Hillbilly Housewife - $45 Menu Revisited

How much would it cost for a bare-bones menu for one week if you had absolutely no food in the house?

The Hillbilly Housewife answered this question twice, once with her $45 menu in 2006 and again with the $70 menu. In fact, her entire site is a fabulous resource because it has all the recipes you need to cook the menus and has all sorts of ideas for how to cope with hard times.

But I wondered, how has the costs of her menus changed with the higher food prices we've been dealing with lately? In July, Living Almost Large did a comparison with the $70 menu in a high Cost of Living Area, and last week I compared prices at my area (Texas - a medium cost of living area I think) grocery store for the items on the $45 menu.

Item	HH's Price	My Price
10 lbs all purpose flour	1.92	3.76
3 pack yeast	0.62	0.89
Baking Powder	0.77	0.84
Oatmeal	1.77	2.28
3 lbs long grain white rice	0.99	1.95
2 lb bag of cornmeal	0.88	0.99
5 lb sugar	1.88	1.99
Vegetable Oil	1.50	2.49
2 cans frozen o.j.	1.76	2.68
20 qt box instand nonfat dry milk	8.87	13.99
2 lb lentils	1.20	1.38
2 lb pinto beans	1.20	1.38
1 lb black beans	0.60	0.89
1 lb lima beans	0.60	0.99
3 boxes Macaroni & Cheese	1.00	1.08
3 packs Ramen Noodles	0.30	0.51
2 dozen eggs	1.38	2.14
2 lb margarine	0.96	1.28
1 lb hot dogs	0.89	0.73
1 28oz can tomatoes	0.89	1.09
1 15oz can tomatoes	0.50	0.75
1 15oz can green peas	0.42	0.69
1 15oz can corn	0.45	0.50
1 15oz can greens	0.40	0.49
1 15oz can spinach	0.42	0.49
5 lb bag carrots	2.00	3.95
3 lb bag onions	2.00	1.50
1 bunch celery	1.20	1.59
6oz can tuna	0.44	0.66
18oz jar peanut butter	1.50	1.39
Jelly	1.00	1.29
Pancake Syrup	1.00	1.34
Vinegar	0.50	0.59
Cinnamon	0.50	1.13
Garlic Powder	0.50	1.13
Chili Powder	0.50	1.13
Salt	0.25	0.33
Pepper	0.50	0.86
Bouillon Cubes	1.00	0.54
100 Count Box of Tea Bags	1.00	1.69
Total	$45.16	$65.15

Notes on my costs: On several items, HH didn't specify what size or amount she purchased, so I made my best guess as to how much we would use in a week and priced accordingly. Also some packaging had changed (i.e. my store sells 4 lb bags of sugar, not 5 lb), so I adjusted my prices to reflect purchasing the amount HH specified.

Mostly our prices were a little higher due to rising prices, but on a few items (hot dogs) I got the better price -- I don't know if this is a discrepency because I priced the cheapest, but overall, I think the menu and grocery list are a good starting point.

Certainly, following this menu would be a good idea if you were completely out of food and were frankly a little panicked about what you were going to buy and feed your family that week. It doesn't require a lot of thinking or worry about what to fix when. It even has a to do list attached for each evening to prepare for the next day.

However, I don't think I would follow the list blindly for my family. Some of the items on the list I don't think I would buy or I would change their amounts. We have plenty of cinnamon in the cupboard and I don't think we'll be running out anytime soon. We also don't really eat canned peas or greens. And I think we'd use the 13.99 cost of dry milk to buy 2 or 3 gallons of milk and use the remaining money on some fruit, such as bananas, or some fresh veggies or potatoes.

Also since we've been stockpiling things as they go on sale, we've gotten some of these items at better prices in the recent past, and stocked up on the items we would use.

But this does help make a valid point. If your resources are strained, a plan like this would most likely be within your budget with maybe a few adjustments (don't buy things you won't eat).

Then the next week, you will have a little extra in the budget because you won't need to repurchase salt, spices, and whatever else you have leftover. You can purchase other items to supplement the basic list and stock up on a good sale if you see one. Even on a strained budget, it's possible to start a stockpile and start reaping the benefits of eating foods bought at the lowest possible price.

Grocery List - Part 2

So if I have all the items off my $10 Grocery List in my pantry or refrigerator, what would I buy withy $10? Instead of doing another $10 list, I'll just list a few things, in order of preference, that might make the cut.

