I can’t believe it’s September already! I’ve been planning to take the SNAP Challenge for months now, and today, September 1st, is day one.
What is the SNAP Challenge? The SNAP Challenge is a yearly event hosted by Feeding America to raise awareness about hunger and food insecurity in America. Participants are challenged to eat on no more than $4.50 per day, per person (the average allowance for food assistance programs), log their experiences, and reflect on the challenges and difficulties.
Why am I Taking the SNAP Challenge?
I’m taking this challenge to raise awareness about food insecurity (a topic close to my heart) and to hopefully destroy some of the stigmas surrounding people who need public assistance. Hunger spans across all races, ages, genders, locations, and education levels. Life can be unexpected and unpredictable and programs like SNAP are created to help people through the tough times and get back on their feet. While these programs aren’t the ultimate answer, they do provide temporary relief for millions of people. For more information about hunger in America and who it affects, FeedingAmerica.org has some great information and statistics. I really hope you check it out.
My other motivation is to just simply get back to my roots. When I started this blog I was in a really tough place—working a low paying job and drowning in student loan debt. At that point, I had no choice but to eat on less than $4.50 per day. Since that time I’ve gone back to school, gotten a much better job, and developed flourishing side career as a freelancer. As you can imagine, my spending (especially on food) has gotten really relaxed as my income has grown. I like the idea on eating on less than $4.50 per day, even when you don’t have to, because I think it’s important not to over consume (in all areas of life, not just food). I think this will help me refocus for the blog and, most importantly, be more thankful for what I have.
My Goals:
I plan to record everything I eat and drink throughout the day and calculate the total cost. I will be taking the challenge for the entire month of September.
I will be posting some new recipes, some old recipes modified to fit the challenge, and using some previous blog recipes just as they are. At the end of each week I’ll write a summary report for what I ate, how much it cost, and my reflections on the experience.
Because health is important to me, I’m going to attempt to incorporate as many fruits and vegetables in this plan as possible. Yes, that will be a challenge!!
My Expectations:
Planning is going to be the number one key. There is no way to casually eat on less than $4.50/day… unless I casually just eat half as many meals. Even with all of my years of blogging about the subject, I fully expect this to be a challenge. When I started the blog, $4.50/day was easy, but grocery prices have sky rocketed over the past 5 years, so it will be considerably more difficult.
I won’t be able to indulge in some of the luxuries I’ve gotten used to in the past couple of years, like my fancy coffee (beans, not pre-made drinks). Ooo, it’s going to be tough! My morning cup of joe is one of my favorite parts of the day, but when faced with money troubles, you have to make sacrifices. I’m doing this for real. No pretending.
Snacking will pretty much be off the table. $4.50/day is only $1.50 per meal, if you eat three meals… with nothing left over for snacks. Food for entertainment is not an option at that level. I will need to make the meals that I do have as filling as satisfying as possible to curb my cravings for snacks.
If food for entertainment is not an option, I will have to find new activities to entertain myself and new ways to enjoy spending time with friends. I remember that being one of the biggest challenges five years ago when I was very broke… what did I do to entertain myself instead snacking, going out to eat, or ordering a pizza? I learned about blogging and started a blog! I’d say that turned out well. :)
Stress. Stress is going to make this hard. When I get stressed, I want cheese… or pizza. In the month of September I’ll be closing on my first house and moving. The stress of this transition is going to make this TOUGH. I’m going to want to stuff my face. I know it. But, once again, when you’re faced with money troubles you are stressed. So, this is a very real challenge that people face every day.
So, that’s it for now! I’m excited to get started. I’ll be cooking my first batch of meals today, so look for a recipe tomorrow and a summary at the end of the week. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. I want this to be a learning experience for everyone!
