Monday, March 16, 2009

living on $67 a week

how much do you spend on food & drink in a week? is it less than $72? that is essentially the amount of money that a family of two receives in food stamps in california. the l.a. times had an article, that seemed like it could be very interesting, about living/eating for less. i say that it seemed like it would be because it really wasn't all that interesting or helpful. the husband and wife team manage to cut back to $67 a week, but reveal little about what they actually consumed over the two months that they tried the experiment.

a couple of quotes that really stood out for me from the article:
"It wasn't as easy as we thought. For a couple who grow their own tomatoes and have olive oils for different occasions, it was hard to find a balance between eating affordably and healthfully, much less deliciously."

"The first step was a trip to Costco. (I later discovered that Costco doesn't accept food stamps, a reminder that although we were trying to live as if we were receiving government assistance, we were enjoying options that the truly impoverished don't have.)"

you know what, people living off smaller incomes generally aren't worried about "delicious." they often are worried about "eating." really, you can buy a whole hell of a lot of mac n cheese, top ramen, instant rice, and even ground beef (the fattier ground beef). i know this because when i was in college and funds were more limited, i got by on around 30 something dollars a week, if not less. now, this doesn't mean that people shouldn't care about eating healthy and inexpensively. it does bring up the fact that the healthiest foods are often the most expensive. want really nutrient dense bread, it's going to cost you and the loaf is small. want cheap bread? rainbow and other crap bread like that is cheap, but it's so processed and stripped of nutrients that it's of little nutritional value. the same goes for just about every thing at the market. vegetables seem like an area where this changes, but not really. fresh vegetables cost more than frozen which cost more than canned. i grew up eating canned corn and carried this on through college. when i got married my wife introduced me to frozen corn. much better tasting, and healthier, too. and a little more costly. now, in season fresh corn can be pretty cheap. but out of season, not so much.

i'm glad that they admit that they had advantages, like costco, that poorer people don't have. but, there are warehouse stores (foodmaxx, foods co) that do sell in bulk and are on the less expensive side of markets. shoot, i still try and keep our food cost lower by shopping at foodmaxx. the benefit of these stores may be limited by access to them. many lower income neighborhoods don't have supermarkets, let alone large discount supermarkets. shoot, some neighborhoods barely even have anything beyond convenience or mini marts.

it's not my intention to just dissect the article. rather, i do want to acknowledge the article as a part of my continuing thought process on how we all live, and what choices we're making. as i write this i also am co-authoring an article for the undercurrent that deals with the issue of going without things and what that means. i wonder if my wife and i could live off of $72 a week for food cost and how that would change our lives. what choices would we have to make? could we do it?

what do you think? could you do it? are you doing it? if so, how and what choices have you had to make?

7 comments:

Lulu said...

I have actually been thinking a lot lately about lowering my grocery bills. I very rarely eat out, but I feel like I waste a lot of money by buying food that goes to waste, like produce. It is tough to shop and cook or one person, I feel like I end up throwing out more than I like to because I can't eat the same leftovers for 3 days in a row.

One thing I am looking into doing is to make freeze ahead meals that I can individually portion out and pull out of the freezer and prepare on any given night. I also want to start making breakfast burritos and putting them in the freezer for breakfasts so I am not buying microwavable sandwiches all of the time.

It will be more time consuming and take more work but hopefully I will throwing away less food that has gone bad and save some money in groceries. I don't think I could do 72 bucks in food very easily though.

Also the point about healthier food being more expensive is very true. Eating healthy is important to me and it does mean I spend more money on things like bread and fresh produce as opposed to always eating canned vegetables. I am fortunate that I can usually afford to spend that extra money.

It is a serious problem and with the continual rise in obesity rates, people need to have beter access to healthy food. I think we should encourage and support projects where neighborhood gardens can be grown to offer people areas to grow and pick their own vegetables. I have read about places where they do this (although I cannot think of any examples off the top of my head)and they can be very successful and also bring neighborhoods closer together. I can honestly see that working in the Tower District area especially.

Anyway just some thoughts. I think this is a really great topic for your article in the Undercurrent.

Lulu said...

Link to info on starting a community garden:
http://communitygarden.org/learn/starting-a-community-garden.php

Anonymous said...

I'd be thrilled if I had a budget of $37 per person per week for our family of four. I generally average about $100 a week to feed us, and it can be done and includes our cleaning supplies and toiletries. And I do plan for 3 meals a day for the full week.

