This is Day 4 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.
I consider myself a pretty self-aware kind of guy, but in four days this challenge has hit me right between the eyes more than once. It is interesting how going without food to draw attention to food scarcity issues has caused me to become so hyper aware of how privileged I am in the grand scheme of things. I went to bed last night after a day without food knowing that I would have a good breakfast this morning. Then I skipped breakfast this morning.
In my early morning mental fog I found myself caught in a painful cycle of whirlwind thought. I felt guilty because I was able to make the choice to go without food yesterday so I made the choice to go without one more meal today. As the day progressed I reasoned that if I hadn’t made the choice to do this challenge in the first place, the dialogue we are having here wouldn’t be taking place. If I didn’t make the choice to share my knowledge of gardening, crafts, food and recipes on this website, a lot of people would have missed the opportunity to learn about those things.
This challenge has grabbed my heart and strengthened by resolve to help those around me who need it. Today I made the choice to renew my commitment and dedication to making the world around me a better place.
SHOPPING
While out running other errands today we were able to find whole chickens at .88/lb which is the best price in the area right now. We also needed some tomatoes and sauce for several upcoming meals and the large can of tomato sauce (106 oz) will be enough for everything in the meal plan so far.
PURCHASES
| ITEM | SIZE | PRICE | UNIT | PRICE/ UNIT |
| whole chicken | whole bird (2) | 6.48 | lb | .95 |
| diced tomatoes | 14.5 oz can (2) | 1.72 | can | .86 |
| tomato sauce | 106 oz can | 5.18 | oz | .05 |
RECEIPTS
We stopped in at ALDI and found a great deal on oatmeal but were unable to purchase it because of the store’s debit/EBT only policy (we are using a Visa gift card for this challenge that has no PIN number). The price for an item of identical size at Winn Dixie was substantially higher, but we noted that most of the prices at Winn Dixie were higher than the average we have seen at other grocers in the area.
ALDI had whole chickens in their freezer case at a price of .75/lb but John was gun shy when he saw that the lowest price per chicken was in the $6.00 range so we avoided them even before finding out that we couldn’t have purchased them anyway.
MEALS
BREAKFAST: $0.55
1 slice of toast (I skipped breakfast)
coffee (starting pantry)
creamer
LUNCH: $0.30
3 chicken salad* sandwiches
mayo, onion, relish, salt & pepper (starting pantry)
NOTE: Chicken salad was made of leftover chicken from Day 1 dinner. The starting pantry contained 1.5 lbs of onion, 8 oz of mayonnaise and 4 Tablespoons of sweet relish. Once depleted, these items will be purchased as necessary.
DINNER: $1.53
hot dogs & buns
French fries (1.5 lbs of potatoes, oil)
NOTE: The starting pantry contained ketchup, mustard & used vegetable oil for frying. Once depleted, these items will be purchased as necessary.
DAILY TOTAL: $2.38 (+$5.80 for the day, +20.34 for the week)
Total Spent to Date: $71.32
Total Remaining: $207.86
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:
answer any or all of them in the comments below
- How close is the nearest grocery store to your home?
- What is the farthest distance you have ever traveled to buy groceries?
- If your vehicle broke down, would you still have access to groceries?
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
1. A four minute walk away.
2. A 30 minute drive away.
3. Yes, we do not need a vehicle to get groceries.
1. A 10 minute drive away.
2. a 30 minute drive
3. Would have to call a taxi, no mass public transit, living on the outskirts of town
Our answers:
1. 1 mile away
2. 45 miles
3. Yes, we could walk to a small grocery and a Dollar General about a mile away, which is pretty amazing given how rural the area is.
1. small country convenience store within a half mile, but the prices are insane. 6 miles to a regular grocery.
2. 40 miles
3. Yes, but would easily blow through our budget in a week shopping at the above mentioned store.
$30 cab ride to a regular grocery store.
15 miles to a grocery store………..normally dont go here unless I’m passing by and have coupons for free/cheap stuff
45 miles is the nearest Winco, Walmart, type store.
If my vehicle broke down, I’d be stuck at home, which is why I have a stockpile ;0)
We have power outages several times a year, icy roads in the winter, and trees that are down. I try not to go anywhere if I don’t have to.
1. A Kroger about 1.5 miles away.
2. routinely 10 miles, although we have been known to drive 60 miles, to get some groceries in Canada (semi-annually).
