*Feed Your Family $10 A Day Challenge*(AT HOME)

[Plantlady]

My kind of thread!

Our grocery budget is $60 per week for a family of five. this week, I had enough groceries in the house, that I only spent $25 to finish out the meals.

Today our menu has been:

Breakfast:
Egg sandwiches
(1 egg, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, 2 slices of bread)

x3 (for the three kids).. .75
Oatmeal for DH .. .50
Nothing for me, I wasn't feeling good this morning.

Lunch:
Mac and cheese
(add butter, milk and sour cream) ... .80
Fruit snacks for one ... .10
cheezits (generic) for three ... .25
Baby carrots ... .20


Dinner:

Rice and Beans

brown rice ... .30
Chili beans ... .33
tomato sauce ... .20
olive oil/seasonings ... .20
cheese to top with .... 1.00

Total:
$4.33

Now, this doesn't account for the fact that my kids drink milk and juice throughout the day. One gallon of each lasts one week. They also have unlimited access to baby carrots, bananas and apples, and if they want a snack, they can help themself to those three things. Again, they're restocked once a week.

We drink water with every meal. We are also vegetarians. That cuts back on food costs.

 

[TNKBELL]

Feeding a large family for $10 a day is certainly doable. We eat well but cheaply at our house. I do massive amounts of stocking up at good sales (ex. Meijer runs a stock up sale twice a year and all thier canned veggies, fruits, spagettios(okay these arent so healthy) and mac n cheese are 25 cents) we buy carts full, stock the cans away and freeze practically everything else from Milk to meat. I buy milk when it is $1.88 a gallon and freeze away. I cook with powdered milk and even make my own cream of "whatever" soup for cooking. My friend makes her own soy milk for 50 cents a gallon and gives me the soy protein leftover from the beans and it serves as an egg substitute for recipes. I havent been grocery shopping since April and we are still alive! I read the "Tightwad Gazette" and it changed my thinking on a lot of things. We dont have much by way of income and I want to be a SAHM so sacrifices are made on little things for the things I really care about to be possible. We also dont have cable Tv and I put my son in cloth diapers. I know the horror, right?!
The best grocery week for me will be free dining in September!

Oh the horror!! I am also fond of the Tightwad Gazette, I even freeze cheese!!!

 

[formernyer]

Oh the horror!! I am also fond of the Tightwad Gazette, I even freeze cheese!!!

Me too! I freeze things that most people would never consider freezing!!! I freeze milk, bread, juice, etc. I even freeze bananas if they are starting to turn brown and we aren't eating them fast enough. I either use the frozen bananas in smoothies or I defrost them and use them for muffins, pancakes, etc.

 

[TNKBELL]

Plantlady....We love egg sandwiches!! Dh found some hamburger buns clearanced out to .50 so we bought 4 packages and popped them in the freezer. So that would be about .24 per sandwich. Great suggestions!! I always say we are partial vegetarians because we don't eat a great deal of meat, but unfortunately we probably don't eat enough veggies!!

 

[Plantlady]

Plantlady....We love egg sandwiches!! Dh found some hamburger buns clearanced out to .50 so we bought 4 packages and popped them in the freezer. So that would be about .24 per sandwich. Great suggestions!! I always say we are partial vegetarians because we don't eat a great deal of meat, but unfortunately we probably don't eat enough veggies!!

Yeah, we need to increase our veggie consumption too. Good thing summer is here, and we'll have some fresh items growing in the garden.

 

[mickeyfan2]

You do a great job. My DH will never give up his carbinated beverages. He mostly drinks seltzer but does like the flavored stuff every now and then. I rarely drink soda. I do like my OJ/fresh squeezed lemonaide mixture every once in a while. When we eat eggs we only eat the whites, so that is 6 eggs for the two of us for breakfast. Now I do get to toast Amish made bread (they make it fresh and give us a loaf about every other week.) that we slice and freeze when we get it. DH is a high fiber cereal guy, which is more expensive too. There is an Aldi's about 20 miles away from us. Maybe we will stop by and see what they have.

Do you have a good crust recipe for your pizza? How about the sauce? We buy the whole wheat pizza crusts Trader Joe's for .99. It makes a great tomato pie. For that I use leftover homemade sauce with some extra sugar a grated cheese (this is very expensive cheese). Being Italian I only like the expensive hard cheeses.

