Ok...I'm back. And dedicated this time.

Long time, no post. As you get to know me, you'll see that I'm EXCELLENT on coming up with ideas. Totally suck on the follow through. As evidenced by four days of blog posts and then nothing for six months. Such as me. In 2009, anyway. Because in 2010, I turn over a new leaf as we turn over a new decade. I'll investigate a little thing called "follow through." I'm not that familiar yet.

That said, in the last few months, I've been reading A LOT of fabulous blogs. Some of the people I've met and the things I've read are astounding. And since I regularly read and contribute, I'd like to set up my own shop over here.

So, in the vein of blogging and follow through, I read that Money Saving Mom (http://www.moneysavingmom.com/) and Fishmama (www.lifeasamom) are hosting a "Eat From Your Pantry" challenge for January, 2010.

Whhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt? Yeah, I know. Dubious sounding...but an excellent challenge. Our pantry and freezer are stocked with things that I regularly pass over in lieu of something "better." I've been couponing, but not sure I'm saving anything because I'm wrapped up in buying to see how much I save. (There's a mind boggling sentence for you.)

So, here are my ground rules:

1. I will make no more than three trips to the grocery store in January for fresh items, such as milk, eggs, and produce. I'll also need a few things for the kid's school lunches, as they both take their lunch, rather than buy their lunch.

2. The budget for groceries in January will be $100. Our regular budget is $450. If we can pull it off, the extra will go toward building up our emergency fund, which took a hit over the past few months.

3. We normally eat out for lunch on Saturday and this comes out of our "eating out" envelope and so this won't change.

4. And if anyone wants to invite us over for dinner, we'll obviously be taking you up on that offer.

5. By way of disclaimer, we purchased 1/4 of a cow in October, so our deep freeze is probably much more stocked than the average person. This will be a big help, as I have tons of ground beef and a cookbook dedicated to receipes using just ground beef.

I just forwarded the challenge premise to my husband with the note: "We are doing this. Eat up now." He replied with "Really?". It could get interesting around our house this month.

I'll update at the end of each week with what we ate and new menu ideas. So maybe I'll save $350 and earn some follow through in the early stages of 2010.