Lucie’s Grocery Challenge: Week Two
May 18, 2010 @ 5:38 pm
Written by Lucie Amberg
When my husband and I decided to challenge ourselves by spending no more than $100 per week on all food and beverages, we were prepared for a rocky road. During our first week of the challenge, we sailed through- spending just $87 without feeling deprived.
I’d love to add some drama to this series by reporting that we failed in Week Two. Unfortunately, we didn’t! We actually spent even less, just $86. So now I’m wondering if our budget was challenging enough. And if we keep coming in under budget, what should we do with the difference? Stash it in our vacation fund? Donate it to an organization like Feeding America? (Of course, one of those options is a lot more fun than the other, but you know what they say about treasures in heaven…)
During Week Two, we maximized our budget by focusing on whole foods- unprepared fruits, vegetables, and grains. I’ve always heard that each time a food item is chopped, cooked, or otherwise prepped for you, you’re adding cost and calories and subtracting nutrients. So we’ve nixed a lot of pre-fab foods and replaced them with whole ingredients like dried lentils, which are superstars at creating healthy, inexpensive meals. An added bonus? My husband’s lost four pounds without feeling hungry at all!
I’ve been utilizing online resources like Epicurious to find cool, new recipes. A great score this week? Harira, a hearty Moroccan dish with chicken and rice. I subbed out some of the pricier ingredients (looking at you, saffron) and created a delicious curry with plenty to freeze for future meals.
One thing that just isn’t possible on this budget? Dining out. Once this challenge ends, I’m looking forward to supporting some of our favorite restaurants again, but I hope we’ll treat dining out more like a special treat instead of using it as a crutch. What about you? What’s the balance between dining out and eating in at your house? And how do you decide which restaurants are worthy of a splurge?
Lucie Amberg is also a contributor to Powder Room Graffiti.
About the Author: Lucie Amberg
I would use that money for eating out if this plan continues in the longterm. My husband and I try to stick to groceries but we do sushi dates (at the casual belt places that are $20 a person AT MOST only if we pig out like crazy) to get out of the house.
.-= Janine´s last blog ..Sunday Link Love =-.
I dine out to treat the kids when they visit but most of the time we do cook at home.If a new place opens we do try it to see if its any good an then when the kids have a birthday or we want to celebrate we take them.
It can get very expensive dining out! We went out a couple of weeks ago when the kids stopped and we took them to David Burke’s ,its new and the menu looked good but for the 4 of us =$300.00,very pricey , my daughter and son in law don’t eat red meat so most was seafood, will go back ,but just the 2 of us!! LOL
We have the garden so in the summer we eat at home most of the time,its nice because it saves so much money! When we have a cookout ,I shop in the garden!
.-= Peggy Gorman´s last blog ..Happy Mothers Day =-.