so, i called my mom for recipe ideas based on the seemingly useless food storage that my in-laws keep giving us, and when she heard that it has been really tight financially for us, and we are trying really hard to not use credit cards, she told me to go to the Food bank on Fridays and get a food box. Just on fridays and occasional saturdays, they have a "help yourself" program where you pay $16 for a box of food. They advertise it as a program for the working poor, who seem to have to much month at the end of their money . they have no eligibility requirements, and you just pay cash or your food stamps card (which we don't have). For $16, you get 5 frozen meats, 5 packaged dry goods, and 4 items of fresh produce and fruit. Also if they have extra breads and pastry items they will throw those in too. They claim it is a $40 value, only catch is that you never know what kinds of stuff you actually will get, everything is already packaged together. Since we do qualify for wic, and their are no income requirements for this program, it sounds like it would be a really good way to stretch my grocery budget. Dh on the other hand doesn't want me to do it, maybe it sounds to much like charity to him? What do you guys think of programs like this?

I would try it one time, just to see if you like the stuff you are getting. If you are struggling financially and really want to quit using your cc's, it is worth trying out, at least once. Groceries are getting more expensive every week it seems, so it would be a good way to get more for your money. I don't know of anything like that in my area, we have a food bank, but you have to meet certain requirements.

They do have other programs going on that you have to qualify for, and people don't have to pay to participate for those. But this one program has no requirements, they don't even keep track of who participates.

It sounds like a great program! I would try it out at least once. It may be a blessing in disguise!

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We have something similar to that in our area, called Angel Food (?) I think. But this program works a little different. You have a designated distributor...lots of churches around here coordinate it...and you get a menu each month and pay up front. Then you show up on delivery day and get the box. My SO's grandparents did it for a while and it suited them. We haven't used the program simply because there are often a lot of foods that we wouldn't choose to buy at the store anyway (chicken nuggets, frozen burritos, etc). But my good friend with three daughters loves it. A lot of the things will feed a family a couple of times. I say give it a try for a month since you don't know ahead of time what you are getting, from the ones I've seen, you definately get the better deal. And if your dh has issues, donate any foods you don't eat to a local food bank or church.

UPDATE
So i went to the food bank yesterday, and with my $16 i got: 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb ground turkey, 1 lb bacon, 1 package of hot dogs, and 5 lbs of chicken leg quarters, 1 jar of peanut butter, 1 jar of strawberry preserves, 1 lb white rice, a can of stew, a can of green beans, a bag of carrots, 4 pears, 4 potatoes, and brocolli, a bag of rolls, and a small loaf of whole grain bread. this weeks bonus items that i picked up for free were a small box of cinamin donuts, a flat of bannana nut muffins from sams club, 1/2 gallon of 1% organic milk, and 2 bags of small apples. They also had some cheese and yogurt and other fruits and veggies, but they were already picked over and gross looking, so i skipped over those. My husband seems to like the idea better now that his freezer has some meat in it again- our budget at the grocery store really didn;t go far enough to get meat all the time. i figure if we go every other week it will really help our budget. we will eat most everything we got, it was just brands that we have never heard of, and the "bonus" items we got for free were all just a day or two over their sell by date.

I think it is great you did it and you are trying not to use your c.c, though husbands got one myself, but once they realize sometimes people really do want to help out others. My hats off to you!