"My kids deserve a little something once a month from the grocery don't they??? I cannot afford to go pick them up a toy or take them out for a movie. What if the only treat you could buy your child was a box of cereal in a pretty package? Wouldn't YOU? Flame me, ban me. I don't give a crap. Get off your high horses and look at who you may be offending lumping every person who gets food stamps into one category."

Do your kids deserve a treat? Sure. All I'm saying is buy the treat with your personal cash, not the food stamps. That's completely reasonable. Plus there are lots of ways to give a child a treat than buying them a more expensive version of a basic food.

Because my DD was a ward of the court prior to her adoption, she received TANF (welfare). She didn't qualify for food stamps but she did qualify for WIC for a short period of time. I was never embarrassed using her money to help support her. The State of Idaho pays $309 a month per child in the kind of care situation that DD was in. I was very careful how I spent her money - making sure it was for her care and her care alone. When it comes to TANF, however, the state calculates that some of that money will go toward paying for general expenses (heat, light, rent, etc) so they don't care if the TANF is spent on clothes or even taken out as cash for gas money.

Food stamps are different. I believe they are meant to be a form of assistance, not a complete replacement for a family's food budget. I don't know if they do it this way anymore or not, but years ago families had to buy their food stamps. For instance, you could buy $100 worth of food stamps for $25, thereby getting your groceries for a deep discount.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

I first of all want to say that I am not saying food stamps are a bad thing. I am simply saying that maybe the people who receive them need to better buget the food stamps. Only buy sale items, use coupons etc. I know a lot of us can feed our familys for just as much or less that what those who get food stamps. You just have to be a smarter shopper.

If you go to the store and just buy whatever you want without giving a 2nd thought to what's on sale or anything then of course you're gonna run out. That's all. I know what it's like to be on food stamps. We had to have food stamps when we were younger (back when they looked like monopoly money) before the card came out. We had to get free milk and bread at the community center. We qualified for free lunch at school, etc.

I am definatley not knocking those that need the assistance. I am glad we live in a country that can offer assistance to those in need. I just think they should really look at what they are buying and be smart shoppers.

I too hope that I did not offend anybody in my previous post. That is not what my intentions were.

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Mommy to Hope (10.10.06)
Monkey mommy to Allyson (10.13.02)

I too see both sides, and my dd is on WIC, but I also know that overall a lot of abuse does go on. I volunteered at a food and clothing bank through a church a few years ago and I saw a lot of abuse. From the mom with 7 children and pregnant with #8 who refused to take potatoes, rice or beans because it meant too much work and she demanded canned pork and beans, boxed mac and cheese and other convenient foods to the dad with 12 (no that's not a typo) children who came in every week and took either bags of food or bags of clothes but refused to look for work. He also visited several other food banks in town. There are some people who just have no ethics or drive and they will find ways around the system. We did have several families who were stuggling and looking for ways to improve their situation and were grateful for any tips, recipes or new ideas. It would be good to offer classes to help with meal planning and low cost recipe ideas. Also, the mom with the 5 month old who was skipping meals? I don't understand either. When she has the baby at home she could make the baby food from scratch (boiled and mashed carrots, mashed green beans and peas, bananas, etc.) and she should only need a few jars for daycare and infant cereal is cheap. Also, I used to call gerber and other companies and they would send me coupons and I would look for sales.

It was a 4 month old and she was saying that she skipped meals to feed her. But, it doesn't make sense to me because a baby doesn't eat that much. Cereal is cheap and formula you can get on WIC and of course it is even cheaper to breastfeed. with the two hundred and something she was getting for two people it doesn't seem like she should have to skip meals.

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Punky Power

okay, I reread the article. Am I right when it said that the 4month old and the mom get $280 in food stamps plus $65 from another government agency?
If that's the case then the girl needs some serious budget and meal planning education. If she can't feed herself and a 4 month old on $345 a month then I'm not real sympathetic.
As for the lady with the four grown kids, it didn't say that they lived with her, just that she had kids. And she doesn't work. She's only 55. Okay so $135 a month, that's $33.75 a week for one person. How many of us had that much one week and had to feed our whole family? I know it's not a lot, but with some ingenuity it can be done.

I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if this has been mentioned...

Don't be so quick to judge others by what is in their cart. I buy A LOT of name brand items, but I get them for next to nothing combining buy one get one free sales with a coupon for each item. Sure, I might have cereal that retails for $4 a box normally, but I NEVER pay more than $1.50 a box for cereal.

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:love:

This thread kind of makes me sick. I usually never comment on anything like this but I felt I needed to on this one. The number of people that look down on people with food stamps because of "some people" they know or saw at the grocery store is disgusting. That is just like stereotyping a race because someone they know of a certain race does this or that. It is ridiculous. I know many people (myself included) that use coupons combined with sales and get name brand items much cheaper than generic ones. I also know that you can buy Ralph Lauren clothes at Goodwill for a couple of bucks. I have met many people that really need food stamps and refuse to get them because they will be too embarrassed of what others will think of them. For every person that is abusing the system there is someone out there who is not. There are many families with both parents working that get food stamps. They are paying taxes just like everyone else. I say this because many people make the comment that they are paying for the people on food stamps. If you needed them then their taxes would go to helping you. It seems to me that there are a lot of people out there that look down on people that use food stamps and I pray to God that they are not in need of them one day and get the looks they are giving to others. You do not know someone else's situation unless you are them. People should not be so quick to judge.

But I'm just as guilty of judging "the other side" as well....everytime I see a spoiled person driving a Navigator or a Hummer or an Escalade....all I can think of is..."I wonder how many hungry people those payments would feed?"

Money is becoming less and less valuable...it will be amusing to see how the rich/spoiled survive.

I would agree with there is a lot of understanding and also a lot of judgement from people here. I would just caution people that want others to spend and cook like they do. I suppose there is a revelation for those who have learned to cook from scratch and find they can save money. Those who use coupons want to share their knowledge too. However, you have to get people where they are and work on that. Attacking them in the check out line or judging their cart isn't going to help your message get though to them. It will shut them down immediately.

What do we know of their lives? Perhaps on some days opening a can of Spaghetti O's is all they can manage at the end of their day. We have all been there.

There are people at every income level who make bad choices in food. I don't think if people are on public assistance are asking for use to give them nutritional advice. Everyone will learn what they need when they need it. Chances are it will be a friend talking over the kitchen table and giving them ideas or another friend loaning them a cookbook. I bet many of you have given help in that way too.



Barb C (who has had many exemplary carts and embarrising one's too)

It's alot harder to actually walk in another person's shoes. The person who has a cart full of convenience food just might be a person who is working a 60 hour week and may have difficulty finding time to meal plan or cook. They may make convenience foods because it enables them to spend some of the little time they have focusing on their family rather than food. Who are we to look down on their judgement call? The person who doesn't stock up during sales may not have the storage space in their home or have a freezer to stock up on sales. The person who does not coupons may not have the money to pay the tax on the money they saved by using the coupons(yes, you get taxed on it if your state has tax on food). We have the benefit of lots of tools(including the internet) available to us. There are many out there that don't have the things WE have that help us save. They consider things like time, money, space, and opportunity a luxury they just can't afford.


There is room for improvement in the system. That said, I refuse to be cynical and turn myself away from those in need simply because a certain percentage would take advantage. If someone takes advantage, it will be up to them to have to square that off with God or karma or whatever.