-
Wow its so HARD to feed 4 people for $400 a month! *Edit with SOME recipes*
- Aug 6, 2009 at 2:57 PM
- By
- Comments (128) Total Views (5019) Everyone can see this journal post.
this is.. sarcasm. obviously.
I popped onto KSL.com this morning... local NBC news station.. and found this story: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=7427998
Can a family of 4 survive a week on $100 in groceries? Part 1
Uh... in an effort not to mince words I am going to simply say.. YEAH. HELL YEAH THEY CAN.There are plenty of families doing it for alot LESS.
some highlights from the story:
"Still the $100 challenge wasn't for everyone. "No, definitely not," said Lisa Gordon of Salt Lake City. She has three children. "I just have growing kids, and there's just no way $100 is going to do it."
....
For the week, they couldn't rely on food they already had, like bulk items in their pantry and freezer. They were allowed to use existing condiments, such as flour, sugar, ketchup, mustard and salt and pepper. They were also allowed to use any produce gathered from their backyard garden.
....
She's almost made a science of shopping, take bread for example. At NPS a loaf cost $1.19. "This is usually $3.00 at Wal-Mart", Jones said.
...
Their menu had included macaroni and cheese, but at the store, Mandy Romney made a last minute change. They opted for canned Chinese food instead. Their shopping cart also contained the basics: bread, mill, eggs and meats, some boxed and prepared meals, soy milk and yogurt for a lactose-intolerant toddler." noodles and microwave burritos. In fact, several families eagerly stepped up to our challenge to live on only $100 worth of groceries for seven days. And they did it without coupons, or without eating copious amounts of ramen."
Hmm.
excuse me while I scratch my head in confusion for a few minutes. The comments all over this story are varied from those who say... you cant eat "well" on $100 a week... to those (like me) who claim $100 a week for FOOD alone, would be a luxury!
We spend around $100 a week.. however our $200 (every two weeks) must also include all cleaning supplies, diapers, wipes, dog food, cat food, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, razors, makeup, light bulbs, shower curtain, sponges.. so on.. so on.. and so on. That is ALL included in our $200. So I grabbed out an old receipt from our last trip to the grocery store.
Two weeks of "groceries" was $233.86. (this particular trip, we spent more because we decided to buy the kids a pool which cost 19.99, and got some oil for hubby to do an oil change.. which was 12.99.) So on "groceries" it would then be.. 200.88. From that we have to subtract "non food" items:
box tampons - 3.99; deodorant, 2.99 for me, 3.29 for hubby; box of pull ups 13.99; box of wipes, 7.99; jar of tinted moisturizer, 8.99; box of razors, 3.99; shaving cream, 1.99; dog food, 15.99; cat food, 7.99; toothpaste, 3.99; shampoo+conditioner 2.99, 2.99; Cleaning spray, 3.00; Febreeze 2.50; toilet paper, 8.99. = 95.66 (could we go cheaper on this stuff? Yes... but I wont unless we HAVE to)
So take the 200.88, and subtract 95.66 for "non food items" and you have 105.22. for TWO WEEKS of food.
After a week, we spend another $20 or so on more fresh fruits and veggies at the farmers market on Saturday. We also grow some peppers and tomatoes. That brings us to a general grand total of 62.61 per week.
And no.. no frozen burritos, no frozen meals, no packed prepared meals. No macaroni, no spaghettios, no juice, no soda, no processed cheese, no hot dogs, no pop tarts, no cookies, no chips. The only "bad things" we have are three packages of ramen noodles the kids eat for lunch once a week with hubby.
What DO we have? Tons of veggies. Fresh and frozen. Not canned... Green peppers, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, celery, carrots, Brussels sprouts, green onions, kale, cucumbers, squash, Cabbage, broccoli, zucchinis. Lots of fresh fruit. Strawberries, apples (red and green), cantaloupe, honeydew, oranges, lemons, limes. Whole grain flour, a few packets of yeast, corn tortillas, non-processed cheese bought in large blocks, wonton wrappers, fat free milk, eggs, yogurt, soy milk for me, canned tomatoes, canned beans, dried beans, lentils, whole grain pasta, two large bags of cereal, steel cut oatmeal, some bulk walnuts, raisins, lasagna noodles, rice, frozen chicken, two whole chickens, "marked down" roast, frozen shrimp, sugar free jam, natural peanut butter, brown mustard, olive oil, and bullion cubes.
My menu for this two week period was (in no particular order):
Minestrone soup (with homemade whole grain rolls)
Roast (cooked in slow cooker) with roasted broccoli and roasted potatoes
Veggie Lasagna and fresh salad (made with local lettuce we got at farmers market)
Lentil Stew (with homemade corn muffins)
Veggie Burgers (with home made lentil patties and whole grain buns) and roasted potato fingers
Macaroni and cheese with broccoli and cauliflower mixed in (made from scratch, not from a box.)
