Hungry and Unhealthy with a Whole Lot of Tired…

I finally made it to the grocery store so that I could begin living off $3/day in food. I decided to stretch my dollar at Aldi’s. I heard the food was cheaper and when you’re so limited in terms of a budget you have to sacrifice quality. At the beginning of my shopping adventure I was very picky about what I put in the cart and also well aware of the cost of each item. When I got through almost all the aisles and had only $7 worth of food, I thought this whole challenge thing is going to be a piece of cake.

I tried really hard to balance my purchases between cheap and healthy. I also wanted to make sure that I was getting vegetables, fruit, and protein. Despite how well I thought I was doing picking out healthy and cheap items, once I looked closer at the ingredients I discovered the foods weren’t so healthy. The yogurt was made with high fructose corn syrup, and the cheese slices were processed cheese food – not a single piece of real cheese. Even the tomato soup had high fructose corn syrup.

After an hour in the grocery store, I pulled my cart aside, and tallied up the total cost. I ended up a little over $23 dollars so I put a few items back. The first item was a frozen pizza for $2.29, which was hard because I really like pizza. Then I put back some fruit cocktail (it was cheaper to buy fruit in a can than the real thing). I put back a can of mushroom soup. And I also put back two 29-cent bean and cheese burritos. I made my way to the check-out counter and even though I added everything up, I felt a little nervous that it was going to end up more than $21 (with taxes and such) and I was going to have to put something else back. If you’ve ever had to do that because you don’t have enough money, it’s a really humbling experience – you feel like everyone is watching and of course judging.  I was very relieved when the total price came to $20.79. I even had 20 cents to spare. Here’s what I ended up buying:  milk ($1.59), eggs ($1.09), peanut butter ($1.49), tuna ($1.09), yogurt (2 @ 37 cents), whole grain spaghetti (99 cents), pasta sauce ($1.19), sliced cheese (99 cents), margarine (79 cents), salad in a bag (99 cents), Italian dressing ($1.29), instant brown rice ($1.35), can of black beans (55 cents), can of red kidney beans (55 cents), tomato soup (49 cents), cucumber (59 cents), broccoli (99 cents), frozen peas (99 cents), frozen corn (99 cents), bean & cheese burritos (2 @ 29 cents), and a loaf of split top wheat bread (99 cents). 

On Sunday, I decided to end the food stamp challenge though I was aiming for a full week. I found myself without very many options with my remaining food and I feel like I need something healthy. I also so bad want to eat something different! The challenge over the last five days has been incredibly eye opening and I found it much more difficult than I had predicted. I found myself almost obsessing about food.

When I would walk around the square during my lunch break, I would notice all of the great restaurants and food carts and think about how nice it will be to eat good, healthy food again. It was extremely difficult to have my food choices so limited and I thought often about all the things I couldn’t have because I just couldn’t afford it. I also discovered that instead of being concerned about what I was eating, I just focused on how I could fill myself up. I was constantly hungry no matter what I ate. I imagine it was due to the extremely low quality of food. I can’t imagine having to live on that limited of a food budget for an indefinite period of time. It’s really difficult to focus on anything – work, school, life – when you’re so tired and hungry.  I’m very grateful for the quality and variety of food that I can access.

I have inspired others to do the food stamp challenge and I wish them well.  One of my colleagues is going to try a whole month – I could barely make five days! I have profound admiration for individuals who are required to live on a food stamp budget. I am lucky that I can go back to my budget, which allows me greater access to higher quality food. I have a greater appreciation for the food I am able to access and I will enjoy it even more. I’m especially grateful for my morning cup of coffee!!!

 

Comments

[sheila]

Wow! Way to go Jennifer!