Two girls and Twenty dollars

For Family Home Evening this week, we decided on a double whammy. Food Storage AND budgeting. I know, crazy! We decided to give the girls $20, with which they had to buy enough food storage, for the two of them, for a week. We told them they could do it all on their own, as long as everything was non-perishable. They began with their plan of attack. Madeline started making her list. When she was done, she had listed about 7 different kinds of sugar cereal. That's it. Hmmm. I gently reminded her she may want something for lunch and dinner as well. Avery's list was much more practical....

Cookie Crisp (cereal), beans, and "ronie cheese" (our family nickname for mac & cheese)

So, off we all went to the grocery store. I have to say it was encouraging to watch the girls work together as they looked for the best deals. Tom and I let them do it all on their own as we had promised. Their little brains had to work pretty hard to figure out what 5/$3.00 meant! The girls got some looks, as they were not quiet during this process...so, we just smiled as people glanced at our family, probably wondering why two little girls were arguing about the cost of powdered milk...

Overall, I think it was a great success. The girls were much more frugal knowing they were spending money on something they might actually need one day. So, what did a 9 year old and a 6 year old buy for a week of food storage?

3 boxes of "roni cheese", 2 cans BBQ vienna sausages, 1 can spehgettios, 1 can of peas, 2 packs of chocolate pudding, one bag hard candy, 2 cans beans, 1 can tomato soup, 5 packages of Ramen noodles, 1 box speghetti, 5 gallons of water, 1 jar of applesauce, 1 large jar peanut butter, and one box of all-purpose baking mix! Not bad if I do say so myself. I think they actually would be able to survive on that for a week. Maybe. Notice there is no sugar cereal, or any cereal for that matter. Probably due to the drama over the powdered milk. Madeline said it just didn't fit in to the budget. I think Madeline just didn't want to fathom the possibility of actually having to drink it...
So, if you ever want some good entertainment, just give your kids $20 for food storage and see what they get. They just might surprise you! :)