Lunch Money

[nissangirl74]

The CEO of Panera Bread is conducting an experiment. People that get food stamps receive roughly $4.50 / day to buy food. He's trying to see how hard that would be. According to the article, he's struggling.

When Shaich went shopping with his weekly budget of $31, he was surprised that he couldn't afford coffee, fruit, yogurt, or milk.
Shaich ended up settling on a daily breakfast of cereal without milk, a lunch of lentils and chickpeas, and a pasta dinner. He bought carrots to snack on in between meals.
By the third day of the challenge, Shaich wrote that his diet left him feeling "bloated and weak."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/panera-br ... 10950.html

To me, this is absolutely doable. We have 5 people living in our house at the moment. That would yield a budget of $157.50 / week to buy groceries. I NEVER spend that much on food in a week and we don't eat junk either. Hell, I don't spend that much on Thanksgiving dinner to feed 40 people.

What do you think? Do you think you could feed yourself with $4.50 / day (31.40/week)? If not, how much do you spend on food / day or / week?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I could definitely do it. Maybe that dude just sucks at budgeting, or he isn't shopping at the right places.

[frapjap]

Sounds like he went grocery shopping at Whole Foods and not Price Rite (or another budget minded store). We spend ~120/week on groceries and eat just fine while still having left overs (thus decreasing the daily meal cost) and still have room in the food budget for ice cream.

[sx moneypit]

Sounds like he went grocery shopping at Whole Foods and not Price Rite (or another budget minded store). We spend ~120/week on groceries and eat just fine while still having left overs (thus decreasing the daily meal cost) and still have room in the food budget for ice cream.

How about beer?

[float_6969]

No way. We eat VERY healthy (very few pre-prepared meals, and organic as much as possible), which = $. I mean, COULD we do it? Of course, but I wouldn't want to eat like that....

[frapjap]

Sounds like he went grocery shopping at Whole Foods and not Price Rite (or another budget minded store). We spend ~120/week on groceries and eat just fine while still having left overs (thus decreasing the daily meal cost) and still have room in the food budget for ice cream.

How about beer?

There is almost always money for beer. Even if the quality has to suffer from time to time, haha. But if the beer fund goes dry, theres a good amount of variety in the liquor collection on the top of the fridge. It just doesn't get drank nearly as often as a beer during night time tv time.

[Kompresshun]

No way. We eat VERY healthy (very few pre-prepared meals, and organic as much as possible), which = $. I mean, COULD we do it? Of course, but I wouldn't want to eat like that....

^Ditto.

I'm trying to lose weight and pretty much everything that I could afford on that budget is crap for your health. Trust me, we've done it before and it's pretty darn hard to eat healthy with that kind of budget. I mean sure, I could eat Ramen noodles every day, but is it really healthy to eat that much sodium and is it worth risking my health over? No. I can afford to eat things that are good for my body, so i'm not interested in even trying. I'd rather cut back on other things.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I think if your recipe knowledge is wide enough, you can definitely make it happen.
Rice is cheap as hell. So is pasta. Hell, you can buy a dry pound of pasta for a dollar and a giant jug of sauce for 3 bucks. All that would last you more than a day.
You can buy a head of lettuce here for under a buck. Or even an entire chicken for under 5. Cook it, eat it, boil the carcass, throw in some of that rice I mentioned, and then you've got super cheap soup.

And how the crap does this dude not afford milk? Buy one of those GIANT bags of knock-off cheerios for 5-6 bucks and a gallon of milk for 3. There's 2 meals a day right there for the whole week.

[nissangirl74]

4.50 per person per day is $157.50 for a family of 5 for a week.

watch and learn:

dinner 1- chili made with ground turkey (turkey, spices, beans, tomato sauce, cheese, and crackers) = $12

dinner 2 - chicken casserole (chicken, brown rice, salsa, black beans, cheese, crackers) = $7.25. This is made in a huge casserole dish and lasts 2 days.

dinner 3 - flounder with corn on the cob and steamed green beans. = $14

dinner 4 - spaghetti (ground turkey, pasta, sauce, french bread, salad) = $11

dinner 5 - Beef stew ( beef, seasonings, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Have some crackers from dinner 1) = $10.50

dinner 6 - salad night (Cesar salad and baked potatoes) = $8

dinner budget = $62.75

breakfast = $18 (milk, cereal, oatmeal, eggs, toast)

Lunches = $30 (bread, ham, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, mayo, mustard, big bag of chips)

total = $110.75

This leaves $46.75

$25.00 to buy fresh fruit everyday for dessert and a 1/2 gallon of ice cream for a treat on Sunday night.

