Is it really that hard?

DianeS said:
I volunteer at a food bank near where I live, and have for about 6 months now. When I started doing that I learned a LOT. Of course not everything I've learned applies to everyone, but if even one or two things applies to a family, then suddenly it gets very hard to provide good food for your family at a reasonable cost.

For one thing, I have been startled at the number of families that come in to the food bank who simply don't know how to cook. Nobody ever taught them, and it's a new idea to some of them. You'll put a bag of rice in their box and they'll say "how do you cook that?" They're willing to learn, but at the moment that they need food, they don't know and have no way to learn.

I have learned that many families have no access to cooking facilities other than a microwave. Maybe they're living in their camper. Or they are renting a room from someone who doesn't want them using the kitchen. Or the stove broke and they can't afford a replacement. Whatever the reason, if it can't be eaten raw or cooked in a microwave, they can't eat it. So they stock up on lots of pasta, rice, bread, canned veggies - and single-serve meats. Prepackaged beef stew. Ravioli. Spaghetti-Os. Sometimes fish sticks. Prepackaged meat at every meal adds up quickly.

Then there is the other side of it, where a family does not have any way to keep food cold. Their refrigerator died and they can't afford another one. Or they're living out of their car. Costs add up when you have to buy milk every other day by the quart, instead of being able to buy once a week by the gallon. Or when you have to purchase things in smaller packs, rather than family style. Not to mention having to throw away leftovers instead of saving them for the next day.

Another thing I had to realize is how transient many of these people have to live their lives. They live in the cheapest apartments, or with friends or family. Often in places where they may be asked to leave with very little notice. While someone stable can live on the amount given by food stamps, it is not so easy to do when you have to keep starting over. If you've been sharing a house (and expenses) with your cousin for a few months, and he kicks you out, it seems nobody thinks to go through the kitchen cabinets and say "I brought this can of beans, and you brought that one". So many things get left behind.

Distance is a factor, too. Not everyone lives in an area with a decent-sized grocery store. And not everyone has a car to use for a grocery run. If your grocery store is the corner convenience store because that is all you can reach on foot or on bicycle, or your tiny grocery store doesn't carry a variety, you get pretty stuck.

Starting with the things we already have in our refrigerators makes it easy. We can cook up some ground beef and put ketchup on it. Some chicken and put salt and pepper on it. A head of lettuce and put salad dressing on it. Some bread and put butter on it. I can - and do - have less than $35 per person per week in my grocery budget.

But what choices would we have to make if we were starting without the stores we already have? Forget about the garden and such, but ALSO forget about the things already in your fridge or cabinets. Start from zero, with $35 per person in your pocket. Could you feed everyone for a week with that, assuming you either had to buy condiments or do without them? A gallon of milk, a pound of butter, a bottle of salad dressing, salt, pepper, maybe some other spices - THEN start picking actual food items. It's harder. And then what if one of those problems applied to you - like lack of refrigeration? Would you buy 5 lbs of ice to use in a cooler (that will last for 3-4 days until it needs purchased again) or would you buy smaller and more expensive items?
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Excellent post!!!!!!!!!! You have painted a very accurate picture of how many people live when they have nothing and are reduced to receiving assistance from the state. It just may put things into a more clear perspective for those who have never been in those situations.
 
that is a good point Pink. the 'stock up' in order to cook from scratch can be very expensive sometimes depending on what you want to cook or bake. Many times I balked at the price of making a certain meal and the cost add up was very high to get all those ingredients I needed.

Also the stress levels of squeaking out every single cent while on an extremely tight budget has to be tough. It isn't just about the foods/money, but about the other stresses that have you in that situation, like no jobs.
 
Canada doesn't have food stamps, but I've/we've lived on far less. As mentioned by others above, buying bulk and eating less meat really helps. I've actually never eaten Ramen and we don't eat boxed macaroni and cheese.

When the girls were little (they are 16 and 15 now) our family of 4 could eat for $50/week. If I think about what we did then, we could probably do it for under $100/week now. But it does take work and real cooking (no convenience/packaged foods). We did garden a bit back then (way more now) and froze the extra, plus canned things that we bought in season like fruit (peaches and pears, jams, pickles) as we do now.

Dry beans and rice do get boring, but if you vary the spices and side veggies you definitely get cheap good protein that way. Stir fry goes a long way with rice or noodles.

Grocery stores always have marked down meat, and we stocked up whenever we saw it/could afford it and put it in the freezer.

