Day 4

Breakfast
hashbrowns (Still at brother's house, free)
scrambled eggs (free)
pancakes (free)


Lunch
Nutty bar (free)


Dinner
Chinese take-out (paid for by my gentlemen friends I was hanging out with)

Snacks
yogurt (free, I'm cat-sitting and they told me to eat any of the food I wanted, trying to not be a total moocher though)
cherries ($0.25)

Total $0.25

This wasn't exactly a healthy meal day. My brother doesn't have a lot of food so I ate what I could scrounge up. I did cook breakfast again to kind of earn my keep.

Day Three Meals

Breakfast
Oatmeal ($0.06)
w/ 2 tbl cranberries ($0.15) and some agave nectar ($0.20)

Lunch
Hamburger (at mom's house, free)
Animal cookies (free)

Dinner
Pasta w/ alfredo sauce & chicken (at brother's house, found everything in cupboards, but used 1/4 jar of my sauce--$0.25)

Snacks
Wendy's Frosty (free, thanks to brother)

Total $0.66

I realized Oatmeal is probably one of the cheapest meals I'm going to get. It's loading it up with other yummy healthy things that will sink the cost. When my cranberries and agave nectar run out, they're probably off the grocery list. I've been using agave nectar as a sweetener but I'm going to have to switch back to non-organic plain old processes sugar.

Also, visiting family is a good way to cut costs. :) I don't feel bad about the brother cause I used to feed him all the time and I cooked it for him.

Day Two Meals

Breakfast
1 cup bran flakes ($0.20)
1 cup milk ($0.15)
2 tbls cranberries ($0.15)

Lunch
Ham & cheese sandwich & fries from Arctic Circle--my brother took me so it was free. Lucky me. (Would have been $2.25 if I had paid myself. A few weeks ago that would have seemed like a cheap meal to me.)

Dinner
Naan bread ($0.25)
4 oz chicken ($0.75)
homemade hummus ($0.35)
cucumber & tomato salad ($0.35)

Snacks
Apple ($0.25)

Total $2.20

So far sticking to around $1.66 a day has not happened. I will probably not be buying meat after I run out of what I already have stockpiled in the freezer.

Keeping Milk Cheap

The past couple of months I've been using a powdered milk product called Morning Moo. I live alone, so I only buy milk 1/2 gallon at a time, but I was still throwing away spoiled milk often. I heard about this product before, so I decided to try it. It was about $10 for a gallon can of the powdered mix, 68 8 oz servings. I figure that's about $0.15 a serving. I was spending about $0.25 a serving on regular milk and usually throwing out 1-2 servings anyhow.

As far as taste goes, it tastes like skim milk to me. According to the directions you can make it thicker, but I usually drink skim anyhow.

The downside is you do have to spend some time getting it ready. It takes maybe 5 minutes though. You ad hot water to the mix, whisk it, then add the rest of the water. I don't mind the extra work. I haven't wasted any due to spoilage yet. I just make more as I need it.

I did try and make pudding, and it stayed a little runny. I haven't baked or cooked anything else with it yet.

Day one meals

Breakfast:
1 cup bran flakes ($0.20)
1 cup milk ($0.15) (*see next post on Morning Moo)
2 tbls cranberries ($0.15)

Lunch:
homemade Naan bread ($0.25) w/olive dip (olive dip was a gift, cost $0)

Snack
2 apricots ($0.47)

Dinner
Pasta w/ zucchini ($0.60)
1/2 Naan bread ($0.12)

Total cost for the day: $1.94

What is this about?

I got laid off from my job in December and have run through my severance and I'm waiting for unemployment to kick in. Needless to say, money is tight right now. Looking at my finances I've budgeted $50 a month for groceries. There is exactly $0.00 for eating out. I thought I would document the process in case anyone else out there is in the same boat.

I also put high importance on eating healthy. I like to get organic when possible, but other than some home grown produce from my mom, organics are probably not on the menu much anymore.

I will post my meals each day (most days) and the cost for each meal. I'll also post my grocery shopping events and any special deals I find out there.

I do have a lot of canned and dry foods in my cupboards, so I'll try and calculate costs as best I can.

I did go shopping today. The Sunflower Market (6284 South State St., Murray) is a bit out of my way, but I think it's worth it. They have double ad sales on Wednesdays. The previous weeks ad's and the current weeks ad's sales overlap. Maybe I'll have to bike there to save gas. Whatever I get would have to fit in a backpack.

Week one groceries
Item/quantity/price
parsley/1/$0.50
cilantro/1/$0.50
lettuce, green leaf/1/$1.00
cherries/1.77 lbs/$2.99
broccoli crowns/1.64 lbs/$1.64
italian squash/1.60 lbs/$1.41
cucumbers/2/$1.00
raspberries/8 oz/$2.00
grape tomatoes/1 pint/$1.50
apricots/.26 lbs/$0.47
red onion/.68 lbs/$0.47
cantaloupe/1/$0.50
carrots, bagged/1 lb/$0.50
white flour/2.13 lbs/$2.11
monterrey jack cheese/.95 lbs/$0.96
chicken breast, sklns, bnls/3 lbs/$5.15
Tax $0.68
Total $23.38


For Sunflower Market's online ads and store locations:
http://www.sfmarkets.com/