$29/Week SNAP Food Stamp Challenge – Week 1 – Days 5 & 6
Welcome back to my series about living on a food budget of just $29 per week. Today I will cover days 5 and 6 as I wrote a post about how to earn $40 doing a simple test-drive. If you want to get your $40, check out this post – it was really easy and took about an hour.
On to the good stuff.
BREAKFAST DAY 5 - $0.55
@fitinfun gave me a wonderful suggestion to use my oats in a pancake instead of just oatmeal. I found this recipe, halved it, and modified it to what I had on hand. They came out pretty tasty, if thick. It was great to have discovered a new way to eat the oats, thank you so much @fitinfun!
2/3rd cup flour - $0.10
¼ cup oatmeal - $0.05
2/3rd cup milk - $0.09
1 egg - $0.14
Splash of oil - $0.04
Total for mix: $0.42
I used around 2/3rds of this pancake mix, saving the rest. So just 28 cents worth used for this meal.
½ banana - $0.10
1 slice bacon - $0.17
Breakfast total: $0.55
LUNCH - $0.50
I had some of that rice and beans leftover. It actually tasted much better after sitting for a day or two.
1/4 of a squash - $0.06
1/3rd of an Onion - $0.04
3 Garlic cloves - $0.09
Half a cup of Rice - $0.10
Half a cup of Beans - $0.13
2 Strawberries - $0.09
Total: $0.50
DINNER - $0.60
I ate up my leftovers from the salmon spaghetti I made the day before. This time I only ate half a portion as I wasn't so hungry.
Pasta Sauce - $0.43
Spaghetti - $0.17
BREAKFAST DAY 6 - $0.94
It was Saturday and the first day off I have had in two weeks. I decided to have a big, fancy breakfast!
Toast w/margarine, the rest of the pancake mix, TWO slices of bacon AND TWO eggs – one sunny side up and one overeasy (cooked in the bacon fat). Oh yeah, this is the good stuff right here.
You can see the book I have been reading, Your Money or Your Life. It's a classic, but it explains how to change your mindset about money.
1 Slice bread w/margarine - $0.08
2 eggs - $0.28
2 slices bacon - $0.34
Pancakes - $0.14
½ banana - $0.10
Total: $0.94
LUNCH - $0.60
The other half of the salmon spaghetti portion.
DINNER - $0.34
I didn't want to break open a can of anything, so I kept it simple. A cup of pasta with melted margarine and some salt.
I actually eat this on occasion. I am a simple man.
To offset the lack of vitamins and whatnot, I had a glass of milk and two strawberries.
2/3rds cup milk - $0.09
2 Strawberries - $0.09
1 cup pasta - $0.13
1 Tbsp margarine - $0.03
Total: $0.34
CONCLUSION DAY 5 & 6
Day 5 total cost: $1.65
Day 6 total cost: $1.88
Running total for 6 days: $10.99
I'm certainly going to have some food carry over. This is great!
I will be able to expand my ingredients to have more variety in my meals. I will even have some money for snacks and treats. The problem with my current situation is that I really only have my meals, no snacks at all.
I've been missing having snacks to eat!
I'm thinking maybe a few apples, some chips, and something chocolate. I am craving a candy bar.
I will go shopping tomorrow in preparation for another week of eating on a SNAP food budget of just $29. Stick around!
Thanks for the shout out and your pancakes look amazing. Great job with this. And having extra mix! Keep it in the freezer wrapped good forever.
For snacks try getting pretzels, tiny crackers, dried fruit, seeds, nuts, bagged cereal and mix it together sort of like chex mix. It depends on what the dollar store has, but I'm sure they have some of this for better than the cost of a bag of chips. You can kind of stir fry it briefly and it tastes good.
You wouldn't use all the cereal so you can bake with it after soaking or make croquettes out of your canned fish.
They also might sell tortillas in big packages that you can heat or fry up salty or sweet. The Mexican section usually has good things in it.
Look up cheap homemade snacks and I'm sure you can do well for that goal.
You can stir fry onions and/or garlic into that pasta with butter. So good.
Get limes, lemons, or vinegar next time and that will help with flavor.
You are killing it on this challenge and I am so interested to keep watching. Eat like this for a year and you will have a nest egg and great skills. Give yourself a $5 raise after the challenge is over and go to town! You will be eating like a king.
Thanks for all these tips @fitinfun! I will have to see what I can pick up. I might still be a bit scared of not having enough food, and just get a simple snack or two from there.
Tortillas are a good idea though, I will have to see if they have any when I go. I am also thinking potatoes so I can make french frys. I will have to pick up a ketchup to go with those. Oh, and cheese and I have to see what types of meats I can get too.
This time I ate before reading your post. That was a good decision. "Your Money or Your Life".
I did the title of that book, because if ain't making your own money, you don't own your life.
You know it!
Haha amazing breakdown
nice
This is supercool! @getonthetrain Thanks! Followed...