Wow, one week of the SNAP Challenge is over and I can’t believe how many thoughts I’ve had so far. I could write a ten page paper on my feelings, experiences, and observations already… but I’ll try to keep it short (yeah, right). I also want to thank everyone for their insightful comments and support while I take on this challenge. You’ve helped me dive deeper and discover more.
Before I begin the summary, I want to discuss one aspect of the challenge. The SNAP challenge rules state that you shouldn’t use any food purchased prior to starting the challenge. I’m not following that rule because I don’t feel like it’s very realistic or a responsible way to eat on a budget. Sure, some SNAP recipients will start out with no kitchen supplies, but maybe some do. Each person’s SNAP experience will be unique and involve several variables. I can’t replicate anyone else’s experience, so I have to try to mimic what my own would be. I’m approaching this challenge as if I had to suddenly go on SNAP and will definitely utilize some of my pantry staples. Those staples will not be counted as free and as I replenish those pantry staples throughout the month, I will have to do so within my weekly budget of $30. A good portion of what I bought during week one will actually be spread out and used during the following weeks, so it only makes sense that I also would have had some things left over from previous weeks. And hey, this challenge isn’t perfect, but it’s still incredibly insightful. My goal isn’t to get every detail perfect, but to draw attention to and start the conversation about food insecurity, as well as recalibrate my own spending and food consumption habits to be less wasteful.
What Did I Buy?
Here is everything I bought during my shopping trip for week one. Not a whole lot, right? I bought some pantry staples from the bulk bins at Whole Foods (rice, oat bran, chickpeas, almonds), and picked up the rest of my fresh and canned goods at my neighborhood grocery store. I stocked up on some frozen greens because that’s a super easy and inexpensive way to add veggies to your meals. I splurged on feta because it ads a lot of flavor, but only used 1/4 of that block this week. The rest will be used in the following weeks.
Here are my receipts (with a couple notes on volumes that I made for the bulk items. I had to measure them when I got home for correct calculations).
What did I use that was already in my pantry? Admittedly, more than I planned to. I did not plan very well this first week, so I found myself scavenging through my fridge and pantry just looking for something to kill my hunger. I used soy milk, eggs (I’ll have to replenish both next week), a couple tortillas, butter, peanut butter, tea, brown sugar, cinnamon, hot sauce… well, a lot of things. Week one did not go well.
What Did I Make?
My main meal throughout the week was the Soy Dijon Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, plus 1/2 cup of Seasoned Rice, plus 1/2 cup of frozen broccoli florets. I pre-portioned them out so that I could grab them and go without thinking twice, or giving myself an opportunity to think about eating something else. Each one of these bowls cost $1.49.
I cooked one pound of chickpeas from dry in my slow cooker (1 lb. dry, unsoaked chick peas plus 6 cups water, on high for about 5 hours). I only used half of the batch this week and froze the second half for use next week.
My secondary meal throughout the week was Curried Chickpeas with Spinach. I used frozen spinach this time, less olive oil, and the chickpeas that I cooked from dry, so the total batch came to $4.25 and I got about 5 servings, for a cost per serving price of $0.85. Unfortunately, I got so busy and had so many unexpected things pop up this week that I wasn’t able to even cook this recipe until day 4.
Cabbage is super cheap and I wanted some more vegetables in my plan, so I made a half batch of this Vinaigrette Slaw with Feta. I used only red cabbage this time (half head) and halved the other ingredients as well. Luckily, I had the bottom of a bottle of Caesar dressing left over in my fridge that was waiting to be used up. This batch cost me $2.28 and I got 4 servings, for a cost per serving of $0.46.
After I got home from the grocery store I realized that I had NO FRUIT in my plan for the week. I had used up all but a few dollars of my weekly budget, so I turned to this melon that had been sitting in my fridge, uncut, for almost a week. I had let the melon go and it was already starting to have that over ripe sweet smell, like it was on the brink of rotten. I was determined to not let it go to waste, so I cut it up, divided it into 8 portions, and froze almost all of it. I eat the frozen portions while still frozen, like a frozen treat, because once they thaw they are not very good. Ick. But, you have to do what you have to do. The melon cost me $2.99 the week before, or $0.37 per portion.
