repairs and improvement we can deduct until we get all the tax paperwork.

I am thinking it will probably all be a wash, but if it is not, we won't owe more than we generally get back, which is around $7000 due to our medical costs. It'll be a bummer if we don't get a refund, because I usually use the money to bump up the Emergency Fund and in the past to pay down debt, but now to save for a down payment on our upcoming farm purchase. But we should at least walk away without having to pay out, which is better than having to pay in by a long shot.

I really do think it is criminal of them to tax our house sale this way, though. We lived in that house for many, many years, and it was our only house. The money that is in savings from the sale is intended for our next home and that should be allowed to be kept. It used to be you could keep it if you rolled it over into a new home, but not anymore. And it's not like it was a huge sale or anything. We're not talking about a $300K plus house here. Or even a $150K house.

Well, this turned into a rant. I guess things have just been on my mind a lot lately.

As a quick update on my daughter, she finally, after 10.5 weeks has stopped bleeding. She's still in a lot of pain though. They are testing her for a clotting disorder and a bleeding disorder. We should find out in the next day or three. She is having nosebleeds, unexplained bruising, and severe cramping in her calves as well. She's still anemic. Please continue to pray for her.

So on Sunday I harvested the equivalent of 2 heads of lettuce and 1 bunch of kale and today I harvested the equivalent of 3 heads of lettuce, 1 bunch of Asian stir-fry greens, 1 bunch of sorrel and 1 bunch of kale. The equivalent in the grocery store for organic produce would be $21. That brings my total harvest so far this year to:

$64.50

And it's not even June, yet.

I sold 7 more turkey eggs for 50 cents each, so $3.50. I have someone coming to buy 2 dozen duck eggs on the weekend.

Today I gave my FIL 3 dozen duck eggs, 1 bunch of kale, and some lettuce and sorrel. He will give SIL some of the duck eggs.

How the main garden is doing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoRqDsCJoQ0

We have rabbit kits due this weekend. I gave the three pregnant does nesting boxes last night and washed the cages the night before that. We are as ready as we can be.

$14,941.89 Beginning EF Total
+__,_58.11 (Egg and Rabbit Money, Coin Jar)
-------------------------
$15,000.00 New EF Total

I have finally hit my goal of $15K. That gives us bare minimum expenses for 3 months. While I would like to get the EF to double that one day, for now I am going to pause the EF savings, probably for the rest of the year, and work on some other shorter term goals. First up is funding the January Money Fund and the Tire Fund. Today I deposited the rest of the coin jar money into the January Money Fund.

$2193.65 Beginning January Money Fund Total
+__32.39 Deposit Added
----------------
$2258.43 New January Money Fund Total

So from now on the weekly $10 deposit, the monthly $100 deposit, farm sales, and coin jar savings will go to fund either the Tire Fund or the JM Fund.

DH forgot to arrange time off with his alternate for DD's graduation. Normally they switch weeks or go to a temporary 3 and 3 week schedule, but with waiting to the last minute the best he could get was for his alternate to just work the 4 days for him. It would be less days if there was a plane to the slope every day, but there isn't. So we will lose 4 days of pay in June.

I am going to try my best to not have to use the Emergency Fund to cover these lost wages. I think we can manage it, at least if no more major medical bills come in. It won't be this next cycle, but the one after that that will be missing 4 days. So if I am very careful and we don't eat out at all in the next 6 weeks and I don't put anything in the down payment fund except the $500 I'm obligated to put in there, I think it will be manageable.

If not, I guess I could take from the January Money Fund or the College Fund. DD is taking a gap year anyway, to try to get her health in order. I am hoping they will just let her get a hysterectomy. It is what she wants at this point just to have all this over with. She's never wanted to give birth to kids because of the high risks that run in our family, so that isn't an issue, though the doctors may make it out to be one. They generally do when you are young. But she's always been quite firm on wanting to adopt little girls from China. She's talked about that since she was 10.

We will be eating from the pantry and the garden as much as possible during this time period. I will buy some fruit and vegetables and probably some chocolate, but I will buy no meat (other than pepperoni and deli meat for school lunches) since we have plenty in the freezer and in the canning jars and I will make all of our bread.

