Ok ladies,
I am actually here to vent because I know ya'll will be with me. I live in Ann Arbor, MI and for the last couple weeks this has been a topic in our newspaper. There are a group of people that live in our city that believe that they can not live on this budget at the grocery store so the paper is tracking their shopping progress to show how "impossible" it is to live on this budget. Keep in mind this is $21 per family member from what I have read.......
I am totally annoyed. I do want to help people and help out the poor, but these people who are protesting the federal farm bill, which includes the allotment of food stamps, are going to Meijer (kind of like super Walmart for those of you that don't know) and buying "natural" peanut butter, whole grain bread and almonds like this is some kind of diet. These women have no children, which alot out there on food stamps have, and they are were quoted as saying it was a chore to give up the soy milk they usually drink and the whole wheat tortillas they would usually buy, so then they had to buy corn tortillas! All I am trying to say is this....
I am a stay at home mom mother of two, family of 4 and we live on $150 per two weeks. We eat really well on that. My kids and I eat all meals at home and my husband takes his lunch to work everyday. I use coupons, I shop multiple stores, I stockpile and when I have $$ left over, which sometimes I do the kids get extras. We are not poor, but we live on this budget because we would like to save for the kids college, retirement and family vacations. I am frustrated becasue I think that $21 a week per person can be done easily and I wish others would see how easy it is!!! Maybe there would be a lot less starving kids out there! Am I crazy?

Heck, I wish I had $21 per week for each member of my family!!! I feed our family of 7 for about $350 a month and I think we eat pretty well! We eat a lot of generic brands but I do splurge for pop for me and fruit 2oh for dh. These people just need lessons on how to shop and how to eat good for less.

Refer them to this site, we will set them straight!!! LOL!

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~Happiness is a large family~

Wow $350 a month for 7 shows that I could really cut back.
My state has a WIC program where moms get there stables for free they get a certian amount of foods like milk bread, eggs, veggies, fruit formula.
I agree 21 a week per person shouldn't be a problem that is more then I normally spend in a week on groceries.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

I could use $21.00 a week. for my family of four. I don't have a problem with WIC, it is a great program and doesn't leave much room for abuse of the system. As for food stamps I don't have too much of a problem with that except for the people that run their food through and then go behind and purchase their beer and cigarettes with their cash. I'm sorry but if you need state assistance for your food then bypass the beer and most certainly the cigarettes.

I just have to say ITA with all of you...This makes me so angry, I could write a book about it...but I won't.

This culture of entitlement is sickening. I don't get wholewheat tortillas and soy milk and we have no government assistance. What about being grateful that they are being given assistance so that they don't STARVE. Foodstamps were not designed for people to be able to purchase upper-end groceries. Foodstamps are designed to assist low-income people to keep them and their children from starving. I think it is a wonderful program.

I lived in South Africa for almost a decade. There is no such thing as Foodstamps on the continent of Africa. People there DO starve. South Africa is the best of the African countries and even there, 20% of the children are stunted in growth due to malnutrition. Even more are malnourished, but not stunted in growth. I have no patience for this culture of entitlement.

There is a lack of personal responsibility on the part of these people. No matter what personal choices they have made to get in their personal situtation, the government should be like an ATM to bail them out to live at the standard to which they feel entitled. They need to get over themselves already.

COUNT ME IN! this is crazy! We might actually qualify for food stamps, but we don't get them because I know other people need them more. THAT IS ALOT! We budget about $75 a week for our family of four soon to be five and we are fine! geeze this is nuts!
-Kat

your not crazy!! i agree there is wide spread abuse of the system it needs a total overhaul. i get so pissed when i'm behind someone using there foodstamp card(yep don't use paper anymore so there is less stigma) they are eating way better than my family of 5 then your in the parking lot and they get into their brand new lexus suv still with the paper plates on it...(happend to me last week at walmart) i see that so often here it makes me so angry... heck why would you want to get off food stamps if you can have a car like that and still get your benefits... well i have to stop talking about this topic since i'm getting aggrivated.

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Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money.

people are entiled to eat healthy, and what if they were low income who were vegetarians? should they not be allowed to buy soy milk? The goverment already tells me enough of what I can and cant do, I'm not about to let them dictate to me about what they think I am worthy of eating just because of my income status.

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stay at home mom to my crazy toddler with sensory issues

I see this so much around here. Drives me mad I know there are families that really do need the help but there are so many who are abusing the system. I have a family of 3 and we eat off about $55 a week and thats not just food thats tooth paste, shampoo and all that other stuff! We are on a budget and we stick with it but we eat fine. I think $21 a week for each person is more then enough in my opinion.