Frugal Food Challenge - Final Day

November comes to an end and so does this challenge. It's great though, I'm gaining a greater enjoyment from making my own meals. While I won't be tracking the dollars and cents every meal, I walk away more conscientious of my diet and spending then ever before.

Given the fun of this challenge and learning from it, I may continue this blog with further challenges. Probably related to food, diet, or exercise. I'd like to challenge myself to eating out at places that will fit my frugal food budget and also be (decently) healthy. I'm also interested in an exercise challenge to see how much I can walk in a month.

In slightly related news I camped last night because the local fire ban was finally lifted. I found some of the common camp food (smoked sausage and chili in the case) to be reasonably priced. A slight change up from most the meals I've been having this month.

I'm signing off on this challenge with a "toast" if you will. My usual breakfast here, toast, eggs, and a variable side which was black beans on this day. =) Enjoy!

Frugal Food Challenge - Day 27

The month challenge is winding down. We made it through Thanksgiving without too much damage. I didn't track cost of the meals on Thanksgiving and black Friday. Mainly I ate turkey, mashed potatoes, etc. at my families house. No surprises there and I had that for left overs the next day as well.

Saturday I got right back into the swing of my $4 a day challenge. I ate:

Usual Breakfast: Toast, Egg, Coffee - $0.57
Snack: Cereal with milk and 1/2 banana sliced - $0.71
Lunch: Two small tacos with beans, pico, and avocado - $1.14
Dinner: Toast with PB and agave syrup - $0.37

Total for the day was $2.79. It was a light eating day. You may have experienced the same after eating a ton of food on the day prior.

With most of the month completed I learned that it was much easier than originally thought to keep my budget under $4 a day. Grocery store food is a great deal compared to eating out. There are of course unaccounted for costs like left-overs that spoil. Gas is another cost but I don't consider it to be extra, since we normally would have to pay the same to get to a restaurant or have food delivered.

At $4 a day, that would amount to approximately $1460 a year for food or $2920 for two people. Right now I spend closer to $5000 a year on food. Sticking to this plan would get significant savings, I just need to convince my wife. =) Of course, it wouldn't be any fun to never eat out and I think setting aside a budget for that is reasonable. It could be done and still have a savings at the end of the year versus my normal spending.

I believe anyone could benefit from limited their food budget and see how creative they can get with their food. Give it a try!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving and I'm getting ready to eat a lot. I hope everyone is able to relax, enjoy the holiday, and eat well!

I don't know the costs of all this great stuff here. I'm just going to be try and be reasonable with second servings! =)

Frugal Food Challenge - Meal Snapshot

Just a quick meal snapshot. Free work coffee, carrot, and an apple.

It's a strange feeling to be the outcast when eating something simple like this!

Frugal Food Challenge - Day 15

We are at the halfway mark. Today I'm going to get my average cost so far to get a sense of how well this is going. A couple of thoughts beforehand.

First the obvious. I haven't eaten out at all. it really just doesn't fit the budget. I could get something off a dollar menu at Taco Bell in a pinch but it hasn't been necessary. The quality just wouldn't compare either! =P

I've also noticed, there have been some days that I over-ate. Some food are so dang filling AND cheap. Peanut butter is probably the best example and probably why it's an inferior good in economic terms.

Lastly, I've been eating less meat overall. This wasn't so much a conscious choice, just when it boils down to it there are excellent replacements for much less cost. Think avocados, black beans, quinoa, and peanut butter.

This is a dish I had a couple days ago. It was not only delicious but easy to make. Pasta isn't as expensive as I thought. I'm using Dreamfields low carb pasta so the blood sugar spike isn't too bad. Mixed with some broccoli, pepper, and butter. It is approximately $1.38 for the pasta and broccoli.

Now on to my average cost for the first 15 days. Totaling up each day and dividing by fifteen days brings me to $3.43 average per day. There were four days I went over $4 a bit, not by much, and I'm still well under that on average.

Some of the meals/foods I've enjoy so far are bananas, whole wheat bread with PB and agave syrup, breakfast tacos, fajita tacos, turkey salad, pasta, broccoli, mixed vegetables, lima beans, black beans, eggs, carrots, and apples. Some days the meals end up being pretty random and others everything just works out well.

I'm signing off today with today's meals and another picture, because tacos are so damn good!

