The Dang-Blasted Budget

Last night, my husband and I had a very sweet and romantic talk.  We even broke out the calculator and Excel sheet.  Basically, we realized we only have $90 per week to live on for the next two months.  That's after rent and bills (Dear Lord, please don't let it get too hot here).  We are living off of sweet, generous wedding-gift money; some fatherly donations; some scratch I made by selling some of my super cute but non-necessity clothes; and the remnants of our student loans.

This has inspired us to CUT OUT EVERYTHING!  No more Starbucks (we were just doing the bring-your-own-mug refills, but even that is too fancy for us right now), no more taco truck, no more gourmet roasted carrot hummus, and no more Blizzards from Dairy Queen.

Ha, as I write what we have to cut out, I am laughing at us. We are fine and still ridiculously fortunate, but it was definitely a wake-up call to do the math.

This has inspired me to try to encourage others who are just trying to stay out of the hole.  We are going to do our best--we are determined to not take on any credit card debt.  Ever.

I'll be mapping out every penny we spend here:

This way we can see it and can both stay on the same page.  Also, by telling you about it, I really have to stick to it--accountability is no joke.

My first project is replacing that beautiful, angel-kissed, gourmet hummus with some homemade hummus from yours truly!

Here is why it will be so great:

Gourmet Hummus = $6.50 for la petite container

Homemade Hummus =  $0.64 (1/2 of a $1.28 bag of dried chickpeas) + $0.70 (the portion of the $3.99 Tahini) + $0.48 (the portion of the $5.59 Harissa) + $0.30 (1 Lemon) + $0.07 (1 Cloves of Garlic) + $0.80 (a dash of Olive Oil) = $2.99 / 3 (because my homemade batch makes over three times as much as what came in the other kind = $0.99!!!!!

Awww yeah!!!

Seriously, $0.99 compared to $6.50--that's a big stinkin deal.

I'll be sharing the hummus recipe and will be keeping this budget in mind as I continue to cook, study, eat, study, and take pictures of the foods I'm making on my phone.  (I would buy a real camera but that is NOT in the budget.  Sorry bout it.)


With love,
R