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?

June Food Stamp Challenge: Grocery shopping week 4

I blew it today.  I spent all but about $25 of what was left in my budget.  I forgot my coupons at home as I was rushing out the door with the kids so that The Hubbs could catch an extra hour of shut eye on Father's Day.

I had $110.26 left and spent $84.27 leaving me with $25.99 left for 9 days.  I still have to buy this week's milk which will cost $20, leaving me with $5.99. I may be able to make this work, but I'm not going to stress about it.  I had to buy extra things for camping this weekend like paper towels and hotdogs, etc.  We'll see how the week goes :)

Last night...

So, you know when your hubby gets a craving for that certain special wonderfully-delicious baked good?  Well, The Hubbs had a hankering for Rosauer's brownie bites last night.  They are a gift straight from God and so irresistible.  Darn Rosauers was having a 20% off beer and wine sale last night so he bought him self a bottle of beer and bottle of vino for me :)

$115.26 - $16 = $99.26 left for 11 days

Edited to ADD: alcohol cannot be purchased with food stamps and so I'm leaving it off.

My new total is $110.26 left for 11 days

June Food Stamp Challenge: Grocery shopping week 3 *update*

Yesterday we headed to the Millwood Farmer's Market to get some veggies and a dessert, per The Hubbs' request.  I gladly obliged as the weather was gray and I wanted out of the house.  We got there right about when it opened and had plenty to choose from.  I bought 2 big bunches of green onions $3, 1lb of green snap peas $2.50, and 2 zucchinis for $1.  Then I headed over to the baker and started gazing at her wonderful goods.  I easily settled on the $3 super-sized cinnamon roll for dessert.  It was freaking delicious by the way.

$124.76 -$9.50 = $115.26 left for 12 days!

June Food Stamp Challenge: Grocery shopping week 3

 I got all of my grocery shopping done this morning!  YAY for me!  I went to Fred Meyers as per usual and spent $41.33 (on grocery items).  I then trotted over to Yoke's to get some brown rice puffs (for baking) and a 6-pack of my hubby's new fave soda (cherry vanilla) and spent $6.98.  Then I ran up to Barneys and got our milk for the week, $19.96.  For a grand total of $68.27

$193.03 - $68.27 = $124.76 left for 15 days


We have a 2 busy weekends coming up and I doubt we'll have much leftover money, but we'll see.


Upcoming events:
Car d'Lane
Bogs for Dogs
Father's Day (which includes taking The Hubbs out to dinner)
Camping (25th - 27th) I will be "shopping my pantry" and making all the meals ahead and freezing them.

Orowheat outlet

This morning while my mother-in-law played with the kids I ran to the Orowheat outlet.  I got all of this for$7.08 including tax.

All of it is in our new freezer and I'll be planning my menu around them next week.

I got:

2 packages of potato hot dog buns

2 packages of whole wheat hamburger buns

1 loaf of french bread (to use for french toast this week)

1 bag of whole wheat dinner rolls (to use this weekend with our roast)

3 bags of whole wheat bagels (for snack and lunches)

I also stopped by McDonalds, as an impulse hungry purchase, so that was $3

O, and I forgot to mention that last weekend The Hubbs treated me to donuts and a coffee for us, so that was $14.  Spendy, but OOOOO so yummy

This brings my total left to $193.03 and we have 19 days left

June Food Stamp Challenge: Grocery shopping week 2

I headed to Freddy's again and came out of there for $70.74.  However I did buy 3 new toothbrushes and a new razor and a small bag of cat food.  I always buy our cat food at a local pet store, but our eldest cat has been having a hard time chewing (we think it hurts his teeth) so I bought a bag of Friskies and he's in love again :)

So, non-grocery items totaled $23.14 and our grocery bill = $47.60

Left for the month = $235.08

*I still need to buy our local milk.  My mom and I, plus, the kidlets of course, went out to the farm today and had a tour.  It was wonderful and we both learned a ton about conventional milk and their milk.  They aren't certified organic because of certain stipulations, and I'm glad they aren't.  I'm usually 100% PRO organic, but in this case it isn't worth it.  So, from what we learned about conventional milk (what The Hubbs and I drink), I think we'll be switching to our local dairy as well.  This will of course put a bit of a bind in the grocery budget, but I know I can do it :)

Here are a few interesting graphs about food stamps

June Food Stamp Challenge: Grocery shopping week 1

Today I went grocery shopping at Fred Meyers.  My total was $67.63 for food and non-food items.  My non-food items were Biokleen liquid detergent, Glad kitchen trash bags (which I realize now are the wrong size), and Black Gold potting soil for a total of $21.51 in non-food items.  So, my real total for the challenge is $46.12.  I will be buying 2 gallons of local, all-natural whole milk for the kidlets tomorrow or Thursday which will add $10.  Their milk is low-temp pasteurized & not homogenized; I get about 8oz of cream off every gallon and give it to my parents and ILs.

June Food Stamp Challenge

Katy @ The Non-Consumer Advocate is hosting a June Food Stamp Challenge.  Katy lives in Oregon and her numbers are based on the OR food stamp program.  We live in Washington and I could not find the amount they give to a family of 4 each month through food stamps, however I did find something interesting.  The income guideline for a family of 4 is $3,675.  That is a lot of money for this side of state and we would qualify for that easily, but we don't need to thankfully.  I couldn't find the amount WA gives out though.

So, in Oregon the amount of food stamps for a family of 4 is $668/month.  This is outrageous to me and it doesn't even include non-food items.  I try to buy as much natural and organic food and products as our budget allows.  We spend about $360/month, but when we buckle down in the winter (when the biz is slow) I can get by with $250/month.  I'm going to shoot for spending no more than $360 this month.  We have a lot of plans for this month + camping and we all know that it can get out hand when you buy marshmallows and Hershey bars ;)  I will be including our non-food items like laundry detergent, deodorant, etc etc. 

I'll be posting my grocery bill totals each week along with supplementary trips to the store for the occasional batch of Rosauer's brownie bites and beer or wine.  I will still be using my coupons which save me an average of $5/week or $20/month.  I'm so curious to take an in-depth look at my grocery bill again.