Tuesday, February 23, 2010

25 Dollar Grocery Challenge

Last week I accepted a challenge to spend 25 dollars feeding our family our family of four for the week.  We survived and I learned a few things:

It is very difficult to eat organic and have 5 fruits and veggies for each person per day on a 25 dollar budget. 

Using coupons to get free or very inexpensive food will help to provide more variety in your menu.

 I had to shop more to get better deals on a tighter budget. 

We had plenty of food, plus extra, and had well balanced meals.  But, it wasn't what I really wanted to eat.

It is cheaper in most cases to use a coupon and buy something than make it yourself.  ( I didn't say healthier or better tasting!) The exception to this is homemade bread.  I was glad to have the variety in my menu that I did, but I would have preferred making things from scratch.

It is easier for people who live in bigger towns and have access to coupon inserts in their newspaper to spend much less than those of us who do not have the option.  If we had stores that double and tripled coupons, we could save much more money and it would be a lot easier to spend $25 per week for 4 people.  The options I have to focus on are growing a garden, buying markdowns and printing coupons off the internet.

I was grateful for the experience, but don't think I would like to do it again unless it is summer and I have garden produce available!  It was nice to know that I could do it if I had to!  It was a lot harder than I thought and I respect those who can do it on an ongoing basis!  Going back to $50 per week will seem like a lot after this experience!

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