First Morning - Grocery Shopping and Luxury (Includes a cooked fly)

In order to make this challenge more realistic, I wanted to keep the menus as close to what we typically eat as possible.  Notice some things missing or are not as plentiful as a nutritionist would advise - fish, fresh fruit and veggies?  These items are more costly and are harder to fit into the budget on some days.  Right or wrong, I know that my children are getting well balanced meals at school and whereas I'm doing my best to provide the same at home, I know that if they miss a green vegetable at supper that at least they got it at lunch and I'm doing the best I can to feed them as healthy as my budget allows at home.     

Menus for the Week

Monday:
Baked Chicken and Rice
Green Beans
Applesauce

Tuesday:
Meat loaf
Corn
Mashed Potatoes
Applesauce (my kids love this)

Wednesday:
Grilled chicken breast
Bun
Baked Tater Tots
Yogurt

Thursday:
Spaghetti with whole wheat noodles
Salad

Friday:
Manwich
Bun
Baked Tater Tots

Saturday:
Lunch - Leftovers
Supper - Pizza from Little Caesars

Sunday:
Lunch - Asian fried rice and chicken with vegetables
             Applesauce or Yogurt
Supper - Leftovers or Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Breakfast Choices:
Fruit Loops
Oatmeal
Sausage Balls

Dessert and Fruit Choices:
Chocolate fudge peanut butter cookies
Bananas
Assorted Fruit Yogurts

Beverage Choices:
2% Milk
Orange Juice
Water

My grocery bill came to $73.64.  This includes all the ingredients (except for spices which I am allowed to use from my pantry) to make the above-referenced meals.  I was quite happy to come-out with $10.36 left in my budget.  I was so happy in fact that I decided that I could treat myself to a gravy and biscuit from Hardees that cost $1.96.  Now, we have $8.40. 

Well, the extra $1.96 makes me feel guilty now that I have actually done the math and know that I have $8.40 left in my food stamp bank and what if my kiddos need that extra $1.96.  Also, two bites into the biscuit and gravy, I found a cooked fly....so NOT worth the extra money spent.  That is when I began to think, wow, I could drive back into town and burn the expensive gas to get another biscuit and gravy which was likely cooked in the same batch as the fly.  I wasted almost $2.00.  Seems kinda silly to most people but when $8.40 is all you have left for food for a month, it matters and I wish I would have considered that earlier today.