In that I didn’t actually do it on Sunday. No sir!

There was so little shopping to do that it was done yesterday as part of our normal comings and goings (mostly goings).

Today, we slept in, went to some friends house where we gorged on heirloom tomatoes (and canned some too!), fussed over their chickens, swapped coupons, and talked some smack. This was a very good thing, since we were out till the wee hours of morning at a show for our favorite Bobby Bare Jr. . It was wonderful. Small, and funny, and intimate, and super frickin’ loud. But, I am old. 1:45am and are no longer good friends, not that we were ever much more than acquaintances to begin with. Morning Person, I am that. Definitely feeling it today, and very thankful for not having a laundry (grocery?) list of places to run around to just to make sure we have food for the week.

So time saving portion of experiment = success for this week!

On to the money.

This is a matter of perspective. We have a whopping $65 left in our September budget, or $21.50 per week.

Our only trip to Whole Foods this week involved 2 items.

1 container of yeast, $7

1 quart of ice cream to accompany the cookies we brought to a friends BBQ, also $7.

However, we made a couple of additional stops.

Seattle Tilth’s Harvest Festival . Small aside: We are so fortunate to live in a city that has an organization like Seattle Tilth! There was a wealth of  information about chickens, compost, goats, cisterns, and all other kinds of awesomeness to fill up my back yard. Anyhoo, this festival included a marketplace, to which I took my $80 cash allowance. Of that $80 I spent a small portion on food.

$5 on shitake mushrooms for tonight’s risotto. Actually I spent more on mushrooms, but they aren’t here yet because I’m growing them! Since those will not be eaten any time soon, Im not counting them.

The Calf & Kid I would love to omit this one, but since this is about full disclosure and keeping myself honest. Yes, I knowingly went to a fancy cheese shop. I had a coupon! And I was in the neighborhood! Another small aside: Again, with feeling lucky to live in Seattle. This a tiny(!) cheese counter really, with a wonderful selection of local (and not) cheeses. For $23 (including our $5 off coupon) we got a lovely selection of 5 cheeses in small, but adequate amounts for our enjoyment. Chatted with the owner, learned a little more about cheese than I knew before, and generally felt wonderful about my dollars spent. Budget be damned!  We will be back!

In review, thats uhm $42 spent. Minus our $65 ceiling, leaving us a staggering $24 left for September.

I could rail about this more, but its my own fault. I feel good about the purchases made, although the timing is not great. To be realistic, I think the likelihood of NOT going over the $650 is slim. I am already questioning what that means for next month

I’m still grappling with all that that $650 number means. Can it really be such a struggle for 2-people to spend less than $650 a month on food, and still shop with a conscience. Fancy cheese shops not with standing. Clearly concessions must be made. What are they? What can we live with food quality wise? How high would that number have to go to accommodate everything? And could I really live with THAT?