Is it really that hard?

[Wannabefree]

Just to clear a few things up, TN does NOT tax food bought with food stamp benefits, when you pay with food stamps, the tax is "forgiven." We are a family of three, and we get $510 starting next month. I tried to get off of them when we were bringing in more money with the recycling steel, and I reported all of that and averaged it out, and couldn't PROVE I made too much to recieve benefits, because it varied widely depending on the weather and other factors, so we were getting $75 a month still even when we didn't need actually them Anyway, since unemployment ran out, they bumped us up to $510 a month for the three of us, and again...I don't NEED that many, but I have them. Wish they'd just pay my mortgage instead THAT would be helpful! So, we are getting $39 a month right now, per person, per week, and PRAYING DH finds a job soon so that we can get off the stupid ride already. I have problems spending them all. I do cook from scratch, and shop just sales, and have a garden. This month is rough, since we only got $75 and income went down the week before that, so we have to live off $75 alone this month for groceries. I bought strictly meats this month with that $75, and have 4 chickens left in the freezer we just processed a few weeks ago, and 20 pounds of fish left over from the neighbors fish fry a few weeks ago. But I do have things stocked, like salmon, and tuna as meats as well or we wouldn't make it. I bought super cheap stuff like chicken livers, ground beef(which I found for $1.88/lb) and chicken leg quarters for .69/pound on sale. I can go fishing in the neighbors pond if need be, or slaughter a few old hens. So, I'm pretty much going to be living this experiment for the next little while. Neighbor bought a Sam's Club card, and invited me to go with next month though I'm doing price comparisons online with them and the local store, and doing the math before I go so I know what is a real deal and what I can get cheaper elsewhere closer to home. And...using coupons for things I can find use for, which is very little, but still worth doing if I can find over $1.50 worth of coupons in the $1.50 Sunday paper. Otherwise I won't buy one...here's a link to know what coupons are in there and add up whether or not it's worth it for you to get a paper http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/

We do have food allergies, which makes it a smidgen more difficult, but not impossible, and our allergies aren't as difficult as gluten or some others as far as food pricing. Ours is just soy and msg, easily(almost) avoidable. We do have to get the more expensive butter, and certain brands that are more expensive due to soy being so cheap and widely used, but it's not too horrible on the grocery budget.

When we don't get food stamps, we have a set budget of $100 per month per person (or $300)which is $23.09 per person per week, and we have done this for years. I know it's doable, and fairly easy. We used to have a restaurant budget to couple with it, but since we no longer go to restaurants we had just cut it completely out over the last couple of years.

Anyway..now that everyone knows my business I just had to say, it's really not as hard as some seem to think it might be. Beans and rice aren't that bad

 

[BACOG]

Well I started the challenge. What I did was take everything out of my cupboard & start from zero. Even had to buy salt, pepper, & oil. I know we didn't have to count the condiments but I wanted to be as realistic as possible. The only food I kept was things that I got for free like some beans & peppers.

One thing I do when grocery shopping is take a calculator to keep a running check on what is in my basket. It really kept me on track.

With this challenge I really had my eyes opened. For instance 3 loaves of bread for 2 weeks ( I live by myself) would of been around 4 dollars. For about 6 dollars I got enough flour & baking powder to last a month or more. And I do make a pretty mean biscuit.

My basic grocery list was:
10 lb chicken leg quarters
5 lbs. hamburger
6 can pork & beans - I do like beans
Other canned veggies
Bags for leg quarters
six pack cup-of-noodles
10 lbs potatoes
mac & cheese
tuna
Spaghetti
Spaghetti sauce
1 taco mix

I managed to bring this in $1.38 under the $70 budget for 2 weeks. I did keep some baking soda, margarine & yeast for my sourdough starter and some parmesan cheese for spaghetti. That will be coming off next weeks budget though.

Here is one recipe that I prepared for when buying groceries this week. It makes enough for me to have 2 good meals. With a little home made sourdough bread and you are eating high off the hog.


********************************
Taco Soup

1 lb hamburger
1 large can (29 oz.) hominy
1 regular can (15 oz.) southwest corn - some places call it mexicorn. It is the type that has peppers chopped up in it.
1 taco mix

Prepare the taco mix & hamburger just like you were going to make tacos.
When it is done add the hominy & southwest corn with all of the juices from the can
Add the 29 oz can full of water.
Add salt to taste
simmer for about 1/2 hour

 

[ORChick]

Well I started the challenge. What I did was take everything out of my cupboard & start from zero. Even had to buy salt, pepper, & oil. I know we didn't have to count the condiments but I wanted to be as realistic as possible. The only food I kept was things that I got for free like some beans & peppers.

One thing I do when grocery shopping is take a calculator to keep a running check on what is in my basket. It really kept me on track.

With this challenge I really had my eyes opened. For instance 3 loaves of bread for 2 weeks ( I live by myself) would of been around 4 dollars. For about 6 dollars I got enough flour & baking powder to last a month or more. And I do make a pretty mean biscuit.

