Sandi's 2022 multipart challenge

Want to up your frugal game? Join one of our challenges.
SandiSAHM
Posts: 2263
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Sandi's 2022 multipart challenge

Post by SandiSAHM »

Trying to come under $94.00 (which was inclusive of tax and tip) for 2 dinners for 4 and lunch for 2 (10 total meals) turned out to not be a challenging challenge.

We did a chickpea curry (with tomatoes, spinach) over jasmine rice - 6 meals, a GF/vegetarian stroganoff with a meat substitute and mushrooms, side of mixed veggies - 4 meals, homemade pizza with feta, pesto, spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, dried tomatoes, black olives, mozzarella - 6 meals, and have the leftovers from the ingredients to make pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup (outrageously priced these days) and, oddly enough, glazed maple carrots. Also some leftover brown sugar, yeast, mixed veg, GF noodles, quite a bit of rice, some butter, GF flours. For $84.27 after tax (OK taxes food - groceries - between the state, the county, the cities (our stores are in two cities) it adds up to 8.417-8.8% tacked on to your grocery bill).

So, overall... yup, still cooking at home FTW!

I have been considering doing a little 'extra' cooking just for the purpose of storing prepared meals. I made DD a pot of chili today, but she and DH are the only people who will eat it - DS doesn't like spicy food and it tries to burn a hole in my stomach no matter how little of it I eat - I don't even taste-test, I get someone else to try it and tell me if it needs adjustment. It'll be my alternative to take-out; when I don't feel like cooking I'll "take" something "out" of the freezer :lol:
floridacatlover
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:21 am

Re: Sandi's 2022 multipart challenge

Post by floridacatlover »

SandiSAHM wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 10:56 pm Trying to come under $94.00 (which was inclusive of tax and tip) for 2 dinners for 4 and lunch for 2 (10 total meals) turned out to not be a challenging challenge.

We did a chickpea curry (with tomatoes, spinach) over jasmine rice - 6 meals, a GF/vegetarian stroganoff with a meat substitute and mushrooms, side of mixed veggies - 4 meals, homemade pizza with feta, pesto, spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, dried tomatoes, black olives, mozzarella - 6 meals, and have the leftovers from the ingredients to make pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup (outrageously priced these days) and, oddly enough, glazed maple carrots. Also some leftover brown sugar, yeast, mixed veg, GF noodles, quite a bit of rice, some butter, GF flours. For $84.27 after tax (OK taxes food - groceries - between the state, the county, the cities (our stores are in two cities) it adds up to 8.417-8.8% tacked on to your grocery bill).

So, overall... yup, still cooking at home FTW!

I have been considering doing a little 'extra' cooking just for the purpose of storing prepared meals. I made DD a pot of chili today, but she and DH are the only people who will eat it - DS doesn't like spicy food and it tries to burn a hole in my stomach no matter how little of it I eat - I don't even taste-test, I get someone else to try it and tell me if it needs adjustment. It'll be my alternative to take-out; when I don't feel like cooking I'll "take" something "out" of the freezer :lol:
I think that you are a very good cook and I’m not even vegetarian (but I don’t eat a lot of meat.) I do like spicy, however. Your meals all sound so good.
SandiSAHM
Posts: 2263
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Sandi's 2022 multipart challenge

Post by SandiSAHM »

floridacatlover wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:39 am I think that you are a very good cook and I’m not even vegetarian (but I don’t eat a lot of meat.) I do like spicy, however. Your meals all sound so good.
You are too kind!

I watched and was allowed to mess with some stuff when with my Mom's family early on (I have shelled more peas and trimmed more green beans than should be legal - hours on end, those gardens were huge), but most cooking I learned as an adult (my Mom, when we were stateside, was one of those "don't touch my kitchen!" people - I was lucky to be allowed to make dessert from time to time. She's changed, and now when I visit her or she visits me I am expected to do not only all the cooking, but also all the cleaning up ;) ). I had the original Betty Crocker cookbook that looked like a barely-abridged dictionary that taught ALL the basics, what the terms mean, etc., and figured it out, and Martin Yan inspired me to buy a wok, LOL.

Then I figured out I wanted to be vegetarian and learned all over again, in the days when the only 'substitute' for meat was legumes and tofu :lol: Now...wow, the stuff they have. I'm kind of a purist, though, meat subs are a 1-2 times a week thing if we think about them, not a daily thing - which is good because those, too, are crazy expensive. These days we're thirds in the kitchen - 1/3 me, 1/3 DH, and 1/3 either one or both of the kids. It's a mixed bag of preferred tastes.

DH and I were reflecting on the challenge - with $94 and no limit on what kind of dishes to make, we could do curries and soups for easily 8-10 days, with breads on the side. Dried legumes still save bank over anything canned.

As it stands, though, he's made 'easy' curries the last 2 days... We have a lot of rice to work through! :?
SandiSAHM
Posts: 2263
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Sandi's 2022 multipart challenge

Post by SandiSAHM »

Was sitting around drumming my fingers re taxes. Finally contacted accountant. He's been down with illness but is back at it.

The suspense is no fun.
SandiSAHM
Posts: 2263
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Sandi's 2022 multipart challenge

Post by SandiSAHM »

Stick a fork in me, I'm done.

Made a little more $ last year - and our son aged out of "child" in the IRS's eyes just a few days before the year was over. No more kids on the dole here (ha!! nothing has changed in terms of what we pay for; he hasn't even graduated from high school yet - and then he just goes to college, more expense). This isn't a gripe about the kid, he's amazing and we'd have had him even if child care credit was not a thing; it's a gripe about reality, maybe some folks kick their kids to the curb at 18, but we are not those folks.

I think savings may technically be in the red 3/31, I'll see if I can at least keep that from happening with a little juggling, but I also have to send in my Q1 2023 payments (contractor).

DH will be reassessing his withholding. He was only making more for the last qtr of last year, but we probably should have checked the math when the job change was done. Hindsight!!
User avatar
LWolfT
Posts: 2709
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:46 am

Re: Sandi's 2022 multipart challenge

Post by LWolfT »

You have my sympathy. We're going to get nailed, too. I've yet to do the state taxes, and I'm holding my breath on that.
Post Reply