So what are the rules for the food stamp challenge? We, Mary and Dave, limit our spending on food to that allowed by the NY Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). http://otda.ny.gov/programs/snap/ In our case that works out to $367 for a couple of two ($83-a-week).
How is this different from Cory Booker's challenge? One, ours is longer, he did it for a week, we are doing it for a month so we can develop a budget. Second, Booker was doing the average SNAP allowance, which is somewhat less than the maximum. However in those cases SNAP is supposed to supplement other spending on food. A friend, with cause to know, assures us that receiving the maximum amount is not not unusual. Our challenge may not be as difficult day-to-day as his, but it is more sustained.
On a day-to-day basis this specifically means we only use food we bought after we started the challenge. If we use some food that we have around we pro-rate. No free food at work, unless its "paid" for, we dock ourselves what we think its worth from our remaining allowance. We do allow ourselves anything that we could get for free; ketchup, mustard, sugar, salt, pepper.
A few exceptions. Dave unexpectedly had to work late, until midnight, and the boss graciously purchased dinner, it was expensed at the $2 a meal limit. We also spent a weekend visiting Dave's brother in Pittsburgh, rather than force Chris and Kristen to eat on our budget we decided to extend our challenge by two days.
Omar is, of course, a lot stricter. Every morsel is accounted for. Looking forward to hearing more about that later...
Don't be so tough on yourselves; there's an excellent chance that Dave's boss spent less than $2 on that dinner --- just like there's an excellent chance that I'm not being sarcastic. :)
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