My "Peace" of Food

We have a budget of $300/month for groceries that I pretty much use up every month. I try to shop all at once towards the middle of the month so I don’t have to go a lot. I actually really hate grocery shopping!

Last month (being March) I spent below budget and was super excited to throw some extra cash at my student loan. However, just a few days after my big grocery trip for the month Justin got the news on his blood work so about half of the food I bought wasn’t going to work for the new diet. Good thing my mom hadn’t gone shopping yet! I gave her most of the things I had, saved a few things for the nights when it would be just me and the girls eating, and planned another trip to the store.

One fun thing about this is that I had to buy a new cookbook with low carb/low fat recipes which is great! A lot of the ingredients need to be fresh though so I’ve had to throw out my idea of once a month shopping trips and go one week at a time. This is helping me buy ONLY what I need since I actually plan a meal a day (for 5 days of the week and figure leftovers the other 2 nights) instead of over buying like I had done in the past. I get to try new recipes and cook fresh food which for some odd reason makes me feel like more of a “mom”. Microwaving a premade frozen dinner and adding a salad on the side just doesn’t have the same effect as making a meal for your family!

I am discovering the joys of the crock pot, but also realizing a lot of the recipes taste quite similar ::shrug:: I may just be trying the wrong ones though.

All this to say that when I looked at my alert on mint.com (amazing resource by the way) and realized I had more then doubled my budget I had mini heart attack. That’s when it really hit me though, like it has a million times before GOD PROVIDES.

I am so blessed by the family and friends God has given to me (us). I laugh at myself sometimes for ever worrying about things like this, because honestly when has a bill gone unpaid, late, or food not be available? NEVER! I have this little ideal picture in my head of what my budge should look like but sometimes I have to just let it go and see all those red and orange lines (on mint.com) and realize God works and moves in the most noticeable ways when we are living our lives (for him of course) in red/orange.

For some crazy reason when all things are going well (in the green) we take for granted that its because of God’s hand in your life and not because of ourselves. We are so selfish, but God is so selfless.

Cliché, but honestly, What a Mighty God We Serve! I sure love my daddy! (the heavenly one in this context)