September Challenge 2015

by Beth Moncel
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How did September get here so quickly?? For the past month I’ve been trying to decide if I was going to attempt last year’s SNAP Challenge again this year. It was a tough decision because the challenge itself was extremely difficult, but also extremely insightful. In the end, I decided to compromise. It’s not the SNAP challenge, but it’s similar. I’m calling it my “September Challenge”.

September Challenge 2015

Why I’m Not Doing the SNAP Challenge

Last year’s SNAP challenge was hosted by Feeding America, but I noticed that this year they had removed all references to the challenge from their website. I’m not sure why they’re not promoting it this year, but not having them backing the challenge makes it difficult for me to explain the concept of the challenge to those who are unfamiliar (and it also stinks because now all the links in last year’s challenge go nowhere).

I also feel like my life is SO different than it was last year and that I don’t think it’s fair to say that I’m attempting to replicate the experience of someone on food stamps. Not only do I have all the “advantages” that I had last year (walking distance to grocery stores, ample kitchen equipment and pantry staples, a lot of cooking experience, no family to care for, etc.), but I also work from home now. So, yeah. I have all day to plan and cook my budget meals. I think it’s borderline insulting to say that I’m going to try to live like I’m on food stamps, because honestly it’s just not even close.

Last year’s SNAP challenge was incredibly insightful into how hunger affected my mental state (stress, concentration, emotional stability) and the social effects of food restriction. I’m not sure doing the challenge again would produce different effects, so I think for the most part, that aspect would just be a rehash. If you haven’t read through last year’s posts, I highly suggest it because I experienced many unexpected mental and social effects that were quite eye opening.

Why I Still Want To Do a Challenge

Doing the SNAP Challenge last year reconnected me to my roots. This blog was born out of my own personal challenge to eat on $6 or less per day, so going back to a regimented grocery budget helped me refocus the efforts of this blog. Some of my favorite recipes came out of that month of restriction because I was forced to really tap into my creativity.

It also forced me to do more menu planning, which is one of my least favorite tasks. I think that was also beneficial to many of you. Seeing how someone else pairs recipes to form complete meals or even a day’s worth of meals can be very helpful.

I like having the opportunity to show you the full picture – the entire grocery receipt, a photo of all the goods purchased, what was eaten each day, and how much it costs ingredient by ingredient versus the actual grocery receipt. The big picture is very important.

What is the September Challenge?

So here is what I decided to do. I’m going to stick to the $4.50/day, $31/week budget because it truly is a challenge. I’m going to do it for the entire month of September. I’m going to flex my creative muscles and use a mix of old and new Budget Bytes recipes to create weekly menus for myself. I’ll share the new recipes, update the old recipes with new prices and photos, and give you a weekly breakdown of what I ate and what it cost me, as well as any insights or struggles I experienced.

I’m going to take full advantage of things I already have on hand because I believe in reducing waste and I want this to be an exercise in clearing out my pantry. This means that the first week or two may have unusually low grocery bills as I use up my own stockpile, but the grocery bills will go up towards the end of the month as I begin to replenish my staples.

I’m going to use this time to recalibrate my grocery and cooking habits and hopefully come up with some new, very budget minded recipes for all of you.

My September Challenge Goals

  • Use plenty of dry beans and whole grains
  • Don’t forget about protein (I don’t usually concentrate on protein, but I’m doing a lot of strength training lately and I can feel my body craving it).
  • Make sure I get both fruit and vegetables every day
  • Make room for coffee in the budget this year! Last year I skipped it because I was afraid it would cost too much.
  • NOT BE HUNGRY! (that was the biggest challenge last year and I failed miserably)

I hope this exercise is mutually beneficial to both you and me! Remember to follow me on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram) so that you don’t miss links to old recipes that I’ll be updating throughout the month (the first of which will probably be finished tomorrow!).

And as always, feel free to share your thoughts, opinions, and constructive criticism in the comments below. I love hearing what you think!