What I won't have to buy at all is lettuce, kale, or chard. The kohlrabi will start being ready in a week or so. So basically the only veggies I will be buying are cabbage, zucchini, and broccoli. I will be buying some strawberries and blueberries, at least until my own strawberries are ripe. I will also be buying 2 basil plants. I have canned nectarines, applesauce, and pineapple. And I'll need to buy milk and yogurt. We have plenty of butter and oil. But I do need to pick up tomato sauce to make spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce with my own canned tomatoes. I think I can limit it to that, though.

If I can cut our grocery budget in half for the next 6 weeks, we should get by just fine without having to dip into anything. Including the money for DS's new bike.

Monday:
Chicken Enchiladas
Cole slaw
Cantaloupe

Tuesday:
Chicken Stew
Green Beans
Pineapple

Wednesday:
Meatloaf
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Blueberries
Salad

Thursday:
Black Pepper Chicken (has veggies)
Canned nectarines

Friday:
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Cole slaw

Saturday:
Homemade Pizza
Cole slaw

Sunday:
Meatball Sandwiches
Salad
Oranges

$14,931.89 Beginning EF
+__,_10.00 Weekly Deposit
----------------
$14,941.89 New EF Total

I haven't made it to the credit union yet to deposit the farm sale proceeds. Hopefully I will remember to do that tomorrow.

$58.11 to go.

Yesterday I sold 2 rabbits and got a guarantee on a 3rd. She was only coming to pick up the male yesterday and look at the female who will be ready in 4 weeks when her kits are weaned. But she saw the reds and when I told her I had a red doe kit available as well, she impulse bought it. So that was $45.

The girl who was coming to buy the turkey eggs has to postpone until tomorrow, though. Hopefully she will follow through.

Last night I ordered 60 black Australorp cockerels. They will arrive on or around June 3. They are to be our meat chickens this year. We will have 30 and Mom will have 30. My half came to $68.87, which works out to $2.29 a chick. Usually they put in some extras in case they don't all make it. Now I just have to collect Mom's half from her.

We chose black Australorps because they are mostly thigh and leg with smaller breasts. We don't like the white meat as much as the dark meat, so we want the meatier legs and thighs. And we chose cockerels as they get bigger faster than pullets. They are also cheaper than pullets. The sad fact of the chicken industry is that males are often considered outright useless. You just don't need that many in a flock, even a large one, to get the job done. 1 rooster to about 10 hens is a good ratio. So they either are sold as meat birds or they are killed outright as chicks because they don't get sold on time for safe shipping.

Safe shipping is during the first couple days of life when they are still absorbing the nutrients from their yolk sack and food and water are not an issue. After that it can be dangerous to ship chicks, especially once it gets really hot.

I did try to source them locally, but all I could find was the Cornish cross and I am not raising those again, at least not while living here.

I am trying to use up some stuff in the freezer and keep things easy for myself this week. I don't know if I am starting a cold or if my allergies are just trying to overwhelm me. Cottonwood seeds are blowing about like snow right now, so I suspect it is the latter, but a scratchy throat and runny/stuffy back and forth nose still feels like a cold even if it is allergies. So all that to say you'll see much simpler meals this week from me.

Monday:
Fish Sticks and Mini-Tacos from TJ's (cleaning out the freezer)
Sweet potato fries
Salad from the garden

Tuesday:
Toasted ham and cheese sandwiches
French fries
Salad from the garden

Wednesday:
Spaghetti and Ground Meat (no fancy meatballs)
Garlic bread
Salad from the garden

Thursday:
Barbecue chicken legs
Baked potatoes
Green beans

Friday:
Baked potato soup
Chicken Enchiladas
Cole slaw

Saturday:
Pizza with homemade rabbit sausage, prosciutto, peppers, and onions
Cole slaw

Sunday:
Southern Fried Rabbit
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Roasted zucchini and yellow summer squash

I took all the cut up chicken breasts from our meat chickens last year out of the freezer to thaw and I am going to can it once it is and use it for making enchiladas. Canning makes it super tender and provides much ease of use.

We got a big refund check from the pharmacy that DH gets his BiPap supplies from. Apparently when we bought the machine we hadn't met our deductible, so we paid for it out of pocket, but by the time it had finished processing we had met our deductible so the pharmacy did get paid by the insurance, so they cut us a refund check and it came today. $711. Which will make up for the fact that I had to take $280 out of this last paycheck to pay for the first hospital visit. And the rest of it will be saved to cover the second hospital visit once it goes through and any of the doctor's visits my daughter has had this month.

