Just found out that we spend less per person on groceries than Food Stamp recipients get.

[fairfarmhand]

That's depressing.

 

(according to this chart)

 

I spend $600 a month for 6 people. That boils down to a little over a dollar per person per meal.

 

My 600 includes toilet paper, toiletries, cleaning supplies, and pet food.

 

We do have a a freezer full of beef from the farm and chickens for eggs, but still.

 

Once I did the calculation, I figured out why the food budget is SO tight.

[Girl Power]

That's depressing.

 

(according to this chart)

 

I spend $600 a month for 6 people. That boils down to a little over a dollar per person per meal.

 

My 600 includes toilet paper, toiletries, cleaning supplies, and pet food.

 

We do have a a freezer full of beef from the farm and chickens for eggs, but still.

 

Once I did the calculation, I figured out why the food budget is SO tight.

 

I don't think that's unreasonable at all. I spend about the same, a little less maybe, for me and five kids. I know there are many on here that spend much less than that.

Beck

[Laura Corin]

I don't find that budget that tight. The average food bill for a family of 4 in the UK is £77, which is USD$117. That's without a freezer full of home-grown beef. UK food prices are higher than US ones too.

 

L

[fairfarmhand]

I guess what bugs me is that it's been our budget for about 6 years. Groceries have gotten hugely expensive in the last few years, so we have less wiggle room for fun treats. If we splurge on the fun treats every now and then, we suffer in another area, like fresh fruits and veggies.

 

I just get tired of things being so darn tight all the time.

[fairfarmhand]

I don't find that budget that tight. The average food bill for a family of 4 in the UK is £77, which is USD$117. That's without a freezer full of home-grown beef. UK food prices are higher than US ones too.

 

L

is that a week?

[charcat13]

That's depressing.

 

(according to this chart)

 

I spend $600 a month for 6 people. That boils down to a little over a dollar per person per meal.

 

My 600 includes toilet paper, toiletries, cleaning supplies, and pet food.

 

We do have a a freezer full of beef from the farm and chickens for eggs, but still.

 

Once I did the calculation, I figured out why the food budget is SO tight.

 

Will you shop for me? That's awesome!

[fairfarmhand]

oh...I might want to add. We spend $75 a month on dog food.

 

Why did my dh bring home that puppy?

 

I think I may show him the numbers and see if we can adjust the budget a bit. There is some wiggle room in the budget (thankfully) I just had never broken down our amounts like this before. Perhaps I need to lobby for a separate category for pet food. That would help a ton!

[fairfarmhand]

Will you shop for me? That's awesome!

And you know what? That is the perspective that I need to have. Thank you for the reality check. It is a blessing to be able to squeak by on that amount.

[fairfarmhand]

I can't get away with spending so little, unless it was stuff like rice and beans. I think having the beef and eggs is a huge help.

It is. I do know that we are blessed to have a cheaper source of protein.

 

I'll be even more thankful when my summer garden starts producing.

 

I've got green tomatoes right now!

[Slartibartfast]

And you know what? That is the perspective that I need to have. Thank you for the reality check. It is a blessing to be able to squeak by on that amount.

 

Have you tried using coupons? It might help a little bit. I don't generally use some of the things there are coupons for but it has saved us a bit. My SIL saves all sorts of money but I don't have her skills.

[fairfarmhand]

 

Have you tried using coupons? It might help a little bit. I don't generally use some of the things there are coupons for but it has saved us a bit. My SIL saves all sorts of money but I don't have her skills.

yep. A little bit helps. We usually use the toiletries coupons, since the food items are not things that we eat. Pop Tarts and frozen biscuits and such. I don't have great couponing skills either.

[Laura Corin]

is that a week?

 

Yes: $117 per week for 4 people. That's about what I spend too

 

L

[mom31257]

I'm actually on food stamps right now because dh is laid off and don't get nearly that much. The amount a person gets is based on several factors. It depends on your earned income, your expenses such as rent or mortgage, and the number of people in your household. I only get $230 a month for a family of 4, and our income is only about $1400 a month right now. That's not nearly $100 per person.

