Getting a feel for what $30 can buy

Today I had a bit of time to price out a few items at 3 different grocery stores. I started at our local Walmart. I discovered some really economical items I will likely use on my 30 day menu. Some good prospects were:

2 lbs. of Carrots: $1.34
Red Potatoes: $0.50/lb. (about $0.25 each - score!)
Bulk Pinto Beans: $0.84/lb.
2.5 dozen eggs: $3.35 (about $0.11/egg)
Adolphus Brown Rice (2 lb. bag): $1.42
"Great Value" Lentils (1 lb. bag): $0.67
Guerrero Corn Tortillas (60 count bag): $2.34
Quaker Old Fashioned Oats (42 oz.): $1.74

I love potatoes, so I was pretty encouraged on the red potatoes being only $0.50/lb. My friend Angela told me that I would be better off eating brown rice, as my blood sugar would not crash as fast as when eating white rice. So I was pleased to see that brown rice is relatively affordable. But I might need 2 - 3 bags, so it is getting up there. Corn tortillas will be great in soup, or with eggs for a small egg taco.

Then I checked out Whole Foods Market for their self-serve bulk spice bins, to see what kind of price range I would be looking at to get a few tablespoons of seasoning. I was surprised to see most of their spices up in the $1/oz. range, but I did find Cayenne powder for $0.50/oz. One ounce is 2 tablespoons so I'll have to decide if $1 to $2 worth of spices is going to make a difference. I guess a dash of seasoning is better than nothing. I think I'll also scope out Fiesta tomorrow to see if they offer self-serve bulk spices. Prices at Whole Foods on most everything else were out of my budget, except maybe for the bulk sunflower seeds at $2.69/lb. but even that seems pretty high. But I wold like to have some kind of nuts on hand to add to my oatmeal, so maybe a quarter-lb. of sunflower seeds would be doable.

I had an errand to run at the Randall's customer service desk, so I had a chance to check out some of their prices as well. I didn't have time to check these products at Walmart, and I'm thinking they might be cheaper there. But I think this is probably a good indication of what I will be paying for these types of items:

Ramen Noodle Soup 6-packs: $1.50 ($0.25 each)
- There's bound to be a better price on this somewhere
Generic Raisins (15 oz. can): $2.49
Cabbage: $0.29/lb. (1 cabbage comes to about $0.79 - nice!)
Generic Macaroni Pasta (2 lb. bag): $1.79

I know there's something I'm not thinking of at this point, but this is what came to mind today. Still have 13 days before I begin, so I'm sure this will continue to evolve. But if I had to choose based off of what I found today, after doing some calculations, here's what I'm probably looking at:

Breakfast:
Half bowl of oatmeal with a dash of raisins and sunflower seeds.
1 scrambled egg in a corn tortilla
Lunch:
Potato, Carrot & Cabbage Ramen Noodle Stew - Half Bowl
(half carrot & half small potato, 1.5 oz. cabbage, half of a ramen pack)
Dinner:
Half serving of Macaroni, Rice & Beans Taco in a corn tortilla
(alternate between lentils and beans)

There you have it.