My basic grocery list was:
10 lb chicken leg quarters
5 lbs. hamburger
6 can pork & beans - I do like beans
Other canned veggies
Bags for leg quarters
six pack cup-of-noodles
10 lbs potatoes
mac & cheese
tuna
Spaghetti
Spaghetti sauce
1 taco mix

I managed to bring this in $1.38 under the $70 budget for 2 weeks. I did keep some baking soda, margarine & yeast for my sourdough starter and some parmesan cheese for spaghetti. That will be coming off next weeks budget though.

Here is one recipe that I prepared for when buying groceries this week. It makes enough for me to have 2 good meals. With a little home made sourdough bread and you are eating high off the hog.


********************************
Taco Soup

1 lb hamburger
1 large can (29 oz.) hominy
1 regular can (15 oz.) southwest corn - some places call it mexicorn. It is the type that has peppers chopped up in it.
1 taco mix

Prepare the taco mix & hamburger just like you were going to make tacos.
When it is done add the hominy & southwest corn with all of the juices from the can
Add the 29 oz can full of water.
Add salt to taste
simmer for about 1/2 hour

Welcome to the challenge!

You might think about starting a special journal just for this. It will help the rest of us keep track of what you are doing, and also of any recipes you post.

 

[moolie]

Welcome to the challenge!

You might think about starting a special journal just for this. It will help the rest of us keep track of what you are doing, and also of any recipes you post.

Ditto! Sounds like you are off to a great start, although I might encourage you to try making your own baked beans starting with dry beans--even cheaper, and more healthy

Baked Beans

Soak 4 cups dry small white (I use Navy) beans overnight in cold water.

Drain and rinse beans twice with cold water, drain.

Stir into drained beans:
2 onions, diced
1/2 cup ketchup (or tomato paste plus a splash of vinegar)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 lb chopped cooked bacon (or ham)
1 tsp dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste
and enough water to cover--simmer in crock pot on low for 8 hours.

OR after soaking and rinsing, drain beans and add rest of ingredients then pressure cook at 12psi for 45 minutes. Perfect every time!

 

[Denim Deb]

I am so going to have to try this recipe!

 

[BACOG]

Moolie,
That sounds like a great baked bean recipe and one that I want to put in my Recipe book. But remember one thing I am a guy & live alone. I wonder if a person could take this recipe up to the point of pressure cooking them @ 12 psi for 45 minutes and can them up instead. Meals work a whole lot easier for me if I make a big batch at a time & then freeze or can what I don't eat.

 

[moolie]

Moolie,
That sounds like a great baked bean recipe and one that I want to put in my Recipe book. But remember one thing I am a guy & live alone. I wonder if a person could take this recipe up to the point of pressure cooking them @ 12 psi for 45 minutes and can them up instead. Meals work a whole lot easier for me if I make a big batch at a time & then freeze or can what I don't eat.

Oh definitely can it, I do it all the time!

Do the soaking (a long soak for beans, followed by good rinsing to remove the soaking water = no gas when you eat beans ), mix the ingredients, heat through, then pressure can for 45 minutes at the proper pressure for your altitude

(And for best flavour, don't skimp on the onions and bacon/ham!)

 

[Cindlady2]

What a great idea pressure cooking beans! Pressure cooking is a great way of cooking allot of things, especially things you want to infuse flavor into!

 

[Nyowpotopop]

Pfft. I've been doing this ever since I moved in with my beau. Most of our monthly budget goes towards our normal bills and pets. But between the two of us we spend about $300/mo on food.

That is $37.5/week per person.

We shop at Costco and our local market. We buy canned soda when it is on sale. We buy HUGE boxes of snacks from costco for the same cost as a small box from a normal store. We do this because my beau has a condition that keeps him from absorbing calories correctly so he has to eat tons of them or he shrinks.
We eat meat with almost every meal. We buy a lot of chicken breasts, sirloin tip and pork ribs. We almost never have to resort to ground beef or cheaper meats. Sometimes we splurge and buy something crazy like oxtails or duck or salmon. We buy noodles and rice in bulk and rice is a staple here. We eat a LOT of vegetables too. Really just a lot of delicious but well-rounded meals with veggies and meat and grain all together.

We even buy things that are those expensive unhealthy foods. Right now we have microwavable pizzas, chicken pot pies and corn dogs in our freezer... Plus ice cream novelties (Sundae cones and fudge bars and ice cream sandwiches.) All of them are bought at Costco for super cheap or on sale in bulk. It puts that $2 sundae cone you buy at the drugstore to shame when you can get 36 ice cream novelties for $10... It brings the price down to about a quarter each making icecream seem reasonable.

And we host parties where we cook for our friends regularly too.

Cut out ANY of the unhealthy things we eat/drink and you're down below the budget listed in the first post. In reality unless you want to eat seafood every day you can eat almost whatever you want on a low budget. It's really NOT that hard.

 

[moolie]

...It's really NOT that hard.

I think that's the conclusion that everyone here has come to, except in the case of the single person who is starting out with no staples--that is a more difficult situation and it would take time to build up the spices, condiments, and baking ingredients that would make meal planning and preparation easier.