Jan 09, 2010
On January 5th, I received my first assignment from the Thrifty Spender Experiment; the assignment is to spend no more than $348 per month on food (for a 2 person household) and spend nothing on alcohol. That food budget effectively amounts to $5.72 per day, per person. Our personal goal is to spend $5 per day, per person, or no more than $10 per day which averages $304 per month. Since we only just received the assignment, we simply limited ourselves to $70-$80 for food for this weekend’s shopping but otherwise shop as we normally would to get a benchmark.
Before we get to the initial results let’s discuss our diet. Right now we are eating a slow carb diet. This diet is similar to other carb restricting diets, but has its most recent incarnation from Tim Ferris’ new book, the The 4-Hour Body. There is nothing particularly unique about his take on the diet, but he does have an art for simplifying. In a nut shell, you eat 4 times per day, (about every 4 hours, this schedule works best for us given our schedules); you eat protein (chicken, beef, eggs, or white fish), legumes (any type of bean) and vegetables (primarily cruciferous) at every meal. You can eat as much as you want from those 3 categories of food. So, that means, no fruit, no dairy, no grains or white carbs of any kind, no sweetened beverages; however, you get one free day per week (ours is Saturday) where you can eat whatever you want.
Here are the results from this weekend’s shopping
- CostCo. $39.91
* Hillman’s Grade AA Extra large Eggs 18, x2 $4.96
* Fresh Leaf Spinach 2.5lbs, $3.99
* Fresh Broccoli Florets, 3lbs, $3.99
* Fresh Roma Tomato, 2lbs (10 tomatos), $4.99
* Frozen Vegetable Medley (Normandy Style), $5.99
* Frozen Chicken Breasts (about 15 breast fillets), $15.99
- King Soopers $36.18
* Sour Cream 1lbs, $1.29
* Salsa, 1lbs, $2.59
* 1 16oz coke, $1.49
* 1 can, sliced Jalapeño, $0.69
* Salad Dressing, 16oz, $1.24
* Tortilla Chips, Kroger Brand, 10 0z, $1.00
* Shredded Cheese, Nacho, 8oz, $1.99
* Kroger Breakfast Sausage Patties, 12oz, $2.50
* Stew Pork, 0.96lbs, $3.16
* Ground Beef, 1lbs, 80% lean, Tube, $2.70
* Fresh Head, Romain Lettuce, $1.99
* Kroger, Red Beans, 1lbs dry, $1.89
* 1 Fresh Celery Stalk, 1.28lbs, $0.88
* Fresh Yellow Onions, 1.61lbs, $3.20
* White Mushrooms, 8oz, $1.99
* DiGiorno Pizza $5.99
* 1% Milk, 1/2 Gallon, $1.59
Total: $76.09, assuming the food last 7 days, daily budget is $5.44 per person.
Obviously, we already have some items, so we will see how this budget ultimately plays out. I am actually a little disappointed in the King Sooper’s bill, most of those items were for our “free” diet day. But, aside from having the budgetary restriction, we didn’t really have to significantly alter our shopping to stay in budget. But my sense is this task will become harder in the coming weeks as our existing stockpile depletes. We will ultimately be looking for alternatives to save even more money and will discuss alternative food plans for those not keen on the slow carb plan, but for a start, we stayed in budget.
On January 5th, I received my first assignment from the Thrifty Spender Experiment; the assignment is to spend no more than $348 per month on food (for a 2 person household) and spend nothing on alcohol. That food budget effectively amounts to $5.72 per day, per person. Our personal goal is to spend $5 per day, per person, or no more than $10 per day which averages $304 per month. Since we only just received the assignment, we simply limited ourselves to $70-$80 for food for this weekend’s shopping but otherwise shop as we normally would to get a benchmark.
Before we get to the initial results let’s discuss our diet. Right now we are eating a slow carb diet. This diet is similar to other carb restricting diets, but has its most recent incarnation from Tim Ferris’ new book, the The 4-Hour Body. There is nothing particularly unique about his take on the diet, but he does have an art for simplifying. In a nut shell, you eat 4 times per day, (about every 4 hours, this schedule works best for us given our schedules); you eat protein (chicken, beef, eggs, or white fish), legumes (any type of bean) and vegetables (primarily cruciferous) at every meal. You can eat as much as you want from those 3 categories of food. So, that means, no fruit, no dairy, no grains or white carbs of any kind, no sweetened beverages; however, you get one free day per week (ours is Saturday) where you can eat whatever you want.
Here are the results from this weekend’s shopping
- CostCo. $39.91
* Hillman’s Grade AA Extra large Eggs 18, x2 $4.96
* Fresh Leaf Spinach 2.5lbs, $3.99
* Fresh Broccoli Florets, 3lbs, $3.99
* Fresh Roma Tomato, 2lbs (10 tomatos), $4.99
* Frozen Vegetable Medley (Normandy Style), $5.99
* Frozen Chicken Breasts (about 15 breast fillets), $15.99
- King Soopers $36.18
* Sour Cream 1lbs, $1.29
* Salsa, 1lbs, $2.59
* 1 16oz coke, $1.49
* 1 can, sliced Jalapeño, $0.69
* Salad Dressing, 16oz, $1.24
* Tortilla Chips, Kroger Brand, 10 0z, $1.00
* Shredded Cheese, Nacho, 8oz, $1.99
* Kroger Breakfast Sausage Patties, 12oz, $2.50
* Stew Pork, 0.96lbs, $3.16
* Ground Beef, 1lbs, 80% lean, Tube, $2.70
* Fresh Head, Romain Lettuce, $1.99
* Kroger, Red Beans, 1lbs dry, $1.89
* 1 Fresh Celery Stalk, 1.28lbs, $0.88
* Fresh Yellow Onions, 1.61lbs, $3.20
* White Mushrooms, 8oz, $1.99
* DiGiorno Pizza $5.99
* 1% Milk, 1/2 Gallon, $1.59
Total: $76.09, assuming the food last 7 days, daily budget is $5.44 per person.
Obviously, we already have some items, so we will see how this budget ultimately plays out. I am actually a little disappointed in the King Sooper’s bill, most of those items were for our “free” diet day. But, aside from having the budgetary restriction, we didn’t really have to significantly alter our shopping to stay in budget. But my sense is this task will become harder in the coming weeks as our existing stockpile depletes. We will ultimately be looking for alternatives to save even more money and will discuss alternative food plans for those not keen on the slow carb plan, but for a start, we stayed in budget.
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