Snackuary: January Food Budget Challenge

[Illathrael]

@CalBal

Dolsot bibimbap

I just looked up a few recipes and this looks amazing

[rural]

I make an extra saucy stir fry or a curry and throw in leftover rice at the last minute, just long enough to get it hot. It soaks up the excess sauce and is therefore yum.

This is brown rice as that’s all I cook for humans (the dog gets white since it seems to be easy on his tummy - thanks @Gdogg!)

[diapasoun]

@cube

Anyone have good recipes to use up leftover cooked rice?

Rice pudding is delicious.

I also will make simple soups (miso-ginger broth, some sliced mushroom, some green onion) and pour that over rice. We did that the other night, actually.

[CalBal]

I totally forgot about curry and rice pudding. Yeah, I do those things too. So good.

[plainjane]

I did not buy chips this afternoon, mostly because I said for this challenge that I wasn’t going to buy any prepared food when alone.

[LadyDuck]

I spent $95 on groceries from the supermarket today, tomorrow I pick up meat and fresh produce. I have $55 left for the week, so… I’ll probably end up over budget.

[Smacky]

Week 3 check ins are now closed. One week left!

[Sunflower]

I’m late checking in since it was a long weekend and we were travelling…

…and we blew the budget. Blah.

We have $1 left between groceries and restaurants for the month, and we need to do at least a small grocery shop this weekend (~$25?) plus we’re supposed to get lunch out with friends on Saturday (I don’t actually want to go to this but that’s another story).

So at this point we’ll just try to limit the damage. We’ll need to sit down and rethink whether we can survive on this food budget long term if I do end up quitting in March.

[Greyweld]

I’m so impressed with all y’all that got to week 3 before blowing your budget

[cube]

@CalBal

Dolsot bibimbap

I actually just bought some gochujang on a whim, so this is perfect!

[anomalily]

I guess with one week left, I’ll probably be okay on budget.
Groceries: $91.11 /$125 budget
Grocery “Treats”: $11.78 /$20 budget

I have used up both of my “popcorn instead of dinner” nights.

I’m not doing great at meal prep, but not doing terribly either mainly because SSO has been making chili on weekends and I’ve been doing a lot of baking tofu, chickpeas and sweet potatoes as a snack for throughout the week.

Haven’t eaten out at all other than donuts, but you know - could have predicted a vegan donut shop would open directly under my darn flat? Gotta roll with the punches. Have gotten 4 donuts, but two were business expense donuts for livestream. So $8 total on donuts. Helps that my “welcome lunch” was catered in the office.

[Cannibalsox]

Thursday is a good check in day for me as it’s my “day off” and can usually get some meal prep done.

For the month I’m at $41.43/$50 of my eating out/impulse snacks budget and $131.37/$150 of my groceries budget. Sweaty is doing this week’s big shopping so all I’ll probably get for the rest of the month is a couple items I deem necessary that he forgets (I’m gonna take a guess now and say coconut oil and raisins and sugar!). This past week I spent just under $5 on Clif bars and gels (running nutrition) at work. Put it in the snack category but the gels could also have gone in running – but I overspent slightly in running this month.

I haven’t eaten out again or got coffee out, though we’re getting low on instant coffee and when we’re out is when I’m most likely to grab coffee out.

Today I was a meal prepping wizard. I made spaghetti with soyrizo, broccoli and an improvised cashew cream sauce and homemade bread rolls for dinner (there’s plenty of leftover spaghetti – I doubt the rolls will last). I also made blueberry muffins, a pot of rice, and a pot of curry featuring red pepper, cauliflower, and chickpeas. Oh, and another batch of oat milk. Feeling good about all that! As long as I have things on hand to whip up muffins or cookies, not buying snacks out really hasn’t been that bad!

[LadyDuck]

Week 4. Supermarket $95, greengrocer $35, butcher $55. That’s over budget this week by $45. Next week we’ve got $100 left… Time to eat down the freezer a bit!

ETA I love how this challenge has helped me only step foot in an actual supermarket once this month.

[CalBal]

Since last week I have further eaten down without replacement:

• jar of pepperoncini
• canned crab
• jar of cherry juice
• quart of coffee soy milk
• chocolate sauce
• 1/2 pint jam

This week I have not spent any money on food because I thought yesterday was Thursday not Friday, and I was going to go to the store Friday (oops). I now have to decide if I want to brave the crowds or just wait until Monday. I do need to buy: eggs, lettuce, cabbage, dill, milk, half & half, and possibly flour and salmon or some other fish, as I am now out of all frozen shrimp and fish and one entire drawer in my freezer is empty and that reminds me, I should put some containers of water in there. (Though I still have a bit of canned stuff that I am not sure what to do with.) I will also likely buy a can of tuna and a can of coconut milk, and will continue to do so as I use them, because they are good, easy meals for me. I still have carrots, potatoes, and onions, as well as frozen beans, peaches, and zucchini. And I still have one orange, two grapefruits, and two lemons left from what my neighbors gave me (which is < 1/2 the total). I may also get some herbal tea or something, as I no longer have anything to drink that is not water or caffeinated other than decaf coffee (and I don’t always want coffee). Hm.

