$2.99 for oranges? I won't be shopping here this month! (Photo: sxc.hu/ckforic)
Budgeting is one of the tenets of Cheapo living, and creating a food budget is a key component of your household’s money management. I spend most of my food budget on basics like canned and dry beans, fresh and frozen vegetables, rice, flour and dairy products, then whip everything together in the kitchen. I rarely, if ever, buy convenience foods because they’re crazy expensive, over-processed, and packaged in a lot of plastic that can’t be recycled.
I diligently follow my money saving tips and try to keep the household food budget to a minimum. Just for fun, I gave myself a food budgeting challenge for the month of February: can I feed two people for $100 or less?
I wouldn’t have posed this self-challenge if I didn’t think I had a real shot at succeeding. But even I was shocked , despite my rigorous budget planning and frugal groceries, how quickly the food budget trickled away.
I went shopping for groceries on February 1 and bought a few items to augment the staples I already have in the pantry. So far, so good. But I turned Shannon loose in the grocery store on February 4 and 5. She apparently needed a refresher on the Metro Cheapo mission.
February 1, Foodtown: $12.75
February 4, Key Food: $34.04
February 5, Fine Fare: $20.56
It’s only the fifth of the month and more than two-thirds of our budget is already gone! I have commandeered the remainder of our food budget with the hope of warding off scurvy with some fresh veggies and perhaps a few grapes. Meanwhile, Shannon will be eating her way through the three canisters of quick grits in our cupboard for the rest of the month.
When it comes to budgeting, how low can we go? Stay tuned to find out!
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