eating on $21 a week
Some of the congresscritters are trying to get the food stamp allocation increased and are pulling a publicity stunt.
They are trying to eat on $21 per week. That number is basically pulled out of a hat as it is an average of what a food stamp recipient *spends*, not what they actually get. You can get partial food stamp assistance, or, if you are truly poor, you can get the maximum allotment which is $155 for one person for one month. All the food stamp money is put on a debit (EBT) card at the beginning of the month, and it’s use it or lose it, but they do get it all at once.
Part of the stunt here is that they are trying to fail because that will prove their point. They have *no* idea how to cook (apparently) or shop on very little money. They are assuming they have $21 for seven days, not that they would be buying more heavily at the beginning of the month and then filling in the used up items. It’s much cheaper to buy quantities on sale, and this is what any sane person would do. No one on food stamps wants to be hungry, so they are going to try to make the most of that money. The congresscritters are NOT doing this.
Since this disgusts me, we will doing this next week (May 20 - May 26). I have purchased $51.42 worth of groceries, but this includes *everything* including 8 qts. dry milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, baking powder, soy sauce, 100 tea bags and 32 oz of vegetable oil. I will not use that stuff up in a week. I’ve figured unit costs and getting the actual foods used down to $42 will be a snap, I think.
We’ll be logging recipes and meal costs over at Tinotopia, so keep an eye on his site. Just to give you an idea of what was purchased, here’s the list and it’s costs:
| 32 oz Vegetable oil | $1.29 |
| 24 oz Pancake Syrup | $1.30 |
| 32 oz Grape Jelly | $1.50 |
| 16 spaghetti | $0.60 |
| 15 oz. canned corn | $0.40 |
| 15 oz. canned peas | $0.40 |
| 2 15oz canned tomatoes | $1.00 |
| 26 oz. iodized salt | $0.29 |
| 5 spices about 3 oz each | $2.75 |
| 6 Top Ramen | $0.66 |
| 3 Onions | $2.03 |
| 2 lb. Carrots | $1.98 |
| bunch celery | $1.79 |
| 4 bananas | $0.76 |
| 5lb potatoes | $2.99 |
| 100 count tea bags | $1.65 |
| 26 oz can spaghetti sauce | $1.00 |
| 1lb black beans | $0.79 |
| 1lb pink beans | $0.62 |
| 1lb lentils | $0.69 |
| 1lb baby limas | $0.99 |
| 3 Macaroni and Cheese | $1.00 |
| 18 oz Oatmeal | $1.19 |
| 18 oz. peanut butter | $1.43 |
| 2 lb. Rice | $1.09 |
| 10 oz Soy Sauce | $0.99 |
| nonfat dry milk - 8 qts | $3.91 |
| 18 eggs | $1.79 |
| 16 oz margarine | $0.99 |
| 3 pkgs yeast | $1.67 |
| 16oz cheddar cheese | $3.08 |
| 8 burrito size tortillas | $1.29 |
| 2 lb. corn meal | $0.98 |
| 5 lb. flour | $1.30 |
| 10 oz. baking powder | $1.09 |
| 4lbs sugar | $1.79 |
| 10 oz. frozen kale | $0.89 |
| 32 oz frozen green beans | $1.78 |
| 10 oz. frozen collards | $1.05 |
| $52.79 | |
| + 2.5% tax | $54.11 |
Like I said, I don’t expect to use 15 oz of spices in week, never mind the veg oil and salt.
Recipes and other info later — probably at Tino’s site.
July 19th, 2007 at 4:01 am
[…] Most everything seems to also be crossposted at Nicole’s site […]