So, that’s what I made the first week. I realized about mid way through day two that I did not plan well and this week was going to be really awful because of it. Add to that all the drama of the home buying process and trying to show my apartment to prospective new tenants, and I had a complete disaster of a week. I didn’t get a chance to make the curried chickpeas until day 4, so I ended up filling in my meal gaps with pita, peanut butter, and eggs. It was not good. I would consider week one a FAIL.
What Did I Eat?
As I just mentioned, week one was a disaster, but it showed me how much planning and how meticulous you have to be to actually make a budget like this work. Is that level of dedication realistic? Not very much so, especially if you have a family to take care of or are working two jobs (although some people DO make it work, and I applaud you!). Even with my well stocked kitchen and all of my background with cooking and portioning, I still needed to put in more effort to make this work. There were many nights of the week that I just fought off my hunger with a pita and peanut butter instead of a real meal. After only a few days I was so hungry that I was looking for calories everywhere and anywhere. It was bad. So, here is my daily breakdown with relfections:
Day 1
- 1 small flour tortilla $0.16
- 1 large egg $0.21
- dash of hot sauce $0.05
- pinch of salt and pepper $0.05
- 1 tea bag $0.13
- 1/4 cup soy milk $0.09
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.23
Daily Total: $2.53
Reflection: Having to keep a tally of the total cost of my groceries as I picked items from the shelves brought me back to the early days of the blog, when I had to eat on a budget like this. I felt more responsible doing so, but wondered if people saw what I was doing and felt bad for me because I had to be so careful about every penny. I still have a positive outlook and am feeling good about the challenge.
Day 2
- 1/4 cup oat bran $0.19 (1/4 cup oat bran + 3/4 water cooks up to be a 1 cup bowl)
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
- 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.08
- 1 Tbsp sliced almonds $0.18
- 1 cup Cabbage Slaw with Feta $0.46
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1 small flour tortilla $0.16
- 1 large egg $0.21
- dash of hot sauce $0.05
Daily Total: $3.22
Reflection: This is the day that crazy stuff started happening with the home buying process. I was stressed, busy, and didn’t have time to calculate my daily food costs to know where I was coming in, or to make the curried chickpeas. I ate an egg in a tortilla for dinner and was hungry most of the day (except the hour or two after lunch). If I had time to calculate my daily cost, I would have known to eat more, but what? I didn’t have much in my fridge and no time to cook.
Day 3
- 1 Spinach Rice Breakfast Bowl $0.64
- 1 tea bag $0.13
- 1/4 cup soy milk $0.09
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 cup Cabbage Slaw with Feta $0.46
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.23
Daily Total: $4.11
Reflection: By today, my brain was screaming “FOOD!” at me all day long and seriously affecting my concentration. No, more accurately, it was screaming, “CHIPS, WENDY’S, PIZZA, CAKE!” My body wanted calories and in any form it could get them… and it’s only been 3 days. Imagine going a whole month, finally getting your SNAP benefits replenished, and finally going to the grocery store. Do you think you’d make healthy decisions? I can honestly say that I wouldn’t. My body was now in control and health was not even on the radar. I just wanted calories. I still didn’t have time to make the chickpeas today.
Day 4
- 2 large eggs $0.42
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- dash of hot sauce $0.05
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 cup Cabbage Slaw with Feta $0.46
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1 Tbsp peanut butter $0.13
- 1 portion Curried Chickpeas with Spinach $0.85
Daily Total: $3.94
Reflection: I still hadn’t had time to calculate my daily food costs, so I had no idea where I was coming in. I did, however, finally have time to make the curried chickpeas and I was so happy for a change of flavor, plus they were super filling. Finally a little relief. I had woken up so hungry that I ate two eggs for breakfast. That might have been the first day that I didn’t feel like I was going to die waiting for my lunch break.
