You only have $20 for the week....what do you buy?

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Prices keep going up! Not sure I could make it a week on $20. I would likely do a two day water fast. For the rest of the week I would likely buy eggs, mayonnaise, tuna, hamburger, onions, pickles, frozen green beans, and celery. I think that would take it all!

[Jillo]

What a great thread! I need to pay off some bills, so I'm going to be doing this for a while.

And let me get this straight: not only are we living on $20 a week, but we're STILL doing low-carb so we're STILL losing weight and looking and feeling Awesome?

WIN!

[lowcarbmoon]

Originally Posted by amywah

Prices ure have gone up since 2009.

They sure have! It was nice looking at the prices at the beginning of this thread and seeing food at a reasonable price! LOL .. at first I didn't realize it was from 2009 so I was thinking "wow ... I need to find out where these folks are shopping!" LOL

I guess if I could only spend $20 .. and I have to feed myself and 2 adult males that are not lc'ing .. I would have to go to the Dollar Tree and get some things there:

1 pkg. Hash browns $1
1 pkg. tater tots $1
2# ground turkey $2
1 bag breakfast sausage links $1
2 bags stir fry veggies $2
2 cans tuna $1

Then hit the store next door and get:
2 doz. eggs $3
1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chilis $.89
1 head lettuce $1.29
10# bag leg quarters $3.90 (I have a raincheck YAAAAY)
1- 8oz pkg. cream cheese $1.50
1 small tomato $.33
1 cucumber $.50


Total: $19.41

Hey ... that is not bad! I think I will go get these things today! Except .. I will be adding an eggplant to this list. I have found I am totally loving eggplant that has been dipped in egg then dipped in parmesan cheese and fried.

[Heather150]

Prices sure have gone up. I have been stock piling again because in a few months I will most likely be living on a budget again. Our grocery store just had a wicked sale on toilet paper, paper towels, steamable veggies and hot dogs...so I stocked up big time. So when the time comes where I will only have $20 to spend..I will be half way there.

It's great to see this has helped quite a few people. Its not impossible...just takes some patience and a little planning and you don't have to go off LC!!!

[Lisa Lou]

It's amazing how prices have jumped in the two years since this thread started. Wow. Ground beef for 99 cents a pound. Not in 2011! One can only wish!

[Dottie]

Even foods like tuna and sardines are double and more since this started.

[Heather150]

I caught some great sales on tuna a few weeks ago....and steamed veggies. I will only have to supplement with chicken or ground beef when on sale during the winter. I sure hope we have a busy winter at work since the summer was sorta tough. Our dealership just didn't have any cars to sell thanks to the tsunami. The trucks are slowly coming our way....stocked in 21 cars so far this week....we need 80 to go to get the lot looking good again!!!

[Lileve]

box of 20 eggs ---€2,10
1 kg chicken breast -€4,80
3 cucumbers --€1,80
1 block of cheese -€5,40
small bottle mayo-€0.90
2 kg green beans -€2,50
3 bell peppers-€0.90
salami coldmeat (dutch)-€1,80

total: €19,80

But this would be for me. I also live my boyfriend and daughter, no way we could make it on 20 euro's a week!! Pfff, nappy's alone would take up half that budget!! ;-)

[green team]

Liver is inexpensive, in Britain anyway. My mum brought us up on a tight budget and we often had liver for dinner. I also love it, but my own kids hate it (mind you, they're girls, they hate virtually everything): that's the problem if you're budgeting for a family. But liver is awesome.

[Lileve]

Green Team: here in Holland it's virtually impossible to get liver or other organ food. It gets chucked or fed to the dog. People here don't see it as food.
Most of my family lives in Britain and they all love it. When we go over on holiday we usually ask for one of their special meals - we're cheap guests hahahaha

And yes, when buying for a family, part of the problem is that not everybody likes the same things.

[green team]

I keep meaning to ask: are you American, British, or Dutch?

I've always had a high opinion of the Dutch, but if they don't eat liver they've gone down in my estimation--you could hardly find a more vitamin-rich part of the animal. Lamb's liver's exquisite.

[Lileve]

Well, I'm a mixture, but not American.
It's like this: I have a Scottish mum (and a large family), a Dutch dad (who is actually French and German with a lot of Czech) and I was born/raised in Holland, but lived in Edinburgh for a year when I was 17.
Because I watch a lot of American tv (series/films) my speech mannerisms (in writing) are often American. I can 'turn that off' but since this is an American site I don't mind adjusting

Yep, lamb's liver is great. Unfortunately good lamb is hard to find here. Again, it's not really used here a lot. My mum is always despairing over the flavor of her lamb curry; she just can't get it to taste the way it did back home.

[sweepy]

subscribing

[shedevil13]

I can only wish for $20 a week. The cows and chickens have gone on strike in Alaska. $4 for bag of 8 oz of cheese or 3 lbs Cheese blocks are pushing $7-$9, BUTTER $4 for a box ugh, tuna $1.50, Cream cheese is $2.50-3.00, Eggs 19 pack $3.29, hamburger you can forget it $3.50+ a lb. Turkey was reasonable but now the prices are jacked up again to beef prices. Highway robbery. Almost cost effective to by a box of bars, box of shake, eggs, and cream cheese and butter. Salad? Bag Salad is almost reasonable at $3.50. I think I need $20 plus COL allowance. But will try next week to stick to $20. My kids also eat the same food so it will be tight.

[synger]

From this week's Giant sales circular:

Chicken of the Sea tuna $1/can, probably 5 cans worth
Chicken leg quarters $.79/lb., 5-6 lbs.
Ragu sauce 3/$5 1-2 jars


then, some eggs, 2 bags frozen veggies, and cheap cheese.

Assuming I can use butter, hot sauce, cream, and sauces/spices I already have.

[GThorp]

Jar of Coconut Oil----------$ 6.00
4 Pounds of Pork-----------$12.00
2 1-dollar lotto tickets-----$ 2.00

Fat and protein to keep me full. Fasting would be a must. Lotto ticket is a complete gamble to try and get a few extra bucks

[catnmouse]

I don't think it's possible for me.

Dozen eggs about 3.00
Heavy cream or half and half about 3.50
Veggies on sale 2for 3.00 x 4

That's not including any meat!

I'm Muslim so I have to buy my meat from a butcher(halal meat)
that usually runs 20 to 30 dollars a week( mostly chicken)
Also I own a restaurant so I eat breakfast there and dinner there at least 2 times a week.

I'm going to experiment this week and see how low I can get.
I have an empty refrigerator and freezer so I'll post back in a few days.

[Coleslaw]

Interesting thread !!

I checked currency conversion website and today $20 USD gets me 12.59 GBP which doesn't seem anywhere near like enough for food for a week because I spend around 100 GBP per week on two adults and a dawg but that does include stuff like washing powder, shampoo and dog food.

Lactofree reduced lactose filtered UHT semi skimmed milk 1 litre 2 @ 1.26 = 2.52 ASDA
Skimmed UHT milk 1 litre 7 @ 49p = 3.43 Lidl
for OH - Cheese rolls 4 for 1.00 GBP Tesco (he only likes theirs)
for dog - Winalot 2 cans for 99p so 8 cans = 3.96 Poundland
2 x 6 Irish free range eggs @ 1.39 = 2.78 Spar (only like these)

Just these is over 13.00 GBP and that only covers the milk, eggs for breakfast, dog food but no mixer, cheese rolls for OH but no ham or butter and no lunch for me or dinner for the humans ! ASDA is the cheapest supermarket, Lidl is a discount supermarket, Poundland is another discounter.

[LJB]

Can this thread be made into a sticky?