Discussion Board

Lately my grocery bills have been getting out of control. I can easily spend $100 a week of groceries, especially if I go to a health food store or Whole Foods. I've been rereading some of Dr. McDougall's and Jeff's posts on eating for $3.00 a day, and have decided to challenge myself.

The rules are simple:
1. I will spend no more than $21.00 a week on groceries.
2. The sum of the cost of all meals for the day should equal $3.00. The meals don't have to come from this week's groceries - I have a good stock of dry goods like brown rice and quinoa, but the cost of the meals will still have to average $3.00 a day.

Today's menu:
Breakfast:
Old Fashioned Oats (1/2 Cup dry) = $0.07
Ground Flaxseed = free (gift from co-worker)
Banana = $0.19
Green Tea = $0.05
Stevia = $0.09
Total = $0.40
Lunch:
Homemade Vegetarian Chili (2 cups) = $0.65
Large Sweet Potato = $0.34
Gala Apple = $0.30
Baby Carrots = $0.28
Total = $1.57
Dinner:
Brown Rice (1/2 cup dry = 1 cup cooked) = $0.15
California Veggies (8 oz) = $0.50
Steamed Cabbage (1/4 head) = $0.35
Total = $1.00
Snack:
Air-popped Popcorn (3 TBS) = $0.12
Grand Total: $3.09

Prices are based on store-bought items from Aldi's and Wal-Mart. Prices should go down as I begin to replace stock items with bulk food store purchases.

I'll do a calorie count and nutrition breakdown later today when I can get onto the CRONometer.

Kate

I love this idea! I have noticed our grocery bills going up too - mostly because of Whole Foods purchases - and I am not sure I can get as low as $3 a day, but I am going to look into this and see if I can do $5 a day.

Good Luck!

Nicole

Is anyone near a 99 cent store?

You can find canned beans and tomatoes as well as spices in the dry section. The one by me also sells frozen and fresh food so I can get fruits and vegetables from them depending on the season. A pound of mixed frozen veg for the snap meals for a buck. They have dry brown rice, beans, various legumes all for a dollar a pound. I found flax seed there. They even have organic spinach and salad mixes. It's just the kind of place that doesn't always have the same thing for sale. One time you may find a favorite and then the next time you go, they don't have it.

The apples and sweet potatoes come from Aldis. They sell a bag of sweet potatoes for $1.69 that contains 5-6 large sweets. The apples were $3.29 for a bag of medium sized apples. There were 11 apples in the bag. The produce isn't organic, but the price is right. A huge 40 oz. carton of old fashion oats was only $1.99. Canned beans and tomatoes are $0.55 and canned vegetables are $0.39.

This is what I got for my $21 yesterday:
a bag of gala apples: $3.29
a carton of grape tomatoes:$2.39
a bunch of 8 bananas: $1.54
a six pack of raisins: $1.29
a bag of baby carrots: $1.39
a jar of minced garlic: $1.99
a bag of flat leaf baby spinach: $1.49
a large head of cabbage: $1.39
2 cans of diced tomatoes: $1.10
a can of chili beans: $0.55
a can of black beans: $0.55
a can of kidney beans: $0.55
a can of tomato paste: $0.39
a can of fat-free refried beans: $0.69
a box of old fashioned oats: $1.99
an avocado $1.25
Total: $21.84

Next week I'll need to get more sweet potatoes, salsa and some onions.

Kate

I love this project Katydid.

Yes, I've been looking for can's of beans to buy when they are as close to .79 cents as possible. Too bad the cronOmeter doesn't have room for price per serving. Maybe you can put that in the notes, but I'm not sure. I wish I'd been a coupon clipper. I find a lot of less expensive vegetables at Asian stores. I don't have a walmart very close.

This is interesting. I hope you are planning to still post calorie count. I look forward to watching this.

Kris

I think this is a great idea! A goal of mine has been to just use what I have already bought before I buy more. This will cut down on waste and free up cabinet and fridge space.

I have to say, your grocery prices seem much less than mine!

I plugged everything into the MyFitnessPal app on my iPod Touch. I like it a bit better than the CRONometer simply because it has a MUCH bigger database of food. Even the McDougall soup cups are in the database. Anyway, the number for today were:

Total calories: 1256. This isn't too bad right now, as I'm trying to lose 10 pounds of 'winter weight' but in the long run, I'd need to find a way to increase my calorie count by another 200-300 calories without increasing costs. As some have mentioned, I'd get a better price for the beans at the bulk food store - I just didn't have the time to shop there this week. Also the amount of sodium in canned beans is crazy high and that would certainly come down with dried beans. Luckily, my blood pressure runs really low so sodium doesn't effect me much. However, I have some dried navy beans in the cupboard and some yukon gold potatoes that I really need to use up, so I'll probably be making a nice low-sodium navy bean soup this weekend. Time to drag out the crock-pot

Fat 9 grams (6% of calories)
Carbohydrate 255 grams (81% of calories)
Protein 45 grams (14% of calories)
Fiber 53 grams
Sodium 2151 (damn canned beans!)
Vitamins A, C, potassium, iron all exceed 100% of RDA, calcium is low at 38% of RDA. Next week I'll need to find some cheap frozen greens.

Kate

thanks for posting this...so interesting!

Kate,

How do you figure calories for soup. Do you add up the whole recipe and then divide it into portions? I'm trying to lose 5-10 last pounds and that is my downfall. Sometimes I'm not sure how many calories to count for a recipe like this. I do better losing weight if I track my calories.

