On Sunday, I went to the grocery store to prepare for my week of participation in the Food Stamp Challenge, where I’ll be eating this week on a budget of $21, the amount the average food stamp recipient receives in federal assistance.
Having finished up at the grocery store, I felt proud of myself for having managed to purchase pretty much all the items on my original list and then some.
My original list:
- Oatmeal
- Milk
- Whole grain bread
- Cheese
- Spinach
- Pasta
- Sauce
- Canned beans
- Onion
While at the grocery store, I decided it was too hot to eat oatmeal and replaced it with my usual weekday summer breakfast of yogurt and a Special K Bar.
What I actually bought:
5 8 oz. yogurts @ $.40 each = $2.00
Special K Bars (package of 6) = $2.50
Pint of 2% milk = $1.19
Store brand whole wheat bread = $1.50 (On sale–score!)
Sargento sliced cheese with chipotle peppers = $3.29 (My big splurge!)
Classico pasta sauce with spinach and romano and parmesan cheese already added = $1.64 (So, I crossed spinach off my list.)
Barilla Pasta Plus (multi-grain penne) = $2.29
Can of black beans = $.93
Onion = $.54
Boca Burgers (package of 4) = $3.00
Store brand canned tuna = $.66
Ellio’s frozen cheese pizza = $1.00 (There was also another brand on sale for the same price–10/$10–so I chose the brand without any trans fat.)
As the total was being rung up, I wondered if I got the math exactly right. What if I had over spent? Would I be embarrassed to tell the cashier I needed to put some items back because I didn’t have enough money?
The grand total came to $20.93. Phew! I did it!
I won’t claim it’s the healthiest list of items ever assembled, but I think it’s not bad (And, to be honest, not that different from my normal weekly diet–except may be the frozen pizza).