Breakfast $0.90
Buttered Whole Wheat Toast - 13cents
Peanut Butter with Agave - 29cents (I know...I'm weird)
Applesauce - 18cents
Coffee - 30cents

Lunch $1.43
Two tacos with 1/2 avocado, pico, beans, and bell peppers

Snack $0.78
Coffee 30cents
Banana 15cents
Mixed Nuts 33cents

Dinner $1.31
Pasta 63cents
Lima Beans 28cents
Broccoli 40cents
and more PB + Agave 29 cents

Total Cost $ 4.71

Frugal Food Challenge - Day 11

It's 11/11/11. I didn't realize how much hype there is on such a day. In any case I stuck to my program for the day. Here were my meals and prices:

Breakfast $0.95
Banana, Coffee, 1 Egg, 1 Toast w/butter, Baked Apple slices

Snack $0.48
Banana, Mixed Nuts

Lunch $0.39
1 Egg, 1 Large Carrot

Dinner $0.42
Applesauce, Mixed Veggies

Total $2.24

Today was very inexpensive to eat. Breakfast was the favorite of the day. Slice up apples, sprinkle some cinnamon on them and bake. I'm not sure for how long, I'll have to ask my wife. I just know they were there and amazing to eat. I eat less when I'm working. I can see that now based on what I'm spending.

I'll also admit some food cravings have popped up the past few days. I'm doing well holding them off which is a good sign for this program. It isn't a perfect solution though as some discipline is still necessary. Have a good Friday 11/11/11.

Frugal Food Challenge - Day 6

My belly feels flatter. That's probably just in my mind. I know I'm eating less calories so its possibly I just feel less full. I kinda wish I had a before and after picture now to work with. Another side effect from this experiment may be an improved physique. We'll see on that.

The enjoyment of my food is still increasing, and I added a photo finally to give an idea of some of my eats. These were some tacos with chicken, black beans, and avocado with a side of mixed veggies. One of my new hopes is that viewers can see appetizing items here and not be afraid of changing up your diet from fast food. I'm more than halfway through my work week now. Also, I am coming under daily budget more than anticipated too.

Today's meals / prices are:

Breakfast $1.06
Tacos: black beans, pico, 1 egg, 2 corn tortillas and a coffee.

Snack $0.74
Half PB on Bread: 1 slice Whole Wheat, Peanut Butter, Agave Syrup, 1/2 Banana, 1 Coffee

Lunch $1.10
Handful of Almonds and a Black Bean, Egg, Quinoa mix

Dinner $.50
Side of Lima Beans

Total $3.40

You can see my dinner was pretty light. I work a swing shift so lunch is usually more like dinner time and I was pretty full so I just had a small side of Lima beans. Calculating the cost per meal can get pretty tedious but it is improving as I get more prices figured out. Some items are approximations. They should be within a few cents and I'm careful to over value as much as possible.

Frugal Food Challenge - Day 4

Alright, time for more details. This experiment was started quickly (read: not much planning). Immediately I have more manual work then planned for. Keeping track of and pricing each meal for one. It is also the most enlightening part of the process. Knowing the cost of my meals is really motivating to not spend money at restaurants.

I'm going to have a separate post with the cumulative meal list and prices for reference. For today though:

Breakfast Total $1.06
Sweet Potato Fries - 0.26
Butter - 0.05
Toast - 0.18
Peanut Butter - 0.15
Agave Syrup - 0.12
Coffee - 0.30

Lunch - Total $2.15
Mixed Salad 0.40
1/2 Avocado 0.50
3oz Turkey 1.00
Bell Pepper Sliced 0.10
Dressing (not sure estimated 15cents)

Snack Total $0.15
1 Banana - 0.15

Dinner Total $0.44
Applesauce - 0.18
Sweet Potato Fries - 0.26

Overall Total $3.65

I ate a light dinner. I was working in the evening and already pretty full from the days meals. As far as adjusting, my tummy is quickly becoming okay with the lower calorie amounts. It feels that my calorie intake is more than adequate and later evening cravings died down quicker than anticipated. The hardest part has been calculating the cost per meal, so there are still estimations. They should be within a few cents and I'm careful to not to under value as much as possible.

My weekend finished up and I worry that returning to work will pose new challenges to staying budget. To counter that, I talked with co-workers for added social accountability.

$4 a Day Frugal Food Challenge

Is it possible to eat for $4 a day...and enjoy it?! For the entirety of November I am challenging myself to just that.

I am working towards eating healthier. Mainly by lowering calories since I am flat out eating too much. I love food and have trouble turning off cravings.

So the challenge is 30 days to see if it helps. I plan to measure as close the the cent as possible. It is easy in some cases, but harder in others. Such as portion sizing canned food or my favorite, peanut butter!

Along the way I hope to show that one can eat good food for little cost and effort.

Only caveats are:

1. Food to correct low blood glucose doesn't count (t1 diabetic so not flexible on that!).
2. I'm not hard lined at $4 on a given day. Hitting $4 as a daily average for the month would be a success since food wont always add up exactly to the limits.
3. I will likely eat way over budget on thanksgiving. But, its at a relatives house and wont cost me anything =P

Well, the first day, I've been hungrier than usual but made it through. The money limit really helps curb cravings. It's easier to rationalize eating more than spending more.

More progress to follow and pics of the better meals.