Day 5
- 1/4 cup oat bran $0.19
- 1 Tbsp almonds $0.18
- 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.08
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
- 1/4 cup soy milk $0.09
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.23
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 1 large egg $0.21
- dash of hot sauce $0.05
Daily Total: $3.25
Reflection: I really can’t believe how delicious every single commercial for food looks. Things I never would have been tempted by before, like Wendy’s or those nasty looking cappuccino flavored potato chips, I could seriously devour and love every second of it. It’s fascinating how hunger can change your tastes and perceptions. My body was still screaming at me for calories and blocking out most every other thought. I’m still relying on eggs/peanut butter in pita because it’s fast and kills my hunger.
Day 6
- 2 large eggs $0.42
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- pinch of salt & pepper $0.05
- 1 cup Cabbage Slaw with Feta $0.46
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.08
- 1 serving Black Bean Soup $0.79
- 1/4 cup uncooked popcorn kernels $0.09
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil $0.04
- 1 Tbsp butter $0.15
- Cajun seasoning $0.05
Daily Total: $2.47
Reflection: Today I really started to lose it. I thought about sneaking a bag of chips from the store. No one would know, right? Ack. I can’t do that. I needed calories so bad that I ate butter in pita bread. I started scouring my cupboard and freezer for something different to eat because I was sick of the same ‘ol food. I found one last frozen serving of my Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup and ate that. It was SO. GOOD. That made me feel like I broke the rules, but OMG, I felt full and happy for a minute. I had my favorite snack for dinner: stove top popcorn with Cajun seasoning (and butter because apparently I want that on everything now).
Day 7
- 1 Spinach Rice Breakfast Bowl $0.71
- 1 tea bag $0.13
- 1/4 cup soy milk $0.09
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 serving Curried Chickpeas with Spinach $0.85
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.23
- 1 oz feta $0.43
- 1 cup soy milk $0.36
Daily Total: $3.51
Reflection: I broke into my stash of feta today because I NEEDED CHEESE. I realized that dairy goes a really long way towards filling me up and making me feel satisfied because I’ve been craving cheese and yogurt for a couple days now. I’m definitely working that into next week’s menu. I CAN’T WAIT to go grocery shopping and try a new approach next week, because this sucked. Oh, and I finally got a chance to sit down and start calculating my daily costs and saw how low I was coming in. ARG. I could have been eating more all week. *sigh* Failure.
Final Reflection
Total Consumed: $23.30
Grocery Total (incl. tax): $28.13
This did not work at all. I’ll try again next week with a different approach. Even with all the advantages working in my favor (pantry staples, cooking equipment like a slow cooker, cooking skills, food knowledge, easy access to grocery store(S), etc.) this just did not work and was not sustainable. I wanted to eat fast food every day. I wanted to go splurge and spend 2-3 days worth of food budget on a pizza or burger. What would I do if I had children? I am full of a mix of emotions—gratitude, guilt, and sadness.
Read through my experience from beginning to end:
Really interesting comments… thoughtful and no dramatics.. have noticed that conversations between women stick to basics and usually considerable civility. To use well what one has is pretty ethical, also.
I am a recent college grad in Ventura County, CA. While I was in school, I lived off a strict food budget of $30 per bi-monthly paycheck, or $15 per week. I shopped only at Trader Joe’s and learned a lot about how to stay full. I come from a family of 7 so my mom also was a role model for eliminating wasteful practices and making cheap and healthy meals. I’m now married and my husband and I budget $45/week (22.50 per person). We only go grocery shopping every other Thursday, when I get paid, so I’ve learned about how to plan meals around what ingredients spoil fastest. It can be a real challenge sometimes, and I learned even more when I started cooking for two. My biggest money saving tip is that when I make dinner, I make four portions, and two of those get packed for the next day’s lunches. You don’t get as much variety, but that way I only need to plan for 14 meals (dinners), plus breakfasts, per paycheck.
I only found your blog recently, but it’s been really helpful. Thank you!
This is really impressive! I live in Santa Barbara and food is just so expensive in this area that eating on a budget can be super challenging.
