$300 a month to feed a family

[Akavit]

Awhile back I mentioned that I'd try to get some time to write an article about eating healthy on a tight budget.  I should have hopped on that sooner because there's an article like that on Forbes and it's one of the 10 most read articles for the past day.  Missed my chance to seize that traffic for myself.

At least this woman saved me the effort so everyone can read her approach.  She didn't even utilize the potato as often as I would have expected.

Could you feed your family on $10 a day?

It takes planning, discipline and a savvy kind of gamesmanship according to Jen Wallwork Dominguez, who has developed a meal plan that allows her to hit that budget for her family of seven.

A good sense of humor doesn't hurt either: "My idea of being wealthy is being able to go to the grocery store, peruse the aisles and say, 'Hmm... that looks good. I think I'll make that for dinner!' " says Jen.

She admits she dreams about sample tables. " They have all the ingredients laid out right there. How easy! If I were rich I would grab it and take it home. But I don't have $17 a meal to spend."

No, she's got about $3 a meal to spend. And that's got to cover seven people. Incredibly she feeds her family — which includes Jen and her husband, two teenagers and three preschoolers — healthy, tasty meals for $300 a month, which she writes about on her blog, "Life In The Circus". All without cutting coupons or eating a steady diet of Ramen noodles.

That's right. No coupons. No boxes.

"I don't have enough time to figure out what is on sale so I'm not a coupon cutter," she says. "I want to do it as affordably and quickly as possible without feeding my kids from boxes seven days a week."

Jen approached her need to feed her family on limited funds like a puzzle. She noticed that some things are always the least expensive. She developed a 14-day seasonal menu based around those items that are consistently the cheapest. Dinner is planned on a two-week rotation and lunches are on a weekly rotation. (She includes a full 14-day menu of breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners as well as her monthly shopping list on her blog).

Here are the first three days of her menu:

    Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Bananas
    Lunch: Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Apples. Cheese cubes.
    Dinner: Roasted Whole Chicken with carrots, onions and potatoes.
    Snack: Ants on a log

    Breakfast: Banana muffins and orange slices
    Lunch: Hard boiled eggs, cheese cubes, fresh pineapple, saltines
    Dinner: Chicken noodle soup (with leftover chicken) and french bread
    Snack: Apples

    Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, toast, orange slices
    Lunch: Baked potatoes stuffed with broccoli and cheese
    Dinner: Spaghetti with roasted tomatoes, Romaine salad with cucumbers
    Snack: Saltines with peanut butter

There was a time when a woman who taught piano lessons in Nashville and her husband who worked as a high school theater teacher would not be making news with how they manage to feed their five children. Theirs would be a middle-class life that would have provided plenty of resources for meals and even a little extra for vacations or outings.

But because of the cost of housing, student loans and all that goes along with supporting five children that comfort is no longer a reality. Jen and her husband are college-educated professionals who happen to work at what they love. What's left is $300 a month for food.

Even if you don't have five kids, even if you have $300 a day to spend on groceries, life can turn quickly and you may find you suddenly need a budget like this. Jen said she wrote about her monthly meal plan and shopping list because a friend recently became a single mother after her husband left. There would be child-support, but the amount for food — about $300 — would be significantly reduced from before. The mother despaired that they would not make ends meet. But Jen confided that her family gets by on that every month and if they could do it, her friend could, too.

"And they're vegetarian!" laughed Jen. "That makes it so much easier!"

There's a third part to the article I didn't post because the first two sections had the critical information.  The rest can be read at the link below if desired.

How This Mom Feeds a Family of 7 on 300 a Month

If you read the article you'll notice that she cheats and uses government assistance to cut the bill down to $200.  The unaided cost would be $300 however.

[JubilateDeo]

We have been trying to get a lot more frugal about our grocery habits as well.  I used to be into couponing and for awhile had a very nice system where I would cut coupons on Thursdays and Sundays, meal plan over the weekend, do my weekly shopping on Monday, etc, but all sense of organization or rhythm went out the window after having this last baby.  I fell off the frugality wagon and ended up resorting to takeout a lot more nights than I would have wanted.  Plus when you are adjusting to a new baby, going to the grocery store with kids in tow makes it hard to concentrate on all the paper you've brought with you.  Now slowly  but surely I am getting back on track with cooking and being cost conscious and this weekend is my first weekend back to couponing and not shopping at Whole Paycheck. 

[Akavit]

What I like about her system is that she doesn't need to do weekly planning around coupons but instead, takes advantage of reliably inexpensive items to provide most of the food.  Being able to go straight to the right aisle for the predetermined items would save a bunch of time.

Sounds like a lot of upfront time invested into research before the benefits kick in.

