$20 for Groceries.... What would you buy?

**crabbypatty** · 03-08-2007, 04:30 PM

I don't see any pasta on your list. I'm a big fan of Pasta and even without coupons, Francesco Rinaldi sauce has been on sale all around town for $1 a jar.

**tinapbeana** · 03-08-2007, 04:35 PM

2 dozen eggs ($2)
1 loaf of bread ($1)
big box of oat meal ($1)
2 lbs of hamburer ($4)
as much tomato product (diced, sauce, paste) as possible ($4)
3 onions ($2)
PB and jelly ($3)
sliced cheese ($1)
bag of potatoes ($2)

i think that gets to $20, right?

OK, with this you have:

scrambled eggs topped with cheese
omlettes with cheese, onions, and sliced lunch meat
PB&J sandwiches
regular sandwiches (meat and cheese)
french toast (you can make maple 'syrup' using water, sugar, and maple flavoring... or just try watering down your jelly, also good)
oatmeal for breakfast
mix egg and oatmeal in w/ some of the hamburger for a meatloaf
use some hamburger, onion, and tomatoes for spaghetti sauce
use the above with water spices and canned veggies for soup
mashed potatoes
fried potatoes baked potatoes
potato cakes (made from leftover mashed)
potato soup

price are approximate, and chances are you could squeeze in some extra bits in the list like a bag of frozen peas or a couple of cans of beans (then you can make chili one night, too, using the same stuff as spaghetti sauce)

**Little L** · 03-08-2007, 04:37 PM

I second the pasta suggestion.

Also, you can make egg salad sandwiches or omlettes with the eggs.

Tuna was just on sale where I live for .66/can for Chicken of the Sea brand.

Perhaps chili if it is on sale.

A can of reried beans, cheese, lettuce etc will make burritos. If you have frozen ground beef or chicken you could also put that in the burritos.

Oatmeal and cereal are options for dinner too

Good luck.

**JanH** · 03-08-2007, 05:39 PM

eggs $1
2 loaves bread $2
sliced cheese $1.50
ground turkey $2
Tomato sauce $2
potatoes $2
oatmeal $1
4 cans tuna $2
applesauce $1.50
pasta $1
onions $1
real bacon pieces $2
carrots $1

oatmeal
french toast
scrambled eggs and toast
grilled cheese and applesauce and carrots
turkey spaghetti and carrots
fried potatoes and onions
Baked potato soup
tuna sandwiches or tuna melts with cheese

snacks though would be a problem if you have kids. That's not something I figured in. Good luck!

**Daylily** · 03-08-2007, 06:37 PM

0.60 Tuna
1.30 Eggs
1.00 oatmeal
4.00 ground beef, 2 lbs
0.50 rice
0.70 tomato sauce
0.70 can diced tomatoes
0.70 cream of mushroom soup
0.50 elbow macaroni
2.00 peanut butter
1.00 jelly
1.00 raisins
1.50 milk, � gallon
1.50 shredded cheese
0.50 spaghetti noodles
2.00 bag of potatoes

Breakfast, Lunch:
Eggs and Toast with Jelly, French Toast, Oatmeal, Omelettes, PB&J sandwiches, lunch meat sandwiches

Treats:
Oatmeal cookies with raisins (assuming you have some sugar and flour on hand)
Rice pudding (rice, milk, raisins, sugar, cinnamon)

Dinner:
1. Tuna Casserole (elbow mac + cream of mushroom + tuna)
2. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes (use the oatmeal and a bit of cooked rice to stretch the ground beef)
3. Ramen Noodles and canned veggies that are already on hand
4. Spaghetti
5. Rice casserole. Rice, little bit of ground beef and whatever canned veg is on hand
6. Omelets with cheese
7. Soup with ground beef and potatoes

**getforfree** · 03-08-2007, 08:23 PM

I would buy some milk, fruits and veggies, and maybe eggs, and the rest of food, I would try to use what I have in the house.

Don't you have any flower at home, you can bake the bread and make pancakes and pizza? Just see what you have and try to plan your meals according to that.

If I would be that low on money, I would try to not spend it at all. What if you might have to buy something that you didn't plan, like medication, or run out of something that you absolutly have to have, but your $20 is spent already.