I thought it would be a super tight month or else we would have to use the Emergency Fund to cover some of these medical bills. Instead we can use the refunded money to do that. I am happy as I really didn't want to touch the EF at all.

We put a lot of money into building raised beds this year, and an additional $75 into bringing in good soil to put on top of our manure and spent bedding and compost. Add to that all the little t's and elbows and splitters, and hose for the irrigation system (which would have been far more without the soaker hoses we had on hand already). And while we just might break even this year, it'll be towards the end of the season. But for the next years our only costs should be seed and a few six packs of transplants.

I have been harvesting 4 types of lettuce, spinach, violas, 3 types of sorrel, and Asian stir-fry greens for the last 3 weeks. It is all cut and come again types of vegetables, so I can't compare it based on heads of lettuce, but based on the packages of organic romaine you can buy at the store that cost $4 and last me 3 days, I have now saved myself $28 in organic lettuce costs with far more variety.

I have harvested and dried enough basil to fill a normal sized spice jar. Ditto on oregano. And I have used enough thyme to correlate to one of those $1 plastic packs they have at the store. So add $13 altogether for that.

Then I harvested enough for one bunch of organic kale, $2.50

Garden savings so far: $43.50.

And that more than pays for half the soil.

$14,831.89 Beginning EF Amount
+__,100.00 Monthly Deposit
------------------
$14931.89 New EF Total

$68.11 to go to hit $15K.

I think I might make this before June. I have 2 $10 weekly deposits left for this month and I currently have $23 in the coin jar, so that is $43. I am 2 dimes short of a roll, which would put me at $48. I'm sure one of the kids has 2 dimes I can trade for nickles and that would leave me with $20.11 to come up with by the end of the month. There is technically another payday the last Friday of this month, but I'd rather scrape it together before then somehow. It's more fun that way.

ETA: I forgot, I am selling a rabbit tomorrow, $20, 6 turkey eggs tomorrow,$3, and I am currently saving a week's worth of turkey hatching eggs for someone else at 50 cents each, so I do have this.

...so you can see what I've been up to when I'm not stressing out over DD's medical issues.

Bird Update:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M5DFKIb0yI

The Raised Bed Garden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDfnEC9NMyI

The kits at the 3 week mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vgqo71yBps

The Raised Bed Garden Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF5zboB5d18

The Gutter Garden and George
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itgDoO_lJBg

3 Sisters Garden and Potato Garden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk6FNSuI8sg&spfreload=10

Gina, who thinks she is a duck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUBlY0FBOJI

Fruit Garden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCjLJ3mzs1o

$14,821.89 Beginning EF
+__,_10.00 Weekly Auto deposit
---------------------
$14,831.89 New EF Balance

$168.11 to go to hit my goal of $15K.

TMI medical stuff, so go away if you are squeamish or don't like female reproductive problems. My daughter has been very sick and we've taken her to the hospital twice in the past 2 weeks. We've been to the doctor twice and on the phone with him or the nurses more times than I can remember at this point. Please pray for her to heal.

We are pretty sure she has what I had all those years ago that caused the $150,000 worth of medical debt, endometriosis and carcinoid tumors, but of course we don't know that without surgery and they are still just wanting to do chemical intervention which has not worked so far.

Mostly we just want the blood loss to stop or at least taper off enough that she can go back to school without soaking a pad every hour. Her anemia is getting quite bad at this point with 8 weeks of bleeding. So she starts the shots today. Hopefully they will be more effective than 3 BCP's a day.

She had missed a lot of school because she has been bleeding through her clothing and the district is getting snippy about absences, though the school itself knows what is going on and is a bit better. So prayer that they will let her graduate would be appreciated. And that the new medical costs don't bury us alive.

$14,735.37 Beginning EF Total
+__,_20.00 Two Weekly Deposits
+__,_10.00 Pinecone Check
+__,_20.00 Egg Money
+__,__7.00 Coin Jar ones
+__,_29.52 C1_360 Interest
-----------------------
$14,821.89 New EF Total

$178.11 to go to hit my goal of $15K. I should hit this next month.