This evening I went grocery shopping at the local Safeway with a member card and a $31.50 budget. My goal was to buy enough food to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner for seven days. I soon realized that eating healthy was second to keeping within my limit.
In the end, I spent a total of $27.21, leaving me an excess of $4.29 that I have decided to save for now. I will probably need this money for some more food by the end of this SNAP week.
Food shopping with such a limited budget was somewhat of a challenge. The purchase of ramen noodles was a big help--6 cups for only $2.79--however I was originally against the purchase because of the negative nutritional value. It quickly became clear that if I was going to be able to purchase enough food to keep me satisfied for a week I was going to have to sacrifice healthy food choices.
However, there was a sale on frozen vegetables so I collected three bags, as well as bananas, which were only $0.69 per lb. I bought 7 bananas, one for each day this week. Using the items purchased I have created a meal plan that I will adjust as I go throughout the week:
The Tentative Meal Plan
Breakfast
Yogurt and Scrambled Eggs
Lunch
A Banana with a Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwich
Dinner
Two nights this week: Pasta with Sauce
Five other nights this week: Ramen noodles with frozen vegetables
Snacking
Baby carrots
While the list above seems reasonable, it also seems to be less than I usually eat and, in some cases, far less convenient. My current meal plan is used to purchase prepared dinners on campus, which saves me cooking time. Additionally, scrambling the eggs in the morning will add time to my morning routine. It is clear that I will have to be flexible and adjust as needed.
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