Veggie Pizza (whole grain dough made from scratch)
Whole roasted lemon chicken with carrots, onion, and sweet potato
Grilled Chicken pieces with broccoli and cabbage slaw
Pasta with Pesto and tomato (walnuts from store, basil and tomatoes from our garden)
Greek chicken souvlaki with "greek" salad and handmade pitas and hummus
Egg drop soup, edamame, and won-tons
Thai peanut sauce noodles with chicken
Stir fry (green pepper, red pepper, onion, zucchini, carrot, broccoli)
One night, every two weeks, is usually "eat out" night.. budget of $15.00-$25.00 and that is usually taco's from the taco carts downtown.... absolutely freaking delicious! If we do an eat out night, we can roll the extra meal into next week.
Breakfast? Whole wheat pancakes or waffles from scratch (I make big batches and freeze them) Cereal with yogurt or milk.. home made granola with yogurt... steel cut oats with walnuts and raisins.. fresh fruit with eggs and toast.. fresh toast... whatever we feel like really! But other than cereal (cheerios, shredded wheat, rice crispies, puffed wheat, or organic peanut butter "captain crunch" kind) they don't get processed food for breakfast.
Lunch? PB&J's with fruit and veggies... hummus and pita with veggies... crackers with cheese, meat, and veggies... Turkey Sandwich... "pizzas" made with whole grain English muffins, a slice of tomato, a spoon of tomato sauce, and some mozzarella... Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup... fresh whole wheat pasta with veggies...
Snacks? Home made crackers, Home made Applesauce, Fruit, Veggies, Cheese, Yogurt., home made graham crackers.
Treats? We bake! If they want a treat.. we will make cookies from scratch from time to time.. recently we made marshmallows from scratch! I make caramels and toffees that I sell at Christmas time, so every once and awhile I will make that for them.
I buy off brands... I buy the items that are priced lowest per unit or ounce.. because the bullion cubes for example may cost 6.99 for the large bottle, but that bottle will last me months and costs half as much per ounce. I only buy meat that's on sale.. and we RARELY buy red meat. I buy whole chickens because they are cheaper and can be frozen and used on demand. I buy frozen chicken versus fresh, it saves us almost 50%. I make almost everything from scratch. I make big batches of bread dough and use that for buns, rolls, so on... that saves me a ton of money and doesn't take long at all, it only takes about 30 minutes twice a week to prepare the dough which then lasts 3-4 days in a Tupperware in the fridge and is always ready for me to use as I need. I also dont "waste" food. We generally dont have leftovers because I watch portions carefully and dont make more than we can eat.. I know we cant eat an entire pot of my lentil stew, so I will either half the recipe.. or have a tupperware on stand by to freeze the other half for dinner another night.
And no.. it DOESNT take me that much more time to cook this way. I have a "baking day" every week where I spend about 90 minutes making granola, granola bars, graham crackers, pancakes, and waffles. A few batches of bread dough take 30 minutes to throw together and stick in tupperwares in the fridge. I freeze what needs to be frozen, bag up the rest.. and I am done for the week. When its time to make some rolls? All I have to do is preheat the oven, reach into the tupperware for a big handful of the premade dough, make some balls, pop them in a tray, and I am done.
Nothing I make takes hours. Even the lasagna only takes 15 minutes to put together and 20 minutes to bake.. a frozen one takes more than an HOUR to bake and is not nearly as delicious or healthy. Roasting a chicken is one of the easiest things in the world! I buy the whole chickens for $2.00-$3.50 per chicken.. all I do is wash the thing, slap on some olive oil and salt, throw some veggies in the pan, and pop it in the oven for an hour. Couldn't be easier; and it tastes just as good as that 8.99 rotisserie chicken!
Now.. I am not saying this is how EVERYONE should cook and/or shop.. but if they are complaining that $100 is not ENOUGH money to buy food, WEEKLY, for a family of four? They need a wake up call. I would have $40 to spare... another $160 a month on their budget. Imagine what you could do with an extra $160 a month. Fortunately for our family, our budget isn't tight because we arent struggling. So far we have done well , but I don't see that as an excuse to be extravagantor subject my kids to some of the poor diet choices out there. I know there are ALOT of you on here who feel the same way. $400 a month for FOOD alone? Thats no challenge. Thats a walk in the park. This country needs to get real.
Utah Hunger Facts
• 1 in 7 children under 18 is at risk of hunger
• Utah ranked 4th in nation for highest rate of food insecurity (missing or skipping a meal)
• Over 134,000 Utahns receive food stamps (less than half of those eligible)
• Over 63,000 Utahns a month eat dinner at a soup kitchen
• Almost 300,000 children (about 40% of school-age children) receive free or reduced lunch
-Utah Food Bank
EDITED to add: Some of my recipes have been requested and are dotted through the comments... if you want any of the ones below.. there are the pages to find them on.
