Feeding our family of 5 for a month for less than $185!

So I know we are well into February by now, but I still want to take a look back at January and how my food/household spending challenge worked out.

I set myself a goal of not spending more than $1/person/day on food and $1/day on other household items. This worked out to 

($1 x 5 people x 31 days) + $1 x 31 days = $186 total for the month.
**take a look at the very end if you would like some perspective on how much this is**

My original post about my belt tightening is here, and I point out that this budget includes all food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, paper goods and diapers.

I tallied up all my receipts and I came to a grand total of $184.93!! YAY! 
($25.14 on household and $159.79 on food)



Though I see now that we can make it 1 month on less than $200 if we have to it was definitely a tight one and I will not be repeating this challenge for a while unless absolutely necessary! And on a side note....I am so thankful we did not run out of toilet paper until February 2nd :)

***There are a couple of disclaimers of course*** 

1) We did not start with an absolutely empty pantry and fridge though I would say it was 
   pretty close. Take a look back at this post talking about using up what we have on hand.

2) We had a separate $25 budget for the food/supplies for my daughter's birthday party 
   (total of 16 people) so I took our grand total spent and subtracted the $25 and ended        up with the $184.93.

3) There were a couple of meals here and there where one or more of us were not at 
    home (visiting friends/family etc.)


Now let's take a closer look at how we managed to stay within this tight budget. 

Here are the items we bought for the month of January (including party food):

HOUSEHOLD/NON FOOD ITEMS ($25.14 of total amount)

Diapers (62 ct)

Nasal Spray for kids (3) 

DRY GOODS

Oats (3 x 42oz canisters)

Pasta (4 x 1 lb boxes)

Marinara Sauce (4 x 16 oz jars)

All Purpose Flour (2 x 5lb)

Whole Wheat Flour (5 lbs)

Sugar (4 lbs)

Rice crackers (2 pkgs)

Salad Dressing (1 small bottle)

Yeast (8 x 3pkg strips)

Lentils (3 lbs)

Dried Oregano (1 small jar)

Dried Basil (1 small jar)

Rye Crispbread (1 pkg)

MEAT/FISH

Uncured Turkey Hot dogs (2 packs)

Ground Turkey (7.5 lbs)

Beef (0.9 lbs)

Whole Chicken (1)

Tilapia (1 lb)

FRESH PRODUCE

Mushrooms (2 x 16 oz)

Rutabagas (1.3#s)

Tomatoes (0.9 lbs)

Sweet Potatoes (2.8 lbs)

Yellow Onions (3 lbs)

Russet Potatoes (10 lbs)

Celery (1 bunch)

English Cucumber (1)

Garlic (1 bulb)

Bananas (3.5 lbs)

Apples (1.25 lbs)

Red Bell pepper (1)

Green Bell pepper (1)

Green Leaf Lettuce (1 bunch)

Cucumber, regular (2)

Carrots (5 lbs)

DAIRY/EGGS

Cheese (3 x 8 oz)

Sour Cream (8 oz)

Yogurt (32 oz)

Lactose Free Milk (3 x 1/2 gal)

Eggs (2.5 dozen)

Butter (1 lb)

FROZEN FOODS

Frozen Mixed Veggies (16 oz)

Frozen corn (16 oz)

Frozen Cauliflower (2 x 16 oz)

Frozen Green Beans (16 oz)

Frozen Chopped Spinach (16 oz)

Frozen Peas (1 lb)

Frozen Brussel Sprouts (1 lbs)

So now the big question is "What did we eat????"

If you are interested, I have listed all our dinners for you below. As you can see there are several repetitions and none of them are extravagant, nor are they particularly exotic. But I feel they are overall good and balanced meals for the most part. **This is based entirely on my non-professional, non-nutritionist, non-dietitian opinion of course! Also, everything is homemade, from scratch, unless otherwise noted.

MEALS FOR OUR FAMILY FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY

I do not have an exact breakdown of what we ate for breakfast, snacks and lunches. But I will say that most days this is what we ate

Breakfast:

oatmeal or eggs and toast

Snacks:

 veggies, crackers, banana or yogurt

Lunch:

sandwiches, hard boiled eggs and veggies or dinner leftovers

Dinner:

Jan 1st

Leftovers from new years eve (pizza for adults, and I don't remember for the kids)

Jan 2nd

Sandwiches

Jan 3rd

Rice, bean and hot dog casserole

Jan 4th

Rice with meatballs for kids and rice with curried beef for adults

Jan 5th

Leftover Rice, bean and hot dog casserole for kids and curried beef with rice for adults

Jan 6th

Hot Dogs with sweet potato/cauliflower mash and brussel sprouts

Jan 7th

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie 

Jan 8th 

Lentil Stew with rice

Jan 9th 

Pizza with hotdogs, veggies and cheese

Jan 10th 

Birthday Party: Pasta with meatballs and tomato sauce, rolls and salad

(sauce was not homemade)

Jan 11th 

Leftover from birthday party

Jan 12th

Lasagna with vegetable/meat sauce and rolls

Jan 13th

Chicken Frikasse (casserole) with potatoes and carrots

Jan 14th 

Lentil Stew with rice

Jan 15th 

Roasted Hot dog bites with roasted potatoes and broccoli

Jan 16th

Pizza with meatballs, cheese and veggies

Jan 17th

Lapskaus (Norwegian beef stew) for the kids and adults were invited out to dinner by some friends :)

Jan 18th

Tilapia with potatoes and carrots

Jan 19th

Honey mustard chicken with rice and carrots

Jan 20th 

Meatballs with mashed potatoes and broccoli

Jan 21st

Meatloaf with rice, gravy and green beans

Jan 22nd

Rice, bean, hot dog and veggie casserole

Jan 23rd

Pizza with cheese, bacon and leftover vegetables

Jan 24th

Turkey Burgers with roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes

Jan 25th 

Tilapia with rice and sweet potato/cauliflower mash

Jan 26th

Lentil Stew with rice

Jan 27th

Green Vegetable Soup with eggs and toast

Jan 28th

Turkey Shepherd's Pie with peas and carrots

Jan 29th

Meatloaf with rice, gravy and green beans

Jan 30th 

Pizza with leftover meatballs, veggies and cheese

Jan 31st

Pie-less Chicken Pot Pie with biscuits and corn

- - - - -

To give some perspective on the budget amount:

The maximum food stamp allowance for a family of 5 in Texas if they have no income is $771/month for food. 

This amount decreases of course when income increases.

The paid out benefits

=

(the maximum allowance)

  -

(30% of your net income**)

**30% of income is the estimated amount the state expects you to spend on food

So, at minimum wage of $7.25/hour (full time) then the benefit will be approximately $423/month for a family of 5.

$771 maximum allowance

-

($7.25 wage x 40 hrs per week x 52 weeks / 12 months - taxes) x 30%

= 

Paid out benefits

$771 - $348 = $423

In other words, that is $423 per month on food given in benefits and an expected $372 per month on food spent out of paycheck. 

If the total expected food budget amount is $771/month for a family of 5 then our $159.79 spent (on food items only) is approximately 1/5 of that amount! Wow! (calculating with the $186 total budget brings it up just under 25%, or 1/4). 

Where there's a will, there's a way! :)