Wednesday, June 30, 2010

June Food Stamp Challenge: the end

I'm so glad this is over. 
I'm so thankful that we don't have to live on food stamps. 
I'm so happy I don't have to document my food budget anymore.

I thought this would be a fun challenge, but the last week proved the opposite.  We went over our $360/month budget.  Katy at the Non-Consumer Advocate set the limit at $101/person making the total $404, but I thought I could be under that.  I ended up near Katy's limit.  Now remember that the Oregon Food Stamp program allows a family of 4 to receive $668 in food stamps.  That is only for food items, no toilet paper, shampoo, etc.  That is $22+ a day to be spent on food.  At $400/month it ends up at $13+ a day.

I learned a lot through this month, but most of all that my bulk shopping can be a hindrance sometimes.  I like to buy everything I can in bulk e.g., dry goods (oatmeal, raisins, flour, etc).  This can be detrimental to a monthly budget if you're not careful.  I also starting purchasing local milk and at $4.99/gallon that put a big pinch in the budget.  But, I'm learning slowly to work around it :)

What did you think of the JFSC?  What would you have done differently?  How much do you spend on groceries a month?

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