Feeding a Family of Three on Just $75.00 a Week: You’re Doing it Wrong.

Over the past few days, as I’ve delved into what I consider a challenge to feed my family on a grocery budget of just $75.00 a week, I’ve had response from two kinds of people. On the one hand are those who are relatively fortunate. They’re the ones making all the noise, the ones who argue that it can’t be done, that the premier is crazy, or at least out of touch (he certainly is out of touch, but that’s beside the point.). On the other hand are those who know all too well what it is to struggle, those who live with, or have lived with next to nothing, yet know that feeding a family of three on $75.00 a week is eminently doable. For many it’s not comfortable, but they make it work because they have no choice.

This started last week when Premier Philippe Couillard was a guest on Energie, and one of the interviewers asked him if it’s possible for a family of three to eat on a budget of $75.00 a week. “Nourrir un adulte et deux ados pour moins de 75$ par semaine,” asked host Philo Lirette, “selon vous est-ce que c’est réaliste?” Is it realistic to feed one adult and two teenagers for less than $75.00 a week? The premier said yes. Of course he later qualified that it would be difficult, but that it can be done.

Now, let’s break that down (and I think I’ve repeated this enough times): the radio host specified one adult and two teens. Not a family of 4 or 5. Not a family with a dog. Just a family of three: one adult, two teenagers. That’s it. That’s me, a single dad with two kids. But we’ll get to that.

First, what does that mean, one parent and two teenagers? We can assume that in such cases either a parent has died, or there’d been a divorce. In the case of a death, one parent has two teenagers full-time, and, yes, that’s difficult on $75.00 a week. What we don’t know, because it wasn’t part of the conversation, is whether that parent is unemployed, or on welfare, or living in a shelter, or whether that single parent is relatively fortunate, with a job, living in a home, renting or owning, etc. If it’s a case of divorce, each parent has two teenagers for part of the week, or one week on and one week off, as the case may be. That’s a little more manageable, because for part of the time one parent is only cooking for him or herself. Again, there are things we don’t know, because it wasn’t part of the conversation, like whether we’re talking about a single mom whose ex-husband doesn’t pay child support, or whether we’re talking about a single dad who, all things considered, is doing okay. Most of the reaction on social media has so far been based on assumptions. But I have also heard from those who, again, know all too well what it is to struggle. They’ve busted a lot of myths for me. When feeding a family of three – one adult, two teenagers – Ramen noodles or KD don’t factor into it. Or at least they don’t have to. In the wake of Couillard’s interview on Energie there have been several social media posts and news articles with recipes, suggested shopping lists, apps, etc., to help make the idea of feeding a family of 3 on just $75.00 a week more manageable. No KD. No Ramen.

Now, where do I fit in the scenario? I’m a divorced dad with two teenage kids. My kids have dinner with me on Tuesdays, and then they stay with me Thursday through Saturday. That means we’re enjoying four dinners together. Add to that their two school lunches on Wednesdays and Fridays (2 per kid = 4), plus lunches that I take to work, and whatever snacks we consume.

But that’s not the full story.

My 16-year-old son, who is always hungry, likes his solitude, so he spends a lot of time at my place when I’m not home, watching Netflix, playing guitar… and eating. He spends more time at my place than he does at his mom’s, and a lot of that time his head’s in the refrigerator. I never know what he piles into, or how much of it is going to be left over when I get home. There are also times, I’m slightly embarrassed to admit, when he’ll bring food from his mom’s because he knows that I don’t have anything. Case in point – and this is for the friend who thinks the fact that I already had food to begin with isn’t fair – last night I cleaned out my fridge, which means that my son is going to come home from school today and find that there isn’t much for him to snack on.

So, how’s this working so far?

At least two of my Facebook friends broke it down into cost per meal. But that’s the wrong way to think about it. Start a $75.00 a week grocery budget and shop for $75.00 worth of food, essentials, things that you can freeze, healthy snacks and produce on special, and plan your meals later at home.

I spent a few hours last night cooking. My kids now have the choice of what to eat for dinner tonight, either spaghetti with meat sauce or chicken paprikash. I made the paprikash with eight good-sized chicken thighs. I know my kids; I know how much they eat. That’s a meal for each of us for two nights! With salad! Plus lunch for me for a couple of days. If they decide on spaghetti, that’s a hefty plateful each, again, with salad. And they can pack some in their school lunches, and I can take a helping to work. And at least half of the sauce can be frozen for later use. That means I’ve just fed my family for more than a week on way less than $75.00, and I’ve got pasta sauce in the freezer. And I didn’t use anything that I didn’t buy this week, except for spices.