3. We are in easy biking and walking distance.
Not sure if you are still planning to use coupons…..but thought this might help someone else reading that has a Winn-Dixie.
Plum District has a $10 gift card for $5 (limit 1 per houshold)
http://www.plumdistrict.com/moms/discount/east-orlando/food-and-beverage-deals/winn-dixie-plum-steal-5-for-10-gift-card-at-winn-dixie-mTtzDy
(even though the deal is listed in Orlando, it can be used at any Winn dixie)
We are using coupons that apply to what we are buying. Finding applicable deals is difficult on the fly, but we have managed to get two $5 off $25 for Save-A-Lot stores and yesterday’s Winn Dixie trip yielded a $5 off $55 coupon that we can use at Walmart during a price matching trip. I would have been tempted by that deal as well, but it is sold out.
Well, that was quick! It was available a moment ago…….but that’s usually how it goes….
Now go eat something! :D
You’ll be less productive if you continue skipping meals.
I love finding deals like that and I didn’t know about that site. I’m not a mom but I signed up anyway.
After an alarm clock mishap we woke up late so John had to skip breakfast and rush out the door for work. Thankfully I had time to throw a good lunch together for him while he showered. I will be having an egg and the last piece of bread for breakfast.
1. Within walking distance, about ten blocks.
2. The only remaining organic grocery is one town over from here.
3. yes, but it’d be a struggle to figure out how to get bags of groceries home with only what I could carry for 10 blocks.
1. We have two grocery stores within a five minute drive.
2. I travel twenty miles once a week to my co-op, for organic, local and fair-trade foods.
3. Yes, I could ride my bicycle with the “baby buggy” attached and carry home 4 bags of groceries (which I did when our household had one car). My babies are now in high school – but I kept the buggy just in case.
1. About 2 miles to Pic N Sav. The prices are good, but there some items that are not available. Walmart is about 15 minutes away.
2. 30-35 miles to Sams.
3. There is a Dollar General within walking or biking distance.
1. About 5 minutes up the road. Raleys is a little more spendy. So I go there only for milk or bread as last minute only and usually ride my bike.
2. About 15-20 minutes away to the Wonder Bread store where me can get 4 loaves of bread for 2 bucks. I have a family of six. We go through 4 loaves a week.
3.we all have bikes and we would ride them. We ride bikes daily. For excerxise and to save on gas since it is 3.89 a gallon. Alot of times I buy groceries every cpl days by bike.winter will be a different story!
1. About a mile away. It’s gotten better in the last year in terms of offerings.
2. I’ve traveled 15 miles for groceries back when I lived in Georgia (just to access to fresh fish before the farmers market opened downtown).
3. The bike is ready and willing if needed.
Welcome, Dre!
1. about 7 miles away
2. about 3o miles, but when I was in college and living in a far corner of campus, it took about an hour by bus to get to the grocery store just a few miles away.
3. No. Even though there is rural bus service where we live (3 miles away, each way to get to the bus stop), I don’t think following the very limited bus schedule would be feasible with 3 small kids in tow, plus whatever purchases we need…and the 7 miles each way to the nearest store would be too far to walk! Fortunately, I try to keep a couple months (minimum) of staples on hand, plus we have garden produce (frozen and canned for year round use) and venison my husband hunted frozen available at all times, so HOPEFULLY we’d have the car fixed before we ran out of food, especially since my husband HAS to have a car to get to his job. As it is, I mostly have him pick up things on his way home from work rather than make special trips to the store every week. Actually, there is a convenience store not to far from here (just outside the trailer park), but I can’t generally afford the prices. If I absolutely HAD to get groceries there, I’d probably try to work out some sort of barter with the owners rather than paying those prices for such low quality (highly processed, NOTHING fresh or whole grain).
1. One mile.
2. Five miles.
3. Yes. And bikes are very useful when that happens.
We are fortunate to have shopping near by our home in the burbs. We are also lucky to have two farmers markets held at locations within biking distance from our home.
Thank you so much for calling attention to the problem of hunger in our country. And for trying to do something constructive to educate and provide solutions.
