Wrapping up the $4 Challenge

What can I say?  The last few weeks have certainly been a sobering and educational experience for all involved.

We started the Ajaxo $4 Challenge Series in one part to prove to ourselves and to the world that it can be done - that people can eat a fulfilling meal without having to eat less or turn to processed foods.  The $4 Challenge Series was our litmus test:  Can it be done?  Can Ajaxo.com function as a (helpful) resource for people looking to provide a fulfilling meal on a limited budget?  The answer at the end of the ride has been a resounding, “Yes, you can.”

It starts with staying informed.

While we have a lot of information at our disposal, it doesn’t mean we have access to it - or know how to.  You can’t blame anyone, either.  Just think about it.  Create a meal for a family of four on $4.  It’s nuts.  In fact, the Ajaxo $4 Challenge Series encountered a lot of friction from the very beginning.  A lot of us - myself included - were quite frankly very extremely skeptical.  We knew you could save *some* money, but operating on $4/meal for a family of FOUR?  That seemed like it was taking things a little far.

I have to admit, the premise was certainly noble, but the constraints seemed borderline crazy. Then we dug in.  We started reverse-engineering a meal based on the exceptional values we found on Ajaxo.com - always keeping meats and vegetables a top priority.

And we did the first video.  We weren’t film pros - I know you guys are loving the arthouse quality - but we showed it could be done.  And it wasn’t just eating on the cheap with calorie-saver portions, there was plenty to go around and then some.  We showed that it could be done not just once, but again and again and again - always using fresh meat and produce.

And that’s just it.  It’s not about giving up certain food groups (steak, shrimp), but knowing when to buy, where to buy.  Of particular interest to some, it should be duly noted that at no time did we exercise a single coupons (although that’s not to say I am disputing their effectiveness).  We wanted to take the lowest common denominator - extreme bare minimum requirements - and apply it to Ajaxo.com to show families, college students, anybody and everybody that you could create fulfilling meals in a timely manner WITHOUT spending hours coupon clipping or  circular page flipping on the kitchen table.  We feel that the time factor is very important - especially when more and more people find that they have less and less time in their schedules.  By being able to efficiently drill down into information to find your savings (with copious examples of how to apply groceries into delicious dinners), we found (and tried to show with the Ajaxo $4 Challenge Series and more series to come) that Ajaxo.com can be a very timely and helpful resource.

You may or not have noticed the shopping basket icon present on the front page! What that is, essentially, is a sample basket of groceries - groceries to feed a family of four for a week.  You could think of them like a localized, Ajaxo Consumer Price Index (CPI).

I’ll have a post that describes all of that later. But I just wanted to say thanks everybody for keeping up with us for the last couple of days, watching, re-watching, showing your support.  There’ll be more series to come.  And of course, we hope that Ajaxo.com proves to be a helpful resource to you, your family, your friends and colleagues.

Take care and have a great week :)