It's Sunday night and I went shopping to procure food for our day tomorrow. Aaron decided he would take the challenge with me, therefore, we have a total of $12 a day to spend on food instead of the $7 I would have as an individual. So, the rules are as follows: we have a total of $12 to spend jointly on food each day. We cannot use any items we already have, with the exception of salt and pepper, so that means no sugar, spices, oil or condiments we may have just lying around. If we want any of these, we have to purchase them. We can use coupons, club cards etc., but we cannot accept any free food, so no store samples or bagels that a coworker may have brought.
Keeping in mind all of these rules we formulated a plan. There were no rules as to whether or not you could buy a weeks worth of items and spread them out breaking down their total cost per day, or if you had to only spend $12 each day. We both decided that if we were truly struggling we may not have the luxury of having enough money in advance so we plan on going to the store each night to buy food for the following day with the exception of a couple of items that we could not buy in small packages. So this was my mission tonight.
I went to the store with my calculator and a rough idea of what we would eat: sandwiches, oatmeal, eggs, beans &rice. I bought an egg, yogurt, rice, oatmeal carrots apples beans canned tomatoes, bread, spinach, Tofurky (veggie deli slices) and some instant coffee. I spent the most on the money $2.99 on the Tofurky which I will split over about 3 of days. I found some sandwich bread in the "Manager's Special" section where they put bakery items that will soon expire. For $1.49 I got enough bread for 8 sandwiches. I could buy individual eggs for $0.28 each, yogurt for $0.50, a package of dried beans for $1.59. I also found a marked down bag of fresh spinach for $2.99.
I thought about the things I would have to sacrifice, namely my morning coffee. I don't think I can go cold turkey without any, so I bought a pack of 7 individual packages of instant Tasters Choice. I know it won't be like the coffee house. And I don't have any sugar.
We don't eat meat, so I should have some protein in the sandwich slices and the beans. Mostly I tried to get a balance of healthy foods, although I know I won't have nearly enough of the fruits and veggies I should each day. In my lifetime of grocery shopping I have come to notice that the cheapest choices are not always the healthiest. Sure, I could eat $0.25 packages of Top Ramen all day, but my diet would be severely lacking in protein, fruits and veggies. As if to drive this point home I happen to overhear a couple shopping together in the bakery section. He saw a box of a dozen donuts on sale for $2.99, while the she pointed out that this box of glazed donuts, so sweet and tempting, cost as much as the single green bell pepper that they had just put in their basket. He jokingly put the box of donuts in the cart, removed the pepper and placed it on the shelf with the donuts. It certainly made a statement.
