$5 a day

[LucyStoner]

The USDA has instructions at the bottom of the page linked for calculating the food budgets for larger families. Multiplying the individual, amount ts by 8 or 12 gives you an inflated number as it is cheaper to feed a large family per person than a smaller household.

 

These charts are based on actual grocery data for a month, not guesswork.

[melmichigan]

That would be $1050/month using 30 days as the average month so my answer is no. If you add up each person individually by month and use the moderate cost plan numbers instead of $5/day than yes. I am planning to do more freezing while things are in season this coming year in hopes to decrease overall cost, it may mean the cost of adding another deep freeze though.

 

Fruits and vegetables are becoming more of a luxury item here if you are talking about overall cost. I spend as much per pound or more on fruits and vegetables as I do meat even though I buy meat in bulk (we're picking up 400# tomorrow).

[prairiewindmomma]

The prices at our Costco are pretty close this time of year.... Your avocados were cheaper and our Costco doesn't offer organic strawberries....I think it was $6ish for a 4 lb. flat of the regular ones when I was there a couple of weeks ago.

 

Our food budget is much less than the $5/person, and we do eat about 1/2 fruits/veg. We eat very in season. Breakfast is often a green smoothie (spinach, blueberries, almond milk, flaxseed) and a hardboiled egg. Sometimes we mix it up with more berries and bananas...it depends on prices. Dinner is usually a 3-4oz portion of meat and a salad. Lunch is often a veggie based soup and bread.

 

We eat little dairy or meat...and we can't afford all organics. I also can't go to Costco for all of my fruit/veg....we buy a fair amount at Aldi.

[AdamsFamily]

I voted yes. We rely on bountiful baskets, case lot sales, Sam's club plus membership discounts, coupons, our chickens, garden, canning from bountiful baskets, and sales. I have a freezer, and we keep it full. If I buy something for full price, it is usually because I planned poorly. I keep way too much on hand due to having lived in parts of the world where "you buy it when you see it" was our mantra.

[butterflymommy]

Yes, yes, and yes. But I am lucky to have a local store that sells restaurant wholesale items to the public, including produce. It's not always the best quality, and is never organic, but it's decent. I probably couldn't do that without this store.

 

This morning I bought 50 lb flour for $23, and 15 lb cheese (including mozzarella) for $48, and broccoli for 99 cents a bunch, extra large eggs for $1.50 carton.

 

We don't eat fish but i could probably feed them talapia twice a week and stay within budget.

 

We are a family of nine and I spent $200-250 (including non food items) a week which is well below the thrifty USDA level IIRC. And we have loads of fruits and veggies, including fresh greens.

[Jerico]

We come in at $2.66/day/person including all paper products, diapers, hygiene stuffs, etc. my budget is a little lower than that usually. We eat some fruits and veggies and rarely fish. We don't have the recommended $5/day/person. So we try to get the most filling foods for our little growing men, and it's usually the cheapest fruits and veggies. Lots of eggs, the cheapest meats, regular milk, nothing organic.

[regentrude]

The USDA has instructions at the bottom of the page linked for calculating the food budgets for larger families. Multiplying the individual, amount ts by 8 or 12 gives you an inflated number as it is cheaper to feed a large family per person than a smaller household.

 

 

Why?

The amount of ingredients should scale exactly with the number of people. And I can, even with a small family, buy large packages and freeze/refrigerate a part, thus taking advanatge of the better unit prices for larger amounts.

Why would it be more expensive per person to feed four vs eight?

[regentrude]

It might be assuming one buys larger quantities of some things. For example, if I bought a 10 pound bag of carrots it might be half the price per pound than if I bought 1 pound. I can't go through 10 pounds (or more like I don't want to).

 

 

But I could just buy the 10 lb bag. Carrots keep a long time in the fridge. (They even keep unrefrigerated in a cellar covered with sand- that's how they stored them over the winter before refrigeration). Or I could prep the meal and freeze. And we could easily eat a lb of carrots each day.

I don't have to buy the big bag, but it does not mean I couldn't if I wanted to save money.

[joannqn]

 

 

Well, I only live about an hour south of you. Our Costco has bananas and spinach for the same price.

[LucyStoner]

Why?

The amount of ingredients should scale exactly with the number of people. And I can, even with a small family, buy large packages and freeze/refrigerate a part, thus taking advanatge of the better unit prices for larger amounts.

Why would it be more expensive per person to feed four vs eight?

