500$ a month in foodstamps not enough?

[manoucherie]

I don't mean to make a judgement on these people's situation, but I find it shocking that they think they do not have enough money to eat on what they are given. My husband and I spend much less, and we live in the city with only the most modest of community gardens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBLOaqRK_HY

[rivahmom]

I spend 100$ a week for a family of 5. I think they need to teach "cooking with the basics 101" when they give these people money for food.

[manoucherie]

You got it, and give them flour and lentils instead of ready-made food. Many of the preople I see at our local food bank either cannot or do not cook, period. Knowing how to cook is such a basic life skill its sad to see it disregarded.

[tomato204]

Why make any effort if things are just given to you? I have heard again today, about a plan for drug-testing of welfare/food stamp recipients. I think I'm for it.

[MIKENSUE]

Man if I had only 280 a month for food it would be like Shangri La.

[Cil]

Me I get $500 to live on. I mean paying bills and such. I can feed myself for the month on less than $200. I'm starting to get away from the convience and crap foods, but I still need my soda and chips and dip. *;) Of course, I'm the only eating.

[rivahmom]

This is bothering me so I have to add a thought. I try not to judge but when I am paying for their food through my tax dollars I feel it becomes my right. If they never have enough food then why are they both obese. They have been using food stamps for a few years and even though it is supposedly "not enough" they are both on the plump side. I'm not criticizing their weight because I know I have no room to talk but then again I'm not begging for more food either. It seems to me the parents should take up diet or learn portion control if their 580$ is not enough.

[jonvee]

I was thinking the same thing Rivah. And, cooking classes should be madatory for all food stamp recipients.

If I had that kind of grocery money, my pantry would be stocked to the gills with money to spare.

I volunteered for a food pantry years ago and was shocked at what people would not take. They preferred one box of rice a roni over a 5-pound bag of rice. And they always tried to talk us into giving them more cookies or cake mixes in exchange for things like canned fruit or soup. I remember one lady even passed on a whole chicken because she didn't know what to do with it. When I tried to help by giving simple recipes that would give her several meals she told me I was just there to give away free food not advice.

When people are getting hand outs what they get is never enough - ever.

[manoucherie]

When there is no incentive to learn, why bother? And you're right about them looking plenty fed. I suppose we should be thankful to live in a country of such plenty, but I do not understand why people expect food stamps and hand outs as a right.

[Cil]

With the weight thing, remember that for some people, weight problems are also genetic and it's harder to lose the weight.

[gwhilikerz]

Jobs that bring in 500 a week? 580 in food stamps? that's about 2580 a month. And they can buy food thru their church for 67% discount? Gimme a break! These guys are doing better accidently than many people do by choice. They should be doing a news story about how well blessed they are.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

About the weight--
Cheap high-carbohydrate foods add weight more quickly than fresh (higher priced) fruits and veggies. Obesity is actually a sign of malnutrition. They aren't getting enough lean protein and fresh fruits and vegetables. High quality food costs more than cheap "filler" foods.

[GoodDaughter]

I think people should not be able to buy certain items with food stamps or the equivalent, period! *NO cake mixes, no cookies, chips, candy, no frozen pbj sandwiches or hot pocket treats, NONE of that stuff! Burns me up to think of these kinds of people who are crying how poor they are and they're doing a lot better than some people I know. Heck, they're doing better than I am! *I say let them learn how to cook or do without. To heck with these kinds of welfare mooches!

[ryanmercer]

I can eat WELL for 20-25$ a week!!! IN fact I just bought enough food for 3 meals a day for me for 10 days for 24$ at kroger today by buying stuff on sale, and stuff that my rewards card would get me nice savings on... and I eat a LOT!

[Saoirse]

I have a hard time feeling sorry for them. This is suffering? Why are there so many convenience foods in the pantry? You can do without instant oatmeal and rotel tomatoes. At least one of the kids was wearing earrings. They didn't need a new plastic garbage can and plastic sippy cups for the kids. The home, furniture and the family car looked to be in decent shape. The parents had decent eyeglasses, everyone was decently dressed. The video claimed the people order food online. Isn't a computer a luxury? In my book, if you are broke, the tv, cell phone and computer go. You don't buy anything that isn't life or death, and then you find it cheap.

As one post said, they should be counting their blessings.

[jen_in_southtexas]

If you think you are still struggling after $2000/month and $500/month in foodstamps, then obviously some poor choices have been made or are being made. First of all, if you think you are struggling then dont go getting in a house loan or any loans, forget the cell phone, internet, etc. Quit having babies too if you thought times were tough with just one child let alone two.

Im sorry but I think $500/month in foodstamps is alot and should be plenty to last for the month and more. I could see if there were maybe more kids than two but there isnt. They are still babies. I dont see how the dad said that sometimes he wont eat just so that his kids eat. Im sorry but it is obvious that they are buying the more expensive and convenient foods than buying foods in bulk. I can make enough for three or four meals with just one chicken. I can make countless meals with 3lbs of ground beef, a 3 pound bag of pintos goes a mighty long way, dont get me started on a 20lb bag of potatoes, rice is very versatile. These are all cheap foods and provide plenty of meals. The parents look plenty a nourished to me. They need to make better food choices and learn portion control.

Im sorry but $500 a month in foodstamps is alot. Id have enough for like 3-4months food in my house.

j

[leera]

If I had $500 for just one month to spend on food,I would have a pantry to be envious of!

I have a monthly food budget of $150.00 for the two of us and our pets.....

As someone already said,the reason so many low income people are obese is because cheap food(no cook,ready made junk) is bad for you........ I have found that for a lot of people,its the only food they know,because it's what they were raised on.....sad to say,but a lot of people never learned to cook real food.

Spend a few hours waiting in line at any social services office and you get a better idea of what some of these people are like.

There are the people who truely need the help,and there are the lazy ones who milk the system for all they can get........

Jonvee,I know what you mean there.....my Mom has had to go to the local food bank,and she says the same thing about some of the people she's seen,they all grab the boxed,ready made stuff......meanwhile she's the only one taking the flour,sugar,and basic cooking supplies.....

My parents get a monthly food box from the state here,and often people give her the things from thier boxes that they won't use.......dry milk,evaporated milk,powdered eggs,rice,beans,potato flakes.......they only keep what's easy for them to eat.....the ready made boxed stuff.