One of our local grocery stores (Superstore) always has a rack of cheap produce that is past its prime and much of it is fine cooked or used up right away. Superstore also always had/has no-name packaged pasta for less than a dollar for the 900 gram package, which makes two meals for our family.

We never bought "ready made" pasta sauces, always just canned tomatoes (now we can all of our own) and made our own sauces with spices and by cooking tomatoes down into paste for thickening (or bought tomato paste on sale).

"Dollar Days" sales and case lot sales were wonderful for pasta, canned tomatoes, frozen veg, canned tuna (I only bought it on sale) etc. I always used these sales to "stock up", especially on baking items as well as what I've already mentioned. Most people seem to buy cases of canned soup at these sales, but we always made our own soup--stock from whatever meat we ate plus whatever veggies we had.

Casseroles can stretch meat a long way if they include pasta/rice/beans and lots of cheap veggies like potatoes and turnips.

We ate/eat a lot of cabbage dishes--cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower are expensive but you get the same health benefits from cabbage.

We never bought/still don't buy packaged salads or bags of "baby" peeled carrots--we buy big bags of real carrots and make our own salads from heads of lettuce. Iceburg may have less nutrition but it can be really cheap certain times of the year, and tastes good with other salad veggies.

I get the no job or unstable home situation, we've moved a lot ourselves plus hubs doesn't always have work--but instability is a state of mind, you do what you have to do to get by and make your kids feel secure. Even if it means learning to cook and plan meals based on your budget :)
 
I learned alot as a newlywed living with my new in-laws. MIL had been a poor hillbilly from the MO ozarks, married to an army man in the 50's. They had to survive on very little income. Raising 5 boys.
She taught me to cook from scratch, buy basics, even as far as dried milk. She taught me how to manage a household on a budget. She even taught me how to do the bills and balance the checkbook. I should of learned all of these things at home, but things were very different there.

Now, 33 years later, all of those skills came in handy through the years.


I also have been a military wife, for 15 years. I had worked in Navy Relief Society, Down in Charleston SC. I learned a tremendous amount of things there. Local resources and how to locate them, etc. And, most military bases will provide new spouse training for living as a military spouse. Budgeting, how to read pay stubs, where to go for things, chain of command, everything to do with military wife as a dependent.
 
I just wanted to say that you guys are very impressive in the ways you have found to save on food cost. I am fortunate enough to have never been in such a situation and I cannot imagine what you have gone through. Makes me look at my fridge/freezer/cabinets with different eyes. My cats cost me more than $35 a week :hide
 
My husband grew up in a family that always had money problems, and they still have problems with money (and buying food). They are incredibly unintelligent when it comes to money (and, well, just about everything, not a smart bunch of people). My husband was a part of the ramen noodle/cheez-it phase, yet even after that, he was still stupid with money. He couldn't cook. He cooked maybe four times in the five years we were together. Anyways, he used to say that I was so tight with money that I could pick up a penny with my buttcheeks. He complained the same of my parents... Because we don't buy stupid ****. Most of the time anyways. I'll put money out for some items... Like my kayak, it wasn't a necessity, but I really wanted one, it's a healthy form of fun, and, well, I wanted it, lol. Being smart is saving money in certain areas, then you have some for things that you want. My ex husband would never, ever be able to put down $250 for something. He can't plan, save, budget or anything. He spends all of his money on the little things... Dozens of DVD's that just came out, video games, etc. I don't buy that stuff. I remember one time, his mom had to borrow money because there was literally no food in their house... They borrowed $150, and guess what they bought?! SCHWAN'S food! I'm pretty sure it's a national thing, but it's a truck that delivers frozen foods, at top dollar. Now, I'm sorry, but if you have to borrow money, you should spend it very wisely... Not spend it on the most expensive foods you can purchase. Ah well, such is life, and that's part of why I'm not a part of that family anymore.
 
My ex could not handle money either, even though he was taught to by the same people, (his parents), that taught me. We married in 1978, when I was 16 and he was 19, and by 1985, I had to take over the checking account. He had it so messed up, and never paying the bills when they were due. It was a royal mess. When I took over the checking accounts and budgeting, I had our credit up to A1 by 1995, when we were able to buy a house, and 2 cars back to back. One used of course. And our income was only around 50K a year then, joint income.

Anyway, I am glad I am not in that family anymore either. I was married to him for 23 years...live and learn.
 
I had two large dogs that didn't use $35 of food in 3 months time, so I can only imagine just how many cats you have! :P
 
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