$16.47 later...

Last night I did my grocery shopping for the upcoming Challenge. I set off for the grocery store armed with $21 in cash and a calculator. I didn't realize that buying a handful of groceries was going to be so hard and take so long. Over an hour later, I emerged...

This is what $16.47* will buy:

Spaghetti Sauce - $1.50
Spaghetti - $1.09

3 bananas - $0.61
Coffee - $1.50

Peanut butter - $1.39

Cheese slices - $0.99

White bread - $0.69

5 pkgs. ramen - $1.00

Single serve pizza - $1.00

Cream cheese - $1.25

6 pk bagels - $1.99

Potato chips - $0.99

Baby carrots - $1.50

6 eggs - $0.97

*I actually spent $17.47 but realized when I got home that I didn't buy milk or butter to make the potatoes that I bought (on sale!) for $1.00, so those will have to wait.

I have to say, this was really hard. Much harder than I imagined it would be. When I walked in, I grabbed my bananas, but knew that I really couldn't afford much else in the way of fresh fruit. I quickly passed by the organic section where I would normally buy the bulk of my groceries. I was shocked to see that the box of cereal that I normally buy was $4.69! There was no way that was fitting into my budget this week.

I found myself immediately drawn to the sale signs and scanning the shelves for the cheapest of everything. Time after time as I chose food I normally wouldn't choose I felt ashamed and embarrassed. I wanted to be able to enjoy the fiber enriched, whole grain bread that I usually buy. But at almost $4 a loaf there was just no way - so I picked up a loaf of Valu Time white bread for 69 cents instead.

I knew I had to have peanut butter so I was excited to see a jar of Valu Time was only $1.39 -- but, they were out of creamy peanut butter! That meant I either had to eat crunchy, which I really don't like, or spend an entire dollar more to get the Giant Eagle brand of creamy. An entire dollar? No way! Crunchy it is.

Maybe I was overly sensitive, but I felt like people were watching me and judging me by what I had in my cart, which as evidenced by the photo above, is pretty unimpressive. I wanted to tell everyone - I know I shouldn't eat ramen noodles - but they're 20 cents a package! How quickly I threw my desire for nutritious and organic products out the window when I started to realize how little $21 was going to get me.

I had to make choices at the end - do I get waffles and syrup or eggs and coffee? Can I afford granola bars? These might seem like silly questions, but when you are trying to plan for an entire week you realize how hard this can be. And I am by myself - I can't imagine having to go through this planning for an entire family.

I ended up keeping some money out of my budget ($4.53) so that I could treat myself later in the week to a nice meal out - at McDonald's.

I left the grocery store feeling stressed out. I had three small bags with me - how was this going to last for an entire week???? Stay tuned...

-ann