[Trina_S.]

About the weight--
Cheap high-carbohydrate foods add weight more quickly than fresh (higher priced) fruits and veggies. *Obesity is actually a sign of malnutrition. They aren't getting enough lean protein and fresh fruits and vegetables. High quality food costs more than cheap "filler" foods.


Looked to me like he was eating a hamburger in the clip, maybe it was a sandwich either way, 2-3 times the cost of a bowl of beans and rice.
If I was on food stamps I think I could learn to cook :)

[mule1rider]

At most they should have some standard seeds to raise a garden with. They can then save seeds for their next crop. Beyond that my milk of human kindness runs dry. They always have the option of giving up their life as parasites and becoming productive. That the lifestyle they should be encouraged to follow.

[Michael32170]

You guys don't understand. $500 a month is not enough

OPPORTUNITY

[pcrowder]

Hmmmm I see alot of "contradictions" in this story.
"We are so broke we can't make it, must get food stamps."

I see ALOT of expensive name brands of food on their shelves (progresso, Manwich, etc).

I also see a leather and wood sofa in immaculate new condition. The high chair is obviously NEW, and the mini-van behind them also looks pretty new. The clothes for the children do NOT look like thrift-store finds, nor do their sippy-cups or the adult's clothes. *This story was filmed while the grass was green, and everyone was wearing short-sleeved shirts..Why is there NO GARDEN outside? And I've got NEWS for the wife - that "single meal gumbo or stew" HUGE bag of chicken would make 4 meals in my household, and I have an adult son who is 6'7" tall, does farm work and is NOT a delicate eater!
Sorry, but neither of those 2 adults look like they've missed a meal in a long time, and I don't have any sympathy for them. They are getting food through food stamps AND through the Church, plus whatever they buy on their own, so they should have plenty to feed themselves. Maybe if they didn't spend so much money on clothes and furnishings, they might have more for food.

I'm sorry, but these people and their "excuses" make me MAD. * >:( Unfortunately, they are indicitive on the new "mentality" that increasing daily in this country: "PROVIDE FOR ME". >:(

[pcrowder]

I just did a little math -

They get:
$2000.00/month salary from his job, +$580.00 in food stamps, and +$60.00 worth of food from the ministry = $2,640.00/month. Now, they have 4 children, which I can only assume they can get the Earned Income Tax Credit for, plus 2 other children "in their care" (nothing more is stated about whether they get child support for them or not, or the circumstances through which they are caring for them. )
Considering the condition of the van, the furniture, the clothing, and the residence, I hate to say it, but they don't exactly look like they're hurting to me.

[harvester]

ok so i finally took a look at this post. Ya know, some people just shouldnt breed. Lemme tell ya a little story..
uh oh,,here goes maggie, run!
ive been damned hungry in my life, and never during those hungry times did i ever weigh over 110 lbs. My husband never surpassed 130lbs. fat people are the first ones to complain about not enough food. we have a commercial going here right now for our local food bank, people complaining they dont have enough to feed their kids and every one of them are obese! im sorry if i offended anyone but this just pisses me off.
so heres the truth, ive led on to be an old old woman in this forum, mainly because i dont want the bs flirty things going on ive found in other forums. i want to talk business. im 44. not old. I got a late start in life, met my husband at age 33, got married two yrs later and had a baby. our only one, our true blessing.
during those tough times, and i do mean tough! I went to local grocery stores that sold discount food. One chicken would last our tiny family almost a week! I could buy that chicken for 25c a lb at that particular store. We got no help from anyone! We didnt ask for help. we made due with what we had. I had wic for when the baby was a baby. when his teeth grew in no more wic. I dont like taking from taxpayers what i really dont need. I bought frozen peas, cooked them down, pureed them and refroze them. along with many other bulk vegies i had plenty of baby food.
that one chicken i mentioned. deep fried in my wok, which i cooked everything in. a little white rice flavored with salad dressing. Id cook that chicken and rice up in the mornings after hubby went to work, get one piece of chicken and some rice in a plate, go sit on the floor with my son who scooted up close..and id take a bite of chicken and a bite of rice, chew it to a pulp and give it to my son. sounds gross? not to a mama who needed to feed her son a balanced meal and didnt have money for commercially processed baby food! That baby ate, and ate well! Me, well i got the taste and the juice. Husband comes home from work and gets as much chicken and rice as he wants. usually only one piece of chicken. He never took lunches, he never bought crap out of vending machines, and took a thermos of water to work with him. Were we hungry? hell no! i was, but not my husband and never my baby.
I would take two pieces of that chicken and make a chicken soup, boild it down till it fell apart, add some cooked rice, some seasonings, another meal that would last us two days. We lived in the city, didnt own a yard, didnt own a dishwasher, didnt own a clothes washer or dryer. I washed clothes in my single kitchen sink useing a bar of soap. the same soap we showered with. I hung clothes to dry all over our appartment. My husband made good money, but it went to pay for rent, electricity, car payments, insurrance, gas, natural gas heating, diapers etc etc...and debt. I could go to the store once a month and spend less than 30$ and bring home enough food to feed our family on for that month.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE!
yes, i was damned hungry! but my husband wasnt and neither was my son. Our clothes were clean, our house was clean. its amazing what you can clean with a bar of soap and plain ole water!
It simply amazes me what people will complain about not having...tv? we didnt have it. we listened to radio. and read books. and played with the baby.
eatin out? pizza? hell no! canned goods honey, on sale 4 for a dollar, ramen noodles, eggs, and frozen vegis..all on sale. they go a looooooooooong way. We didnt eat steaks, we bought one steak, I made stir fry out of one steak atleast 4 times. Stir fry goes a long ways and streches meat a loooooong ways.
What did i myself eat? the left over bits on the bones that my husband didnt eat.
I remember having a pork chop dinner once, he had the round center meat, i got the bone..we both had plenty.
in time those times passed, we saved up 3 thousand dollars. and spent every dime of it moving out to montana. after some struggle we now live on a mini farm and have money enough to do major improvements to it every year.
after we moved to montana jobs were scarce. we went on state aid, emergency care, we were to get a 1000dollar check every two weeks and 500$ a month in food stamps. I was employed with the county two weeks after the state aid started. I got the second check in the mail and took it down to them personally and said we dont need it. stop the aid, im employed we will be fine. three months later they called me and said I had 1500 dollars of food stamps that needed to be used up or the funding would be cut. I told them I didnt need them, give them to someone else. they said they couldnt do it, it was already paid for, i just needed to do it, if i didnt use them it would be a waste of state money. I took the stamps and spent every dime of them on beef in the local market in about 10 minutes of shopping. Took the meat to my parrents freezer and filled it up. Every week Id hand out a package of meat to anyone I thought was truly needfull of it, only those that honestly needed it, got it.
People learned of this and came knocking! I had one woman knock on my door with her 4 little girls and say they were hungry. I welcomed them in, cooked up a huge stew and fed the children. The woman looked hurt that i didnt offer her any and asked me if she should just help herself. My husband piped up immediately and said, "woman, from the looks of your size, you have been helping yourself far too much, its time you learned what your children have learned about hunger!" It made me so mad I told her that if i didnt see her loosing weight, and saw her children getting any skinnier, id call social services on her. *this woman had to have been 350 lbs, and her little kids were just as boney as they could be. in the end, she ended up loosing her kids to foster homes, and it wasnt my doing. i wasnt the only one who saw it.
and ya know that 1500dollars worth of beef? I or my family never did get one taste of it.
Honestly people! 500$ a month in foodstamps! do you really need it? or are you just too lazy to work and too stupid to manage your money.
If your kids are hungry, cancel the cable! sell the tv. you will survive quite well without it.
That woman in the vid had things in her shelf that i never get! ive never had to. I wouldnt know what to do with half of it.
and dad says as hes squatting on the floor teasing his baby with a huge sandwich, takes a bite and says hes gone hungry sometimes so his kids could eat? bs! Ive gone hungry for years, all the time, so my kid could eat. Its amazing what little food it takes the human body to live on, and still stay healthy.

