October112009
Day 1 - A Change of Pace
Tami over at Running With Tweezers has organized Round 2 of Eat On $30 - a challenge to live on $30 a week, which is slightly more than the average of what Americans receiving assistance are given for food weekly.
Check out Tami’s post, here’s an excerpt:
I did it for a variety of reasons. The first being…times are tough for a lot of folks these days. Living on a budget is a way of life for many, many folks. Secondly, hunger issues are the cause I most believe in. I’ve chosen to do the $30 challenge again to draw attention to the food and hunger issues that many struggle with, particularly in our current times of layoffs and foreclosures. The facts speak for themselves:
- At some point during the year, 1 in 5 Americans receives food assistance from 1 or more of the 15 programs providing help.
- In 2009, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will help feed 31 million people per month. The average monthly benefit? $101.
- Between March 2007 and March 2008, the global price of food rose 43%. 1 billion people - 1/6th of the world’s population - live on $1 per day.
I decided to participate. My timing is pretty bad though. It was my birthday yesterday, and I had quite a feast. Yesterday I ate: a vegetable pie from the Australian Bakery in East Atlanta, some fries from Five Guys, and a fantastic meal of veggie loaf, asparagus, and cake for dessert at Cafe Sunflower. Then lots of beer. And more cake. And some late night Chinese food.
A bit of a change of food pace today. I ventured out to Kroger and started studying per ounce prices. Wow, what an experience. I decided to go really cheap for the first few days to make sure I don’t go over - beans and rice, peanut butter and bread, spaghetti, marinara sauce, and coffee. I realized that when I usually shop, I do check the per unit price, but I never get the cheapest. I’ll get the second or third cheapest, because of the packaging. But the cheapest items are significantly cheaper than the next few.
- spaghetti (1 lb) - $0.76
- black beans (1 lb) - $0.97
- long grain rice (2 lb) - $1.34
- peanut butter (1 lb) - $1.29
- pasta sauce (1 lb)- $1.09
- ground coffee (11.5 oz) - $1.89
- bananas (3 medium) - $0.59
- wheat bread (1 loaf) - $0.78
- total with tax - $9.06
I bought all Kroger Value brand items…I didn’t even realize there was a Value brand before. The packaging reminds me of all the grocery items in Lost. Not appealing to me at all. But the prices were right.
Today I’ve eaten two peanut butter sandwiches and some spaghetti with sauce. And lots of water.
I’m feeling great so far, but I think that has a lot to do with my decadence day yesterday, and needing a bit of a digestive break. Good luck to the rest of the Eat On $30 folks! You can find us on Twitter using the #eaton30 hashtag.