Balance of $21.75. You can buy a box of tea to brew to drink with lunch and dinner, coffee and creamer for breakfasts.

Balance of about $10 for cushion.

No junk there. All good, healthy meals.

[dre1507]

Thought this was gonna be about people getting jacked for their lunch money.

And Bex, If I'm still alive next summer, would it be okay if I spent a year at NICO HQ? I'll get a job out there and contribute to the bills.

[Dattebayo]

I know what is missing here... it's different when shopping for one person compared to 4 or more.
You can buy in bulk for more people, so having more money will get you exponentially more food. It sounds more or less like this guy was using a day-to-day approach rather than spending all at once and preparing in advance maybe?

[Kompresshun]

^This.

It definitely is a lot more feasible with more people but for a couple or a small family, it's a lot harder to accomplish.

I get the point that it is doable, but to me it's not something that is going to work for everyone.

We usually go to the grocery store twice per month, with the occasional visit in between. I would say we spend roughly $300-400/Mo, which is $75-100/wk. That doesn't include eating out of course because we have a separate budget for that.

[MinisterofDOOM]

For $31 dollars a week I could easily eat healthily. Hell, I could probably stretch that to two weeks. Sandwiches, soup, eggs, milk, cereal. I could get two weeks worth of all of that for $30 easily, and that's without bothering to find the cheapest prices for each item.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I get the point that it is doable, but to me it's not something that is going to work for everyone.

Its not meant to. At some point, being poor has to suck a little bit... otherwise everyone would be doing it.

Food stamps aren't meant for you to lavish yourself on organic salmon and porterhouse steaks every meal.

[Kompresshun]

Food stamps aren't meant for you to lavish yourself on organic salmon and porterhouse steaks every meal.

True. I'm sure if you were on food stamps, you probably wouldn't be very concerned about your calorie, fat, and sodium intake as much as just eating period.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

In other news, today was national cheeseburger day.

[Looneybomber]

$31/week!? I couldn't no. Today.
Breakfast: 1/2 thing of smoked sausage and 2 eggs over easy and a glass of milk $1-1.50?
Lunch: spring salad, greek yogurt, mixed nuts. $2-2.25?
Supper: My neice had a bday party, so I had pizza and cake $Free!!!
Snack: Soup made from noodles, broth, vegi's, peppers, and some more smoked sausage. $1?

That's probably the cheapest I ate in a LONG time (not been lifting due to school). Normally I eat more and have more meat along with more fruits and vegi's. I probably spend, counting beer and protein bars, ~$200/mo? If I stopped lifting and thus reduced my caloric intake a lot, I could get by on $31/wk.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

As a college kid who didn't work his sophomore year (last year), I definitely could swing that budget. My diet usually consisted of:

-Macaroni and cheese
-Pasta with some kind of sauce
-Frozen pizza
-Canned chili/soup/whatever
-Peanut butter sandwiches
-Macaroni and cheese
-Macaroni and cheese
-Macaroni and cheese
-Macaroni and cheese
-Macaroni and cheese

Was it healthy? Absolutely not. Honestly, I work now and can afford to eat whatever I want. I do eat out a lot now, but I still eat all the things ^ weekly. I can't remember the last time I ate a damn salad....

Oh yeah, always gotta budget for beer. And on that note...can you buy it with food stamps?

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I'm pretty sure you used to be able to, but I'm not sure about now.

Beer is liquid bread! It actually does have some caloric value to it haha.

[Jesda]

I ate well and ate properly as a poor-a** immigrant kid.

As an adult, I spend a LOT of food, much of it due to dining out. If I'm careful, I can cook at home for cheap.

I just bought enough rib tips to eat for two weeks for a total cost of $16. My huge crock pot is literally overflowing with meat. I'm giving it away to friends and family because I have way too much.

[WDRacing]

I could if I had to, but I'd rather sell drugs and murder people to live a lavish life without having to work for anything.

Sorry, let my inner Chicago out for a second.

