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How easy is it to eat healthy on food stamps?

TownieDeac said:
Helps that you two are like a combined 250 lbs too
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AT LEAST 270, come on man.

DeaconCav06 said:
Seriously. How do you eat for $80 per week for two people?
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Lot of cereal, sandwiches, and V8 juice during the day. It's not glamorous. The dinners are where we actually try things. We bought a big pork loin last week for <$10, froze half of it. Roasted the first half with some garlic/rosemary I think, and ate that with a mashed sweet potato. That came out to about $3.00 per serving and lasted a couple nights. We thawed the other half and made a shit load of carnitas shredded pork. That involved a can of store-brand salsa and some cumin/chile powder/paprika (I think), again just made in the slow cooker. We also bought a giant amount of frozen chicken breasts for $12, froze some, made the rest into a shredded chicken taco mixture... just some chicken, spices, salsa, and frozen corn. That was $1.82/serving, according to the website.

There have also been nights where we split a $7 frozen pizza.

Typing this all out made me realize how massively helpful it is to have a spice cabinet. Canned corn is cheap; rosemary and thyme are not. That would have been an initial $50-100 expenditure, but we've just accumulated those things over the past year. Next time I donate to a food bank, I'm seriously considering donating a bunch of spices instead of canned goods.

WakeandBake said:
Cut out booze? Surely you jest.
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Our food expenditures have kept down really well. We're not ACTUALLY living that way, though, because we spend way too much money on booze.
 
I should also mention that neither of us are currently working, so we have all the time in the world research meals online, go grocery shopping, and cook.

I do think it's possible to live on such a small budget, but it takes an incredible amount of time and planning - that's the real cost, imo. Holding down a full time job and doing what we do would be a nightmare. Possible? Yes. Feasible for a healthy work/life balance? Probably not.
 
TexasDeac10 said:
I should also mention that neither of us are currently working, so we have all the time in the world research meals online, go grocery shopping, and cook.

I do think it's possible to live on such a small budget, but it takes an incredible amount of time and planning - that's the real cost, imo. Holding down a full time job and doing what we do would be a nightmare. Possible? Yes. Feasible for a healthy work/life balance? Probably not.
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Something the food stamps demo can relate to, no?
 
dmcheatw said:
how long could u do this for TD10?
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It's been 4 weeks and we'll probably stop in 2-3 more weeks. I could probably keep doing it, but let's be honest: it sucks. There are a lot of times when I really, really just want to go eat out somewhere.

We only ever did this to save money in the dark period between student loan money and the first paycheck.
 
TexasDeac10 said:
It's been 4 weeks and we'll probably stop in 2-3 more weeks. I could probably keep doing it, but let's be honest: it sucks. There are a lot of times when I really, really just want to go eat out somewhere.

We only ever did this to save money in the dark period between student loan money and the first paycheck.
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That dark period does not abate after the first paycheck.
 
TownieDeac said:
Really good, relevant article.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/opi...scarcity/?h=_AQGVt59j&s=1&smid=fb-share&_r=0&
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good article, thanks for posting.

I wonder if the same effect works in reverse - i.e. if you are poor and get an influx of cash, do you make bad decisions with it out of a false sense of security. I feel like I did this some in college, blowing money when I got a big (for that time) paycheck and then realizing I should have saved it for future needs.
 
California just signed a $10/hr minimum wage law.
 
Yesterday I went out to do some shopping and see what I could get for $50. Of course, I have advantages many who would use food stamps don't. Many don't have cars to go to more than one store. I have about half a dozen supermarkets within about a square mile of my place. Many don't have real supermarkets in their neighborhoods. Hell, even my 99 Cent Store has a couple dozen fresh fruit and veggie options. This doesn't exist in many poor neighborhoods.

Here's what I got:

99 cent Store

2 four packs of bagels
3 four packs of diet soda
40 oz container of 2% milk
3 heads of Romaine (one package)
bag of navel oranges
box of mushrooms mushrooms
2 bell peppers
hot sauce
soft taco shells
margarine
blackberry preserves
2 bags of cookies
Bag of six sandwich rolls

Total - $17

Regular Stores

2 12 oz boneless rib eye steaks (on sale $4.99/lb) $7.50
1 pound boneless chicken breast fajita 2.99
Caesar Dressing 2.50
3 pounds of yams 1.50
2 fresh pizzas 5.98
1/2 pound deli roast beef 3.25
1/2 pound deli pastrami 3.00
3 Stouffer's frozen dinners (on sale) 5.97

TOTAL - $32.69

Overall $49.69
 
RJKarl said:
2 12 oz boneless rib eye steaks (on sale $4.99/lb) $7.50
1 pound boneless chicken breast fajita 2.99
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Wait a sec...you are trying to buy on a budget and you went for Ribeye and $3 per pound chicken? Not to mention, almost no veggies on your list (read: cheap) when the goal is to eat healthily. No beans or eggs, but instead bagels, soda and cookies.
 
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Deacon923 said:
No beer?
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I looked up the rules before I tried. They are really weird to me. You can buy deli meats or that chicken, but you can't buy anything that is hot when you buy it. You also can't buy anything that can't be eaten. I would think it would be logical to allow people to use their food stamps for paper plates or toothpaste or soap, but you can't.
 
that's what i said. why would u be able to buy food but no plastic forks or dish washing detergent? i either have to use my hands or dirty dishes? seems like if it's in the grocery store it's either directly related to food or food safety/cleanliness so i mean mine as well let people buy those complimentary goods and eat normally. not the alcohol, but even the school supplies i wouldn't mind letting people buy with food stamps imo.
 
I'ts also odd that hot prepared food isn't covered but cold prepared food is. You could buy a cold pasta salad with food stamps, but you couldn't buy a hot rotisserie chicken.
 
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