Foodstamps - live on $176 a month

[Bestwifeever]

$176/mo/person? Piece of cake.

 

[Gumby]

This couple did $1 per day per person for a month and wrote a rather entertaining and thought-provoking blog about the experience.
One Dollar Diet Project

As for me -- I swore to myself when I was a just a young lad that when I grew up I would buy anything I wanted at the grocery (my family often ate poorly due to lack of funds). The fact that I now can is sufficient in and of itself to make me feel rich. I would cut back on almost everything else before I would cut back on food.

 

[aaronc879]

I spend about $180/mo at the grocery store and another 20ish eating out. I could go a little lower but at 6'6" and 155lbs I need all the food I can get.

 

[W2R]

I would cut back on almost everything else before I would cut back on food.

Me, too. It's not that I don't know how to be frugal when grocery shopping, but I just refuse to cut back on grocery expenses.

I had quite a different attitude towards food expenses when I was in my 20's and had to live on nearly nothing, but my situation was completely different at that time.

 

[Robert the Red]

From this link Eligibility -- $176 is the maximum monthly benefit for 1 person. That will be reduced by 30% of "net monthly income", since they figure a family should spend (up to) 30% of its income on food -- a figure I think is derived from a survey in the mid-1960s.

No judgments or ranting in this post -- just a couple facts.

 

[Helen]

I swore to myself when I was a just a young lad that when I grew up I would buy anything I wanted at the grocery (my family often ate poorly due to lack of funds). The fact that I now can is sufficient in and of itself to make me feel rich. I would cut back on almost everything else before I would cut back on food.

I feel this way about my heating bill. I swore to myself when I was in college that I would never be cold in my own house again once I started working.

 

[aaronc879]

I feel this way about my heating bill. I swore to myself when I was in college that I would never be cold in my own house again once I started working.

That's what I thought too until last month. This is the first winter for me owning my own home. My electic/heat bill went from $42-48 for may-oct to $101 for nov to $248 for dec. So for Jan I heated my bedroom to 70 but only heated the rest of the rooms to 50. I stayed almost exclusively in my bedroom all month. I'll get my bill in the next couple days. Hopefully it went down even though the temps went down too. I HATE being cold but I hate being broke even more so i'll do what's needed to keep all future bills under $200.

 

[hguyw]

That's what I thought too until last month. This is the first winter for me owning my own home. My electic/heat bill went from $42-48 for may-oct to $101 for nov to $248 for dec. So for Jan I heated my bedroom to 70 but only heated the rest of the rooms to 50. I stayed almost exclusively in my bedroom all month. I'll get my bill in the next couple days. Hopefully it went down even though the temps went down too. I HATE being cold but I hate being broke even more so i'll do what's needed to keep all future bills under $200.

I'm "tracking every penny" ala Your Money or Your Life and my gas/electric bills averaged $144 per month in 2008. It may help you live in your whole house if you look at your utility bills that way. This last bill was $235, but back in June it was only $69. So your average is probably about the same or maybe slightly lower than mine.

That $235 also represents a colder than normal winter here in central NY and good-but-could-be-better insulation. Although I'm saving like crazy to ER at some point, I'm giving serious thought to upgrading the insulation and replacing 6 windows this summer. I figure it's a guaranteed return on investment and the lower utility bills will of course last forever - even as the price of fossil fuels continues to rise.

BTW, I have a programmable thermostat and I keep it at 69 when I'm home, 62 at night and when I'm not home.

 

[tuixiu]

I'm with the "I would cut back on almost everything else before I would cut back on food" gang. If I'm working a couple extra years or driving a crappier car to go pick up fresh seafood totally worth it.

 

[Lusitan]

Surely you spend more than $200/month for a family of three??

Wow, maybe I need to reevaluate my budget. Just stopped by the store today and picked up groceries for two weeks (only for me).

Cost $150... @ 3 meals/day * 7 days/week * 2 Weeks => $3.57/meal

I Thought I was eating pretty cheap...

Yes - my assumption is that the $176 in food stamps is based on one person. Our monthly food budget is probably around $500.

 

[calmloki]

The two of us spent over $4000 last year on food - which included cat food & litter & sundries - probably spent more than that since i know some cash transactions didn't get entered - so maybe $400/month. Nearly all our food is from Costco (their chickens play a leading role in our diets), lots of processed heat & eat stuff. Far cry from earlier times when i budgeted a meager amount. My gal doesn't tire of telling about seeing a budget i had done that went out three months and included $5 for fun each month. This when we first started seeing each other - figure that demonstrates that a woman sees a man and thinks he'll change, while a man sees a woman and thinks she'll never change - and they're both wrong.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

The two of us spent over $4000 last year on food - which included cat food & litter & sundries - probably spent more than that since i know some cash transactions didn't get entered - so maybe $400/month. Nearly all our food is from Costco (their chickens play a leading role in our diets), lots of processed heat & eat stuff. Far cry from earlier times when i budgeted a meager amount. My gal doesn't tire of telling about seeing a budget i had done that went out three months and included $5 for fun each month. This when we first started seeing each other - figure that demonstrates that a woman sees a man and thinks he'll change, while a man sees a woman and thinks she'll never change - and they're both wrong.

I hope you didn't further annotate your spreadsheet with


Fun [1] $5
Food $100
Rent $500

Total $605

[1] Off-brand condoms.

 

[calmloki]

I hope you didn't further annotate your spreadsheet with


Fun [1] $5
Food $100
Rent $500

Total $605

[1] Off-brand condoms.

