Went to spend my food stamp money and purchase the items I found at the food bank. I decided to try Walmart to see if it was really cheaper. It really is. I spent $12.69 to purchase the vegetables and the dairy items that I saw at the food bank. I spent $10.28 of the money I would have had with food stamps. I bought a ham slice and about 2 1/2 pound corned beef. I have potatoes, carrots and a cabbage and that much corned beef will feed us for three meals I think. Actually I did not buy the corned beef; a good friend gave it to me but since we are going to eat it I decided I needed to account for it.
Several friends have given us food and except for the banana bread and the jam I have included it all in the price of the food we are using. If I haven’t “bought ” it, we are not eating it. I also want to let friends know that I actually have 36 jars of jam and jelly in my pantry and they are out of circulation until the end of the month. Since I don’t eat jelly, that is enough to last the rest of our lives. I appreciate the offer of food from friends but we really are doing OK.
I managed to find Turkeys for about $1.00 a pound so it looks like I will have enough to buy a good sized Turkey and have enough left over to buy yams and stuffing. I have been stock up all month.
The biggest problem I have with eating this way is the inability to buy in bulk. Usually I shop at a grocery store about once a week. I shop at Costco once a month, or every other month, for staples. Some of the things I buy there last for half a year. I also buy meat on sale and freeze what I will not use right away. Not being able to do that is frustrating and really expensive.I think if I did this all the time I would try to schedule some purchases each month that would last longer than a week. I was worried that if I did not divide the food stamp money into weekly increments I would run out. The one thing I notice that we cannot afford is fish, almost all fish is too expensive and I refuse to buy fish sticks or breaded fish stuff. I am never sure what kind of fish it is. I worry about farmed fish because of the amounts of mercury in them. We usually eat fish about once a week.
Related articles
- SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge: shopping (graybeardtrail.com)
- What it’s like to have your food stamps cut? (bdtonline.com)
- Meat Is the First Thing to Go (slate.com)
Loaves and the Fishline 
Thank you for writing. It is very hard time right now and it is difficult not to cry. I try to be creative, joyful, and thankful as we gather for meals to make them special even when there is little in cupboards. Fish Line is a blessing in our lives right now. We have adapted our meal planning week to have soup night, bean night, egg dish night, and leftover night to make food and money stretch. You would think the humbling part would be going to Fish Line, but they are so generous and caring. The hard part is graciously removing yourself from functions and gatherings at restaurants and coffee places. I try to connect with them later over tea at my house, but it is incredibly humbling to miss birthdays and events because I know a $2.50 cup of coffee will be taking a gallon of milk from my family. I recognize this is only a season in our life right now and I am so happy to live in a community such as ours. Thank you for journeying alongside me.
Thank you for reading. Hope your journey ends soon. I think Fish Line is one of the best places I have ever volunteered at.