[AZhitman]

I could if I had to, but I'd rather sell drugs and murder people to live a lavish life without having to work for anything.

Sorry, let my inner Chicago out for a second.

Back on-point, Bex is right. We eat damn healthy. We also eat well (she's from TN, remember). AND, we typically have company every weekend, so she's feeding 6-7 people instead of 5.

It can be done. Anyone who says otherwise is either dumb or lazy. It's more work, and it's FAR from convenient, but it can be done. One of the best ways to eat healthy on a budget is to hit a local farmer's market each weekend for your fruits / veggies (or plant your own) and cut out all the processed stuff.

Buy stuff on sale / in-season, and stock up on "staple" items when you find coupons. BTW, Bex can walk out with $200 in groceries for about $120 *just* using coupons. Coupons are typically more common for high-profit / low-nutrition crap food, but you can still find good ones for certain healthy items.

[Jesda]

I like Aldi for produce. I dont have to buy bulk and they often carry the exact same brands as other stores (like Driscolls strawberries and Chiquita bananas).

[WDRacing]

Aldi's is a great store. I shop there every time I'm in PA.

[nissangirl74]

I like Aldi for produce. I dont have to buy bulk and they often carry the exact same brands as other stores (like Driscolls strawberries and Chiquita bananas).

We don't have those here. I get a lot of our fruits and veggies from Sprouts (chain farmers-market type store). It's primarily local foods. Some of the berries and the bananas come from South America. Very stellar quality. One place I do NOT buy produce from: Wal-mart. It's bland, or not ripe, and half the time, rotten or moldy. I bought strawberries from there twice. Moldy in the middle both times. Never again.

[Jesda]

WM has decent watermelons and peppers but the pluots, plums, and nectarines are just okay. I'm impressed with the produce at Sam's Club though I'm not a member.

[IBCoupe]

So, what I'm getting from this thread is:

1. It's possible to live on food stamps, healthily or unhealthily.
2. It's easy to eat unhealthily on food stamps.
3. It's difficult to eat healthily on food stamps (i.e., requires planning, careful shopping, etc.)
4. It's easier to live on food stamps if you have a lot of knowledge of food (i.e., you know how to make do with a wide variety of ingredients, allowing you to plan your grocery-shopping accordingly)

These factors combine to suggest to me that the people most capable of living healthily on food stamps (i.e., those with the smarts and time needed to do so) are the least likely to have to do it.

[WDRacing]

These factors combine to suggest to me that the people most capable of living healthily on food stamps (i.e., those with the smarts and time needed to do so) are the least likely to have to do it.

Those most capable? That's what I call an excuse. It doesn't take "smarts" to plan a budget, it takes initiative. We all learn basic math in public school. A food budget is nothing more than addition and subtraction. The free phone that everyone on food stamps has also includes a calculator if basic math is completely beyond your comprehension.

The library is free. Read a book on how to cook. Read a book on how to budget your grocery money. Read read read. Information is power and that power is given away freely to those that would choose to obtain it.

Life is nothing but a series of choices. Those that choose poorly usually fail.

[Looneybomber]

Those most capable? That's what I call an excuse. It doesn't take "smarts" to plan a budget, it takes initiative.

I'll take your initiative and raise you a sacrifice. For example, I can get locally raised cow (steaks and milk) at the grocery store that's been fed no corn or GMO ingredients, no antibiotics or growth hormones. Both the milk and meat is about 60% more than normal store prices. I can get eggs at the farmer's market for $2-2.50/doz that have been fed local organic grains or get the eggs from chickens that are in a dark chicken coup fed mostly liquids with antibiotics and other awesome stuff for $1.50/doz.

So I can choose local, better-than-organic food, and break the $31/wk limit, or I can buy whatever the store offers and make the budget. The smart thing to do is to get the healthiest, purest, most chemical free food possible, but the sacrifice is to buy something that fits the budget.

[Jesda]

A couple years ago I bought a striped bass and cooked it in the oven under a kosher salt dome. It was a massive fish, enough to feed four guys with leftovers. With mussels, flatbread, and white rice, total per person came to $11.

If you went out and tried to order the same thing, it would have been $25 with tip.

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In other news, today was national cheeseburger day.

If I didnt make so many G.D. ribs I'd go celebrate.