Read through my experience from beginning to end:
I wish this could be done again, but with how inflation and COVID has affected everything. For families in 2015, the average was $4.50 a day for an adult with maybe one child here in Missouri. For singles here, it was less. For singles on SSI/SSDI, even less. Currently, I receive $150 a month. Considering inflation, I might as well have never received the permanent increase from $124. I have type 2 diabetes. Finding foods that aren’t swimming in salt, sugar, and who knows what else is difficult. I am thankful for frozen vegetables, brown rice, and ground turkey, though. 😅 Still, it’d be nice to find variety at a lower cost. Shakshuka gets a round about every 2 months. That’s if I save a bit of OOP cash. I’ll always work to have some of that. 🙂
Cherry, as someone who has gone through tough times, I am incredibly sorry to hear about your situation. We do not have plans to update the SNAP challenge, but I will certainly pitch it. Thank you for being here, and hoping things get better sooner than later. XOXO -Monti
First, I’d like to commend you on your effort to do this … and for an entire month. I always shake my head at the well-meaning congresspeople who do it for a week and think they’ve accomplished something. A month at least begins to show you (you, me, all of us) the hardship. Consider this: What if you live in a food desert and have no viable means of transportation other than public transportation? What if you live in a rural area, have no means of transportation, and no public transportation? I grew up in a small town with no public transportation (not even taxi service), and it was a college town. How do you feed your family a healthy diet when all you have access to is a 7-11 type market or one of those everything costs a dollar (but they don’t) type stores or a bodega? What if you work in a big city, work 2 or 3 jobs, and use public transportation? When do you get the time to meal prep? Heck, when do you get time to see your kids? How do you get more than 2 bags of groceries home at a time when you don’t have a car? There are so many different situations people can be in, it’s pretty hard to judge anyone. I eat on a pretty meager budget, and I use the term budget lightly because I don’t budget myself, but I do always try to find the best bargain I can find. I have transportation (albeit 10 years old) and have the luxury of being able to shop different stores to get the best prices. I have food constraints (some religious, some medical); I don’t eat pork or shellfish for religious reasons; I can’t eat many foods (like greens, nuts, seeds) for medical reasons. For medical reasons, I need my meals to be high in protein (I only have 2-1/2 feet of small bowel which is where nutrients are absorbed), so I eat a lot of chicken. I can eat beans, but not on an every day basis. I try to fit salmon in once a week. I would love to be able to afford an all organic diet, but I can’t on my $11/hr job, so I compromise. I tend to buy my meat in bulk or when it’s on sale. I either buy my produce on sale or at ALDI. I work at a specialty grocery store and I do get a discount, but not on sale items, so it really doesn’t amount to a big savings. I have better luck shopping the sales (for example, this week we have 32 oz of extra virgin olive oil for $5.99), and often times shopping at different stores. One of my big savings comes from the big grocery chain in town. Every 5 or 6 weeks, they run a special where if you spend $50 in groceries, you can purchase a $50 gas station gift card for $40 (a 20% savings!). That I do whenever I can afford it. I try to save my non-food purchases for those weeks, like toilet paper, dishwasher soap, bar soap, toothpaste, etc., and even then buy them on sale. In the end, we’re all doing the best we can with what we have. Again, I commend you for taking the SNAP challenge, and for having a successful blog.
Ummm 31.5 per week? That cost more than my weekly groceries LOL I can eat a fancy homemade buffet wity that money
We are a family on 7. Each person gets $1.50 worth of food all day. That is also milk and water for the kids. We can not drink our water. My son can not have milk so he has almond milk. We can not eat pork which is a very cheap meat.
Most of our food is made from home. In the summer the oven kills our light bill.
We have our own business but after the cost to keep it alive we make $26-30k a year. SNAP office does not have the right paperwork to deduct the expenses from our business so we only get $300 food/water for 7 people. We first received $4 per person and I was beyond happy. Since I made special meals for my son with ADHD. When they dropped the amount it reflected in his grades. He made A’s and B’s on his special diet and D’s and F’s on the low income meals.
I recently found this site so I hope I can find some healthy meals.
