Welcome to The Receipt, a sequence documenting how Bon Appétit readers eat and what they spend doing it. Every meals diary follows one nameless reader’s week of bills associated to groceries, restaurant meals, espresso runs, and each chew in between. On this time of rising meals prices, The Receipt reveals how people—from completely different cities, with completely different incomes, on completely different schedules—are determining their meals budgets.

In at this time’s Receipt, a 23-year-old faculty scholar makes most of his meals purchases with meals stamps whereas juggling class and work. Hold studying for his receipts.

Leap forward:

The funds

What are your pronouns? He/him/his 

What’s your occupation? I’m a full-time scholar at a neighborhood college finding out pure assets and sustainability. I additionally work as a pure assets analysis assistant and lab technician, and I do scholar outreach and recruiting.

How outdated are you? 23 

What metropolis and state do you reside in? Corvallis, Oregon 

What’s your annual wage, in case you have one? I work hourly at a mean of $14 per hour break up amongst three jobs. My annual earnings might be someplace round $8,000–$9,000.

How a lot is one paycheck, after taxes? Between $600–$800. It varies relying on how busy work is. As a full-time scholar, I can work as much as 20 hours, and I in all probability common 11 to fifteen hours weekly. I additionally obtain $281 in meals stamps each month. 

How usually are you paid? (e.g., weekly) Month-to-month 

How a lot cash do you will have in financial savings? $20,000. I’ve round $100,000 in scholar loans.

What are your approximate mounted month-to-month bills past meals? (i.e., lease, subscriptions, payments) 

  • Whole: $935.97
  • Lease: $733
  • Utilities: $150
  • HBO Max: $14.99
  • Spotify and Hulu: $4.99
  • Amazon Prime: $7.99
  • Pupil loans fee: $25

The food regimen

Do you comply with a sure food regimen or have dietary restrictions? No dietary restrictions, however I attempt to comply with a flexitarian food regimen. I’ve been making an attempt to comply with this food regimen for seven or so years now. It appears to be the simplest means for me to eat sustainably with out radically altering my “regular” food regimen. 

I’m on meals stamps and I pay for 90% of my meals with that. I’ve been on meals stamps for 4 years now and obtain $281 month-to-month.  SNAP is actually the one means I can afford to eat. I’ve faculty financial savings that my mom fortunately began once I was a child, and I exploit that to pay for my lease, transportation, and sophistication provides. It might not be sufficient to cowl my meals. I may probably not think about life with out meals stamps proper now; they permit me to eat properly and never have to fret when the subsequent meal will likely be. I can use them for any produce, meat, boxed items, drinks—nearly every part you’d discover in a grocery retailer. The one issues that aren’t coated are heat ready meals and alcoholic objects. Oddly sufficient, chilly ready meals generally work—for instance, grocery retailer sushi might be purchased with my meals stamps.