[manoucherie]

The replies have been great.

I wanted to say that I do think there should be help available to people who need it, especially children, the elderly and disabled. I'm just not sure it the government is the very best person to give out that help and I wish we had a different system that relied on communities to step up and take care of our own. A community system could ensure that people have access to things like cooking classes, and that their aide would match their situation, not numbers that a social work PhD made up. Sometimes families need help.

Here in this city we have one good program that runs on donations and minimal help from the city. It gives homeless families food and real housing, but they have to take classes in cooking and budgeting, and they have incentives to save money so they don't find themselves in the same situation. Their biggest problem is that there is no real incentive for people to change their behaviour because they can always just go to the food bank, or get a less restrictive program to take them in, like a charity shelter. Why learn to grow a garden when its being given away? Retraining people who have become dependant on a system is very very hard, which is why the more the government does the less efficient it actually is.

[harvester]

absolutely true,
I didnt mention something pertaining to that exact thing manu.
before all this hard times hit us so badly we were doing much better in an appartment. one week before xmas we got a knock on our door in the middle of the night. my husband answerd it only to find the fire dept rescue team there saying evacuate now. our building had taken such an incredible snow load that it was tipping out over the parking lot. as we grabbed the babies things and our coats we noticed the cracks on all of the walls.
we were evacuated to the fire dept rescue building. we called friends and they put us up for the night. the next am hubby was on the phone to red cross and the appt owner.
red cross only gave us a voucher for a hotel for 3 days. and no further help at all. our appt was condemned and no one was allowed in it. all of our things were lost. our car was repoed as i couldnt get to the paper work in the appt to pay the bills. we lost everything.
hubby came home from work one day with a sack of grocieries and a garbage bag full of bedding. all crochetted stuff. There was flour, rice, spaghetti noodles and a bag of sugar. imagine what we ate with all this as our only food source for 5 days untill my husbands paycheck came in. mmm, yummy :P. He had gotten these things from the catholic church. he went there one time for a little help until payday. those people wouldnt leave us alone, we ended up with dishes, furniture, food, clothing, you name it, left on our step. we had to beg them to stop..lol
Im not a catholic and neither is our family. however that catholic church is very dear to our heart due to their honest willingness to help those in true need. after all these years i have kept two of the crochetted afhgans. they have moved with us a total of 11 times now, and are always packed very carefully.
sometimes help is where you least expect it.

[pcrowder]

Harvester: Been where you were, and you summed it up PERFECTLY! Unfortunately, alot of our society has become a "gimme" society, and doesn't have a clue in how to honestly take care of themselves.
Thanks for the GREAT post! ;D ;D ;D

[harvester]

absolutely true,
I didnt mention something pertaining to that exact thing manu.
before all this hard times hit us so badly we were doing much better in an appartment. one week before xmas we got a knock on our door in the middle of the night. my husband answerd it only to find the fire dept rescue team there saying evacuate now. our building had taken such an incredible snow load that it was tipping out over the parking lot. as we grabbed the babies things and our coats we noticed the cracks on all of the walls.
we were evacuated to the fire dept rescue building. we called friends and they put us up for the night. the next am hubby was on the phone to red cross and the appt owner.
red cross only gave us a voucher for a hotel for 3 days. and no further help at all. our appt was condemned and no one was allowed in it. all of our things were lost. our car was repoed as i couldnt get to the paper work in the appt to pay the bills. we lost everything.
the next day we were put into an appt on a post dated check and the good graces of a home owner. we lived in the attic of his rental home for 200 a month.
hubby came home from work one day with a sack of grocieries and a garbage bag full of bedding. all crochetted stuff. There was flour, rice, spaghetti noodles and a bag of sugar. imagine what we ate with all this as our only food source for 5 days untill my husbands paycheck came in. mmm, yummy *:P. He had gotten these things from the catholic church. he went there one time for a little help until payday. those people wouldnt leave us alone, we ended up with dishes, furniture, food, clothing, you name it, left on our step. we had to beg them to stop..lol
Im not a catholic and neither is our family. however that catholic church is very dear to our heart due to their honest willingness to help those in true need. after all these years i have kept two of the crochetted afhgans. they have moved with us a total of 11 times now, and are always packed very carefully.
sometimes help is where you least expect it.

