February: Resolutions in Review

February seemed to drag on forever with all the snow storms and the subsequent snow-days that shot our routine into oblivion. Having Andrew home so much was wonderful, though! I really love his job as a teacher when there are snow days to be had. As far as living our resolutions I think I can give us a B-/C+ grade for the month.

Things we did well:

• We did not shop at any big box stores for groceries, personal care or household items. NONE. We have done a lot of shopping at our local hardware store and local grocery stores, especially The Country Store.
  
• Ravenna and I had a ball at the local thrift and consignment stores! We really have some great stores only about a mile from our house so when the weather gets nicer we can walk there.
• Despite the no-go from our HOA for the raised beds, I have decided to move forward and build the beds into the ground. So while it won't look as nice, I will still have my garden and be able to follow the square foot gardening method. I have one broccoli plant started and will be starting a bunch more seeds this week.
  

Things we didn't so well:

• Eating out: We didn't eat at any local restaurants this month. Truth be told we ate at the Olive Garden, Taco Bell, Coldstone and Burger King. The Olive Garden and Coldstone were paid for by gift card's so I am not sure if those count.
  
• Andrew had gift cards for JC Penney and Sears so we had to use those. There really wasn't any way around that and Andrew needed work clothes which are painfully difficult to find at Thrift and Consignment stores (I guess guys don't part with their wardrobe as readily as women do?).
• We didn't attend our borough's big "Fire and Ice" event this month, despite the fact that it is one of the biggest events of the year with lots of ice sculptures and a chili cook-off. We wanted to go, but when it came down to it, it was snowing and I wanted to read a book.
• I still haven't involved myself in a community group. With my new calling as achievement day leader and with Andrew's college class my only free time is Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and I am not sure the library will let me volunteer with so few hours.
  

Our grocery budget this month was a real learning experience. I think we could have lived with the budget I made, but I am not sure if we could have eaten so well. When all is said and done, I know we can do better than the $300+ we spent on groceries this month.

This month was unusual in that we had 4 dinner "parties." Normally we have 1-2 so that did put us a bit out of the range of a normal grocery bill. Based upon this last month's spending and taking your advice into account I have revised our budget:

• $240/month for groceries NOT including personal care or household items, but including stock-up items for our 3-month supply.
  
• $20/month for personal care items
• $20/month for household items
• $10/month for clothes for Ravenna: The local consignment store just had a big sale so with $35 I was able to get almost all the clothes I need for her for summer aside from PJ's so I probably won't buy any more clothes until June.
• $200 for gardening (I have decided to do worm composting which is much cheaper to begin with). So far I have spent about $50 for gardening expenses including: seeds, soil, peat pots, vermiculite, and a grow lamp.

So there you go! We are ready to start March with a great deal of optimism. This month will be a big one for getting the garden ready: moving the rhododendrons to the back (the HOA did approve this), digging out the 4'x8' bed, building the garden box into the soil and preparing and filling the box with "Mel's Mix."