What Would You Buy If You Only Had $20 To Feed Family For A Week?

[HeatherC]

Hi - I saw this posted on another discussion board and it got me thinking. Since a lot of you are doing the $10 a day challenge, I thought I'd throw this out for discussion.

Not sure I could actually do this for our family of 5, but
it got me thinking about it if I really had to do this one week.. This is what I'd probably buy.

Beans - make lots of soups...filling and cheap
Canned Tomatoes - to put in soup
Couple boxes of Pasta
Box of Pancake Mix
Eggs
Canned tuna on sale
Peanut Butter
One type of meat to stretch for a couple meals....ie...ground beef/turkey

What would you buy?

I figure just thinking about it may help me trim some of the "fat" from the grocery budget.

HeatherC

 

[meandtheguys2]

Add rice to the beans and you have a solid protein.

And I'd probably buy a hamhock instead of tuna, and make a pot of bean soup. Several meals there.

A bag of apples, and some brocolli, spinach, green beans or lettuce. No green veggies on the list.

I'd also do oatmeal, rather than pancake mix. More fiber, less expensive.

 

[Tink-aholic]

I'd also do oatmeal, rather than pancake mix. More fiber, less expensive.

OT - But I put oatmeal IN my pancake mix. I use the instant oatmeal (my favorite is apples and cinnamon) and add it to just-add-water instant pancake mix (and add more water). It adds a lot more flavor (so less syrup) and makes them really fluffy. I also figure it adds more fiber, so it can't be bad.

I did this once when I used up the very last little bit of pancake mix and I accidentally added too much water. I had a package of oatmeal lying around and voila! It thickened the pancakes and I have been making them that way ever since.

Also, I never would have thought it, but did you know that instant oatmeal is more nutritious than the old-fashioned stuff?

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I couldn't do it. My two teen boys would die before they would eat soup and tuna. Come to think of it, so would I!!

Lately we have been eating a lot of chicken - which obviously is not easy on the budget. My grocery bill has grown exponentially since school got out.

 

[PoohHappens]

OT - But I put oatmeal IN my pancake mix. I use the instant oatmeal (my favorite is apples and cinnamon) and add it to just-add-water instant pancake mix (and add more water). It adds a lot more flavor (so less syrup) and makes them really fluffy. I also figure it adds more fiber, so it can't be bad.

I did this once when I used up the very last little bit of pancake mix and I accidentally added too much water. I had a package of oatmeal lying around and voila! It thickened the pancakes and I have been making them that way ever since.

Also, I never would have thought it, but did you know that instant oatmeal is more nutritious than the old-fashioned stuff?

I am not wanting to argue, but curoius where you got the info on the nutrition of instant oatmeal???

 

[meandtheguys2]

I couldn't do it. My two teen boys would die before they would eat soup and tuna. Come to think of it, so would I!!

Lately we have been eating a lot of chicken - which obviously is not easy on the budget. My grocery bill has grown exponentially since school got out.

I know. My guys are the same. Bean soup is filling, though, because of the fiber in the beans.

Chicken is so expensive! We've been buying from a young friend of ours, who is raising organic free range broilers. Yikes!

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

Yeah, my family would die as well. I have a VERY TALL hubby who eats more than $20 in a day!!! LMAO!!!!!! Plus, my son who is 5 1/2 is also very tall for his age and eats more than I do in a day!!! LOL

 

[Tink-aholic]

I am not wanting to argue, but curoius where you got the info on the nutrition of instant oatmeal???

I was shocked, too. I am sure it depends on the brand and flavor, though. My local grocery store (Hannaford's) has this program where everything in the store is labelled with a series of stars. Three stars is the best nutrition, no stars means no nutrition. Instant oatmeal has 2 stars where the regular soak-and-boil kind is only 1 star! I nearly fell over when I saw that!

Obviously, the store could be wrong...but the ads go on and on how they have all these nutritionists who consult on the star values all of the time.

 

[meandtheguys2]

I suspect that the instant is higher because of the added ingredients. And that probably doesn't take into account the added sugars, etc.

Instant oats don't have anything left in them alone to be worth feeding to cattle, let alone people. Nothing personal. The advertisers just are devious in their presentation of the facts, sometimes!

 

[Kay1]

Egg drop soup: Drop and egg into a bowl of Ramen noodles and stir. Tuna casserole: Add a can of tuna to a dish of prepared macaroni and cheese.

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

I also agree. My hubby would flip out if I served him Ramen noodles. He is also a very tall muscular guy. So, it's meat, vegetables, and a side dish each night.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Since it is only DH and I, we can eat for $20/day. That is $600/month and that is a little higher than what we spend. We do like tuna, but only the salt free on from Trader Joe's. We eat a wide variety of food. We both love veggies and lagumes. DH loves his meat. We only eat chicken breasts. When we can we get the free range chickes from the Amish family near us. Now we get to eat the Amish veggies and fruits from their stands. Outstanding!!! They white corn had been absolutely delightful.

