Wannabefree "is it really that hard" journal

[Wannabefree]

Thanks ya'll I like to keep up with that sort of thing anyway from time to time to make sure i stay on track and am not letting the food bill get out of hand. I'm a numbers nerd, finance is my FAVORITE thing, besides farming , and groceries are a HUGE part of personal finance considering most folks spend almost as much on food as they do housing, and in some instances more. I have found ways to cut to the bare minimum and have practiced my kitchen frugality for years. I love it. I will try to keep up with true cost of freebies, but certain things I will struggle with figuring the realistic equivalent price because it has been so long since I have actually had to shell out cash for it. I sure wish I could share the freebies with everyone and watch everyones food bill go down! That'd be SO cool! I have gotten great ideas from everyone else's threads on the subject, and thought maybe I could give someone else an idea or two by sharing

Wannabefree - I know that you actually have a real life, and that other more important things take up your time (I know; strange how that happens, isn't it?) but it is very illuminating to occasionally go through a grocery store, and look at all those things that you no longer buy. I know that I was in a state of awe as I went through the supermarket last week collecting prices for my challenge. One) Wow, that is expensive! Two) Do people actually buy this junk? Three) Where do I find what it is that I am looking for amid all this other stuff? And Four) Amazing, this store does actually have much more than I ever expected of things that I would actually buy.
For several years I haven't paid all that much attention to price, being more concerned with what the label says (cancer in the family will do that ), so actually walking the aisles was very interesting.

When I go in a grocery store I hit 4 main aisles and rarely EVER walk down the others. I hit the meat department, dairy, produce, and baking. That's it, anywhere in between is no mans land to me I only use those other aisles as a shortcut to the ones I use if other aisles are clogged with people standing around talking. I just never pay any attention to the convenience food precooked crap or heavily processed junk except for the occassional bag of chips and soda. I can't have that mess, and neither can DD, so prices do not concern me in the least. That would be like shopping for a chop saw in the clothing department to me. There is no point to it. DD can't stand it either, she sees things she wants that she knows she can't have, so she skips them too There are examples of such things in the aisles I shop, so I have a vague idea of the cost of "regular" food products. I also check ALL the circulars for local stores, but I tend to treat those the same way I shop...what meat is on sale, do they have my brand of butter(we have ONE brand everyone can eat here) and what's the price on milk and flour. I'd rather buy fresh produce and cut it up/prep it myself, than read another stupid label for the eleventymillionth time. My shopping is rather simple. I am generally in and out by the time DH circles the lot a couple times looking for a close space to park, unless the checkout lines are long. Besides the fact that I HATE shopping...our food allergies has actually simplified my life, and we have saved a LOAD of money really. Quite the oppostie of others experiences i am sure, but it has been true for us.

Leftover pizza for breakfast I probably won't have to cook lunch either. I think one pizza will feed us both times, as we are NOT heavy breakfast eaters. So, likely $3 for breakfast and lunch today

We do drink a lot of tea and koolaid Deb. I figured it up once and think it's about a dime a glass for either one, and most of that is the cost of the sugar in it. I guess I should figure that in though. Thankfully we have some of the cleanest water in the nation, but we do havea few minerals in it. However, we don't care really. I have a Brita pitcher for drinking water. We usually only get bottled water when we're out riding all day, like during food delivery days. Otherwise, it's the pitcher. When company is here we hit the sodas pretty hard. DH drinks soda almost exclusively though. It's the cheap brands, but I should really add that to the daily tally. DH will go through $1 a day in sodas, DD about one every other day, so $.12, and I go through about $50 a day on average. I will go several days without one, but hubby won't. I only buy if I can find a sale, and usually do, or have coupons. Add in the tea and kool aid, and it would average around $2.00 daily for the three of us. I can't believe I forgot to consider drinks, as they are just as much a part of the grocery bill as food!! That's $60 a month, or $14 a week right there.

 

[Denim Deb]

For me, I mainly drink water. I can't drink too much tea-it goes right thru me. And I can't drink most sodas, either they have caffeine in them, or they're too sweet. I do drink a cup of decafe in the morning, and will drink milk at times, but normally, I stick w/the water. So, that's probably saving me a ton as well!

 

[Wannabefree]

Well for dinner we opted for some $4 steaks(that I didn't buy) and some baked potatoes(that I also didn't buy) along with homemade ranch dressing and cheese on the potatoes.

steaks $4
taters 1.5 pounds @ 2.99/10 lb= $.45
ranch $.25
cheese $.50

total for dinner(no leftovers) $5.20

breakfast 1/2 pizza $1.50
lunch 1/2 pizza $1.50
Dinner $5.20
drinks $2.00

Total for day TWO actual cost $10.20 MY cost about $4.50

We did not buy DH's sodas either this time. The neighbor picked them up for our help on the home addition. This is SO HARD to keep up with and figure Mine and DD's sodas were free as well. I had coupons for 2 free 20 oz. from My Coke Rewards as is how we get most of our sodas these days. I have several families save the caps for me. In return, they get a part of the coupons I recieve for free 20 oz. or 12 packs but I do all the putting in codes and ordering the coupons. I get stacks of them in the mailbox all the time. Just in case anyone is interested in keeping up their soda habit in a very VERY cheap way.

