Monday, September 24, 2012

The SNAP Results


Running Food Tally:  Monday 17th to Sunday 23rd September 2012
Weetbix (14 bics)                                1 pk = 72 bics for approx. $4.00                     Cost $0.78
Rice Cakes (8)                                     1pk = 5 serves for approx. $1.50                    Cost $0.60
Tea Bags (12)                                      1pk = 250 bags for approx. $5.00                  Cost $0.24
Apple (4)                                               each apple approx. 200g @$3/kg                  Cost $2.40
Milk (7L)                                              $1 per litre                                                           Cost $7.00
Grain Waves chips                            one pack @ $2.50                                               Cost $2.50
Instant Coffee                                     200g=$13; 50g used                                           Cost $3.25
Strawbs (2 pt)                                      2 punnets @ $1.69 per punnet                         Cost $3.38
Cream (280ml)                                   600ml = $2.25 (round up to 300ml)               Cost $1.12
Crispbreads (9)                                   1 pk = 36 biscuits @ $1.80                                Cost $0.45
Milo                                                       1kg = $8; approx. 100g used                           Cost $0.80
Lettuce (1/2)                                        Lettuce head was purchased for $1               Cost $0.50
Butter (500g)                                       250g Butter = $1.50                                           Cost $3.00
Lindt Choc (140g)                              Purchased @ $1.80/100g                                 Cost $2.52
Mayonnaise                                         estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.20
Tomato (1)                                           purchased @ $8/kg; 150g                                                Cost $1.20
Ham (300g)                                          purchased @ $16/kg                                          Cost $4.80
Tortillas (12)                                       purchased @ $3 for 12 pk                                Cost $3.00           
White Sugar                                        estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.70
Avocado (1)                                         purchased @ $2                                                  Cost $2.00           
Cheese slices (11)                                purchased 12pk @ $0.99                                  Cost $0.99
Arborio Rice                                       1kg pk @ $4; 250g used                                    Cost $1.00                           
Vanilla essence                                   estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.50
Onion (4)                                              purchased @ $1/kg; 6 to a kg                          Cost $0.67
Cheese block(1kg)                              purchased @ $8/kg                                            Cost $8.00
Corn kernels                                       400g can cost $1                                                 Cost $1.00
Cordial                                                 estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.50
Carrot (4)                                             1kg @ $1; 8 to a kg                                            Cost $0.50
Ice cream (2L)                                    purchased @ $2.49/2L                                      Cost $2.49
Cannalini beans                                  400g can cost $1.45                                           Cost $1.45
Mineral Water                                    1.5L bottle @ $0.88                                           Cost $0.88
Zucchini (1)                                         3pk purchased @ $3                                          Cost $1.00
Yoghurt (500ml)                                 1kg yoghurt @ $4.50                                         Cost $2.25
Taco seasoning                                   30g spice mix @ $2                                            Cost $2.00           
Ginger powder                                    estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.20
Mushrooms (700g)                             purchased @ $8/kg                                            Cost $5.60
Mince beef (300g)                              purchased @ $4/kg                                            Cost $1.20
Tomato Passata                                  purchased @ $0.99/jar                                     Cost $0.99
Chilli powder                                      estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.20
Garlic (3 cloves)                                 bulb cost $0.80; 10 cloves/bulb                       Cost $0.24
Chicken (150g)                                    purchased @ $7/kg                                            Cost $1.05
Soy Sauce                                             estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.20
Chicken stock                                      125g @ $2.20; approx. 40g used                    Cost $0.70
Celery (1/4 bunch)                             half bunch purchased @ $1.40                       Cost $0.70
Rump Steak (200g)                            purchased @ $10/kg                                          Cost $2.00           
Rice vermicelli                                   pk = $1.20; ½ pk used                                        Cost $0.60
Nutella spread                                     estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.60
Pineapple (can)                                   400g @ $2                                                            Cost $2.00
Egg (4)                                                  dozen purchased @ $2.00                                Cost $0.67
Sliced bread                                         2 loaves @ $1/loaf                                             Cost $2.00
Cheese & Bacon Balls                       purchased @ $1/bag                                          Cost $1.00
Capsicum (1)                                       purchased @ $4/kg; approx. 300g                 Cost $1.20
Deli Turkey (100g)                            purchased @ $14/kg                                          Cost $1.40
Noodles (2 pkts)                                  10pks @ $5.00                                                     Cost $1.00
Raspberry Jam                                   estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.50
Olives (1/2 jar)                                    jar @ $3.50                                                          Cost $1.75
Mozzarella (600g)                             purchased @ $5.50                                            Cost $5.50
Mushroom soup                                  can purchased @ $2.00                                     Cost $2.00
Tomato Paste                                      jar purchased @ $1.20                                      Cost $1.20
Bananas (3)                                          retail price $2/kg; approx. 400g                    Cost $0.80
Shredded Ham (1kg)                         purchased @ $7/kg                                            Cost $7.00
Spiral pasta                                         1pk @ $1.50; ½ pk used                                    Cost $0.75
Paprika                                                 estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.10
Sopressa (150g)                                  purchased @ $17/kg                                          Cost $2.55
Cream Cheese(250g)                         purchased @ $2                                                  Cost $2.00
Flour (SR & Plain)                             estimated cost                                                      Cost $3.00
Italian Herbs                                       estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.40
Sunflower oil                                       estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.50
Maple syrup                                        estimated cost                                                      Cost $1.20           
Vegemite                                              estimated cost                                                      Cost $0.20
Dried Yeast                                          280g @ $4.50; approx. 30g used                    Cost $0.48
Icing Sugar                                          500g @ $1.90; approx. 200g used                  Cost $0.76
                                                                TOTAL COST FOR GROCERIES:              Cost $117.91

