Missing meals...

I, too, - like SPFB CEO David Weaver - am taking the Texas "SNAP" (formerly known as food stamps) Challenge. It has been a challenge that has brought back LOTS of feelings and emotions...

Just this past July, I ended 18 months of myself and my son relying on SNAP benefits. I am not that far off from the panic and anxiety that I lived with day in and day out - worrying that my son was going to have enough to eat. That kind of fear and worry does something to you... no one should have to live on that kind of emotional roller coaster.

So here I am again, living on a food stamp budget... and again - we are doing with out lots.

When I first shopped, I didn't include my 2 1/2 year-old son in my budget - but my housemate jumped on board.

Then after much discussion we decided to include Connor because we face a reality that many on SNAP probably face...(more on that in a moment) and so we went back to the drawing board and "reshopped!"

So now, we are not only dealing with a very limited budget for two adults and a toddler - but also have to budget for the special dietary needs for Connor, my toddler son, who is a type 1 diabetic.

Now a whole new ball game, but most likely a reality that some SNAP families face!

With $62.70 - cash and not a penny more - we headed to the stores...

We shopped for Connor first; making sure we had the specialty items we felt he should and has to have for these five days... a little bit of real juice to treat low sugars; then a no sugar flavored drink for everyday drinking. Then his snacks, because he has to have snacks between meals and before bed to keep his sugars stable. Next breakfast... we had to go with his usual TLC breakfast bars instead of less expensive off-brands because the TLC bars have no added high fructose corn syrup, which drives his sugars up along with other breakfast foods for him. Anyway, the list goes on...

We figured about half of our budget would go for Connor's special needs. We paid for all of that first and then took it to the car so that we would know exactly to the penny how much we had left for the two of us...

$21.77 - for two adults for five days.

But then we decided to stash $10 - just in case Connor ran out of something or we needed something for him in an emergency.

$11.77 - for two adults for five days.

Bottom line...

We are missing meals.