Money spent on food....$50/Month goal

[tgavin71]

One last thing I didn't mention in my above post. We eat very simply. We'd rather have a boring cheap meal at home if it means that we can put money aside for eating out, hols etc. Our entertainment budget is actually bigger than our grocery one. I eat out for lunch twice a month and have coffee twice a month as well. Every second Friday we either eat out as a family or get take out. All of these comes out of our entertainment budget not our food budget.

[getforfree]

I found a link on the Food and recepies forum here.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/index.htm

It tells you how you can feed whole family of 4-6 people on$45/week and has tons of low-cost recepies.

[lrjohnson]

Boe's original post introducing this thread referred to the hillbilly housewife site with a link. It's one of (but not the only) original motivators for the $50 a month challenge, right Boe?

[getforfree]

Sorry, I forgot that it's posted in this thread too. I just recently went to the Food and Recepies forum and someone posted it there too.

I should have checked that. Sorry.

[boefixepa]

Yep, it's a good place to start, and let's you know it can be done. I cooked this weekend and 'invented' taco pies and lasanga muffins. I had most everything at home. All I had to buy was ricata chees and lasanga noodles. I made three servings of the taco pies and 6 servings of the lasagana muffins. I made a reduced butter verson of the Hill Billy garlic buttery bread sticks, but wasn't impressed. I have a better bread stick recipe, but hers is quicker. I divided and froze and then put my best guess at the recipies into MasterCook. The portions worked out to between 300-400 calories per servings on the main course and 300 for two bread sticks, so they will work well for meals, and I'll toss in a banana or orange.

It's nearing the end of my first month and I more than suceeded. Granted I used alot of stuff I already had, so I am by no means 'there' yet. As the months go buy I'll do a better job of getting things down, but so far so good.

Another good web site is this...
http://snider.mardox.com/single.html
Again recommened to me by someone at this site. It has many great recipes for families too, just go to the main page.

[Homebody]

DH puts $150.00 a week into the grocery checking account. But he probably averages around $100.00 a week. That is for three people. Dh eats lunch out every day and YD does a lot too. I, however, eat leftovers for lunch since I am home. Dh has a food allowance at work and YD buys her own lunch.

We eat meat every night. We don't eat canned vegetables except tomatoes in dishes and some canned beans, but I cook dried too. It just depends on the situation. Same with spaghetti sauce, we use jar sauce, but also make our own.

I don't consider bread a convenience food, plus we eat very little. I love homemade bread, homemade pizza, etc, but I have always been a working mom and time was always at a premium.

You would probably consider us "Foodies". We watch food network, try new recipes, I guess it would be considered DH's hobby. We get a kick out of using every last bit of food.

Last week we had barbecued Tri-Trip, had it again the next night, then chopped up the rest and made chili. I used the last of the roasted bell peppers DH had roasted along with carne asada earlier in the week. So that is how I save money (or try to) by using up everything!

[Skooby]

I don't think I could do $50 a month. I eat out too much, that's killing me(finanncially and health wise lol). I eat too much regardless of whether it's going out or cooking.

[zetta]

I checked out the Hillbilly menus for $45 and $70 to feed a family of 4 for a week. My one concern is that her meal plan is not reaching 5 servings of fruit/veggies on most days (even counting the OJ.) There's a lot of breads -- garlic bread, muffins, french toast, pancakes, etc. I do give her credit for using lots of beans for protein.

Anyone have tips for eating frugally but still eating lots of fruit and veggies?

[SnoopyCool]

Originally Posted by zetta

Anyone have tips for eating frugally but still eating lots of fruit and veggies?

If you can grow any fruit or veggies, that will help. Our farmer's market is cheaper, too. For instance, a flat of strawberries is $8 which works out to about $0.67 per pound. You can freeze them to have later. HTH

[Skooby]

So what do you guys think is a realistic amount for a single male...?