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I just had ramen noodles for lunch haha, but i would pay 15- 20 for a quality playmat.

OK, to feed for a week on $15, each meal would have to cost about $0.67 (since there are 21 meals in a week).  So let's do the math (since you are a math teacher)

Ramen Noodles (add chopped up hamburger or chicken for variety)

OK, I'll give you that you could fill up a family of 5 on Ramen Noodles for $1 (2 packages per person @ $0.10 each).  However, I'm just too concerned about the MSG content to eat them on a regular basis.

PB&J

To fill up on PB&J would take 2 sandwiches each assuming no other foods were served.  For a family of 5, that would be 10 slices of bread (2/3 of a loaf @ $1.50 per Wal-Mart generic loaf = $1), it would be probably another $0.50 worth of jelly and another $0.50 worth of peanut butter (maybe more).  The minimum on this meal's gotta be $2.

Tacos (use tortilla chips instead of taco shells for variety)
Spaghettios (Buy large can with meatballs and one without, then mix them)
Chicken & Rice casserole (or soup if it's not too hot out)
Tuna Fish
Macaroni & Cheese
Macaroni & meat sauce (use small shells or other pasta types for variety)
Hot Dogs & Hamburgers on the grill

These would all be more expensive than Ramen or PB&J.  And those were already over our limit of $0.67/meal.  I don't think this is possible.  I've always prided myself on my ability to eat cheaply.  We consistently have cereal breakfast, PB&J lunch, and dinners including spaghetti night, chili night, baked potato night.  But $15 just seemed incredibly low.  I see now that you were exaggerating to make a point.  But I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing out on something even more frugal than what I already do

P.S.  My plan for Nats is to take a box of cereal ($1) and eat that dry for breakfast/lunch/snacks over the course of all 3 days.  I also plan on having a 2-liter of Mt.Dew ($1) for the trip there, which I keep refilling with water to drink during the tournaments.  Then I'll probably splurge and eat 3 McChickens ($3) for supper every night.  That'll make my food budget a total of $20.

OK, to feed for a week on $15, each meal would have to cost about $0.67 (since there are 21 meals in a week).  So let's do the math (since you are a math teacher)

Some of us on tighter budgets do not eat three meals a day, especially during the summer. Sleep in and eat brunch as the first meal. 

OK, I'll give you that you could fill up a family of 5 on Ramen Noodles for $1 (2 packages per person @ $0.10 each). 

To fill up on PB&J would take 2 sandwiches each assuming no other foods were served. 

These two statements are out of context for my family. We all fill up just fine on one package of Ramen or one sandwich. In fact, one package of Ramen feeds both my wife and daughter. We eat much smaller portions than you are assuming. Fifty cents worth of penaut butter or jelly...... I don't think so. We just spread it, we don't gob it. 

For a family of 5,...

Just to clarify, Gabriel is five months old, so he does not eat any of the meals I listed. Miriam is only four years old and has a very picky appetite. My wife seems to eat hardly anything, no matter what you put in front of her. Joshua is almost six-feet tall already, but at 13 he still manages to get by with normal portions. I'm the fatty, but I'm trying to cut back as much as I can.
 

These would all be more expensive than Ramen or PB&J. 

Wal-mart frozen chicken costs $7 for a bag. We portion that out to eight meals. Hamburger in bulk costs $8. We also portion that out, but usually to ten meals. Just a little bit of hamburger or chicken is enough to make a meal special. 

Although this may total more than 67 cents, we can come pretty close with all the meals I listed, so it is not as much of an exaggeration as you are suggesting. Especially since Ramen costs even less for my family, which helps offset the cost of the other meals.

For the next 7 days, I shall only spend $3 on food to prove that it's possible. Furthermore, the diet shall be healthy!

Day 1:
Breakfast: Generic-Oat-Granola Bar, $0.18, water
Lunch: Half a bag of Generic prewashed-ready-to-eat-bagged-salad with cracked pepper, water, $0.60
Dinner: Went out with friends to Chinese, $9.54 + tip
So far I'm doing pretty well. I'm only $7 over and the first two meals weren't unhealthy, at least. I'll make up over spending by reducing spending to $1 a week over the next 3.5 weeks

Day 2
Breakfast: Can't afford it
Lunch: Nope
Dinner: No

Day 3:
Breakfast: Nty
Lunch: Please send help
Dinner: I'm hungry

Day 4:
Breakfast: Why did I do this
Lunch: This was a bad idea
Dinner: I just stole 245 pudding cups from the cafeteria. Do not ask how I got them out.

Personally, I like to listen to the experts on diet advice. And if Kafka, an obvious expert in something or another, has taught me one thing, it's not eating is actually very healthy. It won't kill you and it's good on the soul.

I am (going to be) a college kid and will show you how to eat for less than any of the listed amounts.

Breakfast: Poptarts that my parents bought
Lunch: Chicken that my parents bought
Supper: Food that my parents bought

See? It's quite simple.

This year I'm still at the community college since I have 11 credits to get my AA degree. I am going off to college next year though, and will be spending hopefully $15 a week on food with the same basic plan...

The problem is sustainability.  For people to be healthy, they need a variety of foods, and need to avoid over-consumption of certain foods.  So while Ramen is cheap, it is really not healthy to eat it on a regular basis.  And while $8 of hamburger split over 10 meals is probably enough meat for a healthy diet, we need a larger amount of fruits/veggies/milk/etc.  Just looking at milk for instance:  6oz a day X 6 days = 2.25 pints a week X 5 people = about 1.3 gallon X $3.00/gallon = $4.00

FTR, I said "a week's worth of meals," which was not a statement of "sustainability."   

Ken,if you have more than one design. I would consider buying more than one.

Thanks

What will the sizes be? I would also like to know if they are too long to fit two on the table and still have a field of battle...

Speaking of fitting two on a table, can you make semicircular ones for round tables?

I would buy more than one if the are different looking.

It's funny this has come up... I actually mentioned the idea of modifying generic playmats to the reg layout for our new players, however, the more advanced players in our playgroup would not like to have the layout printed on their playmat since we already know what the reg format looks like.  (Gives the feeling that we have training wheels on).  I'd like to see some concepts before I'd consider actually purchasing one (Getting low on cash), but I love the idea of Redemption playmats.  Actually, after the way this year's finances have been for me, I'm beginning to doubt I'll be traveling to tourneys... something about wanting to go but not being able to after doing the best I could to make plans to go.

Carry On,

-C_S

Fruit is not required for sustainability. However Scurvy is a horrible horrible disease. Only good that comes from it is I can now say I'm a pirate

But do you have a map to lead you to a hidden box, that's all locked up with locks and buried deep away?

the more advanced players in our playgroup would not like to have the layout printed on their playmat since we already know what the reg format looks like.

It's so boring without some sort of design. I would prefer a Redemption design.