[harvester]

oops i quoted myself when i went to fix a typo...hahahahaa

[ryanmercer]

I just wanted to state again... that if I can be considerably overweight and never hungry on $24 for 10 days... then these people just SUCK, or food magically costs a million dollars where they live.

[harvester]

no they just want stuff they dont have to cook or put any effort into ofcourse everyone knows how hard it is to make a bowl of soup or cereal..my goodness the time and the effort...exhausting! would sooner have a mcdonalds hamburger..NOT!

[ryanmercer]

no they just want stuff they dont have to cook or put any effort into ofcourse everyone knows how hard it is to make a bowl of soup or cereal..my goodness the time and the effort...exhausting! would sooner have a mcdonalds hamburger..NOT!

Most of what I eat doesn't require any more preparation than heating it up... all that is wrong with them is they don't know how to shop, I keep an eye on sales and will buy many weeks worth of something if it's on sale... like I did this past weekend and again today.

[harvester]

exactly, so do i, still to this day i will stock up on a good buy.
but for some people, if they can get someone else to foot the bill why not eat high on the hog every night on taxpayer money? some people just dont get the difference between what is right and what is wrong i guess..

[JBinKC]

My idea of food aid if I had a say would be something similar to the rations given at the UN.

Another thing to add it looked like they lived in an area where you could grow a garden.

You got to laugh: In the USA where the poor are as fat as a hippopotamus.

[manoucherie]

Harvester, your story is awful, but it sounds like it was one of those "didn't kill us/ made us stronger" stories. Thanks for sharing. People absolutely do need to be generous and giving to our neighbors. Sometimes people find themselves in horrible situations.

[MIKENSUE]

Well, today is the 11th of the month in SD. Food stamps came in yesterday. Working in the grocery store tonight, after reading this thread, I really NOTICED.
Had one mother come in, overweight, dumpy, greasy looking, with 2 overweight young boys and bought $101 worth of groceries. They consisted of 2 -12 paks of soda, 4 bags of chips ahoy cookies, 2 bags of doritos, 2 bags of potato chips, 6 half gallons of juice, frozen tater tots and fries, raviolis in the can, toaster pastries, a small chuck roast and a package of chicken hind quarters. When the register spit out her receipt it showed a balance of $203 left for the month.
Later another mother came in who uses food stamps. Very clean, well kept and polite. As I was going to my break, she stopped me and asked me if there was a limit on our chicken hindquarters which were on sale for $4.99 for a 56 oz package. I told her no. When I came back from break she came to my checkout line with 8 packages of them. 4 packages of pork steak which was on sale for $1.39 a lb, spaghetti sauce for $1 a can, spaghetti at $1 a lb, asparagus for .99 a lb, broccoli, apples, lettuce, etc..
As I scanned her groceries we started chatting about cooking, feeding our families and special recipies. She gave me a recipe for pork chops with sweet potato gravy that sounds wonderful and i gave her one for asparagus stuffed chicken . Her balance for the month when the receipt came out was less than $100 but i think she makes her food dollar streatch as far as she is able. This is a woman who "cooks" for her family and makes every meal count. Maybe they have been hit with hard times, but she is going to make the most of what she has. There are some out there who are really trying, and that is why these programs are there. I just wish we could weed out the free loaders and get back to what it was originally started for.

Sue

[harvester]

Ya know, maybe handing out mre's would slow down alot of freeloaders..lol

mano, it was tough, but i was proud of myself for battling through it, there was never a day that went by that i thought i couldnt make it and pull out of it. today, im still very glad that i had that experience, it taught me alot and i look at it as an adventure ill never forget.

[epeterd1]

My family could certainly live on $500 a month. Most of what we get besides milk and bread, which needs to be replenished throughout the month, we get all at once. My wife and I plus two kids buy the majority of our monthly groceries for about $200. We shop at Savalot, which sells mostly their own brands. Canned veggies are usually about 35 cents. It's not remotely difficult to live on that.
Plus, 95% of our kids' clothes are hand me downs from another family. And once our kids outgrow them, we give them to a third family. We usually buy our kids maybe two new outfits at the beginning of the school year, and that's all we buy. They'll get some stuff from relatives for birthdays and holidays, but the vast majority of their clothes are free.
We're just getting started in this, but it's really not difficult to save money if you try. Next up, square foot gardening. Hope it works. We've never gardened before.

peter

[8kids4me]

I just watched the video. What shocked me was the bag of meat the wife got out of the freezer and said this would make A stew or gumbo. Only one? Honey, I can make a bag of meat like that last 4 or 5 meals for our family. *>:

[harvester]

I just watched the video. What shocked me was the bag of meat the wife got out of the freezer and said this would make A stew or gumbo. Only one? Honey, I can make a bag of meat like that last 4 or 5 meals for our family. *>:

mine too! lol.. man if ida had that bag of meat when my times were tough we would have eat well for two weeks on that, it looked like chicken nuggets to me. back then 3 chicken nuggets would have been a meal for each person with some rice along side. these days 4 each is all we want..lol

[ryanmercer]

I just watched the video. What shocked me was the bag of meat the wife got out of the freezer and said this would make A stew or gumbo. Only one? Honey, I can make a bag of meat like that last 4 or 5 meals for our family. *>:

I could eat it in a SNACK though heh.

[leera]

I haven't watched the clip,I have dial up internet and it just plain takes too long to download anything........

BUT,I do have plenty of firsthand experience in dealing with both those who truely are in need,and those who are nothing more than freeloaders.......

I have an aunt who no family member will bother to help because she is nothing more than a freeloader,there is no reason in the world why she can not work and support herself.......never happy with anything she gets,yet manages to get more free stuff than anyone I've ever seen.......

I have another aunt who,if she could,would be out there working at whatever job came her way,she's always worked,and always managed to get by,even affording a small dog to keep her disabled husband company.......well she fell a few years back and broke her hip,it never did heal right,and now she's losing her sight,so she can not work,but she still tries and does her best to get along without calling on relatives to help her out all the time......

My DH and I nearly lost everything we had due to our own stupid financial mess,we're doing better now,but for a long time it was paycheck to paycheck,and groceries money was what was left after all the bills got paid......sometimes it was only $30.00 a month.......but we got by,ate a lot of chicken and ramen noodles,but we got by........

