ORChick's "Is it really that hard?" journal

[ORChick]

Following on from the "Is it really that hard" thread, this will be a journal of my attempt to feed DH and myself on approx $35 each per week/$280 total per month.

Cut and paste from the original thread: "I was working on the premise that I have nothing in the house to eat - no spices, condiments, baking powder, any of that (so will need to price these things out when I am at the market). I do have (in this theoretical exercise) a working stove and 'fridge, as well as cooking pans and pots, spoons, spatulas etc.. Also, an adequate freezer for possible leftovers. I'm not sure how many of my countertop electric gadgets I'm willing to *give up*, but I think probably all of them as I will have wooden spoons, a wire whisk, and my good right arm . I am also not pretending that I can't cook, or am starting from total scratch in the kitchen (though I know that many people on welfare are in that position)."

I can't start this till Sunday, unless I want to really skew the results with eating out/at relatives, but I shall be thinking about it.

An advantage for me will be that I will need, perforce, to start menu planning, which I have been avoiding for some reason. This will also give me a better idea of what I actually spend on food, which, at present, I do not keep track of.

 

[ORChick]

DH and I are basically 2-meal-a-day people. Breakfast or lunch, and dinner. Neither of us drink sodas, though DH likes his beer of an evening, and might turn to soda if he lacked that (as he would, if this situation were real). I won't be counting the beer, nor my occasional glass of wine. Our other drinks of choice are water or milk, and tea - I have to have my hot tea in the morning, and often in the afternoon as well. I don't particularly crave sweets, though DH does, so I don't make dessert very often, usually only for special occasions - to DH's dismay. During this exercise I will try to pull together a dessert at least once a week. Sugar will be a necessity, as DH needs it for his tea, and for dessert, though I hardly use any for myself.
I am actually looking forward to this challenge. We'll see how long I can keep this up without DH knowing . Not that I think he will be suffering at all, but he tends to think of any limitation on his food (unless self imposed) as hardship

 

[Denim Deb]

I told my hubby and he thinks it's easy. We'll see.

 

[Bettacreek]

Going to follow this one too, lol. Well, I'll be following all of them. I'm hoping to start by the weekend. Just have to get my fat arse to the grocery store to check prices and buy a few things (haven't bought salad stuff in like three weeks).

 

[the funny farm6]

 

[moolie]

Yay! Glad you're doing this as well

 

[ORChick]

Notes and self imposed rules for my version of the $35/week/person challenge.

#1 We are a family of 2 adults. We tend to eat 2 meals a day either a late breakfast or lunch (and often we just graze for this, whatever is handy), and dinner. We are also retired, which means I have time to be in the kitchen if I want. It also means that we perhaps don't eat as much as younger, harder working people might. As we don't have growing children to feed I can be a little bit relaxed about getting the nutrition right everyday; I aim for a combination of foods over the week, rather than everday.

#2 I shall make up a shopping list, with current prices for the various items in local stores. However, for the most part, I won't actually be buying these items. I have an extensive pantry, and, as I can afford it at present, I prefer to buy higher quality food. So, I'll be using food from the pantry, or freshly bought, but I'll use the prices that I have collected for foods I would buy if on a limited budget. I will make the meals that I outline here, just with differently sourced food.

#3 I am making up the shopping list using the minimum quality food that I would consider buying in any case for example, I won't buy margarine, so my list includes butter; cheap butter, but the real thing. Also, I haven't included things that we don't eat just to bring the total cost down. DH likes a bowl of dry cereal on occasion, perhaps once every 1-2 weeks. He has developed a taste for a certain expensive brand. So that is on the list. I could pretend that he eats the store brand cheap sort (and who would know, except myself?) but I won't. One box will last several months, so its not such a bad choice for an occasional breakfast option.

#4 I am starting with the premise that I have a goodly assortment of spices and condiments in the kitchen the kind of things you buy once, use a spoonful, and have the rest of the jar on the shelf for months after but nothing else. This is pretty much the way it was earlier for me I had the basics, but went shopping everyday or two after work for the main parts of the meal. So I figure that someone thrown into the foodstamp economy might also be in a similar situation. Those of us with extended pantries aren't as likely to find ourselves in need of this assistance, I would think. (This is a change of position from an earlier post, where I said I would start from absolute zero. Someone else mentioned that few people would be at that point, and I have to agree. So basic spices and condiments are on the shelf)

#5 - I find it is easier for me to plan meals for only a week at a time. No doubt it would be easier to plan the budget with a month's worth of meal ideas at my fingertips, but I tend to lose the overview when I do that (perhaps I will learn better over the next few weeks). So I'll be working, initially anyway, with a $70 budget, for the two of us for a week.
I am finding that this first week is not too easy, as I need to buy a lot of the basics. A loaf of homemade bread only needs a few cups of flour and a spoonful of yeast, but I need to get a minimum 5# of flour, and, while I could get a single packet of yeast I find I cannot even pretend to do that as the price is so outrageous - $1 per packet as opposed to $3.38 for a 4 oz jar (cheaper from the bulk jar at the health food store, but I haven't had the chance to get over there yet, so will go with the 4 oz jar); larger bite out of the budget to begin with, but will make many, many more loaves of bread.

#6 I planned to start today, but will put it off till tomorrow. We went to my cousin's for dinner last night, and as they are leaving soon on an extended trip they gave us the leftovers. Certainly a handy way to save on the food budget, but hardly the point of the exercise. So we will eat leftovers tonight (Yum! Leftover recently caught Dungeness crab!), and start the experiment tomorrow.

 

[ORChick]

First week's shopping list:


Baking pdr. 12oz 1.45
Cornstarch1# bulk 0.69
Dry yeast 4 oz jar 3.38
DH's cereal box 4.98
Jam, strawberry 32oz 2.98 (Any would do; this was cheapest_
Oil EVOO 1 liter 5.49
Rice 1# bulk 0.99
Rolled oats 1# bulk 0.79
Spaghetti 1# 0.99
Sugar 5# 2.98
Tea 100 tea bags 3.48 (I am somewhat of a tea snob; this will do until I can afford better)
Tomatoes, tinned 28 oz 1.08
Unbleached Flour 5# 1.78
Vinegar, ACV 1gal 4.98
Bacon ends 2# 5.00
Butter 1# 2.28
Eggs 1 dozen 1.19
Fish 1/2 # 2.50
Gr. beef 1# 3.00
Whole chicken 1#0.79/lb 4.44# = 3.51
Whole milk 1 gallon 2.58
Yogurt 1 quart 2.49 (This is as starter for homemade; couldn't find plain yogurt in individual Bananas 1# 0.59/1 lb - 2 ban./12 oz = 0.44 containers in local shops)
Carrots 2# 0.79
Cauliflower 1# 0.69 - Small head = 0.69
Celery head 0.79
Cucumber x3 0.99 x1 = 0.33
Garlic x2 1.00 1 head = 0.50
Gr. onions Bunch/approx 8 0.98
Lemon ea. 0.44
Lettuce head 0.99
Mushrooms 1/2# (approx 7 med) = 1.25
Onions 1# 0.29
Parsley bunch 0.59
Potatoes 5# 1.50

Total = 69.71


It was perfectly formatted to begin with; I hope it makes sense as it stands.

 

[Denim Deb]

You got potatoes for $1.50?! I can't find them for that price around here, even on sale!

This will be interesting too, to see how much food costs in various parts of the country.

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

Have you thought of making quiche? Eggs are a cheap source of protein, even if you don't raise chickens. Also- I'm impressed with what you were able to buy with so little money.