The Elon Musk challenge - Eating on $62/month (sort of)

[golden1]

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-challenge-food-budget-2016-2/?utm_content=bufferc95d5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I am thinking that if he had access to other stores that are cheaper than TJs plus worked in some rice and beans, he would have been better off, but it is still a worthy exercise. 

[teen persuasion]

Why is this so difficult?  I'd guess that I average $55 - $65 per week on groceries for the current 4 of us at home now.  That's DH (who could stand to lose a few pounds), me, DS4 a HS senior who runs XC and track, and DS5 an 11 yo sprouting up.  I also have can impressive stash of basics built up, thus there is overage in my grocery buying.

I was surprised there was no meat, no cheese, no milk, no vegetables, few fruits besides bananas.  And  not much in the way of treats/desserts (sorry, those are as non-negotiable as  protein to me).

Lots of it made sense to me: oatmeal is my go-to breakfast everyday, omelets for lunch at home cheese + leftovers inside) or PB on whole wheat sandwiches at work, but those are both supplemented with soup or stew, and fruit, and cookies, etc.  I love pasta and have it often for dinner (but not 4 portions), there's always going to be sauce, meat, veggies, salad, maybe biscuits with butter.

[21runner]

This is interesting, thanks for posting! I may try a version of this next month. I already eat oatmeal for breakfast pretty often, and I could almost live off of peanut butter and pasta. I'm a runner though, so I need to find a way to spend a similar amount and still get the nutrients I need. Which will be difficult. I'm thinking I may try for around $2.90 - $3.00 per day.

[golden1]

teen persuasion, I would be interested in seeing a typical grocery list. 

[sis]

This is interesting, thanks for posting! I may try a version of this next month. I already eat oatmeal for breakfast pretty often, and I could almost live off of peanut butter and pasta. I'm a runner though, so I need to find a way to spend a similar amount and still get the nutrients I need. Which will be difficult. I'm thinking I may try for around $2.90 - $3.00 per day.

Lentils for the cheap protein?  Also you can probably find frozen veggies on sale for some cheap nutrition.  This is intriguing to me, but I think I'll wait until after my next marathon (November) to try it.  I really don't want to screw too much with my nutrition during training.

[teen persuasion]

teen persuasion, I would be interested in seeing a typical grocery list.

I generally shop 1x per week, have my usual mental list of things to get, plus take advantage of any loss leaders or unexpected discounts (like on meat - put in freezer immediately).

From 2 weeks ago:
dozen eggs  .79
2 gal milk   4.70
tissues (2)  2.18
loaf of wheat bread  .99
hamburger buns  .69
bran flake cereal 1.79
raisin bran cereal (2) 3.58
PB snacks (2)  1.98
cookies  1.25
graham crackers 1.29
hot dogs .79
cat food 1.40
frozen OJ 1.19
colby jack cheese 1.69
IWS cheese 1.69
lb ground turkey 1.89
ground beef 4.88
head of lettuce 1.39
baby carrots (2) 1.78
margarine .59
bananas  1.52
strawberries 1.99
2 lb spaghetti 1.45
tortilla chips 1.19
laundry detergent 1.99
boneless chicken breast 7.41
pork chops 4.46
peanuts (2) 3.69

Total roughly $62 after tax on a few non-food items

I am obviously using some items purchased in past weeks (baking supplies like flour, sugar, etc., as well as tomato sauce, condiments, rice, ...) but my purchases seem to be fairly even over the long run.  A sale on meat - stock up the freezer and work out of it for a while.  Oranges or other seasonal fruit a great deal - get enough for a few weeks at a time.  If I still have a few loaves of bread on hand (as here), buy only one, then more next time.

Oh, most of that list is from Aldi, just the last 4 items were from Tops.  I can't beat Aldi's low prices on most basics.

[21runner]

Lentils for the cheap protein?  Also you can probably find frozen veggies on sale for some cheap nutrition.  This is intriguing to me, but I think I'll wait until after my next marathon (November) to try it.  I really don't want to screw too much with my nutrition during training.

Thanks for the suggestion! Yeah, there's no way I could do this if I was training for a marathon.

[golden1]

OK, thanks!   Aldi really does seem to help.  Some of those prices are extremely low and would be hard to get in "normal grocery stores".

I think what I need to do is make a list of staples that I normally buy and try to price them out.  One thing I spend more on for sure would be milk.  1/2 gallon of generic organic milk is about $3.50, but then again, we only drink 1/2 gallon every 10 days or so.    Otherwise, our lists are pretty similar.  I tend to buy the family packs of ground beef and chicken already.  I probably go through more fruits and veggies too. 

You've encouraged me to dig in a little deeper. 

 

[acroy]

Interesting -
we spend about $600/mo food
Fam of 8, so $75/mo/person
We eat well: no 'brand' items, mostly bulk commodities, don't even bother with coupons.

[pbkmaine]

I did this years ago when divorcing my first husband and beginning a new career. I was poor! The secrets: beans, oatmeal, bagged apples and oranges, bananas, carrots, celery, cabbage, potatoes, onions, eggs, small amounts of meat and cheese on sale, and whatever other fruits and vegetables were on a great sale. I made lots of soups. It was probably the healthiest I ever ate.

[teen persuasion]

OK, thanks!   Aldi really does seem to help.  Some of those prices are extremely low and would be hard to get in "normal grocery stores".

I think what I need to do is make a list of staples that I normally buy and try to price them out.  One thing I spend more on for sure would be milk.  1/2 gallon of generic organic milk is about $3.50, but then again, we only drink 1/2 gallon every 10 days or so.    Otherwise, our lists are pretty similar.  I tend to buy the family packs of ground beef and chicken already.  I probably go through more fruits and veggies too. 

You've encouraged me to dig in a little deeper. 

 

Some of those prices ARE lower than normal; I'm very opportunistic, and stock up on good deals when I see them.  That's why a one week snapshot is misleading - I normally have more fruits and veggies, too.  I think we were still working on a whole watermelon from a previous week, and so on.  Different times of year lead to different purchasing, too, like stocking up on baking supplies around the holidays when flour/sugar/etc are loss leaders.  Nab an extra ham (or 2) after the holidays at $5 off.  Stash it in the freezer.  Not so useful for a single person, but for our current 4 people that ham is probably a week's worth of meat for a variety of meals, and bean soup at the end.

Milk is crazy for us - when all 5 kids were at home, I regularly bought 7 or 8 gallons a week.  One gallon became mozzarella cheese for homemade pizza, usually.