What You Can Do: When you were shopping for the week, did you happen to notice if the grocery store actually accepts 3SquaresVT benefits? Ask you local store if they do, and if so, ask them to display the “We Welcome 3SquaresVT” cling-on decal that Hunger Free Vermont sent them (we have more if they need them). If they don’t accept benefits, give them the retailer flyer and encourage them to become authorized.
Taking the Challenge?
Post a comment to this entry below and tell us about your experience!
Here are instructions on how to post:
Click on the text that say “5 comments” below (that number will go up as more people post—so it may have a different number before “comments” by the time you are reading these instructions). This will take you to the field below the existing comments where you can post your own Challenge experiences. Please type in the box below “Post a Comment” and select either “Anonymous” or “Name/URL” from the “Comment as:” drop-down menu. If you select “Name/URL”, you don’t have to include a URL if you don’t have one.
Feel free to contact Alida at Hunger Free Vermont (802-865-0255/ aduncan@hungerfreevt.org) if you have any trouble posting and she will walk you though it! Thank you!
Grocery shopping was really tough - it took a lot of planning and calculating. I'm nervous about having enough through the entire week; I certainly don't want to under nourish my child (she's hungry ALL the time!), but I'll hold back for myself if I have to....
ReplyDeleteOn Saturday (before the challenge) I went on a long road trip with family. I was in charge of the snacks. I provided sandwiches with cold cuts, nuts, dried fruit, bananas, seltzer water, cheese, and crackers. The four of us ate most everything in one day. The cost for all this with $66-$8 more than my husband and I have for groceries this week. Putting together our weekly shopping budget on $58 was a major reality check.
ReplyDeleteI usually hit the grocery store at least three times a week, stocking up on fresh produce and random items needed for a recipe. This week, I tried to buy all my groceries for the week in one trip. Despite having a detailed list I ran into one big challenge. I am quickly learning that I have NO IDEA how much food I eat in one week! When I run out of a staple like coffee, milk, or honey, I just buy more. A pound of coffee might last me a month or two weeks - I don't know! I've never had to pay attention before. I managed to stick to my budget (just barely!), but I'm not sure if I'll have too much or too little of certain foods. I may be left with just a bunch of olive oil and apples by the end...
ReplyDeleteI found this very stressful having to try to plan out meals for the week. Then having to stick to my list when I saw that something was on sale that was not on the list but my family enjoys but would put us over budget. Also shopping with my children with me was also interesting. I found myself trying to think of foods that I could make from scratch and mash up so I could feed them to my baby instead of buying baby foods for convenience, which is costly.
ReplyDeleteI spent $34.48 at the grocery store on Sunday. This was lower than I had calculated and when I got home I realized why. Somehow the peanut butter that I had filled up on in the bulk food station didn’t make it home with me. Fortunately it didn’t make it through the check-out either, so I wasn’t charged for it, but it still put a kink in my menu for the week. What if I had traveled 20+ miles (as many in rural Vermont have to) to the store and got home to find that the peanut butter didn't make it back with me? Or what if I didn’t have a car and I had taken the bus to the store—or multiple buses, on a cold, wintery night? It may not be an option to spend the time and money to return to the store for the peanut butter. And what if, in this scenario, I also had been charged for the peanut butter, but the bagger missed it when bagging my groceries (I know that has happened to me before!)? Not only would I be out an essential source of protein, but I would also be out the money I had spent on it. I bet I would learn quickly to account for every item in my grocery bags before I left the store.
ReplyDelete