The "food stamp fridge"

[whoviana]

OFF:

For ants: baking powder!

Where did I go to kindergarten? Um... somewhere... somewhere bad. *changes subject*

ON

[Three and Done]

My middle daughter is in college locally, but it isn't always "convenient" (according to HER) for her to come home (she stays with my oldest daughter or friends when she isn't here), and she constantly comments how she "misses my home cooking" :lol: because she ends up eating a lot of microwaveable food when she isn't home.

She says it just makes her feel "good". :)

[Coco]

OFF:

For ants: baking powder!

Where did I go to kindergarten? Um... somewhere... somewhere bad. *changes subject*

ON

i can't help it.... :lol: if confusing please ignore 8-)

[bBvideo 560,340:vx78hbwh]https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1312155051628[/bBvideo]

[Mama Mia]

Oh I definitely believe you. We have clothes we wear in our space (ie, our room) and any clothing you wore outside of the house does NOT touch my bed! :sick: Shoes don't touch the carpet, they stay in a closet in the entry hall.

I'm having to learn to be less OCD about it, since we do have two roommates who are lazy as all hell. They just got a severe talkin to by the exhusband because we have ants again... because of them, and I refuse to continue to clean up after a woman in her mid 40s and a man in his mid 20s.

I couldn't agree more about having a full fridge. when money/funds are low and the cupboards are bare, I always feel extra "down". But when shit is plentiful, it's like everything will be okay :D

If it makes you both feel better:

I can no longer cook due to my disabilities, I now eat almost exclusively frozen or otherwise pre-prepared, heavily processed food. I do eat yogurt though- does that count for anything?

When I could cook, when my kids were at home and I was working full time - I often made some dish that consisted of " cream of crap" soup, cheese, a starch, a vegetable and a meat, thrown together and baked/slow-cooked. If I was too tired, we often had something I could pick up at a drive through. To my credit though-- we did avoid soda, super sugar cereal, and had organic / natural as much as feasible - except for the aforementioned cream of crap soup and drive through junk food.

I was an absolute crap housekeeper and you both would have had serious panic attack walking in my house. Cluttered and dirty, pretty much all the time.

Also - did not exercise hardly ever. Unless you count chasing after a billion kids.

AND some of my kids were absolute terrors.

There you have it- I worked full time, came home, provided a very marginally nutritious meal, maybe threw a load of laundry in, nagged kids about homework and baths, possibly did a few dishes or vacuumed and fell in a heap on the couch to watch some sleazy tv show.

You may both now feel vastly superior :D

[whoviana]

You may both now feel vastly superior :D

I don't. I can't imagine feeling like I was on a high horse or something after reading you. I bow to all the efforts that you have made to make things in your life work. It was quite a humbling experience *reading you.

[Mama Mia]

I don't. I can't imagine feeling like I was on a high horse or something after reading you. I bow to all the efforts that you have made to make things in your life work. It was quite a humbling experience *reading you.

Thanks. I was just trying to lighten the mood though, I think it's way too easy to feel like we aren't doing life " good enough" no matter what we're doing, or what our circumstances are. :)

[DarkAnts]

Inflation had gone up. Packaging sizes have gone down. Truth is our money is stretched tighter these days. Food stamps or no food stamps, food is increasingly more expensive even If you are preparing your meals from scratch.

[browncoatslytherin]

Inflation had gone up. Packaging sizes have gone down. Truth is our money is stretched tighter these days. Food stamps or no food stamps, food is increasingly more expensive even If you are preparing your meals from scratch.

don't i know this feel. we had $57 when we last went shopping and we stretched every penny. and the amount of food we got was ridiculous. and we went to a pretty cheap grocery store, too. :/

[Coco]

don't i know this feel. we had $57 when we last went shopping and we stretched every penny. and the amount of food we got was ridiculous. and we went to a pretty cheap grocery store, too. :/

ita - Christmas 2012 hubby and i took the kids out for supper and to get an artificial tree and we had $150. It wasn't enough for fast food and a tree that didn't look like it came from the dollar store. So we opted for a real tree for around $40 iirc. (privileged rant, i admit, but we'd saved up for a dang fake tree that would be safer around our fireplace) Very disturbing.

[Three and Done]

We live in a rural area, 20 minutes from the city, and the local grocery store's prices are crazy ($4 or more for a gallon of milk, $3.50 for juice, etc.), so we buy very little there unless it's on sale or we aren't headed to town and have to have an item.

I often wonder how people in our little town can afford to shop at that store ALL of the time... I am able to drive into the city for our groceries at the less expensive stores, but what the heck do the people do that can't?

[August]

Fine. But really... please don't "doubt" any of my abilities if you don't know where I come from, who I am, what I am or I am not capable of. Not even as a joke, with winks or kitties, because it is hurtful.

While we splurge on food, we make sacrifices in other areas. Each to their own.

Cooking home: the cost really does depend on what you're used to, what you like to eat, how many of you are there, etc.