Thank You for Caring for Families
I have found that eating mostly vegetarian is both good for my budget and good for my body. I started out by 3 meals a week veggie and then 1 meal a day veggie and now most of my ,ears are veggie. I keep it real simple with Beans and grains and leafy salads. If I have the items or money, I can make cornbread to replace the grains.
Bulk bags of apples, potatoes, and sometimes Limes allows me to stay on budget.
Maybe some recipes with apples or potatoes?
Thank you.
I wish I had $4.50 per day per person to spend on food. My budget is less than $3.00 a day per person. Unfortunately we are in that place where we make too much for SNAP but not enough to live on. Lots of beans, chicken, ground turkey, jarred spagetti sauce at .99 a jar, and not enough fresh fruits and vegetables.
I just wanted to pop in to say how much I have been enjoying your site / blog. Especially, the SNAP challenge. Thank you for the time and effort you have put into it.
Something else most people don’t realize when they see the amount provided by food stamps is that sometimes it has to stretch to cover a hell of a lot more than just food. I’ve known people on SNAP who were homeless and didn’t have any food storage or way to cook their food. I know people on SNAP right now who haven’t been able to afford electricity for months and have to get ice or only shelf-stable foods. I know others who’ve had to get water for all their drinking or cooking because their water was contaminated by heavy metals.
Living in a mixed income apartment complex, most of the residents need to use food stamps and most of the people don’t have the requisite pots and pans and kitchen utensils to cook a lot of the recipes here. Its hard to cook healthy non-processed foods when you don’t have a cutting board and something bigger than a paring knife. Buying a crock pot? Out of the question.
BUT! I just realized something profound; EBT/SNAP does not allow for toiletries – I was marveling over this the other day, because, well, good hygiene can contribute to getting back into the workforce/moving up the ladder. My grocery budget now includes all our toiletries, paper towels (I know, not a necessity), cleaning products, and sometimes consumable clothing basics like socks and underwear. We still probably spend more than $5 per person per day, though. It makes it clear how much we need to be helpful on a personal and local level as individuals and not just rely on a government entity to do charity work for us; I believe they will always fall short.
I think this is a great this to raise awareness, but if you do the math a family of 4 gets 126 per week for food or more than 500 a month. I wish our family had that much money to spend on groceries a month. Doesn’t really seem like that much of a hardship….
We are a family of two on a very limited income and only receive $108 per MONTH. I think all politicians should participate in the SNAP challenge.
That amount is IF you have little other income to contribute. NOT everyone gets $4.50 per person per day. For example, my husband and I, who have very little income, get $108 per month, which equals $3.60 per day – or $1.80 per person. It is not – Oh, there are four people in our family so we will receive $540 a month. It does not work that way. They take into account your income and go from there. They do not count in your bills such as credit cards you owe. They ask for your house payment, car payment and utilities – period. This amount also does not cover toiletries, paper products or pre-cooked meals. You are not allowed to buy a pre-cooked whole chicken UNLESS they have put it in the cold section – which makes no sense. There are several restrictions. Any single mother who has to try to figure out the cheap meals and then cook them after she has come home tired from working all day and then has to care for children and supper, I feel so sorry for her.
It’s the same amount per person.
I’m a single mom with 2 boys, one has special needs so work is near impossible, I get 1100 a month coming in and 345 a month for food… I was blessed enough to find an apartment for us for 1080 a month… So 345 to feed 3 really is a hardship….
We eat very simply, rarely processed, and NEVER single-packaged meals in order to keep costs down for my family of 8. For example, oatmeal (buy the large carton from WM) or eggs, fruit, and jelly bread. For lunch, we have PB&J, grilled cheese (once a week) and egg salad (once a week) with fruit and veggies. You can keep costs down by ONLY drinking water. We also keep costs down by not buying milk or meat. For supper, we have LOTS of veggies (plain frozen is cheap), rice and beans, or something vegetarian (bean burgers, quesadillas, sloppy joes, pot pie, or homemade pizza). There are a lot of ideas out there – I just simplify them. We will eat jello for dessert or frozen bananas in the blender for ice cream. I hope some of these suggestions help! They should REALLY lower your monthly bill with plenty to spare :)
Thank you! I didn’t understand the SNAP challenge until I read through this completely, but had made some of the recipes and my family loved them! We chose them because they were meatless and, well, I am currently on unpaid medical leave and living on my VA disability. Our income was cut $5,600/month–no snarky comments here. I wish we had SNAP; we will probably be going to the food pantry and then I’ll be looking through your recipes for what fits what treasures we found. Hopefully we won’t be in this situation too long, but we won’t give up the wonderful new meals you have and shared with us. Thank you for this gift!!!