Now I plan all my spending for bills and for everything else,we're carefull not to overspend,and cook most of our meals at home.Today is actually shopping day,and with everything on my list,the total should come to less than $35.00.........

I shop sales,use coupons,the local store doubles $1.00 coupons,and that helps a lot,I shop late at night just before closing and sometimes get good deals on meat and bread.

We've been using 100% of DH's paycheck to pay off an old debt that popped up last year when we were trying to buy a house,now we've got just one payment left on it.Hopefully by June we should be able to start house shopping again.I want to have time to get some $$$ built up in savings too......

I guess the point of my reply is that we get by,by doing what we can,keeping honest,and working hard,what's so hard about that? I don't understand why it's so hard for people to plan accordingly,plan meals,spend carefully,or grow a garden? What's so hard about it?

Someone stated that the more he government helps,the less efficient we become,or they become......that's very true,the more people that get stuff handed to them,the more people expect it......the less they want to work,or do for themselves........

One thing I find truely angering it that cable TV is listed as a needed item on most household budgets.......I haven't had cable since 1996,and refuse to get it,we have no dishwasher,and no longer have a clothes dryer,we do still have a washer though,so we hang all our laundry to dry.

The less things you have handed to you,the more you learn to do for yourself..........

[TNDadx4]

I share the frustration with the way that people shop. Someone that we know gets food stamps. She buys Jimmy Dean croissant sandwiches at $6.00 for 4 sausage sandwiches as well as caramel glazed carrots slices in a bag, but doesn't buy the basics to cook with. In addition, we've gotten things like generic beans, etc. from her because "they don't like them" and want to give them away.

On another note, we participate in Angel Food through our church, too. They are a pretty good source of less expensive food as is Aldi on occasion. Although we have Internet access, you can order through the church as well as when you pick up your monthly supplies from Angel Food.

[TNDadx4]

As an interesting addition, I came across this article (http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-stamp11-2009mar11,0,3025159,full.story) in which a couple takes a challenge to live on a "food stamps budget" and does it.

[Gilberts_Wifey]

Adding fuel to the fire... angle food ministry takes food stamps!! So they are able to get this using their food stamps. They can order several packages, they are not just limited to one package. The website shows you the menus of what they get and it is plenty for a family for about 55.00 a week, you would still have to suppliment oatmeal and bread but that is so inexpensive. My kids love the flavored oatmeal, and I do buy it for them. But.. I also cook cracked wheat like oatmeal and add maple and brown sugar and a bit of milk.. and they eat is up saying its the best ever! It is pennies a serving. A 3.99 box of cereal lasts about 2 days then gets stale. I have it but I buy it when I get it on sale 1.00 a box. The commissary is a great place to save. We save about 30% on meat. I paid 1.79 a lb for bonless skinless chicken breasts yesterday and 3.00 for a 4 pack of mock tendersteaks. Anglefood ministries can not been the meat price at the commissary. Maybe he should join the military???

[harvester]

Adding fuel to the fire... angle food ministry takes food stamps!! So they are able to get this using their food stamps. They can order several packages, they are not just limited to one package. The website shows you the menus of what they get and it is plenty for a family for about 55.00 a week, you would still have to suppliment oatmeal and bread but that is so inexpensive. My kids love the flavored oatmeal, and I do buy it for them. But.. I also cook cracked wheat like oatmeal and add maple and brown sugar and a bit of milk.. and they eat is up saying its the best ever! It is pennies a serving. A 3.99 box of cereal lasts about 2 days then gets stale. I have it but I buy it when I get it on sale 1.00 a box.
keeping it in the frige will stop it from going stale so you are able to use the whole box up.
The commissary is a great place to save. We save about 30% on meat. I paid 1.79 a lb for bonless skinless chicken breasts yesterday and 3.00 for a 4 pack of mock tendersteaks. Anglefood ministries can not been the meat price at the commissary. Maybe he should join the military???

I put chicken on my table in any cut you can imagine at less than 20c a lb. home raised..lol

My kids love the flavored oatmeal, and I do buy it for them.

if my kid wants flavored oatmeal he can have his choice of flavors so long as its jelly that ive put up. stir in a little jelly into his oatmeal and he loves it, doensnt know the difference and he can have a big bowl full of it rather than the tensy tiny servings you get out of flavored oatmeal.

I feel much better feeding my kid and my dh things that are home grown rather than commercial ik.
and all the money i save on grocery bills can go into other things that we really want, may not need, but we do want.

[Gilberts_Wifey]

Having kids that will close the tupperware container will keep it from going stale.. but I will try the fridge, thanks.

I would love to have a nice piece of land to raise livestock, but we move every 3-4 years and we have not been able to have that luxury. The bonless skinless breasts are my prepacked thing that I will give up last.

The oatmeal, they do not eat it enough for me to worry about the cost of one box every winter. My DH loves the Cracked Wheat, which I got from my brother from his FIL's silo. So good with some brown sugar and honey or syurp.

We are taking baby steps... but we will get there. We know the direction we are headed and are willing to take all kinds of advice to get us there.

[leera]

HEHE,I quit buying flavored oatmeal in little packages,instead,I dry peaches,apples,strawberries(all in season at the time),and add them to plain old oatmeal,add a little honey or Stevia and some vanilla,YUMMY!

I buy a nine grain cereal in bulk,along with steel cut oats,cheaper by the pound.......

I wait until I see chicken quarters are on sale for $0.39 a pound and stock up,seperate them into meal sized packages and seal/freeze....it's not the difficult to debone chicken to make your own boneless,skinless recipes.Sometimes I can find whole chickens on sale for $0.29 a pound,that's a good time to stock up too.

I don't buy steak,I buy the whole slab,then slice the steaks myself,sealing them into meal sized packages.I do the same thing with pork,buy the whole loin,and slice it. I look for cheap deals on meat and then stock up,I can get a good six months or more of meat for about $100.00.

I actually buy very little hamburger and cheap cuts of beef.When a whole slab is on sale $1.99lb,and I can get 17-20 meals worth of meat out of it,why buy hamburger?A local store here has these sales fairly often as well.

I tried Angel Food for a bit,but found that I can purchase an equal amount of food cheaper.So it's not worth it for me to buy thier deals every month.Not everyone can shop the same,so for some people it might be worth it.

