In order to keep up with not only the financial and technical progress of the challenge but also the personal implications, John & I will be checking in once a week to recap each day from our own individual perspectives.
Day 1
John
I set a very difficult and so far rewarding personal challenge, swearing off snacks at work or spending non-MEG food funds for anything that would change my eating habits at home. I was hungry at work and realized my need for more well balanced meals as well as the need to ensure I ate the meals I had skipped that day, and for many previous years.
Michael
What if we can’t find any decent meat on sale? What if there aren’t any good coupons? What if nobody even gives a damn about what we’re doing?
My mind raced about everything you can imagine as we started the challenge. We knew new sales wouldn’t start until the 2nd but we needed a few basics to get started and spent more than we would have liked. When you’re hungry with money in a grocery store, you spend more. My mind wasn’t on day one, but on the thirty days that followed it and what might happen after the month was over.
Day 2
John
I ate breakfast and took a sensible lunch that was both filling and nutritious. I talked to some of my employees about their food issues, taking mental notes. As far as it being a special day; every day I am taking part of this challenge is special. I love reading the dialogue you all have left, and well, I am enlightened by every one of them.
Michael
The first “real” shopping trip based on a good sale. We managed to get some fresh veggies at a really good price on day two and that made me feel good going forward.
The comments on the blog were picking up steam and that reassured me that we were doing the right thing. My conscience was clawing at me for most of the night and I wasn’t sure what to do with the thoughts.
Day 3
John
I went hungry to test my will power and my own integrity. I came to the conclusion that choosing is different than not having the option when it came to food consumption. I’m not a dolt, I knew that ahead of time. The reality of skipping my meal and seeing an employee at work that had no money for something to eat was a wake up call. He was hungry and if I had taken a lunch, I could have offered it to him.
Michael
An entire day without food. Sure, it was done by choice but somehow there was no other choice in my mind. This challenge has grabbed us both by the wrist and pulled us into an entirely different thought process about nearly everything we do, so to me I had no choice but to do a day of hunger.
It wasn’t until the next day that either of us realized that we were going without food and for the same reasons.
Day 4
John
I reflected back on times when I thought I had it bad as a young boy. I realized that sometimes we all have it bad, I chose to blame a system that kept me from doing what I wanted (parents) and remembered that someone else had it worse (my little brother). I ate a great lunch at work that filled me and kept me going. Water consumption was a big part in keeping back the hunger.
Michael
Emotionally, this was a roller coaster day. In fact, the toughest part about the challenge this week so far has been the emotion and thought and not the food itself. This was a day of reflection on the choice we made to do this in the first place and what we hoped to see happen as a result. We just might be learning more about ourselves than we are teaching, but at the end of the day even that is a win-win.
Day 5
John
My focus was on home and health. I did very little that day as I had to work. I went for bread and made some shocking discoveries at Walmart Neighborhood Market where 80/20 or 73/27 ground beef were both sold for the same price. Debated spending 26¢ more for wheat bread and opted to get the white loaf for 99¢. I made something that I loved as a kid – cocoa packet brownies.
Michael
I’m starting to understand the bigger picture here, and it isn’t what I originally envisioned. This is not just about food stamps. It is not just about knowing (or learning) how to cook and what to cook. It is not just about changing our attitudes about food and our bodies.
This is about changing the world starting at home.
Day 6
John
I worked and since we had planned an all-veggie meal, Superman only held 2 oz of carrots, a brownie, and a turkey sandwich. I was hungry within 2 hours after eating. My water consumption that was previously non-existent was up to 2 liters per day, allowing me to pass one of several kidney stones. I plan on keeping up the water consumption even at home.
Michael
As the days progress, I get more attuned to what we’re doing and it excites me. The beautiful thing here is that with each day that passes I see John’s excitement grow as well. More than a “challenge”, this 31-day process is an experiment in life and understanding. We started this to raise awareness and we are raising our own about so much more than a $279.18 food budget.
Day 7
John
Shopping was the agenda for the day. We got our things together, got ready to go and the car wouldn’t start. Dead battery. Didn’t we just talk about this in a question of the day? Took care of that problem, went shopping and I played butcher for over 2 hours once we got home so no bread was baked. My next day off is not until Tuesday, so I plan to bake then, hoping to make enough bread to last for the week.
Michael
Today was the most emotionally wrenching trip to the store I’ve ever experienced. Armed with sales fliers, coupons and a can-do attitude we left the house to shop and the battery was dead. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. When we made it to the store, my heart began to race faster and faster as the basket became more full.
I stood in front of items on the shelf and questioned myself, John and the price. I asked if it was really worth it or if we might wait until we found it for less. More than once I stood in an aisle at Walmart with tears in my eyes, completely overwrought with the gravity of the issues we chose to surround ourselves with this month . I’m a nervous wreck today knowing that every penny we have for food for the entire month is on that card in my wallet and a big chunk of it is about to be taken away by the choices we are making right now.
I found an error in my figures and noticed that our daily allotment was off. Instead of $4.09 per person/day we actually have $4.50, or a total of $9/day for the two of us because we added money to cover taxes that wouldn’t appear on an EBT receipt.
