Mary's $20 Monthly Menu

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Mary's $20 Monthly Menu

Written by Mary aka SalHemings@aol.com

Question: How would you feed your family if you only had $20 for groceries during the month?

This is not a fair question for a dumpster diver! I could do $20 easy any month, anytime. But it would be a lot easier in the winter because I could get a lot of meats and dairy.

If you take into account my dumpster diving, I'd buy $20 worth of markdown meats. I'd drink water that month. And I'd dive everything else. With this strategy, I could eat EXTREMELY well if I stuck to $.29/lb chicken, marked down ground beef, etc. We actually only spend about $40/month including Coke and extras. If it were the dead of winter, I could still have the Coke and extras. I have a daily meat source, that I didn't develop until late during the cold weather. We currently have enough meat in the freezer to last until August or so -- all free.

If you don't take into account the dumpster diving, I would shop the reduced racks at my 2 grocery stores where produce goes for $.19 and $.29/lb. Bagged salads are $.29. I'd buy everything else at Save-A-Lot and salavage grocery store. The prices below represent my lowest prices from salvage and thrift groceries. (Wish we had an Aldi's) We only have 2 in the family.

2 cans spaghetti sauce $1.00
2 lbs. marked down ground beef $1.50
1 lb. dried kidney beans. $.25
1 lb. red beans $.25
1 lb. lentils $.25
3 onions $.30
1 lb carrots $.19
1 bunch of celery $.49
20 lbs of potatoes $2.00
marked down ham (saw one yesterday) $3.50
3 loaves of marked down bread $1.00
margarine $.49
2 lbs marked down cheese $1.50
2 dozen eggs marked down (they really do this here $ .50
3 lbs of pasta at big lots $ .90
Whole chicken marked down $1.75
2 Creamed Soups $ .50
2 bags of salad $ .60
Rice $ .49
2 cans tuna from salvage store $ .60
15 lbs marked down produce $3.00
(apples, broccoli, green beans, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce grapefruit, lemons, mushrooms, and whatever else I could find.)

I'd make 30 meals as follows and eat the leftovers at other times of the day. There would be some stuff like pasta, veggies, and soup left. I could have toast for breakfast, with soup or other leftovers. Maybe some fruit. I cheated. This assumes I have spices, flour, and dry milk (which I always do).

Macaroni & Cheese
lentil soup (three times)
scalloped potatoes with ham and salad
Ham dinner with scalloped potatoes
omelettes with fresh fruit (twice)
spaghetti with meat sauce easy on the meat, salad (twice)
chili with kidney beans and meat (twice)
plain pasta with margarine, cheese, and garlic (twice)
roasted chicken with stuffing & mashed potatoes, salad, and broccoli
chicken soup with noodles (twice)
chicken casserole
frittata with veggies
red beans & rice with bits of ham added (three times)
ham & eggs with toast
steamed veggies & rice (twice)
egg salad sandwich
baked potatoes with toppings (3 times)
tuna casserole (twice with leftoers)

Of course, I could go for a lot longer than a month with what I have in the freezer and under the bed. LOL And not have to buy a thing if I didn't have to.

I think I'll stick to dumpster diving. It's a constant stream of free food. So much food that I have trouble dealing with it all.

Mary
Changing Lives Through Dumpster Diving
Come Join Us at the Diving Board
"If you paid, you paid too much."

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