Ten days in and it’s time for a reality check.
This is Day 10 of a month long food stamp challenge. If this is your first visit, please check out this link to see all of the posts and get a better understanding of what is going on.
Some folks seem to be under the impression that this is just something that John & I came up with to do for a month because it might be fun. One comment was even made asking if the ad matching and couponing was like some game or if we felt it was tedious. That’s why I felt that today was as good a day as any for a little reality check.
I am a freelance writer, which means that my income is not always regular or on time. I’m not complaining about that, I mean this is the life I chose to live and I do love what I do. Last month I got word that once of my contracts would end at the end of October, taking with it a steady monthly paycheck of several hundred dollars. It was an unexpected blow and one that I am still stressing over.
Did I mention that I don’t have a car? Because I don’t. I was in an accident in January that totaled my vehicle and I haven’t been able to afford to buy anything else yet, eight months later. Again, not a complaint but maybe it puts things into perspective a bit more if you understand that should John’s job take him out of town for a few days, I’ll be the one walking a mile to the nearest store of any sort (a Dollar General).
Lest someone think that we are living “high on the hog” here, I assure you we aren’t. We stress over bills and gas prices and we do what has to be done to get through each day, each week, each month, even when the money runs out before the bills do.
We are not wealthy people, but we have what we need. We don’t have a lot of money, but when it comes to love, respect, determination and an unrelenting desire to help others, we’re pretty rich.
MEALS
BREAKFAST: $1.18
- coffee w/ sugar & creamer
- cereal w/ milk
BREAKFAST NOTES: There was enough (stale) cereal in the starting pantry for two small bowls. The amount was probably 1/3 of what either of us would normally eat in a sitting.
JOHN’S LUNCH: $0.00
- leftover chili (Day 5)
MICHAEL’S LUNCH: $0.00
- leftover French bread (Day 9)
- marinara dipping sauce
DINNER: $6.42
- pot roast w/ potatoes, carrots, celery & onion
DINNER NOTES: Even after getting beef at a reduced price, this is the most expensive meal so far though in fairness it would have been under $6 if we would have used the free carrots we got on Day 7. The roast was 2.5 lbs pre-cooked weight, but even though it will be less when fully cooked there will be plenty of leftovers that can be reheated as-is or turned into sandwiches, soup or stew. If this roast yields just four servings, the cost is just $1.61 per serving.
TOTALS
- Consumed Today: 7.60 [+1.40 for the day]
- Consumed To Date (week): 13.70 [+13.30 for the week]
- Consumed To Date (month): 40.83 [+49.17 for the month]
- Spent To Date: 138.07
- Remaining Balance: $141.11
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
What is the average cost in your area for the following five items:
- a gallon of milk
- a dozen eggs
- 5 lbs of sugar
- a pound (16 oz) of white rice
- a loaf of white sandwich bread
Please include your state in your response.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
1. 4.99 a gallon, because i stopped buying non-organic milk earlier this year. I just can’t justify giving my daughter those hormones!
2. 2.39 a dozen
3. it’s been so long since i got some, i forgot! I think it’s about 1.99
4. i usually get brown rice in 20-lb. bags, but i did get some white rice last month for a certain recipe, and i think it was $1.79 for two pounds(store brand: it was over $2 for 2 pounds name brand).–i remember being surprised at how high it had gotten…probably due to the tsunami and radiation in Japan.
5. can get on sale all the time for 99 cents, but regularly 1.19 and up.
6. Mmmmmm-pot roast! we had mushroom and pea gravy over toast tonight. It was also good, but not as good as a pot roast dinner! mushrooms were on sale last week 2 pkgs for $3.00 (8-oz. packages). Had some in soup, now the gravy; coming up will be mushroom omelette, and probably finish off with a potato-mushroom soup.
I love that you are documenting this for us. I am also a freelancer, (freelance web designer) and know how hard it can be month to month, when contracts ends etc. I have learned in the past to save as much as possible, and gardening definitely offsets costs. I look forward to reading more about your challenge.