You sound like a wonderful person Nina! I wish I knew you and we could pool what we have, as I am on disability as well, and we could all eat well!! Bless you sweetheart! You’re loved! <3
I dare some people who are being snarky about this to participate in the challenge.
SNAP /is/ supposed to be supplemental, yes, but some people have nothing to supplement! I’m disabled and was getting SSI until I turned 18, and they had me go to one of their psychiatrists and he talked to me for not even 10 minutes and said that I was fine. Um.. No, I’m really not. I am much better than I was when I was a child because, well, I’ve learned coping mechanisms, but I still have problems, including debilitating anxiety attacks(that I no longer have insurance to pay for, either) that prevent me from working a regular job because they’re so random and intense. My son is physically disabled with a severe hypothyroidism, and my fiance is disabled with severe back problems, and is 75% blind and deaf on one side due to a tumor on his spine when he was young. My fiance still works his bum off at a factory, but he struggles. He really, REALLY tries his best and the only reason why he has stayed on at the factory as long as he has is because he tries so hard and goes above and beyond doing what he’s asked. Still, my son and I have both been declined for SSI and we only JUST got on Medicaid and Food Stamps. I’m sorry, but a family of three on $10/hr. is not possible on your own, and we are in a position where it’s not possible for us to get anything better. We’re twenty with a 10 month old son(who HAS to have his medicine, or it could cause severe developmental problems including mental retardation) and another on the way. We have to do what we can while we have to. I’m sorry that other individuals are too prude to sympathize with individuals who DO need it. Yes, there are people who abuse it, but PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE. There will ALWAYS be SOMEONE abusing SOMETHING. That’s just the way humanity is. Don’t ignore the vast majority of people who really do need it and discredit them. I’m not sure if cussing is allowed here, so I won’t.. But know that what I want to say to individuals like that is anything but kind.
I very, very, very much appreciate you taking the time and effort to spotlight this challenge and to take part in it, yourself. So many people take for granted what they have, and what they can work with. It’s sad that the people who doing well for themselves make fun of, scrutinize, and insult those of us not in such good places.
I could tell so many people of so many VALID cases of people needing help.
I, myself, had a hard time reeling in my spending and becoming a responsible adult due to my upbringing. Even when my parents made $150k a year with their company, they would blow through their money and live paycheck to paycheck, and fail to meet bills. For a long time after they lost their company, we were on Food Stamps. My mother fed 6 children(most of whom were teens) on Food Stamps while my dad would be out doing whatever and blowing what little money he made. My mother and father divorced a few years ago after it was revealed that my father had been paying for “services”, and admitted to over 40 women. I couldn’t care less what happened to my father; I barely talk to him. My mother, however, was left with no job history in the past 12 years(my mother had to quit work when she had me, due to my problems), had no vehicle, no savings, etc. She had been living in the house I grew up in, until my dad kicked her out of it. She had no money, nowhere to go, and nothing to go off of. Luckily, all of us kids were grown at that point and my oldest brother gave her his truck, and we all pitched in to help her get a deposit to get moved in to an apartment(icing on the cake: she couldn’t take her service dog because he was a Doberman and “dangerous” dogs weren’t allowed), etc.
Now, imagine someone in the same situation not having that support system to help them. Then imagine them not even being able to get SNAP because people decided that too many people abuse it and that it should be damn near impossible to get.