That budget doesn't buy organic but one has to make some sacrifices to keep costs down.  I'm of the opinion that eliminating processed foods is a bigger issue and organic - while nice - is the lesser problem.

[JubilateDeo]

"Reliably inexpensive" can really vary, though.  Some weeks, cheese is $7/pound.  Some weeks it's $4/pound.  When you match it with coupons, you can end up getting it for $2/pound.  Most grocery stores have a cycle where some products are expensive certain times of the year and other times they're higher.  Part of the research involved with couponing involves getting a feel for what certain products normally cost and then what the lowest prices of the cycle are.  If you consistently buy things at their lowest point in the cycle, you can save a lot of money.  Some sites like Living Rich With Coupons do a lot of the research for you.

[Greg]

Other solution.  If you are planning to have a large family, and a normal red blooded Catholic cannot really "plan" anything else, then don't "do what you love", work wise.  Compromise a little, and do something which you don't completely hate but which pays better than teaching or piano lessons.

The jobs that pay well, and are stable, are often ones that many people don't want to do. For example selling job that involve prospecting by telephone.  Unblocking people's toilets, emergency plumber.  My sister runs a nursery school and makes 6 figures per year, every year.  You don't need a college education to do that.  You do need a lot of determination.  Her and her husband work fairly hard at it but they managed to have 10 children too.

Looking after people's pre-schoolers is always going to pay well because most people don't want to do that.  Modern women want to go to work and will pay for good nursery places. Demand will always outstrip supply, hence higher prices.

For what food is and what you would have to do to put meat, cheeses, diary products, sauces, fruits and vegetables on your plate otherwise it is already incredibly cheap.  Food production and supply is amazingly efficient.

There are so many better ways to save or make more money than penny-pinching on food and avoiding nice food to save money.  Eating is a pleasure.  About the only pleasure left for a Catholic today.  Don't be too quick to ditch it.  You might miss it.

We have a garage owner coming over for dinner this weekend with his family.  He's a working class mechanic who took over the operation when his employer died.  We will sit down and enjoy sirloin steak and a couple of bottles of wine.  It will cost 120 dollars to feed 13 people.  Kids make some friends, I make some friends.

But ....  I need my clutch fixed in my car.  I've bought the part on ebay already for 80 dollars.  He will give me a cut priced deal, cash in hand, 'mates rates'.  I don't need an invoice.  No skin of his nose.

Normal price for a clutch replacement 600 dollars.  Mate's rates?  350 dollars labour.

My meal was free.

[Greg]

"Reliably inexpensive" can really vary, though.  Some weeks, cheese is $7/pound.  Some weeks it's $4/pound.  When you match it with coupons, you can end up getting it for $2/pound.  Most grocery stores have a cycle where some products are expensive certain times of the year and other times they're higher.  Part of the research involved with couponing involves getting a feel for what certain products normally cost and then what the lowest prices of the cycle are.  If you consistently buy things at their lowest point in the cycle, you can save a lot of money.  Some sites like Living Rich With Coupons do a lot of the research for you.

Agreed.  This is how I shop.  I know the per pound price of everything.  When it is cheap I stock up.  I have one 55lb bag of sugar (lasts years) and two 55lb bags of Basmati Rice.  Lasts us about 8 months per bag.  Recently they had high quality dried pasta on sale for 1.40 per kilo or 65c per pound.  I bought a couple of large boxes of it because it is normally $2.50-3.00 per kilo.

I have two coupons £15 of a £60 shop online with free delivery.  I buy heavy to move stuff which stores well and is never discounted.  I make the shop total £61 and get it for £46 and save another £10 in gas and hassle not having to pick the stuff up.

You cannot buy discounted sirloin steak though.

[Penelope]

Unlike the woman in the article, I don't see organic and non-GMO food as luxuries. It isn't the same as "fancy" wine versus ordinary wine (using her comparison). It's more like wine versus wine made from grapes that have been soaking in toxins. Buying organic and non-GMO food is a priority for us, and while it does mean that we spend more for groceries than we would shopping at Aldi, it is possible to shop for these products without breaking the bank. My family is far from wealthy--really, really far from wealthy--but we do almost all of our grocery shopping at Whole Foods. There is a way to shop smart at stores like Whole Foods (which we find to have organic products for lower prices than typical grocery stores).

[Chestertonian]

i don't know what my wife spends on food, probably not much becauseshe and my son are the only ones who eat

we clipped coupons when my son was in diapers.  i remember that was always a big expense every month. 

