As the Government shutdown continues, there is a lot of nervousness around SNAP and WIC. Families that depend on these need to start preparing now in case their benefits are lost. Luckily, we are going into the soup and casserole season, which are both great ways to stretch meals to feed hungry bellies. If you've read this blog for a while you might remember I did a few posts talking about shelf stable foods and uses for them. You can search the words shelf stable and lots of posts will come up. Hopefully, over time, we have been able to build up a little cushion of shelf stable foods that we can fall back on in an emergency. But there are a few more steps we can take before the end of the month to help grow that cushion.
1. Evaluate the way our family eats. Look at what can be cut out, swapped for less expensive ideas, and what needs to stay. For example, years ago, we cut out pop at home, swapped chips in lunches for saltine crackers, and cut back on meat. But, after the cuts, we realized some in our family need a little more protein than others, so we take that into account now and prioritize making sure they have enough.
2. Reset your budget. The time to make cuts is now, not after we lose our benefits. This is so important. Anything we can save now will help down the road. If it turns out that our benefits don't get cut, then that money can be used to stockpile the cabinets or used for something else entirely.
3. Devote more time to saving money while shopping. It definitely takes more time to visit multiple stores, research online, keeping track of where we get the best prices and going through sale ads, but it will be worth it. It's hard, but we can do it. Along with that, looking for deals in odd places. One of our gas stations also sells shelf stable foods and basic cleaning supplies in a little carry out store type thing. When things are near their sell by date, they mark them down. It would never occur to me to cruise through the gas station looking for deals, but the other day I went in instead of paying at the pump and there was a display of marked down canned baked beans! So I bought a bunch! The cashier laughed and said "Hey, you do what you gotta do!" So I try to remember if I run in for something, to take a quick look around just in case.
4. Stock up on deals with the benefits we have now. With Fall sales starting, a lot of shelf stable items will go on sale, take advantage so that it is already in your cabinet when you need it later. Also, we need to make sure we spend our benefits wisely, buying the least expensive options where they are accepted and saving cash for getting things that are cheaper where they aren't accepted. Like here, you can't use benefits at the farm stand, but you can pay cash for vegetables that are cheaper than in the grocery store. So it makes sense to buy the vegetables with cash and spend the benefits on something else that is cheaper from the grocery.
5. Find your local food banks and figure out how they work. Our small town has several options, and they all work differently. Where I volunteer, food is donated to them, they put it out every day, and it is first come first served no questions asked. This is easy, but it also means you can't count on any specific thing being there, or even being anything left later in the day. They also give out free sack lunches everyday. Another site requires you be referred by the county. One of the bigger churches in town opens their pantry twice a month for a couple of hours in the morning where you sign in and they give you a prepacked bag and let you pick out cleaning and hygiene supplies. Each site has different requirements, different hours and different days, so knowing all that information ahead of time can save a headache if we find we are running low and need to utilize one.
6. Do Not Be Ashamed to ask for help. It is just life and people go through some hard stuff sometimes.
I hope you all have a great week, and PLEASE, if you have any tips to share, I would love it if you would!
~Sarah
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