$1.91 per meal, per person for a month. I have done it before, I can do it again.
Last week I had lunch with some of my favorite people who happen to all be connected with MEND Poverty in Pacoima where I do some social media volunteering. We were discussing #StopSummerHunger and the food bank and why it is important to have food available to low-income families. The topic of Foodstamp Budgeting came up – and because I was the only person with personal experience living on Foodstamps I felt like I was the expert.
So, to flex my Foodstamp expertise muscles – I am going to spend August 2013 on the Foodstamp budget. Dear coffee, I will miss you so.
I used using http://www.ndhealth.gov/dhs/foodstampcalc.asp to calculate the amount of SNAP/Foodstamps/CalFresh benefits available to Darla and myself as if I did not have a job. $348 for the month to spend on groceries and food was the result. Divided by 4.33 to calculate the allotment per week the dollars drop to $80.369. This is $11.48 a day or $3.82 a meal. That doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that is the amount for both of us. Separately our food allowance, dependent only on Foodstamps is $1.91 per meal.
Look for recipes, pictures of my terrible cooking ability, and lots of complaining about my lack of caffeine for the next month.
And – I dare you to try this too.