just how low did we go?!?!

I am happy to report that our September month of low budget eating was a smashing success! We both learned a lot along the way. My fast food/restaurant cravings (crazy right? but I'm not joking!) subsided after about a week and after that it was pretty smooth sailing. The planning part and decision making at the grocery store was easier than I thought it would be. The cooking more and packing a homemade lunch every morning, was a lot of effort though. I think it would be tough to keep this up 100% and continue working full time, but I think I learned some things that I would like to continue to keep our food costs down.

I wish that I could clearly and concisely list out for you exactly what we did that worked or how I managed to do a $70 grocery bill (verses our normal &100-$120) the first week of October without trying... but I really can't. A few things I can share with you:

• most off brand stuff isn't that bad and saves a lot
• Aldi does save money ($40 on our first weeks grocery bill there!) but is a lot of work and doesn't have everything you need
• coupons help, but I didn't go crazy on them - I mostly used my in-store Tom Thumb app on my iphone while I was in the store to down-load coupons or I chose something that was already on sale (even if it meant substituting an ingredient within reason) vs something that was not that week
• websites with low-budget meal ideas are awesome! (my favorite is: http://www.budgetbytes.com/)
• a little bit of meat really can be stretched a long way (example: just one chicken breast for six servings of these incredible sweet chili chicken bowls: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/07/sweet-chili-chicken-bowls/)
• big kuddos to my husband for helping me in the kitchen with lots of extra dishes and being willing to eat lots of leftovers - he's amazing!

You can thank Josh for all of the pretty excel sheet break downs below (just click on them to make them bigger). If you don't want to look at the whole thing here's the bottom line:

$325 on all food spending (grocery and eating out) for the month of September compared to our normal $800+ saving us a total of about $500

Calculating the exact meals we ate for every meal, every single day, we only spent $255

We hope this is helpful and inspiring for someone out there. Most of all, we hope this continues to help us and you remember that our money is not our own - it is a blessing and gift from God - and we want to use what He has given us wisely and generously to others. 

Love, Jo & Josh

The Great Food Experiment

Josh likes to research and I like to cook. The culmination of this combination has turned into a challenge, doubly named "The Great Food Experiment... How Low Can You Go?"

It all started with someone else's blog - ha! - and here I must give credit to Mr. Money Mustache:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/03/29/killing-your-1000-grocery-bill/

This post has inspired us to experiment with our food spending habits. Our current food spending is $800+/month (groceries and eating out). We realized, hey, that's a lot! Our challenge is simple: how little can we spend on food in the month of September??? I have already found a lot of great budget recipes online (< $2 per serving) that look (at least mostly) delicious and nutritious, despite their low costs. I've done some price comparison shopping at Costco and Aldi and the game is about to be on!

Anyone that wants to is welcome to join in our challenge whether you are able to do it in the month or September or a later month. I would love to hear your ideas on saving money on food. So far my best one is: more beans and less meat :p We are not sure exactly how we will calculate our food costs for the month yet, but likely we will do two different totals - one with all of our food bills for the month and one where we add in the costs of all the food items that we used during the month that we had already purchased in previous months (ie; olive oil, frozen items, bulk nuts...) to get the most accurate picture of our spending as possible. I will also try to break down some of my meals to find out exactly what I am spending per portion and Josh has promised me fancy excel sheets :) Mr. Money Mustache says you should be able to do $1 per meal per person, which sounds crazy to me... but I'm willing to try my darndest to get close!

I hope you can join us on this adventure in some form or fashion, whether it's sharing recipes, trying one new low budget meal, packing your lunch or cooking at home one night instead of going out! 

Love, Jo

catching you up...

Most of you know how our story started with fire. Literally and figuratively. We were a boy and a girl fumbling to build a fire together on a camping trip that beautifully became “love that flashes like fire – the brightest kind of flame, many waters cannot quench…” (Song of Songs). On May 6^th, 2012 we looked into each other under an arbor of giant whimsical paper flowers and took a vow to cherish each other forever. Everyone told me that day would whirl by so fast - and it did - but, I am so thankful that I woke up with an amazing peace that morning (quit contrary to my usual stressed out self in the face of large events) and was able to fully revel in every moment.

I am very giddy to introduce to you Jojo’s Nest – a place where I have long desired to document the life of my family. Team Canafax has been in existence for 472 days. I know this not because I am a super documenter or awesome counter, but  because our wedding website has a reverse calculator on it telling you how many days you have been married.  I love how it says: “Joshua and Jordan – newlyweds for 472 days.”  I'd like to think we'll have some aspect of newlyweds in us for the rest of our lives even when familiarities become cemented and silver threads of wisdom start to emerge.

Many great life events and milestones have closely trailed our wedding. My most favorite new happenings are having the most amusing (and occasionally ornery) person to hang out with at home every day (yes, every single day!), combining our lives and continually learning new things about and from each other, becoming puppy parents - learning to love and care for a creature, experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen and having someone to make plans with... because I LOVE to plan!!! :)

Here’s a hit list of a few other things that have happened…

~ purchased a duplex and became homeowners and landlords at the same time 

   (yippee-ki-yay partner)

~ acquired the cutest boxer puppy (puppy parenting challenge!)

~ both started new jobs (excellent choices)

~ are remodeling our kitchen DIY style (lot's of power tools involved here)

~ became and aunt and uncle (cash ezra is the sweetest!)

~ joined the jr. high ministry at church (think crazy games, running, yelling, up all night, 

   way too much energy, but we love them :) )

~ have traveled to Costa Rica, Austin, Fredericksburg, Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah,

   Greenville (SC) and Laguna Beach (AND plans for travel to Japan are in the works!)

God has been very good, even in the midst of our crazy busyness and not always perfect choices. I really have felt His warm and glorious face shining upon us as we've grown together in marriage and individually in Him this year. I cannot wait to experience what is next, however I frequently have to remind myself to soak in the moment and not be so impetuous, as I am quite prone to doing.

Signing off for now... hopefully more to come soon with less time to catch up on in between...

Love, Jo