I am sorry to hear about you losing your writing contract, and that you were in an accident. I’m glad you weren’t hurt (?) too much in the accident. Maybe your big heart acted as an air bag. ;-)
I appreciate you sharing what you did today because it somehow makes everything much more real and immediate, even tho you’ve obviously been meticulous in your approach to this challenge.
I am going to have to check on those prices for my area (Idaho).
CeeCee forgot to tell you she is from the Portland Oregon area. LOL
My dinner was sphagetti. Free noodles from couponing, and Paul Newman Sockorooni sauce, less than a $1 with couponing. Cucumber free from the garden.
I’m in Oregon. . Each of those items listed *can* be purchased cheap here. I have no clue what the “average” price is…….
I’m going to check out Dave’s Killer Bread Outlet this week for hopefully some cheap healthy bread :) ……the comments from the cheap bread being pigeon food made me look at the labels of the bread I have in my pantry.
I used to buy Daves Killer Bread all the time…..but I’m not planning to pay $5+ a loaf.
I really like your positive attitude…..wish more people were like that.
I’m sorry you lost one of your contracts……..I’m sure there is something better for you around the corner :)
Sorry about your car too.
Some people would buy a car anyway…….then complain, about not having any money. If you can afford a car payment then you have the ability to save money(imo). Most people are not born lucky……they get to where they are in life by the choices they make.
Maybe, I’m young and naive……and don’t understand how the world works, but it seems to me there are way too many people living an artificial life on debt.(credit cards, car payments, mortgages).
Although I grew up poor, we had no debt. If we did, we worked our azz off to get rid of it asap.
A couple of books I recommend some people check out the library…The Millionaire Next Door and Dave Ramsey’s book Total Money Makeover…
Hi Michael,
One thing I haven’t seen you try yet this month is making your own dairy products. Farmer’s cheese (paneer) is a great way to use up quantities of extra milk so it doesn’t go to waste. (Slightly sour milk works just fine.) Sour cream & yogurt are also really straightforward to culture overnight, and end up costing less than the pre-made stuff with all the additives. Drain yogurt through a coffee filter another night (or even two), and you can use it as cream cheese. (Lots of info on youtube.)
In Cleveland, Ohio, I usually see grocery costs of
$2.99 for a gallon of milk ~ $6-7 if organic
$1.85 for a dozen eggs ~ $4 if organic
$2.49 for 5 lbs white sugar
$1.29 for a (king size) loaf of white bread
$1.79 for 2 lbs white rice (.90/lb) – but $7.49 for 10 lbs (.75/lb)
Same as Tina from Cleveland with the exception of eggs with a regular price of $1.19, organic stays the same as Tina.
Okeana, Oh. sorry
Due to disability, cancer, and economic loss. My family of three have been in this situation for last 3 years. As you go north food/gas is more expensive.
1 3.29 we buy powdered 5.99 more uses longer storage less waste
2 2.19 by from farmer 2.25 better quality
3 3.58 beet sugar
4 1.59 for cheap stuff broken long grain
5 1.29 for cheap stuff make our own using the no knead method.
WI 54455
From one of my facebook feeds I was directed to your blog page. I have been sitting here reading this challenge and very excited to see brought to light the challenges people in american have. I have read every response to your post and have bookmarked your site so I can read and hopefully contribute to a positive discussion on this matter.
Thank you Michael for this challenge and your’s and other openess on the subject.
To get into the swing of things
1. 3.09
2. 1.79 farm co-op fresh
3. 3.75 but I have never paid that because I am an extreme shopper I usually pay 2.00
4. 1.50 food co-op
5.hmmm not sure I don’t buy bread anymore make own.
Just now reading this.
Louisiana.
Milk $5.49
That’s all I know b/c my husband picks up the groceries on the way home from work. We can’t afford the gas, I don’t drive, so I leave the house about twice a month on a drive on a new dirt road near our house. Takes 30 minutes total b/c of the gas.
