Exactly. I didn't like being on them either but I had to, to feed the family. If you get food stamps you don't make enough to pay bills and buy food period. So it is not like we have it all. There are requirements that have to be met. You have reviews every six months to make sure you don't make too much. You are right it is embarrassing going to the store and whipping out your card while everyone judges what you got.

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I love hunting deals

Mom to Kellan 12-16-2000
Brooklyn 12-27-2005
Nolan 10-15-2007
Wife to Russell 10-14-2005

I wish people in situations like this are given a pamphlet when given food stamps on ways to be frugal.

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Happily married to my geek
Proud homeschooling, cloth diaperin, attached parenting, slinging, simplier, breastfeedin, sewing mama mades, christian and funky mama

I don't think those pamphlets work. In the orginal news article it mentions in the website for Department of Ag and that it has some frugal tips. I looked it up and it was pretty good. I didn't really learn too much from it but I already use a lot of frugal tips and get even more from here.

But I agree that people do not know how to be frugal. I know you have mentioned teaching some classes at your church on your lifestyle -- I suspect that really is the way to go. Do you see a difference with your students? Is there an interest in what you are showing?

As far as seeing a difference, YES! Thankfully!! My pastor was concerned about many families within our church and asked me to teach this class. I hand out the reading material, all recipes for homemade detergents, facts on the benefits of going frugal and being simplier. I also make up several different sample packs of homemade products for them to try before getting the ingred.

The shocking part for me was I've had several requests to do my class once every 6 months. So now I'll be offering my class twice a year at our church. It's a free class, everything is free when attending the class, all is invited and welcomed..not just members. I did this hoping to reach out to the poverty community that is behind our church. I had 4 new people request information and sample packs and times of the classes.

So yes it's making a difference. To be honest..if I offered the samples and reading material only I don't think the difference would be as large, I think the fact that I show the products, break down the facts, show the difference in prices of homemade vs. commercial..grocery menu planning..ect...helps out people. Reading material can be overwhelming. So I will have them circle key spots of the material as we're going through it so it's an easy resource.

I also offer this class free at our local library once a year. The outcome lastyear was too large to host at the library again this year.

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Happily married to my geek
Proud homeschooling, cloth diaperin, attached parenting, slinging, simplier, breastfeedin, sewing mama mades, christian and funky mama

The largest portion of federal funding is the DoD. I spent 12 years in the military and I can assure you that there is money WASTED there too. I can't count the number of times that money was spent solely because if it wasn't spent they wouldn't be sure they would be able to receive it or more. Personally, I admire FDR. I like the fact that the government is there for people when they need it. I was appalled by what happened in Louisiana as a result of a government that turned a blind eye to devastation. It's well amd good to be seventeen and capable of joining the military to end up not reliant on food stamps but what about people who are disabled or people unable to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps? What about the elderly or the single parent that doesn't have family to take the responsibility of their children? I can't and won't turn my back on those people and I'm glad that I have a government that believes that its wrong to turn their back on them.

It is socialism that you are supporting. I am aware of the Fraud Waste and Abuse by the military but that doesn't mean that I have to support it and I reported any that I was aware of. I don't believe in socialism, never have, never will. It may be offensive to some that I have such harsh opinions of government entitlements but that is just the way it is. Maybe you should read "Forgotten Man" it will inform you of just how evil FDR was. The reason the Depression lasted as long as it did was because of these types of interventions. DOD isn't the primary funds drain, that claim lies with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other entitlement services. As a matter of fact if you go to the treasuries website you can view the state of our economy. Of course come 2010 our government will be insolvent due to the inability to service debt. Will you be as concerned then about suppling entitlements when the dollar is worth less that the currency of Weimar, Germany. In case your not aware it took a wheel barrow of currency to buy a loaf of bread in Weimar, Germany in 1923. That is what hyper-inflation does. Hyper-inflation is what happens when the FED (which isn't even part of the government but a cartel of banks) issues money at will. You don't even have to look back to 1923 to see the effects of hyper-inflation on a country or it's currency. Look at Argentina in the 1980's or Zinbabwye now!!! I'm not being prejudiced I'm being a realist. The fact is that you can't support a socialist society in a free market economy. It just doesn't work. Unless you are willing to become like Soviet Russia or any other communist or socialist country that most Americans look down on it just isn't a sustainable social network. I know honesty hurts but in the long run lies hurt more. The government isn't there for you, you have to be there for you. I can't believe that after Katrina people still believe that the government will save them. Charity is the resonsibilty of the church and private social networks not government. I contend that when charity is issued by the government it is nothing more than socialism and the redistribution of wealth. I don't know about you but I like my freedom.

