I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 27 years, disabled daughter, college-aged son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!Mrs. Frugalista was talking about how the mayor of Newark, NJ was going to try to live on a food stamp grocery budget of $4 a day for a week. That got me wondering what I could buy for $133.26 a month. But then that got me to thinking, how do people receive their food stamp card?
Do they get the $133.26 put on there all at once for the whole month, or do they get it put on a week at a time? Because only having $33 a week to work with is a far cry from having $133.26 all at once to work with. If it's the full amount at once, I can do it with a decent amount of variety and healthiness. But if it's only a weekly benefit, than it would be much harder to do it with variety and healthiness in your diet. If that is so, I will have to rethink it all.
Anyway, I sat down with the grocery flyers last night. I chose the three that were within easy walking distance and that also happen to be on city bus routes, because I'm assuming that if someone was on food stamps, they might not be able to just drive to any grocery store in the city they wanted to go to. I also used the one store's online prices for their grocery store's internet shopping service. You can actually pick out what you want online and they would gather all those things together and have it waiting for you at whatever time you gave them. The price tool from that is very handy.
I also took a wander around one of the stores this morning after picking up some OJ, checking out the marked down for quick sale meats, in which they had two whole chickens. And checked the prices and sizes of the other meats. Then I looked at the bulk bins and the cheeses.
So from all of that I made up a list of what I could buy for the full monthly benefit of $133.26. The only thing I was assuming was on hand is salt and pepper.
$11.29 2 whole chickens
$5.04 1 2 pound pork butt roast
$8.29 1 2 pound beef chuck roast
$7.50 3 pounds of ground beef
$7.96 4 dozen eggs
$2.59 1 pound of butter
$6.40 2 10 pound bags of potatoes
$2.00 5 pound bag of carrots
$5.00 5 pound bag of oranges
$3.00 5 pound bag of apples
$3.00 5 pound bag of yellow onions
$4.00 10 pound bag of flour
$0.99 1 pound of sugar bulk bins
$3.38 2 heads of purple cabbage
$2.99 1 quart jar of mayo
$2.50 1 24 oz bottle of ketchup
$1.98 2 pounds of spaghetti
$2.36 4 16 ounce cans of tomato sauce
$0.69 1 16 ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chiles
$2.38 2 packages of tortillas
$5.99 2 pounds mozzarella cheese
$1.59 1 pound bag of slivered bell peppers
$2.00 1 bunch of celery
$4.88 2 half gallons of milk
$1.29 1 head of lettuce
$2.99 1 pound cheddar cheese
$4.00 8 ounces parmesan cheese
$2.99 1 8 oz shaker of seasoned salt (like Lawry's)
$3.98 2 1/2 gallons of apple juice
$2.25 1/4 pound of honey ham from deli
$4.00 1 jar of yeast
$2.00 1/4 pound of pepperoni
$0.99 1 4 oz chili powder packet
$2.99 1 quart of cooking oil
$0.25 1 head of garlic
$0.99 4 ounces of mixed Italian herbs from bulk bin
$1.50 Baking powder
$0.99 1 pound powdered sugar
$2.50 1 pound ground sausage
$4.00 12 ounces of bulk honey
-----------------------------------
$132.53 Total
So there is a decent amount of variety, I think. Not as much as there would have been on even $50 more. I couldn't even think about things like fresh fish, canned tuna, and peanut butter. As it was I had to put things back on the imaginary shelf to keep the cheeses, butter, the herbs and spices and the honey. Since all of those things are so important for flavor, I felt I needed them to keep things from being bland. And I couldn't get as many tortillas, tomato sauce, milk, or eggs as I wanted. If the butter hadn't been on sale, I wouldn't have had it on the list.
I am now in the process of making up menu plans to see what I'd actually be able to eat on a daily basis. Also, I have to take into account that the lettuce must be eaten within the first ten days and then I'd move to the cabbage which will last much longer. I'd also have to take a cup out of one of the containers of milk and then freeze the rest of it for weeks three and four. I had to figure out which meat to freeze and which to cook up and then portion out and freeze or prepare for meals.
I also know how long it takes me to go through a 10 pound bag of flour as I do that every month. I can make 2 extra large pizzas, 4 loaves of bread, a few batches of pancakes and a couple batches of biscuits. Since for just myself I would only need enough dough to make 1 extra large pizza (or 2 medium ones) I could make more bread, pancakes, or biscuits than usual.
Anyway, menues will be forthcoming as I figure them out. This is an imaginary exercise. I am not really doing it. Or rather, I am only doing it on paper.
About the Food Stamps Challenge
December 4th, 2012 at 09:34 pm
December 4th, 2012 at 11:45 pm 1354664743
December 5th, 2012 at 12:34 am 1354667643
December 5th, 2012 at 01:00 am 1354669250
December 5th, 2012 at 03:34 am 1354678479
December 5th, 2012 at 03:59 am 1354679950
December 5th, 2012 at 05:14 am 1354684450
I wonder if the individual has the skill, knowledge, and motivation to make meals from scratch. Like rob6212, I see those using food cards buying mostly junk food that doesn't need cooking.
Would the individual be able to lug all that food in all those bags home by bus or walking?
Your list isn't much different than what I buy except I'd choose two different different pastas shapes like macaroni as well as spaghetti from bins, powdered milk instead of jugs, tea or [instant] coffee instead of apple juice, dehydrated vegetables, raisins and a jar of peanut butter, perhaps skipping deli ham.
December 5th, 2012 at 10:15 am 1354702506
I KNOW I could eat quite well on $133.xx/month. I currently spend about $125 and that includes cleaning supplies, personal care items, paper goods and cat food & litter. ALL listed item types are NOT allowed in our program.
It MUST be food-junk like cookies & chips are (generally) allowed. Not sure about soda or candy.
December 5th, 2012 at 03:40 pm 1354722026
December 5th, 2012 at 07:57 pm 1354737431
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=17688917&findingMethod=rr
December 5th, 2012 at 11:33 pm 1354750424
December 6th, 2012 at 09:25 pm 1354829156
December 6th, 2012 at 10:38 pm 1354833512
December 7th, 2012 at 02:46 pm 1354891580