Finishing up the week.....in his own words.....

Destin's "week of groceries for $40" ended on a bit of a hectic note....as Darwin and I were traveling to a long awaited appointment for our daughter, in Nashville, and the boys were staying with some gracious friends. 

We were only suppose to be gone overnight, and Destin was only suppose to get to eat a couple of meals there and come home to wrap up the last of his 7 days.  As it turned out, we had to stay an extra night, so Destin lucked up and got to enjoy different food for two days/nights before coming home and finishing it up.  And to "finish it up" he just slapped together a ham sandwich for dinner....nothing too fancy. 

However...the purpose of this project was to see if he could plan, shop and cook for himself for a week on $40. 

And that he did. 

Quite well in my opinion.

You can catch up here if you haven't already read these....

Day 1- http://www.leah-imjustsayin.blogspot.com/2012/02/it-all-started.html
Day 2- http://www.leah-imjustsayin.blogspot.com/2012/02/progress-so-farthis-could-get-tough.html
Day 3- http://www.leah-imjustsayin.blogspot.com/2012/02/so-first-thing-he-wants-to-know.html
Day 4- http://www.leah-imjustsayin.blogspot.com/2012/03/day-4-man-momdollar-general-has.html
Day 5- http://www.leah-imjustsayin.blogspot.com/2012/03/day-5-buffalo-never-tasted-so-good.html

Several of you have asked to hear about his week "in his words", which I had already planned on doing....so here you have it....in his own words.

No, silly....I'm not expecting that you read that....I just wanted you to see his written version before I type it.....you gotta love me! :)








the back side of the paper






My experience of eating off of $40 on my own was a long lasting week.  If I had to keep something on my menu it would be stew, milk, brownies, and raisin bran crunch.  I really would not want to keep Ramen noodles because every flavor tastes the same.  Also I would not keep chicken unless I cooked it differently like maybe BBQ chicken.  I am very thankful for beef stew seasoning because if I didn't use it, it would not taste the same if I used separate spices.  I think I shouldn't of bought bananas and used that money for more milk because I was eating out of salsa dishes on my 3rd day.  The downside to rootbeer is that it last 3 or 4 days and then it is flat and I'm all out.  Some things I should've tried were potatoe salad, fried rice, and baked red potatoes.  I really think the week took forever but when I went to spend the night, I was in heaven.  I know that cooking takes long and I missed T.V. shows such as "swamp people" and "larry the cable guy" and I missed playing with friends because I was cooking.  On my last day it was amazing.  For a snack I had almost 1/2 a pound of ham on a sandwich and I chugged down the rest of my milk.  To finish it up I might do this again, but it needs to be in a year or so because I want to enjoy what is in the pantry and freezer again.  And thats all I got to say about that.

Now let me just say that he only watches "Larry the Cable Guy" with strong supervision....so don't judge me or my parenting.  

At the end of the week...all he had left was the rest of his ham (hence the reason he ate about a 1/2 pound on a sandwich), the rest of his stick of butter, the whole pound of rice, and some potatoes.  That's not too shabby for a 12 year old kid having to "fend for himself" for the week....

I'm just sayin'.

Day 5 - Buffalo never tasted so good.....

or wait....was it Elk....or maybe wild hog? 

You see....our church has a "Wild Game Dinner" every year, and Darwin and the boys always go and enjoy good food,  fellowship, prizes and a guest speaker. 

Problem is....when this whole "week of groceries for $40" started, we had all forgotten.....

that event was March 2.  Sigh.

That would have been last night. 

How in the world could I have forgotten this???  I would have never had him start his "week of groceries for $40" if I had remembered.  

How was I going to tell him he couldn't go now??  This was something he looked forward to every year......and this wasn't going to be easy......


Had ya' going there for a minute didn't I?

Oh go ahead and admit it...you were feeling sorry for him and thinking I had gone overboard by suggesting that he not get to go to one of his favorite events of the year.  

Well....I would NEVER have done that.  

Not to mention he has handled this week like a saint.  Still not a single complaint, and immediately willing to just tack on another meal to the end of his week in lieu of getting to eat out at the dinner. He just got really lucky!

But from the looks of this......he wasn't quite as lucky as his brother!!

 Yep....you're reading correctly.  Jack won a 22 rifle.  Although, when they called his name as a winner, he thought he had won a couple of "handmade wooden arrows" that had been used in a comical promotional video for the event.  He didn't know until he went forward that he had, in fact, won a rifle!!

So all the way around....it was a great night!  Jack was happy, and Destin's belly was full of something he had not had to make himself. 

And I'll just bet that he appreciated that meal more than he ever has before.

I'm just sayin'.

Day 4 - "Man, Mom.....Dollar General has EVERYTHING!"

And I just had to smile. 

Because they pretty much do. 

And when you've used all of your grocery money but $2, cents matters.  Why pay $1.79 for a cake mix at the over priced local grocery store if you can walk down to the Dollar General and buy it for less? 

You see....Destin has a bit of a sweet tooth, (can't imagine where he got that from ;-), and his Great Value Honey Buns didn't last long. 

After looking around a bit, he realized that he could buy a brownie mix instead for $1.65 and it would make a whole 9x13 pan!  Plus he wouldn't need frosting.

Sold!  To the 12 year old trying to get to the end of his week on $40 of grocery money. 

Yep...a pan of brownies is sure to last him until Monday. 

And lucky for him....as he was just about to put it back on the shelf, because he realized it needed eggs and oil, I told him that a sweet neighbor had just given us a dozen farm eggs.  I sure couldn't charge him for something I didn't have to pay for.  So he paid me the rest of his change for the dab of oil needed, and here's hoping he doesn't run out of anything else before his week is over. 

And I would imagine he is gonna' enjoy having something besides chicken legs and ramen, as he has had them for lunch and dinner again today! 

I have a sneaky suspicion he is going to be thankful that he didn't give in to the hurried realization this morning, that his lunch wasn't packed.  He said, "Well...I guess I'll just spend my last $2 on lunch at school." 

And knowing he would probably regret that decision....I told him to hurry and pack it....so into the lunchbox went two drumsticks and some leftover cold Ramen. 

I'll bet he's glad now....

I'm just sayin'.