Ahhh, grocery day!

Yes folks, watch me adjust my neon pink leggings and scream at my kids! Today I got my food stamps!

Actually, I'm told that a larger proportion of the population than ever before is receiving the newly-renamed food stamps. Now called SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the only ones who need to know that you are using SNAP benefits are the cashier and yourself. The benefits are loaded onto a debit card (which is also how cash benefits are received) and a running tally of your balance is printed at the bottom of each sales receipt. No more bizarre looking funny money (which I personally have never seen, but I understand it was very conspicuous), just swipe and go.

Since I got my benefits today, I decided to use them as wisely as possible. I budgeted enough to order several AngelFood boxes for myself and my brother, who is going through a rough patch. (His compter training school closed without warning to either students or their teachers, and he is anxious to see whether he will be allowed to finish school at another location. Meantime, his work hours were trimmed to allow for class and study time.) With my budget in place, I headed to Aldi with children in tow.

Allow me, once again, to state that shopping with two children should only be done at Aldi. The four aisle layout, low prices, lack of brand names (and corresponding jingles), and singularity of purpose lends itself well to shopping with highly distractable children (and adults).

Anyhow, I stocked up on non-perishables. every month I try to buy a cardboard flat of two or three canned goods. Last month it was corn, peas, baked beans and cream of mushroom soup. This month it was tomatoes, and pasta sauce, with lots of doubles and triples on things like peanut butter and pancake syrup. Lots of flour, sugar, other goodies, and we have enough staples to last for a while! The total spent for a VERY full cart load was $135, most of which was shelf-stable. Eggs, butter, milk, bread and meat were the only things that I'll have to buy again in the near future, and I think next months stock up items will be different pastas. I may have to go to Weis to stock up on dried beans - Aldi mainly carries pinto beans - and then I think I'll be pretty close to having 3 months worth of food, even if meals get a little monotonous.
Since I can't wrangle a traditional emergency fund right now, this edible emergency fund seems like a sensible move! I just need to keep rotating my stock!
Stay smart!