Aw... SNAP

I read an article on Facebook written by an nutritionist from a college.  She was clearly uninformed without logic.  She stated that the average person on SNAP had 4.50 a day to eat.  The next statement was that most of the supermarket coupons were for junk food and that was making the poor people eat unhealthy food.  Any time I read anything I ask myself, does it pass the BLT-- Basic Logic Test.

Let's get this logic.  Last I looked, a bag of potato chips was at least two dollars.  If one ate a bag of potato chips and a soda for a buck. That would leave a 1.50 for food for the day.  It is nearly impossible to buy junk food and still feed a family on three hundred dollars a month.  It is true that you can't pay the prices for designer coffee and organic everything.  The figures just don't add up.

Coupons come in all shapes and sizes.  Because they are out there, doesn't mean people have to use them.  If you can't find coupons for real food, you aren't looking in the right place.  The smart source that came with the ads has a coupon for MJB coffee and one for spaghetti.  There are coupons for basic food, you just have to look past the garbage.

Last months spread sheet showed me spending an average of fifty dollars a week for three adults.  That does not cover the food my daughter buys, but we supplement the grandbaby too.  Regardless, the figure for just my husband and myself is about 85.00 a week for the USDA thrifty plan.
We eat some processed food, I try to limit it to one day a week.  We don't eat organic,gluten free, salt free, or fat free; I do cook low fat meats, defat hamburger and sausage, and watch the sugar content of foods.

SNAP can happen.  It does take a realistic approach to food prep and purchasing.  It takes some knowledge of how to do it.  I have read everything I could find since I was in the position of having to get by on next to nothing in the sixties and seventies.  I took the BLT test on everything I read and tried things that didn't work,but in the end I have come up with a system that works.  I just wish I could reach the right people.  I cringe when I hear someone running out of money before they run out of month because they have fed their family a hamburger meal box and sugar laden fruit cups and drinks.  Reasonable nutrition can happen.  You just have to know how.

I feed us well.  I don feed us what an extreme foodie would, but I don't feed us what an extreme couponer would either. ( based on what goes on the cart on one reality show) .  I try to hit a moderate happy medium.

I use coupons for real food.  I usually save about six dollars  a week.  Six times 52 is 312 dollars a year.
That's 312 dollars that I am not wasting.  Because, when I don't take advantage of a coupon on something that I would buy anyway,I  am wasting money.  That savings does not include the coupons in the store ads.  The store ads, I feel have coupons to limit the amount that can be purchased by one individual. Otherwise,when something is a really good price,  some people would clear the shelves. Clearing the shelves is just plain rude. Even when you're stocking you should take a reasonable amount and leave the bargain for someone  else too.

It is true, you can get a real sense of accomplishment when that register receipt has a 67 percent savings at the bottom, but it is only real if you have bought real food your family will eat.

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Jane