 

It is a matter of reaching an economy of scale, on a household level. It's not an opinion that it typically costs more per head to feed a smaller family- it's demonstrated time after time with real life pricing data and purchasing habits. The marginal costs of additional household members is less than the first 1-2 people in a household. Cooking for 1 person requires a minimum investment that is not matched 100% with each additional household member. If you have 15 people in your household, that 10 pound bag of carrots would disappear.

 

While some small families can and do take advantage of volume pricing, the cost benefit of them investing in the infrastructure needed to go so are less than of a large family, where such infrastructure is often a foregone conclusion.

 

Even if large families don't take advantage of volume discounts (and why the heck wouldn't they?), there is far less waste on average. My dad grew up in a big household and the idea of leftovers was a total joke to him and his siblings. When it was served, it was eaten. :laugh: A big factor here is also that a family of 12 very well may need to economize more than a family of 3, as rarely do people have more income only because they have more kids.

[Tutor]

During Lent, our family is eating lacto-ovo vegetarian meals except on Fridays (we'll be eating shrimp, crab, or scallops - I don't like fish) and Sundays (where we will have a small roast or some types of meat-inclusive stir-fry). I just went shopping for the upcoming week and spent a little over our average $100 for the week for the six of us. I realized when we got home that I forgot to inventory meat (since I was so focused on ingredients for balanced vegetarian meals) and now have enough seafood for the next three weeks (three seafood meals) and for Sunday (steak strips for stir-fry).

 

This morning's breakfast was oatmeal, bananas, and milk or tea.

 

Lunch was pasta with an olive oil sauce, fresh herbs, and spinach with water or tea.

 

Snack will be bananas or strawberries. (Both were on sale, so we have lots and will probably be sick of them by the end of the week.)

 

Dinner will be shrimp stir fry with rice (stir fry veggies include spinach, carrots, brocolli, and snow peas), clementines, and milk, water, tea, or lemonade.

 

In my ideal world, we would be eating almost all local, organic food, but we can't afford that right now, so I buy as healthy as I can as cheaply as I can. That averages about $100/wk for 6 people (two of whom have a gluten intolerance).

 

ETA: I just looked at the USDA chart, and according to their numbers for the thrifty plan we should be spending $936.13/ month for our family. We average $400/ month, so we currently spend 43% of the government's thrifty plan. Although with food prices going up, we'll probably have to adjust up soon.)

[LucyStoner]

Oh and in terms of bulk buying, this doesn't work for everything. I avoid buying many produce items in bulk because we don't go through them quickly enough. I have only one kid who will eat vegetables and he is 7 and takes little nibbles of food. So it's really like we are a family of 2 with some things.

 

 

Exactly, as a family of 4 I can buy a 50 pound bag of rice if I have the space to store it. But as a family of 4, I can't buy and store in huge quantity anything fresh, that I plan to eat fresh, which will spoil. I can process fresh stuff or freeze it but only to a certain extent in a typical urban/suburban living environment.

[regentrude]

Oh and fruit. Well DH and I both don't like fruit. So only the kids eat it. And they don't eat much. I don't buy fruit in bulk.

 

And we easily eat 12lbs of apples per week ;-) (I buy 3 lb bags)

Clementines vanish as if they are being inhaled.

 

I still find everything in the US gigantic compared to Germany. There, my fridge (and kitchen) was indeed tiny and I had to shop every other day. But a normal size fridge here is just... huge. Back home, a gallon of milk would not even fit in a fridge.

[Upward Journey]

And we easily eat 12lbs of apples per week ;-) (I buy 3 lb bags)

Clementines vanish as if they are being inhaled.

 

I still find everything in the US gigantic compared to Germany. There, my fridge (and kitchen) was indeed tiny and I had to shop every other day. But a normal size fridge here is just... huge. Back home, a gallon of milk would not even fit in a fridge.

 

I've had trouble going the opposite direction. I still can't get over the fact that I'm taller than our fridge (I'm approx. 5"2"). I'm shopping a lot more often because I simply can't store enough food for our family of six in this tiny kitchen.

[emzhengjiu]

With veggies and fruit we could get by on $5.00/ day/person. We try not to eat farm raised fish. High quality fish and meat is so expensive. Our garden last year didn't produce much, but we're going to try again this year,

[happypamama]

$5 per person per day is just barely doable for me, but that really only includes the older five of us (two adults, one tween who eats nearly as much as I do, and two boys); the little guy only barely eats enough food to be noticed, and I really don't tend to eat more when I'm pregnant or nursing. We eat meat at dinner pretty much every night (fish occasionally, when it's on sale), a fair amount of dairy, fruit daily (but not tons, except in the summer when it's really local and fresh and cheap), and lots of vegetables and salads. Not much is organic; when we can, we get pastured eggs and meat, and I buy organic butter for cooking, as well as organic or hormone-free milk (raw when the budget allows). What we don't eat is a lot of grains -- that is what kills our budget. If we ate more grains, I could keep our budget a lot lower and use less meat -- ground beef in sauce over spaghetti stretches a lot farther than ground beef in bunless burgers with a salad and green vegetable on the side. We do use some legumes, like occasional meatless meals (a few times a month), or peanut butter, or occasionally chickpeas or black beans as the protein at lunch, and the kids eat some grains (like oatmeal for breakfast, or sandwiches for lunch), but largely, we lean more toward the paleo side of things. (Really, it's the budget that keeps us from going full paleo.)

