Worried about the pause on SNAP benefits? Here’s how my family stretched $40 for groceries per week

When I say we’ve been there, honey, we’ve been there. Not qualifying for food aid, we had our grocery budget down to a science.

They might’ve waited until the 11th hour to do it, but Virginia did actually come through for its people when SNAP benefits came to a grinding halt because of the government shutdown. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance Program on Oct. 28, which aims to supplement benefits on a weekly basis. 

While the Democrats are fighting to keep health insurance affordable, President Donald Trump continues to keep the government—and the funding that goes along with it—in limbo. 

But the thought of going without? It’s something that, for a while, especially as new parents, we definitely faced in our household. 

We never planned to go down to one income when our son was born, but a medical scare when he was a few weeks old made that decision for us. Then, of course, there were the bills to go with that—on top of thousands of dollars for an unplanned c-section—and things were looking pretty darn bleak in our bank account for quite a while.

Our little family of three lived off of my husband’s income, around $32,000 pre-tax. I freelanced, which paid for my student loans each month, and that was about it. After all the bills were paid and baby items purchased, we had a whopping $38 left for groceries per week.

Even though we applied for assistance to heat our home in 2018, we were denied. I did a little research—which was harder at the time, since we didn’t have internet in our home or unlimited data on our phones—and discovered we were about $3,000 above the poverty line. We didn’t qualify for anything at all. 

Since we had no other option, we got creative with our food budget. There were a lot of fried penny lunches and even more macaroni and tomato soup nights. Not familiar with those delicacies? Well, with the uncertainty in the country right now with SNAP benefits in limbo, allow me to introduce you. You might even find a new—albeit admittedly odd—favorite. 

Multi-night meals

One thing we focused heavily on at the time was buying ingredients we could use several times a week. Since we aren’t big on breakfast, we focused on things that would taste good and be rather filling for lunch and dinner.

My husband and I quickly discovered that Campbell’s sold a four-pack of condensed tomato soup for $5. We paired that with a store brand box of elbow noodles for $1 and used water from our sink to boil the two together into my personal favorite, macaroni and tomato soup. 

It’s a recipe my dad used to make all the time, so it was already special to me—I just didn’t realize how economical it was until my husband and I were footing the bill. But, hey, it fed us four separate days for a grand total of $6. Win-win. 

We had $32 left, which brings us to fried pennies. It’s another treat from my childhood; my mom usually made those in the summertime. Quick, simple, and yummy—with multi-meal potential.

Assuming you have cooking oil on hand already, all you need to pick up at the store is a $1 red onion and your favorite brand of hot dog (we’re not vegetarians, but we love Lightlife’s Smart Dogs, which run about $5 for a pack of eight). For our family, that was enough to make meals for two nights.  

I cut half of the onion into thin slices and simmered it in oil. Then, I cut up four hot dogs—which look like a bunch of coins when you toss them together—and fried them up with the onions. Chef’s kiss, and $26 left in the budget. 

Here’s where it gets really tasty: Vegetarian chili. And no, we’re still not vegetarians, I promise. Up front, this one looks a little pricier. The payout is in the sheer amount of food this recipe makes—enough to feed us an easy four or five times.  

The extra good news? It’s a one-pot meal, and it only takes about 30 minutes to make. We go store brand when we can with things, but you’ll want to get the Morning Star griller crumbles as the veggie meat. Trust me. It’s only about $6 for a hefty bag.  

Add in a big can of petite diced tomatoes ($2), tomato paste ($1), a jar of salsa ($2), a red onion ($1) and three cans of red kidney beans ($1 each). Want to make it really special? Throw some shredded cheese ($2) and sour cream ($1) on top for extra flavor. 

Altogether, that’s about $18—but considering how many servings it makes (and how well it freezes), that’s a pretty good deal. Especially when there’s just a few meals left in the week and $8 remaining to spend. 

Introducing: Veggie soup. Do I need the disclaimer again? Granted, this is really starting to make that low-iron thing while I was pregnant make a lot more sense. But lack-of-meat jokes aside, this one’s very dear to me. Growing up, my grandma (she’s 90 now; hi, Grandma) made her incredible soup multiple times per year. It was my absolute favorite thing to eat, period. 

When I went to Tennessee to see my brother and sister-in-law—and stayed on a whim for a job opportunity and college—I lamented to Grandma that I couldn’t survive without her soup for the next few months. She surprised me with the ingredients and taught me how to make it over my brother’s apartment stove.  

An additional plus besides sentiment? Yep, it’s another one-pot-wonder. You’ll need a large can of crushed tomatoes ($2), a can of lima beans ($1), a can of corn ($1), a red onion ($1), and two large red potatoes ($1). The only extra thing you’ll do—besides adding salt to taste—is add some water from your tap, equivalent to the amount from the crushed tomato can. 

Chop up your onions and taters, and boil everything together for about 30 minutes. Not only do you still have $2 left in your budget, but you’ve also got enough soup to last for several days (it freezes well, too).

So, what’d we do with that extra $2? Splurged on those $1 off-brand two liters, of course. Dr. Perky is still a staple here, years later. 

 Developing a plan 

We were frugal—and our jeans fit a little looser—but we never once went without. We also switched it up some weeks, making things like bean and cheese quesadillas or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. When I say we’ve been there, honey, we’ve been there—and we had that budget down to a science. 

What I suggest is to alternate, alternate, alternate. Create a weekly plan based off of the ingredients you have, and try not to have the same meal back-to-back. So, if you make chili on Monday, go for the fried pennies on Tuesday and soup on Wednesday before circling back to leftover chili on Thursday. It gives your palate a great variety, while also ensuring you use what you’ve purchased.

If you’re concerned about having food on the table in the weeks to come, I encourage you to reach out to organizations in your area that might offer food assistance. From local churches to community food pantries, you might be surprised about the number of resources available near you. 

For starters, check out FoodPantries.org. There, you can access information for 345 food pantries across Virginia, listed by locale. 

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