That’s interesting. My family of five was on EBT (before it was called SNAP) and received $850 a month ($5.67 per person, per day) several years ago. Food is far more expensive now, and the benefits have decreased. We now spend about $6 per person per day, on GFCF restrictions. Even the farmer’s markets have become wise to the organic movement and upped their prices, about quadrupled. We used to use the markets as a way to cut costs, but it’s not really always practical at this point.
Bec, our family of 4 was on EBT a couple of years ago and received $650 a month. My husband lost his job a few weeks ago, and we applied for SNAP. They said if we receive benefits (once our proof of everything has been approved) we will receive about $640. I am not understanding this $30 a week budget I keep hearing about.
I think it varies state to state and depending on your situation (family size, income, etc.). They just use $30 per week, per person as an average of what recipients get. Yours works out to be $40 per person per week, so it’s not far off. :)
I’m new to your blog and just want to say hi to a fellow New Orleanian! Born and raised there, but moved to Baton Rouge post Katrina. I saw that Rouses receipt and cheered!
Ok, carry on. I think your site is awesome :)
i thought the same thing when i saw the rouse’s reciept for new orleans. i am in houma so i am fairly close. finally a blog i can follow! i feel like i just met the cool new neighbor..lol!
It looks to me as though you are cutting things too close even for your target–$4.50 per day is $33.90 a week, and your consumption was about 2/3 of that allowance, your expenditure was about 85%. It seems to me that you had a little room in your budget for some dairy or protein that would have supplied more rib sticking–I can usually find a half pound package of cheese in my grocery store on special for about $2.
Wow, this is by far one of the most honest articles I’ve read in a long, long time. Much kudos to you!
Thank you so much for taking the SNAP challenge and bringing awareness to this important issue. After I graduated college in 2010, I had a very hard time finding a full-time job, and I signed up for SNAP for a little more than a year. For me, the experience was both a life saver (I didn’t have to starve), and a really tough experience socially. Believe it or not, following your blog helped me to make good shopping and eating choices on my tight SNAP budget, and I ultimately became a much better cook, too. Thanks again!
Beth, it’s not dairy you’re craving – it’s protein. Eating protein and carbs together will make you feel full longer.
I think you’re doing amazingly well so far. Looking forward to this week’s adventures :-)
The hungry = unhealthy decisions is so obvious and yet such a revelation to me! Thanks for illustrating it so honestly and thoughtfully. Child poverty is a huge issue here in New Zealand and I feel I have a slightly better understanding of the issues thanks to the SNAP challenge. All the best for the journey.
I follow the whole eating a meal before grocery shopping thing because I’ve seen it mentioned plenty that people make worse shopping habits when hungry. It’s been working better for me thus far!
Like so many of the other comments, I think your week 1 was no where near a fail in terms of bringing attention to SNAP, and experiencing what it it like to have a very tight budget and/or food insecurity. Things come up, planning goes sideways, food becomes limited or even more limited and the safety net is extremely slim or non existent. Watching this series keenly.
As someone who actually gets SNAP, thank you for this site. Even before you did the challenge. I have been modifying your recipes for almost a year now. My son is a special needs child who’s an incredibly picky eater, which means his diet is very strict and I cannot change anything or he won’t eat. So I use your recipes to make food for myself. You’ve been a Godsend even before this. So even if the first week of the challenge didn’t go the way you’d hoped, you help those of us who have to eat on a strict budget’s life a lot easier already.
I am not on SNAP benefits but I do try to live by a similar budget simply because my money is stretched that tight a lot of times. I found your site two years ago and have fallen in love with some of your most inexpensive recipes.
By following your blog and living a tight budget I’ve learned a few tricks. When I can I try to make my own bread and tortillas (a diet staple many times for me) as they are at least a bit cheaper than the store bought brands and healthier as well.
The other trick I’ve learned when shopping on a budget is to shop Aldi’s it is off brand food that many times is equal to what you get name brand and sometimes in my opinion better. I can get a box of noodles at least where I am for $1 and that goes a long way. I have also found that the eggs are about 20cents cheaper than the regular grocery store. The meats, fresh fruits and vegetables are reasonably well priced and good as well. The only difference I have have noticed is some of the fruits and vegetables don’t keep ‘as long’ but they do keep well are are not over ripe when I purchase them. All in all it cuts costs and corners. You just have to snag boxes as you shop or bring your own bags to cart things home but the savings are worth it.