 

In a couple of years, when I'm feeding five people with real appetites (not baby appetites), $25 a day is not going to be enough. However, we also have a large yard and a good growing season, so gardening should be more doable. My DH works really long hours, and I'm just swamped with kids, house, schoolwork, etc., so it hasn't been feasible. But when the kids are a bit older and can help more, gardening is going to have to be part of life. We're also hoping to get chickens at some point, but right now, I just don't feel that I can take on one more responsibility (which is also why we don't have a dog).

[jenbrdsly]

I just wanted to say that I appreciate all the comments. I'm right in that this is an interesting topic, right? My DH could pretty much care less! Of course, I do 100% of the shopping and 95% of the cooking... :tongue_smilie:

 

Another question I have for the thrifty budget spenders is: Do you often serve two starches at a meal? (Ex potatoes and bread.) .

 

If my reading of the USDA My Plate table is correct, then a meal of fish, apple slices, rolls and potatoes would count as "1/2 your plate" being fruits and veggies. I don't currently do this, but am wondering if that is a way to save money.

[Laura Corin]

Another question I have for the thrifty budget spenders is: Do you often serve two starches at a meal? (Ex potatoes and bread.) .

 

 

 

Nope. But I don't have a problem with serving a fairly large portion of a whole-grain or fresh starch (whole grain pasta, brown rice, boiled potatoes.....) Or including fairly starchy veg; for example in a veg and lentil soup the (cheap) veg would be carrots, turnips, etc.

 

Laura

[jenbrdsly]

Well I'm not convinced starches save money for all people. I find when my kids eat too many starches they are hungry sooner and begging for more food. Maybe not all kids operate like that, but mine do.

 

 

Good point.

[regentrude]

Another question I have for the thrifty budget spenders is: Do you often serve two starches at a meal? (Ex potatoes and bread.) .

 

Never.

Our cold meals are bread based, that would be the starch.

If I serve a cooked meal, there will be potatoes or pasta or rice. No bread with cooked meal (unless it is soup)

 

I do not see why it would be cheaper to serve two different starches - whoever is still hungry can take some more potatoes, pasta or rice. I make plenty of those.

[Arcadia]

Another question I have for the thrifty budget spenders is: Do you often serve two starches at a meal? (Ex potatoes and bread.) .

 

 

Looking at hubby's normal daily portion for grains equivalent.

 

Lunch - 2 cups of rice - 4 ounce grains equivalent

Dinner - 1 cup of pasta - 2 ounce grains equivalent

 

We don't serve two starches at any meal. It gets us too bloated.

[Sparkle]

I might be able to do it. Right now I feed my family on about $4/per person/per day, and that includes one serving of fish (the expensive wild-caught salmon). Fruits and veggies are not super prominent in our meals although I'm trying to add them in more. We will usually eat a hearty salad for dinner once a week, and often a vegetable soup once a week, and then fill in with assorted vegetables and a few fruits. Fruit in particular is awfully expensive.

[LibraryLover]

Not Costco, but this week at my local market organic bananas are .99/lb, Clementines are $2/lb, organic strawberries are $6/lb, non organic avos are 1.50 each, organic carrots are 3.99 /5 lbs.

 

[happypamama]

Well see we don't eat a ton of grains here either and I don't find I'm spending a ton more. With the $5 a day per person that would work out to around $140 per week. I do spend more than that, but mostly because I splurge on a few items (fancy cheese, for example). If I cut those out I could do it. Although, my 7 year old truly eats very little so he barely puts a dent in the budget at this point.

 

Yeah, $140 for food-food (no pet products, laundry detergent, etc., and that wouldn't probably include coffee either) sounds about right. I don't know why, but when we went to low grains, we really did start spending more. Part of that is because we need more fat to fill us up, and good fats are expensive, but also, we eat more salad now, and it's not cheap. A side (or under a stir-fry) of rice is pennies, but a side of salad is not. I used to serve a meat entree, a starchy accompaniment (rice, pasta, bread, potatoes), and one green vegetable, with salad as an occasional thing in place of a green vegetable, and now I serve salad most nights plus a green vegetable, or a green vegetable and cauliflower. My kids really do seem to eat a lot; they all like meat and will gobble it up. (My budget does also include portions of meat for dinner so that there's enough for DH to take for lunch the next day.)

