Eating on $25 a Week: The Experiment

To raise awareness of hunger in America, the Illinois Food Bank Association recently asked locals to spend only $25 on seven days worth of food. Several folks took the IFBA up on the challenge, and found it difficult, if not impossible to endure. When all was said and done, responses from participants ranged from “I knew I could do it, however, it's not something that I would want to practice,” to “I am starving and my husband said to count him out after day one.”

Since today is Blog Action Day, I wanted to conduct a similar experiment. I wanted to choose a random U.S. City and plan a healthy week-long menu for $25 based EXCLUSIVELY on online circulars. My thought process went something like this: “Hey, I’m a frugal food blogger. I’ll show folks how this is done. It’ll be cake.”

As it turns out, I was wrong. SO SO SO SO wrong. SO WRONG.

Let me explain what happened.

The Conditions
To make my experiment fair, and (hopefully) applicable to readers, I applied the following ground rules:

• I assumed I had NOTHING in my pantry. No salt, no pepper, no cooking oil – nothing. I was starting from scratch.
• My menu had to provide some degree of variety, as seven straight days of soup would drive most people insane.
• There had to be meat included.
• The meals had to be relatively rounded.
• I couldn’t use coupons, but a supermarket discount card was acceptable.
• I could only “visit” two supermarkets, and they had to be relatively close to my town.
• I had to shop exclusively from their circulars.

Of course, in this imaginary universe, I took it for granted that I had transportation, access to the internet, and time to cook. I understand that’s not the case for millions of Americans, but we’ll have to go with it for now.

The Process
To begin, I used Random.org to generate a five-digit number. It came up with 49266. In zip code terms, that’s Osseo, Michigan, a town of 3100 ten miles north of the Ohio border. This would be my starting point.

According to Google Maps, the closest grocery chains to Osseo are Save-a-Lot, Market House, and Kroger, all located about seven miles away in Hillsdale. I chose to plan my menu based on selections from Kroger and Market House, since both had good sales and excellent web circulars.

Once my stores were decided, I started combing online deals, looking especially for whole produce, meat, and dairy. Finding good bargains on these proved to be relatively easy, and my lists quickly filled with fruit, vegetables, and lean chicken. The problems arose when I tried to fit ANYTHING ELSE into the budget. I blew the whole $25 without considering spices, oils, drinks, snacks, or other extras. It took quite a bit of retooling to find an acceptable cross-section of food. But I got it eventually.

After I had a functioning list, I devised a menu, starting with breakfasts. And? More issues. Even before I got into Day 4, it became apparent there was going to be a lot of meal repetition. Meaning, in real life? I would get bored of this QUICK.

Nonetheless, I persevered, making sure I didn’t exceed my budget or food allowances (4 ounces of green beans here, 3 ounces of sweet potato there). Despite this, my first menu, after 90 minutes of planning, was over by $3.85. My second shot, finished 15 minutes later, still registered at $26.86. It took one more go-round with a fine tooth comb (and the elimination of a bag of apples) to come up with a decent plan and final figure of $24.97.

You can see everything – calculations AND menu – at the end of this post.

Observations
And? The result? My $25 meal plan was do-able, but just barely. Among other things:

• I’m pretty sure this would have sated me (a grown woman) for a week (er … if I’m on a diet), but I don’t think it’s anywhere near enough for an adult male.
• Actual cooking had to be kept to a minimum, since there were no seasonings and very few extra ingredients to work with.
• Planning took much longer than expected, and the lack of wiggle room was infuriating, to say the least.
• It’s worth mentioning again: there is a TON of repetition. A week of peanut butter sandwiches would put me over the edge.
• In the end, generics were absolutely key. I would have starved otherwise.
• I was surprised to have some leftovers (bread, peanut butter, oranges). If I was to do this for another week, I’d use the extra money to buy salt, pepper, and cooking oil.

I realized I’m able to keep our current budget (The Boyfriend and I) under $50/week primarily because A) $50 is a lot more to work with, relatively speaking, and B) we have a fully-stocked pantry. Without that supply, amassed incrementally over a period of months, we’d be screwed.

