For this week's breakfasts, I cooked up a huge batch of pancakes Sunday night. We had a few as a snack before bed but the rest will be put to use during the week. When I can, I make a big batch of something that can be reheated pretty easily or used in something else to get a jump start on the meals for the week, and pancakes are a pretty easy and cheap meal to make ahead. Here is a link to a post I did on homemade pancake syrup. I picked pancakes to big batch cook because my kids were getting tired of toast and oatmeal. They would love boxed cereal, but right now, that is NOT in the budget, so pancakes it is! I admit I'm getting tired of our budget meals too. Honestly, I'm getting tired of worrying about money and money management in general. It's a feeling called Frugality Fatigue.
Frugality fatigue is a real thing. The following is copied from an old blog post here. I went back and found that post this weekend and thought I would share it as it really applies to my family right now, and probably to others as well.
Frugality or Budget Fatigue is that point where deprivation, depression and frustration all meet and can cause you to make a rash splurge or snap and totally break your budget. It is a feeling that can drag you down. I have made some regrettable fatigue decisions (looking at you Ice cream maker we have used three times in 10 years). Almost always it involves some impulsive splurge in the moment. Like heading home to eat leftovers and just deciding “Forget it! I’m getting McDonald’s” and then spend a bunch of money on something that just lasts a little while. I am stuck in that place right now, except so far I haven't made a dumb choice...yet ;)
So I did what lots of grown ups do when they are desperate, I called my mom. I asked her, how did she put one foot in front of the other during our worst times? She laughed and said, "Do you remember those times you came home from school to find all of the furniture rearranged? That would happen when we got a shut off notice, or something. I dealt with that frustration by changing the furniture around or some other big undertaking." I thought about that for a minute and asked, "What happened the day you switched our bedrooms so that we had the boys room and they had our room?" She thought for a minute and laughed. "That was the day I went through your rooms and got out all of your old clothes and put them on consignment at the thrift store! Most of them you didn't even notice gone, but one or two times someone said they were missing something and my response was that it must have gone missing in the move!"
Some of the other things she told me about her doing included:
- Sending us to spend the night with relatives -she needed a BREAK and my other family were just as poor as we were, so they understood and babysitting this way was a free way to help out.
- Taking us on random picnics or drives
- Making
over something or create something new- I remember one summer day we
sat outside and made jewelry with some wire from a telephone spool-
there are like twenty different colored wires in there. I have NO IDEA
where she got wire from a telephone spool, haha, but I remember the big
wooden spool in our backyard for a little while and she made a flower
ring that I loved.
- Doing something completely crazy or out of our routine- like the time she let us all stay home from school and watch tv all day. She said perfect attendance was over-rated! Or the time we drove all day just so we could stand at the edge of one of the great lakes, then drove back and got home at like midnight
- She
said a few times she organized a potluck party and everyone brought
something and she provided the space and coffee and tea, also, just
inviting people over
- She would do a whole apartment/house/trailer clean
- Help someone else out with something- she would offer to babysit someone's children or we would go do yard work for someone, or whatever
- Make up a goal and plan to work towards it
I
had no idea that some of my best memories are connected to some of our
worst times! I felt so much better after talking to my mom.
Do you have any suggestions for beating the budget blues? Share in the comments below! I could always use new ideas.
Here's this weeks menu plan, please click the highlighted words to be taken to the recipes.
Monday-
- Breakfast- Leftover muffins, banana
- Lunch- Kids eat at school, us- Ramen, carrots and celery sticks
- Dinner- Cole slaw and Bean and rice chimichangas- Fill tortillas with a mixture
of refried beans, cream cheese, rice and taco seasoning (they mix better
warm in a pot on the stove), divide among flour tortillas, tuck in
sides, and roll up each tortilla, lay seam side down on a greased pan,
spread melted margarine or butter over tops
Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, or until browned how you like
Tuesday-
- Breakfast- Pancakes, banana
- Lunch- Kids eat at school, us- Chimichangas, cucumber slices
- Dinner- Spaghetti,Vegetable Casserole , garlic toast
Wednesday-
- Breakfast- Pancakes with strawberry syrup (cook frozen strawberries with a cup of sugar and a little water til thick), banana
- Lunch- Kids eat at school, us- Ham and cream cheese roll ups, pretzels, cucumber slices
- Dinner- Creamy Chicken and Rice soup without the chicken, egg salad sandwiches
Thursday-
- Breakfast- eggs, toast, orange slices
- Lunch- Kids eat at school, us- Leftovers, boiled egg, canned pears
- Dinner- Black bean burgers, microwave baked potatoes, corn
Friday-
- Breakfast- Pancakes, banana
- Lunch- Kids eat at school, us- Ham and cheese roll ups, pretzels, carrots and celery
- Dinner- Meatballs in Onion Gravy, mashed potatoes, peas
Saturday-
- Brunch- Fried bologna and egg sandwiches, frozen hashbrowns, oranges
- Dinner- Pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans
Sunday-
- Brunch- Breakfast Pizza, veggies and dip
- Dinner- Hot dogs, saurkraut, mac and cheese, 5 minute glazed carrots
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