[Jane in NC]

I'm actually on food stamps right now because dh is laid off and don't get nearly that much. The amount a person gets is based on several factors. It depends on your earned income, your expenses such as rent or mortgage, and the number of people in your household. I only get $230 a month for a family of 4, and our income is only about $1400 a month right now. That's not nearly $100 per person.

Does age of children factor into this? Obviously a thirteen year old eats more than a toddler.

 

Sending your husband best wishes in the job search.

 

Jane

[Murphy101]

 

Does age of children factor into this? Obviously a thirteen year old eats more than a toddler.

 

Sending your husband best wishes in the job search.

 

Jane

 

In theory yes, a teen eats more than a toddler, but they also presume that teens are eating 2+ meals 5 days a weeks at school. If you qualify for FS, you probably qualify for free breakfast/lunch at school too. All the public schools here offer meal packs during the summer for those who can come by the school to pick it up.

[Amy in NH]

Well, we are a family of 6 and get $100/month in food stamps. We spend around another $400/month for all of our food and paper products.

[Murphy101]

I think a $100 per month per person is tight even without toiletries items. Produce is expensive. Healthy food in general is expensive. I could feed my family cheaper, buy I'd just end up spending more in health issues. I stopped couponing for food items. I almost never see a coupon for items I buy. For that matter, I don't buy many coupon items that are household items either. Either I don't buy those types of items at all or what I do buy is significantly cheaper than the coupon stuff.

[Murphy101]

I have 4 tomato plants and I still have to buy tomatoes.

My bell pepper plant got some sort of deadly blight on it.

We're loving the tomatos, but it's just not enough for our family size.

[Laura Corin]

I think a $100 per month per person is tight even without toiletries items. Produce is expensive. Healthy food in general is expensive. I could feed my family cheaper, buy I'd just end up spending more in health issues. I stopped couponing for food items. I almost never see a coupon for items I buy. For that matter, I don't buy many coupon items that are household items either. Either I don't buy those types of items at all or what I do buy is significantly cheaper than the coupon stuff.

 

I cook most things from scratch and we don't eat much meat. I shop at Aldi first, then top up with anything we are missing at another shop.

 

L

[Jane in NC]

In theory yes, a teen eats more than a toddler, but they also presume that teens are eating 2+ meals 5 days a weeks at school. If you qualify for FS, you probably qualify for free breakfast/lunch at school too. All the public schools here offer meal packs during the summer for those who can come by the school to pick it up.

Ah yes, I remember hearing about that before. It just came immediately to mind since my recent food receipts reflect my son's presence at home.

 

I am so grateful to my local farmers. We eat so well because of them!

[Laura Corin]

Same here and $100 would be very tight. I spend more like $200 a week and do all that you mention.

 

edited to add that I don't buy meat at Aldi...

 

I wonder where the difference comes. A standard day's menu might be:

 

- Breakfast of omelette, orange juice, toast, a piece of fruit

 

- Lunch of salad with small amount of ham (leftover from baked ham) and bread, or home-made veg soup (also with small amount of ham) with bread, piece of fruit

 

- Supper of whole grain pasta with tomato sauce, cheese added, plus fresh green veg.

 

-Snacks of fruit, whole grain rice cakes, whole grain cereal or toast.

 

I used to spend at least 50% more than I do now, but have cut down drastically by shopping more carefully.

 

ETA: last time I posted a day like this I had concern from some posters that the day was too low in protein. Out of curiosity I just worked it out, and it comes to about 55 grams per person, so fine for all of us. With white pasta, we would come up short.

 

L

[tex-mex]

I'm actually on food stamps right now because dh is laid off and don't get nearly that much. The amount a person gets is based on several factors. It depends on your earned income, your expenses such as rent or mortgage, and the number of people in your household. I only get $230 a month for a family of 4, and our income is only about $1400 a month right now. That's not nearly $100 per person.

 

And her food stamp budget does not allow her to buy any non-food related products like deli (hot) food, alcohol, TP, laundry detergent, cleaners, dog food, kitty litter, or sundries like soap or shampoo. I think the OP needs to re-tweak her budget to only compare food items. (??)

