Floyd’s $15 weeks on food

[Floyd]

Today I am starting my own challenge: spend no more than $15 a week on food. I must say it is a bit daunting especially because here in Australia meat can be pretty pricey.

Why am I doing this?
1) I really want to pay off my car before Christmas and
2) finally start saving for a house deposit so any little food money I can save will be put towards these two goals.

Where do I start? This week I plan to spend nothing at all on food on account of all the frozen meals I have squirreled away in the last 3 weeks . All leftovers have been put into small plastic containers and frozen.

So what’s in the freezer to be consumed this week?

Veg and bean chili with rice x4
Spaghetti with Hungarian lecso (zucchini and pepper stew) x4
Chicken teriyaki with rice x1
Sauerkraut soup x3
TOTAL: 12 meals

As I am short 2 meals for the week I plan to cook some rice with sesame oil, soy sauce and top that with a poached egg and some steamed vegetables.

I am not fussy what I have for breakfast, most of the time it is a couple of pieces of toast and I already have a loaf of bread in the freezer.

That’s it in a nutshell.

Wish me luck!

Floyd.

Money spent on food this week: $0

[HappyMama]

Your meals sound delicious.Good job planning. You can do it , I am rooting for you.

[Josephhgoins]

14K by Christmas? Sounds like a HUGE goal to me, but I wish you luck.

Can you grow any of your own vegatables? just keep the seeds from some of the veggies that you buy and plant them? You may be able to very cheaply get fresh veggies. Also, you may want to see about some lettuce seeds and things that grow easily and rapidly.

I can't wait to read the updates, I will love to know how this goes.

[hotprincesscm]

Wow good luck! I wish I could feed my family on $15 a week. Snacks and juice boxes alone for school would have me well over that! I am rooting for you too!

[imagine]

Good luck. Is the $15 a week for one person?

[Floyd]

14K by Christmas? Sounds like a HUGE goal to me, but I wish you luck.

Can you grow any of your own vegatables? just keep the seeds from some of the veggies that you buy and plant them? You may be able to very cheaply get fresh veggies. Also, you may want to see about some lettuce seeds and things that grow easily and rapidly.

I can't wait to read the updates, I will love to know how this goes.

Thank you for your good luck wishes!! Yes, I have planted my own veggies. It is spring in Aus at the moment (can't wait for the warmer weather here in the south) so my tomato, eggplant, bean, capsicum and cabbage plants are striving. I only have a small area to plant in and most of that is in pots so it's more of a hobby than a serious self-sustainable living but any little helps, right?

[Floyd]

Wow good luck! I wish I could feed my family on $15 a week. Snacks and juice boxes alone for school would have me well over that! I am rooting for you too!

Good luck. Is the $15 a week for one person?

Yes, it is only for one person. My boyfriend is not nearly as enthusiastic about saving as I am so I reckon he can fend for himself . Also, he is on a pretty specific diet (he works out a lot and needs lots of protein) which would skyrocket my food bills.

Thank you very much for your support!!

[Debbie-cat]

Way to go!! I'll be rooting for you too. Will be interestingto see how you do. Your goal is awesome and I know you can do it.

[Josephhgoins]

Thank you for your good luck wishes!! Yes, I have planted my own veggies. It is spring in Aus at the moment (can't wait for the warmer weather here in the south) so my tomato, eggplant, bean, capsicum and cabbage plants are striving. I only have a small area to plant in and most of that is in pots so it's more of a hobby than a serious self-sustainable living but any little helps, right?

Yes, exactly!

I have had to do the same and a word of advice here, plant things that are entirely etible and prolific. Things like Lettuce, onions, greens and the like. I have never been able to get more than 5 or 6 tomatoes off one plant, and zuccini is about worthless for me (actually didn't get the first zuke off of 3 plants this year.

I did have a good bit of look with poatoes in containers. I used potatoes that I had purchased and not used as seed.

[Palooka]

Wishing you good luck.

[Ceashels]

Wow, $15 dollars a week! I'd have to do beans and rice to do that where I'm at.

Are you able to plan in advance for the following week so you can see what you may need to purchase ahead of time? (things like your bread/milk or other staples that you might run low on?)

During my poor years I would make a pot of ratatouille for days 1-2 then add stock or broth to it and make it into soup for days 3-5. I would add to it mid week if it was getting low on veggies or if I had other left overs that I could add.

Keep us posted on how your doing with your challenge I would really enjoy reading your progress. And I think many here would enjoy your menu and recipe ideas.

[Floyd]

Wow, $15 dollars a week! I'd have to do beans and rice to do that where I'm at.

Are you able to plan in advance for the following week so you can see what you may need to purchase ahead of time? (things like your bread/milk or other staples that you might run low on?)

During my poor years I would make a pot of ratatouille for days 1-2 then add stock or broth to it and make it into soup for days 3-5. I would add to it mid week if it was getting low on veggies or if I had other left overs that I could add.

Keep us posted on how your doing with your challenge I would really enjoy reading your progress. And I think many here would enjoy your menu and recipe ideas.

Thanks Ceashels! I am very big on planning . Even as we speak I am thinking about the most cost-effective meals for the next week.

I really like the idea of cooking a whole chicken and stretching it out for several meals. I have seen a special on 2 chickens for $5.99 which is impossibly cheap where I live. With thorough planning I could stretch that for 2 weeks by making a poached/braised chicken vegetable and rice dish and use leftovers to make chicken mayo sandwiches, chicken pesto pasta, chicken pasta salad and chicken soup. I hope I won't be eating chicken every day of the week .

[frugalfoster]

Yes, please keep us informed on how you're doing because this will be interesting!!

[zakity]

I would make a schedule of the meals so that you don't wind up at the end of the week with all of one thing left since you will have lots of repetition.

And, I can't wait to see how it goes.


As for the chicken, when you start getting sick of it, package it up into meal sized portions and put it in the freezer. Label it and make a list of what you put in the freezer so you don't forget what is in there. Make sure you keep the carcasses and make soup out of it.


Side note: I use painters tape to label things. It stays on in the freezer and comes right off so we can easily reuse the container. And, the blue one sucks because it is harder to read the label. I try to use purple or green painters tape. I did find an orangy yellow one that is way cool, but I have some and can't see buying a new roll.

[Floyd]

I would make a schedule of the meals so that you don't wind up at the end of the week with all of one thing left since you will have lots of repetition.

And, I can't wait to see how it goes.

Thank you zakity, that's definitely sound advice .