Things will be different, I’m sure, in the weeks to come, when reserves are depleted. We’ll see what happens then.

Is $75.00 a week to feed a family of 3 so crazy?

When Premier Philippe Couillard – who made the news in England, by the way – suggested, last week, that a family can eat on a budget of $75.00 a week it struck a nerve. I had as visceral a reaction as everyone else. We all wondered just how out of touch the good doctor can possibly be. But then I took a breath and thought about it. Could I feed myself and my kids on a budget of just $75.00 a week? I went online and found a few articles that talked about how easy it can be, if one is careful, plans out meals, and shops well.

I took that as a challenge.

Some people got quite upset with me over this. One of my Facebook friends even suggested that I was working for the premier. As if. This is in no way a defense of the premier; as most of you know, I am kind of apolitical. That is to say, I would prefer to vote for no one rather than be forced to choose the lesser of two, 3, or 4 evils (I don’t really think any of them are evil; out of touch, perhaps, but not evil). Another friend asked me what I’m trying to prove. Nothing. I’m not trying to prove anything to anybody but myself – I need to watch my own spending, I need to tighten my own belt. But if doing so can help others, so much the better.

When I started talking about this online, many scoffed, saying that I’d probably find myself eating a lot of Ramen noodles (I’ve never had Ramen in my life), or Kraft Dinner. Or that I’ll never be able to afford meat or healthy meals. I hadn’t even begun this little project, yet, and many were saying it can’t be done. But I kept saying “Hang on! Let’s just see what’s possible before we scoff at what we think is impossible.”

Remember what Couillard’s caveat was: one adult and two teenagers. Not a family of 4 or 5. One adult and two teenagers. That’s me. I’m a single dad with a 13-year-old, and a 16-year-old who could, if I let him, eat everything in sight even if it’s not food.

This afternoon I flipped through the fliers that come in that blasted Publisac. I quickly learned that most of the stuff that’s advertised as on special is crap – you will not find soda pop in my house, or peanut butter, or Nutella, or “fruit drink”. I do buy snacks – I have a weakness for chips and chocolate – but I try, as much as possible to have healthy snacks on hand.

I wanted to make as economical a shopping list as possible. My father said to me, last week, “If you listen to me, I could save you up to $1000 a year.” He has the Flipp app on his phone, which is some kind of grocery flier aggregator. But I hate the idea of having to run from store to store.

This evening I went to a couple – Super C and IGA – list in hand, making sure to not spend any more than $75.00 after taxes. Luckily most groceries are non-taxable.

Now, let me put all my cards on the table: I did not start with an empty larder. I already have stuff from previous shops. I have a full chicken and some salmon in my freezer. And I’ve got all kinds of leftovers in my fridge. But that might change, moving forward. We’ll see. Also, it’s true that my kids aren’t with my all the time, some nights they’re at their mother’s. Although my son does like to hang out at my place – eating my food – after school.

Here’s how I managed tonight:

I bought a big package of chicken thighs with which I can create two meals, one of which will be chicken paprikash, an easy and delicious Hungarian favourite. And chances are there’ll be leftovers for my lunch the next day. I picked up a double portion of ground beef, along with tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste. I’ll split the meat, and use one portion for my world-famous Bolognese. Again, there’ll be leftovers that I could give my kids for their lunch the next day. The other portion of the meat goes into the freezer for either meatloaf, or burger night. I bought fantastic grapes at a great price, .99/lb! I bought green, red, and yellow peppers, a jar of mayonnaise (no-name brand, of course), a box of 18 eggs on special, a broccoli for 99 cents, and some things for school lunches. I’d have gone to another couple of stores, but my daughter wanted me to come home. All told I spent less than $70! No Kraft Dinner, and no Ramen.

Next week things will be different – I’ll need different items than I bought today. But what I discovered is that $75.00 can go a long way. It doesn’t sound like a lot of money, it’s less than $100, and if you’re anything like I usually am, you can spend $125.00 at the grocery store, and realize when you got home that you either paid too much for some things, or bought the wrong things, or weren’t thinking ahead, and likely could have saved quite a lot. That’s the reason I’m doing this.

I’m pretty happy with tonight’s results. Tomorrow night I start cooking.