[Luanne]

Your freezer full of stuff and the eggs, etc... are probably the most expensive items to buy. That is why you are able to eat for as little as you do.

[Luanne]

My parents had to stop growing a garden since they couldn't figure out a way to keep the animals out of it (rabbits, raccoons, and deer mostly).

[MomtoCandJ]

My family of 3 (soon to be 4) gets a whole $26 a month (I get more through WIC) but we use that for cheap staple things like spaghetti noodles and sauce

[MomtoCandJ]

They only take off certain things as expenses and only so much counts as well.

[HRAAB]

I think it would be extremely difficult to feed a family of 6 on $600. where I live. Especially if you're including cleaning supplies and paper products. You would probably be eating beans and rice everyday with very little fresh produce, dairy or meat. You could probably do it, but I would question how healthy it would be. If the $600. were just for food, you could pull it off.

 

I spend $600. + a month on food, but we have a big garden and orchard (preserve food for winter) and have laying hens. Otherwise, my grocery bill would be much higher.

[LucyStoner]

In theory yes, a teen eats more than a toddler, but they also presume that teens are eating 2+ meals 5 days a weeks at school. If you qualify for FS, you probably qualify for free breakfast/lunch at school too. All the public schools here offer meal packs during the summer for those who can come by the school to pick it up.

 

Have you seen what passes for school breakfast? It's not a meal here. It's a small and usually pretty crappy snack (think donut stick) with about 4 ounces of juice.

[Murphy101]

I cook most things from scratch and we don't eat much meat. I shop at Aldi first, then top up with anything we are missing at another shop.

L

 

Ahem. I already do what you mention and more. I'm not going to even get into justifying what I feed my family.

[Murphy101]

Have you seen what passes for school breakfast? It's not a meal here. It's a small and usually pretty crappy snack (think donut stick) with about 4 ounces of juice.

 

 

Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I didn't say I think it is good or enough. I happen to think it is neither and not the schools job to run a pantry anyway. But that is an entirely other topic. :)

[Loowit]

We were on food stamps last summer because DH was laid off. We didn't get near that much, and they don't take into account special dietary needs. My DS has severe allergies so we can't just buy whatever is cheapest. It was rough being on food stamps with only DH's unemployment. If it hadn't been for relatives and friends I am not sure we would have made it through that time.

[Jennifer3141]

We grow our own food and I have a freezer full of organic chicken and organic buffalo. A couple times a year I have to put out a significant investment for quality meat but other than that, I spend very little on food. When I do, I buy GOOD food.

[fairfarmhand]

I wonder where the difference comes. A standard day's menu might be:

 

- Breakfast of omelette, orange juice, toast, a piece of fruit

 

- Lunch of salad with small amount of ham (leftover from baked ham) and bread, or home-made veg soup (also with small amount of ham) with bread, piece of fruit

 

- Supper of whole grain pasta with tomato sauce, cheese added, plus fresh green veg.

 

-Snacks of fruit, whole grain rice cakes, whole grain cereal or toast.

 

I used to spend at least 50% more than I do now, but have cut down drastically by shopping more carefully.

 

L

 

Because we farm, my family would be starving on that diet. We'd have to have more protein and fat in that diet. Feeding 6 farmhands isn't cheap! :tongue_smilie:

[mamaraby]

As other posters have pointed out, the chart is misleading and does not represent what most people get. I also agree that having things like eggs and meat like you do makes it a very different situation as those are often the most expensive pieces of one's food budget. If you want to compare apples to apples, you'd need to take out the toiletires/cleaning supplies/etc from your budget and assign market based prices on the eggs and meat.

 

By way of comparison: We're a family of 5 and spend on average about $200/week on food/household supplies. I don't include the dog food (why did I agree to that golden retreiver puppy now small horse?) which runs about $40/mo nor the cat food (they were here first) at $10/mo in that amount. Outside of a small amount of lunchmeat and the occassional hot dogs/ground beef we don't eat meat because it's just too expensive. Forget chicken, pork, turkey, or roasts - those are out for sure. It's mostly ground beef because per pound it's the wisest purchase not to mention the easiest to stretch. Even if I gave away our pets so that I freed up $50/mo, that wouldn't go nearly far enough to buy the amount of meat that both dh and I grew up eating.

