My $47 grocery run fed me for 12 days, still shocked

So I had this weird bet with my roommate last month in Pittsburgh. He said I couldn't keep my food budget under $50 per week. I took it personally, you know? So I planned out every single meal with a spreadsheet, which sounds crazy but I had nothing else going on. I bought a giant bag of rice, a 10 pound sack of potatoes, eggs, frozen mixed veggies, some chicken thighs on clearance, and a huge tub of oats. That came to $47.63 exactly. I stretched it to 12 days, including making broth from the chicken bones and using potato peels in a soup. Honestly the weirdest part was how much I craved variety by day 9. I ate a lot of oatmeal with cinnamon and a splash of vanila extract I found in the back of the cabinet. My roommate tapped out and bought pizza on day 6, but I stuck it out. Has anyone else done a sub-$50 week and what was your longest stretch before you caved?

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1 Comment

grayjohnson1mo ago

You really went full spreadsheet on a bet with your roommate over groceries. That part about using potato peels in soup got me though. Did you actually wash those peels first, or were you just eating dirt and calling it fiber by day 8? I'm curious if the broth from chicken bones was actually filling or if you were just tricking your stomach into thinking it had a meal. Also, what happened to the vanilla extract after the bet ended? Did you put it back or did it become part of your permanent oatmeal ritual? Because I feel like finding random cabinet stuff is half the battle when you're trying to stretch a budget that tight.