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’m glad you’re doing this to raise awareness! I love your blog and the recipes you come up with–it’s definitely helped me with my budgeting! That being said, I spend about $100/month on groceries if I’m splurging and had no idea I was living well under the budget for food stamps. I guess I will be continuing with that through this month!
Have you seen the SNAP inspired cook book by LeAnne Brown titled A SNAP Cookbook Good and Cheap? You can download a free PDF version.
I like the idea of this challenge. I’ve been following your blog for a while and love many of your recipes. Today though my husband and I sat down to do our budget and we have $175 for 2 weeks for gas and food for our family of 6 due to some unexpected expenses. I look forward to see what recipes you present and hope I’ll be able to use them in our very tight meal plan for the next 15 days!
Thanks for all you do!
If you’ll be posting your summary at the end of the week,then my family will do this too! A week behind of course, and possibly with a few modifications for the ever-snacking toddler (real snacks, not packaged). I’m looking forward to your progress! I believe access to wholesome healthy food is a disparity that also works to keep the socioeconomic gap in place.
Well, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be successful each week because it really is an experiment. Now that I’m mostly through this week I will definitely do things much differently next week! :) Soy, you may not want to follow exactly. :P
I cant wait to do this, I’m hoping to do it next year. I’ve either been pregnant or nursing every challenge for the last three years. I know nursing and pregnant moms qualify for extra subsidies In the U.S. ( I’m Canadian). I cannot imagine how much stress this would add for moms, especially when stress can inhibit milk production. Formula can be insanely expensive. We don’t spend much on food, but we are lucky because our base has a program for military families to buy vegetables at wholesale prices.
My spouse and I have been eating on $4/per person, per day for about a year now. I’m not saying it hasn’t been difficult, but we were trying to become debt-free. (We will pay off our last debt NEXT WEEK!)
Anyway, this really surprised me that we were eating on less than we would have received in food stamps! I had no idea. I know I am feeling the crunch, we can almost never go to a restaurant, or buy anything that is not for a specific (cheap) meal. I would love to raise this spending amount to $5 – $6/per person, per day, in order to be able to splurge once in a while, but I completely agree with you that “it’s important not to over consume”. We are definitely anti-consumers and will need to find a new balance soon!
Congratulations on paying off your debt!!
Samantha,
Congratulations on paying of your debt! What an amazing milestone. I am inspired to keep chipping away at our final debt- a large student loan.
Beth, your blog provides so much inspiration too! Eating healthy food that tastes good (and is inexpensive) is so important to my family. Thank you.
I think it’s great that you’re raising awareness about this. My young family was on SNAP for bit until my husband’s job converted to full time. Before we applied, he was virtually starving himself to keep the food budget low enough. We were living on less than $3 per person per day.
I hope that people take the right message away from this “challenge”. The point is to empathize with the plight of the nation’s poor, not to feel good about the bargains you’re able to score.
Beth, I appreciate your comment about the cooking resources (not) available to many on SNAP. Browsing tips on “living frugally” can be very frustrating for someone who literally does not have enough money at any one time to purchase in bulk, does not have access to more than a small freezer, has limited access to transportation to buy food in multiple places, etc.
As a 105 pound 5’11”, eating too little can actually be a little dangerous for me. I’ve found areas to cut back like saving gas by riding a motorcycle (speaking of dangerous >.>), drink tons of water instead of other drinks (Which does mean I lose out on some calories, but I can replace them with foods), and various other things. I could probably cut back food a bunch, especially since the cooking relapse of going to college, but too much will not end well.
I’m so excited to be a long-time reader of your blog, so I can read your experiences during this challenge. I wish you all the best!
Is the $4.50 a day per person? I kinda hope not because I just did the math and I only spend about $3.90 a person a day (we are a family of 3) but I do use tons of coupons and stock up on meat markdowns and stuff. I’m torn between feeling sympathetic towards people on SNAP because on one hand my family was on it for a short period of time when my daughter was born and I know how much it can suck but on the other hand it makes me sad and slightly jealous. I am a cashier in a grocery store and see how much money is wasted by some people on SNAP. Did you know you can buy energy drinks of SNAP? Yeah you can and people do. I’m not saying EVERYONE wastes it but it seems like there is a lot going on.
There are a lot of loopholes in SNAP that need to be covered. I’ve used SNAP at 2 different times in my life (both while un/under employeed) and it is frustrating. In m
I think you’re missing the point of the challenge.
Also, grocery costs are not the same nationwide and it costs far more to feed a teenager than a toddler. You’re costs are not the litmus for everyone’s grocery budget.
You’re right about it costing depending on where you live. I can’t get a gallon of milk for under $4.50 anywhere abut apples are super cheap. Also I know it costs more to feed a teen than a toddler. My husband is a big guy not fat but tall and bearish. He eats what 2 normal people would eat in a day. So I guess You could say I feed 3 adults and a toddler for the same price. So like $2.93 a person a day. I’m doing better than I thought.
I feel sad that you’d be jealous that someone NEEDED help to feed their family :(
When my sister and I moved out of our parents’ house last year, we were going to the grocery store everyday! My mom gave us some advice, and suggested that we should go to the store once week, and save money. My sister and I would spend $250-$300 on groceries. Although there’s nothing wrong with trying to save some money, it’s important that you don’t starve yourself-as well as cooking meals that are satisfying, and NOT sacrifice flavor!! I’m looking forward to looking at your progress with the SNAP challenge! I’ll be rooting for you, Beth and GOOD LUCK!!! :-)
It’s $250-$300 per month on groceries.
Good luck and sorry to hear food costs are so high where you are. I’m in AZ and I get $347 / month for me and my son. We eat three meals a day, snacks and can do holidays and have never used the full months amount. From calculating, we get $5.78 each a day, not the lower $4.50 listed. I could always try the challenge for a month and save the extra for a really nice meal.
I’ve recently started saving EVERY SINGLE receipt and entering EVERY SINGLE ONE into a spreadsheet that calculates food costs, (with a separate sheet for household costs, utilities, etc.). I always kept a budget, but not down to the individual receipt, and doing this is very, very helpful. I paperclip each month’s receipts together and keep them filed. Then I can go back and see exactly how much I paid for an ingredient so I can calculate costs for individual meals like you do on this site. Obviously some things were bought before I started doing this, so I have to go by current price and estimate, but overall I’ve been able to keep a much tighter hold on my expenses, especially food costs. I imagine you do something similar so that you can calculate costs for this site, and it inspired me to do it myself! It does take a TON of time to do this, but it definitely pays off if you have the time and the computer to do it (which not everyone does). I also, like many people, check the sales for my 5 or 6 regular grocery stores and write out a list of intended purchases at each one so I can meal plan around them. Most of my stores turn over their sales on Wednesdays (Target is Sundays), so on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning I scan the ads to plan for the week. Breaking it up this way also helps me track my WEEKLY spending. Again, this takes a lot of time, and it also requires Internet access unless you can get your hands on paper ads from every store every week. It also requires having access to multiple stores in my area, reliable transportation and a way to carry things home, etc. But if one can make those things work, it really helps.
Congrats on the purchase of your new house (yes, stressful, but ultimately gratifying!)
I look forward to following your SNAP Challenge adventures.
mb
You may have already heard about the new SNAP cookbook, Good and Cheap, but in case you haven’t, here’s the info. You can download the entire book for free. It looks pretty great, whether or not you’re on SNAP. (There’s a link in the article.)
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/08/01/337141837/cheap-eats-cookbook-shows-how-to-eat-well-on-a-food-stamp-budget