Want another story? My mom’s best friend, E(won’t give her full name). E was a massage therapist and made good money. She knows what success is, and had it. When she married her ex-husband, he began to display his alcoholic tendencies. He would scare her and she felt lost; she turned to prescription drugs. She has gone through rehab three times(including once while she was pregnant with her youngest), and lost her well-paying job. She has not touched those narcotics in years, but the damage was done. She is now a single mother of 2 kids under 12 years old, who gets a small amount of child support that barely covers her rent, has a part-time job, and struggles. Yes, she messed up. NO she is NOT lazy, nor is she a bad mom, or a pill-popper, or anything like that. She did what she did and has moved past it successfully. She’s on her feet, but barely. She still needs help.
People may SEEM like they’re fine. There is much more beyond what you see while someone is checking out in line with their SNAP card. They have energy drinks on the belt? Well, did you consider that maybe they have multiple jobs and need it to function so that they can afford to pay rent and bills? Or maybe that they grab as much overtime as they can, but they also have kids at home that make sleeping difficult sometimes and they just need a frickin’ boost? Seriously, quit judging people and get the heck over yourselves. You may find yourself in the same situation someday.
I agree with you, Jessica because some people don’t understand what it feels like to struggle on a daily basis-especially when they don’t have enough to eat. And that’s why there’s SNAP, to help families have a decent meal, so they don’t have to worry about when their next meal would come. Also, I’m saddened by these rude and disrespectful comments that some people have posted-which to me is despicable!!
Medicaid does not supply you with birth control?! Having another child “on the way” is not how you change your situation. Some of us taxpayers do not have as many children as you have, we can’t afford them.
Thank you for doing this SNAP challenge Beth. I hope I will get some new ideas for meals to cook for my family. We have pretty much cut all meat from our diet since it is so much cheaper to eat rice, beans and lentils.
I’m saddened to read some of the snarky comments here about how some people see people and families that have to rely on SNAP to feed their families. Both my husband and I are disabled. He’s a disabled Army veteran yet he gets barely any money each month from the V.A. Three years ago I was diagnosed with an incredibly rare cranial nerve disorder and over the past year I’ve undergone three failed surgeries – one of which was a brain surgery. In less than two weeks I am traveling out of state (thanks to money raised through a fundraiser and working freelance jobs when my pain was not horrid) for a much more invasive brain surgery. There’s a 60% chance it will lessen my pain, which can only be described as feeling like someone is constantly stabbing me in my right ear. My disorder is also known as the Suicide Disease because it is rare that medications, many procedures or even brain surgery will ever completely eliminate the pain. Unfortunately some people simply give up fighting- for the right medication, an experienced physician, anything to ease the constant pain that alters our entire lives.
I love to cook and bake for my family. This pain is so awful and never ending that my husband- who is due for a spinal surgery once I am healed from the upcoming brain surgery, has taken over making lunch and dinner. Trying to cook or do much of anything while in such extreme pain is impossible. I miss cooking for my family.
My husband and I have become used to the glares and nasty comments we get while we’re paying for our whole food ingredients at the store – wheat flour, rice, beans, fresh fruits and veggies, and a lot of very expensive goat milk that WIC helps with, as my youngest is allergic to all but goat milk. At times I think about turning to the people behind me and explaining the pain my husband and I are fighting each day to get healthy meals made for our two children and ourselves. We are embarrassed that we need assistance – we don’t need to be made to feel worse by people who make assumptions about who we are and how lazy we must be because we use SNAP. Our lives have been severely altered by the rare disorder I have, the extreme pain we are both in, and numerous failed surgeries. I know the people who make nasty comments here or at the store don’t know anything about our disabilities or disorders, but is saddens me that people are so quick to judge others instead of being compassionate. I did not ask to be in severe pain every moment for the past three years, just as I did not ask to be born 4 months premature with cerebral palsy. I hope the people that make critical comments about my family and I are grateful for their health and good jobs, because I lost mine in an instant, and now, yes, my family and I use SNAP to make sure there is food on the table and in the fridge.
