Darcie,
Wowsers. I told Geekboy that the cats (we have 4) were no longer part of the household budget since they managed to break it every month. I also don't really factor gas in. I do try to manage the shopping trips to keep that cost down, though. We go to Meijer most weeks since it's next door to where I work. We go to Holiday Market -- where we get our meat -- every other week. And we go to Whole Foods on the weeks we don't go to Holiday. That's why I plan menus 2 weeks in advance.
Living Cookbook figures the cost of each meal. So long as it know that I paid $x for 4 oz of oregano, it can figure how much I use per dish. It's not perfect -- I often use so little salt in a dish that it comes out as $0.
Here is how it breaks down Marilyn's Toffee:
Recipe Cost
Recipe: $19.68
Serving: $0.82
Cost Per Ingredient
1 lb unsalted butter $4.99
½ teaspoon salt $0.01
2 cups granulated sugar $1.26
3 tablespoons water n/a
1 cup slivered almonds $2.69
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate $5.62
2 cups lightly toasted pecans $5.00
The serving cost is based on my mostly arbitrary guestimate of 24 servings per batch. It also thinks I use organic butter, but if the cash ain't there, I don't.
My granddad loves that ring bologna. I don't think any of the stores where he lives carries it anymore. Maybe I should look around for some before I visit next time.
We still have Houseguest Harry this week, so some of these meals are a bit splurgy. Mostly, it's the fact that I am including desserts that makes them so. For S&G, I thought I'd include the beer pairings, too (though not the prices, suffice it to say, they are eating up a fair share of my cushion). Harry and I love beer, but it's not really something I can indulge in on a regular basis due to the budget. You can bet I'm making up for some lost time now.