Day 8

Today is the day that our SNAP challenge would be over if we had accepted the challenge we have read, seen, or heard so much about in the media lately.  If those reports were to be believed, today would be the day that we would rush out to our favorite coffee house first thing for that beloved and much missed cup of coffee.  Today would be the day that we would belly up to our favorite all you can eat buffet and recover from our famished state.  Today is the day that we would shout “Hooray!” and go back to our old way of eating with our badge of honor that we survived the 7 Day SNAP Challenge, which seems to be a wee bit insulting to those individuals truly in need of assistance.

Our experience has been different.  We are embracing this challenge for 30 days for reasons we explained in our first post.  John hasn’t missed coffee since he’s made it at home every time he’s wanted a cup.  Lori isn’t a coffee drinker.  We’ve actually eaten a more healthy diet.  We’ve had more fresh fruit and vegetables, which is a very good thing.  We never have been ones to rely on convenience foods, so continuing with home prepared meals wasn’t be an issue for us.  We have had complete meals at each dining occasion and have come away satisfied.  We’ve learned a valuable lesson about portion sizes and have been happy to note a few pounds gone for each of us.  We are discussing continuing this life style after the 30 days are over.

The meals we ate during the first week of the challenge totaled $42.31.  That works out to be $3.02 per person per day.  Again, we were not deprived.  We ate well.  If we had been in a difficult circumstance, we certainly would not be discussing continuing this lifestyle.

We do understand that we are making a choice to live like this and it is very different to be required to live on such a limited food budget.  We want to be sensitive to those in need.  We don’t want to appear as though we are superior in some way.  We are growing and learning as we continue this challenge.  We are looking forward to the next 3+ weeks because we believe we will be better people because of it.

Fielding a Question

Lori got the following question on Facebook earlier today:
How is this effecting energy, attitude, weight, sleep habits, social activity, relationships, etc?

Her response was:
we've noticed no adverse effects on energy, attitude, sleep,etc. We've both lost some weight which we attribute to no second helpings. For us, that is a good thing. As far as social activity & relationships, it is all good. Our friends have been very supportive.

We thought it would be a good idea to flesh out the answer here a bit since others might be wondering much the same thing.

We are eating healthier than we typically do.  We are getting more fruit and vegetables and are eating 100% home prepared meals.  We have had no decrease in energy, no adverse impact on attitude that we can tell (LOL), and are sleeping quite well.  We are both noticing that those minor aches and pains are diminishing.

With regard to weight, we have both happily lost weight.  We are hoping that trend will continue.  We are pointing to healthy food choices and no second helpings for this glad circumstance.  We are enforcing portion control to keep our costs down.  We are NOT feeling hungry at all.  We have agreed that we were overeating when various foods tasted good to us rather than letting our hunger dictate.  This has been a very good thing and one we hope to continue long after this experiment is complete.

Socially, we are largely homebodies.  We don't go out with other couples during the week for dinner or drinks.  We're happy with a good Netflix DVD.  So, there has been nothing adverse with our social life or relationships.  We do meet with a small group each Sunday night.  Our first meeting with them will be this coming Sunday, November 3.  Our meeting last week was preempted by Fall Fest at church.

We have told our friends that we will continue to meet with them during this challenge but will not eat.  They greeted our announcement with enthusiasm.  They are quite eager to watch our progress and see how this all works out for us.  We aren't anticipating any issues there.

Who knows what unforeseen situations will arise?  We have prepared ourselves as best we can.  Those around us know what we are doing and are supportive. For now. we are happily walking down the path we've chosen.

The Cheese Sauce

Tonight we had beef tips, mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce for our evening meal.  We had this exact same meal on Saturday.  This is a typical situation in our house.  Lori will cook a large meal and we will eat the same meal two or three times until it is gone.  It is done both for convenience and cost savings.

It is quicker to fix the meal once and reheat it the next time rather than cook the whole meal again.  Cooking in large quantity allows us to take advantage of cost savings on bulk packaging.  For us, it simply makes sense.  It has for a long time.  It is nothing new.

