I Am Judy ... on $62 a Week for Groceries
by Alanna Kellogg

The few-months old blog at Epicurious, the magnificent home to most recipes from Gourmet and Bon Appetit, is generating only a few comments a post. But this one, highlighting iamjudy's attempt to live at the poverty level, is drawing passionate response. It's worth a visit, worth some thought, worth your comment, worth ... $62 a week for groceries?

Contributing Editor Alanna Kellogg invests quarters for vegetables at A Veggie Venture and dollars for fresh seasonal recipes for everyday healthful eating and occasional indulgences at Kitchen Parade.

Submitted by Alanna Kellogg (view blog) on Tue, 09/12/2006 - 20:33

Comments

 

yowza

What an interesting thread that is, Alanna. People certainly have their hackles up. Thanks for highlighting this; I'll be looking for Judy's results with interest.

--
Mir from WCS
(BlogHer Mommy & Family contributing editor)

Personal: Woulda Coulda Shoulda

Having it all with less: Want Not

Submitted by Mir Kamin on Tue, 09/12/2006 - 18:55
 

Very interesting Experiment

Very interesting. I am not even remotely considering making a confession about how much I spend a week for groceries for one peron who's writing a food blog, but needless to say, it's a lot more than $62. (I do try not to waste food and give quite a bit to my nephew, who's a college student!)

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Submitted by Kalyn Denny on Tue, 09/12/2006 - 20:18
 

Interesting

Not an experiment I really want to take part in right now. I'm still feeling a little too close to my starving student days.

The thing with people comparing how much they spend on groceries for x number of people is that food prices (and quality) vary so widely between different regions. Unless people live in the same area and have the same exact resources in terms of stores, farmers markets, etc. comparison is really hard. Or at least in my experience. When I was a starving student I would prowl around on frugal living sites and I found a lot things just weren't applicable to where I lived.

Sassymonkey, Sassymonkey Reads, and Sassymonkey Eats

Submitted by sassymonkey on Wed, 09/13/2006 - 07:49
 

Thanks, All

I'd hoped that the BlogHer community would embrace Judy's heartfelt (she wrote via backchannels this morning that she's been thinking about this for 20 years!) effort. I sense she's a lifelong learner with a big heart and am glad that BlogHers are recognizing that dimension. And dontcha just think she needs her own blog? (hint, hint, Judy ...)

Submitted by Alanna Kellogg on Wed, 09/13/2006 - 08:23
 

Poverty is also structural

One thing I noticed right away in this thread - poverty is also structural, not just related to a specific amount of money. In other words, access to grocery stores, time available to shop, plan, and prepare, basic access to facilities for cooking, and general stability or instability of life, housing, etc. All that factors in. (Not even considering what knowledge or experience or expecations you go into your "situation poverty" with.)

So when I didn't have a job but had to feed 2 people on $25 a week it wasn't so bad. I could take the bus to the store. I had time.

If you are working... imagine working swing shifts, you have kids, urban neighborhood, pretty much your options are the corner liquor/convienience store. Pick a time in your life when you are very stressed under a lot of deadlines, borrow a couple of toddlers, and then walk to the corner store and see how healthy and cheap and easy you cook? That would be a bit more fair of an experiment. Then, lose your bus pass and don't be able to afford to replace it. Hahaha. You will eat a lot of stale toast.

It is still very much worth doing what Judy did. I'm not knocking it.

But I encourage people to complicate it. And to look beyond the mere dollar amount spent.

Peace,

Liz

-----------------
Liz Henry
lizzard@bookmaniac.net
Badgermama - personal & mommyblog
http://liz-henry.blogspot.com

Submitted by Liz Henry on Wed, 09/13/2006 - 15:58
 

My testimony on being broke (without money)
not poor

I've lived it and survived it but I have to tell you for the broke, near broke and poor this is an every day thing. Being broke is one thing. Poor is both a financial and emotional state of being. That is a another topic.