[harvester]

I don't buy steak,I buy the whole slab,then slice the steaks myself,sealing them into meal sized packages.I do the same thing with pork,buy the whole loin,and slice it.


yes this is a really good idea, I dont know what angelfood is but we have a costco here, one of those member warehouses type of stores. they sell huge chunks of rough cut beef. sometimes entire hams and quarters. super cheap. if a person already knows how to butcher an animal they can save tons doing it themselves by buying these pieces of cow. alot of the price of beef you pay for is for the cutting and packaging.

[austin]

I wait until I see chicken quarters are on sale for $0.39 a pound and stock up,seperate them into meal sized packages and seal/freeze....it's not the difficult to debone chicken to make your own boneless,skinless recipes.Sometimes I can find whole chickens on sale for $0.29 a pound,that's a good time to stock up too.


Here (in Canada) the sale price on chicken (drumsticks) is 1.99lb. As you can imagine, I did not buy chicken for my first year here.

[manoucherie]

Here (in Canada) the sale price on chicken (drumsticks) is 1.99lb. *As you can imagine, I did not buy chicken for my first year here.


I was thinking the same thing. The cheapest meat I can get is chicken and turkey backs and necks for .59/lb for soup broth. Pork on sale can go as low as 1.69/lb but that's an exception. I live in Seattle.

[leera]

At $1.99lb,I wouldn't have been buying it either!

There is another store here that sells meat bundles,packaged however you ask,they come with an assortment of beef,pork and chicken,hot dogs,etc......really not a bad price for under $2.00 a pound....I've ordered from them on occassion.

We used to have a meat packer locally,and you could just call and order 1/4 1/2 or whole beef,super cheap,and kept the freezer full.......Now the nearest meat packer that sells direct to the public is a good 45 miles away.

Once we get our property,hopefully,we will be in the country on enough land to raise some livestock.....butchering is no problem,been there,done that(well hubby has anyway),got everything we need to take care of most critters.....

Angel Food is a food distribution program,normally organized by a church,and the cost varies between $25.00 and $30.00 per deal,it's supposed to help supplement your food budget,and it works for some people,but I have found that it's just cheaper for me to shop carefully.

Just type in Agnle Food Ministries on your search engine.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

Could you raise rabbits instead of buying chicken? It doesn't take any room. You can actually use cages in your home if necessary. And they do taste like chicken only leaner. Rabbits are probably the healthiest, most affordable meat on the earth.

[harvester]

mmmmm rabbits! i just picked up a pair of california/satins. cant wait till they are old enough to start producing.
to me there could be no other food on earth and if i had a rabbit id be happy. my favorite meat. very much does taste like chicken but a bit sweeter.
when i was a kid my dad built a huge rabbit shed and housed about a dozen rabbits to feed his family on. its very economical to raise rabbits and he raised 4 kids on them when times were tough.

[manoucherie]

LOL- Rabbits! We had to really jump through hoops to let our landlord let us have chickens! Certainly a good choice for people who don't have a fussy landlord or who own. Rabbit is great, very very economical.

The best way to economize on meat is to use less of it. Stretch it out with beans or other things.

[harvester]

yes and there is alot to be said for stirfry for stretching meat.
but hey, the people in that video surely had plenty of space for some rabbits.

[anna]

The first thing I'd do would be an attitude adjustment for kids that won't eat what is put before them. Smile sweetly and say okay, don't eat it. Remove the food and tell them when the next meal will be served.

I never forced anyone to eat anything, but I generally didn't offer alternatives. Eat it or not their choice. Its harder to make the adjustment when they haven't been raised that way, but in tough times the kids need to quit with demanding attitudes. Of course, a lot of times mom and/or dad are the same way which makes it impossible to teach the kids not to be fussy eaters.

Anyone who has ever gone hungry has an appreciation for food. They may not really care for the some things but they'll eat them without complaint.

I always try to set the table nicely and present the food in a pleasant way. We all sat down together, asked a blessing, and ate what was there. The kids all had to take one bite of everything (except liver!) but weren't forced to eat more if they didn't want it. My food budget was tiny and everything had to be carefully planned and stretched to last. They were allowed not to eat but they were not allowed to complain. They stayed at the table until the meal was finished and they were excused. They were raised that way and all grew up with good manners. I did not make a big issue of them not eating and when we had something like liver (which 2 of them hated), I allowed them to have peanut butter sandwiches instead.

Our meals did not have a big variety. We ate a lot of goulash, spaghetti, chili, hamburger gravy, tuna/noodle casserole etc. We always had vegetables either fresh from the garden or home canned/frozen, homemade pickles, and bread/rolls/muffins. A roast, fried chicken or even meat loaf were big treats. We sometimes had pancakes or waffles for supper which I don't like (but ate) because everyone else liked them.

My dh does not like spaghetti. I did not know he didn't like it until after the kids were grown and out of the house. He knew I was doing my best with a small budget so ate it without complaint.

[Southerngirl]

Anna,
You are lucky to have a husband that was so understanding for all those years. My DH still likes to put on the "big cookouts" of steak, brisket, ect. and it drives me nuts!!!!! And he does this (on his week he is home) about 5 out of 7 days he is home from work. He's killing our budget! He has all his friends over, we buy all the food and beer. So I know where all the idiots will come when they really need to, here....... it makes it hard for me to continue to do my "preparing" when it is people like that who wasted so much money and time, but because I have two young children to care for, I'll continue to do what I do.
Great idea on the kids, that's something we need to practice in this house as well!
Southerngirl

[harvester]

southerngirl, this is the very reason that my dh is kept clueless as to how to get money from our account. Im the money keeper, if he wants to invite friends to a big bbq, i tell him right up front, its byob and contribute or no deal cuz im the one with the checkbook!
and ya know, the first time he told his friends what i said they have never ever needed to be told a second time. they call and say i got the brats and a keg, and one says i got the salad and a keg, and one says i got the paper plates and forks along with a keg, and by the time its all over ive contributed very little to the party except my property and bbq. its great. I got tired of hubby trying to show off by buying everything and putting us in debt and just simply set my foot down. i thought ww2 would break out, but suprisingly enough it sunk in and made sence to him and partys are no longer a scarry thing to me.

[manoucherie]

All his friends will understand the "in these economic times, we were hoping you could bring..."

