May Wrap-Up & June Goals

Here we are at the end of May. These monthly updates come much too soon for me as I never manage to accomplish all the tasks before me, but I did OK this month.



First a huge Hallelujah! for DH's temporary job as a Census worker. The hours are flexible, the pay is good, and DH has been enjoying the work. The paychecks filled "the gap" in May and we were able to pay everything on time and the credit card remains with a $0 balance. We also received a grocery gift card and had our food all paid for the first week of May which were both a huge help.

My goal was $100 for groceries, but I spent $147. This was a conscious decision to do some bulk buying instead of just "survival" buying as I have been for several months. For example, when pasta was $.75/box at Fred Meyer I bought ten boxes knowing I would use five for my freezer meal swap in June. I also found markdown pie crusts for $.99 and decided to buy enough for another freezer meal swap. Chicken Pot Pie is so ridiculously easy and delicious if the crusts are already made. I also bought a case of organic macaroni & cheese at Champion Foods because they were $.83/each. Usually I would only buy a few boxes at a time. So this bulk buying increased the grocery bill a bit, but overall I feel pretty good about $147, especially considering how full the pantry is and how prepared I feel for the freezer meal swaps coming up.

I didn't sell anything on ebay, but I did sell a book on half.com. I started to look a few things up on ebay this month, but I think many of the 'potential' ebay items will just end up in the garage sale pile.

I also got a good start on the Spring Cleaning, but it has been slow going. This rainy, cloudy weather is a major downer for me and I haven't been very motivated to work on any of my projects. I'm so looking forwad to a sunnier and more productive June!

I only used the dryer ONE TIME in May. We were out of town the first week of the month. We had a beautiful week the 2nd week of May and I was able to get all the laundry caught up (including bedding) which was excellent! We had one super-sunny morning the next week which allowed me to dry four loads of laundry before the afternoon rain started and those clothes have tided us over through about 10 days of rain. I used the dryer once this week because one of my kiddos wet the bed and I didn't have time or cooperating weather to dry the thick, waterproof mattress pad. But just that once the whole month is pretty good. Unfortunately I have full laundry hampers, a full diaper pail, and waning supplies of clothing in dresser drawers. I'm hoping for at least one solid day of sun this week!

When we get our electric bill for this month I'll be sure to post about the impact using the clothesline intead of the dryer has made.

I still plan to post about chickens and a series on how I grocery shop - so look for those in June. I did finally post about making your own bread, cloth wipes, and the big deal with drugstores.

Goals for June:

• $200 Groceries - This includes a trip to Costco
• Sell 1 thing on ebay - I'm lowering my goal so it's more achievable. =^)
• Finish the Spring Cleaning
• Blog posts about chickens, spring cleaning, & how I grocery shop
• Again, use the dryer less than 5 times.

Thanks for reading and taking an interest in our survival!

Katie