No Celebration for an Early Victory

We had family dinner last night.  As i suspected, everyone confirmed that they have already given up on the challenge, declaring me the victor.  Sharon said she was spending $115 per week in February and knew she wouldn't compete.  Everyone else gave a concurrent view, that they didn't think they would win so they stopped keeping track.

I myself have gone over my original intended budget.  My goal was roughly $303 for the 89 days of this challenge.  As of last Tuesday we were at $299.67, and I had work to do off-site.  I can't cook if I'm not at the building, so I bought enough for lunch and to rejuvenate some of our depleted supplies.  I spent about $17.  I went shopping this Tuesday again as I was going to be out for the evening and once again we were running low on several things.  I spent another $24.  So we are in the ballpark of $340 now.

Despite the surrender of all opponents I will press on for these last 5 days of the challenge.  It seems silly to come so far and give up.  I plan to continue to spend as little as possible, though we will likely go out this evening to visit with a close friend who is going through a hard time.

If we started this challenge over, I do believe I could make 3 months on $300.  there were a few mistake purchases and a few stumbles along the way.  We have had a lot of actual work so I was not able to make my 'earn the money' goal either, though I also believe if pressed into hardship I could make enough money to feed us.

As for this blog, I will update it on May 1st to let you all know what our final tally was.  As it stands, and counting all the meals we shared with others, our cost per person per day looks like it will average to about $1.75 over the 3 months.

Beyond that, I plan to put up a series of posts (or if I get really ambitious, videos!) of the most economical meals I prepared over the course of this, our third and final food challenge.