And $62 is too much money per week for groceries. How much do I want to confess here? Hmmm, let me just say that life is a lot better than it was between 1991 -1993. Factor in 9/11, Enron, the economy tanking and extented unemployment.

Unemployment check was $104 every 14 days. Pay rent, utilities, phone and buy food with that amount in California. Thank God for glass and aluminum recyling.

It was hard. You have to beat out the seniors looking for the old marked down veggies and meats. You shop down scale markets where they don't say hi or great you warmly but you know that if you hit it on certain days you can find meat just about to go out of code.

The 99 Cents Only store is your life line because you might only have three dollars and if you work it right you can eat for two or three days and buy 33 cents TP. Lots of starches and processed food in cans filed with sodium.

Shopping while broke brings up feelings of survival and shame and "have I done all I could". Unless you lived it and totally cleared your cubbards of prior food stock you can't understand what it is like.

Having said that - yeah, go ahead. Give it a go to see how "deprived" you feel on $62. There is a value in the experience. You can come up with good healthy meals for $62 a week. You might find that you cut down on the intake of corn syrup and processed food fats.

But if you only have $10, $5 or $3 to spend per week or every other week that is a different reality.

Hmmm, I have to admit this touched a nerve. Need to spend quiet time remembering I'm in the here and now and I am safe.

Gena - Out On The Stoop Video Blog

Submitted by Gena Haskett on Wed, 09/13/2006 - 17:34
 

touched a nerve here, too

That has touched a nerve here, too, Gena. Being poor is definitely a state of mind. I spent 1980-2001 living that life... with brief respites when I stayed with family and friends instead of my parents, and lived with friends in college.

I start to think back at the 'have I done enough' shame... and am happy i only had to feel it for myself, as I know my mother still feels the sting of what-might-have-beens when it comes to myself and my sister.

And those times I spent homeless, you don't have the choice of cooking. So, you find the fast food places with the most filling item on the under $1 menu, or you visit friends alot and just really help out around their house cleaning up so they are sure to invite you back for dinner again soon.

A lot of feelings have come back from those times, as they were so much more of my life than my current 'prosperity'. I choose to feel good about the differences, and am now to where I rarely think about the past.

THIS is my life, not the deprivation and uncertainty that it was growing up. I do try to take time out to appreciate.

:-/ interesting topic indeed.

Melanie Perry
***not all who wander are lost***
Mistress of the Dorkness

Submitted by Mistress Of The Dorkness on Thu, 09/14/2006 - 18:48
 

I have never had to worry

I have never had to worry about the cost of food.
I would probably go with just about every other luxury before I had to limit my food choices.

this is a fascinating discussion, something it would be interesting to try.

But I would never wish anyone to be in the place Gena found herself. And too often I guess us lucky ones forget that is where many people are. Thank you, Gena for reminding us how good we have it.

Submitted by sam breach on Thu, 09/14/2006 - 07:56
 

Being broke is one thing.

Being broke is one thing. Poor is both a financial and emotional state of being.

I've been thinking about this since reading it last night. It's a big thought, a big lesson, maybe obvious but not too.

Submitted by Alanna Kellogg on Thu, 09/14/2006 - 18:10
 

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for sharing this Alanna. It's been very interesting to read through, and is very helpful to me at this time. I think that Judy's idea has merit, and I am looking forward to seeing her results on the whole experiment. Growing up, there were definitely times where we had pancakes 4 nights a week, because a jumbo bag of mix was about 4 bucks, and it would service us for several weeks. While I do think the $62 a week is high where I live, I am certain that in other places $62 a week is low.

This does help me to realize that I am going about my planning all wrong though. With an upcoming "tightening of the checkbook" I see that I should choose a target budget and stick to it, rather than plan out a weeks worth of shopping, and hope that I can afford it. It gives me a different perspective that I didn't think of before. So thanks for posting this! It's quite helpful.

Submitted by mrswaz on Sat, 09/23/2006 - 17:21