You are an inspiration to me to see where I can cut corners more.

 

[java]

Thankfully my kids are loving pizza- with fresh tomato slices, basil(free from the yard) and cheese. I too buy it on sale and in bulk-and freeze it. (blocks go on sale here very cheap so I just shred it myself- easier to shred when it is frozen) I make a dough out of the Family Fun cookbook- easy and cheap if I get the flour on sale- and I am a bit of a flour snob. But besides that it is easy. We have a well so I usually buy water- but the kids like the little flavor pouches that they sell now- I can get 2 waters flavored out of one pouch-That is a special treat. Usually it is straight water.
Now as a mom of 4(3 boys and 1 girl) I will say that it is getting tougher- My ds(13) Is 5'6" and still growing- he can eat like a horse if I let him. So I stock up on things like popcorn(we have a popcorn pot for the stove) and fruit to fill him up. Summer is a goodsend as the farmer around the corner sells the best Peaches, apples ect. But by far my favorite from him is the eggplant- I can make a million different things with an eggplant. Oh and it is almost zuccini time! He grows heirloom tomatoes that are the "fancy" ones that I make for company- with a little garlic and olive oil! Yummy!
Oh and our budget killer is milk- with the boys I go through about a gallon a day!!YIKES!!thankfully it is skim but still!

 

[Marie17]

$10 a day - I would love to try to get to this goal.

We are a family of 7. I spend approximately $5.00 a day on just milk alone (we go through between 1 1/2 - 2 gallons a day) - so everywhere else I would really need to watch it. Milk here is more popular than any other drink (soda, juice & water). I don't really complain though because they are all growing kids.

Regarding mac & cheese box for 6. It is easily done here but that is also combined with some sort of main entree (chicken usually) and a veggie.

 

[Sorsha]

OK, I am not going to try to estimate costs based on dividing price by number of servings, etc... that makes my head hurt. LOL
But I do know that I feed my family of 5 on less than $100 a week, and we still eat pretty well. It helps that my oldest DD gets hot lunch at school, and the younger 2 DDs are very light eaters... wouldn't matter what I put in front of them, they would still just pick at it. My DH likes to eat, however, and wants a meat-and-potatoes type meal in the evenings. However, he always takes dinner's leftovers to work with him for lunch the next day, so that helps cut on costs too.
For beverages, we drink coffee, DH has sodas and Gatoraides at work, I drink iced tea almost constantly all day (I buy generic tea bags and brew my own) and the kids drink milk, chocolate milk (youngest DD's addiction), iced tea, water, and juice (only at breakfast).
Here's how today has gone so far at our house... I will illustrate with last night's dinner, cause I don't know what I am having yet tonight... it may be a leftovers-in-front-of-the-TV sort of evening... TGIF!!

Breakfast:
DH and I each had a bowl of cereal with milk and a couple of cups of coffee.
I buy generic brands of cereal whenever possible, and stock up when there is a good sale. We make one, sometimes two, pots of coffee during the day, and drink it with a splash of flavored creamer. I know, that stuff is not cheap, but it is MUCH cheaper than buying lattes and mochas in a coffee shop!
The kids each had cereal and milk, a piece of toast, and a glass of orange juice.

Lunch:
Oldest DD ate at school.
DH took last night's leftovers, plus a yogurt (generic) and a can of soda. He *must* have his Mountain Dew, so I buy a case at Costco for $5.99. We figured out that each soda costs 25 cents this way, vs 75 cents from a pop machine. He also takes a single-serve Gatoraide to drink on his break, again purchased by the case from Costco.
Two youngest DDs and I ate a couple of frozen little pizzas that I bought for 99 cents each, and they each had some pretzels (store-brand) and a banana and a glass of milk.

Snacks:
We don't snack too much, but if the kids want something in the afternoon, they can have an apple or a banana, crackers or pretzels, string cheese sticks (3 for $1), or a popscicle.

Dinner:
Yesterday I defrosted a package of round steaks (about $8) and tossed them in the crockpot with a can of cream of mushroom soup and some herbs and spices. I made mashed potatoes from scratch (potatoes are about $3.50 for a 15 lb bag at my stores right now) and used the gravy that the meat made in the crockpot over the meat and the potatoes. We had cauliflower ($1.10 for a frozen bag) along with it. Milk to drink for all. This fed all 5 of us with plenty left over for DH's lunch.

