Hunger Challenge – Preparation
First of all, I want to thank everyone who offered some really helpful suggestions for living on a $7 a day budget. In case you are wondering what this is all about, I am doing the Hunger Challenge this week (04/20-04/24) as part of the Hunger Action Week organized by United Way. The challenge is to live off $7 a day ($12 for two) for the whole week. For complete details, please check my previous post.
I got some great ideas from your comments, but when it came down to the actual shopping part, I was not all prepared for how hard it was. Instead of creating a strict menu plan before shopping, I decided to go and find the best deals and buy stuff on sale, and then adjust the menu accordingly. My rough meal plan is
- Cereal + milk + fruits for breakfast Monday, Wednesday and Friday when I have morning meetings. Vegetable omelettes and bread on Tuesday and Thursday when I’ll have time to make breakfast in the morning.
- Sandwiches or left overs for lunch
- Pasta, wraps and rice bowls for dinner
As suggested by many in the previous post, I found an Asian food market which had some amazingly low prices. Unfortunately, their produce was not that great looking. I got some great deals on green onions, lime, onions, garlic and some Japanese eggplants. I also got some pork belly (a really cheap cut of pork, but it just happens to be my favorite), ground chicken and chicken thighs from there. I picked up a can of light coconut milk and some soy sauce. The total tally was $15 from this store. For the rest of the shopping I decided to check out Safeway, as I know they always have things on sale. Whole wheat pasta was on sale for $1 a lb. Avocados for 99 cents each. Lean ground sirloin was half price off, so I picked up a lb of that too. I spent so much time in these two stores trying to find the bargains, making sure I stay within the budget. I was too tired to go to yet another store. So I picked up some more produce from Safeway which were not on sale but I really needed – Green leaf lettuce and tomatoes for the sandwiches and mushrooms and spinach for veggie omelettes. I also bought Kale since it was in season, although it was $1.99 a bunch. After adding milk, eggs, bread, cereal, tomato paste, whole wheat tortillas, mustard, mayonnaise and garbanzo beans, my bill at Safeway came to $46.
So, I’ve already spent $61 – that is $1 more than my allowed budget. I didn’t buy any oil or spices or rice either. One of the rules for the challenge is to not use anything we already own. I couldn’t find any small bottle of oil in any of the places I went to, so I’d have had to buy a bigger bottle and just calculate the prize for the amount I use these 5 days. I can do the same with the oil I already own. So, that’s what I am going to do. Calculate the prize for the spices and oil and rice separately and add to the total tally. Even though I spent more than the budgeted amount, I am pretty sure that I will have some left overs from what I bought for that $61, so I think I might come under budget. I know I am bending the rules a bit, but believe me it is hard to stick to the rules completely!
Here is all the stuff I’ve got, except for the meat. Is it enough for 15 meals for two people? I hope so! 
The main “luxuries” I had to cut from my normal shopping list were cheese, seafood and organic produce. Only organic item I bought even though there was a cheaper alternate available was milk. Even with all that, I am cutting it really close! Even though I might be able to do this challenge successfully this week, the people who actually are forced to stick to a budget like this probably won’t have all the resources available to me, mainly time. Time to think about the menu, do the research, find the cheapest store, drive to multiple stores etc. My heart goes out to all those who don’t have enough to eat, who are forced to choose between paying their bills and buying groceries. See how you can make a difference by checking out the United Way web site.
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All the best Sig!
That sounds tough to go shopping on that kinda budget, but looks like a lot of food for a week for the 2 you.Good Luck to yoU!
Good luck
I am sure you can manage with all that.
U go girl…atleast you had the enthu(siasm) to give it a shot.
Sig, u hv already made a lovely start! Wishing u a successful project-Hunger Challenge.
I read your previous post and I am a little confused. The disadvantaged cannot afford organic produce or organic packaged food. A packet of dried chickpeas would have been cheaper and gone longer than those 2 cans of cooked garbanzo beans. Did you consider lentils, dals or beans (moth, moong, etc)? Most of the packaged stuff you bought *are* luxuries.
All the best Sig..:)
Amazing effort you have put in Sig – Good luck, I’m sure all that thought will pay off.
Hi Manisha, there are many ways to do this challenge. I wanted to stick more or less to our regular meal plan, within the budget constraints of the challenge. Convenience is a big factor for me, given my schedule. Yes, dried beans are cheaper, but I need the convenience of pre-cooked beans.
