Final Update: My New Resolve

Well, September is over and I am happy to announce that I had $28.80 left over for the month! Not quite my goal of $30, but I am still happy about it since this was after I spent approximately $5 on food for our unexpected trip!

This whole thing has taught me quite a bit. I learned that the world will not stop if I run out of one of my "staple" items. In fact, being out of a few staples forced me to be more creative and either improvise or totally make something else that used up some of my stockpile items.

I also learned to make meals that stuck more with items that I have on hand. Don't get me wrong, I probably did better at that than most people to begin with. But, I got even better at it which was good. In fact, it convinced me to try doing planned menus again. I know it's shocking, but I can't stand to stick to a planned menu! I tried it not long after we were married but soon got very frustrated with it. However, I think I am going to try it again, and just do things a little differently so I like it better.

My cupboards look like they experienced a makeover, and in fact they sort of did. I am enjoying the free space and actually rearranged quite a few of my cupboards and made room for some other things that had been sadly lacking a good, permanent home. It is definitely easier to be organized with less things!

Even though it was frustrating at times to not have something I considered a staple item, I enjoyed the challenge so much that I think I am going to do it again this month. In fact, I might even post how I did at the end of the month. The publicity does good things for my resolve!