A fun game.

I'm building up a bit of a cushion to my food budget. I want to leave a little left over every month, partly so I don't accidentally bounce a check and partly so I have enough to get my quarter of beef next August. So here is what I 'm doing.

I've made a list of staple food I eat each month. At the beginning of the month I am doing a "big shop" so I have all my basic food. My goal is to only shop one other time that month, however now that the meager amount of vegetables I harvested this year are beginning to peter out, I may need to go more often for vegetables.

I've done my "big shop," as I'm calling it, for the month and have figured that to have an extra $10.00, I need to keep my spending on food for the rest of the month to $45.00. Is this possible?

Yesterday I bought thyme (they never had it in bulk and I had to give up and buy a regular jar) for $1.99 and a cup of dried beans for $0.48. This leaves me with $42.53 for the remaining 25 days in the month.

I'll report in now and then, so you can follow along. In my opinion, the only way to save is to make things fun. It's a fun test for me, and it will also probably keep me from spending $3.00 on cookies at The Pearl Bakery. Every time I do that I picture my grandmother rolling over in her grave. Sorry grandma, sometimes that shortbread just calls to me. Perhaps not this month, though, eh?