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

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.