I see why today’s blog was coming, yesterday!!
You know the Mother Teresa quote about how if you can’t feed a hundred, feed just one?? She didn’t mean just food, Michael. You won’t know how many you touched by doing this- how many you made think, how many you made prioritize. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW and when you do good for others, that is par for the course.
But what I am telling you so that YOU DO KNOW?
YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE.
YOU WERE PUT HERE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Not everything will work out, that you try.
But you still try.
THANK YOU FOR TRYING.
Molly, I’ve read the Millionaire Next Door. I’ve also been an avid fan of David Bach and his financial advice books for some time. They are practical and down-to-earth, from a workbook for a person or couple starting out that explains how to set up your file system, to a book for those getting themselves on a responible path much later in life.
My parents taught me to be frugal. They grew up in a world where you simply did without unless you had the money, and therefore one avoided debt as much as possible. These days it seems to have become much more complicated, with 401Ks, etc. But the premise is still the same. Only what you can afford.
A good quote from the book “The Soul of Money” by Lynne Twist. It is under the heading of SUFFICIENCY: RECLAIMING THE POWER OF WHAT THERE IS. “Sufficiency isn’t an amount at all. It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough. ” …. “it is using money in a way that expresses our integrity; using it in a way that expresses value rather than determines value.”
And to me that is what Michael’s blog is about. (Self) sufficiency, even in difficult circumstances.
I asked that question, because I have heard people on t.v. talk shows claim that they really love clipping coupons, and they take great pride in the savings they realize. If I’m not mistaken, there are people who make a living (or, at least, an internet presence) teaching others how to save loads of money via coupons. They enjoy it; they say it’s “fun.” I’m not making that up.
Clipping coupons is simple enough, and I have no problem using them as long as I can remember to take them to the store when I’m making the relevant purchases (preferably, of things that I would have bought, anyway), but the thing that seems tedious to me is all the comparison shopping, and chasing sales: going to Store A, because they have a special on X this week, and then trying to remember that Store B will have a special on Y a week from Tuesday, and then running there before the sale ends. For major or irregular purchases, it makes sense to do this, but food shopping is, at least, a weekly endeavor for most people, who I don’t think have this kind of time. Personally, I like saving money as much as the next person, but I would find that tedious week after week, and since I don’t have to feed a family, the nominal savings just isn’t worth my time or gasoline. I have difficulty remembering to use an attached manufacturer’s coupon for a product I buy regularly before it expires, although I normally stick it to the fridge next to the shopping list.
I have made no assumptions that you are doing this for fun, or about whether you do or do not live frugally as the norm; however, to be perfectly honest, I don’t quite understand what you hope to prove or accomplish. Are you trying to show that people CAN live on a meager food stamp allotment, or that they CANNOT? Doesn’t the answer really depend upon a individual or a family circumstances (family size, health/dietary needs, total income, location, etc.), rather than what two adult men sharing a home can make work? I find your project interesting, just as I found interesting the woman who lived according to Oprah’s dictates for a whole year, and blogged about it. I liked reading what she had to say about the personal and financial cost of trying to “live [her] best life” on a daily basis, but it had no further significance to me, and didn’t change the way I live my life.
Oh Michael, I can so relate. I’m on food stamps with no car, and no spare money. I am across the street from a Winn Dixie, but more and more, I don’t want to shop there because it is prohibitively expensive. The bus is $3, so I’m not taking it to Sav-a-Lot unless I am getting enough to justify the cost. All else I have is a Dollar General, which I must admit, has some pretty good prices, but all-in-all it is a mile’s walk and I really hate lugging my wheelie backpack up there and back. I want to get a bicycle, but right now, even that is not in the budget. Just wanted you to know I understand.