 

With that $200 I have a little room for treats (cheap ice cream) plus a few small splurges (~$20). Otherwise it's things like a cart full of veggies, some cheese/milk, beans, granola bars if I'm feeling generous, some bread/pasta/grains, and veg proteins like sprouted tofu/tempeh. For me to reach the $100/month per person all splurges and meat would have to go as would cheese. I would have to invest significantly more time in things like yogurt/bread/gardening/preserving. Between everything else I have on my plate it's either homeschooling or the intensive food prep. I simply don't have it in me to do both.

 

:0) I'd say you're in pretty good shape. If you can move things around to ease things up a bit, then go for it. As for those who spend less or more or make different dietary choices - you do what you do because it's what works for your family, but one shouldn't think that families on SNAP benefits are sitting in the lap of food luxury.

[AHASRADA]

OK, OP, want to feel better? I spend $300 a week for a family of 5 (2 adults, 2 teens, 1 toddler). I don't "go crazy" and buy everything we want, I buy the sale brands, but I also don't scrimp on food. (This includes all toiletries, etc., and we very rarely eat out, like 4x/year).

 

We eat lots of veggies, tons of fruit (I mean tons!), chicken and beef once a week each, and fish twice a month (salmon, shrimp, scallops). I do bake occasional treats from scratch, but also buy 50% off bakery items.

 

We each have our own preferences which I indulge, like almond butter for dh, small cans of flavored tuna for ds, and we buy 4 different kinds of milk (1%, 2%, 2% organic for the toddler, and vanilla soy milk).

 

I'm sure I could spend less if I absolutely had to, but that would involve making choices to eat less of certain healthy foods and eat more pasta, etc. which I just don't want to do (if I can avoid it).

 

I looked it up, and the max. food stamp allowance for a family of 5 is $198/week. Considering that doesn't include toiletries, and the gov't isn't expecting that $$ to cover the cost of salmon or shrimp, I don't think I'm doing that bad.

[Mergath]

The problem with that chart is that it incorporates places like Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, where food is far more expensive, into the US average, which ups the whole thing. Most people in the continental US don't get near that much. A couple years ago, when dh was unemployed and we received assistance, we certainly didn't get that much.

 

Also, having a freezer full of beef covers what is, for most people, a large chunk of the food expenses. If you figured out much you would have to spend to buy that beef at the store and figured it into your budget, I think you'd find your budget is probably pretty average.

[Luanne]

We were on food stamps last summer because DH was laid off. We didn't get near that much, and they don't take into account special dietary needs. My DS has severe allergies so we can't just buy whatever is cheapest. It was rough being on food stamps with only DH's unemployment. If it hadn't been for relatives and friends I am not sure we would have made it through that time.

 

This has been a difficult thing for me as well. I can't eat any gluten and very little dairy. That limits what I can buy and the things I can eat usually are more expensive.

[Scarlett]

I spend about $200 a week counting toiletries and household goods for our family of 3 sometimes 4.

 

I can get that down to $150 if I really try but it isn't easy.

 

I think the per person calculation gets wonky when you add more people......for instance a family of 4 might have trouble eating on $400 a month but a family of 8 might be able to eat on $800 a month. But I don't really know obviously.

[beaners]

The problem with that chart is that it incorporates places like Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, where food is far more expensive, into the US average, which ups the whole thing. Most people in the continental US don't get near that much. A couple years ago, when dh was unemployed and we received assistance, we certainly didn't get that much.

 

Also, having a freezer full of beef covers what is, for most people, a large chunk of the food expenses. If you figured out much you would have to spend to buy that beef at the store and figured it into your budget, I think you'd find your budget is probably pretty average.

 

 

I'm not sure how the OP is figuring things out, but we count our animal costs into our grocery budget. We don't buy much feed for our poultry in the summer, but there are still other expenses. Bigger animals have bigger bills, which is why we're putting off larger livestock for another year.

[PeacefulChaos]

We spend approximately $150/wk on everything (not counting dog food, but including toiletries, etc) for 5 people.

Sometimes it's a bit more. Usually it's right around that and occasionally it's a good deal less.