As of the last day of the first week of this challenge we have spent half of our total monthly budget, but we have eaten on less than half of our weekly budget. That means we are actually ahead of the game and though it looks like we will run out of money, we don’t see it that way. Here’s another way to look at it:
| Actual Budgeted | Actual Consumed | Actual Saved / Lost | |
| Week 1 | 63.00 | 27.13 | +35.87 (+43%) |
| Week 2 | 63.00 | ||
| Week 3 | 63.00 | ||
| Week 4 | 63.00 | ||
| Week 5 (2 days) | 27.18 |
While we have spent half of the total budget, we have only consumed 9.7% of the total budget.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I asked the below elsewhere, and Michael asked me to copy and paste it here:
You answered the big thing that hung me up on the individual “Day 7″. One additional question just popped up: have you found that, despite knowing your actual expenses for the week (versus the actual money spent ) also influenced your emotional well being?
I ask because it feels as though quite a few people wrestle with that as well: the feeling as though they are so worried about what they’ve actually spent that they panic because they feel as though they’ll run out of money.
Also, I noticed that there was an expense you realised was missing: tax. Some food items aren’t taxed, and others are, and it varies widely from state to state.
One more thing, that popped up on one meal: waste. There was one breakfast that you made that was so inedible that you threw it away. How much waste have you made in the challenge? (I am keeping in mind that both you and John are being very mindful not to waste anything. I hope the question seems academic and not judgmental.)
Thanks. :-)
oh ho! that IS funny…so you guys walked carrying all that meat?!! and carrots?!! ;-) At least there were two of you and you didn’t have to be dragging little kids around too. While i admire what you guys are doing, just trying to keep it real and remind you about what the average food-stamp user goes through… where you not only are about reduced to tears with the overwhelmity of the decisions of what to get to feed your KIDS for the whole month, but actually DO cry, when trying to get them AND THOSE GROCERIES home without a car! Been there, done that, hope to NEVER HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN!!!
John, I think you will find when you guys make your homemade bread that will make a big difference in how hungry you are afterwards…cuz it will not only be more filling, but more nutritious as well. (be sure and use at least half whole-grains! you can add some bran, which is very cheap fiber, which fills you up more.)
Q: What are “non-MEG” funds?
The emotional side of this for me has been multifaceted, but the knowledge that we have a specific dollar amount and cannot go one cent over that amount does play a part. Also at play is how invested we are in this as a social experiment and dialogue, and what each and every item purchased might say about us in the grand scheme of things. Living under a microscope in this way isn’t easy, but the big picture makes it worth it all.
We accounted for taxes from day one by adding the tax to the total amount we started with. Because taxable/non-taxable is so varied and I don’t have the time to devote every waking hour to this challenge, we are assuming that items are taxed and most of them are.
John was very aware of the waste aspect from the beginning and we have been watching waste carefully. In the first 7 days, aside from The Great Pancake Catastrophe of Day 3, there has been absolutely no waste of edible food. This is important in the view of the challenge but even more important to the two of us as we have historically been wasteful when it comes to food, largely by over-purchasing and allowing fresh items to spoil before being used.
Incidentally, those pancakes weren’t completely waste, as John did eat two of them.
Thank you so much for these thought-provoking questions. They are adding to the conversation and are incredibly important.
You must have misunderstood, we didn’t walk from the store, that’s 20 miles away and neither of us are quite that ambitious.
MEG is an acronym for My Earth Garden. “Non-MEG funds” refers to any money outside of the $279.18 gift card purchased for this challenge.
I think you are doing great. You’ve got through the hardest week. $27.13 of consumed food for the week is less than $1.94 a day.
Thanks, Molly!
I am learning so much, from you two as well as your followers. You’re doing great!
I guess if you’re okay with thought-provoking comments, one thing I’ve thought about while reading is that I was a single mom, working and going to school, so didn’t have a lot of time to spend shopping and working in the kitchen. Doing it all alone, in those circumstances, makes it even more difficult, in my humble opinion.
Wow you guys! This is fantastic. And heart-wrenching. From a different perspective, I have never had to worry about food, expenses, housing, having a running vehicle, and though I try to be mindful of all that I have and all that my parents at one point provided, this is eye-opening to say the least! My 5 year old son and I are filling a grocery bag with bread for a local food shelf and will deliver it next weekend, and from then on, I plan on doing something as often as we can to help those who may be hungry in our own community. My heart breaks thinking of other parents like myself who are forced to watch their children go to bed hungry. What you two are doing is educational, surprising, and very courageous…
Thank you, Kristin. We’re glad you’re here!
Kristin, with your good heart, may i make a suggestion? Bread is usually readily available, and everybody seems to donate tunafish and peanut butter and boxes of macaroni and cheese…but i was like in heaven to get actual COFFEE in a food sack! and fresh fruits or vegetables. The things they get from the government…beans, macaroni, popcorn, sometimes cheese and butter, applesauce…don’t need to be duplicated by individuals. Try to think “outside the box” and donate some items that some kid will be thrilled to have…like jam to go with the PB, or olives to go in the spaghetti (and on little fingers!). And always milk! evaporated is good too! One thing i refuse to give myself though is diapers, even though they always put out a call for them. I washed diapers for four kids, and as far as i’m concerned, if you’re poor you shouldn’t be wasting diapers on Pampers, or expecting others to provide them for you either! Not to mention i think they’re horrible for the environment.
Joan, i’m with you on your comments…BTW, is that “my” Joan? in Idaho??
I’m curious. What will your attitude be if you find at the end of the month, you have LOTS of food left over. (I suspect you should)
Not allowing for snacks in your challenge is something you have changed. Buying a bag of apples/fruit doesn’t cost much. Making a batch of cookies/cupcakes is cheap. Homemade pudding cups, applesauce etc.
I’m concerned with eating PB & J sandwiches all the time. Nutritious..but do you normally eat that, or just think your should because of this challenge? How about a thermos of homemade soup and biscuits for lunch.
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