Just wanted to offer up a couple of menu ideas for you that would be inexpensive and stick to your ribs filling. A pot of split pea soup and cornbread is a very filling meal. I’ve found that by adding onion, garlic and diced carrots and salt to taste, you don’t even need meat for flavor. I bake my corn bread in an iron skillet and make a skillet full. Another idea is to make Indian tacos. Indian Fry Bread is inexpensive to make and you can freeze the left over pinto beans to make Chilie or some other bean based meal later. To make them you only need a little lettuce, tomato, onion, small bit of ground meat, cooked pinto beans, a bit of cheese. All those ingredients you might buy to make other many other meals as well because you only need a bit of each to make your tacos. I buy bread flour in bulk size which can be used for biscuits, fry bread, tortillas, pancakes, any baked goodies like cookies, pumpkin bread or regular bread, and even white sauce. Bread flour is very expensive if bought in smaller bags but you can usually get a 25 lb bag for 6 something on sale at the bulk store (in CA. not sure how much elsewhere). A 25 lb bag lasts about 3 months even if cooking for a family.
About a mile, but it’s a Winn Dixie and prices are higher there.
About once a year I go to the Whole Foods about 25 miles away for coconut ice cream that I can’t purchase anywhere else.
Yes. Some in my neighborhood walk to the Winn Dixie. But I think that limits the amount you can buy (unless you are stealing a cart which I wouldn’t do) I could always take another vehicle, call a cab or call a friend.
Michael, where are your veggies today? You guys need your antioxidants and fiber. Or are you trying to make a point about the food stamp budget lending itself to lots of processed meat and inexpensive starches that easily fill you up?
I notice that a lot of people save and clip coupons to buy pre-packaged foods such as mac and cheese or hamburger helper and things like that. But I have found it more healthful and money saving to just buy bulk bags of rice, beans, pastas. These combined with other things will allow you to make a lot of interesting casseroles and dishes that don’t contain some of the food additives that pre-packaged foods have. A big block of cheese purchased at the beginning of the month would easily last two people all month and can be used for everything from casseroles, to making enchiladas, grilled cheese sandwiches, tacos, chilie, to home made mac & cheese and so on.
Hot dogs & fries is a typical meal and one that John & I would enjoy even without the challenge. We will have more veggies in the coming days to balance things out.
1. Corner stores within 100 yards. Yes, they take food stamps and WIC. They have little fresh food and tomatoes are 65 cents each (the cardobard tasting cellophane wrapped kind.) The most expensive option – 7-11 prices. (City life). The chain stores are about 2 miles away. Good bus service.
2. I routinely travel 3-4 miles into the county for better selection and competitve prices. [I drive 300 miles to my parents vegetable garden for the “free food,” it tastes so much better.
3. I have no vehicle. Not an issue.
I saw the coupons comment and would like to comment. Manufacturers use coupons to introduce new products/product lines and to get you to buy products you would not buy. Have a plan with your coupons.
I also caution you against skipping meals. Eat a piece of fruit. Pomme fruits (apples, pears, plums, etc.) are cheap right now. When you are hungry is when a Twinkie and a sugary drink looks like a good idea.
Michael
Would you mind emailing me?
Thanks
Jason
1) 12 miles to the nearest grocery store, which includes 3 miles of dirt roads
2) not sure on that one…
3) without a vehicle, I would not have access to groceries, even public transportation is 8 miles from my house
1. Right across the street, a Winn-Dixie. Dollar General, which has a lot of good cheap food stuff is a mile away–walking distance.
2. 15 miles. I used to live in the country, and that was the closest supermarket.
3. I don’t own a vehicle, but yes, because it’s right across the street and because we have a great bus system. Having money for the bus is yet another thing, though.
Fred Meyer’s is about 2/3 mile away and Safeway is an even mile. Can walk there, but not get too much if walking! Stuff like milk, flour, laundry detergent pretty heavy to carrry home, and i’m usually cussing by the time i get home and saying, “why didn’t i drive?!!!” so the answer to three is yes, but with a lot of tears! as for #2, i have no idea. however i remember not having a car and having kids and trying to drag kids, stroller, and groceries home on the bus, and those were some of the worst days of my life! I thank God all the time for having a car, even though it’s not a good enough one to venture out of town in.
