$340 monthly food stamps

[Unchained]

Lucky you! I eat out twice a day and spend about $22.00 per day. Maybe when I'm full time I can cook and save some money.

If you aren't full timing and have electricity, I highly recommend a crock pot. Using one is so easy that it hardly qualifies as cooking, and they are very cheap to buy (less than one day of eating out). You can use very inexpensive, tough cuts of meat and have them come out falling-apart tender. Really helps the food budget. They are also great for soups, stews, beans, awesome 'from scratch' spaghetti sauce and other things that provide multiple meals with a single clean up. There are also frozen meals just for crock pots that are much cheaper than eating out.

Start a crock pot in the morning and come home to dinner simmering away. As I am allergic to morning , I get mine ready the night before, then stick the crock itself in the fridge. On my way out the door the next morning, I pull the crock out of the fridge, put it in the cooker and turn it on low. When I get home, the most I have to do is boil some pasta or cook some rice, and each crock yields several meals. IMO, for those who need to stretch their food dollars (food stamps or no), esp if there is little time to cook, the crock pot is nearly a necessity.

 

[decodancer]

I love my crockpot too Unchained. It is one item I will take for sure when I move into the van for winter. The prep time is like five minutes. My favorite is a few chicken thighs, half an onion, a few baby carrots, and a quartered potato. My favorite seasoning is McCormick Montreal chicken. I use it on everything. They make a Montreal steak seasoning too. Add a cup of water or a can of broth. Replace the chicken with cheap stew meat and it's fork tender. Walking in from a long day at work and having the van smell like grandmas kitchen, there's nothing better.

 

[Belinda2]

Decodancer,
My pup is very old. But, how do you keep your young pups away from the good smelling crockpot when you are not monitoring it? Your pups are SO sweet. One even had a string of pearls with her!!!

 

[decodancer]

It's sitting on the counter Belinda, the little ones can't reach it and the big guy has never tried. I love my dogs more than life itself. The little Diva with the pearls is Cricket. She would probably prefer diamonds but Momma can't afford them

 

[Unchained]

Walking in from a long day at work and having the van smell like grandmas kitchen, there's nothing better.

Yeppers! Awhile ago, I had spaghetti sauce going in the crock inside my 5th wheel. The trailer door was open, because it was summer, and our UPS driver smelled the sauce from about 500 feet away. He wanted to know if a loaf of garlic bread would get him invited to dinner

 

[Belinda2]

Unchained,
You should have thrown some flour on your face to get full credit for slaving away all day!

 

[WanderingRain]

It is a privilege to get food supplements. We are all in the same boat and we really ought to be each other's keeper.

I'm always grateful I don't need any. But you would not guess it from what I make. Annually, I actually make less than a McDonald's employee. But then again, I live in the third world where food is cheap and affordable. Still, I am glad to render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's so my fellow Americans can get assistance they need at difficult times in their lives.

Take care and when y'all get stable, I know you will help others and pay it forward.

 

[dvdchris]

I can totally live off $340 for food...I don't even spend that now...

 

[compassrose]

We aren't on food stamps but I am cheap or frugal, depending on how you look at it. I really dislike paying for a meal that takes me less time to eat then it takes to make the money to pay for it. Plus in NM, restuarants either Pass or Fail inspections. As a certified food manager, I find that disturbing. So we rarely eat out. We find lots of copycat "restaurant" recipes online. We find copycats of the ones we like or would like to try and try them out. When we find one we really like, we try to make them to where we can freeze the excess (recipes tend to make 4 or more servings). Usually we can bake then freeze in either 2 person meal size or individual servings. Then we just thaw, heat and eat. Fast food at a fraction of the price. Do not underestimate the money saving capabilities of having a freezer. You can use a pressure cooker saucepan (stovetop or electric) and turn out "crockpot" tender meats in a half hour!

www. copycat-recipes .net
www. copykat .com
www. cdkitchen .com/recipes/copy-cat-recipes/
www. allfreecopycatrecipes .com/?gclid=CMDptIOJsr4CFUiEfgodaDAAGw

And let's not forget "homemade mixes"
www. budget101 .com/frugal/mix-recipes-166/
www. recipegoldmine .com/mixes/mixes.html

Pressure cooker recipes
http:// missvickie .com/

 

[Tippy Tipi]

Here where I am, they give out pet food at the food pantry if you need it. And I just learned that there's a free vet clinic for pets on Sundays from 9am to 1pm in Eugene for people who are homeless or live in RV's due to low income. (I live about 30 min. south of Eugene.) I have two little min pins and normally, I budget their dog food into my expenses. I only get $535 a month in Social Security.

I do get the maximum of food stamps and I live just fine on that. I don't have a big fridge so I shop for meats and other protein sources that don't require refrigeration and only buy fresh what will fit in the little apartment sized fridge I have. In the winter, I put a gate across the walkway up near the door to keep the cold air from there from coming into the living area and then used the colder area up by the door for refrigeration. I have a bushel basket and I put things like potatoes and onions and other things right by the door. It works great. I only recently had to quit relying on that.

 

[cannedsquatch]

Even with a full time job, and only eating twice a day, eating out is a serious dent on pocket money. Considering that I have an aldi nearby, and $20 can be stretched out pretty effectively, $340 a month for a single person (even with my metabolism) is more than enough to cover any food costs that people can accrue...

 

[Lucky mike]

I think as posted farther back in the thread.....340 a month in food stamps (EBT) is not for just one person its more like 180 to 200 for a single person with no other means of income.

if there is 340 within a household I would think there are children involved or a second independent person not claimed within the household collecting.

I hold no shame saying that I receive 189 EBT Food and 1129 SSD/I monthly ....to which I paid into for 40 plus years.

189.00 is alot of good quality food with proper meal planning and savy shopping!!
I make my breads & Snacks on board..and keep a small 12 v freezer for storage.....

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Mike...You're making out great on the EBT. With my $740 S.S. they only give me just under $60 on EBT. Could it be that you've not reported your increase yet?? That being the case, EBT will drop off big time.

 

[Lucky mike]

My SSD/I & EBT were filed basically at the same time so I dont know?.....I do know that it is calculated by the state your residency is in , so that could be it ....I did receive a raise in monthly from S.S due to a shift in SSI/D to SSD/I where it got a little messed up from court paperwork.....721 to 1129 is a big difference not to mention the upgrade in medical which is what I needed most.

Hope your doing well on the conversion Jay!!......hopefully we will meet up later in the year as I determine where Im going to winter it out this year

 

[Zil]

Unemployed mother with three dependent children may get $360 month. Try that budget.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Mike...We're looking forward to crossing paths with you.
We've got to spend some time in Tucson next winter for medical stuff, but will be going to Q for RTR for sure.
We're just kicking back enjoying our visit to Flagstaff, but will add to the van interior after payday.
We're having a ball and really dig having the van.