Just guess how much money our family of four would have available to spend on food if we were getting food stamp benefits (which by the way has been renamed to SNAP)? $167/week. Yep, that is $42 more a week than what we are currently spending during this little 100 Days of Real Food on a Budget project. In all fairness we are also allowing ourselves to spend $20/week on eating out. But, even if we included that additional money (which we’ve barely used so far) it would still mean we fall $22 short of a family on food stamps. Must be nice…an extra 20 bucks or more a week would feel like a lot of money right now!
So back to what I’ve been buying on this super tight budget… As I mentioned the other day I got some items from Trader Joe’s, but I was not able to buy everything on my list. So I went to Earth Fare yesterday and tried to spend the least amount of money possible, which turned out to be $12.33. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. And here is what I got…
- 0.79 lbs dried garbanzo beans $1.73
- Heavy cream $2.99
- Bananas $0.70
- Fruit cup honeydew melon $1.58
- Head of garlic $0.50
- Mango $1.25
- Potatoes $3.09
- Shallot $0.25
- 3 lb Bag of apples – FREE!! Thanks to an Earth Fare coupon!
Here are the things I wanted to buy, but didn’t…
- Soy sauce – We are just low…not out completely so I will wait another week.
- Unsweetened coconut – We love having this in our granola recipe, but we can still eat it without the coconut so it had to be skipped.
- Frozen berries – I’ve unfortunately gone from fresh berries in my granola to mediocre frozen berries to now eating whatever fruit we have on hand (apples, bananas) in the morning.
- Tahini – Um, how could I have never noticed that this cost more than $7 a jar! Luckily, I could wait on this one too.
We just keep making sacrifices on this budget and some of them are of course a bigger deal than others. For example I can totally live without the coconut in my granola…but I still really miss my berries in the morning! One new thing I just noticed (since I now am documenting my shopping so nicely!) is that my husband asked me to buy coffee beans at Trader Joe’s earlier this week, and I had just bought him a ($9) bag when we first started this budget, which was only a few weeks ago. So I told him if we are going to limit everyone else’s milk consumption to save money he is definitely going to have to cut back on coffee. I don’t drink coffee myself (only a mocha with 1 small shot of espresso), and he didn’t used to drink coffee either up until a year or two ago. If he doesn’t start drinking less he might have to give it up all together…just like the old days!
There’s been a lot of discussion around here about the impending candy holiday that is coming up this weekend. I of course want my kids to participate in all of the Halloween fun, but I am trying not to let the junk overwhelm me along the way. Kids obviously get excited about trick-or-treating (which I wholeheartedly accept), but what about all of the other treats, school parties, and spider crafts made out of Oreos that lead up to the big event? I honestly don’t know what to do with all of the stuff they are bringing home, and that is if they even bring it home from school before they eat it. One of the few things I do feel like I have under my control is the night of trick-or-treating. We are absolutely going to let our girls trick-or-treat their little hearts out, it is just what we are going to do with all of the candy that will be different this year. After hearing this advice from several parents we’ve decided to let them keep 5 pieces of candy (of their choice!) and then we will “buy” the rest of the candy from them. Our kids are still little so we don’t expect them to get a ton. So we are thinking we will give them either one nickel or one dime per piece (oh, I need to go to the bank!), which they can then use to buy a toy with from the store. I have to say that my girls, who have both been given very limited candy over the last few months, are pretty darn excited about getting FIVE whole pieces of candy AND a new toy of their choice! I am not sure how many years this will work out for us so nicely, but at least for this Halloween we have a plan.
PS – For all those located in the Charlotte area…Earth Fare is offering a $5 off coupon (with $25 purchase) for all 100 Days readers! Here is the deal: 1. The offer is good at the Ballantyne and SouthPark locations, 2. Must pick up coupon before Nov. 10, 3. To get coupon you need to mention that you read this post: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/10/15/budget-day-12-a-real-happy-meal/ Yay! I can’t wait to get $5 off myself 
For my family, which includes myself, my daughter and my mother (disabled but not yet on disability) Our weekly food budget is $60. I make $57 too much to get food stamps. When i was out of work we got $565 a month in stamps. That is a whole $325 more that i can spend now. It was pretty shocking to have my food budget change that much. I am grateful that i have a job in this economy but we used to eat much differently before.
In the past year i have learned to shop better and cook differently. We buy our fruits and veggies from the farmers market every Sunday. I make our bread using a gifted bread machine. And i can make a 5lb roaster chicken last 3 dinners and 2 lunches. All while sticking, as much as possible, to our ban on processed crap.
