What can you get for $10?
It’s approaching the 15th of the month – that means that Brian and I are on our last $10 of grocery money. *cue ominous music* Impending disaster, right? Ramen and Kraft macaroni and cheese for all?
Photo Credit: Original photo by Accidental Hedonist via Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/accidentalhedonist/4959928258/
Wrong!
You can actually get a lot for $10. Mind you, it helps to have food stashed away in the freezer and condiments and spices available. But $10 is enough to get fresh, healthy foods to get you through the last few days before a grocery shop.
Here’s what I picked up:
- ginger – $0.30
- 2 heads of broccoli – $0.85
- zucchini – $0.36
- cheddar – $5.77
- bread – $0.74
- 4 plums – $0.73
Which leaves me with $1.26. Everything was purchased on sale except the ginger. The bread was 1/2 off because it expires in two days – but I’m going to stick it in the freezer. I’m planning on making a stir fry with the ginger, broccoli and some chicken I have in the fridge. The cheddar and bread I plan on using with eggs for breakfast, along with some yogurt that I have left. The plums are for snacking. The zucchini is going into a pasta, along with some leftover pasta sauce and half a box of grape tomatoes from last week. That’s more than enough food for three meals plus snacks over 2-3 days for two people. And I still have $1.26 remaining. That’s enough to get 100g of deli ham to use in sandwiches, for example.
Anyways, the point is not to make everyone listen to what I’m having to eat this week. The point is that we shouldn’t be discouraged when we “only” have a few bucks left for groceries or whatever. There IS a way to make it work! Sometimes we just need to get creative, raid the pantry for odds and ends, and get cooking.
18 Responses to “What can you get for $10?”
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I’m surprised you buy cheese with a limited food budget like that. It’s always rather expensive. So much that it is one of the big targets for thieves. It does show that you can still buy what you want when on a tight grocery budget though.
We always get at least two chunks of cheese a month. Sometimes it’s just cheddar, but we also get stuff from the farmer’s market.
We had some spicy gouda last week that was delicious.
I used to love cheese and bought it every time I went grocery shopping. Ever since I eliminated cheese from my diet I feel better. Plus, cheese is expensive, I’m glad I’m not paying for it anymore.
Interesting – some kind of food sensitivity? It’s definitely expensive, but for now, we enjoy it too much to give it up.
You can get A LOT of healthy food for $10 at farmers’ markets. I always make out.
Definitely! I love it when they have deals like, “Fill this bag with as many peppers as you can for $4″.
I love stir fry not just because it’s delicious and easy to make, but when I’ve got no food at home I always seem to have enough food to make a stir fry. Sesame oil also makes it taste amazing.
Yes! We finally got some sesame oil last year and it’s really made a great difference.
That’s a pretty good deal on the broccoli! I think ours is much more expensive than that! We went over on our grocery budget this week but we’re eating more healthy now than ever and we also had to stock up on a few expensive things that had run out.
It was on sale!
We’re lucky – there’s quite a few farm markets around our neighbourhood, so there’s always something on sale.
That’s actually a really good deal on cheese! You are a master with groceries. I am not a huge fan of cooking because our kitchen is so small and we don’t have decent equipment, so I usually end up getting the expensive, easy stuff.
It was on sale at No Frills…
Wow you did great! We aren’t doing the greatest with our food budget, but hope to do better soon.
It’s an evolving process. We started out with much higher grocery budgets at first.
Way to stretch your money CF ^_^ Sunrise market around chinatown has some of the cheapest groceries in Vancouver. The only downside is the produce don’t last very long. But with $10 you can easily buy enough food to eat for a few days. There’s a nice incentive to anyone who grocery shop on a frequent bases because they can get the discounted stuff that will expire soon, but chances are they’ll consume it before it goes bad because they frequently shop. I wrote a couple of post a few months ago about how to eat 3 delicious meals a day on $3-$4 every day. Basically just what you said, be creative! Haha.
Good tip! I do tend to use my veggies and fruits within 2-3 days, so getting ripe or near ripe items has never bothered me. It helps that I have a lot of grocery stores and markets near my home though. When I’m in a pinch, there’s always something on sale, at least at one of the stores.
This post made me hungry! The sandwich looks really good
I love cheese but hate how expensive it is. Good for you for making it a priority and buying it anyways. The bread and the cheese could also make a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches, and if you have some ketchup in the fridge, you’re all set. Oh man, now I have a craving for grilled cheese, lol.
Doh – totally true. I forgot about grilled cheese. That would have been delicious as well.