Said the Hobbit, a wonderful blog, comments on their $1.00 per day food budget. Yikes...I spend much more than that..
It is an ambitious goal and one I admire but...how does she do it? Said the Hobbit made a comment to my Pasta and Prawn post about her budget - grade 2 veggies and out of date sauces help her to live within her budget.
Food makes me a little crazy. My cupboards and freezer have to be full or I get nervous which makes it difficult to stick to a budget because if something that I use is on sale then I usually buy it. There are four grocery stores in Powell River and I shop at all of them because they are all very close. I wait for the sale fliers and then make my list according to sales.The upside to my neurosis is that if people come over unexpectedly I can always whip something up and not run to the supermarket...
So..Margaret..get over it already..and make a budget. I know I can't come close to $1.00 per day, or $2.00 or $3.00 but I think I can start with $10.00 per day, $70.00 per week. See how that goes and hopefully reduce it further as I get used to it.
I'll make a spreadsheet and track the amount of money I spend on food and post my success and/or failure.
I tried to break down the cost of the pasta and prawn dish I posted yesterday but it's time consuming and not very accurate. I have a hard time costing out pepper, salt, spices, oil ect...I use them every day but only buy then once in a while.
The prawn pasta I made breaks down like this:Prawns - $6.99
Parmesan - $0.50
Pasta - $0.75
Foccacia Bread
flour - $1.00
yeast- $ 0.20
Olive oil - $0.50
Salad
Butter lettuce - $0.89
tomato - $0.50
cucumber - $0.50
Condiments
Parsley, salt and pepper, chili flakes, dried basil, olive oil and vinegar - $2.00
Bottle of homemade white wine $1.66 (4 glasses)
Total for four adults $15.49/$3.87 per person for dinner.
I'm really counting on my veggie patch to get me through the winter...fingers crossed for a hot, sunny summer.
Margaret
3 comments:
Margaret, I wonder if she lives in the States. Their food costs are so much less than ours. I can't imagine doing it for $1.00 a day where we live. I'm working on lowering mine has well...it's been ongoing now for several months.
I think the best way to bring down a food budget is to have a well stocked pantry...with most items bought when on sale.
I also have the problum of liking my cupboards full just in case----.
I try to buy things on sale and we shop at The Grocery Outlet and other discount stores.I don't like packaged foods very much I like home made.I am not sure it is cheaper but it taste better.
From what I know you are quite frugal, but only in the most positive sense. Yes, I think your garden will help a lot. I got some of the peat pellets you recommended and like them a lot. I'm a little late in getting my seeds going, but I'll be here this month to make sure they get sun and water. Last month was mostly down south so it wasn't a good time. - Margy
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