It’s month-end in my budget-conscious household. This being February, the shortest month of the calendar year, our grocery allocation is a smidge smaller than a typical month’s worth.

As each month winds down, I take an inventory of my pantry and freezer before doing my shopping. This way, I’m not tempted to buy:  a) things we already have in abundance (bags of frozen mixed vegetables), b) things we don’t need – like a loaf of fresh Italian bread if we won’t be having pasta anytime soon, or c) things that are on sale, but only if you buy vast quantities of them (i.e., jars of spaghetti sauce for just 50 cents a piece if you buy twenty-five).

This past weekend, I did just that – took stock of everything and hit the store, buying just enough to get us through Tuesday, February 28th.

Then I remembered it was Leap year.

Now, it’s not as if the check book is being held hostage in a Cayman Island vault, but I’ve always prided myself in not going over budget at work and I’m not about to go over budget at home if I can avoid it.

And itt’s not as if there’s nary a crumb left to serve my family on Leap day. I could always dust off the can of minestrone soup that I found in the pantry behind an unopened box of confectioner’s sugar and serve it with a side of frosted over fish sticks. Yum…

No, instead I think I’ll defrost some chicken tenderloins that lay forgotten under the freezer-burned fish sticks and throw them in the crock pot with the last envelop of onion soup mix and the can of cream of mushroom soup I discovered behind the minestrone soup that was tucked behind the yet-to-be-opened confectioner’s sugar and call it a Leap day.