Here is my situation with foodstamps:
As an Americorps*VISTA, I do not make an income (we are given monthly living allowances instead, which are small enough to keep us living at the poverty level). This means I get the maximum amount that anyone can receive in foodstamps. Because foodstamps regulations vary by state, here are the regulations I have for receiving foodstamps in the state of Wisconsin:
- I receive $200 a month in foodstamps, which is put directly on my QUEST card. This is in addition to the extra $500 I received when I first got my card, because they pro-rate your initial balance from the date of your application (I applied during my first night of pre-service orientation in mid-August)
- foodstamps can be used to purchase food at (most) grocery stores, food from pharmacies like CVS and Walgreen's, and farmer's markets.
Instead of listing what I can purchase with foodstamps at grocery stores, I will list everything I cannot purchase:
- prepared food
- alcohol
- cleaning supplies
- pet food
- medication
- cosmetics
I do the majority of my food shopping at Pick 'n Save, Metro Market, and Whole Foods. I do buy my coffee beans at Trader Joe's, but that is generally the only thing I buy there. There is also a deli/market around the corner where i make the occasional emergency run when i run out of something while in the middle of cooking. Yes, it would probably be cheaper for me to buy food at Walmart, but I choose not to because a) I feel like part of my soul dies every time I walk in there, and b) the closest Walmart to where I live is pretty sketchy. However, foodstamps are accepted there.
So here is how this blog will work:
I do my grocery shopping for the week during the weekend (usually friday or saturday, depending on my schedule). after I go food shopping, I will post the food that I purchased on here, along with my grand total. I often find that I need to go to multiple grocery stores to find everything I need, so I will post where I bought everything.
I will post what I eat every day, along with photos and recipes when I make something new. It is rare that I don't cook my own dinner and often like to experiment with new recipes. I do keep an emergency stash of veggie burgers in my freezer, but it's rare that I ever choose to eat one instead of something made fresh. Most of the recipes I will use will come from allrecipes.com, whole food's website, vegetarian times magazine, and various cookbooks.
This blog will officially start with my trip to the grocery store on Saturday, March 27th.
If anyone is interested in contributing a recipe or an opinion piece to this blog, please get in touch with me.
So excited! I'd love to see how you buy and cook food.
ReplyDeleteDear Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI bounced here from Mrs. Q's blog / "fed up with lunch"
I think what you're doing is a great idea - esp given the fact that your budgetary constraints are tied to a highly debated throughout the country. My name's Ka-Fung Koo - I graduated from UC Davis in 2007. My brother, Ka-Tye, graduated in 2009. We started working on a project to help families, students, and really anybody and everybody to save money on food & groceries.
Our project is called "Ajaxo.com" - it's a search engine for groceries. People can search, compare, and identify for all the groceries that are on sale in their neighborhood! It's a free service - we don't do registration/sign-up to use, either.
We started the project because we both worked our way through college and a lot of our friends struggled to pay for tuition and stay well-fed. The consequences were sometimes appalling. When we got out, we realized tons of people had the wrong idea about eating on a budget. Like your blog intends to prove, it IS possible. That's what our project is trying to show people.
We ran a study for about 2 months in the Silicon Valley area (San Jose/Sunnyvale/Cupertino/Fremont/etc.) and found that an average family of 4 could save at least 40% on their groceries - even when taking the cost of transportation into consideration. This roughly interprets to about $200+/month in savings. A single person living on their own could buy groceries for the week w/ an average of $20/week.
To go the extra mile, we even followed the SF Food Bank's $4 Challenge! That... was probably one of the more memorable experiences in recent memory. So we applaud your efforts and wish you the best of luck. Right now, between some news-media that's picked us up, we're just trying to figure out ways to let people know about this resource. I hope that our project is something that can help you along your quest.
Please feel free to get in touch w/ me! I'd be obliged to hear your feedback/thoughts/and opinions.
Also, feel free to find out more about us @ our website: www.ajaxo.com. You can find links to our Facebook page/Youtube account (we documented our $4 challenge efforts through videos), and other news-media stories that have picked us up :)
Happy Easter holiday!
Sincere Regards,
Ka-Fung Koo
Project Manager
kafung@ajaxo.com
mobile: 408-813-2901
office: 408-298-1021 x.16
Hiya - I do a weekly thrifty humor column called the Cheapskate Evangelist, and I'm always over-the-moon to see people talking about the fact that eating healthy does not have to be expensive! I've spent the better part of fifteen years living on not very much (aka a student budget, librarian's salary, and unemployment benefits) and it makes me sad when we relegate healthy eating to the domain of the upperclass. Because it doesn't have to be that way. Yes you CAN buy a week's worth of groceries on the cheap -- even at Whole Foods!
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