Of course, I could’ve done this easily with rice and daal and a subji on the side, but what I really want to to contribute to this challenge is some fun and innovative recipes for people on a budget. Offer some variety, which I will be able to do with the stuff I bought, and well within the allotted amount.
great job, so far!! and i soo agree with it. It really was difficult to stick to the budget. All the best!!
Adding my two cent to your clarification to Manisha’s comment : I did check the prices for dried kidney beans in the bulk food section before going for the can and realised that the can was actually cheaper if you go for the store brand.
Those pics are so nice. Good Luck with your challenge.
Was on a break i still have to read your earlir post.
Good luck with the challenge.
WOW!! Girl, I admire you. $7 a day is easy I guess if you are into eating “junk” food! Haha!! I am thinking $1 items in fast food chains! 3 Burgers a day and 99cents bottle Mellow Yellow drink, I am good to go for a day! Not healthy like your yummy stash there, but can be done!
Good luck, you can do it.
Looks like you have a good plan down for the week. I really applaud your effort! Its very very hard to prepare meals in that budget, unless as you said you stick to daal rice and sabzi.
As you mentioned idea is to be healthy and variety eating on a budget which I think you will successfully offer at the end of the week.
Wanted to share my two cents on canned beans. I have never compared to see if bulk as cheaper or can, but lately when I read up on BPA I discovered that the white lining in the cans are BPA loaded. That was the end of convenience for me
. Also they seem to run a tad high on sodium.
Now I soak them at night and in the morning I stick them in my crock pot on low and when I get back from work they are perfectly cooked.
I might be creating a load on carbon footprint with that, but I make that trade off for knowing I don’t put chemical in.Not soliciting the ban of canned stuff, just sharing an idea of those who would want an alternative.
Roops, slow cooking kidney beans releases toxins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crock_Pot#Disadvantages
Nice, I’m excited to see what you can do with all that food.
Eric
I am sure that u can come up with excellent ideas and try to stay fit
Cannot wait to see it!
[...] Hunger Challenge posts for Day 1: Live to Eat: Read about blogger Sig’s grocery shopping [...]
Hi! I’m a college student, so living on a limited budget is matter of necessity for me rather than choice.
I spend around $35 a week on groceries and that works out fine for me. I avoid junk food and try to eat healthy.It does get difficult at times, but I’ve learned to manage.
Some stuff I’ve picked up from the past few years to save money on groceries:
1. Buy the store brand goods for stuff like condiments, bread, pasta, cereal and canned goods. The nutritional value is the same and the few cents you save go a long way.
2. Cheapest fruits you can buy now are bananas and oranges (since most stores still have a bulk of citrus fruits leftover, they are discounted)
3. Cut down on meat.
4. Buy in bulk
5. Eat lots of sprouts and rice. Sprouts are super-healthy and very delicious (and cheap).
6. Some stores have a rack of discounted goods (food that is nearing expiration date but is still good). That is like the motherlode of savings.
7. Shop for fruits and vegetables at farmers markets. You can bargain for fresh, locally grown produce and buy it at a cheaper rate than that at the supermarket.
Hope these help!
Sig.. I can’t wait to hear about today’s meals.
This is a big subject here is Germany too. I read a report that 2 innovative unemployed men who were forced to give up their well paying jobs due to the economical recess and live on 5 Euros a day for food came up with an idea of writing a small cookbook – fun, healthy and different kind of recipes. It’s a big hit here! Living on 5 Euros is not easy at all and kudos to you for trying. I would have loved to have joined this.
As I always believe – its not a big deal for a poor man to fast (!!) but it is for a rich man with all the food around him. Kudos to you for taking this gargantuan tasks esp. having a full time job.
I work from home and hence have the luxuries to actually snoop around stores for cheaper yet quality prices which u surely don’t enjoy. Asian markets as many mentioned are amazing with prices even cheaper than Indian ones for me here in CA. I actually don’t recall the names in Seattle…i started my cooking exp. there hence dint get around much to shop hunting much.
I applaud u on this sig and hope that u get through it satisfactorily at the end of the week. Good luck!
Sig, thanks for clarifying your intent! For me ‘Hunger’ did not fit in with the packaged items in your list.
@Superchef, did you consider the price of dried beans as is or the yield?
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