The week of September 22-28, the eight executive directors of the Illinois Food Bank Association, participated in a $25 Challenge to illustrate the difficulty in living off of what the average person on Food Stamps receives from the system.  You can read about their struggles at http://25challenge.blogspot.com/.

After reading about it, I decided to see if I could design a meal plan to stay under the $25 cap.  Since I couldn't convince Jennifer to try it for real, this will just be a exercise on paper.

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So tonight, I did a quick walk through in the local Dollar Tree, just to illustrate how I would do this.

Personal Experience

During my "dark days" in the early 1990s, this $25 challenge was more than a challenge, it was a reality.  It was a daily struggle to find a dinner that would cost less than a dollar or two.  There were even times when toilet paper was out of budget, and I'd have to come up with creative ways of "finding" rolls.  So when I tackled the $25 challenge, I also took that into account and included personal hygiene products.  Most of them on this list will last longer than one week, so those odd weeks are when the other necessities would be purchased.  For instance razors, shaving cream, floss, etc.


My days of suffering through this lifestyle when I was younger was greatly hampered due to my limited cooking knowledge.  Basically, if it didn't come out of a can, packet, or box, it didn't get made.  Since then, and probably due to it, Jennifer and I have actually learned to live on a very frugal food budget. 

If I could pass one secret to my younger self or anyone on a limited food budget, is would be "get rice cooker"!  This single kitchen device can be a life saver when money gets tight.  We have the Aroma 8-cup Cool Touch, that can easily be bought for under $30.  I actually think that a quality rice cooker, like it, should be issued to new food stamp recipients, along with sample meal plans using it.  It would have made a tremendous impact on our meal planning when I was enlisted in the military, if I realized its power and versatility.

Anyway, on to my meal plan. 

Shopping List

32oz Blue Ribbon Rice $1.00
Farmland Hotdogs $1.00
16oz Quick Oats $1.00
14.5oz Cinnamon Sugar $1.00
6oz Sunmaid Raisins $1.00
Del Monte Spaghetti Sauce $1.00
16oz Davinci Thin Spaghetti $1.00
Banquet Pot Pie $.75
Salt/Pepper Combo $1.00
15oz Beef Stew $1.00
4 pack – Corndogs $1.00
Vigo Yellow Rice $.75
15oz Black Beans $1.00
Loaf of Bread $1.00
16oz Grape Jelly $1.00
Junos Frozen Pizza $1.00
19oz Can Baked Beans $1.00
Margarine $.75
25oz Sun Dish soap $1.00
18oz Whiterain Shampoo/Conditioner $1.00
Deodorant $1.00
3 Pack Ivory Soap $1.00
Toothpaste $1.00
Wyle's Lemonade Mix $1.00
4 Pack Toilet Paper $1.00

Total

$24.25

Day 1

  • Breakfast
    Quick Oats with Cinnamon Sugar and Raisins
  • Lunch
    Two Corn Dogs
  • Dinner
    Beans and Franks – 1/2 pack of hotdogs and can of 19oz Baked Beans

Day 2

  • Breakfast
    Toast and Jelly
  • Lunch
    Leftover Beans and Franks
  • Dinner
    Rice Baked w/Cream of Chicken Soup, Green Beans

Day 3

  • Breakfast
    Quick Oats with Cinnamon Sugar and Raisins
  • Lunch
    Leftover Baked Rice Dinner
  • Dinner
    Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce

Day 4

  • Breakfast
    Toast and Jelly
  • Lunch
    Leftover Dinner
  • Dinner
    Beef Stew w/rice

Day 5

  • Breakfast
    Quick Oats with Cinnamon Sugar and Raisins
  • Lunch
    Leftover dinner
  • Dinner
    Vigo Yellow Rice w/Black Beans

Day 6

  • Breakfast
    Toast and Jelly
  • Lunch
    Leftover dinner
  • Dinner
    Jenos Pizza

Day 7

  • Breakfast
    Quick Oats with Cinnamon Sugar and Raisins
  • Lunch
    Two Corn Dogs
  • Dinner
    Banquet Pot Pie

I've tried to mix up the dinners, simply to illustrate some variety.  Personally, there would be more rice and bean dishes if I were physically put into a situation like this.  The breakfast and lunches shown in this plan, is basically what I do now, so it wouldn't be painful at all.

Could you do it?  If so how?

Could You Survive Spending Only $25 A Week For Food? [Consumerist]
Hunger Action Month [IFBA]
They tried eating on $25 a week [MSNMoney via Digg]
25 Dollar Challenge Blog

Image: Al Pavangkanan [via Flickr]