How close is the nearest grocery store to your home? there is a Dollar General market about a mile away
What is the farthest distance you have ever traveled to buy groceries? 20 + miles when we lived out in the country
If your vehicle broke down, would you still have access to groceries? i am lucky enough to live on a bus route..but i am severely limited on what I can carry home due to space on the bus and injuries to my body
Nearest grocery five miles
Farthest Ever 20 (ish) miles when out in country
No vehicle no groceries.. Between the two kids and no bus system it would be nearly impossible to walk there.. not to mention there are NO sidewalks if I wanted to use a stroller to help move kids/products around. The grass (weeds is actually a better term) are more than knee high as the lots are not serviced by city, county or apparently the owner. When our van broke down I had a friend who would drive me here and there to get food. Or my husband would stop at a gas station if a friend drove him to/from work and pick up a few necessities… the many days he had to pay $20 each way to get a taxi we were just out though.. no way he could pay the taxi to wait too :(
1) The nearest grocery store is 17 miles away. (Little country couvenience store is two miles away)
2) 17 miles.
3) Since I garden and can, I could go a while without groceries, but I certainly could walk or ride a bike to the country store.
BTW…..great thought-provoking writing and discussions. Well done!
How close is the nearest grocery store to your home?
2 miles or so.
What is the farthest distance you have ever traveled to buy groceries?
From my home? 15 miles maybe? I tend to stick with store closeby because by the time you drive to them, most of your savings has been driven out.
From my mom’s house (they moved out in the country near where she grew up) 30 miles.
If your vehicle broke down, would you still have access to groceries?
Yeah. We could do it.
Nearest store, 5 minute drive (or less).
Used to drive 15 miles when we lived in the country.
Yes, I can walk to groceries, doctor, nearly any place I need to go. (Live in a small town.)
When I used to live in a big city, I used a folding shopping cart to carry groceries home (& laundry to the laundromat). The grocery carts in the stores even had hooks on the front to hang your folded personal cart while you shopped – so many people used them. I got another of those folding carts last year, in case I couldn’t drive to the store – they’re still available at WalMart. They hold 4 filled paper grocery bags, or one 3-year-old kid standing up and yelling, “Faster, Mom! Faster!”.
When I lived in New York, those “granny carts” were the norm!
Thanks, Chris.
1) There are three supermarkets within two miles (closest one is less than a mile), but grocery store I shop regularly is about 3.5 miles away.
2) I have traveled across a bridge and into another state to buy groceries, because the stores in the city where I lived at the time were either filthy and poorly stocked, or farther away than the state line. Occasionally, I would travel 15-20 miles to an outlying suburb to get items that I couldn’t find closer to home– fresh turkey for Thanksgiving…that sort of thing.
3) If I had no car, I could walk to the nearest supermarket, but would probably bypass it to get to another that is a mile or so farther away, but cleaner. I can’t stand buying food from dirty stores. Since my groceries consist mostly of meat and produce, it matters to me if the store is clean and food looks fresh. If I were buying more canned and packaged food, I might be able to overlook it…
Michael, I have a question: If you were employed, but still qualified for food stamps (as many do, from what I understand), you would be able to use money from your pocket to buy lunch at work– even if that means only $2-3 at McDonalds– so why have you chosen to spend no other money on food throughout the day? Sure, a working poor person probably wouldn’t spend $20 or more for lunch in a full-service restaurant, but I don’t think that person would skip lunch altogether if he were hungry at lunchtime, and had a fiver in his pocket, or could borrow a few bucks from a co-worker. Skipping lunch because one forgets or runs out of time to brown bag one day just doesn’t strike me as how people in the real world behave, so this aspect of your experiment seems artificial.
I’m sorry you feel that any aspect of this project is artificial, but seeing as the facts and figures are as accurate as they can be, I respectfully disagree. I think the flippant “even if that means only $2-3 at McDonalds” took the cake for me though. I myself was $3 short of being able to pay my car insurance one year ago this month. Thankfully my insurance company allowed me to carry that $3 over until the next month, but I went completely without a cent in my pocket (literally) for almost two weeks, and that includes the case to spend “$2-3 at McDonalds”. What’s saddest to me here is that I believe your thoughts here are representative of the warped thinking that has this society so screwed up on this issue.
Hard working people all over this country can’t make ends meet and they get a nominal amount of government assistance. I have not only seen people skip lunch because they had no money, I was that person more than once in my life.
And as for your commentary about how you think people in the “real world behave”, to be honest I have to wonder after reading this comment what real world you live in.
