October 6, 2008

A new month with new challenges

Posted by pearsonsprogress

Thank you for your prayers for us! Aren’t these interesting times? We feel sometimes that we have so many challenges & trials but even in the midst of those, we know that in the Lord there is always hope. I continue to find ways to save on the ‘ol grocery budget. Some budget items have been lowered, while others have been raised, like house and fuel costs. Here are some of the “new moves” we have made:

  1. we’re now unplugging the water/house heating unit during the day (it’s a diesel fuel tank we have filled) and just turn it on for our showers at night/ wear sweaters in the house.
  2. we try to run any errands only once a week
  3. John fixed the dishwasher! This saved us at least 100€
  4. the garden is growing… we are hoping for a “crop” soon
  5. eating a lot more legumes
  6. eating less meat
  7. buying ONLY the 30% off meat and poultry (that is out of code the next day)
  8. I bought enough broccoli on sale last week to last about 4 months. I will blanch and freeze it today after I give my English class to the neighbor kids (ministry, not a job)

Bummers of the week:

  1. the heating system needed a new part that cost us 100€ ($145)…ugh
  2. this is a bummer/blessing: a couple in our church is getting married and the customs are different here. We each give the money for the meal that is held after the wedding ceremony at a restaurant ( at least 60€ for each person… this is a 5or 6 course meal) + we add the money for the gift for the couple on top of that. Weddings are great…. but boy are they expensive in Spain. My friends are all talking about going out to buy their new outfits and getting their hair done the day of the wedding. I will wear something I already have, and do my own hair! We all have these “unexpected expenses” that we deal with.

We hope that you are seeing victory in your lives and are feeling hopeful.

* I tried to upload some photos but I am getting an error message. I’ll try again later.

Blogroll, Grocery Challenge

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Comments
Comment by Anita on October 7, 2008 @ 7:29 am

Here’s what we have done…
*vegetarian at home mostly (although neil has asked for a one week moritorium on beans… he has become a weapon of mass destruction…).
* only buy meat 30% off when I do
* kids only go to school 2 times a week, saving LOTS on gas!
* not buying things we don’t need
* not eating out much at all and if we do, its a sandwich or pizza, not a restaurant for now.
* I cut everyones hair last night!
* eating soup for dinner

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