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  1. I’m also looking forward to following along – both for the meals and insight. Your challenge last year was when our lives went from “hectic” to “full blown insane” so I missed most of it; this year I’ll be following along.

    I did the math and realized that my grocery budget for a family of 7 is, per capita, not much higher than $30/week/person. Granted, I’m feeding 2 adults and 5 young kids, not teens or extra adults, but it was affirming to see I’m actually doing a good job with resources on hand.

    1. That IS fantastic! Good job! It’s harder with more people even if some of them eat less because you have to juggle different preferences and appetites.

  2. I am so glad you are doing this challenge. Due to medical reasons, my wife and I went from six figures to minimum wage this year. I am so glad that I found your blog, I already use a number of your recipes, and I am sure this next month will teach me well. Thank You so much, without you my diet would be based on Ramen and Oatmeal. dave.

    1. You don’t know how much that means to me. I’m beyond happy that I can help.

  3. I’m so excited to see what you do! I’m pregnant with our first child, & I’m looking for any & every way to be a little more frugal/budget friendly at the store. Thank you for doing this!

  4. I really enjoyed reading your SNAP challenge articles and look forward to seeing how your September challenge goes.

  5. Oh boy, this sounds like a real challenge – I’m going to really attempt to conquer it! :)

    Also – the recipes you come up with are always great!!!

  6. I really admire what you’re doing! and especially being so consistent with the blog. I know that is hard. Thank you for being you!

  7. Just curious – what budget per day would suggest as a challenge for a family of 4? I would love to try this with my family. Thanks for your passion – both for food and people!

    1. That’s a really tough question because all sorts of other variables come into play when you introduce multiple people. I would suggest trying to calculate what you spend now per person, per day, then just cut back some (maybe 25%?) and see how that goes.

      1. Google “USDA Food Plans Cost of Food.” It should lead you to a site that will give you the cost of food in recent months for children as young as 1 to men and woman up to 71+ years. Additionally it will show the costs for a family of 2 adults and a family of 2 adults and 2 school age children. It also tells you how to calculate the costs for larger families. It gives you the costa at four levels of spending: thrifty, low-cost, moderate and liberal cost.

        Your $4.50/daily is lower than the thrifty plan for a woman your age. The $6/daily is lower than the low-cost plan for a woman your age.

      2. The $4.50 was based on an average food stamp benefit and unfortunately, benefits are often not 100% of actual need. :( That report really brings things into perspective!

      1. Sorry for the double post about that — it appeared that one of them didn’t post, so I posted the other.

  8. You’ve set ambitious goals for yourself, but I know you’re up to the challenge. I, too, am really looking forward to seeing how it goes.

  9. Would love to follow this. Going to try to see how well I can make this work with four adults in the home.

  10. $30/week is my budget for food. As long as you plan smartly, it’s easier to do than one thinks!

  11. I think a lot about how much money I save by cooking and bringing my lunch. I love food prepping on Sunday and separating things out in my fancy bento box containers! I would love to sit down and piece out my lunches like this to see how much I’m really saving.

  12. My wife and I have been eating on a budget of $40 per person per week for the last couple of years; What does that come to, $5.40 per day? It would be interesting to challenge ourselves the little bit extra and bring it down to $4.50 for a while.

  13. I am really looking forward to your posts on this and as always thank you for sharing your gift with all of us. Good luck and happy cooking!

  14. When you mentioned you would try to eat on $4.50 a day but would be drawing heavily from your pantry to start, are you including those pantry items as part of your budget allotment, or are you not counting them towards the total to give your challenge a starter boost?

    1. Yes, I’ll be including the cost of everything I eat, even if it came from what I already have on hand. So, I’ll have two totals for the week: one total of all things eaten, and one total for what was actually purchased. For the first couple of weeks the total purchased items will likely be less than the total of what I ate, since I’m eating off my pantry, but I expect that to flip flop towards the end of the month. I like showing how the two totals compare because it can be insightful.