ok, wha’s happening to your posts? you’re two days behind…i need my fix!!! ;-) no, really, i keep logging on trying to see if it’s up yet. i do need to be on the computer now anyway, cuz i still don’t have a job yet for tomorrow, so i have to keep checking back in until i do, but after that, it’s all you! So what’s for dinner tonight?!! Please at least have a salad. I like what you’re doing, but i gotta tell you, even when we were on food stamps, i fed my kids vegetables EVERY DINNER, and never missed a dinner for them. so i kinda feel like you’re cheating if you’re not having vegetables, plus, it’s really unhealthy for you!!! You don’t want to be like that guy in “Supersize Me” that got in really bad health in just a month from eating at McDonalds every day. Vegetables are more important that meat, healthwise.
Back to where i started…is there a certain time you’re gonna post by, so i can know to at least stop checking beyond that point? or are you a night owl and possibly doing this after midnight?
keep up the good work!
“Are you trying to show that people CAN live on a meager food stamp allotment, or that they CANNOT?”
I’m kind of with Dianne on this one.
Although, I enjoy reading your blog about this challenge and find it interesting…….I’m not really sure what exactly your objective is…….
And Dianne, I think couponing is fun, but also tedious. I coupon to stockpile so I don’t have to go to the store weekly.
Because I live so far away from the store…..small trips would cost me more in gas than savings. So I plan my trips carefully and when I do coupon shopping it is a big shopping trip and worth the drive.
If you have just a few things to buy, it would be cheaper to just buy at the closest store.
What is the average cost in your area for the following five items: — of those I do buy:
a doz eggs has gone from $1.89 to $2.49 in SoCal
I do not buy white bread, but pay about $3.99 for whole grain (that’s the sale price)
I’m playing catch up a bit here with the challenge but wanted to put in what I have been paying here in Portland OR for the items.
Milk $2.69 /gal
Eggs $1.69/doz
White Rice $ 2.00 (approx…I quit buying the super cheap store brand after I found rocks in it one time)
White Bread $1.09
(these prices are lower mid-range for stores in our region)
My husband and I were both unemployed with no assistance/unemployment for almost 6 yrs (its a long story). What an adventure in learning to live on lean and at a time when food prices were going through the roof!
I learned to shop the grocery liquidation stores (a 10 mile round trip to catch these deals), didn’t buy anything unless it was discounted or on sale, spending $40 per week on food approximately. I shocked my brother when I told him point blank one day how I refused to pay more than $2.00 per lb for meat except bacon which I did manage to find for $1.69 /lb at Grocery Outlet.
We do not get true double coupon benefits here and I found I could find the foods at liquidation stores for less than I could get them with a coupon. (There are some really AMAZING deals in those places I’m telling ya!) We also had a dog and two cats to feed for a part of that time and we found foods for them most often at good prices at the liquidation stores…they only ate dry food as it was all we could afford. We also grew some veggies but because I have a back injury that really put a damper on my ability to garden or take on the physical rigors of canning. Those things very much impacted our ability to feed ourselves.
I found that our friends were so insulated from where we were and only a couple of them dared venture into the discomfort zone of giving us real aid. I don’t really blame them, how often can you ask someone “How are you doing?” or “Does your husband have a job yet?” Six years is a long time to life hand to mouth and I really hated even hearing those question myself since the answer was depressing to me. Another factor was that people around us were so used to having money that they seemed insulated by it and unable to grasp the fact we did not. It got pretty lonely but it has given me a much greater compassion and understanding for people than I ever had before. For that I am very thankful.
I still shop the liquidation stores, the ding and dent clearance and barter fruit for veggies.
Thank you for taking on this project.
Again, late, so prices most likely have gone up a bit due to rising gas prices…
a gallon of milk is about $4.50
a dozen eggs is 2.00 (I get free from my parents who raise chickens though)
5 lbs of sugar is $3.50
a pound (16 oz) of white rice is about 2.00
a loaf of white sandwich bread is $1.75 (last I was at the store.
From Central PA
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