#1 started middle school last week. He came home the first day and told me he found out if they do some work in the cafeteria, they can get free lunch every day. He said, "I'm going to talk to the lunch lady tomorrow so I can do it." I wouldn't have had a clue if he didn't tell me. I really think without the budgeting challenge, he might have passed that up.
Over the summer, he also spent quite a few days helping some friends move. I think it really helped him develop a stronger work ethic and I'm so grateful he had the opportunity.
We did go shopping tonight and he said, "Ooh! Those sugar cookies are two for $6! It says we would save $1.62." (something around that amount) I said, "No, we would lose $6 buying something we don't need."
His birthday is later this month, so I'm being extra cheap until then. He will be thirteen! I can't believe it. And surprise! He wants orange chicken for dinner.
As I figured, #1 and #2 were eager to eat with the family again after the challenge. #3 thought he would get to exchange his dinner for oatmeal, but he was expected to eat this baked ravioli, broccoli, and garlic herb bread (not from one of those foil sacks). He said, "I don't really like lasagna anymore." No! He has such a short list of stuff he eats with us without complaining, how dare he unlike anything!
We went shopping earlier that day and he got to spend his $12.11. He wanted to buy a movie, but quickly figured out he didn't have enough. Turns out he had some movies on hold at the library. He wanted to have a family movie night and share his candy. Isn't that sweet? He bought a tub of redvines, rolos, some suckers, and saved the rest. Sadly, our movie night didn't happen yet because I was playing for a voice recital.
Our daughter had $2 from Grandma, so it was a good time to teach her what money can buy. That huge package of Twizzlers didn't stop her from asking for more candy, but it was $1.99.
We also found some pretty nice deals. Fred Meyer had a coupon for ground turkey for $2.99. It was cheaper than ground beef, so I used it in my meat sauce instead. Milk was 10 for $10 for a half gallon. Usually the cheapest gallon is $2.49, so that was only $2 a gallon. I think the eggs were also 99 cents. I would need those later to make something delicious for a family gathering. Post coming soon.
We had to get gas. #2 observed, "That's like two weeks worth of food for one person!"
I love their growing awareness of how much things cost! We have many budgeting challenges ahead. #2 will need a full size violin next year and we're talking about how to accomplish that. He wants to have one to play over the summer because he has to return the one he's using.
#1 will have cereal and fruit for breakfast tomorrow and after he has lunch at school, his challenge will be over. He said if he had to do this week over, he would have stuck to just the orange chicken and spaghetti because it went a lot further for one person than he thought it would. If he hadn't purchased hot dogs or buns, he would have had at least another couple dollars to spend. He would have had even more though if he had traded hot dogs for orange chicken, but I think it was worth it to him. We still have leftover spaghetti.
I asked him, "Was it a hard week for you?" He said, "No, not really. It was pretty nice." I guess he liked being in control of what he was eating.
It sounds like a hassle, but I'm really excited to start the next challenge tomorrow!
#1 is doing great! He still has plenty of milk left, but almost all of his juice is gone. The rest of his menu includes mostly leftovers, cereal, and hot dogs. We ate nachos in front of him tonight and he said, "So? I have orange chicken!"
I know he secretly wanted some. It's too bad he can't have any ice cream tonight either. If he begs for it, I'll take a picture.
I was able to make honey lime chicken enchiladas tonight. So delicious! Neither of us will have to cook tomorrow, giving me extra time to plan a menu with #2 who will have a much harder week because he loves most things I cook.
This kitchen ain't big enough for the both of us! I went to teach piano and asked #1 to thaw his chicken in some cold water. Then I would come home, help him cook his orange chicken, then make a meal for the rest of us.
As I walked through the door when I came home, he had an instant realization that he had forgotten to do so, so we all ended up eating random things like cereal and sandwiches. I almost made this.
Green enchilada sauce. It's the most delicious thing I almost made. Now let's see if #1 switched the laundry over like I asked him to.
Um, yeah. Not only did he not switch over the laundry, I found every single one of our dryer sheets in the washer, sitting on top of the washed clothes. Thank goodness they're still usable! A certain three-year-old must be very pleased with herself.
#1 loved his dinner and laughed a little because he didn't have to share it with anyone. Oh yeah? Enjoy not eating our nachos tomorrow, saboteur of my dinner! If I had known how ridiculously long it was going to take, I would have made him eat some more of his leftover spaghetti.
#1 has a huge amount of leftover spaghetti and was quite pleased with it. I had another responsible dinner because we still had ham from Easter, plus peas, carrots, green onion, and rice from last night's meal. I have to be a good example of not wasting food, so I made fried rice again tonight. I'm thinking I'll try some other fried rice recipes too because it's pretty quick and easy as long as you make the rice ahead of time. It's also something I can make for my gluten free friends!
#2 asked if he could have some Saltine crackers tonight, making sure they didn't belong to his brother. I said he could. What I didn't agree to was putting honey on them. That's another thing that would fall under "waste". That and putting maple syrup on spaghetti. Thank you, Spiderwick and Elf for my son's weird eating habits.