Oh, and I haven't found that food stamp chart to be true when we were getting them. We got $230-240/mo.

[Dustybug]

We are a family of 5 (soon to be 6) and my grocery budget is never more than $600 per month including paper products, toiletries, AND school supplies. There have been times when I've squeaked by on only $300 per month. We have a garden and chickens, though our garden drowned with all the rain/storms. :( I think you're doing pretty well too.

[DawnM]

I went by my state's amount, not the average, although they aren't that far off from one another. The total is $605 for 5 of us. I can do that, but I prefer to be closer to $700. That includes toiletries, cleaning supplies, and medications. We don't take many meds, mostly allergy stuff from Costco.

[MistyMountain]

I spend a lot less than a food stamp recipient in my area gets. I spend around $600 a month and in my area a family of 5 on food stamps gets nearly $900 a month if they get the full amount. I live in Alaska.

[renmew]

One thing to remember is many food stamp recipients are not able to cook meals from scratch. About four years go we were on stamps for a few months during the summer, and we did get close to $900 a month for six people. I had no gas, though, and could only buy stuff to microwave or BBQ. That kind of food costs a lot more.

[katilac]

Let's remember that many food stamp recipients cannot make use of the money-saving strategies we often talk about here.

 

Sometimes they do not have a lovely suburban kitchen to cook from scratch in, or much of a functioning kitchen at all . . . maybe they are renters whose landlord won't fix things, maybe they are owners who can't afford to fix their broken stove.

 

The markets they can get to may be more of a 7-11 rather than a grocery store. They may not have freezers and pantries to store bulk purchases in.

 

Poverty and food security are complicated issues.

[joannqn]

We were on food stamps for a couple of years when DH was getting his business up and running. At the beginning of that, we were given $650 a month for six of us. My youngest was a newborn, so she didn't use up any of it. I always had a bunch left over every month. It frustrated me to have $100 in food stamps I didn't need but no money in the bank for toilet paper and diapers. I always hear about how food stamps is never enough, but that wasn't our experience. As DH gained more clients and income, the amount we were given shrank understandably until we no longer qualified. It was a stressful time, but having enough to eat was never an issue.

[SKL]

I don't spend that much per person, and I don't consider my budget to be tight. It does not surprise me that food stamps allow a larger budget than I spend.

[Laura Corin]

Because we farm, my family would be starving on that diet. We'd have to have more protein and fat in that diet. Feeding 6 farmhands isn't cheap! :tongue_smilie:

 

 

I understand, but that's where your freezer full of meat comes in, presumably. I have considered harvesting the local bunnies (and the passing pheasants) but I haven't quite done it yet.

 

Laura

[Laurie4b]

I think a $100 per month per person is tight even without toiletries items. Produce is expensive. Healthy food in general is expensive. I could feed my family cheaper, buy I'd just end up spending more in health issues. I stopped couponing for food items. I almost never see a coupon for items I buy. For that matter, I don't buy many coupon items that are household items either. Either I don't buy those types of items at all or what I do buy is significantly cheaper than the coupon stuff.

 

 

I agree. Couponing is for name brand stuff that is usually pricey anyway and often not particularly healthy. What I think saves us more money is: shopping at a lowcost grocery store and looking at weekly specials in other grocery stores. Weekly specials are often for produce and meat (as well as the stuff coupons are for) so it saves more on healthy food. Weekly specials can be looked up online. Most honor their competitors' coupons as well.

[Scarlett]

We were on food stamps for a couple of years when DH was getting his business up and running. At the beginning of that, we were given $650 a month for six of us. My youngest was a newborn, so she didn't use up any of it. I always had a bunch left over every month. It frustrated me to have $100 in food stamps I didn't need but no money in the bank for toilet paper and diapers. I always hear about how food stamps is never enough, but that wasn't our experience. As DH gained more clients and income, the amount we were given shrank understandably until we no longer qualified. It was a stressful time, but having enough to eat was never an issue.

 

 

That was my moms experience when raising my brother and me but that was a long time ago. We always had food....I really do think food prices have gone nuts in the last few years and those guidelines haven't kept up.