Up to the Challenge?

KEEPING TABS: This wasn't just any Monday. Rather, today marked the start of our participation in the United Way of King County's Hunger Action Week, "an exercise of empathy—to live in someone else's shoes for one week and learn how you can help fight hunger in our community." The goal is to live on less than the amount a family our size would be eligible for on food assistance ("stamps"). We were successful last year. I hope we can repeat that feat.

Participating in this project means a whole lot of number crunching. The kids were reminded of that when I asked them to pay me for the breakfast they just ate. :)

Annabelle's was relatively easy to figure out. She ate a little less than half of a $1.50 container of strawberries. She owed me 70 cents. CJ had peanut butter toast, which meant we had to first figure out how much each slice of a $3 loaf of bread cost. Since there were 17 slices, we divided 3 by 17 to figure out that was .17 apiece. Based in the cost of the jar of peanut butter and the serving size, we figured out he had 6 cents worth of spread.

And so our day went. Every time something crossed their lips, there was a price to pay. Here's CJ, settling up for his 23 cent breakfast ...
A bit later, the kids came to find out that a Goldfish snack would set them back 17 cents.

The kids were really good about adhering to the guidelines. Every time they touched food today, they kept track of it and paid the kitty for it. During dinner, Annabelle insisted upon knowing how much her baby carrots were going to cost her, so I weighed them for her and we figured it out. I have to admit, CJ wasn't quite as gung ho. At one point today he muttered, "I'm going to have a drink of water. I hope I don't have to pay for it!"

According to the Hunger Week guidelines, our family of four would have a max of $22 a day if we were on state food assistance ("food stamps"). Happily, we were well under our budget today!

CJ - today's total $2.23
Peanut butter toast = .23
Strawberries = .30
goldfish = .17 (for 55 fish @ .99 a bag)
Cheese stick = .20
1/2 organic apple: 1 apple = 1/2 lb @ .88/lb = .22
popcorn = .25
Spaghetti, sauce, olives, carrots = .66
Ice cream scoop = .20

Annabelle - today's total $2.40
Strawberries = .70
Goldfish = .17
Cheese stick = .20
1/2 organic apple = 1 apple = 1/2 lb @ .88/lb = .22
popcorn = .25
Spaghetti, olives, carrots = .66
Ice cream scoop = .20

Christian - today's total $6.72
2 eggs (.08*2) .16 + .75 pork chop = .91
Coffee = .60
Cheese stick = .20
Nuts = .10
Dinner (Chipotle chili from scratch)= 2.18
Beer (Copper Hook, mmm) = 2.73

Me - today's total - $3.37
Yogurt = .57
Coffee = .30
Cheese stick = .20
popcorn and apple core (kids' leftovers, free)
carrot sticks = .12
Dinner (Chipotle chili) = 2.18

Family total: $14.72, $7.28 under budget - w00t! None of us went hungry, and we probably ate less than on a normal day which, frankly, is a good thing. Let's hope this trend continues.

IN OTHER NEWS: We read an educational and entertaining book today, "Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President," and the kids did a loooong review chapter in Singapore Math.

This afternoon, while Annabelle was in ballet class, we three walked around Magnolia, hitting a couple of stores. Poor CJ is still not 100 percent after last week's flu. He melted into a bench outside of Albertsons to recharge. After ballet, they played at the park for about a half hour, getting some much needed fresh air.

SOW WHAT?: Hooray! After dinner, the kids started our future garden.

I thought this was a fitting exercise tonight, during Hunger Action Week, as growing your own can save you some $$. At the Ace store, we scored seed starter mix for $.99 a bag - a $3 savings - and the seeds the kids planted tonight (Rainbow Chard, Delicata Squash and Nero Di Toscana Kale) were given to us by a friend. And we used a recycled egg carton for our pots. It doesn't get much cheaper than that!