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Nov 17, 2008 10:00 pm US/Central
How To Buy Your Weekly Groceries For Less than $15
NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Can you eat healthy while shopping on a budget?
As families tighten their belts, the CBS 11 Money Savoring Morning Team set out to get a week's worth of healthy food for just $10.
Here's how they did it.
Together with registered dietician Debbie Mouser, creator of CookForLifeOnline.com, Jeff Jamison, Scott Sams, Teresa Frosini, and Ginger Allen visited the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Plano to see what deals they could find.
The CBS 11 Morning Team quickly learned that healthy foods are not necessarily the least expensive.
"It's kind of a challenge to find healthy foods and still stay under the price limit," Mouser explained to the group.
The shopping list included vegetables --- like broccoli, carrots and collard greens -- plus peanut butter, oatmeal, rice, meat, eggs, frozen mixed vegetables and several other items.
To save money, Mouser suggests seeking out store brands.
The goal was to spend just $10, but no one hit the mark.
"In reality, what you would really want to do is have a starch, a protein, and two fruits or vegetables in a meal," she explained. "But, that's impossible on this budget."
"It [budgeting] really forces you to think about how much you're paying for your food, what you're eating, how much you're eating in each meal and that's really been a benefit," Jamison said of his experience.
Each person did make it out of the grocery store with spending less than $15 of food for the entire week.
To cut back on costs, the group paired off and shared several items.
Here's their shopping list:
- 1 Bunch of Broccoli per person
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1 Bunch of Collard Greens per person (Jeff substituted 1 eggplant instead of the collard greens)
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1 Onion split between two people
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1 Pound of Ground Beef per person (Ginger substituted two blocks of cheese for her meat)
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1 Can of store brand Oatmeal split between two people
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1 Bag of store brand Brown Rice split between two people
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1 Dozen store brand medium Grade A eggs per person
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1 Can of store brand orange Juice concentrate per person
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1 Bag of carrots split between two people
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1 Loaf of store brand wheat bread per person
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1 jar of store brand peanut butter split between 2 people (18 oz jar)
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1 Bag of store brand whole beans per person
Total spending for the group came out like this:
- Ginger spent $13.83
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Scott spent $11.26
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Jeff spent $14.85
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Teresa spent $13.83
Mouser created a week's worth of menus for the group complete with meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks. Each person varied their menu depending on what they liked.
Breakfast: Monday/Wednesday/Friday
Oatmeal, 1 Egg, Orange Juice (6 oz)
Breakfast: Tuesday/Thursday
Brown Rice, 1 Egg, Orange Juice (6 oz)
Lunch: Monday/Wednesday/Friday
Egg Sandwich, Carrot Sticks (egg can be fried, boiled, or egg salad)
Lunch: Tuesday/Thursday
Peanut Butter Sandwich, Broccoli Flowerets
Dinner: Monday/Wednesday/Friday
Beans (with 1/3lb. hamburger)
Brown Rice
Collard Greens
Dinner: Tuesday/Thursday
Hamburger Soup (with mixed vegetables)
Toast (2 slices)
Orange Juice (6oz)
Snacks: Divide extra food
4 eggs, 3 slices of bread, peanut butter, carrots and broccoli
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