I ate this week (among other things): crab cakes, black bean soup, toast pizza, pasta, soup with shiso somen and hon-tsuyu base, tuna sandwiches, fish tacos, smoothies made with coffee soy milk, and shrimp curry. The coffee soy milk was really surprising in that I really liked it with the chocolate protein powder (I was very hesitant). If I see it on sale again I might buy another box! The only downside is that, since it contains actual coffee, I can’t drink it in the afternoon or evening (or, at least, I didn’t want to risk it). For the curry I opened up the container of panang curry paste in the cupboard - this one was not open yet, but I was getting tired of green curry every single time, and I should get through both of them (I suspect).

The list continues to decrease, and my refrigerator shelves continue to dwindle, and yet there is still much variety to be had! The soy milk and the jam were from my original, long-term list, so still making progress there too. I am quite frankly amazed at what I can come up with with just one or two additional ingredients, and will continue to pursue this as long as possible. I really encourage everyone to try, because, wow, I don’t feel deprived at all, and even if I wasn’t doing this in preparation of a move, it would still be getting all the old stock out of the house! I love cooking and trying new recipes but I am also very relaxed about food and can totally eat curry and roasted veg and stir frys every day for a long time, so . I am very interested to see how far I can go!

ETA: This week will likely see dolmades, seitan “ribs”, dolsot bibimbap, leftover curry, some sort of stir fry, and, if I go to the store, tuna sandwiches, among other things.

[esme]

@esme

My goals for this month:

• $400 food budget (this is $100 less than normal/average)
• No supermarket runs to ‘fill in’ between official food shopping trips
• one restaurant meal (when my dad visits in a couple weeks)
• no spending my own money on coffee (we have a gift card to the local coffee place - that can be used)

Week 4:

• Total food budget was $400. I spent $536.21. Yikes.
• No fill-in visits this week
• No restaurants this week
• Still milking that gift card at the coffee shop.

[daffodil2001]

@daffodil2001

• Do a lot of meal prep/batch cooking and stock the freezer with easy meals while I’m unemployed, so that we can do less cooking for a while once I get another job lined up.
• Use up our freezer banana stash. I keep buying bananas to make a chia seed pudding for breakfasts, and we keep not making it and then tossing the bananas in the freezer when they start to go bad.
• Actually make at least one batch of chia seed pudding because we have a lot of chia seeds. Or figure out something else to do with the seeds.

1. Still doing well.

2. No progress—I plan to use some bananas in cookies next week when we have some friends over.

3. On hold because we scored some Greek yogurt from a neighbor who didn’t like it, so we’re set for breakfast for a while.

[rural]

Project clean out the freezer continues in Week 4. I finally composted the inedible cabbage this morning and used to the last of the frozen chicken in supper tonight. I’ll finish the blackberries with tomorrow’s breakfast. We still have way too much food in there to fit it into the fridge freezer (and the fridge is a side-by-side), so the project will continue next month.

[Panda]

Week 4 updatey-doo:

1. Budget of $300: currently at $417.46, but if you don’t count fancy bday dinner for my boyfriend and me, I’m on track still lol. I’m really happy with grocery spending though- this is by far my lowest grocery spend month, even with today’s splurge on fancy teas from a local shop.

2. Eat 2 veggies a day: if you average all the days out, success! I’ve tended to eat massive servings some days and then none other days, so consistency will be the next goal haha.

[anomalily]

Final week update! I think I’ll get through for the week, did the big shop today!

Groceries: $120.41/$125
Grocery “Treats”: $16.10/$20

[TrisPrior]

I feel kind of like I’ve cheated because Boyfriend did his food shop today (we buy our own food) and also got a bunch of stuff for me (that he will eat too, mostly), so I… don’t actually need to do a food shop this week?

Regarding this goal:

@TrisPrior

• get real about how much food I actually need to eat during my work day and bring that amount of food to work. (I, uh, actually have a lot of shame about this one. I feel like the amount of food I need to not be hangry is enormous and embarrassing - but, if I bring tiny meals that I feel “should” be enough and then end up eating out of the vending machine because I’m so hangry I can’t concentrate on my job, that’s not helpful.)

I have been bringing larger portions and cooking more filling things (like chili with many beans and lentils) and I’ve had a lot less problem with hanger at work. Though… work has also been really really stressful which causes me to lose my appetite and want food less. So, I don’t know if it’s a fair test. I’ve only eaten vending machine crap a couple times this month though!