 Other: Lunch order for Emily - $4.30; Lunch order for Emily - $3.30;
        Takeaway fish and chips - $20; Takeaway Indian - $50
                                                                TOTAL COST FOR EXTRA ITEMS           Cost $77.60

                                                                TOTAL COST OF FOOD EXPENSES        Cost $195.51



FAIL

My total grocery cost is not far off my target of $100, but the extras threw me right out to almost double my target.  Had we needed to, we could have made the $100 work.  In my calculations I included all food used, not what was purchased.  I think I ended up spending about $54 at the grocery stores during this week because I try to go to the shops as least as possible (thereby avoiding the impulse buys).  I estimate I will need to grocery shop by about Wednesday this week with a major shop, and I had bought most of my supplies the Wednesday before the challenge (spending about $130).
There were items in my total that were given to us (i.e. the bananas) or that I would not have bought if I were planning on a budgeting challenge (i.e. the avocado or the ice cream) but some items in these categories needed to be used, so it was better to eat and include the items than waste and exclude them for the sake of this challenge.  As a household we have very little food wastage (normally only if the leftovers get forgotten).
Also a lot of the items are part of a larger quantity - spices, flours, oil, spreads, etc so these do not get purchased regularly and the full expense of the item is very infrequent, so $3 here or $2 there is less noticeable - and most of these expenses were estimates based on the cost and how often I buy them.  For most spices the ones I have are up to 3 years old (and probably less pungent) so I would not normally factor the cost of these into a dish.
The 8 pizzas we made on Sunday night would normally feed the 4 of us for 4 meals, so if you count that instead of the takeaway Thursday and Saturday and still a leftover for Monday (which we have) the actual grocery cost could be accurate for us as a family.

I have learned a lot from this little experiment.  How about you?

Sunday SNAP Challenge



SUNDAY:
Breakfast consisted of toast with butter and vegemite spread.  The girls had a glass of milk each, Hubby had one, and I had two cups of instant coffee with milk and sugar. (Can you tell I'm not a morning person?)
Lunch - We made toasted sandwiches with ham, turkey and cheese. Hubby and I had another instant coffee with milk and sugar each.
Dinner was home made pizzas.  We used to buy the frozen pizza bases but they work out to about $1 each and taste like cardboard so about 2 years ago we tried making our own pizza dough and since then have not bought another frozen pizza base.  Our recipe is 2 tsp dried yeast, 1/2 tsp salt, 2+1/2 cups plain flour, 1 cup warm water, 1 tbsp oil (all in metric).  We have never had the bases turn out badly using this recipe.  Yes, it does take a lot of time (mix and knead, rest for 30 mins, knead and shape on trays, then top) but they taste great.  We used tomato paste (the rest of the jar from Friday's Strog.), dried Italian herbs, 600g mozzerella cheese, 1kg shredded ham, 150g sopressa, onion, olives, capsicum, mushrooms, pineapple and grated colby cheese for the top.  We doubled the dough mixture and made 8 pizzas in total.  We were catering for 5 adults, 3 kids, and ended up with 2 pizzas left over for lunch/dinner Monday.
Dessert was banana cake with cream cheese icing.  Hubby decided to use up the sad looking bananas on the bench that my mum had passed on to us earlier in the week.