30 years ago - birth control pills, free love, no aids man - groovy. Rent? Bah - didn't have furniture but was buying a house.

 

[Tykimeister]

Please share with me how it's possible to do this for a family of three. I spend no less than than $950 monthly for a family of 4. We are two adults and 2 girls, 9 and 7. We are all quite thin and don't eat a lot. Our diet consist of primarily of fish, some chicken, vegtables, fruits, and rice. The vegetables, fruits, milk and eggs are mostly organic. My husband, I and my older daughter are lactose intollerant so we tend to buy lactose free products as well as soy based products. For the life of me I can't figure out why our food cost so much. We generally do not eat out and eat at least two meals at home a day. Is this normal for others? It boggles my mind how you can feed a family of three for so little. Please shed some light.

According to my nutrition class, lactose intollerance doesn't mean you cant eat any regular dairy products. You just have to consume less amounts of it more frequently throughout the day. And the milk products that can't be broken down in your intestine will be removed by simply increasing your fiber intake.

 

[tmm99]

Hi,

Just to clarify, I posted the blog article and the link because the blogger was making it sound like you would have to go hungry with the food budget of $176/mo. It is for sure I would have to make some sacrifices (no eating out, no gourmet or organic food), but it would be a do-able amount for me by being creative (although I'd rather not have to do it), and I wanted to see what others thought.

The author decided to do this because of the foodstamp story connected to it, but I was not talking about that part. I was talking about the blogger who acted as if you would have to starve to be on a $176/mo budget.

tmm

 

[tmm99]

What kind of wine would be in this budget?

2buckchuck

 

[OAG]

T-Bird (Gallon Sized).

 

[tmm99]

And the milk products that can't be broken down in your intestine will be removed by simply increasing your fiber intake.

So either way, you would end up with gas

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

No, I actually didn't know about this.

Interesting.

tmm

 

[shoe]

Last time I looked, Two Buck Chuck is now Three Buck Chuck.

 

[Urchina]

Last time I looked, Two Buck Chuck is now Three Buck Chuck.

Here in sunny Cal it's still Two Buck Chuck. If you're paying Three it's probably because of markups or state sin taxes.

Our tastes have upgraded. We are now drinking wine that costs $4.99 a bottle, recession be damned.

 

[DangerMouse]

Wow, we spend so much more than the norm on this board that it is scary. For the two of us we probably spend about $800 a month on groceries and at least another $400 dining out.

We are not extravagant eaters, but I do tend to buy a lot of organic products and we mainly eat fresh. Never buy steaks, but lots of fish. We spend at least $150 a month on fresh organic blueberries which we have for breakfast every day - they were $5.99 yesterday for a small punnet. We only drink organic milk which is about $4.89 a gallon. Last week when I purchased organic apples it was nearly $7 for 5 apples. If I buy ground beef (maybe once a month) it is always the 7% fat or less if available. When we buy cheeses it is usually imported, because we prefer the taste.

I haven't used coupons for a while as I found they were mainly for processed products we would not eat.

When it comes to paper products I only use Kleenex toilet tissue and facial tissues, I refuse to use the cheaper, rougher products. I wonder if the $176 figure includes these items and household cleaners?

I would imagine that people on food stamps may not have access to transport to farmer's markets etc to access cheaper products and maybe their diet staples are different to what the general population eat.

 

[youbet]

From this link Eligibility -- $176 is the maximum monthly benefit for 1 person. That will be reduced by 30% of "net monthly income", since they figure a family should spend (up to) 30% of its income on food -- a figure I think is derived from a survey in the mid-1960s.

You're making an excellent point Robert. Most seem to be missing the fact that folks who get food stamps are poor. There is no fully equiped kitchen, cabinets full of paper and cleaning products, staples and condiments, etc., to bring your purchases home to.

Try imagining moving into a subsidized apartment with a small box of pots, pans and utensils. No food or cleaning products in the place at all. Then put together your shopping list. Makes it a lot more interesting!

 

[dex]

Most seem to be missing the fact that folks who get food stamps are poor.

Which posts led you to this conclusion?

 

[youbet]

Which posts led you to this conclusion?

People mentioning preparing bulk foods in their well equiped kitchens using already-on-the-shelf spices and condiments.

Planning a budget for how one of us would live on less than $200 a month for food is different than planning a budget for someone who has no stock of basics and no/little kitchen gear to work with.

Additionally, there is that intangible concept of accounting for why folks are poor. Frequently people who qualify for maximum food stamps are extremely poor and issues of physical health, mental health, disabilities, etc., are part of the problem.

Roberts post reminded me that folks that qualify for max food stamps as a single are probably pretty far down the scale of resources, both personal and financial. It doesn't seem very relavent to compare how they'd eat on $174/mo to one of us, at least not to me.

 

[Bikerdude]

We are not extravagant eaters, but I do tend to buy a lot of organic products and we mainly eat fresh. Never buy steaks, but lots of fish. We spend at least $150 a month on fresh organic blueberries which we have for breakfast every day - they were $5.99 yesterday for a small punnet. We only drink organic milk which is about $4.89 a gallon. Last week when I purchased organic apples it was nearly $7 for 5 apples. If I buy ground beef (maybe once a month) it is always the 7% fat or less if available. When we buy cheeses it is usually imported, because we prefer the taste.

That whole paragraph is extravagant. You must live in So. CA.
$150 a month for blueberries.