Saturday, September 13, 2008

DAYS 11 AND 12, MORE GROCERY SHOPPING, AND THE PRICE OF MOVIE POPCORN

Day 11 (Thursday):
Breakfast: Green Smoothies*, cinnamon rolls
Lunch: PB & J on homemade bread, grapes, water
Dinner: Baked potatoes, egg rolls, salad, sweet tea

Thursday afternoon, I went to the store and bought:
-4 peaches
-1 onion
-2 potatoes
-Bag of carrots
-6 Bananas
-Wheat flour
-Cocoa
-Sugar
-Toilet Paper
-Corn Syrup
-Egg Roll Wrappers
-1 head of Cabbage
-3 apples

I went to three stores: the produce stand, Save-a Lot, and Bi-LO. I spent a total of $27.70, which brings my total monthly spending to $124.34. I am definitely going to have to be careful for the rest of the month, if I am going to stay under $200. Especially since a good friend of mine and her two children will be visiting for five days this week.

Day 12 (Friday):
Breakfast: Green smoothies*, cereal
Lunch: Caedmon and I went with a kindergarten class on a field trip to Applebees (for "A" week). The younger two boys had lunch with Matt's mom at her house.
Dinner: Kids had homemade pizza. Matt took me on an impromptu date night to dinner and a movie!

So, the hubby and I are walking in to the theatre and he asks me if I would like popcorn. I didn't, but looked at the menu, curious to see how much it cost. $5 for a small popcorn! I turned to Matt and said "Do you realize that I can feed one member of our family for 3 1/2 days on $5?!!" He laughed and said there was no way that I could do that. So, I showed him the math. $200 for 1 month, for a family of 5. That's $50 a week, or $10 a week, per person. That means I can feed one person in our family for half a week, for the cost of one small bag of movie theatre popcorn. If I had wanted the popcorn before I figured that out, I sure didn't after! This experiment is really opening my eyes (and I think, my husband's!), not only to how much excess is in our lives, but also the value we put on products (not necessarily related to the monetary cost). Stuff to ponder.

*Green smoothies have become a daily thing around here again, after a couple of months without making them very often. They are the easiest way to insure that my youngest children get fresh leafy greens in their little bodies!

5 comments:

  1. Have you noticed the difference in our quotes on our blogs? Yours says not to grasp for the stars but to be content to do your daily work--mine says to shoot for the moon and even if you miss you'll land among the stars. I wonder what this says about our personalities? We sure are different, aren't we?

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  2. And just why is my blog not on your blog roll of honor? Huh? Huh? I'll remember that the next time you need a babysitter!

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  3. It was nice to have you and Caed join us on the field trip Friday!!

    I've got to tell you, especially since you were questioning your daily challenge updates, I am becoming more inspired to really squeeze my grocery budget. Even a little over $200 at the end of the month will be a very commendable accomplishment!! Great job!

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  4. Cheers to green smoothies!

    I love the story about the popcorn! Crazy prices, I agree.

    Have a super week,
    Kristen

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  5. Did you like that movie, Laurel? It looks interesting for sure.

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