 

[Wannabefree]

So, for YESTERDAY.

Breakfast and lunch...everyone did their own thing so I can't really calculate it very well. We finished off a pizza. Someone had a bowl of cereal. Hubs had a bologna sandwich So, rough guesstimation for those two meals:
pizza $3
cereal $1
sandwich $1

about $5

Dinner was 2 pounds of ground beef, my own mix of spices, and homemade salsa, with a bit of shredded cheese wrapped in a homemade chalupa shell. Estimated cost:
2 lb. meat @1.88 lb. $3.75
spices $.10
Salsa $.50 (free ingredients other than a smidge of vinegar)
Cheese $1 (neighbor bought that)
chalupa shells $.50

Total $5.85 but that fed the two extra kids here, and two "tacos" to the neighbor kids(they love tacos ) So, 7 people ate well.

drinks $2.50 with all the extras running around

Total for yesterday with drinks and extra mouths and such $13.35 MY actual cost.....I have not a clue If I had to give educated guess...I would say approximately $11.

We're having burgers sometime today, whether it be lunch or dinner. I need to make some buns. I have been CRAVING hamburgers!

 

[Wannabefree]

I've no clue what we ate yesterday other than steak for lunch and dinner...and even at that I have no idea what it cost, because I didn't buy it. I had to run errands for/with the neighbor again yesterday, and she got us steaks from the meat market. We ate ONE between the 4 of us yesterday. The dang things are MASSIVE. One steak barely fit on a regular size plate and she got them an inch thick. I think it was half a cow.

I didn't have internet to update yesterday while it was fresh on my mind. Anyway...is it against the rules to skip a day? We never had those burgers either...guess that'll be for today

 

[elijahboy]

oh my fricking gosh 4.00 steaks

i was pondering buying 4 steaks the other day for 39.00 with a 5.00 coupon attached. i ended up buying 2 cheaper cuts of steaks and they only cost 11.00 for the both

i need 4.00 steaks

the coke rewards is how i buy the kids their shoes. i had to have 4 accounts because we have so many tops. husband gets them from everywhere. we use to go through about 8 20 oz sodas A DAY but that had to change so now its like 9 2 liters a week. we were getting brand new shoes every other month or so....the 5 of us....i think hubby brought about 70 tops home a week....

 

[Wannabefree]

oh my fricking gosh 4.00 steaks

i was pondering buying 4 steaks the other day for 39.00 with a 5.00 coupon attached. i ended up buying 2 cheaper cuts of steaks and they only cost 11.00 for the both

i need 4.00 steaks

the coke rewards is how i buy the kids their shoes. i had to have 4 accounts because we have so many tops. husband gets them from everywhere. we use to go through about 8 20 oz sodas A DAY but that had to change so now its like 9 2 liters a week. we were getting brand new shoes every other month or so....the 5 of us....i think hubby brought about 70 tops home a week....

That's a LOT of tops! Wow!

Oh and those are not $4 steaks, I have no idea what they cost, the 4 of us split ONE.

 

[Wannabefree]

I think I fell off the wagon I have been too busy to keep up with everyone's eating habits the last few days. Niece was over, and whiney, and i have too many things going right now. We didn't even eat breakfast this morning :/ Lunch was leftover sloppy joe's from last nights dinner, which was cheap and quick, because i'm old and tired I have a roast laid out for dinner tonight. I didn't buy it, no clue what it cost, but it's ginormous like the steaks. I'll throw in some free taters, and go pull some carrots from the carrot bed to toss in, and some onions from the onion bed. Aside from the spices it'll be a free to me meal.

Again, this is SO hard to figure Our neighbors will buy a ton of meats and just casually come by and stick a bunch in my freezer, and then when they run out of bread, they'll call and/or come by and want me to bake them some, and i do. They get bread more often than i get meats, so it really about evens out, but I just can't do this figuring out the prices of our meals thing on account of it. we just buy each other stuff all the time. Last month i had to keep them in sodas when their grocery money ran short. This month, they're keeping me in everything while our income is running short. Have i mentioned i love my neighbors? There is no longer a visible line between our stuff and theirs...it's just all ours

I think I am going to stop trying to figure this out though. It's just overly complicated and hurts my brain Plus it's about to get harder.

I am sure we can safely say though, that typically, we live on less than $35 a week per person. Sometimes we may hit $35, but most times, we don't hit more than $25. During the summer, as soon as the garden is up and running, we go even less than that, and we have a looooooong growing season! We went a full month last summer and I spent maybe $100 for milk, oil, sugar, spices, and DH's soda habit. We LOVE fried green tomatoes, fried squash, fried okra and all that, and we were SWAMPED with it last year! This year we'll be swamped with green beans, and will start picking sometime early next week. I just don't think ours is really a fair comparison to average households considering even when we don't have things in the garden, there is the free food trucks and picking from other folks gardens(my family/neighbors is forever giving me something)and bartering I do. Plus there is the meat we raise as well, which costs, but it's harder to track. So, I give up unless you all want to keep reading free free free free all day every day.