 

ETA: I honestly don't know if more grains would make my kids hungrier faster. It's been several years since we ate a lot of grains on a regular basis, and the kids were littler (and there were fewer of them). I do know that if they eat eggs or even oatmeal (with milk, nuts, butter, etc.) at breakfast, that fills them for longer than bagels, but dinner is different. That might be because dinner is usually fairly close to bedtime, so they don't have time to get hungry. At any rate, I know everyone is different. :)

[violamama]

No, because I don't have the kind of extraordinary time and effort it takes me to do it all from scratch and I hate food shopping when cheapness is my goal. While I do love to serve whole foods, and low carb high quality stuff, I don't currently have to budget tightly (and I am very very grateful for that). If I spend time teaching one more student per week then I can afford to buy more organic veggies and high quality meats/fish and just make simple meals from them. I often roast a whole chicken on Monday and add a few ingredients to it through the week, but I don't have to worry that the organic fru-fru never frozen chicken cost a bit more.

 

So for me, my return for the time spent is worth it to work a little and then be able to actually feed my family the way I want to. If I reduced my work a little right now, I might have slightly more time but knowing myself, I doubt I would turn that time into a measurable health benefit for my family. So this direct trade-off works. FYI, I teach private music lessons 4 hours at home one night and 5 hours at the college another night. This is my lightest schedule since I was 19. I am loving it.

[Um_2_4]

I just had time to sit down and read this thread, and after looking at some (not all) of the replies. I have to say I am glad to live here where I have low cost of food! Yes housing is crazy expensive, but food sure is cheap. Avocados are 6 for $1, bell peppers 4 or 5 for $1, most fruit (except strawberries) I never pay over .50/lb. At peak season strawberries are $4 for a flat (8 lbs i think). Organic is more here, but I don't buy that because I couldn't afford it. We buy 10 pounds of bananas a week for snacks and smoothies and baking. Regular are .33/lb, organic on sale is .99/lb.

I would LOVE to have $5/day/person for a food budget. Right now I am at 3.89, but that includes non-food items, like detergent, soap, pt, tp..etc. So maybe without those items I am closer to $3/day/person.

We buy a lot of fruit/veges, and I could have fish (including shrimp) 2x a week if I felt like it. We are not big fish eaters. Snack is pretty much only fruits with a protein (apple slices and cheese cubes or peanut butter). Meal planning has helped me to stay on budget. Almost every dinner is meat based, except maybe homemade pizza night.

Cheese and milk take a big chunk of my budget. When cheese hits $3/lb or less, I stock up. Shredded stays just fine in the freezer.

[Renee in NC]

I just wanted to say that I appreciate all the comments. I'm right in that this is an interesting topic, right? My DH could pretty much care less! Of course, I do 100% of the shopping and 95% of the cooking... :tongue_smilie:

 

 

Another question I have for the thrifty budget spenders is: Do you often serve two starches at a meal? (Ex potatoes and bread.) .

 

 

If my reading of the USDA My Plate table is correct, then a meal of fish, apple slices, rolls and potatoes would count as "1/2 your plate" being fruits and veggies. I don't currently do this, but am wondering if that is a way to save money.

 

No, not anymore. At least I try not to! Unfortunately, tonight they had two, but that is because I cannot convince my dh that corn is not a vegetable!

[texasmama]

I just figured up our grocery spending, and we are currently spending about $4.50 per person per day (roughly). We do average on the fruits&veggies thing, and eat fish about once a week.

 

However, I read something recently that said Texas has the lowest grocery prices in the nation, sooo...

In Texas here, too, and we fairly easily do this. I have access to competitive grocery stores and a discount/salvage store. We are very fortunate. We eat well, healthily, abundantly and cheaply,

[Holly]

We shop at Aldi and I'm pretty sure we are under this most weeks...many weeks I can't make it to Aldi (it's in a different town) so I'm stuck spending 3x the money on produce at the local stores! :( We generally have fish once a week...I think we could do 2x/week and still be under though. Our plates are generally 1/2 produce, 1/4 protein, and 1/4 starch or dairy. Most of our snacks are dairy or fruits/veggies.

 

We stick to cheaper produce and what's in season. I also buy lots of frozen produce so I don't have to worry about it going bad before we eat it...this also helps on the weeks I can't make it to Aldi.

