Apr 05

How to: Survive on $20 a week

Okay, so I haven’t updated this in a while. I’ve also been quite bad about not going over my $20 limit. But for all of you out there who care(about three people I believe), I will post a detailed expense report at some point in the future. Today, I will talk about the basic ideas about how you can survive on $20 a week.

First off, I think in terms of one week at a time. Since I am the only person who eats what I buy, it’s very easy to buy a lot of food to feed myself for a week. For example, one week I got a pound of ground beef, sour cream, cheese, shredded lettuce and taco shells to have a taco-themed week. Those supplies lasted the entire week for me, so that way I didn’t have to go out and buy anything new.

Second, grain products. Now, a co-worker of mine has some research that says that wheat is not particularly good for you – he only eats fruits, vegetables, and meat from cows not treated with some chemical that I don’t know the name of. I can’t vouch for any of this because I haven’t read the research, but unfortunately a diet like this is going to be rather expensive. Grain products are much cheaper, and that is how you can keep costs down. I keep a supply of spaghetti and macaroni and cheese handy. I buy a 12-pack of macaroni and cheese so that I will have enough to keep me for a while. Each box of spaghetti has probably about five meals for me, and at $0.79 a box it’s insanely cheep.

Third, buy in bulk when possible. A 12-pack of macaroni and cheese will last you a significant time if you don’t eat much. I don’t buy many perishable items in bulk, because I would never eat them before they went bad. However, I do buy frozen items in bulk, because they will of course keep a long time.

Fourth, buy canned fruits and vegetables. Again, it’s more expensive to get fresh, but I don’t mind the canned fruits. Personally, I can’t stand canned vegetables(I get frozen ones), but canned pears and pineapples are very cheep.

Fifth, DON’T BUY LUNCH! Bring your own. I like to bring a peanut butter sandwich, a small pack of fruit(individual serving size, I have not been able to find a good container that does not leak. It’s more expensive than buying in a tin can, but it doesn’t leak), and some animal crackers. Total cost of this lunch: probably about $2.00. Total cost of a cheap lunch: $5.00. Total cost of a lunch that you would probably get: $8.00. Let’s do the math here:

$2.00 x 5 days a week = $10
$5.00 x 5 days a week = $25
$8.00 x 5 days a week = $40

Yes, it really is that cheap to bring your lunch. It saves a lot of money.

Mar 06

How to: Survive on $20 a week

Today marks the start of a new series on here, how to survive on $20 a week for food. In this, I am going to attempt to survive solely on $20 a week for food. A few things before we get started though:
[list]
[*]I may go over the spending limit some weeks – this is because I, like everybody else, can be lazy and sometimes you just have to go out because of time or whatever. So, this is more of a general guide – I will try to not go out to eat whenever possible.
[*]Each week, I get $20 more to spend on food. Unused balance from the previous weeks roll over.
[*]The first week, I get $40.
[*]This $20 is solely for food – not for other supplies like soap, rent, etc.
[/list]

Anyway, on to the food!

I went to the store earlier today, and got the following items:
[table]
[tr][th]Item[/th][th]Price[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Bread(small loaf)[/td][td]$0.59[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Cheddar cheese(16 oz)[/td][td]$3.99[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mozzarella cheese(16 oz)[/td][td]$3.99[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Butter[/td][td]$2.49[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Milk(1 gal)[/td][td]$1.89[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Peas(40 oz, frozen)[/td][td]$2.29[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Instant mashed potatoes(13.75 oz)[/td][td]$1.69[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Cheddar cheese(16 oz)[/td][td]$3.99[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Chicken nuggets(26.5 oz, frozen)[/td][td]$3.99[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pears(in individual bowls, 16 total)[/td][td]$6.00[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Peanut butter[/td][td]$1.29[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Apple Juice(64 oz), 2[/td][td]$3.98[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Grapes[/td][td]$2.77[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Animal Crackers(3lb)[/td][td]$4.69[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pizza dough[/td][td]$2.29[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]<b>Total:</b>[/td][td]$41.94[/td][/tr]
[/table]

Alright, so I went a little over. The good news though is that some of these are one-off purchases that won’t have to be made for a while. For example, the mashed potatoes I expect to last 4-5 months, which given that I’m only back at school for 3 could prove to be somewhat problematic. As well, the pear bowls that I got should last for about three weeks, as should the peas. The grapes I got because I felt like having some grapes. The cheese is for the pizza dough, I am going to make some tonight. I won’t be using up all of the cheese, but I plan to make tacos next week so I can use the cheese for that.

That’s a start. I’ll post more once I eat some more, and we’ll see where we are at!