Tonight, however there was a bit of a twist.  We had both eaten and were satisfied.  Everything was consumed except a couple of tablespoons of cheese sauce.  Even though, we don't perceive ourselves to be wasteful individuals, we would have disposed of the extra cheese sauce before embarking on this challenge.  Tonight, Lori ate it.

Lori has done the heavy lifting with regard to costing each meal by serving to ensure that our daily intake stays within the $9.00* goal for which we are aiming.  She now sees each meal in terms of dollars and cents.  With each meal being valued down to the penny and knowing that a few tablespoons of cheese had value.  She couldn't see those pennies going in the trash can.

Even though, we haven't struggled with hunger and have plenty of food on hand, she could not bring herself to throw away those few spoons of cheese.  If this is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen.

For the record, our meals eaten through today total $36.19.

*We based our 30 day budget based on $4.50 per day per person, which was the national average when we started, in spite of the fact that our research indicated that for our area the benefit was larger ($6.17 per person per day).  Beginning November 1, the average benefit will drop to $4.20, in our area the benefit will drop to $5.78.  Since we are below even the new national average, we will strive for that for the November portion of the challenge.

Responses

Since word has gotten out about our little experiment, we have gotten a lot of positive feedback.  Everyone has expressed an interest in watching the story play out.

Several folks have asked why we are doing this, which we hope we answered with our first blog post.  In short, the answer is to see if we can.

A couple of friends have offered to take us out to eat or give us food from their kitchens if we run out of 'money' before the 30 days are complete.  We have declined those kind offers since they are not in keeping with the spirit of what we are trying to do.

One response, from a friend who volunteers at a local food bank, was particularly enthusiastic.  She cheered us for starting and is encouraging us to finish strong.  She is giving us a list of what is included in the food boxes routinely given to SNAP recipeints in our area. We will keep the list as a resource if we do run out of 'money' before November 22.

Obviously, we will not get the food from the food bank, but we will allow ourselves to purchase those items at the grocery store but not charge ourselves for them as part of the SNAP money.

We are looking forward to getting the list and seeing what we might have to look forward to in a few weeks.

Portion Control

We mentioned in our initial blog post that we are keeping two spreadsheets to account for our spending.  The first spreadsheet is relatively simple.  It is simply what we've bought to eat during this 30 days whether it be from the store or from what is already on hand.  The second spreadsheet attempts to quantify the value of each meal so that we stay within the $4.50 per person per day.  We know that SNAP recipients don't do this, but our goal is to see if we can actually eat reasonably for that figure, since we aren't eating all of what we purchase each week.

For instance, we purchased a 5 pound bag of potatoes on week one.  We won't eat the entire bag at a meal.  So, we determine the cost of the potatoes eaten when they are served.  The hardest part of this task is determining the number of servings a recipe prepares.  We have been using the number of servings on the recipe if we have it.  We learned that this isn't always accurate with the chili recipe, as we mentioned yesterday.

Tonight, we had mashed potatoes for supper and we don't really have a recipe for that.  We weighed the potatoes to get an accurate value of those and then measured the butter and milk to get that cost.  Typically, we don't actually measure the milk but just pour some in a bit at a time until it gets to the right consistency.  We overestimated the amount of milk used and wound up with potatoes that were a little runnier than typical.  They were fine but not worthy of sculpting.

The more important issue is that when we were trying to decide if we had funds to have the mashed potatoes we used a figure of 4 servings per recipe.  It was clear after both of us having eaten normal servings of potatoes that we will get 8 servings rather than 4.  It was OK, we just halved the cost we charged ourselves for this meal.

Going forward, we don't want to chase ourselves in circles re-costing due to getting more servings than anticipated.  We will charge ourselves the higher cost per meal until we reach the number of servings used to calculate the cost.  Any servings beyond that will be 'free' and we will not add the cost to that day's menus.

For example, we have charged ourselves $1.04 per bowl of chili based on 8 servings.  If we eat 10 bowls of chili from this batch, bowls 9 and 10 will cost us zero since we've already accounted for the entire cost of the pot of chili for the previous 8 bowls.

