Everyday Escapades: The Story of a Girl

Good evening! This month I have joined a challenge on FV that has one goal: spend only $25/week per person on groceries for the ENTIRE month. The idea is to simulate living on food stamps for the month. My month starts this Oct. 29th, 2006 and my first grocery shopping was today. Below is my shopping list w/prices:

1 Gallon 2% Milk: 3.77
1 32 oz container Yoplait Yogurt: 2.14
1 container Welch's frozen juice concentrate: 1.08
1 container off brand frozen juice concentrate: 0.92
1 lb ground turkey: 1.98
1 12 oz box Crunch & Munch Popcorn: 1.88
1 box (10 bars) off brand granola bars: 1.78
1 large box off brand cereal (corn flakes): 1.48
1 can (10.5 oz) off brand Cream of Mushroom soup: 0.88
1.17 lb Red Grapes: 1.76 (1.50 a pound)
1 Bartlet Pear (0.51 lb): 0.51 (1.00 a pound)
2 Gala Apples (1 lb): 1.64 (1.64 a pound)
1 dozen medium sized eggs: 1.33
1 package (8 snack bars) Twix candy bars: 0.97

Subtotal: 23.10
Tax: 0.58
Total: 23.68

Alright. Now. Here's my menu for the week. B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, and D = Dinner. I will list food that came from the grocery shop for that day's plan. Otherwise assume I already had it.


Oct 29th:
- B: 1 soft boiled egg, small glass milk, 2 slices bread w/jam or peanut butter
- L: 1 Sandwich (2 pieces bread, lunch meat, cheese + condiments), 1 box raisins, 1 piece of fruit, popcorn
- D: Dinner at Bible Study (cost = $2)
- Snacks: Carrot or Celery Sticks

Grocery Shop Foods: Milk (I bought eggs but have 4 left from before so those are used first!), fruit, popcorn



Oct. 30th
- B: Cereal & Milk
- L: 1 Sandwich (2 pieces bread, lunch meat, cheese + condiments), 1 box raisins, 1 piece of fruit, popcorn
- D: Turkey Burger & Salad
Snacks: Carrot or Celery Sticks. Granola Bar.

Grocery Shop Foods: cereal, milk, fruit, popcorn, turkey for burger, granola bar

Oct. 31st
- B: Egg Sandwich & Yogurt
- L: Sandwich, 1 piece of fruit, apple sauce, celery stick w/peanut butter & raisins.
- D: Turkey Leg, mashed potatoes, veggies.
Snacks: Granola bar.

Grocery Shop Foods: Yogurt, fruit
* Note: I bought the small package of Twix candy bars to give out to trick-or-treaters. I'm not sure how many kids actually will come to my apartment. So I bought a small package. If 7 or less kids come (there were 8 candy bars. I ate one.) they get Twix. If no kids come then I'm not STUCK w/huge amounts of candy. After kid number 7, no more get treats. lol.

Nov. 1st
- B: Yogurt & Fruit. Bread w/jam.
- L: Sandwich, fruit, popcorn, granola bar, carrots.
- D: "Hamburger" Gravy (Cream of Mushroom soup mixed w/ground turkey over left over mashed potatoes.) Veggies on the side.
Snacks: None.

Grocery Shop Foods: Yogurt, fruit, popcorn, granola bar, turkey, cream of mushroom soup.

Nov. 2nd
- B: Soft boiled egg, bread w/jam or cream cheese.
- L: Sandwich, yogurt, popcorn.
- D: Left over "hamburger" gravy over egg noodles.

Grocery Shop Foods: Yogurt, popcorn, "hamburger" gravy left over makings.

Nov. 3rd
- B: Cereal & Milk
- L: Sandwich, yogurt, granola bar, fruit.
- D: French Toast w/strawberries.

Grocery Shop Foods: Cereal, milk, yogurt, granola bar, fruit (not including strawberries).

Nov. 4th
- B: Soft boiled egg, bread w/cream cheese or jam. yogurt if any left.
- L: Sandwich, granola bar, left over fruit or frozen veggies.
- D: Homemade "stir fry": frozen stir fry veggies & noodles with sauce (home made).

Grocery Shop Foods: egg, yogurt, granola bar, fruit.


Ok. Whew! So there you have it. I'm able to use a lot of food from what I have left over from my normal shopping last week, which is nice. There are a couple of things I would change about next time though. I had meant to grab the apples that were 1.00 a lb instead of 1.64 a lb. Didn't realize my mistake until i was typing this up. I also would buy bananas instead of grapes for a fruit, but they were out of bananas tonight. Other than that this really is a typical type of food week for me, except that I tried harder to stay under $25.

A couple of other notes - I included "snacks" on some menu plans in case I get hungry. But I usually only eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Also I don't know how long some foods will last me, like the popcorn. If it lasts me longer in the week, then it'll get used longer. If it doesn't, oh well. I was going to buy popcorn kernels, but I am running low on Olive Oil and want to save it since it is so expensive. The Crunch & Munch popcorn was on sale so I went with it instead. My "splurge" if you would.

P.S. The turkey stuffing is for thanksgiving. That, my last turkey leg that I have in the freezer, and veggies will make up my turkey day meal.


So.. that makes my total spent this month 23.68 plus money for dinner at Bible Study. Bible Study dinner is based on a free will offering, and is something that I just started attending. I'm not willing to give it up for this challenge or to go and say "Sorry. Can't eat here cause I can't afford it due to my self-inflicted grocery budget." So, it is my exception and isn't included completely. I will either add the $2 onto my budget each week if there is enough or will round up the budget to $25.00 if the difference isn't enough. If I spend $25 a week in groceries, then I will just ignore my $2 given to the Bible Study. This is realistic. If I weren't able to pay, they would still let me eat and would let it be free.

So that means my total so far is $25.00 exactly.