Eat well on $50 a week: Challenge, or no duh?
Filed under: Budgets, Food, Kids and Money, Simplification
The headlines for various projects and challenges to eat on a small food budget always slurp me in with their titillation, the gauntlet-throwing, and immediately I ask myself: could I do it? The answer always disappoints, because I'm either doing it already or find the challenge so impossible it's meaningless. Eating on $1 a day per person?Ridiculous, really, and it requires sacrifices far too ethically objectionable (I won't, for instance, eat commodity food such as dried beans grown in China and beef raised most of its life squeezed into a feedlot). Eating for $50 per adult, per week, plus $25 per child? Sigh.
That's what three bloggers are doing for a year; they've been at it for about four months now, and they spend their blogging nights evaluating the difference between an $8 grocery store chicken and a $13 chicken from Hoosick River Farm ("I feel better from buying from what I believe to be a small family farm"), discovering the awesomeness of leftover brown rice ("for an allegedly creative person, I have a hard time re-imagining leftover food as anything other than itself"), contemplating the attractiveness of frozen shredded zucchini after blowing the budget on fast food.
It's problematic and oft-pointed out (as in this CNN post from July) that $50 per adult, per week, is not a huge gamble. For my family of five, that would come out to just over $750 a month; yes, it's about what we spend, but that's when we're really not paying attention to our budget and includes splurges on fruit to preserve and at least $100 a month in what I consider unnecessary convenience foods and beverages purchased by our husband (in my world, no one needs to drink juice, for instance -- vitamins are much better coming from actual fruit).
It's interesting to watch these experiments, but the truly frugal already have most of it figured out; and those who care more about buying meat raised thoughtfully at a small family farm than their budget aren't going to drive their spending down to the extreme lows. All these capers say is, either, "it's really hard to focus on anything but food when your budget is tiny," or, "yes! planning your week's meals and budgeting your expenses makes sense!"
Without boring you with the nitty-gritty of the dollars and cents of my spending and recipes, here are a few reminders on how to eat well for a budget that's sensible for you:
- Learn to preserve "free" food. If your backyard plum tree or your neighbor's walnut tree is dropping more fruit than anyone can pick up, you're missing out on a great source of healthful food that doesn't affect your budget at all. Make plum jam or plum sauce for your poultry; pick up walnuts and dry them; yes, freeze that zucchini your mom gives you. That will help in December and January when you'd rather spend your cash on other things.
- Never buy single-serving food. It's wasteful of money and packaging, and in all likelihood it's packed with preservatives and sugar.
- Eat all of what you have. Don't let leftovers languish past their good-bye date; don't go out to eat when you have veggies or meat in the fridge that's about to spoil; if you can't eat everything you've cooked, invite someone over (maybe they'll return the favor when you're broke). Preserve what's left. See above.
- Buy staples in bulk (sensibly). I only buy a few items in large quantities now that I've learned I just can't eat 25 pounds of brown rice in any conceivable time frame: fruit, whole wheat flour, thick-cut oatmeal, maple syrup, honey, butter and meat (for the freezer). I buy these through food co-ops or buying clubs for very good deals, and if I'm strapped for cash before payday, I can always bake something delicious.
- Shop often for perishables, preferably at a farmer's market. I go almost every week in the winter and a few times a week during the summer to the local farmer's markets, picking up just what I can eat that week, or know I'll have time to preserve in the next few days. It's difficult to find the right balance, but leaving $20 in organic veggies to rot in the back of your crisper hurts (at least I compost the remains).
- Grow something. I now grow all my own greens, herbs, beans, pumpkins, potatoes, peas and fresh-for-eating tomatoes. Once I master a category in the garden, I refuse to allow myself to buy it at the market, saving me money and maximizing the usefulness of my harvest. Next year, I hope to master garlic, hot peppers, broccoli and onions. Start with something easy (lettuce and peas are my suggestions) and start getting in tune with the seasonal rhythms; soon, you'll be wanting to eat that way.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-08-2009 @ 3:25PM
jbjg24m said...
these damn spammers just won't go away ! aol , please do something about these idiots !
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11-08-2009 @ 5:56PM
mom32051 said...
Give me a break. I've been feeding 2 adults and 2 children (plus 2 dogs and 2 cats) on $150.00 per week for years. And we eat very well for that. And I shop at Kroger; not some off-brand place.
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11-08-2009 @ 6:14PM
pat said...
I average $170/week for 2 adults and 3 active teenagers and that includes cleaning & personal items. I check what's on sale, make a list and then plan menus around the list. I cook a lot on the weekend so the weeknights aren't so bad. Thursday is our traditional "buffet night" - sounds a lot better than leftover night and everyone usually ends up with their favorites. If you watch the sales you can usually get things just as cheap as you would at the warehouse clubs but in sizes that are human scale. A 1/2 hour of planning a week can save $100's over the course of a year.
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11-08-2009 @ 6:45PM
feistycat said...
I agree with mom32051 and pat. We budget about $150 a week for a family of 4, which includes food, beer, cleaning stuff, pet supplies and personal items. I buy very little processed packaged food --hardly any pre-made frozen stuff, but I buy bread and pasta. No, I don't buy the everything organic or from small family farms, but it is possible to eat very well without spending a fortune.
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11-08-2009 @ 7:41PM
JOAN said...
