Eating on Food Stamps in the 1990s

Last week I found a real gem: a notebook from 1994 and 1995 when I recorded everything I purchased in preparation for writing an article in the San Francisco Examiner/Youth Outlook about being on food stamps. I was 18, living on my own, working  and going to school, but even with working full time (at several part time jobs) I still didn't make enough to feed myself on my own.

Last week I posted one month of grocery shopping entries.  Here's another month. In this month I apparently didn't have transportation and so I shopped once, for the entire month. You'll notice there's not a lot of fresh food on the list compared to the other month. In this particular month I spent $113.55.

Same caveats, as last time: 1) please excuse the spelling, I put this in just as I wrote it; and 2) keep in mind that prices aren't that low even though it was 20 years ago because I'm from San Francisco.

2% milk gallon - 2	3.68
carrots - large cello bag	1.99
bread - 4 loaves day old	8
eggs - 2 dozen	4.28
mustard	1.49
chicken necks	2.54
dried parsley	0.69
bag of oranges	2.69
canned peas	0.59
canned carrots	0.59
frozen brocolli	0.99
frozen corn	0.99
brussel sprouts - 1 box	1.99
margarine - 1 box	2.49
orange marmalade	1.99
millet - large bag	2.68
brown sugar - 1 bag	1.99
onions	2.16
lettuce	0.49
black beans dry	2.99
pinto beans dry	2.99
lima beans dry	2.99
bean soup mix dry	2.99
lentils dry	2.99
white rice	3.75
white flour bag	2.68
canned beets	0.69
yogurt - 5	1.55
bag of potatoes	3.5
bag of apples	2.59
Dry skim milk	4.89
Cream of wheat cereal	1.98
garlic powder	0.79
white vinegar	0.99
can of garbonzo beans	0.89
peanut butter	3.89
ground turkey in a tube	2.99
frozen spinach	0.99
lemon juice	1.99
turnips - large bag	2.68
spaghetti squash	2.25
canned tomatoes - 10	9.9
egg noodles - 3	3.3
macaroni noodles - 4 bags	4