**starving_student** · 03-08-2007, 09:53 PM

I would seriously reconsider having a third child if my financial situation was that bad. Maybe the stay at home thing is not that realistic for you and you should consider getting an extra income (can you babysit children at home?).
Ramen are full of salt and canned vegetable not that great either (I would settle for frozen veggies if I had to settle for anything but the fresh one).
I use to shop for 30$ a week but that was years ago. We rarely go under 60$-80$ these days.

I would be cluless in your situation....

**LuckyRobin** · 03-09-2007, 02:48 AM

3 dozen eggs $3
10 lb bag of potatoes $2
bag of tortillas $1
1 lb of popcorn from the bulk bin for air or stovetop popping for snacks .69
1 yellow onion (not sweet) .33
1 green bell pepper .50
2 lbs ground turkey $1.58
1 can of diced tomatos .89
1 loaf of cheap bread .89
1 head of lettuce 1.39
1 pound ground beef (cheapest) $1.49
1 gallon milk $1.99
2 lbs of bananas $1.18
1 lb wild rice from the bulk bin .69
1/4 pound cheddar cheese from the deli $2
1 can green chiles .35

Total: $19.97

I'm assuming you have staples like spices, salt, pepper, ketchup, mayo, mustard

Meals that could be made:

Meatloaf
Tacos in soft tortillas
Egg, a bit of onion, a bit of tomato, a bit of green pepper burritos
Home fries with potato, a bit of green pepper, a bit of onion
TexMex rice, wild rice mixed with can of diced tomatoes and can of chiles, 1/2 pound of turkey
Egg salad, boiled eggs, fried egg sandwiches, deviled eggs, omlets
Quiche with a wild rice crust

I'm sure you can think up other combinations.

**LuxLiving** · 03-09-2007, 04:08 AM

Not a specific answer but some
places to start looking at your options:

Hillbilly Housewife

Frugal meal planning - Menus4Moms.com

and don't forget our own resources here on the site in the grocery budget and articles sections:

Saving Advice Forums

http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/grocery-budget/5771-30-week.html

and I had just posted a link in my blog about a guy who lived on grocery money of $30 for a MONTH. Check it out as there may be some inspiration to be found there as well.

Lux Living Frugalis - Money's Tight and You Need to Eat??

Think about buying oatmeal, rice, dry beans, pasta, potatoes, popcorn - all filling, all inexpensive. I created an inexpensive dish my boys LOVE. And it's soooo inspirationally titled as "Cheap Pasta". The recipe is:

1 small package pasta cooked. Drain. While it's draining go back to the original pot and throw in some butter/margarine, add a small amount of diced onion (to taste) let it cook til onions are transparent which only takes a minute or two, then put in a bit of diced garlic and let it warm up a bit & then put in a bit of chopped up tomato. Add back the drained pasta. Throw some season salt or regular salt on top, maybe a dash of dried parsley or oregano or basil or some type of italian seasonings. Stir. Serve. YUMMERS. Simple, quick, easy and inexpensive.

"Homemade Flour Tortillas"
1/2 c. lukewarm water
1/4 c. oil
1 t. salt
2 c. bread flour

Put in order in the bread machine and hit dough cycle. Let knead really well until it is a nice ball. Take out and cover with a bowl to let rest for at least 20 minutes. Repeat process if you would like more tortillas. (I usually make a couple of doughs.) When you are ready to roll out, cut each ball of dough into 8 balls. Roll out each ball into a round circle. Cook immediately over a hot, dry skillet (I prefer black iron for this), or put in between wax paper to cook one at a time later on. Keep well covered so they won't dry out. You cook each one about 1 minute on each side until they are lightly brown. They are delicious hot with some butter!

Don't forget rice can be made savory or SWEET. We like it here for breakfast w/a bit of butter, sugar & a dash of milk poured over it makes a nice cereal.

I'd take my $20 to Save-A-Lot to spend. I'd also take my calculator with me and allow some bit for taxes (bummer!) Somewhere here I've got a $20ish menu that I'm going to try and dig out for you.

Oh and the poster who made the comments about children? That seems a bit harsh on the editorializing TO ME. We don't know the entire situation to have room to comment on someone's capacity to parent! Perhaps she's trying to make the $20 stretch in this area so she can pay off debts elsewhere to free up MORE room in the family budget for children! We simply don't have enough info to make sweeping statements about whether or not someone should bring a child into the world.