I try to buy organic or local whenever possible (this costs more, but is worth it, IMHO), and I usually avoid "mixes" or "boxed dinners" if at all posible, cause I can't have MSG at all (this makes shopping hard sometimes, you have to read ingredient lists like crazy), so most of our cooking is "from scratch".

Anyhow, I think we do pretty good, but probably not under $10 a day.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I'm not really sure that we could get by on $10 a day, maybe this summer. Right now my kids are in school, so that's $6 per day for lunches except for when they pack, and that still leaves 3 of us home to eat during the day. It does help that the school provides free breakfasts, so my kids usually just have a pop-tart or piece of fruit to settle their stomachs until they get to school for breakfast. I guess when I break it down it would work out to be $700/30 days so about $23 per day when DH is home, or $550/30 so $18 per day right now while he's away.

I didn't realize it would be that much per day, but I'm not surprised. We also have 5 kids like the OP, although my youngest is 3 now and my bill does include toiletries, cleaners, and paper products. I don't know how you do it, though. I have to double everything. For example, last night we had pasta salad. I should've made it from scratch, it was pretty much just pasta with Italian dressing, but I wanted to try the boxed kind to see how it was. So we made two boxes of that with a large can of mandarin oranges on the side (not the normal size can). Plus a cup of milk for each child. When we have pizza, there are two, and when I buy the "value" packs of meat they are usually enough for one meal, maybe two.

This sounds like we eat alot of pre-packed stuff, but we actually don't, that was just an example. I do keep things like that on hand for days when I don't feel like or have time to cook since DH is away. I'm actually pretty happy with my grocery bill. If I have leaner months where I need to cut back I know where I can make those cuts, have more meatless meals, make more treats for the kids from scratch, things like that, but for the most part it's important to me to have the convenience, I don't have that much time to spend in the kitchen and buying like that keeps me from eating out. I read labels and try to buy as healthy as I can (I have just recently, in the past 3 months, started buying more organic items).

 

[tar heel]

There was a time when I could feed my family on less than $10 a day,and I still do sometimes during the school year. Summer, though . . . It's really hard to describe how much three boys, two in college and one on his adolescent growth spurt consume. A half box of cereal, three or four glasses of milk or juice, a couple hamburgers -- those are SERVINGS for these active boys. My middle DS's gf also eats a lot of meals at our house -- she probably wears a 2, but she can put away a lot of food, too.

 

[mommiepoppins]

b fast: 1/2 bagel w jelly and fruit cocktail and milk
L . Pancakes ,Eggs (free my bro has chickens).left over fruitcocktail and apple slices (kids hate the peels) and syrpe. Drink Juice juice
S. Pretzels , aplle slices and water
d. salid with Mozzrella slices. Tomatoe soup, Maderine oranges. Dinner rolls ( bogo at wonder bread store) salid dressing (bogo) and milk
s. Left over maderine oranges ,pple

 

[mommiepoppins]

I also do coupons and shop at Dillons and Homeland when they have good deals. The menu was just an example and the kids and I don't always eat the same things for lunch, it's usually a combination of leftovers and pb&j sandwiches or grilled cheese among other things. My grocery budget of $75 per week does not include diapers or wipes. I almost never buy shampoo,conditioner,styling products,toothpaste,toothbrushes,body wash, lotion, and feminine napkins because of the Walgreens rebate program and when you use coupons in conjuction with it and request the GC instead of a check they are actually paying you to take the stuff. I don't really think we are "light eaters" I think when you figure in all the snacks, we are pretty average. We are not underweight either, we are average. I also love to bake, so at least 2-3 times per week I make cookies or cinnamon rolls or homemade bread or bars of some sort. I know soon though, our budget will increase because we have 4 growing boys!!

I love reading all the creative ideas posted so far!! I am learning soooo much!!!

I alos do not include my cleaning products, shampoo, laundry soap, garbage bags, cat litter ects. That I spend every other month 60$

 

[hollyb]

I can't imagine food shopping only once in awhile. What about fresh fruits and veggies? That alone cost about $50 a week here.

I refuse to feed my children and DH anything but the best. The children need good food for proper growth and DH works hard all day. I would never feed him junk at dinner. We eat healthy and the money we spend is well worth it. Do you realize how unhealthy most of you are eating? Mac and cheese that cost .25 a box, no thank you my kids are worth more then that, generic cereal imagine how it made read the labels.