Monday we had a whole roasted chicken with homemade stuffing from homemade bread with fresh mushrooms and Zucchini.
Tuesday i picked of most all of the remaining meat. Cooked up some fresh green bean. Added tomatoes and the chicken and half a jar of Ragu. and served it all over rice.
Wednesday I set up a chicken stock in the crock pot and when i got home took 45 minutes to make an awesome creamy chicken noodle soup. I used fresh veggies, frozen peas and corn, milk, flower and egg noodles.
Yes there is some violation but honestly i think i do pretty darn good on $60 a week for 3 people.
Now that i have lived both on and off foodstamps i find it appalling how much our government gives for food. They eat better than i do and do nothing for it. Though better is subjective in the sense that i see many of those on food stamps full their carts with chips and soda and shop at 711.
I love this site by the way!
**more than i can spend now
(I’m not saying any of this in a negative tone at all, just informing)You should probably just refrain for comparing your budget to a food stamp budget all together. I personally feel like your blog message was saying, “even a person on food stamp could afford a health food store”. In Missouri and Kansas you would not be able to use food stamps at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, not all grocery stores accept them. I have not found any information to disprove my statement.
Our health food store (Earth Fare) does accept food stamps. And some farmers’ markets are even starting to accept them as well.
As does the Kansas City Market (Farmer’s Market), which can be reached by bus as far south as Olathe & Gardner, KS, and pretty much anywhere on the MO side. My family of 4 has a weekly food budget of $20, so I shop at the Farmer’s Market and at Aldi Food stores. My hours were cut at work, but I still make too much to qualify for any aid. I don’t drive my car anymore to work and take the bus, and I work opposite hours from my husband so that we don’t have to pay for daycare. We can barely pay all of the bills just to keep a roof over our heads (not a mansion… A roof), and we don’t have money to blow. We follow Dave Ramsey’s principles and do everything on a cash basis. At the end of each month if there is any money left over, I buy staples for the kitchen. I shop the Farmer’s Market at the end of the day, so I get the best deals. I do my best to feed my family unprocessed food, but there is only so much I can do. I think I do a pretty good job. Thanks for your blog! I am implementing your tools as I can, and someday when I am able to feed my family on a regular budget, I will be excited to implement more of the tools! Thank you so much for your hard work, and you have been a blessing to my family!
leah it sounds like you are doing all the right things! i know too how hard it is to be stuck in a place where you make too little to get by but too much to qualify for anything! ugh!
This is true. Our farmer’s market accepts food stamps, in addition to the ‘whole’ food stores (not the chain, but local version).
Negative or not, it really comes off the wrong way to compare your budget to food stamps… very very few families actually qualify for full amount of benefits. Its just wrong to compare when you are not in that situation. For example… for my family 9.. $650… a MONTH.
Whole Foods does accept food stamps. I buy our grassfed beef, organic soy sauce, and pastured chicken from there. It is a small drive for us though so I buy our organic veggies from a closer store.
I would like to say that all people with food stamps do not eat crap. I feed our family of five for 350.00 a month on food stamps. We are on a one income budget but do the best we can with the resources we have. Grass fed beef, pastured chickens, organc produce, raw cheeses, and whole milk from grassfed cows make up 95% of our grocery budget.
** organic
Dear Amber,
Please keep talking to your local Traders J’s and Whole Fds. In Illinois they did not take the link card awhile back, but they all do now, cause alot of people kept bugging them. Write to corporate!
GiGi
Whole Foods accepts Food Stamps. They have a sign posted at the entrance of the store.
I tried to start going to the farmer’s market to shop but found the prices for veggies to be so expensive!
are yall going there to eat more unprocessed or to save money
do you have any tips on that?
I am graduating from college and I eat very healthy but always have room to eat cleaner
but I would like to stick on a $50 per week budget
I do have a costco membership and try to buy most of my veggies & fruit from there to last me the week
great blog! literally obsessed with your kitchen essentials and resource pages!!
you have such a beautiful family!!
When my children were young after trick-or-treating we would take them to the local food co-op and have them weigh their candy on the scale; they would then pick out the same weight in healthy snacks and treats and trade up. For us it was an opportunity for them to make healthy choices based on their preferences and highlighted that there are exiting foods available that don’t have all the junk in. They still got all the joys of trick-or-treating and eating fun snacks.
JUst to put my 2 cents in. If you are a ft student and work at least 20 hours a week and are single you qualify for about 150.00 if youare in grad school its 200.00. This is how I survived college. I bought real food more than convience foods ( although i did a fair share of that too) because it was usually very pershable and hence was marked down as it “aged”.