[harvester]

lol! ;D

[Southerngirl]

Great idea harvester, I've tried it before by telling my husband but he's like yours was, wanting to impress all his friends by buying it all himself, so guess I need to make an announcement at the next cookout (which is tonight) and use "manoucherie"'s advice...... we'll see where that gets me. I'm getting tired of floating the bill for all these folks, plus cooking it all, plus cleaning up after everyone.... augh! LOL
Southerngirl

[harvester]

well i think the cleaning up after everyone is just a given. ya know what i did. a couple of weeks ago dh invites over a buddy from work and his new girlfriend. the buddys gf, not dh's...lol I was in the kitchen most of the time drinking my drink alone and cooking wings, brats, and burgers.
Sorry but i was so f'ing insulted by this!
at the end of the meal i was so mad i just leaned into the living room and pointed at the gf and said, "if you ever want to come to this place again i suggest you get ur a%$$ up off of my couch and get it in the kitchen and start washing dishes!"
I think i scared her. She literally flew into the kitchen and started cleaning up.
Sometimes you just have to put your foot down and make the rules for your own house, even if it is a guest. I dont appreciate being the one that actually prepares the party but never gets to party.

[Gwynyvyr]

I watched the video and was dumbfounded.
Where's their garden? Why not a few chickens or a rabbit hutch in the yard?
I raised 7 kids...they were well-fed, but it wasn't *fancy*...very little pre-packaged stuff. Even when we lived in town I had a garden as well.
I remember one of my boys as a teen, looking in the fridge and then commenting with a sigh..."Mom, you don't have food in here! You have COMPONENTS of food!"
Raised rabbits in town too...heh...shoulda seen the notes that came home one year after my kids told their classmates that they "ate the Easter Bunny" for Easter dinner. Some of the other kids cried. OOPS!
My kids knew where meat came from. When we lived on a farm we got a couple of little pigs to raise. We named them *Porkchop* and *Bacon*.

Right now I live on 300 bucks a month. That's it.
I eat well. Too well...am currently on a diet :-[

I use my food storage, I don't just let it sit there and gather dust! Wheat, oats, honey, dehydrated stuff...it all finds it's way to the table! I garden where I am at.
(Save money...ask your produce manager for sprouted potatoes...they can't sell them and have to throw them out. I use them instead of buying potato *sets* for my potato towers!)

[reedb66]

I agree with most of what I read on this post and I am embarrassed to have to tell you all that My family receives food stamps .We are a family of 6 and we homeschool and we work but cant make it on$ 1,350 a month cash after taxes and pay the mortgage and insurances car and house, pay the utilities and put gas in the car too.I was driving 45 miles 1 way to work 5 days a week.Now I do have 2 supriseing points I want to bring up.We recieve an assinine amount of foodstamps we feel any way $800 per month granted I am very thankful for them but holy cow!Instead of feeding people to death, couldnt we as a nation work on keeping good paying jobs here in the usa and put people to work?
I know that there are plenty of lazy asses that will never change but doesnt that make sense?We shop very carefuly and buy to get the most value for your money because we respect where the money came from. #2 We are changing our circumstances .We scrimped and saved till we could open our own buisness ,It is a food service that goes with 2 auction services and we provide the food for the auctions .Now I can hear the gears in all your heads clinking IN NO WAY WILL WE USE THE FOODSTAMPS TO SUPPORT OUR BUISNESS I PROMISE.In fact we will lose them shortly because we will make to much ,Good Riddance but having been a recipient of them I see how hard they make it to get away from foodstamps.If you earn a little money or get a raise they take a lot of foodstamps away the following month ,this can make it hard because they base foodstamps on your income before deductions and make no adjustments if your bills rise for 1 month or you lose some hours at work 1 week but if you make 1 dime more they take $5.00.I think a little better regulation of these services and retaining employers here in the usa and maybe some kind of work program would help otherwise whats the encouragement to leave the program?I heard the gov"t is going to raise the foodstamp benefit along with the unemployment benefits ,What good is that !!!Take some of that money and produce some jobs ,and jobs that pay,and education for people then maybe you can reduce foodstamp use.As for me and my family ,I put everything we have in this food service stand and I am working my butt off and it has to work or we will lose lots ,But I will stand up again and you know why ???Because I want the pride of being a buisness owner in the usa and hopefully I can someday employ someone who needs a good paying job and I take good care of my family....

Thanks for listening
Reed

Ps any one tell me how to spell buisness I know how but for the life of me cant figure it out :-/

[onelook]

I really don't have a problem with the food stamps. I know folks can get by easily with them, but I do have a problem with all of the CASH they get too. If you can work-you should be off your tail and working. Let folks struggling keep their stamps, but take away the cash!!! It is funny, around my area, when it is the end of the month, you will see people who are 'disabled' doing odd jobs, mowing, etc to make the extra cash. You know, if you need it and don't have it, you will find a way to work to get it. I know some that will steal, but that only works for a while. I also know some that will work like a dog to get out of working...funny isn't it?

[anna]

Try business.

[reedb66]

Thank you Anna.Sometimes you just feel stupid....And I didnt have any way of looking up the word handy at the time,I knew how to spell the business but for some reason it escaped me (age)??hope not!!!

[harvester]

business

busi-ness
i do the same thing and invert the i and the s

[Cil]

