Day 1 - $2 A Day

Hannah at the Helm...Again

Heaven on Earth around the Dinner table. 6 of these beautiful people belong to me.  I claim the other two, as well.      

I won't lie. It was bit of a rocky start as we got this budget into place. Hannah and I went shopping last night for several items we would need. The rule is $2 per per person per day, and we are counting 7 people because we frequently have that many, even if our newlyweds don't join us. Tonight there were 9 of us. Still $2x7 = $14. We spent $12.56 at the store, then subbed some of the ingredients out for things we had here.

Another confession. There were a few minutes of heartburn figuring out how much each granola bar costs and if we really had to count them, Or the ice cream one might want in the evening, or any number of miscellaneous food items we might ingest that aren't necessarily meal related. There were several utterances of "I really don't want to do this experiment." But, before dinner was on the table, Hannah had the days budget figured down to the dollar, and when she answered the door for company and said, "I was just working on the day's budget," there was a clear note of pride in her voice. And, when she finished making the meal and crunching the numbers, her sense of accomplishment was evident.

KC keeps us honest. She said, "I think we need to do more of making the meals fit the budget of the day rather than just seeing what happens when we get to the end of the day. It should not be an option to go over."

So, we took that to heart, chose our curry recipe that didn't call for coconut only used one can of garbanzo beans when I thought we needed two, and we came in just under where we needed to be, making room for chocolate milk.

Tonight's dinner was in honor of Malala, the 18-year-old Pakistani girl, who at 15 was shot by the Taliban for daring, as a girl, to go to school. At 17, won the Nobel peace prize. And, just last week, in honor of her birthday, opened a school for Syrian refugees, especially welcoming girls. KC made a cake to celebrate! We are still looking for a cause to support with the funds we save through this experiment. Malala reminds us that by small means, great things can happen. If you are considering a $2 a Day Challenge, here's some food for thought. Also, this is our accountability, all figured by Hannah:

Breakfast - 

Waffle mix - $0.85

Syrup - $0.50

Milk - $0.50

Juice - $0.25

Butter - $0.25

Breakfast total - $2.35

Snack - 

Granola bars - $0.40 

Chips - $0.50

Salsa - $0.50

Snack total - $1.50

Submarine total so far: $3.85

Dinner 

Tikka masala 

Onion - $0.20

2lbs potato - $0.40 

1 can tomatoes - $1

1 can garbanzo beans - $1

Cream - $1.30 

Carrots - $0.40

Yogurt dip - Dip - $1 

Rice - $1 

Naan - $2

Cake - $1.25

Milk - $0.70

Spices and garden veggies don't count on budget!

Dinner total - 9.55

All together for the day - $14

Right on!