What am I Doing? The Rules of the Game

Okay, so if you read my first post you know that I will be living for about three on about $30 a week for food.  Now many others have tried this experiment before, here are a couple of great examples:

Huffington Post SNAP Challenge Stories

Now my project will have some pretty big differences, so I feel that I need to lay out some groundwork of how the experiment works.  The two biggest changes are that most people who do this undergo it for a couple of weeks to a month.  Table for One will go for three months.  The second is that most other SNAP projects don't limit where you can buy your food.  This project will look at the differences between different grocery formats (think Target vs. Cub vs. Trader Joe's).  We will talk about this a little more in detail in the list below.

So without further delay here are the rules for Table for One:

1. I will have a budget of $30 per week to spend on all my food needs.  I need to try and spend my budget each week, but any money not used will carry over.  This is based on national averages from the USDA.
2. Each week I will shop at a different grocery supplier.  This will range from Whole Foods, to Aldis, to Co-Ops.  My goal here is not to criticize various chains for not being poor friendly.  Instead I want help build a road map for how budget conscious people can eat healthy no matter what types of stores they have in their area.  I want to highlight what these stores are doing right!
3. I work in the grocery industry, and as such I get samples on a semi-regular basis.  Now this brings the most random assortment of items (from gummy bears to dog medicine).  This is going to represent my local food shelf.  The food will be random, code dates might be in question, and it might not be the best food for my diet.  I can add these foods to my pantry, and will try to incorporate them in my weekly menus.  
4. If I am out with people outside of my immediate family, I can accept prepared food, within reason.  So if I am at a social function, I can accept a plate of food, but not a bag of groceries.  No second helpings are allowed.
5. I work on a blog that talks a lot about Minnesota Craft Beer.  I can accept 1 oz. pours to sample beer, but only if offered, and only to taste it to a point of being able to write about it.
6. My family is not participating in this project.  But if either of my kids likes what I am eating for the day, I have to offer them some.  This is going to represent disasters that often plague people in these situations.  Such as pests ruining food, or power outages spoiling leftovers, and what not.  
7. The day before the project begins I can raid the pantry.  I will need to limit what I take to the size of a small grocery basket.  The reason this is put in is due to the length of the project.
8. I must try and eat three meals a day.
9. If my health or work performance starts to drastically change I will need to withdraw from the challenge.

So there you have it.  Feel free to leave a comment in the below section if you have any questions or suggestions.  Thanks!