Personal Challenge

I just spent $190 at the grocery store (-$8 for my face lotion, can't eat that!). No I don't coupon, but I do shop sales. Normally my biweekly food budget is $300. So I still have some room to splurge here people. As for what I bought today, many of the items I bought were stock items which was approximately $20 of the $182 (bullion, dried minced garlic, mayo...) and the other items were necessities: cereal, milk, peanut butter, cheese, the pricey items, mind you.
I went to the store with a menu that I made up after pulling the meat from the freezer and when I began I was already slightly agitated.  from there I really watched what I placed in my cart.
The Reason for this Madness:
 As I was unloading and putting all my items away, I realized that I have a plethora of food in my pantry and my freezer already. It does help that I have enough ground beef to last another 6 months, but that aside, I realize that I have a ton of food. I think with intentional meal-planning, some creativity, and my 2 older offspring & my husband buy-in, I think this challenge needs to be done!

My personal challenge: To not spend any more money on food, unless warranted for an already planned meal, until next pay day (February 4). Yes, this includes eating out! But this is a huge challenge, because our house is on the market, and most showings are around lunch or dinner time. I will have to give myself some grace, or just be extra diligent to bring our meals with us if this does occur!

Why, for the love of all that's good and pure would I do this you may ask yourself with ire...
****Because I don't think I really NEED anything more to feed my family. If I am able to save money, shouldn't I?
As I was putting away today's groceries I was taking note of all the food I have in my house already.  Here's my evidence:

Pantry & Freezer check

• Bread--2 or 3 loaves in freezer
• Meat--- all you can handle ranging from ground beef to chicken breast (nothing fancy however)
• Cereal--- just bought 6 boxes of corn flakes and rice krispies
• 2 gallons of milk
• lunch sandwiches are premade and in the freezer ( I will need a sammich count  however, they are not in my realm of responsibilities)

Now, I already have my meals planned out for this week, but not the next. I will have to do this today or tomorrow, if I am going to make this challenge.
I'm starting to twitch already. I don't like challenges, but I'm feeling compelled. I know I'm forgetting things! Hey, it wouldn't be called a "challenge" if it weren't in fact, challenging.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
To be continued!

Day #1 Menu Choice---There's a good story about my dog eating all the soup bones on the counter to make this soup-like concoction a meaty delicious delight, but alas, this post is about success, not adversity.

Pintrest result looks more appealing than this, but it was delicious!