I agree with most of what I read on this post and I am embarrassed to have to tell you all that My family receives food stamps .We are a family of 6 and we homeschool and we work but cant make it on$ 1,350 a month cash after taxes and pay the mortgage and insurances car and house, pay the utilities and put gas in the car too.I was driving 45 miles 1 way to work 5 days a week.Now I do have 2 supriseing points I want to bring up.We recieve an assinine amount of foodstamps we feel any way $800 per month granted I am very thankful for them but holy cow!Instead of feeding people to death, couldnt we as a nation work on keeping good paying jobs here in the usa and put people to work?
I know that there are plenty of lazy asses that will never change but doesnt that make sense?We shop very carefuly and buy to get the most value for your money because we respect where the money came from. #2 We are changing our circumstances .We scrimped and saved till we could open our own buisness ,It is a food service that goes with 2 auction services and we provide the food for the auctions .Now I can hear the gears in all your heads clinking IN NO WAY WILL WE USE THE FOODSTAMPS *TO SUPPORT OUR BUISNESS I PROMISE.In fact we will lose them shortly because we will make to much ,Good Riddance but having been a recipient of them I see how hard they make it to get away from foodstamps.If you earn a little money or get a raise they take a lot of foodstamps away the following month ,this can make it hard because they base foodstamps on your income before deductions and make no adjustments if your bills rise for 1 month or you lose some hours at work 1 week but if you make 1 dime more they take $5.00.I think a little better regulation of these services and retaining employers here in the usa and maybe some kind of work program would help otherwise whats the encouragement to leave the program?I heard the gov"t is going to raise the foodstamp benefit along with the unemployment benefits ,What good is that !!!Take some of that money and produce some jobs ,and jobs that pay,and education for people then maybe you can reduce foodstamp use.As for me and my family ,I put everything we have in this food service stand and I am working my butt off and it has to work or we will lose lots ,But I will stand up again and you know why ???Because I want the pride of being a buisness owner in the usa and hopefully I can someday employ someone who needs a good paying job and I take good care of my family....

* * * * * * * * * * * * * Thanks for listening
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Reed

Ps any one tell me how to spell buisness I know how but for the life of me cant figure it out :-/


It's not good riddence, it's Thanks for being when my family and I needed the extra temporary help." Don't ever feel ashamed for needing the help. Especially since you knew it was only temporary and now finally able to get off it through your own hard work. I'm proud of you!

[reedb66]

Thank you Cil .I think I am like most people ,not afraid to work hard for a better life ,but sometimes you wonder if you will ever see it?Times like that I think about when my wife and I started out 21 years ago and you remember when you thought you did good if you could afford to eat and keep the car!!!Even though the car was a $500 piece of junk.Than you think about were you are now 4kids ,house of your own and a $3,500 more relieable piece of junk ;D

Reed

[Kelleysvt]

Well for my family of 6 I spend $200-250 per week BUT (BIG but). This includes all non-food items including pet food, paper goods, cleaning items AND (even bigger 'and' than 'but' - drum roll...) I've been building a storage supply as well. If I were to cut out all the storage purchases we could get by on about $100-$130/week. It's hard to estimate because food prices have gone up alot since last year when I was working on a pantry challenge (empty the pantry, buy very little groceries). When we were doing the challenge I was spending $65-$75/week. We could probably scale back to that level again if we had to, not to mention we could trim a bit more by delving into our pantry stores. There's no way my family could CONSUME $200/week in food unless we lived exclusively on prepared foods and never paid attention to sales.

We've received food stamps off and on and I'm very conscientious about how I spend them. We currently qualify for benefits but I don't see the point in applying for them since we have plenty of food. I have friends who have said - yeah but you could use that cash to pay bills, etc. but I just don't think it's right. It's one thing if you need them to feed your family but to use them as supplemental income... just doesn't seem right.
As far as this family is concerned I haven't seen this video because I have a dialup connection so it's hard for me to watch you tube videos but I'll try to watch it.

[anna]

If you qualify for food stamps, by all means use them. You can always use the money saved for stocking up, debt reduction, savings, or other things that will benefit your family long term.

I felt the same way when dh was laid off many years ago when the kids were small. The gave us food stamps, but we had our own veggies, meat, milk, eggs so I'd rather have had cash! Cash wasn't on offer so I took the food stamps and used them for flour, sugar, shortening, seasonings, etc. It enabled me to stock up on the things we didn't produce to have enough to last several months and we only got 2 months of food stamps.

[mtwildflower]

I really don't have a problem with the food stamps. *I know folks can get by easily with them, but I do have a problem with all of the CASH they get too. *If you can work-you should be off your tail and working. *Let folks struggling keep their stamps, but take away the cash!!! *It is funny, around my area, when it is the end of the month, you will see people who are 'disabled' doing odd jobs, mowing, etc to make the extra cash. *You know, if you need it and don't have it, you will find a way to work to get it. *I know some that will steal, but that only works for a while. *I also know some that will work like a dog to get out of working...funny isn't it?

Just want to make a point about the people who are 'disabled' and doing odd jobs.

I used to work for an attorney whose specialty was workers comp and social secuirty law. Many 'disabled' people who are doing odd jobs cannot get regular work because they live with dibilitating pain that they have to take kick ass drugs for...and they are usually drugs that will keep them from working and passing a drug test. *In fact, a friend of mine who was disabled due to MS had days where she seemed perfectly fine and then a week later would be bed ridden. ( She died two weeks ago and I attended her funeral last Tuesday) These people have good days and bad days regarding their pain and able bodiedness. I've had people call the office from their pharmacy to talk to my boss, crying because worker's comp suddenly quit paying for their pain meds and they were in so much pain they would BEG my boss to DO something to MAKE WC pay.

I got a whole new perspective on "disabled" people, let me tell you.

REEDB66- Food stamps and like assistance is meant to be used when times are tight and out of people's control. I don't care if people use these services from time to time. You paid taxes before, you will pay them again. No worries.

I would think $800 per month is crazy too. I would LOVE to have that much to spend for us! We do get by on a lot less, for sure, but if I were in your shoes, I'd use every dime and make a very efficient stock pile of goods. A few months worth of food stamps like that and you could have a really nice storage of dry goods for your family. If I were you, I'd do that and not feel a bit guilty for it, either.

[reedb66]

mtwildflower,Oh trust me we are filling up anywhere we can put food because who knows what life brings and we do appreciate the help and we do pay taxes so I guess we are ok there to.But as I said wouldnt it make more sense to use some of this money for job creation and retention to keep good paying jobs here in the usa.And get this for this month they raised my foodstamps to $905 from $805 ,nothing in my income changed.Now next month they will be less than half of that as we are starting to make a good living with our business .Things are headed the right direction finally .Got my first sales tax statement from the state and I am glad to pay it ;D ;D

Reed

[idris]

If USD 500 is not enough to top up your food purchasing capacity, something is terribly wrong: eating out is a luxury, unless it is an urgent necessity, tho I hear that some parts of the US are scant on buy-your-own food shops, with an excess of eat-in or take-away. [Like most big cities] . THAT SAID, Any MAN who can't cook is not worth feeding.