Hunger Challenge - Bulk Bins, Diet Coke and Childhood

I did a lot of costing and price comparisons before I made my decisions on what to buy this week.    The bulk bins were a real saving grace because there was no way I could get the menu in under budget buying five pound bags of staples and whole jars of spices.   The only problem is in terms of price per unit, I payed  A LOT more than if I'd been able to afford a larger size.    Here's an example,  flour is $ 1.19 per pound out of the bulk bins, but had I been able to buy the five pound bag of Gold Medal Flour I would have payed just .60 cents per pound.   So it is really a trade off between being able to buy a little this week or saving up and being able to buy a lot more, at a better price next week.  The problem is what if you really NEED flour this week?  What do you do?  You buy the thing you need at the best price you can get, regardless if the item is a good value or not.  I think this is one of the traps you can fall into if you have a very limited food budget.  You literally end up being nickle and dimed to death over basic necessities.  I can see how you would wind up with very little or nothing at all left over at the end of the week both in terms of money to spend and staples to fill your shelves with.

When I was little we were on a pretty strict food budget.  My mom was a divorced, working mom when none of those things were socially acceptable.  We'd go grocery shopping and mom would keep a running total going.  If we went over our allotted amount, then something had to go back, no matter how badly we wanted it.   Participating in this challenge has made me realize it has been a very long time since I had to give up something I wanted from the grocery store. 

In terms of giving things up, I will not be giving up diet coke this week.  I think those closest to me will be relieved to hear that.  I found a six pack of diet coke for $1.99 at our grocery store so that will be caffeine for the week.  Limiting myself to one a day will be fine.  I drink too much of the stuff anyway.  In my defense, several years ago I was drinking between ten and twelve cans a day.  My ob/gyn was horrified and told me I was not going to have any bones left and to knock it off.  So I weaned myself down over a series of several months and now I'm down to a couple a day.   A girl's got to have a few vices.

I'll be posting lunches on Wednesday and dinners on Thursday so stay tuned.

So with the $1.99 we're down to $39.35 for the week.

Comments

[mamichelle]

We were in the same boat when I was young. My mom somehow always found a way.

Good for you on the DC. It's not good for you anyway! Maybe by cutting back, you can eventually cut it out. I was hypnotised for weight loss several years ago. The one thing that stuck, to this day, was diet coke. All I drink is water. I can't even tolerate a mixed drink with any soda.

[alice]

Hey Gaynol, wonderful posts! You know this challenge is interesting because if you re-buy everything you need the cheaper small quantity things are way over priced compared to larger quantity sized. Last week I bought a 2 qt jug of Kikkoman soy sauce for $4.99. For the challenge I ended up buying a 5 oz jar of Kikkoman soy sauce for $1.99. Just isn't right.