Budget Blabbing & Babies!

Before I get to my semi-daily updates on what I ate and how much it cost I thought I would share 2 more photos of Trinity.  My sister was gifted a Baby Photo Shoot from her Co-Workers and these are the first ones I have seen from that session.

OMG I can't get over her!

In other family-related news that I haven't mentioned YET while I share these photos...my cousin and her husband traveled up from Tennessee last week.  They stayed for a week over at my parents house.  It was WONDERFUL to see them.  I was able to spend a little time with them while they were in town.

While they were here we were able to take a tour of Southern Tier Brewery.  That was really neat!  We got to see all the machinery and ins and outs of everything!

This past weekend my parents and I were part of a committee that helped put on a craft show at the fairgrounds.  Also on the grounds this past weekend was a car show, BBQ, and Horse Show.  Of course I didn't grab anything at the BBQ but I did stock up on some convenience items last week to put in the camper freezer to have on hand...and good thing, too!

The event went really well!  I'm super excited that my parents were in the committee, too!  Next major event is Fair Week which is always in the beginning of August.  If you have been around my blog for a while you know that I always share photos after that week is complete.

Oh!  Another UPDATE...I was voted in as a board member with the Secretary position of our local League of Women Voters - so that's exciting!

And FINALLY...my semi-daily food update!  So after blogging yesterday I noticed I had 2 gift cards in my purse that had about $5 each left on them.  I wanted to get my dinner stuff for the next few days and hubby needed bread and a few things for the house.  With everything I only spent $1.24 out of pocket.


What I ended up buying for food was Black Beans for $1, Chickpeas for $1, Corn with Onions and Spicy Peppers for $1 (all of these items were canned), then I found a frozen bag of Cauliflower Rice with Carrots, Green Onions, and Peas for $1.79, and a package of Tortilla Wrap/Burritos for $2.29.  So that was really only $7.08 for the day but I got it at no cost to me because of the gift cards I used.  But for sake of argument we will look at it as a 'charge' for the day and week.  So far I have spent $14.58 on food this week.  BUT...with what I bought yesterday that should take care of me for 2 to 3 days I'm thinking.

I have been doing a lot of research on other people and their vegan food challenges.  Yesterday I found a girl online who posted about her food journey for the week.  When she added everything up she spent $21.88 for 10 days of meals!  I thought - HOW WONDERFUL - so for the heck of it - I went thru her list and put what my local prices were and came up with the total of $52.77 and that included me already having 5 items in my pantry and deleting 3 other items!  So with NOT having to purchase 8 items from her list my total was between 2 and 3 times higher than hers!  Oye!

I have been out of cashews for a month, I'm totally out of Nutritional Yeast at the moment, I have NO fresh produce either.  I currently only have French Fries and Frozen Artichokes in my Freezer, and with what I got yesterday I have some leftovers but only have 1 unopened can of chickpeas and the Mexi-Corn for canned items.  This will certainly be interesting!  If I buy a 1 pound bag of Nutritional Yeast it's $19 here.  If I buy 14 to 16 ounces of Cashews the cheapest price in my town is $12.99.  If I buy only those two items the total would be $31.99.  I guess THIS is what happens when you eat out of your pantry and take it down to nothing, eh!?