 

[D&D's Mom]

There actually was an article in our local paper recently about something similar. It's been a few weeks & I may be a bit fuzzy on the details, but it was something about how the legislature was considering a bill to raise the value of food stamp allotments. The current allotment was $20 per week & the congressmen were challenged to shop for a week's food for this amount. Two participated in a local challenge. They were allowed to have a nutritionist and/or chef accompany them to the grocery store to choose items to make meals for a week & provide recipes. Neither were able to buy enough items for less than $20 & it did presume you had some staples like salt already. It was eye opening. Unfortunately, I was distracted with family matters & didn't follow through to see the outcome of the proposed legislation.

 

[LauraR]

There actually was an article in our local paper recently about something similar. It's been a few weeks & I may be a bit fuzzy on the details, but it was something about how the legislature was considering a bill to raise the value of food stamp allotments. The current allotment was $20 per week & the congressmen were challenged to shop for a week's food for this amount. Two participated in a local challenge. They were allowed to have a nutritionist and/or chef accompany them to the grocery store to choose items to make meals for a week & provide recipes. Neither were able to buy enough items for less than $20 & it did presume you had some staples like salt already. It was eye opening. Unfortunately, I was distracted with family matters & didn't follow through to see the outcome of the proposed legislation.

I saw that too, and I thought it was great that some congressmen (and women) were going to see what it was like on the current food stamp allotment. It was so hard for them to afford anything with nutritional value. I really hope they do raise the amount of food stamps people get.

So what would I get?

milk-$2.75 (BJ's)
box of cereal-$1.50 (on sale,with coupon)
lentils-.60
bag of carrots- .79
onion-.50
bag of rice-.60
spaghetti-.50
spaghetti sauce-.99
lettuce-1.50
bunch of bananas-1.14 (BJ's)
bag of pinto beans-.70
tortillas-1.50
sm. can tomato sauce-.25 (for mexican rice)
bag of frozen mixed greens-1.50
box of macaroni-.33 (if on sale)
8 oz. of cheddar cheese- 1.50
loaf of whole wheat bread-1.66 (BJ's again, but I'd have to buy a 2 pack)
can of garbanzo beans-.50
margarine-.50 (on sale)
eggs-1.15

That puts me 46 cents over, and I think I'd run out of food way before the end of the week , the way my kids eat. That really only gives me 4 dinners, too (lentil soup with rice, bean and rice burritos, spaghetti and salad, minestrone soup). I might forgo the eggs to get 11 packs of top ramen to at least fill everyone's stomachs.

 

[KTMEMOMMY]

Laura- we're in the same neighborhood,a nd I shop at BJ's periodically so we may cross paths! I was heartened to see your prices for the bread and milk there- I've tried to do a cross comparison with BJ's and Bloom and Bottom Dollar and Giant but somehow always lose track. I will get ot BJ's more in the future!

 

[powellrj]

I googled the study and found that it was $21 per person, not per family for the week. So a family of 4 would have $84 for the week which while it wouldn't leave room for fun, you could do it with a little planning.

They also assume that families that have small children would also be eligible for WIC and most areas have free/reduced breakfast and lunch offered year round even when school isn't in session for school aged children.

I know my area has lots of help for low income families when it comes to feeding their families. When we first bought our home, there were very few families in our school district on free/reduced lunch, and now I was told we are at over 70% on free/reduced lunch.

Just in my area in addition to food stamps, there are several no questions asked food pantries and our grade school offers free lunch all summer even though school isn't in session.

Like I said, it wouldn't be fun, but with some planning it could be done.

 

[HeatherC]

I saw that article about food stamps too. That combined with what was discussed on another board really got me wondering how people honestly do it. Because they have to I guess.

Can't believe I forgot rice on my list. Probably because I always have tons of it in the house and wouldn't really have to buy it.

It is fun to see how creative people are. I liked the hamhock idea for soup.

Keep the ideas coming!
HeatherC

 

[shortbun]

I'd be baking my own bread and making my own pancakes and pasta with flour that I bought. Yeast. I'd probably go the powdered milk route and get dry beans and rice. A bag of apples. A bag of potatoes. A bag of carrots. Cheap jar of peanut butter if possible. I'm guessing my $20 is spent.

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

And whole chickens are a good value. I actually do pretty good with grocery shopping and planning inexpensive but healthy meals. I always cook from scratch. My kids are nice and healthy and look great. I shop and plan our meals by what is on sale.

 

[disykat]

While I certainly wouldn't want to be in the position to need foodstamps, if my family (2 adults 2 kids) got $84 a week for groceries + WIC + free/reduced breakfast and lunch for the kids during the school year - we might be spending more on food than we spend now. I do enjoy the luxury of being able to splurge on things (like meat or expensive produce) but in general I shop pretty frugally for food.