One thing that helped me stretch my SNAP benefits was: I have never been on SNAP but instead, I have learned to eat a simpler diet, when food money is low, and food insecurity is high..Flaked Instant potatoes, may not sound great but they go a long way and are very inexpensive. They are just dehydrated potatoes..And stop buying the expensive meats. You dont need that much meat. When you're eating for survival, stop buying it like you're thriving..I am not food insecure now, but I still hate the idea of spending $7 on a pack of hot dogs, when theres a perfectly good pack of Bar S hot dogs for 1.50..I mean its HOT DOGS. They arent exactly a delicacy. Get the cheap ones..I also buy mostly generic brands, and I buy whatever is the cheapest, ounce for ounce, rather than total price. Like, I will spend $11 on a big bottle of EVOO even though its 7 dollars more than a tiny bottle, why? Because the tiny bottle costs 93 cents an ounce and the one I got is 0.40 per ounce. I get more than double the food that way. And theres no shame in buying frozen chopped onions and produce/ juices. It just lasts longer, and frankly it can sometimes be cheaper than the fresh produce. Weigh it out to see. People need to get their calculators out and divide the cost by ounce. 1 lb = 16 oz, so it helps to check how many ozs you would buy of fresh produce, by weighing it..Calculate your per oz costs, and multiply accordingly. Often times, the PLU labels will give you the amt per ounce, but with produce, you have to do some calculations. Also, understand that "fat content" in ground beef, is mostly just what you would be draining away anyway.IDK about you, but I dont think its worth it to spend DOUBLE on a ground beef chub, just because it has 10% less fat. Whoopee you just got 10% more beef than you would have gotten in the much cheaper high fat chub, and paid double for it. Thats not smart shopping, imho.
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