In the end, next time I’ll think twice when I’m tempted to ask, “Why can’t people LIVE WITHIN THEIR MEANS?” It’s not always as easy as that.

GROCERY LIST

KROGER
$1.00 - Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup (1 can)
$1.66 - Kroger yogurt (5 6-oz containers)
$2.50 - Milk (1 gallon)
$1.98 - Navel oranges (4lb bag)
$1.99 - Pork chops (1 lb)
+$1.07 - Sweet potatoes (3 large)
=$10.20 for Kroger

MARKET HOUSE
$1.66 - Aunt Millie’s Old Fashioned Multigrain Bread (1 loaf)
$2.49 - Boneless skinless chicken thighs (1 lb)
$0.75 - Spartan canned diced tomatoes (1 14.5oz can)
$1.00 - Spartan canned pineapple (1 20oz can)
$0.99 - Spartan eggs (1 dozen)
$3.00 - Spartan frozen veggies (1 box each peas & carrots, green beans, broccoli 16oz)
$1.00 - Spartan pasta (1 16oz box)
$1.66 - Spartan peanut butter (1 18oz jar)
$0.50 - Spartan pinto beans (1 15-oz can)
$0.99 - Spartan Toasted Oats cereal (1 20 oz box w/$10 purchase)
+$0.73 - Roma tomatoes (3 4-oz tomatoes)
= $14.77 for Market House

$10.20 Kroger + $14.77 Market House = $24.97 TOTAL


WEEKLY MENU

DAY 1
BREAKFAST: 3 scrambled egg whites, 1 bowl cereal with milk, orange
LUNCH: 5 oz mashed pinto beans, peanut butter sandwich
DINNER: Pasta with chicken, diced tomatoes, and broccoli
SNACK: Yogurt
DRINKS: water, milk

DAY 2
BREAKFAST: 1 bowl cereal with skim milk, 4 oz canned pineapple
LUNCH: Pasta with chicken, diced tomatoes, and broccoli
DINNER: 1 large baked sweet potato, 5 oz. mixed peas and carrots, 1 roasted chicken thigh
SNACK: orange and/or toast with peanut butter
DRINKS: water, milk

DAY 3
BREAKFAST: Yogurt, orange
LUNCH: 5 oz mashed pinto beans, 1 roasted pork chop, 5 oz green beans
DINNER: Three baked eggs over roma tomatoes, 4 oz canned pineapple, 1 or 2 pieces toast with peanut butter
SNACK: yogurt
DRINKS: water, milk

DAY 4
BREAKFAST: 1 bowl oat cereal with skim milk, 4 oz canned pineapple
LUNCH: peanut butter sandwich, 1 cup chicken noodle soup
DINNER: 5 oz. mixed peas and carrots, 1 roasted chicken thigh, side of Pasta w/chicken, diced tomatoes, and broccoli
SNACK: orange
DRINKS: water, milk

DAY 5
BREAKFAST: 3 scrambled egg whites, 1 or 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter
LUNCH: 4 oz canned pineapple, 1 cup chicken noodle soup
DINNER: 5 oz green beans, 1 mashed sweet potato, 1 roasted pork chop
SNACK: orange
DRINKS: water, milk

DAY 6
BREAKFAST: 1 bowl oat cereal with skim milk, orange
LUNCH: 5 oz green beans, 1 roasted pork chop, yogurt
DINNER: Pasta with chicken, diced tomatoes, and broccoli
SNACK: orange and/or toast with peanut butter
DRINKS: water, milk

DAY 7
BREAKFAST: Yogurt, 4 oz canned pineapple, 1 piece toast with peanut butter
LUNCH: Three baked eggs over sliced roma tomatoes, 5 oz mashed pinto beans
DINNER: Baked sweet potato, 5 oz mixed peas and carrots, 1 roasted chicken thigh
SNACK: orange
DRINKS: water, milk

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If you liked this article, you might also dig:

• Feed the World: Holiday Volunteering and Food Donations
• The Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Food Crisis: How it Started, Who it Hurts Most, and How to Solve the Problem
• Recession-Proofing Your Diet: Food Strategies for a New Economy

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(Photos courtesy of Model Minority, Reuters, and Highlands Marketplace.)