Go to middle eastern markets to buy tahini! Usually less than 3 bucks! I buy all my spices, chickpeas, and lentils there as well. Much cheaper and better quality than the megamarts. And all those things last a long time, so you don’t have to go out of your way too often.
Many of the arabic markets will also have grass fed, halal or kosher lamb and goat at a good price. I love lamb!
I’m wondering how in the world you figured that you qualify for $167/week in food stamps? When my husband lost his job and between my part-time and his unemployment we were making under $300/week we still didn’t get that much in food assistance.
We don’t qualify for aide again because he has another job…our food budget is under $100/week for our family of 4 if we want to pay the bills (and we don’t have anything non-essential). Definitely some good tips and I do love your blog, but spending 167/week is extremely unrealistic for many many people.
That figure is for families on FULL food stamp benefits (i.e. no other income/assistance at all): http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/applicant_recipients/eligibility.htm
When I was laid off and getting food stamps, I was getting $250 a month for a family of two. At that point in time, it wasn’t an option to go to the farmer’s market..but there were produce grocers in the area. However, I didn’t have the option or budget to buy many organic items and I could really only focus on foods that had a long shelf life…so there’s wasn’t much diversity in our diet when it came to veggies, and I had to buy a lot of frozen items ( which I could only buy on sale otherwise we ran out of food).
I honestly kind of resent those who say people on food stamps eat better than people who aren’t. After Gas, Rent, Bills, paying for cobra benefits & child care when I was searching for a job..I literally only had $50 left in my bank account and by the end of the month we were eating rice, beans, keilbasa sausage and whatever frozen or canned veggies we had in the cabinet, because $250 a month in food stamps wasn’t enough…and I honestly could not afford to even get a subscription for a sunday paper because that $6 a month could have either went towards gas or a food item ( and most coupons were for junk food anyway.)
The comparison was really just about the money aspect only…not about who eats better or worse. It was a simple price comparison only.
Oh, yes I know. Lol, I was referring to some of the comments that were left.
As for the Halloween overload of candy, we let our children eat nearly all they want (within reason) on that magical night and then I bag up the rest in snack size ziplocs for a “grab-n-go” treat to take to a movie or movie night at home, trip to the zoo, etc… The snack size bags only hold 5 or so pieces of candy and they like that they can enjoy it for longer than just Halloween night.
We have always stressed Halloween for the ‘FUN’ of it, rather than eat all the candy you want night. We allow the kids to trick or treat for about an hour, choose 3 pieces of candy to eat that night (Mom gets 3 too, for taking the kids out around the neighborhood
Mom sets aside some for Christmas stockings to be stashed in the freezer and then we ‘recycle’ the extras back out to our candy give out bucket and the leftovers we use for craft projects, like a gingerbread house at Christmas!
I actually appreciate the comparison to Snap. No one should be ashamed of it or make social comparisons. I am a family of 3 and we only get 270 a month. I used to think it was impossible to shop and eat healthy on a low budget. My BF complains that eating healthy and organic is too expensive. This blog has really given me the confidence and knowledge to eat real and healthy. I am under 30 and my BF is under 35 and we both suffer from chronic diseases from a “short”lifetime of unhealthy processed food eating. My son is under 2 and I am determined to not have him go down the same path. My mom is also a cancer survivor. I am on a mission to eat healthy and lose weight. And to help my mom eat better. Thanks for showing people that even if you utilize govt aid you can still eat healthy. Yes we may have to supplement, but if we look at other aspects of our life that we don’t need we can def. make it work. Thanks.
thought i’d tell you we also get rid of halloween candy by putting it out on the front step for the Halloween Witch – she picks it up and leaves a toy
might be more economical??
One thing to point out to everyone who is saying that this blog post shows that it is possible to eat healthy on a budget.
Yes, it does, but it shows that it is possible for the blogger in her circumstances.
For many people in America (with or without food stamps) many of those options for healthier food are not available. There are many people in America who don’t have access to farmer’s markets, organic food stores, etc. They only have access to grocery stores or convenience stores filled with prepackaged and/or highly processed food.
Even if they want to eat better the better food option is too expensive because of cost to get to it or for it to get to them.