If we don't get as many servings as anticipated, we will add the cost to the last serving so that we will have 'paid' for all of the food eaten.

For the record:
John ate
*Breakfast 2 eggs, two slices of toast and 1/2 serving of ham  & coffee for $0.82
*Lunch banana sandwich & tea for $0.35
*Snack 1 package of crackers & peanut butter with tea $0.30
*Supper beef tips with gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce and lemonade $2.62

Lori ate
*Breakfast two slices of toast with butter & apples $0.31
*Lunch two slices of toast with butter & apples $0.31 (she really likes this new taste combination!)
*Snack lemonade $0.05
*Supper beef tips with gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce and tea $2.63

Total eaten for 3 days $19.46.  SNAP allows $27.00, so we are doing very well.

Day Two is almost Through

We are finishing up day two and are pleased so far that we haven't been hungry or felt deprived in any way.  We are still eating three full meals each day.  John had the same breakfast and lunch as yesterday.  Lori had leftover cooked apples on her toast for breakfast and found that quite enjoyable.  She had a favorite peanut butter & apple for lunch.  For supper they had taco salads made with leftover chili from yesterday.  The total value of the meals eaten today is $6.16 bringing our two day total to $11.81.

The chili was valued as 8 servings per the recipe.  Having eaten it twice, it is clear that there will be more than 8 servings.  There is more than half of the chili left.  We could get 10 or even 12 generous bowls of chili before we finish it.  But to keep us from going insane recalculating the cost per serving, we will value the chili as if we got 8 servings.  If we can stay under budget with chili that is over valued slightly we'll be extra glad.

Tomorrow, John will have his first test.  He is having to entertain out of town guests.  He plans to go to brunch with them but not eat!   They know of the experiment and will not be concerned or upset that he is not eating.

This weekend is also our Fall Fest at church.  We plan to eat our evening meal there.  It is free to everyone, church members and non members alike.  We agree that eating and valuing the cost as $0.00 is within the parameters of our plan since it is not unusual for people to have occasions where food is being served at some activity or function they are attending.

The greatest adjustment so far is to not do those things that have become such a normal  part of daily life--eating a bite here or something there just because it's there or could be obtained or because you just crave it.  It's a matter of learning to eat to live rather than living to eat.

Day One is Done

We are off to a fine start with our SNAP spending.  The estimated cost of what we ate today is $5.65.  It breaks down like this:
John
Breakfast:  Muffin & Coffee $0.98
Lunch:  Ham & Cheese Sandwich & Apple with Tea,  $1.06
Supper:  Chili, Cornbread & Cooked Apples with Tea, $1.45
Lori
Breakfast:  Toast & Butter with water, $0.14
Lunch:  Apple & Peanut Butter with water $0.57
Supper:  Chili, Cornbread  & Cooked Apples, with Tea, $1.45

All of the food was home prepared, muffins, coffee, tea, everything.

We did not feel deprived during the day, although Lori got hungry mid-afternoon.  She had eaten lunch early since she was going to be out at her typical lunch time.  She drank some water while considering her snack options.  Then she decided she could wait for supper.

John felt full enough after eating his sandwich that he saved his apple for an hour or so and had it as an early afternoon snack.  He took a thermos of tea with him to work and sipped on it all day.

We ate our evening meal together.  We didn't think to take pictures of our food until after we had eaten.  Here is the chili:

The entire pot of chili cost us $8.31.  The recipe said 8 servings, so the cost per bowl is only $1.04.  We're  thinking we might get even more servings, but we'll go with the more conservative figure.

Here are the apples and cornbread, again after we'd eaten:

 We had a very filling well balanced meal for our evening meal, which should easily carry us through until breakfast.

We are considering the possibility that we can add a few indulgences as time progresses.  We are going to stick to our plan for now and if we continue to stay this far under budget we will give ourselves a treat or two.  It is still early yet.  We will make that decision after we have a few more facts.

All in all, we've had a very good SNAP day.