As it was discussed between Michael and myself before the challenge began, I told him that even the company I work for is to hire no one for more than 20-25 hours per week. So, I am assuming that I, working away from home earn approximately $181.25 per week and that Michael is earning the same. So, combined, that would make a monthly (4 week) income of $1,450. Factor in a tax of a simple 20%, you bring that to a total of $1,160. Assume rent, paid by both since the remaining $1,160 is combined, is $400, that leaves a total of $760, assume a power bill of $125, assume a water bill that is $40, assume a telephone bill of $40, assume a normal just back and forth trip to work is 40 miles round trip, I already can’t afford a Prius, so I am driving the 8 year old car that gets 25 miles per gallon, so that’s $102 per month in fuel expense. As I don’t have children, I will not assume any day care cost, but I have to have NON FOOD ITEMS. Assume that I spend just $40 per month on that. This week I blew a tire theres another $70, needed to visit the doctor and because I don’t qualify for insurance, a doc-in-the-box charged me $60. No prescription insurance, payed $25 for that. Did you read the personal challenge I have? Not spending what you recommend that someone should spend on lunch in a day at McDonalds. Oh, btw…it was my health that caused me to have to go to the doctor, my blood pressure is high, my cholesterol is high, and I need more testing…probably a result of my $3 meal at the golden arches. on the remaining money, I can’t afford testing. Be sure to know, I have spent no money on anything but water that was used to prepare food and drink. No Perrier in my fridge, just tap water. No bottle of red wine, just Kool-Aid. No $7.99 cut of steak, just a reduced brisket that became the only beef in a previoulsly beefless household.
Dianne, I am representing the people I work with by doing this. I buy them a snack, a drink, even loan them gas money knowing I will never see it again. I have bought a co-worker $40 in groceries because all that was left was a few bags of noodles and rice. I do want to thank you for helping me find my passion again. At the same time also thank you for making me feel marginalized, just like I had stood in line before you and paid with an EBT card. Thanks for the comments and I hope to hear more from you.
Michael,
I was speaking of the person who had or could easily acquire a few bucks for lunch, not someone who was literally flat broke, as you were on that occasion. Obviously, someone in the latter situation, would skip lunch. I’m assuming that you are not replicating every aspect of being in financial straits, like skipping bill payments, for this project, so that is why I questioned why you feel it is important not to spend any additional money on food. I imagine that any working person who relies on food stamps will, at least on occasion, come out of pocket for a simple meal away from home, even if he cannot afford to do so regularly. It seems that you think that would be cheating if you did so during the project, and I wondered why. It seems to have gotten your defenses up, and that was not my intent. I’m interested in what you are doing, and it raises issues and questions for me (perhaps, not the ones you intend…I dunno), which I do not think are the least bit “flippant.” In my experience, no hungry person–on food stamps or not–skips a meal unless he HAS to; you didn’t have to, so I wondered why you chose to. But, I’ve already said that…
As for which world I live in–which I will treat as a genuine question instead of the dismissive jibe it sounds like, because I’m interested in having this discussion with you: I live in a world in which my expensive higher education has been devalued, my industry has been downsized, and I am trying to get by on roughly the same money I had to live on when I was a student more than a decade ago. It’s difficult for me to adjust this ‘new normal’– not that it’s so new, anymore–but so far I have been able to keep a heated roof over my head, buy food, keep my car older-model car functioning, and my computer connected to the internet. I’m proud of and grateful for that, but I don’t think I need to apologize for it, which is how I suddenly feel.
You need not apologize for anything, Dianne. I felt that your tone was overly harsh and not taking into account all factors, so I responded that way. In retrospect I was likely overbearing in that response and for that I apologize.
My at-the-time 4yo son got one of those battery operated kiddie cars for Christmas — it would hold 3 bags of groceries. Sometimes I would walk and he would ‘drive’ the couple miles to the grocery store. He thought it was great fun and I guess if you’re 4 it would be!
Would be interesting to know where people are from when they comment : ) I’m currently in southwest Ohio.
This food challenge seems to be setting up for a failure.Silly purchases of coffee whitener/coffee, which have no nutritional value.
A giant can of tomato sauce, unless you are going to split it up for use through out the month.
Going without meals, because you didn’t plan the night before.Breakfasts can be cooked the night before and heated (waffles/pancakes/muffins etc) if time restraints are a concern.
Personally I would be buying coffee/milk, but I wouldn’t be skipping meals on purpose.
I expect by the time I finish this month challenge reading, it will say “Yes, we did it, but it was extremely hard, and we had to skip meals in order to accomplish it”
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