How Thrifty are Your Meals? Take the Foodstamp Challenge

While researching a few new posts for use supermarket coupons, I recently came across the website for the food stamp challenge.

The program asks participants to stick to the food stamp budget for all of your meals and snacks for one week. The figure given was $21 per person per week per person. The thrifty plan was intended to be an emergency source of food for a person until a more adequate food supply could be found. Get more information on the food stamp challenge here and learn how to participate.

I took the challenge myself this week to see how good my shopping and savings skills really were and was surprised at the outcome. I was able to feed myself and family within the guidelines, but have to admit that sticking to the program without the use of my well stocked pantry was a challenge in itself. Our diet was more limited than we were used to, mainly because we did not have a well stocked pantry to add the variety we were used to.

Beyond the limitations of our diet, I was also frustrated with the lack of fresh produce that our limited budget provided. Even I had to admit as an experienced shopper and saver that my shopping and cooking habits would need to change if I were forced to stay on the program for long.

Lessons Learned

-While I regularly feed my family at about $25-$30 per week per person, the savings from stockpiling and using grocery coupons aggressively is the main strategy I use to keep our expenses down. Buying ahead for pennies on the dollar allows room in our budget for more fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy than the food stamp allowance would for most who suddenly found themselves in this position.

-Grocery prices are regional. Folks living on either the East or West coasts would have a hard time keeping this budget while still meeting their nutritional needs. I spent 10 days recently in the Midwest and was surprised to see just how much less expensive food is there on some items (20%-30%), on others it is about the same as my hometown.

-You need good shopping skills and some knowledge of how to cook to have any variety at all with this limited of a budget. If you were to suddenly find yourself without more than $21 a week per person and no skills whatsoever in terms of grocery shopping and couponing you might very well find yourself eating a steady diet of tuna, mac and cheese, hot dogs and cereal. As of today, the food stamp allowance has not yet been adjusted to take into consideration the recent inflation we have been experiencing. That said, even the modest allowance allotted means that your dollars won't go as far.

My time spent on the food stamp challenge was an eye-opener to a well educated consumer like myself. I learned a lot about my own shopping habits and found myself looking for ever more creative ways to save at the grocery store. I urge you all to give it a try. I'm glad I did. While I learned that my skills are good enough survive if I needed to, I wouldn't want to have this limited of a budget for long.

In light of my recent discoveries of just how important maintaining a well stocked pantry is in lean times I'll be starting a multi-post series on how to maintain a well stocked pantry.