WE ARE 3 ADULTS, ONE CAT & ONE DOG--THE CAT & DOG ASIDE--IT DOES NOT COST US AS MUCH AS $50..00 FOR ALL OF US BUT THEN WE COOK SOMETHING ALMOST EVERYDAY AND DEPENDING ON THE MEAL IT IS DIVIDED UP FOR 2-3 MORE MEALS. WE SHOP AT FOOD LION-THE ONLY STORE HERE & THEY ARE EXPENSIVE BUT WE DO NOT WASTE ANYTHING & WE ARE ALL VERY GOOD COOKS. TRY IT EVEN THOSE OF YOU WHO WORK POUTSIDE THE HOME AND MAKE THINGS IN A LARGER QUANTITY AND CAN BE FROZEN--HAPPY COOKING--AND IT IS FUN TO FIND NEW DISHES
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11-08-2009 @ 7:51PM
Karen said...
I come from a family of 5 and am currently 30 yrs old. We grew up EVERY week with a budget of $100 to feed all of us. We never went hungry, always ate great. Sure, there may have been enough meat portions of one per person, but that's why there's veggies to eat up on. I've moved on and so has my sister as we got older. My parents and younger brother this day and age now use $85 a week for shopping. There's no skimping of any kind going on at all and I know I still stop in for some good homecooking with them several times a week. It's definitely easy to accomplish, you just have to know what to buy in bulk, what not to, where to... That budget included food, hygeine, detergent and all other household needs.
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11-08-2009 @ 8:15PM
Chef Alfred Schrader said...
I do it for 50 bucks or less and I eat better than a billionaire.
For example, to start... fresh Belgian waffles for breakfast - 8 cents worth of Martha White hot-rize flour, 3 cents worth of sugar, 12 cents worth of egg whites, 7 cents worth of unsalted butter. I'm talking crispy , poofy roll your eyes back steamy hot waffles. For lunch, you wouldn't believe it. I'll extend some mercy here...Chef Alfred Schrader
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11-09-2009 @ 4:15PM
Donna said...
I also live on a budget but if I lived in Manhatten, N.Y. I would be buying my meat and eggs from the Hoosick River Farm too.....for a couple of reasons...1. My son and his girlfriend own and run Hoosick River Farm and I know they grow their meat products range-free and antibiotic free...2...Their chicken is the best tasting chicken I have ever eaten......
Yes $13 is a lot of money for a chicken but if you can afford to live in Manhatten you can well afford to pay that.....If you knew the amount of labour put into every pound of meat they produce you would say they aren't charging enough.....My son and his family live in an old farm house in need of repairs, they drive old vehicles, and never go on vacation......they also budget their food shopping...But they do what they do because they love what they are doing and believe in providing good wholesome meats and eggs to the public....they also give away a great deal of meat to those in need........A proud mother
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11-08-2009 @ 8:20PM
seriously?!?!?!?!?!? said...
This article is ridiculous. How is it a challenge to only spend $50 per adult per week? I for years have lived off of about $100 a month, and that also includes necessity items like soap and shampoo as well as food for two cats(both wet and dry) and their litter and I eat very healthy. There's even been times before that when it was less than $50 a month for everything because of emergency bills.This woman needs and the others finding this a challenge need a wake up call, cause it sounds to me like she's just wasting her money.
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11-08-2009 @ 9:22PM
Michelle said...
I feed our family of 5+,( two adults, three children full time and one weekends only, plus two dogs and three cats) on $200.00 every two weeks. I shop Aldis for my main menu, but supplement from Krogers and Walmart for the stuff I can't get at Aldi's(like soy milk for my daughter, the brand of food our cats eat, paper products, ect.). We normally cook kid friendly dishes, like spaghetti, pizza and chicken based dishes, so those groceries are usually at a good price. I tend to compare prices at those three stores and only use coupons if I can get the item for less than a dollar or for free. But it's a struggle to get everything that's necessary, so sometimes makeup and "special items" are on hold until they are on sale or I have extra money. Only with planning and creating a menu will this amount of money sustain a normal family of 5. We don't go hungry, but we really do have to watch what we buy and we don't eat out as a family outside of special occasions like for a birthday, and then it's as cheaply as possible( CiCi's was the last birthday meal). But it can be done, and it's amazing what you can do with a bag of pinto beans!
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11-10-2009 @ 1:35AM
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11-18-2009 @ 7:37PM
chefbrian1 said...
Good Post
I have started a blog thread that I call the $3-5 local food challenge, which a take on cooking local food on a similar budget and cost as most fast food meals.
http://lastoneeating.wordpress.com/category/3-5-local-meal-challenge/
Doing the math, $50 a week food budget comes to $2.38 per person per meal if we figure for 21 meals a week. This does not account for snacks, drinks, or meals out.
Even on the fast food dollar menu, you will be paying more than that.
Couple of Tips:
Bake your own: From corn bread, muffins, snacks, to your own bread, it is usually cheaper to bake your own.
Cook more whole grains: They are cheap and go a long way. 1 pound of rice, barley, millet, bulgar, or Hominy is enough to serve my family of four for about 1/3 of the complete meal, and cost about $.25-50 per serving.
Combine bean and meat: Think chili, pork and beans, sausage and beans, meat and bean casserole etc... Beans are about the same price as whole grains and it means you can get away with serving less meat.
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