 

ETA: We don't buy organic (unless it's a really good sale) and my kids are fairly young...if I had a house full of teens, I'm not sure we'd still be under that budget.

[Lisbeth]

It would be difficult. The bottom line is I wouldn't want to and probably wouldn't try unless it's a have-to. If it was a have-to, I'd get serious about square foot gardening.

[OrganicAnn]

Yes.

 

We only would do the fish once a week. No meat or only occasionally having meat.

 

We buy fruit and vegetables in season or on sale. We grow a garden. We buy at the farmers market. We usually buy organic (occasionally if we want something for a recipe we won't buy organic). Our food bill averages $5 per person per day. There are 3 of us, so that is $105 per week. Our weekly food bill can vary from $80 to $120, but usually is around $100.

[msjones]

I could, but it would take a lot of planning, very careful shopping, and not nearly the variety we have now.

 

The fish would be frozen and bought in bulk. The veggies and fruit would almost certainly have to be frozen and/or canned.

 

If the fruit and veggies were supposed to be fresh, I'm not sure I could pull that off.

[gardening momma]

But I could just buy the 10 lb bag. Carrots keep a long time in the fridge. (They even keep unrefrigerated in a cellar covered with sand- that's how they stored them over the winter before refrigeration). Or I could prep the meal and freeze. And we could easily eat a lb of carrots each day.

I don't have to buy the big bag, but it does not mean I couldn't if I wanted to save money.

Some people don't have cellars (we don't--we have a heated, finished basement, so that wouldn't work). Some people don't have an extra freezer. And many smaller families don't buy in bulk, even if they could.

[gardening momma]

.....double post

[gardening momma]

ETA: I just looked at the USDA chart, and according to their numbers for the thrifty plan we should be spending $936.13/ month for our family. We average $400/ month, so we currently spend 43% of the government's thrifty plan. Although with food prices going up, we'll probably have to adjust up soon.)

I checked that chart for my family--according to their "thrifty plan" we'd need $631.20/month for the 4 of us. :lol: My budget is $325.

[gardening momma]

If my reading of the USDA My Plate table is correct, then a meal of fish, apple slices, rolls and potatoes would count as "1/2 your plate" being fruits and veggies. I don't currently do this, but am wondering if that is a way to save money.

Unfortunately, they're counting potatoes as a vegetable. :thumbdown: 1/4 of the plate is fruit, there's no veggie.

[Quiver0f10]

Well at $5 a day per person we would be spending $1800/month and I spend less than that so I voted yes.

[gardening momma]

 

 

Here's my receipt from Costco for our veg for the week. Are these the same Costco prices you pay in your part of the country?

I went grocery shopping today. I meant to take a copy of your receipt to jot down prices for comparison's sake, but forgot.

Carrots (bulk) were .49/lb, and bananas were .53/lb. (both not organic).

[beaners]

I checked today's menu again. My husband isn't home, so our budget should be closer to $15 for myself and three children. (I also have one starting on table food and still breastfeeding, but I'm not adding any extra money for him.)

 

BREAKFAST

$2 - 4 lb oranges

$1 - large bowl of air-popped popcorn plus a bit of butter

$1 - half-gallon of milk for a beverage, plus I used one tea bag myself

= $4

 

LUNCH

$1.19 - two cans of tuna (current Kroger price)

$1 - approximate cost of half a box of soda crackers + mayonnaise

$1 - leftover small bowl of gumbo I ate

= $3.19

 

DINNER (This makes a large crockpot, so full that I can barely fit the lid. It might be enough for dinner two nights if my husband is home. Without him, it's easily three meals.)

$2 - 1 lb ground beef

$1 - 5 lb potatoes

$1 - 2 lb carrots, including some the kids snuck while I was cutting

$1 - couple celery stalks plus two onions

$1.40 - 2 cans cream of mushroom soup, estimating price

$1 - half-gallon milk as a beverage

= $6.40

 

That would put my daily total at $14 although if you only count what we're eating today it would be almost $10. I usually serve salad with this particular dinner, but I don't have anything in the fridge right now. Lettuce and dressing for all of us would probably add another $2. There's nothing green on the menu today. (Unusual for us!) Most of our foods today are orange or white. It balances out though.

 

I don't personally count potatoes as a vegetable, but I think they are a healthier choice than some other "white food" options like store-bought bread. I do consider corn, green peas, and lima beans vegetables, although it looks like they are also in the "starchy vegetable" category.

[Jenny in Florida]

Another question I have for the thrifty budget spenders is: Do you often serve two starches at a meal? (Ex potatoes and bread.) .

