Can you eat off of 176$ a month?

[Elta]

I think especially for a family it would be impossible to live on 176 a month in food. I am in the military and for me alone I get about 324 a month. That is just me. My wife who is also in the military gets 324 as well, I think on about 400 dollars we both could survive for a month(thats Basic allowance for substance). Now if the US government sees fit to give me 324 for myself wouldn't it stand to reason that they believe 176 for a family is far far to little for an entire month.

earlier in the thread

They give you different amounts depending on the size of the family

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/applicant_recipients/fs_Res_Ben_Elig.htm

If you have 8 people or more in the house hold and qualify you get 132$ per person. Each person gets you more but it is less per person.

 

[Colonel]

Ok in that case I can not eat off that, I would be starving, either that or it would only last me half the month.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

It is possible to eat good on that budget. Not getting essential nutrients is starvation. I also like to click on boxes.

 

[GoodGame]

I spent a lot less than that a month on groceries. I have the advantage of living in a fairly cheap area though. In order to do it, you have to...

1) Cut most of your *junk* food out of your diet.
2) Be willing to buy "Valuetime", or off brand stuff
3) Buy stuff in bulk (this is how I can afford meat on a regular basis)
4) Clip Coupons

I do that, and still have enough left over to buy "quality" on a few things...like getting the nice spicy brown mustard instead of the crappy ValueTime yellow mustard.

It isn't the most healthy diet in the world, but with multivitamins, and not buying super junk crap (like cookies), I survive okay.

Basically what Downtown said. For the membership fee to a warehouse club, you could make do buying the bulk bags of rice, flour, and pasta for your carbs, easily. You would need to bake though. Not sure what would be the best route for your proteins, but if fish is your 'filet mignon' and you subsidize with cheapest fish and tuna, and bulk trays of chicken, you could get by.

Getting veges is the main problem. Fresh veges are not cheap unless you have the convenience of over-stocked farmer's market.

 

[GenMarshall]

It's impossible to eat with that kind of pay! Let alone keep up with your utility bills, car payments, and paying rent!

Note: I am going along with, at the time of this post, as a single unmarried male.

 

[downtown]

You aren't being asked to pay all of your bills on 176, just your food. For a young, unmarried male, that very doable.

 

[Zelig]

Easily.

I spend somewhere around $200 per month on food, and about $100 of that is on milk.

 

[GenMarshall]

You aren't being asked to pay all of your bills on 176, just your food. For a young, unmarried male, that very doable.

It's still impossible to eat off of that amount worth in food without starving. The only way it's doable is if you eat Depression-era foods (recipies from that era), yet you are still hungry and not full.

 

[Patroklos]

Aren't food stamps supposed to supplement your food purchasing power, not replace it? Yes, it is, and thus it should be enough.

I spend about 50$ a weel on food, to include going out a few times.

 

[downtown]

It's still impossible to eat off of that amount worth in food without starving. The only way it's doable is if you eat Depression-era foods (recipies from that era), yet you are still hungry and not full.

Nah, it just means you have to carefully budget your groceries, or maybe you shop at Aldis or something.

I typically spent a little bit less than 150 a month on groceries.

 

[Patroklos]

And you have to cook. Prepared foods are a rip off.

 

[eastsidebagel]

I could make it, but it would get pretty hard over the months and pretty dull too, by eating just junk food and cheap crap.

 

[warpus]

It's still impossible to eat off of that amount worth in food without starving. The only way it's doable is if you eat Depression-era foods (recipies from that era), yet you are still hungry and not full.

It's not doable only if you don't know how to cook and eat out a couple times a week as a result.

 

[Elliot]

I read a story recently about a couple who lived on $30 dollars a month each. Basically they ate plain oatmeal for breakfast, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and beans and rice for dinner. Every day. Boring and not very nutritious but they did it. And I remember the husband losing a lot of weight. I don't think I could go through with it.

 

[eastsidebagel]

I read a story recently about a couple who lived on $30 dollars a month each. Basically they ate plain oatmeal for breakfast, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and beans and rice for dinner. Every day. Boring and not very nutritious but they did it. And I remember the husband losing a lot of weight. I don't think I could go through with it.

You will get sick and die as a result of such a diet on time, especially if you have a job and other duties in your household.

 

[Bigfoot3814]

It's impossible to eat with that kind of pay! Let alone keep up with your utility bills, car payments, and paying rent!

Adding on what downtown said, unless I'm mistaken this isn't pay for work, this is food stamp money.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

Shoot. I misread the post as $176 per week, not $176 per month. $5.70 per day is tough. I'd change my vote to no. Maybe for a month or three, but longer than that and I'll have problems keeping a job, or really functioning at top form. Personally, my body starts to break down after about a month, but my mind starts to go after only a couple weeks. (Based on my starving college student experience.)

You could be getting enough calories and even gaining weight, but still be malnourished. Now that I think about it, starving is not the right word, but it's what we use in casual conversation when we really mean malnourished.

 

[Labtec600]

It's still impossible to eat off of that amount worth in food without starving. The only way it's doable is if you eat Depression-era foods (recipies from that era), yet you are still hungry and not full.

Are we talking about a normal person, or a fat american?


Lets not forget the whole idea of food stamps or welfare is to have some income to help get you by before you get an actual job. Sorry that you cant live the high life off of food stamps. I really dont care.

 

[Mowque]

I probably could, but i wouldn't want to.

 

[Stile]

You will get sick and die as a result of such a diet on time, especially if you have a job and other duties in your household.

Studies show people who eat repetitive meals are healthier. Variety might be the spice of life, but it isn't the spice of a long life. (As an anecdote, my wife's pediatrician is 111 years old and recommends black eye peas for breakfast every morning. )