Saturday, September 13, 2008

the food pantry

i was thinking about making a poll for how much people spend on groceries a month. It is scary the amount of money i spend at hy-vee, costco and target per month. i am sort of ashamed of the portion of my income that goes right back out for food. i mean, is it just my family? are we a bunch of piglets? i guess i am a little pudgy and my kids are all in the 95% for weight, so perhaps we are over-indulgent. but for the most part i try to shop smart and buy what is on sale, or buy in bulk. there are certain things i can't help though, such as:
7 gallons of milk per week (hormone free, which is fairly cheap at costco)
2 loaves of bread per week
3 lbs of deli meat per week
3 bags of shredded cheese per week
2 jars all natural peanut butter per week
2 boxes all bran per week
2 boxes other cereal per week
2 bunches bananas per week
1 bag peaches per week
1 bag nectarines per week
2 boxes waffles per week
2 lbs hamburger per week
2-3 lbs chicken hormone free per week
and i guess that is where the necessary items stop. then we get to
fruit snacks, gerber poofs, lunchables, string cheese, crackers, coffee, creamer, spaghettios, pop-tarts, and the list goes on and on and on.
then we have diapers, wipes, toilet paper, paper towels, sls free kids shampoo, yada yada yada.
i would guess that i spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-200 dollars a week on groceries alone. we do not eat out very often, we do occasionally break down and allow some happy meals to cross our paths.
i mean, we are all american consumers. the fact that i don't use plastic bags anymore is enough to make a dent in the quest to save the environment.
so, i guess i am curious, are you reading this saying, oh my gracious day you spend a fortune in food you silly girl, or are you saying, oh we spend close to that also? just wondering.

if i didn't feel guilty enough already i stumbled across these ultra cool people who are surviving on a dollar a day for a month and living to write about it. go see their blog at
http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/

2 comments:

Jill said...

Those people have exactly ZERO children, they are eating practically no fruits/veggies, and eat mainly oatmeal, PB&J and popcorn.
Those people need something to do. Perhaps they have too much time on their hands.

lh said...

I second jill. I see nothing super cool about eating oatmeal, PB and J and popcorn. But I do want to go eat at your house, I'm sure you wouldn't notice a few extras? and, no, my family does not eat that much a week, but we are also about half your family's size.