Gratitude Journal- Week 3

Throughout the month of November, I make a point to slow down and take stock of all the blessings I have received throughout the year. It amazes me each year how many blessings I have received.

Having a strong family and friend tribe is essential to living a Sweet Life. We are fortunate that our neighbors, swim friends, and colleagues have become part of our support system. Our friends have supported us in so many ways since we have moved here, and we are overwhemled with gratitude. In the nex year, we will be expanding this group.

In addition to our new friends, our connection with your previous community tribe is still strong. When we end up at the same swim meets or swim close to each other, we keep our relationship strong by visiting and building new memories.

We are truly blessed to be part of these groups.

How have you been blessed this year, and what are you doing to create blessings for the future?

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Menu Planning #132

Our meals need to be nutritious, clean, flexible, quick and cost effective. Between our work schedules and after school activities, we need to carefully plan our meals so that we do not end up ordering out. The news is very scary at this time because of all the news of meat plants shutting down, grocery stories limiting the amount of meat a family can purchase and all of the talk about a depression on the horizon. We have decided to keep our grocery budget the same, but to economize any way we can. This week we tried to pick up some shrimp that was on sale, but the store was out of shrimp and not expecting to get any more in. We were grateful to find wild caught salmon for the same price, so we picked that up instead for our Mother’s Day Dinner. What did we spend? Week 1: $96.44 Kroger: $96.44 Rebates: $3.55 IBOTTA: $1.35 Kroger Cash: $0.45 Checkout 51: $1.75 ...

Menu Plan #322

NOTE- 1- Click on the picture and get a link to a post sharing the recipe. 2- Although all prices were correct at the time of the blog postings, the current cost of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location. Published September 2025: USDA Thrifty Food Plan According to this plan, our family has a weekly budget of $190.50. Since October has 5 weeks, our monthly budget is $952.50. We elevate our dining experiences by including fresh fruits, vegetables, and higher-quality meats. Since our family has specific dietary needs, we limit our consumption of highly processed food. Grocery Shopping Tip: Rethink lunchmeat. The deli will provide you with thin-sliced meat or presliced deli meat, but you will pay a premium per pound. ($6.49 to $15.00 per pound) However, if you buy a ½ boneless ham (unsliced or presliced), the price point will drop to between ...

Menu Planning: #250

NOTE- 1- Click on the picture and get a link to a post sharing the recipe. 2- Although all prices were correct at the time of the blog postings, the current cost of preparation of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location. March USDA Thrifty Food Plan According to this plan our family would have a budget of $186.20 per week. Given our health concerns, we struggle to maintain this budget, but I am going to try to make this happen. Cost Saving Tip of the Week: When I purchase fruit for the week, it helps to calculate the cost per serving vs. the cost in general. For example, this week a whole watermelon was on sale for $3.99 each. When it is cut up, the watermelon will yield at least 20 servings which will place the cost per serving at $0.20. Here is what we did this week to make our week easier: Breakfast Options: Hard Boiled Eggs Yogurt Homemade Breakfast ba...

The Sweet Life On A Budget

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