If socialism means responsive government that works for the greater good of its citizenry then call me a socialist. Of course, you better call the founders socialists too since the purpose of government in the Declaration reads they were forming a new government"laying a foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." Nothing about a government that stands by and allows thousands to starve(which is what would have happened had the New Deal not come round) promotes safety or happiness. Furthermore, I expect you'll be spending alot of time in the phone come September. I'll let you know ahead of time. In September if they have any money left over in their budget for administrative needs they order pens, staplers, chairs, or anything they can to use that money. Furthermore you might want to call the IG and let him know that the jets are flying so they can use up ALL their fuel. LOL. As for the idea anyone who believes in the New Deal doesn't like freedom, it's absurd. I spent 12 YEARS in the United States Navy, I daresay I have more than done my share for the sake of freedom and understand the concept quite well. You should try the Russia boogeyman with someone who hasn't been around the world a time or two and seen more than one type of government up close. Although with the way things are going with the money being drained to fight a tactic(and yes, terrorism is a tactic, not a place so it will not be defeated) we ought to be like Russia in no time(and it won't be because we spent too much money feeding the elederly or children who didn't get the choice on the circumstances of their birth).

This is getting off topic, but I will stand behind lburgess' post. Our founding fathers knew very well the tyranny of the majority and that is why we are not a democracy. The New Deal did prolong the depression that the Federal Reserve caused.

Let's not argue about history. We know that there is waste in programs. I believe it is better to personally take action to help the hungry than to force my neighbor to.

Cathleen

I suggest you go back and read about the beliefs held by our forefathers. They were against socialist efforts such as a centralized bank, ie. the Federal Reserve System. I guess it was also to the good of the people that we were taken off the gold standard. Are you even aware that FDR based his entitlement programs on what the Bolsheviks were attempting to accomplish in Russia. The Depression wouldn't have even happened had we not had the Federal Reserve and the fact that a free market economy wasn't allowed to develop. FDR nationalized everything to include private funded ventures such as utilities making many loose fortunes including stock owners that were then forced out of work and made to live on those entitlement programs that you are so keen on. Our government wouldn't be in the situation it is in now if it weren't for FDR, the FRS, and the fact that we are a debtor society. And by the way I am against the war on terror and see it for what it is. While that may effect our freedoms it isn't the mindset that placed us here. That has been a long time in coming. The mindset I am speaking of is the one where everyone is entitled to a life of ease and happiness. That is the same mindset that encourages us to bomb other countries that attempt to start Oil Borse, start their own nuclear energy program or anything else that doesn't benefit Americans directly. You claim to have been to many different contries, well so have I, 32 to be exact. Never in any other country that I have been to did its people expect so much for so little. As I have stated before charity is the responsibility of social networks such as the church, even our forefathers believed this demonstrated by the fact that they were against federal taxation.

Stand behind it all you like. Our founding fathers knew all about tyranny but it wasn't tyranny of the majority they were worried about(they were far more concerned that one individual have too much power which is why our first government actually failed). I'm not going to stand by and allow someone to pretend that because I support programs that protect innocent children and the vulnerable that that somehow makes me a socialist(especially when there are people out there supporting the idea women should be forced to carry a child to term). I spent 12 years defending the very freedom she waxed poetic about. My husband spent 10 years doing the same. The same people who decry FDR fail to address the fact Social Security is responsible for keeping a large majority of the elderly from starving. Furthermore, I would state that it was a lack of regulation or failure of the government to act that brought about the Depression, just as it is a lack of regulation that has caused the "housing crisis." The government has a responsibility to its citizenry(its why we pay taxes) to provide a safety net in my opinion and I am sick to death of hearing that this particular opinion means I want to live in communist Russia).


Each of the posters here is certainly entitled to a different opinion than mine and I'll be darned if I would stoop to pretending their opinion was any less in keeping with American traditions then mine.


:Stepping down from my soapbox:

Yeah, they were against federal taxation and the first government failed as a result of it. We're off topic feel free to PM me I'd be more than happy to discuss history with you. I put quotes in for a reason. I was quoting directly from the Declaration of Independance.