It's not easy and it does require some thought and planning in advance, but I prepare and serve healthy, well-balanced, whole foods based meals on a nightly basis. I rarely buy things like ramen or mac and cheese - they're far more of a "treat" for our kids than they are an everyday or even weekly meal option.

What it realy comes down to is that for us it's all about choices (and obviously, not just about food - but how we choose to steward our money regarding all things). We don't eat conventionally raised meats, so I buy ones that I know will go further since organic/grazed are more expensive. For $8 to 10, I can buy an organic chicken. Add an onion, a few carrots and celery and I've got 14 cups of amazing stock that I can use for several soups as well as adding nutrients while cooking rice and beans-and have enough cooked chicken for two nights of meals...sometimes even enough for a few lunches of chicken salad. A similarly priced roast in the crockpot will stretch to provide a night of tacos, a night of Spanish rice bowls and a few lunches. We also choose to not make meat the main part of our meal several nights a week, and that can add up to a huge amount of savings.

We don't have FoodMaxx or anything like that around here and I do miss them, but if I stock up on sales and buy bulk when I can it makes a huge difference. And that stock up/bulk buying is also included in our $100 a week.

Produce especially has been much more expensive in Florida than it was in California, but we've discovered local backyard farmers with big gardens that sell their produce for a fraction of what the grocery store charges. It allows us to eat locally and seasonally for much cheaper. And while we do have our own garden, it's not at a point where it's saving us money yet.

I sit down weekly with the grocery ads, my stack of coupons and a little inventory of what I already have on hand and plan a 7 day menu. I spend probably an hour a week, pulling coupons (though not many, since they tend to be predominantly for processed foods) and recipes. I cook mostly from scratch and while it does take more time, it does save us a lot of money and we're not eating all of the sodium and preservatives in prepared foods.

Once you really start looking, there are so many bloggers who have been doing this for years -
http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/ - she feeds a family of 6 on $60 a week.

http://frugalhomemakerplus.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html - a series done by another blogger I follow, who spent about $200 for the entire month of January for 3 adults

http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2009/02/1-chicken-17-healthy-meals-26-bucks-no.html - an inspiring take on what you can do with a chicken!

http://www.5dollardinners.com/ - an entire website devoted to healthy, well balanced dinners for a family...all under $5. They also have a weekly round up using grocery store fliers from around the country.

There are also options like angelfoodministries.com - not available everywhere, but a great ministry. I have several friends that are using this and it has been a huge positive for their families and budgets.

I've always had to be creative and conscious of our budget, but I'm continually surprised by how many people don't know how to create a menu plan for a week or how to shop in a manner that makes the best use of their money (nutritionally and financially). I've actually been asked to work on a class to offer at our church covering those very topics.

Didn't mean to get so long - this is something I've become a bit passionate about over the last year. Ed, I'd be happy to answer any questions if you have them.

edluv said...

sam,
thanks for the comment. don't worry about the length. i was interested to see what you guys, the johnsons or the andersons might say as i think you're all doing much more of this stuff intentionally. so, thanks for the links.

i doubt we're looking to really get super aggressive about it, but it is something i think about. not even that i really want to be frugal, but i'd rather spend money on things i care about than just going to taco bell or something like that. and, i think it's nice to know where your money is really going.

edluv said...

heather makes an interesting point about the initial premise and how it related to food stamps: you can't use them for going out to eat. so, theoretically you could still do that, because your grocery budget is supplemented by the stamps, and you may have more discretionary funds.

Anonymous said...

You hit the nail on the head for me, Ed. It is about being intentional and it is about a way of life for us. It's so easy to waste money and not have a clue where it's going. I know where pretty much every penny of our income goes, and I try as much as possible to make every penny we spend reflect our values.

Everything we eat has a cost - not just what we pay at the grocery store, but on through to the distributors, the environment and ultimately to the farmer (or large conglomerate) that produces it and the farmworker that picks it. Because our food system is so screwed up, we have no idea what the real value of food is.

It is a daily battle for me to balance our ideals and our budget, but I'm willing to do it. And I find it encouraging that I seem to be finding more and more people who feel the same way. I'm also encouraged to hear about cities that are providing food stamp cards that can be used at Farmer's Markets or for Angel Food and other like-minded ministries. I'm also concerned about what some of the decisions made recently in California regarding water usage will do to food prices nationwide. I believe it's time to really re-evaluate the food production system and eating attitudes in our nation...just don't ask me where to start!

I'm hoping Malissa sees this - she's been doing some great stuff frugal-wise!

Lulu said...

I love you frugal people, you are such inspirations to me and I learn so much!