I was layoff in june and I get 492/wk net in unemployement. I am a single parent of 2, I don’t get child support,either, and I don’t qualify for food stamps because I have $5000 in an emergency fund.I go to the Farmer’s market every week because that is the only place where I can afford to shop.I use coupons,but organic products are still very expensive when you have $40/wk for groceries.I do not buy junk food,however, at 5.99 for 8oz of all natural non nitrate ham, or kosher cheese is way too expensive. I buy organic milk,eggs,carrots,lettuce,celery(because I freeze it,we forgo the meat cause seriously who are we kidding 7 to 10 bucks for a chicken!!! This is just a comment,I love your blog,even though I cannot afford half the food displayed on it..:)
Hi. I know this post is old and I shouldn’t even be reading it, but I to speak. Early this year, our family moved 1500 miles for my husband to work for a doctor (he’s a chiropractor and had been in private practice for 12 years.) 6 weeks after we had spend $10,000 (our entire savings and then some) to move, the doctor fired my husband and left us in a brand new area with a ZERO income. There were no unemployment benefits because he hadn’t worked in this state long enough and none in our old state because he was self employed there. We were SUNK. We had to put our children on Medicaid and we depended on SNAP benefits for 3 months. At this time, we did have a nice healthy amount to spend on groceries, but we were fading fast in every other area financially. We prayed every month for a way to make our car payment (we only have one car) and rent. My husband worked as a ‘fill in doctor’ and an independent contractor during this time. I had been a stay at home mom for TEN years and found it difficult to find work. During this time, we did not eat healthy in any way even though we had the money with SNAP benefits. Why? Because were were shamed by the assistance and became selective of where we would shop. Our farmers market would take the card, but we knew we would not always be in this situation and didn’t want them to know us by that card. It was a very hard time. My husband was without a steady employment income for EIGHT months. We only qualified for those benefits for THREE of those months. It is not easy to qualify when you are honest with the system. It’s a horrible situation for people to be in. It’s humiliating and degrading. My husband will start his new job in a week and we will be able to start making our lives over again. It will take a long time. Please don’t pass judgement on those getting assistance. They are humiliated and broken. Eating healthy is not something they are even able to think about at such a horrible time in their lives. When you wrote this post in 2010, I was living a life like yours. I was able to budget my groceries and buy basically what I wanted to buy. I never had a clue what kind of faith journey my family would make 2 years later. Please show love to all people and don’t pass judgement.
Caryn-You are so right. You never know what other people are going through. Glad to hear that things are getting better for you.
For those on EBT benefits, or really anyone. Use plain white vinegar and baking soda for cleaning your house and adding to laundry and save a ton. I remember my grandmother always did this, and when I started doing it a few years ago, I could not believe the amount of money I save. I order an organic laundry soap mix (less than $4 for a packet, that I mix with water, and it lasts me 5-6 months, Quail Cove Farms is the place I use). When doing laundry, I add 1/4 c white vinegar and 1/4 c plain baking soda and my laundry is very clean and fresh!
Love your blog! I know this is an old post but one of my favorite meals when I had to feed 8 adults on $100 a week was baked potato bar! We used to make broccoli, corn, cheese, chili etc. to go on top. We used to also buy day old bread but we had a bread factory nearby so it was easy. We only ate meat on weekends, but we probably ate way too much pasta! As far as food stamps, keep in mind that some people living on food stamps do not have kitchens. Some of my students are those buying stuff at 7-11 because they don’t have anyplace to cook, they live in rented rooms. Also, some of their parents work 2 or three jobs, many work at fast food restaurants so they are bringing home free food they get at work. Just a thought for some of the commenters to think about.
I just started reading this blog and came across this post when looking at beginner tips. I know this is an old post, but reading the comments really irks me. Yes, organic is very expensive. I am here for the ideas because converting to “real” food fully and spending some of these prices are just not feasible. I have a family of 3 and my food budget is $125/month. Yes, month. And every month, we get enough to eat without having to buy junk food simply because it’s cheaper. We make sacrifices and about 50% of my food budget goes to produce. My issue with the responses is people involving trouble paying for any other bills as a reason to not mention food stamps. I am not trying to be insensitive but you cannot use your food stamps for anything else, so even if you are struggling with car payments, rent, etc, it does not take away from your food budget. The point the author was making had nothing to do with other struggles in life. She was simply saying that while independently paying for her family’s food, she has less to spend than if the government provided it. You CAN make a comparison. She has $125/wk/4 people. Food stamps offer $167/wk/4 people. So yes, you can eat better on food stamps. And even if you live in an area without many of these locals she shops, every chain supermarket (and small market as far as I know) has a produce department and dairy department. Even the gas station carries nuts and a few overpriced pieces of fruit. That non-organic apple is a better option than Cheetohs and people saying they don’t have a healthier option than soda and chips are wrong. From what I’ve seen and heard, the real issue seems to be that the .99 cent bag of Cheetohs is bigger and tastier than a .99 orange. I have seen people buy 3 $0.99 2-liters of soda and say it’s because that’s so much more to drink than paying $3 for one gallon of milk and they can’t just make up the difference with water.
