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”.
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!
Excited to see which old recipes you bring back!
For the past 6 months, I have fed my family of 3 on about $4/day (thats $4 for 3 people, not $4 per person). We eat healthfully and wholesomely, as I refuse to cook boxed dinners or give my family processed foods. I use recipes from budgetbytes frequently, buying the ingredients while they are on sale so my price per recipe comes out cheaper. Once you get used to only buying things on sale and meal planning around sale items, its not that hard! Good luck!
I’m not sure that I could do as well as you are in your situation (that’s awesome!), but I’m jealous of those that get to prepare meals for multiple people! No matter the steps I take, it’s never as economical (per person) to cook for 1 as it is for multiples.
But I guess I’m only called to be faithful in the situation that I’m in, not in another’s…
Leftovers!! Plenty of recipes on this site lend themselves to freezing (I’ve got the coconut curried vegetables and the sweet potato tortilla soup in my freezer). Make the full thing and stuff the rest in some freezer bags or containers. You’ll save money AND your sanity, since you’ll be able to take it out and heat it up when you don’t have the energy to cook something up.
I’m extremely impressed! Great job!!
Good luck with your challenge! I look forward to reading your posts. :)
I also posted a basic grocery price analysis on my blog for the SNAP challenge.
Thanks for sharing that, I’m going to check it out! :)
I followed your SNAP challenge last year and it was brilliant, so I’m looking forwards to following along again this time around, as someone who is on a tight budget your tips and tricks always help me.
So, I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this yet, but dry milk (powder) has worked for me. I am a bit lactose intolerant so I don’t buy milk, but if I just need a cup for a recipe, it’s there and shelf-stable! (I keep it in the fridge anyway.) It’s really better if you let it sit a bit after mixing, then re-mix. My go-to.
I recently lost my SNAP benefits so I’m in eat cheap mode right now. I’m using up pantry and freezer ingredients and making a lot from scratch. I regularly make homemade bread, BBQ sauce and dill pickles. I recently found a loaf of italian bread with garlic and herbs on the top at Wal-mart for .50 and so I made your freezer garlic bread. 16 slices for about a buck.
Anyway, I will be following your challenge. I love seeing how others do it. One of my favorite recipes isn’t much of one, just one chicken sausage or piece of a smoked sausage, cut up small and cooked quickly), mixed with brown rice, black beans (cooked from dried), frozen mixed veggies, corn and then salsa. I could eat this every day.
Keep up the great work!
Barbara
I just made “Cajun” beans and rice with a sausage, 2 cups of rice, and some black beans I cooked myself. I threw in some random frozen veg and mixed up my own Cajun seasoning. It’s really good, and made a lot! I’ll have to pick up some corn when I see it on sale, that would be a nice addition.
I really enjoyed your snap challenge last year! I’m glad you’re doing a similar challenge again. I love everything you post on your blog, so I’m sure I’m going to enjoy reading about your journey through September. Thank you for all of the thought and work you put into this blog.
I’ve enjoyed several of your recipes; getting fresh ingredients on a budget can be a huge challenge in Alaska, so working a healthy menu on a budget is an even bigger challenge. My husband and I were saving for a home last year during your SNAP challenge so I loved using your recipes to mix in with some of my favorite budget meals I grew up with. This year finds us out of our apartment and into a home we own, but just as my budget was settling in, my 17 yr old nephew needed to move in, so I’m back to a tight budget with an additional EXTRA hungry mouth to feed. I can’t wait to see what you come up with in this new Sept Challenge!
I’m so excited to follow you along with this challenge-I loved reading the SNAP challenge posts last year and agree with everyone saying how insightful it was! My husband and I try to be very careful with what we spent on food at the grocery store, and switching to Aldi’s has made a huge difference, but I know not everyone has access to one!
One thing that I think would be interesting for another challenge is to incorporate an eating out budget since most people don’t eat every meal in their home-I think that’s where a lot of people’s food budgets (mine included) go a little, or a lot, over budget!
That’s an interesting idea! I’m definitely not a pro at eating out, so I’ll have to do some “research” hahah. Maybe once this challenge is over. I’m sure I’ll WANT to go out to eat.
I <3 Aldi's too! Good quality at great prices!
And Beth, although I've only recently found your blog, I am in love! I bought your book too and am so grateful I found you. My budget is not nearly as tight as some, but I despise waste and am always interested to see how you repurpose foods. You really get my own creativity going and for that, I thank you! Keep up the greattt work!
I usually just lurk on your site but I just wanted to let you know how excited I am that you’re doing this challenge :) I LOVED you doing the SNAP challenge last year! I’m not American myself so the whole SNAP thing was (literally) foreign to me but the idea was inspirational nontheless and your blogposts gave me alot of ideas.
I have a fairly good income for someone my age but i’m trying to save up to buy a place to call my own so the more I save, the quicker I will get there. And it’s amazing at times how much money goes to waste on a bit of luxury-food here, a cappucino there, … . So I’m hoping this years challenge will inspire me just as much to see that I can cut back my grocery budget and still be happy and satisfied with what I eat.
So yes, thank you very much for doing this again and I will definetly keep a close eye on your posts the following weeks! (Well I do anyway but hey :))
aaaaw yisss, look who’s gonna be able to afford to eat this month!
My grocery budget is $400 a month for my family of 4. And it is so hard. I try to meal plan weekly by using adds and coupons and still the last week of the month is incredibly lean. I love your recipes and so do my kids. If I were to give you any advice it would be to spend 2/3 of your budget stocking what you would normally use and the last 1/3 to buy more perishable items as needed. Every time I have tried to budget weekly my family was hungry.
That’s excellent advice! I love that “formula”. Thank you for sharing your expertise. :)
Years ago I read that when we are paid we should stock up on nonperishables (beans, grains, pasta, flour, etc.) to last until the next time we are paid and add the more perishable foods as we can afford them. That way you’ll always have something to eat — though it might not be what you want to eat. I usually add eggs, potatoes, carrots, cabbage and other longer lasting vegetables to this. Frozen vegetables are a good addition, too.
Last year when you were doing the SNAP challenge I found a weekly meal planner that was different from most. You were to make a pot of beans, mix up a bowl of greens to be eaten raw or cooked, make a pot of grains, cook up a protein source, roast a vegetable and make a vinaigrette. I added a pot of soup, bread and a fruit to this.
I didn’t follow the instructions exactly but chose one or two vegetables to cook during the week and one protein source. My favorite so far has been a Tex-Mex version. I cooked a pot of pinto beans and made refried beans, made a pot of Spanish rice and added some corn tortillas. I was amazed at the number of meals I could make.
I use the first suggestion all of the time and the second one less often (it takes some brain power to plan what will mix and match well!). Stocking up on the basics and then limiting variety, paying attention to what’s on sale and in season help cut the cost of eating.
Yay! I loved the series last year and I’m excited to see how September goes. Good luck and thank you for sharing this with us!
Wow I have no idea how you can survive on $124 per month…
If it was me I’d end up buying a ton of rice and beans and maybe some veggies and eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I’m excited to see your recipes for this challenge!
Hahaha, that’s kind of what I do. :P I eat the same thing throughout the week, but I mix it up with leftovers from past meals that I have stashed in my freezer. Beans and rice ARE a huge part of it, though.
I’m looking forward to following along with your challenge this month. I appreciated your insightful thoughts and reflections last year along with all the delicious extra-budget conscious meals you shared. I’ve been a fan of your blog and recipes for years but I really love your consideration and thoughtfulness when it comes to topics like this. I’m excited to see what’s in store!