groceriesRecently the South Dakota social services office published a report that said the average individual that received food stamps was living on just under $25.00 a week for a grocery budget. They took this information and decided to create an awareness campaign by challenging many prominent officials and businessman to try to live on $25.00 a week in groceries. They couldn’t take free food, go out to eat, or use any of the groceries they already had at home. What if you only had $25.00 for a grocery budget? How would you spend it? Would you be able to keep your stomach full and maintain a healthy diet?

Most of us spend a significantly more than $25.00 each week on our grocery budgets, especially those who live in metropolitan areas and have higher food costs. I wondered if I had to eat on $25.00 each week for groceries and could literally eat nothing else, how would I make it happen?

I came up with a sample grocery budget:
- ½ Gallon of Milk $2.00
- Generic box of cereal $2.50
- 3 cans of Soup – $3.50
- 2 Lunchables – $3.00
- Loaf of Bread – $1.00
- Cheese Slices – $2.00
- Turkey Slices – $1.50
- 1 12pk Mountain Lightning (generic Mountain Dew) – $2.50
- 5 Banquet Frozen Dinners – $6.00
- 4 Banana’s – $1.00

It’s a pretty meager grocery budget, that’s for sure. For my 21 meals in a week, I’d have 5 frozen dinners, 2 Lunchables, 3 cans of soup, 6 bowls of cereal, and 5 turkey and cheese sandwiches. That’ll make for 21 meals in a week for just at $25.00. It would be just enough to get by, but it sure wouldn’t be fun to eat!

If you lose your job or have another financial crisis which makes it so that you have to live on a mere $25.00 a week, consider reading our posts: “How to Rise for the Rising Cost of Groceries” and “How to Eat on $20.00 a Month”.



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