30 Days of SNAP

There has been a lot of discussion in the news media in our area and on the web lately about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps.  Various public figures, such as politicians, CEO's and and others, have tried to live on a stated SNAP amount of $4.50 per day per person for a week.  The general conclusion by these people is that the experience was awful and that they found themselves constantly thinking about food and worrying that they would run out of money and go hungry. They call for more assistance for individuals and families receiving government aid.  It is often stated that families on SNAP either run out of food before the end of the month or that one or more people in the family must go hungry to make the funds stretch out so that children don't go hungry.  Additionally, it is sometimes stated that the diet one is forced to be on as a SNAP family is not one that provides for proper nutrition and is adding to the obesity epidemic in our country.

Each time we have read one of these articles we look at ourselves and our shopping habits and think it can be done--that with very careful spending and meal planning it would be possible to get through the month without going hungry while, at the same time, enjoying some variety of food items and have a reasonably healthy diet.  A time or two we've put the pencil to our grocery receipts and confirmed our suspicion that we typically spend about the SNAP average.  Even with that knowledge we still wanted to actually keep track of our spending and eating to see if it truly was possible to eat well on SNAP values.

We have decided to being a month-long SNAP Challenge.  For this period of time we've laid out the following ground rules:
*We will purchase only those consumables covered by SNAP for 30 days beginning October 24 going through November 22.
*We will account financially for every thing we eat.  The food purchased at the store is easy to quantify.  We also will 'purchase' from our on pantry.  Since this is an experiment in frugality and we do not want to be wasteful, we have "bought" the food we already had on hand at the current grocery store price, or with the receipt if it was still on hand.
*We will continue to shop at our current grocery store, the one closest to our home, rather than shop from store-to-store to find the best bargains across a group of stores.
*We will continue to use coupons and take advantage of store savings as we typically do.
*We will keep a spreadsheet detailing weekly purchases.
*We will keep a spreadsheet detailing daily menus for each of us along with the estimated cost of each meal.
*We will weigh at the beginning and the end of the 30 days to see if our weight was impacted by the diet. As is true of many Americans, we typically take in more calories than we need each day and, thus, some weight loss is very possible (we won't be upset if we lose weight!).
*When circumstances due to work or other commitments require us to actually eat in a restaurant or some other setting away from home, we will plug in meals and amounts comparable to those meals and costs that we will be eating at home during the challenge.
*When opportunities arise for free food, such as lunch meetings at work or church picnics, we will take advantage of that and the cost recorded will be zero.

The hardest part has been determining what amount of "SNAP" money to use for the 30 days.  If we go with the figure continually floated by the news media, we will have $270 to spend.  Using the government website and entering information to indicate two people with minimum wage earnings and average rent and utilities produces a figure between $319 and $329 for one month.  Another source cited a figure of $347 per month. We decided that the ultimate challenge would be to live only on the $270 a couple would have if they received $4.50 per person per day.  A food budget of $270, we believe, is based on no money from household income being added to the expenditures for food for a month.  In actuality, the SNAP program assumes that 30% of household income will be added to the SNAP funds a family receives.

Our first visit to the grocery store and pantry items on hand that we "bought" from ourselves to obtain the items we expect to use some or all of during the 1st week of the challenge required a total expenditure of $37.84.  It is certainly possible that we'll discover we need to make some additional purchases and increase the total of the 1st week.

It is anticipated that we will eat home-prepared, made-from-scratch meals, such as the chili and cornbread that will be our first evening meal rather than heat and serve meals from the frozen foods section of the grocery store.  Fresh vegetables and fruit will be included at meal times to provide variety and to help balance the nutritional elements of meals.  Milk, eggs, baked items (such as muffins), and cereal will be major parts of the breakfast menu.  Food extenders, such as bran and items such as Hamburger Helper, will be used to maximize the quantity of food available for meals made from major food stocks.

Now it's time to see if we can make this work.  Feel free to join us in this SNAP Challenge!  Together we'll learn something we all need to know and maybe have a better appreciation for what the SNAP program does for the less fortunate who strive to maximize the utility of the funds they receive.