Need ideas

[Katie's Butterflies]

My friend is going through a very tough time. Because of some situations that I am not going to discuss here, she has almost no income. (maybe $15 a week) She literally has no food and is very stressed (understandably).

I want to help her. I was able to give her a small bag of dry/canned food, however, she needs more help. I am going to help her sign up with the local Catholic Charities so that she can get a box of food every 3 months, but I think I also want to get her some “staple” foods that she can fall back on and supplement as needed. I’m afraid, though, that my list of staples falls a bit short.

Can anyone give me some ideas as to what types of foods will last, are versatile, and relatively cheap? I’m also open to any suggestions on how to get her help.

Please no flames, I’m just trying to help her get back on her feet.

My list so far:
Beans
Bread
Canned/bottled spaghetti sauce
Canned/frozen fruit, veggies
Noodles
Oatmeal
Rice

 

[momof1princess]

pasta, peanut butter (and perhaps jelly or jam), canned soups and/or stews, saltine crackers, kool-aid, sugar, flour.

and may God bless you, for trying so hard to help your friend.

 

[suejai]

I would add:

tuna
peanut butter
salt
sugar
flour
raisins
canned tomatoes
maybe some dried herbs

 

[Liberty Belle]

Everything I've thought of is on your list or one of the others. You may want to post this on the budget board. Some of the people there are very good at stretching their grocery budget.

 

[autumnpalm]

I would add to the list some sort of nuts, lentil/chickpeas, frozen dinners and cereal.

You're a wonderful friend.

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

Thank you, everyone, for the ideas! I really appreciate them. I honestly would not have thought of several of the items, so thank you!

Everything I've thought of is on your list or one of the others. You may want to post this on the budget board. Some of the people there are very good at stretching their grocery budget.

That’s a good idea. I’ll do that right now.

 

[momof1princess]

if she has a freezer, bread can be frozen, and if you have a bakery thrift store, you can get good, whole wheat bread for about $1.00 per loaf. i'm told milk can also be frozen, but i've never tried it. in my city, aldi has the cheapest milk, it's about $2.79 per gallon.

 

[quasar4legs]

tea or coffee

 

[Sparx]

Do you have a local food bank? Typically they take the person's income and family type (how many kids/adults, etc) and allocate an amount of food based on that. I believe your friend would actually have to physically do this herself though. You may be able to get her in touche with them, though.

If her income is as low as you said it is, she qualifies for government assistance.

You're doing a great thing. In this day and age there is no reason anyone should be without food.

 

[barkley]

oil (helps with the pasta and other items).

think of things that take little or nothing to make a complete food item (that's the way the food pantry at social services was set up).

if you provide dry beans, lentils and things of that nature make sure she knows how to prepare them (and idealy has some seasonings).

some other items-

mayo (helps with sandwiches and the tuna)
mac and cheese (but only if she has/you provide butter and milk)
top ramen (VERY versitle-and it can stetch a meager amount of veggies or meat)
potatos (fresh and instant)
onions
buillon cubes (great for seasoning beans)
dry soup mix



if she has kids (esp. since they are out or soon to be of school) or someone who needs to pack lunches-the generic brand of pudding/jello/fruit cups, big bag of tortilla chips or pretzles (and some small zip lock bags), bread, lunch meat/tuna/pb&j, some type of drink.

for drinking as a whole, the least expensive route is a powdered drink like lemonaide or tea.


cereal is a great idea, but it does require milk which can be low on someone's shopping list when budgeting.

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

if she has a freezer, bread can be frozen, and if you have a bakery thrift store, you can get good, whole wheat bread for about $1.00 per loaf. i'm told milk can also be frozen, but i've never tried it. in my city, aldi has the cheapest milk, it's about $2.79 per gallon.

Unfortunately, our outlets left several years ago. Thankfully, the 99cent store still sells loaves of bread for $1. Plus, milk is about $2 at sam's and walmart, so it's not too bad.

oil (helps with the pasta and other items).

if you provide dry beans, lentils and things of that nature make sure she knows how to prepare them (and idealy has some seasonings).

some other items-

mayo (helps with sandwiches and the tuna)
mac and cheese (but only if she has/you provide butter and milk)
top ramen (VERY versitle-and it can stetch a meager amount of veggies or meat)
potatos (fresh and instant)
onions
buillon cubes (great for seasoning beans)
dry soup mix

Thanks for the ideas. Yes, she does have experience with dried beans and the like.

if she has kids (esp. since they are out or soon to be of school) or someone who needs to pack lunches-the generic brand of pudding/jello/fruit cups, big bag of tortilla chips or pretzles (and some small zip lock bags), bread, lunch meat/tuna/pb&j, some type of drink.

Thankfully, it's just her.

Do you have a local food bank? Typically they take the person's income and family type (how many kids/adults, etc) and allocate an amount of food based on that. I believe your friend would actually have to physically do this herself though. You may be able to get her in touche with them, though.

If her income is as low as you said it is, she qualifies for government assistance.

You're doing a great thing. In this day and age there is no reason anyone should be without food.

The Catholic Charities is one of the food bank distributors, so that's why I'm taking her over there on Tues.
She also went to the welfare office two weeks ago and was given an EBT card. Unfortunately, that won't be activated until next week. Also, the caseworker did not mention any other forms of assistance besides the food stamps (even though she qualifies for a bunch of programs), so right now, she's not getting much help.

 

[starann]

There may be food pantry in your area other than the welfare office. Ask around at church or look in the phone book. Friends of ours (only the DH worked, the DW stayed home with the kids so when he was laid off they were up the creek) used a local food pantry and got TONS of stuff. So much in fact they gave us some and then donated the excess back. It helped them out when they needed.

You are a good friend to help out like this.

There are programs out there for those in need (for things beyond food...electric bills, heating and such), you just need to know where to look and ask for it.