Monday, October 4, 2010

The Economides Challenge

Friends, I’m going to start an exciting challenge for the next month! A couple of days ago I was reading about Steve and Annette Economides—the “cheapest family in America.” Supposedly, they spend less than $350 per month on groceries for their family of five…groceries meaning ALL food, paper goods (like toilet paper) and toiletries. $350…for five people…a month??

I’m impressed. And I’ve been wondering how much I could save every month by applying their tactics. Annette Economides plans out their entire month of meals and shops only once. The trick here is coupons, coupons, coupons….as well as meat that is about to expire (still good, but stores have to sell it before the “sell by” date or they have to trash it. Since protein is typically the most expensive part of every meal, there are lots of savings to be made here.

So, for the next month, I’m going to put myself through this challenge. I have planned out a month’s worth of meals (since I’m only feeding myself, I can survive off of each recipe for anywhere from 2-6 meals), listed below. I will only shop once (with one exception: I eat A LOT of apples…I may have to re-stock mid-month with fresh apples/fruit).

  • OTB Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • Tortma Stew
  • Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
  • Garlic, Artichoke Hearts, Sun-Dried Tomato & Pesto Pizza with Chicken (on from-scratch whole wheat pizza dough)
  • Greek Spaghetti Squash
  • Salmon Chowder
  • Curried Zucchini Soup
  • Basil Pesto (to be used in other recipes)
  • Slow-Cooker Garbanzo Bean, Potato and Kale Soup with Pesto
  • Butternut Squash Soup
  • *I will also purchase materials to make sandwiches for last-minute lunches

So you tell me: what should my dollar amount be? If she can feed her family of five on $350 a month, what do you think I can (reasonably) spend on my own? Look at the meals listed above and comment with your dollar amount. I will choose a winner based on reasonability, level of challenge and creativity. :) Please submit your comment, either on the blog or on my facebook, by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, Oct. 6.

**WINNER gets a Starbucks gift card!! **


3 comments:

  1. Looks like you enjoy soup as much as I do :) I would guess since you'll get so many days/meals out of only 9-10 dishes you might be able to pull it off for $100. And it doesn't look like you have a ton of meat in there...I'd be pretty impressed if you could do it for &100, and you'd definitely have to tell me all your secrets. Soup stretches pretty far, so that helps a lot. Good luck!!
    PS-I have an awesome, very easy whole-wheat pizza crust recipe that I adore. Let me know if you need it :)

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  2. I know im late, but i would say $150! Thats about what we spend every month!

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  3. Oooo fun! I'm going to guess $168.39. How's that for a precise guess?? :)

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