 

[punkin]

I include my cleaning and paper products in my $100 weekly budget. I don't think I buy enough of them to make a huge difference either way. I guess I don't clean enough.

OK, today I had two extra children for some meals:

breakfast. Cereal for two of them (DD14 and DF15); challah roll with nothing on it and a glass of milk (DN8); soy bacon and waffle (DD8); 2 eggs and fake soy sausage (DH); Cup of yogurt w/ maple syrup (me). All together: $3.50 (soy products are very expensive).

Lunch: I had some leftover beef stew which would not have fed one person. I added a can of chicken stock and rice. I fed two teens, DH, me and DN8 (who actually ate something for a change). DD8 was in school. All together: $3 (maybe less, because we had already had this for dinner once).

Dinner (not ready yet ): Chicken soup made with leftover chicken carcass and veggies. Baked chicken legs with Hoisin Sauce. Salad. I'm not sure if we'll have rice or noodles yet (but pricewise it shouldn't matter). All together: $10 Now wait. I am making 8 leg quarters. There will be enough left over for us to take to Hershey park on Sunday. So lets say $6.

That's $12.50 and I did not count the snacks. I bought some cherries on sale today for $2.00 per lb. They have mostly been eaten. Kids had some milk and chocolate around 4 pm to tide them over 'till dinner, whitch is not until 7. I make sweet tea every day (DD14 loves it) and that is gone. OK, that hardly costs me anything as I use teabags from wallmart (which DDs will not drink hot but iced is OK) for $.99 per 100 count. I use 5 bags per pitcher and add sugar.

This is not a particularly expensive day. I sometimes do better and sometimes DH wants a good steak on the grill.

No way can I feed my family on $10 a day consistently, $15 is doable though, on average.

 

[formernyer]

I refuse to feed my children and DH anything but the best. The children need good food for proper growth and DH works hard all day. I would never feed him junk at dinner. We eat healthy and the money we spend is well worth it. Do you realize how unhealthy most of you are eating? Mac and cheese that cost .25 a box, no thank you my kids are worth more then that, generic cereal imagine how it made read the labels.

Is this a joke or are you for real?

 

[eliza61]

You do a great job. My DH will never give up his carbinated beverages. He mostly drinks seltzer but does like the flavored stuff every now and then. I rarely drink soda. I do like my OJ/fresh squeezed lemonaide mixture every once in a while.
You are an inspiration to me to see where I can cut corners more.

I'm sooo guilty. I'm a coke addict and can't stand the generic stuff. Oh well, it's my vice, along with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Is this a joke or are you for real?

Couple that with her comment about how mean we all were when we asked the OP of this thread about how she was feeding her family so cheap on her vacation thread. Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.

 

[punkin]

I can't imagine food shopping only once in awhile. What about fresh fruits and veggies? That alone cost about $50 a week here.

I refuse to feed my children and DH anything but the best. The children need good food for proper growth and DH works hard all day. I would never feed him junk at dinner. We eat healthy and the money we spend is well worth it. Do you realize how unhealthy most of you are eating? Mac and cheese that cost .25 a box, no thank you my kids are worth more then that, generic cereal imagine how it made read the labels.

I agree with the sentiment. My kids will VERY OCCASIONALLY get Mac and cheese as an afterschool snack. They come home famished and we wait for DH for dinner. It's not hat cheap food is necessarily bad, but Mac and Cheese certainly is. Have you read the box.

Generic cereals are not too bad. I sometimes use them (but I read the ingredients before I buy)

Personally, I think my kids are "worth" far more than I have ever spent on them or will ever spend (including college tuition), but then, I'm a very fond Mama.

 

[hsmamato2]

I can't imagine food shopping only once in awhile. What about fresh fruits and veggies? That alone cost about $50 a week here.

I refuse to feed my children and DH anything but the best. The children need good food for proper growth and DH works hard all day. I would never feed him junk at dinner. We eat healthy and the money we spend is well worth it. Do you realize how unhealthy most of you are eating? Mac and cheese that cost .25 a box, no thank you my kids are worth more then that, generic cereal imagine how it made read the labels.

well,someone mentioned that that comment on the vacation thread was the nicest ever by hollyb