Milk - 1/2 gal $2.24 - Milk didn't make my original list because it cut out too many other things at the price and milk by itself isn't going to fill our tummies. Also, I didn't figure a week's worth of calcium deprivation would affect us too much. But having it would expand our options to include more breads, gravies, and a variety of cooked foods. I also tend to have a box of dry milk in my pantry to use in cooking but we wouldn't drink it unless straights were dire.

Tuna - 52 cents a 6 oz. can - Great source of protein in a cheap package. Strangely enough, I was looking at some of the larger cans (12 oz) and wondered if they'd be a better deal -- they weren't ($1.12). Always check unit pricing to make sure you're getting a good deal.

Veggies - 50 cents - I noticed cans of green beans and frozen packages of broccoli at the store for 50 cents each. If I had some extra room in the budget, I'd definitely add more veggies to the basic menu.

Fruit - varies approx $1.00 - either bananas at 44 cents/pound or canned pineapple at 99 cents/can, I'd add fruit for the sweetness and the variety of baked goods that could be made.

Hamburger - $2.08/pound - This price fluctuates on a weekly basis it seems, but that's about average for my area (this is not the leanest hamburger). There is also something called 'skillet mix' sold in chubs like hamburger for $1.38/pound, but I would not recommend it after reading the ingredient list. ICK!

Yeast - 89 cents for 3 pack - I normally buy yeast in bulk at Costco, but if I were out and times were tight, this would provide us with good, healthy bread at cheaper than grocery store prices.

Pasta - varies - Don't forget to check out other areas in the store when buying staples such as pasta. I noticed pasta in the pasta aisle averaged 6 cents per ounce while pasta being sold in the ethnic section averaged 4 cents per ounce. It might be worth it to do a taste comparison if your family eats a lot of pasta.

Bacon - $2.50/pound - I'd like to add bacon to my menu for flavoring bean dishes, adding it to gravies, and rounding out a breakfast of eggs.

Almost everything in today's list and my original list keeps well, with the exception of fresh fruits and veggies. I like to keep a list of my basic ingredients I cook with and when something on that list goes on sale, I stock up. This is also where a price book comes in handy, to keep track of when a sale price is an exceptionally good deal, or merely an average one.

What's in your pantry or must have list that would be good to stockpile?

$10 Grocery List

With food and gas prices on the rise, we're all feeling a greater pinch in our pocketbooks. And as the economy gets deeper into the recession, the possibilities of layoffs and long-term unemployment are becoming more real. This is the perfect time for us to practice our survival skills.

Recently, I came across this thread on the MommySavers Forums which asked the question:

If you were down to your last $10 and had to buy groceries to get you through the week, what would you buy? Could you do it?

It was interesting to see how many responders stated simply "Nope. Couldn't do it." "We'd starve." "We couldn't even by milk with $10." while others rose to the challenge and thought about what they would buy. The key to survival is knowing that if you had to do it, giving up is not an option.

So what would you buy? While I was at the store for my regular shopping list, I decided to write down a few prices of the most likely candidates to see what sort of shopping list I could come up with for $10. It doesn't have very many items on it, and the menu it would create would be monotonous over the course of a week, but no one would starve.

• carrots
- 67 cents a pound - $1.00

• bouillon cubes
- 67 cents

• tomato sauce
- 25 cents per 8 oz can (2) - $.50

• rice
- 1 lb bag - 95 cents

• beans
- 20 oz bag - $1.00

• oatmeal
- 20 oz box - $1.20

• eggs
- 1 dozen - $1.69

• flour
- 5 lb. bag - $1.58

• margarine
- 60 cents

• baking powder
- 79 cents

• TOTAL - $9.98

The menu for the week would include oatmeal, rice & beans, soup, biscuits, tortillas, fried rice, eggs, rice with tomato sauce, and rice cereal. Not a lot of variety, but hopefully enough to keep the three of us from going hungry.

It gets easier when one considers stockpiling. Most of the things on the list are currently in my fridge and pantry, and a not unsubstantial cache of frozen meat and veggies as well. I chose to create the list as if I had nothing in the pantry but the basic seasonings, so if someone was in dire straights but didn't know what they could buy for such a small sum, they could use this list as a starting place.