If I only had $10, for groceries what would I buy?

Apr 11, 2009 by     7 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Grocery Challenge, saving money

Egg & bowl Suppose harder times hit us. Would we be prepared? Could we eat nutritionally if we only had $10 a week (or 10€)?  Just to make this easy, lets pretend that the USD and the EURO are at parity. I’ll be using $ in this exercise.  I’d love to hear how YOU would do it & hear your ideas. Please click on the little number at the top of this posting and tell me what you would buy if you only had $10. I’d really like to learn from you.

John & I are NOT picky eaters, so here are some of my ideas:

Here is what I would buy (approximate costs):

oatmeal- $1 a box

eggs-$1 a dozen

1 pk of the bread mix I buy for bread-$1.39 this can last John and me for 1 full week, as it makes 2 loaves.

1 kilo of beans- $1

1 kilo of rice- $1.40

1 liter of milk- $0.60

1 bag of apples- $1.80

canned tuna- $1.50

1 head of lettuce- $0.40

Total: $10.09

Sample Menus:

Breakfasts:

oatmeal & milk

egg & toast

cooked rice & milk w/ an apple diced in it.

baked custard

baked apples

Lunches or suppers:

beans & rice + salad

rice w/tuna casserole

bean & rice burgers (use on raw egg as a binder) + bread & lettuce

tuna sandwiches w/ lettuce

fried egg salad sandwiches w/ lettuce

creamed eggs over toast

* it would be helpful if there were a wee bit of mayo and oil in the house… but you could live without it and even loose a few lbs.

What would you buy??

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7 Comments + Add Comment

  • Anita April 18, 2009 at 8:36 am

    I would buy…

    * 2 heads lettuce 1.50
    * 1 kilo beans 1
    * 2 kilos on sale seasonal fruit 2
    * 500 grams rice .75
    * 2 kilo potatoes 1
    * 1 doz eggs 1.30
    * 1 kilo on sale seasonal vegetables 1
    * 1 pack smoked sausages 2 euros.

    thats 10.55

    but i think with the 4 of us, we would need to go up to about 15. fun game though :) . we eat a lot of fruit and veggis and the kids like yogurt alot.

  • pearsonsprogress April 18, 2009 at 11:22 am

    Good one Anita! Can I come to your house to eat?~ Love, Mom

  • Jesseka April 20, 2009 at 9:19 am

    I would probably split mine with about 1/3 produce and 2/3 staples, like rice, beans, eggs, possibly cheap meat of some kind. Oh, and candy and bubble gum too… I think we’d have to do at least 15 too, maybe 20 because prices are more here, but that’s not taking into account one’s pantry or garden. We could live for a long time out of our pantry. In fact, that’s what we’re doing now- I’m mostly buying produce and very cheap grocery game deals for stocking up. I’ve even started bypassing lots of the “regular” deals and only going with things that are super good deals. :)
    It is fun… very rewarding to see how much the Lord provides with what seems like so little.

  • pearsonsprogress April 20, 2009 at 9:31 am

    Good one Jesseka! I could eat out of my current pantry for some time too. I’ll probably do that once the guests leave in May. As it is, Dad and I eat a lot of beans and rice, which we love. Tonight for supper (after my meeting at church) I’ll use the hard-cooked eggs in the fridge to make egg salad sandwiches and I’ll add the curry to it that you and BL have taught me to do. Also, this Thursday potatoes are on sale at LIDL for only 0,20 euro cents a kilo! I’m going to be canning them and hopefully can enough for 1 year.
    You’re doing a fantastic job! ~mom

  • John C. Pearson April 20, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    $10 would be tough.

    Here’s a food sampling from Alaska:

    kilo of beans- $2
    eggs -2.69/doz.
    oatmeal -2.50/box
    milk -3.69/gal
    apples -1.49/lb
    potatoes -6.00/10 lbs
    bread -3.69/loaf
    lettuce -3.50/head
    avocados -1.99/per
    This is all the cheapest lowest quality stuff.

    What a rip-off huh? Shipping is expensive. It pays to eat locally.

    What we do:

    Buy in bulk. 50lb. bags at a time of oats, wheat, millet, barley, corn, white and brown rice, beans, salt etc…

    With that we make bread, waffles for breakfast, hot cereal (millet is great), eat lots of beans (VERY good with smoked salmon instead of ham)

    Eat salmon we catch or buy cheap
    same with halibut.
    Buy whole cow or buffalo from local rancher (quartered)
    or hunt wild cow and deer
    pick wild berries (we pick about 10 gallons/year)
    have chickens for eggs and meat.
    rarely drink milk except when goats are milking

    This year I am going to try growing some storable veggies like cabbage, beets, turnips,and winter squash and blanching and freezing broccoli, carrots, kale and a few other things. I’m also going to plant some alfalfa “patches” for chicken and goat feed.

    I guess that’s off the $10 topic. I guess we’d be pretty hard pressed to stick to that.

  • pearsonsprogress April 20, 2009 at 3:17 pm

    Thanks John. Yeah Alaska has some real challenges and benefits too. I bought some dried corn while in the USA, added that to a pot of beans and some beef jerky… yummo
    I think your plan is a good one.

    We all have a lot to spend our cash on…you, with a large family and us with all these ministry expenses for 3 translations going on… so thinking about every cent is a good thing! Keep up the good work! ~ love, mom

  • Anita April 21, 2009 at 4:17 am

    A friend of mine has asked me this week to help her menu plan and budget for a grocery challenge, isn’t that fun??