[JubilateDeo]

Unlike the woman in the article, I don't see organic and non-GMO food as luxuries. It isn't the same as "fancy" wine versus ordinary wine (using her comparison). It's more like wine versus wine made from grapes that have been soaking in toxins. Buying organic and non-GMO food is a priority for us, and while it does mean that we spend more for groceries than we would shopping at Aldi, it is possible to shop for these products without breaking the bank. My family is far from wealthy--really, really far from wealthy--but we do almost all of our grocery shopping at Whole Foods. There is a way to shop smart at stores like Whole Foods (which we find to have organic products for lower prices than typical grocery stores).

It's a luxury if you're really, really broke.

We were previously buying a lot of organic stuff, but my husband lost his job a few weeks ago and we have zero income now.  So bye-bye organic

[JubilateDeo]

i don't know what my wife spends on food, probably not much becauseshe and my son are the only ones who eat

we clipped coupons when my son was in diapers.  i remember that was always a big expense every month.

Yes, after matching up a lot of the various diaper coupons are out there (especially online) I am kicking myself for not doing that all of last year

[Penelope]

Unlike the woman in the article, I don't see organic and non-GMO food as luxuries. It isn't the same as "fancy" wine versus ordinary wine (using her comparison). It's more like wine versus wine made from grapes that have been soaking in toxins. Buying organic and non-GMO food is a priority for us, and while it does mean that we spend more for groceries than we would shopping at Aldi, it is possible to shop for these products without breaking the bank. My family is far from wealthy--really, really far from wealthy--but we do almost all of our grocery shopping at Whole Foods. There is a way to shop smart at stores like Whole Foods (which we find to have organic products for lower prices than typical grocery stores).

It's a luxury if you're really, really broke.

We were previously buying a lot of organic stuff, but my husband lost his job a few weeks ago and we have zero income now.  So bye-bye organic

Well, okay. If you have to choose between not eating at all because you can't buy organic or buying a box of Top Ramen in order to survive, then the choice is obvious. But, in general, people can make cuts elsewhere and shop smart in order to buy whole foods. This idea that organic food is something reserved for those with tons of disposable income--quirky rich folks who have hobbies like environmentalism and whatever the latest work-out trend may be--is harmful. Poor people should be able to eat healthy food, too, and, particularly for certain foods, organics/non-GMOs are much, much healthier than conventionally produced foods. The woman in the article seems to rely a lot on apples, for example. Conventional apples contain some of the highest levels of pesticides of all produce. (Source: same author as article in OP.) She thinks she's feeding her family a low-cost and healthy diet, but how healthy are all those toxins on all those apples they're eating? People do what they need to do to survive, but for most families, even those with lower incomes, we're not talking about merely surviving here.

[JubilateDeo]

I agree that poor people should be able to buy organic foods that are free of GMO's.  But that sort of thing is beyond the control of consumers.  More people are choosing to buy organic when given the choice, but if you are really poor, paying $1 more per pound for many foods is just not feasible.  It's been hard for us, because there were certain things I always bought organic like milk, eggs, meat, and all that. 

[erin is nice]

Those ideas are fine, but a dinner of chicken noodle soup and french bread is very meager and wouldn't satisfy my family. And only one spartan snack a day? Maybe her kids are not big eaters, but mine would be starving (and I would be starving). Does this family drink milk? We spend over $20 a week on milk alone!

[ResRev]

I was thinking about milk, too. We used to bring home 4 gallons at a time. Now we're down to just three.   I have $200 a week budgeted for a family of eight and that includes date night every week for hubby and me and occasionally dinner out with the whole family at the pizzeria. It used to be $150 week before prices went up and sizes went down. I thought I was doing okay.

[Baldrick]

One thing I never do is purchase anything that comes in a box.  When I see peeps purchasing all of that (what I call) "box food" AND soda crap, I find it very depressing, because it's very expensive (on top of usually being filled with crap) and those buying stuff like that are usually the people who are on some sort of assistance or otherwise cannot afford it. 

Invest in a high-quality 5 stage reverse osmosis with PH/re-mineralizer - NEVER buy water.  Avoid juice - it's expensive and fruit is better for you.

Quick/cheap breakfast: eggs, coffee (buy in bulk) & some sort of starch like rice or oats (buy in bulk) and....grass fed butter 

Quick/cheap lunch: whey protein (buy in bulk), coconut oil/coconut butter, and a piece of fruit. 

So far I've spent very little money.  It's delicious.  Kids would love it.  And it's easy.  And it can support a VERY active lifestyle calorie wise.  And it's extremely good for you. 

Dinner is another matter, lol. 


edit:  milk is basically sugar water, which is why kids love it.  It's alleged "goodness/wholesomeness" has been propagandized to death.  I don't personally think it's essential for kids.