I'm a mom who feeds my family of 3 with $200 monthly and food bank hauls. Here are my top 2 tips for saving money on groceries.
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- Danielle Howard, 32, uses food banks and a $200 monthly budget to feed her family of three.
- She said local food banks and shopping at Aldi have helped her save money.
- She shares tips on TikTok to normalize food bank use and fight stigmas about food insecurity.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Danielle Howard, 32, who lives with her partner and 13-year-old daughter in northern Indiana. Her family is one of many who rely on food banks for meals. It's been edited for length and clarity.
I make about $100 a month too much to qualify for food stamps. I'm just outside those guidelines, and that's why we started using the food pantry.
When my partner experienced a job loss last year, it greatly affected us financially. I'm a direct support professional — it's a low-paying job, but it's a very rewarding one. I make $16.64 an hour taking care of people with disabilities.
Living as a low-income family, one of the biggest things I did to save money was to shop at Aldi. They have very low-priced produce and basic pantry staples that you can get compared to other major grocery chains or mom and pop stores. I typically spend about $200 a month to feed my family of three, alongside visiting the food bank.
Courtesy of Danielle Howard
I post most of my grocery and food pantry hauls on TikTok. I want families to know that it's OK to use their resources. There's no shame in taking advantage of things you need, and food is a basic human right that everyone should have access to.
We get food from our pantry once a month. They give us some toiletries, meat, certain canned goods, and sometimes milk — but not all pantries have dairy. When I go grocery shopping, I buy the things that we did not get from the pantry, like spices, oils, vinegars, extra protein like beans and chicken, and other cooking essentials. My biggest tip for people visiting a food pantry is to call ahead to check their requirements, hours, and what they have in stock. Google is also going to be your best friend to find resources near you.
My videos had a good response when I first started filming a few years ago, and my platform has grown quicker than I expected. I understand that there are a lot of families that are in the same position as we are — or maybe even doing worse off — and I want to show people how to make a meal out of the items they can pick up at the pantry. I want to help others fight food insecurity.
The more that creators start posting their grocery and food pantry experiences, the more it's going to normalize it. Pantries are based around supply and demand. If a community pantry doesn't see enough demand, it will lose the funding it needs to stay open — so using these resources is a good thing. One of the biggest comments I've heard from my followers is that, through the help of pantries, they can better afford healthcare and other expenses because they don't have to spend so much income on groceries.
My local pantry doesn't have income requirements — they only check your ID and ZIP code — but some pantries do have income requirements. I would love to see those restrictions lightened in order for more people to be able to access and use those resources.
I wish more people knew that food insecurity can happen to anyone, at any time, at any point in their life. You should never judge someone for trying to eat because you never know if you're going to end up in that situation yourself.
Do you have a story to share about your finances? If so, reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com