Look for cookbook: More With Less - I think that's the title at your local library. An older classic. Somebody help me out I think the author's name is Dorothy Longacre?

AND, LAST BUT NOT LEAST - do not be ashamed to locate a church food pantry or other community food resource and use it!!

**AuntArt** · 03-09-2007, 04:27 AM

Ok the comment from the person saying you should think about having another child is not necessary. I don't think this is the place for such judgement.

There have been some wonderful suggestions and I just wanted to point out that buying beans in the bags uncooked is a great place to save money and you don't have to buy expensive meat. Beans are full of protein. And being a SAHM having the beans cook in a large pot on the stove won't cramp your life entirely.
Also powdered milk. If you buy a box of powdered milk and mix it with a half gallon of whole milk you have 2%. Also using powdered milk in recipes is cheaper than using milk in the jug/carton.

Wish you luck let us know how it turns out for you.
Gretchen

**starving_student** · 03-09-2007, 08:07 AM

Originally posted by AuntArt View Post

Ok the comment from the person saying you should think about having another child is not necessary. I don't think this is the place for such judgement.

There have been some wonderful suggestions and I just wanted to point out that buying beans in the bags uncooked is a great place to save money and you don't have to buy expensive meat. Beans are full of protein. And being a SAHM having the beans cook in a large pot on the stove won't cramp your life entirely.
Also powdered milk. If you buy a box of powdered milk and mix it with a half gallon of whole milk you have 2%. Also using powdered milk in recipes is cheaper than using milk in the jug/carton.

Wish you luck let us know how it turns out for you.
Gretchen

Please note that I did not emit judgment. If you read my post well I said "If I was in such situation I would...." I did not comment on what she should do or not (beside saying that she should get extra income...
ss

**Ima saver** · 03-09-2007, 08:25 AM

Boy you guys have a lot of good suggestions. I would probably just about live on spagetti for the whole week. My husband loves spagetti mixed with scrambled eggs for breakfast. I tried it, and I like it too. (noodles work too)

**shelbylovesmelby** · 03-09-2007, 09:00 AM

Originally posted by AuntArt View Post

Ok the comment from the person saying you should think about having another child is not necessary. I don't think this is the place for such judgement.

Wish you luck let us know how it turns out for you.
Gretchen

TY for the back up Gretchen! & everyone else for the suggestions and amazing links

As this forum isn't about family planning & I'll leave it @ that!

Yes I do have other things in the house but I was looking for suggestions on what others survive on during "hard times". Someone on another forum had also brought the topic up as well.

Our tax refund came in today so we are A-OK!

& I got to spend my usual budgeted amount

**PetMom** · 03-09-2007, 09:15 AM

lots of great advice here. When I cut way back on food I make sure my only snack food is popcorn. I even save a bit of the packet from Mac &
Cheese and sprinkle this on my popcorn (air or pan popped - I don't buy the microwave popcorn). Amazing how filling this can be and most
kids/people like popcorn. Takes the place of the expensive corn chips,
Doritos, pretzels and is a whole grain too.

I also kept a box of powdered milk. This will not spoil and can be used
for cooking purposes if your kids won't drink it. I always use powdered
for any omelets, waffles, pancakes and save the regular milk for
drinking only.

And beans, will your kids even eat these? My husband is a finicky eater
who would not eat any beans but that did not mean I could not eat them.

The fruit/veggie list should not be neglected and the mainstays of carrots,
bananas, cheaper apples (check for quality and firmness) and perhaps
a generic orange juice can be good. In cooking onions are cheap and easily put or needed in a lot of recipes, as can generic canned tomato
products (think pasta dishes and pizza - inexpensive and healty Italian
food).

I also supplemented with my own sprouting. I use the jar method and
find that really is something I can control. I get a healthy fresh produce
that is not determined by weather conditions. All I need is a jar and
water to rinse. But some may not like this, best to try this when not on a strict
budgeting week.

If you do any baking I would get some yeast. I learned to make some
great bread with white flour, some whole wheat flour and lots of oats.
Even the most finicky eater (my husband) loves this and it somehow
seems special; the smell and taste of fresh homemade bread. Even
paying for the three part yeast packets I found was more economical
then purchasing the more expensive whole grain loaves.

$20 for Groceries.... What would you buy?