Running Food Tally:  Monday 17th to Sunday 23rd September 2012
Weetbix (14 bics)
Rice Cakes (8)
Tea Bags (12)
Apple (4)
Milk (6.5L)
Grain Waves chips
Instant Coffee
Strawbs (2 pt)
Cream (280ml)
Crispbreads (9)
Milo
Lettuce (1/2)
Butter (500g)
Lindt Choc (140g)
Mayonnaise
Tomato (1)
Ham (300g)
Tortillas (12)
White Sugar
Avocado (1)
Cheese slices (11)
Arborio Rice
Vanilla essence
Onion (4)
Cheese block(1kg)
Corn kernels
Cordial
Carrot (4)
Ice cream (2L)
Cannalini beans
Mineral Water
Zucchini (1)
Yoghurt (500ml)
Taco seasoning
Ginger powder
Mushrooms (700g)
Mince beef (300g)
Tomato Passata
Chilli powder
Garlic (3 cloves)
Chicken (150g)
Soy Sauce
Chicken stock
Celery (1/4 bunch)
Rump Steak (200g)
Rice vermicelli
Nutella spread
Pineapple (can)
Egg (4)
Sliced bread
C&B Balls
Capsicum (1)
Deli Turkey (100g)
Noodles (2 pkts)
Raspberry Jam
Olives (1/2 jar)
Mozzarella (600g)
Mushroom soup
Tomato Paste
Bananas (3)
Shredded Ham (1kg)
Spiral pasta
Paprika

Sopressa (150g)
Cream Cheese(250g)
Flour (SR & Plain)
Italian Herbs
Sunflower oil
Maple syrup
Vegemite
Dried Yeast
Icing Sugar


 Other: Lunch order for Emily - $4.30; Lunch order for Emily - $3.30;
        Takeaway fish and chips - $20; Takeaway Indian - $50


Saturday SNAP Challenge


SATURDAY:
Breakfast consisted of  home made pancakes (Hubby's speciality) topped with maple syrup, jam, butter and cream.  The girls had a glass of milk each, Hubby had one, and I had two cups of instant coffee with milk and sugar.
Lunch - We made toasted sandwiches with ham and cheese. Hubby and I had another instant coffee with milk and sugar each.
Dinner was a disaster in terms of the SNAP challenge.  As if I weren't already "off the rails" so to say, at this point it became a total train wreck.  A friend of ours rang late afternoon to ask if we would like to go to his place and get takeaway for dinner and have a games night.  We hadn't seen this friend for a few weeks and knew he was a bit 'down', so Hubby and I agreed that we would pick up Indian takeaway and head to his house.  The cost for dinner was $50 even which included the cost of his dinner too.  He did offer to pay for his share but we refused payment.  We drank his drinks instead :)
Dessert was nothing.

Running Food Tally:  Monday 17th to Sunday 23rd September 2012
Weetbix (14 bics)
Rice Cakes (8)
Tea Bags (12)
Apple (4)
Milk (6.5L)
Grain Waves chips
Instant Coffee
Strawbs (2 pt)
Cream (280ml)
Crispbreads (9)
Milo
Lettuce (1/2)
Butter (180g)
Lindt Choc (140g)
Mayonnaise
Tomato (1)
Ham (200g)
Tortillas (12)
White Sugar
Avocado (1)
Cheese slices (11)
Arborio Rice
Vanilla essence
Onion (3)
Cheese block(300g)
Corn kernels
Cordial
Carrot (4)
Ice cream (2L)
Cannalini beans
Mineral Water
Zucchini (1)
Yoghurt (500ml)
Taco seasoning
Ginger powder
Mushrooms (500g)
Mince beef (300g)
Tomato Passata
Chilli powder
Garlic (3 cloves)
Chicken (150g)
Soy Sauce
Chicken stock
Celery (1/4 bunch)
Rump Steak (200g)
Rice vermicelli
Nutella spread
Egg (1)
Sliced bread
C&B Balls


Noodles (2 pkts)
Raspberry Jam


Mushroom soup
Tomato Paste


Spiral pasta
Paprika


Flour
Maple syrup

 Other: Lunch order for Emily - $4.30; Lunch order for Emily - $3.30;
        Takeaway fish and chips - $20; Takeaway Indian - $50

What I learned today was that if I were really restricted to $100 per week takeaway would not be an option.  It would also make it very hard to practice generosity because there is nothing extra to give.  True, you may be able to give in different ways, but it makes it very hard when others' expectations or realities are different to those of your circumstances.  Ok, so said friend who we shared dinner with tonight has bought the 4 of us dinner before, and I have made him dinner countless times, but he is a single guy with a decent paying job and no monetary commitments, so he is able to buy takeaway whenever he likes - us, not so much.  While we are not restricted to the $100 per week, we try to stick closely to that which means we do rarely eat out (we might average $10 per week on eating out).
I will also add at this point that this week was not a typical week for us.  Emily normally gets a lunch order once per fortnight, but this week being the last of term they had a special day Thursday which involved a second lunch order.  I could have said no and not given her one for the sake of this challenge but I decided not to deprive her of what I normally would have allowed anyway.  We also don't normally get 2 takeaways in one week (as mentioned above) but we decided to roll with it - actually my family has no idea I started this challenge, so I guess this is all just our normal (irregular) life.