 

 

If my reading of the USDA My Plate table is correct, then a meal of fish, apple slices, rolls and potatoes would count as "1/2 your plate" being fruits and veggies. I don't currently do this, but am wondering if that is a way to save money.

 

Our meals do often incorporate two starches, I guess.

 

For example, when I make black bean burritos, I often stuff them with the beans, onions, bell peppers, corn, salsa and rice.

 

Our favorite Indian-style feast includes curried chickpeas (the sauce for which includes onions and tomatoes), veggie samosas (potatoes and carrots -- because one of my kids won't eat peas -- stuffed in pastry dough), onion (onions, lemon juice, seasonings) and mint (cilantro, mint, onion, peppers, seasonings) chutneys, basmati rice and some kind of flatbread.

 

I serve garlic bread with our spaghetti.

 

Lentil sloppy joes are served over rolls, and I usually put baked potato wedges and some kind of fruit or veggie on the table, too.

 

One of my son's favorite meals is baked potatoes with assorted toppings, bowls of whatever fruits and veggies I have in the 'fridge and pull-apart garlic bread.

[Jenny in Florida]

Oh, and I did our shopping for the week today. I actually came in under my $150 budget (not out of virtue but because we had two largish bills due this week). I bought:

 

(* indicates item was on sale.)

 

SoyDream Chocolate (2) = $7.58

Store-brand chocolate soymilk (2) = 5.38

Lunchbox Silk (1) = 1.29

OJ (half gallon) = 2.39

* Frozen hash browns (2 bags) = 4

* Frozen potato patties = 2

Earth Balance margarine (3 tubs) = 11.07

 

* 2-liter sodas (4) = 6

Aldi Saltines = .99

Aldi potato flakes = 1.29

Aldi tomato paste (2) = .78

Baking soda = .49

Aldi ketchup (40 oz) = 1.49

Aldi Peanuts (1 jar) = 2.29

Aldi Rice cakes (2 packages) = 2.58

Aldi Chopped walnuts (1 bag) = 3.99

Aldi Sliced almonds (1 bag) = 2.49

Aldi Cashews (1 tin) = 2.79

Smuckers fruit spread (small jar) = 2.24

Herbal tea = 2.99

Unbleached flour (2 bags) = 3.88

Clif zBars (12 pack) = 6.79

Protein powder for smoothies = 13.79

 

Cantaloupe = 1.19

Carrots = 1.29

Celery = 1.29

Potatoes (10 lbs.) = 3.29

Gala apples (3 lbs.) = 3.59

Green bell peppers (2) = 1.29

Bananas (2.5 lbs) = 1.14

Roma tomatoes (8) = 1.49

Sweet onions (6 lbs) = 3.38

Raisins (2 packs of 6 boxes each) = 2.78

 

Bath soap, pack of 3 bars = 3.39

Aldi Disposable razors (6 pack) = 2.99

Aldi Dish detergent = 1.89

 

I shopped at four stores. At Target, where I bought just a few items today, I got 5% off my bill by using their debit card. So, my grand total was $104.61.

[FaithManor]

Our middle boy is medically underweight in a way that means "he's not just skinny". He is under the care of an endocrinologist and must eat 3500 calories per day and 90% of it must not be carbs - ie. grains. So, that blows us out of the water right there. I spend $12.00 per week on macademea nuts just for him and then there are the cashews that he eats as well. He must have seafood twice per week and the endo prefers that one of those meals be higher end, higher omega oil laden fish, so what we usually do is eat Tilapia together one evening as a family, and then he, dh, and the youngest share a scampi that contains (shrimp because he likes it) and by scallops ($8.00 a bag).

 

He has to have a meat and dairy at every breakfast (no grains) plus veggies and fruit.

 

Since I try to make sure the kids get 7 servings of veggies/fruit and because they are all growing fast and very thin for their heights, they have dairy at every meal and if not a meat, then eggs. We go through a lot of eggs. Their food is always prepped with real butter, per the doc's recommendation, and any way that I can sneak more calories into the meal for them, I do. Generally, there is another meal on the side for dh and I that is much less rich. So, I double cook, and well, that gets old but it has to be done.

 

I'm managing currently at $220.00 a week, but that does not include personal care items. I can, dehydrate, and freeze LOTS of produce each year and that does help though short of having my own fish farm, beef steer, and large flock of chickens, the produce is the least expensive aspect. The dairy cow we had for several years that was boarded at an area farm, died of a particularly viral case of pneumonia this year. The cost of getting another is terribly prohibitive and the farmer is slowly working his way towards retirement, so we don't have anywhere to keep her. That said, she was not actually cost effective in terms of what it costs to raise a cow...the fresh milk every week was very nice though.