Amazingly, my three-year-old daughter has had enough self-control not to ask for any of her brother's food and she's asking to have her own turn grocery shopping. Oh please no. It's hard enough just getting her to agree to wear clothing, let alone choosing a sensible menu for the week.
I love the enthusiasm my kids have for this challenge! It's only the second day, but I'm still impressed that my son is eager to learn how to cook fresh broccoli in our steamer to go with his spaghetti. Meal planning and grocery shopping were half the battle. The other half will be conserving what he bought. If he runs out of beverages, I don't think his $1.56 is going to buy him much. He also lost some of his pineapple juice to a tragic, accidental dumping into the stovetop while he was transferring it into a pitcher.
He started heating up his pot of water just now and the burner was smoking like crazy. I decided it was better to turn it off than take a picture for everyone's amusement.
The rest of the family is having leftover ham from Easter. I already used some in a breakfast casserole, so tonight we'll have sandwiches. I'm trying hard not to torture Contestant #1 with good food, at least not with food he considers good. This will be easiest with my youngest son because he hates about 99% of the dinners I make. As long as I don't eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in front of him or plain cheeseburgers, he'll be happy.
#1 just asked me, "I have tomato sauce in my hair, don't I?"
Tonight was interesting, amusing, and exhausting. It brought back memories of when my husband and I were newlyweds in the Air Force, walking around the Commissary while we painstakingly calculated every item on a list. Having to put back one item would probably throw off not one meal plan, but multiple meals. Discovering we were over our limit at the cash register was too much humiliation to bear. I think we used a calculator until we had our first son (he was very vocal about how he hated going anywhere), which brings us to victim number one! I mean, our willing contestant.
He looks so happy with his $33, doesn't he? And doesn't every boy want to pose in front of pretty flowers? Oh dear. He's reading over my shoulder and exclaiming, "Hey, you planned that!"
His original menu included a mix of bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast with apple slices and cereal. In fact, he thought he would eat two breakfast sandwiches. I suppressed the urge to laugh. He also threw in a banana somewhere to make it interesting. He usually buys lunch at school (for a reduced price), so I figured it wouldn't be an accurate amount if we expected him to buy all of his food for lunch.
Tonight he was going to have a sandwich and an apple. When he saw how much the lunch meat was, he decided on hot dogs instead that were $1.00. The lunch meat was about $3.89. We found buns for 99 cents - 8 of them to go with his 8 hot dogs. We were able to avoid this scenario.
Instead of mayonnaise for sandwiches, he bought some ketchup for a dollar to go with the hot dogs. He was determined to make orange chicken that he could eat for a couple nights, but he had no idea how expensive chicken breasts are and that you can't just buy two of them. You're committed to a whole package. Ah, I remember being single and having little variety to my meals for that reason.
We went to the produce section so we could get a better idea of how we were doing. He would need ten apples for everything he planned. They were $1.49 per pound. I asked him how much he thought they would weigh. He guessed about two pounds. Those alone came out to $9! He said he would get smaller apples instead, but it still wasn't looking good. So I offered him a solution, "You can take advantage of the school's free breakfast the whole week."
We put back the bacon, which was about $3.84.
To make orange chicken, he would also need some stir fry vegetables. I suggested maybe he just do broccoli. If you buy it fresh, it's 68 cents per pound and you don't have to buy a large amount. He was happy with that. He also bought cornstarch as his one staple he was required to pay for. Salt was the one seasoning he chose. He gets to borrow my orange sauce, but we remembered at the last minute that he needed vegetable oil. That was another $1.99.
He was going to use cheese with his eggs and bacon, so we put that back too. Saved him $1.89 (for a half pound).
He really wanted to make spaghetti with meat sauce. The ground beef alone would be more than the can of sauce he ended up buying for $1.49. We looked closer at the label when we got home. It's meat flavored sauce.
We found a coupon for Fred Meyer cereal. He will have to plan his own breakfasts for the weekend. That came to $1.50.
Milk was $2.49 for a gallon. I'm curious as to whether he will drink the whole thing by the end of the week, but I plan on marking the level with a Sharpie every night to see how quickly it's going.
Wednesday we are having a friend over for dinner, so he's bringing some excess rice that he's using for orange chicken. We're calling it a potluck.
After wandering all over the store for over an hour and managing to buy the pineapple and apple juices he wanted, that came to a grand total of $31.44. He has $1.56 to spend! But he doesn't get to spend it until this week is through. He has to prove that he can make the food last without having to buy anything else.
I already had to remind him to close his package of buns unless he wants to eat the rest of his hot dogs on what would feel like giant, flavorless croutons.
His food is labeled. Some of it is in the fridge and the rest is safely stowed in a box on top. He says he kind of likes the idea of having food no one else is allowed to eat. His brothers have an idea of how painful their shopping trips will be, but they're still throwing out ideas like Eggo's with whipped cream and strawberries.
Aw, they're so cute! And they're so not going to be eating that.