We don’t buy junk food with our SNAP card, but truthfully even if people do, that is their decision. No one has the right to be the SNAP- use police and make rude assumptions and comments about folks who buy energy drinks or sugary, salty, processed food with their SNAP card. If they do that’s their own choice- I don’t see how it affects your life and why it gives anyone a right to judge them. We all make poor decisions in life- if a person in line in front of you is buying Rockstars with their SNAP card, and that’s the worst thing they’ve done, I’d give them a pat on the back, because I’d bet that the other people in line have made a worst health decision that day. Perhaps we should each consider what we can do to be healthy ourselves instead of being the critical voice against all SNAP users because one time you saw someone buy junk food with their card. That’s their business- not yours. It does not represent every person that uses SNAP to buy groceries, just as the guy buying a case of beer in front of me in line doesn’t mean I should judge him as a worthless drunk.
I ask that people not judge because they do not know the whole story behind why I use SNAP and WIC, and they don’t know why the person in front of them at the grocery store is either. Let’s be kind to one another, please. Life is hard enough without making people who are struggling feel bad about getting a little bit of help to make it through the hard times. Thank you!
I agree with you 100%! Thank you for sharing your story and opening up a window to the inside for those who can’t see it. I admire you for staying so strong. :)
Thank you for your kind words Beth. I am a long-time lover of your blog and I love trying the new recipes you post. Thanks for the amazing recipes, your book which I can’t live without, and for taking on the SNAP Challenge. I follow so many blogs, as I try to find my own voice and stories for my new blog, and you are one out of a hundred who took on this challenge. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing ways to make a limited grocery budget work, and for helping erase the stereotypes that follow those of us that use SNAP. You are an amazing blogger and person, and I’m so glad to learn some new, cheap recipes and read your compassionate words.
My second brain surgery is in exactly a week. I can’t describe how terrified I am, knowing the not-so-great statistics for this type of brain surgery, but I feel I owe it to myself, my two young girls and my husband who has waited these long three years for his spinal surgery to help ease his daily, horrible pain to try to get better and lessen my constant pain. I want to get back to the person I was before this horrific disorder took hold- playing in the park with my girls, cooking and baking every day. Your blog taught me how to cook years ago- thank you so much for that! I look forward to returning to my kitchen and getting back to living my life after I heal from this surgery. Thank you again, for inspiration, and the many meals my family and I have eaten together and enjoyed from your blog and cookbook. I can’t wait to get back to my family and my kitchen!
Much love and I wish you well with your surgery!
Never once have I felt uncomfortable using my EBT card nor has anyone glared at me or my family while buying wholesome food in the grocery store. No one behind you in line can see which type if card you’re using and the cashier doesn’t care. I think people using their card feel self conscious and truly believe people are judging them but it’s very rare considering the large percentage of ppl using snap. I agree though — who cares what anyone else thinks?
I’ve been following your challenge, and contemplating doing it myself. My only hesitation is that I did the “SNAP challenge” for 2 years while I was a single parent going through nursing school. Still a single parent, but now on a nursing salary.
One of the best things I did during that time was buy a Sam’s Club (we don’t have Costco) membership. I could buy bulk rice that lasted months for just a few dollars. Buy cases of veggies, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Bulk containers of spices and bullion. Chicken breasts for 1.75-1.99 a pound. I could even afford fruit snacks some months because I had so much on hand from previous months. Bulk is the way to go on a budget, but your blog helps a lot, because you add a lot of international cuisine for cheaper than take-out, which breaks up the monotony. Thanks for that!
Here recently, my husband and I have become more and more intrigued with living a life of simplicity, and the area of food is definitely one we tend to over-emphasis, over-consume, and really just take too lightly. For the longest time, we have been selfishly concerned with the number of calories we should eat in order to lose a few extra pounds, when really we should be thinking of how we can sacrifice and save money that could be spent toward more beneficial areas in society. Thanks for sharing this challenge and opening our eyes to the possibility of eating less while spending less. We love all your recipes and look forward to your next book. :)