 

Faith

[Durriyyah]

No. When I keep the meals that low priced, they are very high in carbs. Pasta and rice are the way to make anything cheap.

[Guest]

I did not vote in the poll. I do not eat fish twice a week. We eat fruits and vegetables, but probably not always to the amount that you're asking. I am keeping our food budget beneath the "thrifty" amount for my family on the USDA chart, but since I didn't meet your other criteria, I couldn't say "yes."

[FaithManor]

I did want to say that I got some GREAT deals at the Mennonite Bulk Food Store today. If you have a Mennonite community near you, it would be worth checking to see if they have such a store.

 

Today was an anniversary sale for the business which meant the prices were even better:

 

10# bag of chicken breast - $1.69 per lb.

Ground Round - $2.69 per lb. if purchasing in a 10 lb. bag

Butter - $1.89 lb.

Florida, organic strawberries - 2 qts. for $2.98

Organic Navel oranges - 2/$1.00

Organic, sweet vidalia onions - 5 large ones for $1.50

Organic granny smith apples - $1.09 lb.

Organic bananas - .79 cents lb.

Organic head lettuce - 1.09

Organic baby greens salad mix - BOGOF - $2.50 for the first so two for that price (these are decent sized containers, but I can't remember, off hand, how many oz.)

Organic baby carrots - 1 lb bag for $1.25

Cream cheese - 99 cents 8 oz. brick or 1.50 a lb. to buy it in a five lb. brick and repackage yourself

5 lbs mozzarella shredded - $13.50

Organic eggs - 1 doz. $2.50 (normally $3.00 - I am thankful though that most of the time, my friend with a very large flock, trades all the eggs I need for doing afternoon chores for her (3 horses, flock of chickens, 40 sheep, 6 llamas, our barn cats, two dogs, and five ducks...but, afternoon chores rarely takes me more than 25 minutes with the boys helping unless a stupid ewe decides to lamb outdoors and ignore her baby....then it takes A VERY LONG TIME!)

Breyers Ice cream (1.75 qt container - $2.50)

 

Tillapia was around $1.00 per serving, but when it's on sale at Meijer in the big bag, I get it for 75 cents per serving. I just have to watch closely for the once per quarter sale and then stock up.

 

Shrimp - tail on, with cocktail sauce was half-price and their regular price is usually 25 -50 cents less than Meijer or Walmart per bag or deli tray...sometimes the deli trays are a full $1.00 savings.

 

I serve only sporadically, organic rice, and maybe twice per month, pasta...I'm gluten free so I keep a small amount of organic, penne rice pasta on hand so I can splurge.

 

I stocked up on butter, chicken, ground round, mozzarella, and the organic produce.

 

Faith

[jenbrdsly]

I did want to say that I got some GREAT deals at the Mennonite Bulk Food Store today. If you have a Mennonite community near you, it would be worth checking to see if they have such a store.

 

Today was an anniversary sale for the business which meant the prices were even better:

 

10# bag of chicken breast - $1.69 per lb.

Ground Round - $2.69 per lb. if purchasing in a 10 lb. bag

Butter - $1.89 lb.

Florida, organic strawberries - 2 qts. for $2.98

Organic Navel oranges - 2/$1.00

Organic, sweet vidalia onions - 5 large ones for $1.50

Organic granny smith apples - $1.09 lb.

Organic bananas - .79 cents lb.

Organic head lettuce - 1.09

Organic baby greens salad mix - BOGOF - $2.50 for the first so two for that price (these are decent sized containers, but I can't remember, off hand, how many oz.)

Organic baby carrots - 1 lb bag for $1.25

Cream cheese - 99 cents 8 oz. brick or 1.50 a lb. to buy it in a five lb. brick and repackage yourself

5 lbs mozzarella shredded - $13.50

Organic eggs - 1 doz. $2.50 (normally $3.00 - I am thankful though that most of the time, my friend with a very large flock, trades all the eggs I need for doing afternoon chores for her (3 horses, flock of chickens, 40 sheep, 6 llamas, our barn cats, two dogs, and five ducks...but, afternoon chores rarely takes me more than 25 minutes with the boys helping unless a stupid ewe decides to lamb outdoors and ignore her baby....then it takes A VERY LONG TIME!)

Breyers Ice cream (1.75 qt container - $2.50)

 

Tillapia was around $1.00 per serving, but when it's on sale at Meijer in the big bag, I get it for 75 cents per serving. I just have to watch closely for the once per quarter sale and then stock up.

