A week in the (grocery) bag

Week 1 is done. Let's see how the weekend days went.

Saturday, March 13
Breakfast – Shreddies with milk, grapefruit half, banana ($0.85)
Snack – Coffee on the train ($2), my muffin & three oatmeal cookies ($0.77)
Lunch – 2 whole wheat sandwiches (4 slices - $0.40) with spiced gouda/egg salad (probably about $0.60), ½ apple ($0.15)
Dinner – Chicken Kiev ($3.99), jasmine rice ($0.50), green beans ($0.25)
TOTAL: $9.51

Sunday, March 14
Breakfast – Pinnell's apple fritter ($0.70), 1/3 Pinnell's long john ($0.23)
Lunch – 3 slices of WW bread ($0.30), spiced gouda & egg salad (~$0.50), ½ apple ($0.30)
Snack – Tim Horton's coffee ($1.60) and a bran raisin muffin ($0.22)
Dinner – Sin chop ($1.10), brown rice dish ($0.40), frozen cauli/broc ($0.38)
TOTAL: $5.73

WEEK TOTAL: $40.46

The first seven days and I'm at a weekly total of $40.46, or $5.78 per day, about $1.75 under the OSAP formula. Even my weekend was under the $15 budget for the two days. Admittedly, this wasn't a typical weekend since I was visiting my folks and therefore relying mostly on the charity of others. (But see "March 8 -- It Begins/Began" to see my attempt at explaining away the idea of dinner with family as charity.)

DISCLAIMER: This bit below is purely for interest's sake, and shouldn't be factored into any results.

Let's compare last weekend, before I even heard about this challenge:

March 6
Breakfast – Cream of Wheat (~$0.60), boiled egg ($0.22), grapefruit half ($0.20), banana ($0.30)
Snack – muffin ($0.22), 3 figs ($0.15), 3 oatmeal cookies ($0.50), Second Cup dealy ($0.97)
Linner – Burrito and half a bottled water (~$7.75), shared regular popcorn and drink at the movies (<$6 – my share)
TOTAL: $16.91

March 7
Breakfast – Muesli with milk ($0.70), banana and grapefruit half ($0.50)
Snack – Muffin, 3 figs, 3 oatmeal cookies, homebrew ($1.37)
Lunch – Calzone ($4.50)
Dinner – Chili dinner ($2.40 – see March 9)
TOTAL: $9.47

WEEKEND TOTAL: $26.38 or $13.19 per day

The weekend before I knew I was going to be working with a budget, the weather was gorgeous and I was out in it and away from my stored food. So relax. Anyhow, if we take a weekly total from March 6 through March 12 I would have been only $2.77 over budget for the week. No big deal. Or is it? What it might mean is that if I were on OSAP, I'm saving enough during the week to eat out on the town on the weekend. Huzzah!

Stay tuned to the next post for the beginning of a smackdown on this whole issue.