Cheating? Already?

I have to fess up to certain areas where I may have cheated.

First, here are the rules of the SNAP Challenge according to the Feeding America website:

1. Choose the duration of your SNAP Challenge:  3 days or 7 days.
2. Your food budget for the week or day of your Challenge will be based on the average SNAP benefit, which is $4.50 per person per day– for ALL your food and beverages. You can use coupons while taking the Challenge but should not shop at membership clubs.
3. Using your Challenge budget, decide on groceries to purchase and how much to put aside for food incidentals. Be aware of ALL food purchased and eaten during the Challenge week/day.
4. During the Challenge, do not eat food that you purchased prior to starting the challenge.
5. Avoid accepting free food from friends, family, or while at work.
6. Keep track of receipts on food spending and take note of your experiences throughout the week, in particular the choices you made between the variety and quality of food you ate.
7. Invite others to join you, including your co-workers, family members, and elected officials.
8. Share your SNAP Challenge through social media and by blogging about your experience. 

My problem numbers are #4 and #5.  I am not supposed to eat food I purchased prior to starting the challenge, but I decided to not buy new spices, salt and pepper, olive or canola oils, or bread crumbs.  I also realized I did not include powdered milk on my grocery budget from post #2 (I already had two packets, and I didn't want to buy another one).   I really am feeling OK about the spices and whatnot, but I think the powdered milk should be added.  It can actually be quite expensive, around $3.  So add another $3 to my total spent, which is now $106.63.

As for #5, I think I'm potentially cheating by having the girls eat "free" school lunch (it's not actually free - I'm paying $2.15 for each meal, but we're pretending they're getting their full fare covered by the National School Lunch Program).  I will stand by the fact that children in a household receiving SNAP benefits will also qualify for free lunch.  In fact, in Fayette County, if a child receives SNAP benefits, s/he only has to provide his/her SNAP case number and does not have to provide family income separately.  So again, I am feeling OK about that too.

By the way, I am adding my own rule:  do not spend any other money this week.  Do not buy anything else.  I want to see if I can go 7 days without pulling out my credit card or cash of any kind (except cash to pay my babysitters which I use almost daily).