Food stamps and still hungry - Page 13

phenomemom · 08-28-2008, 09:54 AM

I haven't had time to read the whole thread but I wanted to comment on this:

Quote:

I think that a family of 4 should be able to eat quite well for $500 something a month!!! I think that these people need to be smarter shoppers!!!! I know years ago when we had food stamps we ate better then we ever have when paying cash for our groceries. I don't think that they need to boost the food stamp allotment. I don't mean to sound cruel, but the rest of us did not get a boost in our food budget just because the prices are rising. We all just have to buckle down and shop smarter. Get our priorities straight.

I agree! I was a single mom for many years and was on and off food stamps for about 10 years, and I felt we got way too much. I was still frugal, shopped sales, etc. and I was getting almost $500 for me and 2 small children. I am married now and receive no government help and I feed my family of 4 for about $400 a month. (That includes a husband who eats like a horse and a growing boy!)

The one thing I can say about my food stamp allotment being so high was that it DID allow us to buy 100% juices, fresh produce etc. instead of hot dogs and Kool-Aid, which is certainly much cheaper, and I imagine a lot of families survive on meals like that because they DON'T have the money to eat better. To me, that is much sadder than a woman who gets $500/month in food stamps and somehow cannot feed her family.

budletsmom · 08-28-2008, 03:40 PM

I think the thing that bugged me the most about the article was that 1 in 11 in the US is using them - something is seriously wrong if almost 10% of the pop qualifies for food stamps and one in 7 in the DC area.

I have known people that have food stamps and WIC and yet have seen them have fancy cell phones (this was several years ago before they were quite as popular as now), and they always were hitting fast food and Starbucks. This one mother I knew would come to our MOPs meeting with Starbucks in hand and a bag from McDonnalds - every time I saw her she had said combination - for these meetings and also at Mommy and me class. I couldn't afford to do that and she was on aid and didn't work - I don't get it. I have heard so many similar stories. I have no problem with our country helping out those that truely are trying and just can't make ends meet. I have met those to and it doesn't bother me that is what it is for. I also think that able bodied people should have to work not just get a handout - maybe have to work for their benefits or something. Abusers right now have no reason to try and get off the aid they just sit back and wait for their check - now I know this is not everyone but there are generations of people that do this and I just find this discusting. Aid should be short term to help people get back on their feet.

phenomemom · 08-28-2008, 08:38 PM

Quote:

maybe have to work for their benefits or something

well, technically, they ARE supposed to be working for benefits. A group that a LOT of people kind of look past are the "working poor". I live in a very rural area and there were times that I was working FULLTIME with two small children and making much more than minimum wage as I have a college degree, but since mine was the only income, I was eligible for food stamps. And I know a lot of similar stories around here. People working fulltime and STILL not making ends meet. I think there is a big assumption that people on welfare don't work and people who do work don't get welfare. Not directing this to anyone in particular.. just saying..

And yes, I know of those people too.. women using food stamps while flashing their fancy acrylic nails.. etc. etc. I don't judge them (or at least I TRY not to) but I have to wonder how on earth they can afford it??

goodnightmoon · 08-31-2008, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hsue12

Maybe there should be a mandatory class for people using food stamps to show them how to shop smarter and how to read labels to make sure they are buying the most nutritious food possible within their budget.

I was thinking the same thing.

Dreamer1215 · 08-31-2008, 10:33 AM

Ok, I read most of this thread & also read the article. I have NOTHING against people who need a little help receiving it. Years ago, I, myself used WIC, and, when I got a raise, took myself off WIC, even though I still had a few more years to still be eligible. I didn't see the need to take it away from someone else who really needed the help. Now, I'm in that "in-between" stage, where we don't have enough to get by, but we make too much to qualify for assistance. If someone truly needs assistance & qualifies, (like the member here with the husband with heart probs & son with a trach...) I have no problems with it at all. It's the people who make thier living off government assistance that get to me. And the single mom at the beginning of the article gets $345 for groceries, plus a free lunch daily. I can't remember the last time I got that for a month for my family of 4! (that averages out to $86 a week...)

And I'd sign up to take a "frugal shopping class". I'm beginning to sniff out some deals, but have a LOOOOONG way to go before I'm down to $30 a week for groceries!