Now that I an newly engaged, and working on all the wedding plans I decided to get back into overdrive on my budgeting. I haven't actually been doing that well the last couple months. I stopped using my budget binder I created to track all my bills, as well as not using my planner to plan out meals. It's amazing how much those two things keep me on track. I thought I could keep up with all the money saving even without using it, but it just helps when you look at those books every other day.

I decided to get back on track to help save more for the wedding. I know we're going to go over our $10,000 budget so anything I can do to make the burden less painful. Rob, my now fiance, is very adamant about not asking our families for financial help. He's just always liked to be financially independent and that's just one of the many things that attracts me to him.

Last night I sat down with my new 2014 planner and planned out the next 3 weeks of dinner. As I was planning out all my meals, I had this wonderful idea to "live out of the pantry". As some might recall, I did a lot of couponing, and from doing that I had a ton of stock piled food that I have yet to use. Mostly it's hamburger helper and *free* noodles I purchased.

Basically, "living out of the pantry" is using the food you already have and just purchasing food to make complete meals. Here's some step by step instructions for you to do it to!

1. Make a detailed list of everything you have in your pantry and fridge.
2. Sit down, and open you planner. 
3. Start planning out meals. 
4. Plan meals that you already have the food on hand, then start planning meals around the canned/boxed sides you have.

I started with hamburger helper boxes and made a list of what I need to purchase to complete the meals.

Then I moved on to the canned vegetables and other canned items. For instance, I have about 3 cans of Mexican diced tomatoes, so this will create 3 different kinds of Mexican dishes. I also had black beans, corn, and refried beans, so this already helps to create whole meals. Once I decided on the meals I was making, I made a grocery list of the "add in" items I needed to purchase to complete those meals.

Here's the break down of my week's dinners:

Monday - Tacos - I just needed taco seasoning ($0.35)

Tuesday - Baked Ziti that will last 2 nights - I just needed spaghetti sauce and cheese ($4.19)

Wednesday - above

Thursday - Chicken Cordon Bleu - Aldi has these great pre-made stuffed chickens. Cheap and delicious. I just purchase a couple of this, and will use canned veggies in the pantry. ($2)

Friday - Pot Pie and mashed potatoes - just need the pot pies ($1.25)

Saturday - Broccoli Salad and BBQ cocktail weinies  - just need BBQ sauce, and cheese ($4.10)

Sunday - Soup - already have.

This week I only spent $17.23 on dinner. This should be able the same for the next 2 weeks. So three weeks of food for under $60!! Amazballs.

My grocery list!

So I scratched out some items since they weren't "dinner" items and I wanted to focus on that today!!