 

Shrimp - tail on, with cocktail sauce was half-price and their regular price is usually 25 -50 cents less than Meijer or Walmart per bag or deli tray...sometimes the deli trays are a full $1.00 savings.

 

I serve only sporadically, organic rice, and maybe twice per month, pasta...I'm gluten free so I keep a small amount of organic, penne rice pasta on hand so I can splurge.

 

I stocked up on butter, chicken, ground round, mozzarella, and the organic produce.

 

Faith

 

 

Wow! Those are some amazing prices!

 

Note to Beaners regarding your crock-pot dinner. My understanding is that a day like that with oranges, carrots, potatoes and a few stalks of celery would still meet the USDA requirements (because they count potatoes as a vegetable). Even though (like you) I usually like to serve my families greens each day.

 

One thing I'm wondering is whether that potato/vegetable thing is there so that school funded lunches can count french-fries and ketchup as "vegetables".

[mytwomonkeys]

Yes. My food budget for a family of 4 is $500 a month-- which is less than $20 a day. My fridge is maxed out with fruit and veggies from the farmers market. We do not have a garden, but we are gifted a lot from friends with overflowing gardens (and the farmers market is cheaper than the grocery store). I live in a rural area and a couple miles from me is a dairy. I get fresh milk for $4 gallon. My neighbor has a cattle farm and he sells me meat for less than the grocery store. We do eat frozen fish, but rarely fresh. I do use coupons a lot though on all non food items (and food too -- when it is something we buy).

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

$20 per day is our budget for 10 of us for food, gas and clothing! We don't eat out alot, pizza is $26 from a friends place to feed us all! That is 2 XL'S With 2 sides of breadsticks and dip and a 2 liter. Still, I try to have something cooked so dh won't tempt me. I am resolving to buy more tuna and salmon ( canned), along with sardines, ( wild caught) and dh and I take fish oil pills. I bought some kids fish oil pills but they hated them! Beans and cornbread help too!

 

But with more taxes taken out of dh's check now, we are needing help! Juggling medical bills is horrid right now.

 

I need to work up a Budget since neither of us is a nerd... oh JOY!

[beaners]

$20 per day is our budget for 10 of us for food, gas and clothing! We don't eat out alot, pizza is $26 from a friends place to feed us all! That is 2 XL'S With 2 sides of breadsticks and dip and a 2 liter. Still, I try to have something cooked so dh won't tempt me. I am resolving to buy more tuna and salmon ( canned), along with sardines, ( wild caught) and dh and I take fish oil pills. I bought some kids but they hated them! Beans and cornbread help too!

 

 

I would LOVE to see some of your daily menus, kind of like the ones I posted. Even with our awesome prices, I don't think I could hit $2/day/person for any appreciable length of time, let alone adding in gas. As a matter of fact, my husband probably spends $10/day just on driving to and from work, 5 or 6 days a week. So that would put us at $1/day/person. Obviously most people don't spend that much on their commute, but wow!

 

I'm trying to think about how to do this.

 

Assuming I cooked a pound of beans or lentils and a pound of rice, and added a pound of something cheap like carrots, that's probably $2. I could see that being a sufficient amount of food. Or 5 lbs of potatoes and a pound of legumes, but then there's no room for vegetables.

 

Hmmm. A canister of oatmeal is just over $3, and I'm guessing that would be a breakfast for 10. The price might go down a little in bulk. So now we're down to $17. Say 2 loaves of cheap bread for sandwiches and a jar of peanut butter, plus half a pound of carrots per person. Now we're at $7. Cheap curry for dinner with 10 lbs of potatoes, 3 lbs of lentils, 5 lbs of rice. That's hitting the limit without any seasoning or what I consider vegetables.

 

I think I could give everyone a bag of frozen vegetables and 4 packs of ramen to get them through the day, but that's going to be a little low in calories and protein for anyone growing.

 

Are you counting in homegrown produce or anything like that?

 

LOL please elaborate because I need to get more done today than just puzzling over meal planning.

[jenbrdsly]

So, I've officially launched my MyPlate on My Budget experiment. One of the things I'm doing (but haven't blogged about yet) is I made a weekly veggie tracker for each person in the family. I based it off of the USDA MyPlate requirements.

 

 

 

This is the code: Dark green = dark green veggies. Orange and Red = Orange and Red veggies. Yellow circle with green smudge = peas and beans. Yellow = starchy veggies. Purple = "other" veggies.

 

One thing that really struck me when I made the chart is how many starchy vegetables MyPlate wants people eating each week. I'm supposed to eat 6 cups of starch? That's like having potatoes, corn or squash at every meal. My husband has to eat 8 cups!

 

Any ideas how I can accomplish this? :bigear: