I'm a 27 year old, newly married, newly living in Washington, librarian trying to find a job in a library. Meanwhile I'm working as a office assistant while I figure out how to live my new life as a wife.
Geoff, my wonderful, caring husband works with computers and, in his free time, plays with video games, lounges on the couch and cooks with sourdough.
Clarabelle and Hermione are our babies! Hermione, who came to Megg as a kitten, loves playing with fur mice and bottle caps. Clarabelle's hobbies include sleeping, lying in the sun and playing with straws. 
Geoff and Megg met through a mutual friend and spent 4 years dating long distance. They were finally able to live in the same zipcode after what seemed like forever when they got married on January 2, 2010! Soon after they bought a house and have been enjoying the Pacific Northwest together while being both newlyweds and new homeowners!
Due to last week's Harry Potter series, I haven't posted anything in the way of menu planning or food stamp updates. I wanted everyone, like myself, to focus on the new Harry Potter movie. Ahem. I'm back to business now, however.
Earlier this month I insisted to Geoff that it wasn't a good month to do the Food Stamp Challenge because it was a longer month than usual. He pointed out to me that this was, in fact, untrue, to which I replied that we should have done it in February.
The truth is, this has proven to be a very difficult challenge for me. When we last left off, I had $141.47 left, which was before I did a little shopping for our camping trip. That was $15.22, and when we got home I did have to buy a loaf of bread for $1.69 so I now have $124.56 left.
When I was looking at The Non Consumer Advocate's blog the other day, I noticed that there are a total of 7 people, including the Non Consumer who are doing this challenge. I confess I was disappointed when I saw this. Why aren't more people attempting to save money for a month, or live like the many, many poverty level people in the United States? I think the answer is because it is very difficult to live like this. I find myself pouring over every single thing I put into my shopping cart, and I even look over it all before checking out. I passed on cereal this week because I didn't think we could afford it, we were already spending more than I thought we would. I stretched the last bit of oatmeal out so I didn't have to buy any more until the next week, even though oatmeal is about the cheapest thing I buy.
I do look forward to seeing how the rest of the month plays out, and I do challenge you to try this challenge some time. It's actually inspiring me to attempt to lower my own grocery budget to challenge myself every month (it will still be more than I'm spending this month, though).
Are you trying the food stamp challenge? How are you doing? Do you think I'm crazy??
