Hard to believe I'm down to the final week. Considering I started this challenge off in the hospital emergency room and I wasn't sure I would make it this far, it is nice to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This also marks the day that I get to return from the house sitting and with no more plans of travel for the final week, should make things a bit easier.
I did do a bit of shopping on my way home from the house sitting since I had run out of milk in the morning and wanted to get some more. I also wanted to pick up some more pasta for the last week.
This is part of a month long challenge to eat well while spending an average of only $1 a day on food. You can find the beginning and the rules of this challenge here
I did my second run through at CVS with the Gillette Body wash coupon, and my math was a bit better this time. I ended up with two body washes (which will be donated), a half gallon of milk and (let the drum roll begin…) salt and pepper (I ran out of What Thin boxes and Tortilla chip bags to get my salt): Those ended up costing me $0.24:
I also stopped by Safeway and picked up a package of Wacky Mac (veggie spiral pasta) that was on sale for $1 and I used a $0.50 off of 1 coupon from the 5/16 SmartSource Sunday newspaper coupon insert making it $0.50:
Breakfast
It was definitely nice to have fresh fruit again and it made my early morning instant oatmeal a lot better having half a banana to put into it:
A couple of hours later, I had my bigger breakfast which consisted of an egg on whole wheat toast with a bit of salsa on top. I also had a bowl of Corn Flakes with half an apple diced on top (this was the last of the milk and why I needed to get more)
Lunch
For lunch I had a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread with half a banana and half an apple on the side. I also had a small bowl of tuna pasta salad that was part of what was left over from dinner:
Dinner
I didn't get to eat dinner until about 9:00 pm, well past the hour I usually eat it. I didn't get out from house sitting until about 7:00 pm (moving all my food again was a pain in the butt) and by the time I stopped by CVS and Safeway to get milk and pasta, it was pretty late. I threw in a cup of the Wacky Mac into boiling water and then flavored it with a bit of the second jar of pasta sauce I had — roasted garlic:
I could probably survive the rest of the week on the food that I already have, but am glad that I don't have to and I still have room to buy a few more things as the need arises…
This is the current list of what I have purchased:
Money Spent $21.44
Money left to spend: 9.56 ($2 must be spent at CVS)
Retail Value of everything bought: $542.81
1 package of veggie spiral pasta
1 salt and pepper shaker combo
1 bag of salad
1 package of macaroni and cheese
3 sample packs of Maxwell House Vanilla Carmel Latte
4 sample packages of Wheat Thins Sundried Tomato & Basil
3 packages (small) Fig Newtons
1 jar Miracle Whip
1 potato
1 mystery purchase
1/3 lb ground beef
6 tomatoes
2 broccoli crowns
2 loaves of bread
2 jars of Classico pasta sauce
2 Safeway brand pasta (spaghetti and rotini)
1 celery stalk
2 bags tortilla chips
5 cans tuna
1 bottle Welch's grape & peach 100% juice
1 bottle V8 Fusion fruit / vegetable drink
1 bottle V8 spicy vegetable drink
2 boxes of Caprisun fruit drinks (10 packs)
1 jar of salsa
1 bag of black beans
3 half gallons of milk
36 boxes of cereal
2 dozen eggs
2 avocados
17 bananas
2 boxes of Quaker Instant oatmeal
55 packs of Philadelphia Cream Cheese Minis
1 package of Knudsen Light sour cream
20 apples
2 lbs of carrots
8 boxes (small) of Wheat Thins
2 jars of Skippy All Natural peanut butter
2 cans of pork and beans
1 bag of long grain brown rice
2 packages of Mission 100% whole wheat tortillas (10 count each)
Donated Food / other items to Food Bank that was purchased with my $1 a day
2 Gillette body wash
3 sample packs of Maxwell House Vanilla Carmel Latte
1 Stayfree pantiliner package
1 Kotex U tampon package
5 Bayer children's aspirin
2 sticks of deodorant
4 bottles Windex multi-surface cleaner
1 can of Pork & Beans
32 boxes of cereal
50 packs of Philadelphia Cream Cheese Minis
4 boxes (small) of Wheat Thins
2 Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean bathroom cleaner
2 Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean bathroom cleaner refill
The Beginning ::: Day 25: Decisions, Decisions
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Are you still losing weight? If you were allowed to stockpile, use as many coupons as you could find, do you think you could eat better and for still less than $1 a day? Considering the donated cereal it would seem so.
No, I’m not losing weight –have been maintaining it and actually gaining a bit back that I lost. I think most of the weight loss was due to the intestinal problems, not a lack of food. I’ve had plenty to eat and can always eat more if i feel like it as the two binge days can attest.
If I could use as many coupons as I could find, I would definitely have a much wider variety of food to choose from while still staying under $1 a day. I have my weekly Sunday rounds that usually get me between 5 and 10 inserts, and then I often walk on recycle day that can get me many more. If I did that, I think the main thing would be that I had more variety of fruit and fish and chicken. It might be interesting to try and compare.
In the end, I’m not sure how much “healthier’ my diet would be as I like to snack too much.
Sorry if someone’s asked before – aren’t you wasting an awful lot of money of gas doing all this driving around for deals? Obviously for the challenge that cost doesn’t factor in but for someone in this situation for real it could be a huge deal.
@Nancy
All the stores are within 3 miles of my house with one within walking distance. While I did drive around a lot when I had nothing, I am shopping much less now. Even when I was, I tried to make the shopping trips coincide with other business I had to do to minimize gas waste. I doubt that I spend anymore in gas than the average shopper does, especially if they don’t plan meals and have to take extra trips to the store to buy things they forgot.
You said you walk on recycle days? This means you take circulars out of people’s recycling bins?
Yes. What have done is talked with people along my walking route when they are out asking for permission to do so. Since these people know I will be looking, most leave it right on top for me making it extremely easy.
Can you go fishing somewhere to get free fish?