Hope this might help you in shopping for the coming weeks!
The same is true of Trader Joe’s, which is owned by Aldi’s. Before I knew this I said that Trader Joe’s reminded me of an upscale.Aldi’s.
One day I shopped at Aldi’s, Wal Mart and Trader Joe’s and of the things available at all three stores, Trader Joe’s was cheapest on all.
I actually returned to Aldi’s over the summer. When I first moved out I had a larger budget and would shop at Giant Eagle, then Walmart. I quickly saw how I was over spending and when my budget became smaller (I had a larger budget because I was filling in for a higher position, and received base pay) I went back to Aldis. I find that the quality and selection can vary from store to store (I’ve been to three before I finally found one that I liked). I went there today to shop on a budget (I am for $60 – no more if possible) and after going there today with recipes in mind, I walked out paying LESS than $60, and even got “extras” in my cart (like tissues, paper towels, etc). I stayed well within budget. My first recipe was the ramen bowl ~ it turned out better than I thought it would. Thank you BuzzFeed for featuring the recipe and giving credit to the creator and her website! <3
Aldi is my favorite! I am adding in some frozen fruit to my diet versus fresh because I don’t drive and can only shop 1x a month (and have read plenty on frozen not being as bad as people think). So, I bought from Walmart and then realized a very similar bag of fruit from Aldi could have saved me $2 or so which is a lot to someone who doesn’t have much.
This has been very very interesting. I was fortunate to have all I needed most of the time. Then my husband had a car accident, lost his ability to work for some time, though thankfully he is not seriously debilitated. He has been in physio therapy for almost 3 years now, for an accident that wasn’t his fault, where no one was charged. We have been self employed all our 34 years of marriage, he is a singer,and I am an artist and I sing with him when possible. We are in our 60’s and have found our finances a serious stress. We live in Canada, and he receives old age pension, and Canada pension, (he is 67) and I will receive old age pension NEXT year when I turn 65. I get a very small pension since I didn’t work outside the home much at all, only before we married. I home schooled my son, a full time job without pay. Paying bills and eating well has been a huge challenge lately. We do hope this will be resolved when we have a legal disclosure meeting soon, but it has been a tough time these 3 years (come January). My husband who has always been slim, has lost 25 lb he cannot afford to lose. Eating on a budget is challenging to say the least. We never ate at restaurants anyway, (except the years we traveled on the road while he was singing, before our 28 yr old son was born) and I enjoy cooking. Our son has moved away so it is just the two of us, but there have been weeks we lived on porridge (oatmeal) and eggs, period. It is true every situation is different, and for example, I see in the SNAP challenge that cheeses are much cheaper where you live. I will try some of these recipes for sure… and have found some great slow cooker recipes from a Canadian Living book I got at the library. We live in the country and have a car, but it means the stores are 10-20 min drive away, and more expensive in price than in the city where there is more competition. Interesting. Thanks for this blog.
How could this possibly be a fail?! You did a bunch of preparing and working around (the frozen melon, brilliant). Cooking & eating is a process that evolves and you have shown us how that goes on a scrimped budget. Always love your line-ups of little freezer boxes, so pretty & inspiring. Anyway, thank you for taking & sharing the challenge so we understand the dire problem of hunger & food insecurity in America. Love your blog and I am making, again, the lemon blueberry cornbread for a family get-together.
So I did the and for my family of six we would get about $810 in SNAP. I don’t know if I could even spend that much money on groceries a month. I think we should do a middle class grocery challenge!!!!!
I know this is an old comment and you may not see this, but I just wanted to say that we are a family of 6 that comes in at the “extreme poverty” level (my husband works a full time job, $10/hr) and we are getting $520 a month.
We have 2 kids with celiac and dairy allergies, as well as 2 teenage boys, and no matter how carefully I shop, I still end up with little left by the end of the 3rd week. That 4th week is a real exercise in creativity to feed this crowd. I end up going to the food pantry most months to make sure we have enough.