I would just like to add, I am in no way judging anyone for being on food stamps that need it or saying that everyone on food stamps makes poor nutritional choices. I understand money struggles and how it can feel when you’re counting your pennies in front of others. I have been on WIC and using those checks can make you feel just downright stupid in front of strangers. I am just trying to say that I totally understand what the author was saying. Any extra money in the food budget would be nice, right?! Eating totally unprocessed may not be financially reasonably, but there is a middle ground between that and junk.
I know this post is super old to be commenting on, I was just surprised no one mentioned candy seals with dentist offices. A lot of dentists, particularly pediatrics, trade bags of candy for small toys. Then, if you’re weak like me, you won’t end up eating the candy you should be tossing. Plus it’s free.
interesting article. I’m a lurker tho. I never really comment. so, like some other posters have said, I, too, was a bit uncomfortable by the “must be nice” statement. reading thru the comments I see what you were intending. Wish you hadn’t compared tho. Such a sensitive topic.
We’re on food stamps currently. we have an extremely low income. thank god Mike is starting a new full time job next week. and we receive quite a substantial amount of food money actually. so much, in fact, we wish it were our income!
we feel like we can never buy enough food to spend it all. I think it’s ridiculous actually, the amount of food money we get. I know there are so many people out there who can use it, too. and we receive no cash money, which is where we’re struggling the most.
so, while we can buy whatever food we want, everything else is a monumental stretch. stretch to the breaking point. so we pick and choose which bills to pay monthly, and take the late fee on the rest. we’ve cut out so much. we never leave the house. well, I never leave. literally. I never leave. I get out once a month. grocery day. its so hard not seeing people, we just can’t afford to see anyone or go anywhere. ever.
Mike goes out for his work or quick errands. one car. no tv. no new anything. ever. I haven’t been home in 6 months. my mom lives an hour away. we can’t afford the gas. we bum rides from friends when we can for emergencies (again, gas is expensive). I wash my hair with baking soda now. started out as a financial thing, but I like it. we make our own laundry soap now, too. so much we’ve learned to do on our own because of our financial situation. its been SUCH a learning experience. I feel I’ve become so frugal!
while, yes, it’s very nice to always have food. the stress from our living conditions (in general) are extremely taxing. had my first break-down the other day.
I wish the economy or government (or whomever) would realize that what we need the most … is jobs. thank God Mike finally found one! Him going back to school was NOT a waste like we feared.
also, it’s interesting you wrote “must be nice” .. I just had a conversation about it with friends …about their pet peeves. and “must be nice” came up as the most annoying thing people say to others. anyway, that made me shake my head and side ways smirk.. I’m like “oh geeze…she said it.” lol
well, I know you mentioned the $$ comparison just to illustrate food budget only. I couldn’t help but expand (or repeat) on what other posters were saying. because the topic of food stamps is so much more complicated than simply having money for food. it means a person (or family) is lacking significantly in other things, sometimes to the point of surviving. which people without food stamps do, too. every one has a struggle of some sort. one struggle is not less significant than another. which I’m sure you realize. and had no intention of meaning.
wow, this was long! once we’re off food stamps I’ll have to relearn how to shop for food. I’m so excited to close this chapter of our lives.
anyway! I still enjoy your blog.
Our local Whole Foods does take food stamps the fresh market does NOT – there is no Trader Joes in our area- I shop at the local food lion out here they do have good produce – i also like the farmers market – I got a garden started –
tomatoes lettuce squash cucumbers for my hubby and various peppers including banana and large head sunflowers =) also our food lion sells the speckled bananas for almost 30 cents a pound cheaper than the ones that are fresh if it is going into smoothies and breads and pancakes who cares – my mom use the forgotten ones that were almost black and made pudding and pies out of them 
I have a MONTHLY budget of $200 for food for 3 people and for the last week I have been without a fridge I have been coping with various dried beans crock pot – rice we have been eating salads allot caned tuna – we have a few eggs left – and Kale, noodles, zucchinis tomatoes – today We had ::: grits and butter w/ coffee
for lunch sliced tomato sandwiches on whole wheat bread with left over yogurt – and green tea – tonight cranberry beans w/ onions garlic and Greek spices will have a salad with it -
I found your blog about a month ago and I’m slowly reading through old posts. One of our local dentists buys candy from the kids on the day after Halloween. He pays $1/lb. My boys go through and pick out on small baggie (snack size) that they want to keep and then the money is theirs to spend elsewhere. I have no clue what the dentist does with all the candy that she buys back!