Kris

The cost of the chili is based on the cost of all of the ingredients (canned beans, canned tomatoes, canned fat-free refried beans, frozen onion and pepper mix) divided by 6. The calories are the same. In MyFitnessPal you can create your own recipe by adding foods from the database and then tell it how many servings the recipe makes.

Todays Menu
Breakfast:
Old-fashion Oats = $0.07
Small box of raisins = $0.21
Green tea = $0.05
Stevia = $0.09
Ground flaxseed = free
Total for breakfast = $0.42 339 calories
Lunch:
Chili = $0.65
Corn tortilla = $0.25 (this was a Ezekiel sprouted tortilla - regular would be cheaper, but I had these in the freezer)
Baby carrots = $0.25
Small gala apple = $0.30
Total for Lunch = $1.48 497 calories
Dinner:
Spinach (2 cups) = $0.37
Grape Tomatoes (5) = $0.19
Avocado (1/4) = $0.31
Balsamic Vinegar (1 TBS) = $0.03
Yukon Gold potato (med.) = $0.15
Green beans = $0.17
Total for Dinner = $1.22 245 calories
Snack:
Air-popped popcorn (3 TBS before popping) = $0.12 120 calories

Total for day $3.24 1201 calories 12.5% fat, 75% carbs, 12.5% protein.

I know I can bring down the cost of the tortillas. The Ezekiel ones are $2.99 for 24.

Kate

Day 3. Getting a better feel for this. I doubled the amount of oatmeal at breakfast and ate half as a snack. Calories up above 1300 which is a better level for me.

Breakfast
Old fashioned oats (1cup dry) = $0.14. 300 cal.
Flaxseed (1Tbs) = free. 60 cal.
banana = $0.19 110 cal.
Tea = $0.05
stevia = $0.09
breakfast total = $0.47 470 cal.

Lunch
Chili = $0.65. 305 cal.
Apple = $0.30. 90 cal.
Baby carrots = $0.28 42 cal.
med potato = $0.15 110 cal.
Lunch total = $1.38 547 cal.

Dinner
Brown rice = $0.15 170 cal.
turnip greens (1/2 package) = $0.50 50 cal.
Mixed vegetables (1/2 package) = $0.50 120 cal.
Dinner total = $1.15 340 cal.

Snack
Oatmeal leftover from breakfast = free
Total for day = $3.00 1357 cal.

Fell and broke my wrist today when I was out walking at lunch. Makes it hard to type. Excuse any typos.

Kate

Thanks Deb. Today's food is going to be limited to what I can make with just my left hand. Lots of leftovers in fridge, thank goodness. Menu for today:


Breakfast
Skinnies and Fruit cereal = $0.35 70 cal.
Vanilla rice milk = $0.25 40 cal.
Breakfast total = $0.60 110 cal.

Lunch
Brown rice = $0.15 170 cal.
turnip greens (1/2 package) = $0.50 50 cal.
Mixed vegetables (1/2 package) = $0.50 120 cal.
Lunch total = $1.15 340 cal.

Dinner
Chili = $0.65. 305 cal.
Spinach = $0.37 14 cal.
Cherry tomatoes = $0.19. 10 cal.
Corn tortilla baked into chips = $0.25 60 cal.
Dinner total = $1.46 389 cal.

Snack
Apple = $0.30 90 cal.

Total for day = $3.51 929 cal.

Rather light on the calories, but since most of today is being spent in bed knocked out by Tylanol 3, I don't need that many calories.

BTW: I'm writing this post on my iPad. It's alot easier to type one handed and post with a touch screen than try to mouse left handed

Kate

Made a pot of navy bean and potato soup today with some navy bean I bought a few weeks ago at the bulk food store. The coat was less than half of what it cost me to make chili with canned beans. As a result, my cost for food was actually below $3 for the first time. Today's menu:

Breakfast
Old-fashioned oats (1 cup dry) = $0.14 300 cal.
Banana = $0.19 110 cal.
Tea = $0.05 0 cal.
Stevia = $0.09 0 cal.
Breakfast total = $0.47 410cal.

Lunch
Navy bean and potato soup:
Navy beans (6 cups dry) = $1.69 2160 cal
1/2 bag of mirepoix mix = $0.50 40 cal.
4 medium Yukon gold potatoes = $0.60 440 cal.
Garlic powder, black pepper = $0.05 0 cal.
Makes 12 servings (2 cups each) = $0.24 220 cal.
Apple = $0.30 90 cal.
Lunch total = $0.54 310 cal.

Dinner
Brown rice (1/2 cup dry) = $0.15 170 cal.
Stir-fry veggies = $0.75 100 cal.
1/4 head of cabbage = $0.35 55 cal.
Dinner total = $1.25 325 cal.

Snack
Air-popped popcorn = 0.12 120 cal.

Total for day = $2.38 1,165 cal.

Kate

this is a terrific idea!

I also sometimes use ONLY foods that I have at home, no grocery shopping for one pay period. This way of eating, I consider "free"...it does empty out my fridge and cupboards, but we've never gone through all of the food in the house.

dried beans are the VERY cheapest, and I just made a big pot of garbanzos from a bag of dry that I had on hand. If you have a costco membership, you can get S&W canned beans and tomatoes for less than .50c a can, bought in cases of eight.

Discount grocery stores are a source of cheap produce/bagged salads/fresh spinach/etc. In my area, the costco canned goods are still cheaper than the discount grocer.

It would be interesting to figure my daily costs. I wonder if I eat under $3.00 a day...hm...