SNAP Challenge.

Holy cow, I can't believe this thing is still here!  Way to save me the time of making a new blog internet; 20 points to Gryffindor :)  New post, which not surprisingly involves food.

Most of us have had the experience of little or nothing in our fridge and cupboards.  You groan and go to the store for the necessary things.  Most don't even think about how taxing this can be on the psyche.  Now picture that you go to the cupboards, find them bare and don’t have the money to buy more food.  You spent your allotted amount the government has given and won't receive more money until the next month.  The date is determined by the last digit of your SSN, so potentially you could have to wait until the 9th of the month. This scenario could be the case for over 1.2 million people.  For quite some time Congress has argued whether 4 dollars per day per person is enough to live on.  Many say yes, and in fact that amount should be cut.  Simply by googling “governors taking SNAP challenge” I had a page worth of articles.  Most realized very quickly that having a pastry and large coffee every morning wasn't going to fly, but then came the more basic needs of fresh fruits and veggies.  Was there enough money for those?  What about good lean proteins?  They experienced first-hand; though for only a month what it was like to live on 4 dollars a day.  The term “SNAP challenge” was born.  I along with my husband and roommate have decided to take on this challenge. So, here we go!

Players:  Josh, male, 29 years
              Katherine, female, 23 years
              Sally female, 28 years

Scenario:    We're playing by the governments SNAP rule which are here.   In Oregon the average amount given is 127.43 dollars per person per month.  I'm going to shoot for 120 per person.   I do LOTS of canning, and we'll use some of those cans, especially those with the food that I grew myself.  This will be a thirty day challenge.  I or someone in the house will make all the meals.  3 meals a day, thirty days, my math says that comes out to about a dollar and thirty three cents per meal.  A small latte at Starbucks cost most than that!
I'm not going to throw away any food that I have already, it would probably make my head explode.  I've put it in a separate cupboard, and if we use it, I'll deduct it from our food bill if we use it.

Predictions:  I can already feel the anxiety about this.  I’m looking forward to this, but feel that pressure to make foods my family is use it, within our new budget.  Coffee is also a HUGE vise for us, me especially so we'll see how long it takes before I break.  Or will I?  Am I willing to dip into our budget for a luxury item?  We’ll see, I guess.  Alcohol, is another item that food stamps doesn’t support.  When I told Josh this his thoughts were “I'm getting student loans, I'll use those to buy the stuff”  I have to wonder how often this happens.  I also believe we will feel the pinch of no fresh fruits and veggies.  It’s the off season that there isn't a lot of fruit on sale, so frozen it is.

Ok so there it is.  Day One is October 1^st.