Basic bread recipe - on comments page 1
Granola Bars, Pancakes/Waffles, Marshmallows on - comments page 3
Pizza dough, Pita, and sourdough - on comments page 8
Graham cracker recipe - on comments page 10
For the rest... I will start a journal and post it in the next week or so with the rest of the recipes, along with some of my other money savers that arent listed above. I run my own business and have two busy busy toddlers, so I cant post all of them... you guys understand.. but I'll work on it in my spare time and get it up by next Friday. Thanks guys! I have loved reading all the comments.. its really cool to see how many of you are making it on so much LESS! And whether you can do it for under 400 a month or not isnt really even the issue, because as Katie pointed out.. with organic food its hard.. but to know so many people are cutting processed food out of their (and their kids) diets is AWESOME.
Comments:
What a dumb challenge. I feed a family of 6 on a $300 a month budget and that includes formula. It's not easy, but it can be done. You wrote a great journal post! Thanks for the info
"I buy the items that are priced lowest per unit or ounce"
I finally taught my hubby about that, now he takes forever when we shop! LOL
Man, I seriously WISH you could come teach me what you do. We spend about $250 a week for 4 of us, sometimes more and we REALLY could use more money every month. Fruit and veggies cost me a ton every week-do you have your own garden? I printed out your journal post, hoping to get some ideas.
not dumb at all Inle- here they are (I have a few, lol)
Basic Wheat or White bread: (makes two loaves or four batches of rolls)
6-7 cups all purpose flour *
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp shortening (I use coconut oil)
2 pkgs yeast, or 4 1/2 tsp
2 1/4 cups warm water
(optional: add 1/3 cup of honey)
* If you want wheat, use wheat flour instead, but I use 1 cup of AP flour with the yeast, sugar, and water to help develop the gluten. When I make it wheat, I also add 1 cup of "bobs red mill" 10 grain mix (in place of 1 cup of flour) and a few tbsp of flax seeds, sesame seeds, and top it with some oatmeal.
I use my kitchenaid stand mixer, which makes this incredibly fast.. and thats what the recipe is based off of, but it could be done by hand.
Mix 3 cups of the flour (so I use 1 cup AP, and 1 cup bobs 10 grain mix, and 1 cup wheat flour) with the salt, sugar, and oil/shortening in mixer bowl. Add warm water and using a rubber spoon mix together well. Stir in the remaining flour one cup at a time. Attach dough hook and lock your mixer, let it work until the dough is smooth.. adding more flour if needed. Let the mixer work the dough for 5-10 minutes.. it should be smooth and springy. You wont need to knead by hand, because the mixer does the work. Sometimes with wheat flour you need to add more than the recipe recommends.
Take it out of the mixer and place it in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let it sit in a warm place for 60 minutes, it should double. You can tell its ready if you stick your finger into the dough and the indentation remains.
From here I usually divide it into two, and bake one loaf right then and there. To do that, I punch it down, roll it flat, and pop it into a buttered loaf pan. Let that rise again, 30-40 minutes before baking.Bake them at 425 for loaves, or 375 for rolls/buns. The loaves will take about 25 minutes, but mostly you should judge "doneness" based on the color of the loaf and it should sound hollow when you tap it.
The other half I keep in a tupperware and make rolls with it- these make really nice hamburger buns, and dinner rolls.
Generally I make one batch white, and two batches of wheat in a 2 week period.. but it depends on what we're eating for dinner that week and whether or not I'm making pitas or pizza that week.
I also have a jar of sourdough starter in my fridge all the time (in an old pickle jar so it doesnt smell up the place, lol) so I can make that on demand..
If anyone wants the pita, pizza dough, or sourdough recipes let me know.. I can post those too. It saves us alot of money to make our own breads... Pitas cost 3.99 for 6 at our grocery store.. for 3.99, I can make about 40!
Oh- forgot to mention on the bread.. all the cooked loaves can be frozen really easily and defrost well. I want to get another freezer so I can do this.. but for now our freezer is too small so I cant cook them ahead of time
mina- we have a garden but right now all thats available in it is green peppers and tomatoes. We shop at a local produce stand where we save a TON of money, and the farmers market. We have an herb garden too... basil, rosemary, chives, and cilantro
I spend about $600 a month for 5 of us, that includes cleaning supplies, bath stuff, diapers, etc. Part of it depends on where you live, because produce in Florida where my mom lives is a lot cheaper than here in Connecticut. But I buy seasonal fruits and veggies, meat on sale (especially if its buy one, get one or buy one, get two) and we eat very well and a wide variety. That includes special foods for lactose intolerance and food allergies. It can be done. Great post
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx
Hey, have you tried this bread yet? I haven't but I plan on it soon.
You've really inspired me to share some of the tips and tricks I have for grocery shopping on the cheap.
While I don't get away with $100 a week or less, I've found ways to cut my budget in half and still eat VERY well.
I loves ya lady but I have to say that I disagree here.
Everything I have to say is basically a repeat of the journal I already wrote so I won't repeat it all, but we make all that we can from scratch and utilize pretty much all of the tips that you have listed and I can officially tell you that eating 100% vegan and organic that I can NOT feed my family for $400 a month. I come close but couldn't do it for $400.
Already a member? Click here to log in
I know this question is going to sound dumb. But what's your recipe for bread dough?
- Inle_Rabbit
Message Friend Invite