Me stating that it's cheaper for the 2 of us to buy our steaks and side dish for dinner than buying the meat itself, the veggies and preparing it, was true in our case.

Still, if you can't stand me, do put me on ignore, in the meantime.

We can get away with our take away feasts because we are currently residing in a country that is considered "a developing country" and it is very agricultural. Were we residing in DC, or NY city, we would be resorting to low class Chinese takeouts, granted. But here, food literally grows on trees.

I'd like to continue this conversation after a change of tone, or discontinue it completely, since it's pointless. And also, just because it's a "snark forum", not everyone who doesn't fit in the "picture" whatever it is, doesn't beg to be picked on. Ramen.

Continuing the conversation with a change of tone...

Bought food tastes really good. It tastes really good because they use a ton of salt, sugar and fat to make it taste that way. If you made it at home you'd skimp on those ingredients because you know they're not good for you. But because you're just eating it you have no idea that tasty salad has five teaspoon of sugar in the dressing (for example), or the steak is drenched in butter.

Take brownies for example. Love 'em, love to buy one and chow it down. But whenever I go to make a tray of nine brownies and realise it has a pound of butter and a cup of sugar I decide to make something else instead. When we ave guests you bet your ass I use cream in my butter chicken instead of half and half.

[utter solitude]

We live in a rural area, 20 minutes from the city, and the local grocery store's prices are crazy ($4 or more for a gallon of milk, $3.50 for juice, etc.), so we buy very little there unless it's on sale or we aren't headed to town and have to have an item.

I often wonder how people in our little town can afford to shop at that store ALL of the time... I am able to drive into the city for our groceries at the less expensive stores, but what the heck do the people do that can't?

A friend of mine lives in a rural area as well... the village he lives in consists of one stop light, a gas station, a pizza place, and a smattering of houses. it's about 45 minutes from the city and 20 minutes from the nearest Walmart. (Not only that, but if he wants "real" {hard} liquor {as in, >21% ABV} he has to drive at least 30 minutes.)

As you can imagine, the gas station stocks quite a few extra groceries: bread, eggs, etc. It's like six bucks for a gallon of milk. He worked at the gas station for a while and apparently they have people who are in there nearly every day buying their milk and juice and bread and toilet paper there. I can't imagine!! I mean, I live in the city, and there's Walmarts and Giant Eagles and Krogers aplenty, but I can't imagine buying my bread and eggs from a gas station every few days, even if Walmart is something of a drive.

[browncoatslytherin]

A friend of mine lives in a rural area as well... the village he lives in consists of one stop light, a gas station, a pizza place, and a smattering of houses. it's about 45 minutes from the city and 20 minutes from the nearest Walmart. (Not only that, but if he wants "real" {hard} liquor {as in, >21% ABV} he has to drive at least 30 minutes.)

As you can imagine, the gas station stocks quite a few extra groceries: bread, eggs, etc. It's like six bucks for a gallon of milk. He worked at the gas station for a while and apparently they have people who are in there nearly every day buying their milk and juice and bread and toilet paper there. I can't imagine!! I mean, I live in the city, and there's Walmarts and Giant Eagles and Krogers aplenty, but I can't imagine buying my bread and eggs from a gas station every few days, even if Walmart is something of a drive.

the circle k i lived across the street from in ohio was more like a mini-mart, really. their milk was actually cheaper than the milk at the grocery store, and they had a get two for something deal that came out really good. which was great because, as we had no car at the time, we would have had to walk half a mile back from the store with a gallon. ugh.

[utter solitude]

the circle k i lived across the street from in ohio was more like a mini-mart, really. their milk was actually cheaper than the milk at the grocery store, and they had a get two for something deal that came out really good. which was great because, as we had no car at the time, we would have had to walk half a mile back from the store with a gallon. ugh.

In my experience, at least in the city, anything from a gas station or other convenience type store is very expensive. Of course, I'm in the city, so it's not like I have to drive a significant distance to go to Walmart or Meijer.

But it's good to know somewhere in the state there's decently priced milk at a convenient place! Maybe I'm just going to the wrong stores XD

[Trynn]

I remember grocery shopping in 1998 with my mom. $20 bought a lot more than it does now, but it never would've gotten us a full cart like that. That was always still somewhere near the $90-$100 mark for us.

[browncoatslytherin]

In my experience, at least in the city, anything from a gas station or other convenience type store is very expensive. Of course, I'm in the city, so it's not like I have to drive a significant distance to go to Walmart or Meijer.

But it's good to know somewhere in the state there's decently priced milk at a convenient place! Maybe I'm just going to the wrong stores XD

i was in cuyahoga falls (i don't mind revealing :) ) and we were right in it, too. i don't remember how much their eggs were, but I think they were pretty comparable to the save-a-lot or walmart down the road. i just remember the milk was cheaper, which was a god send as it was across the street and not half a mile down the road. :P that also limited our grocery runs, too, as we didn't have a car, so we had to carry anything we bought. my arms and back got quite the workout.

[Loveday]

I remember grocery shopping in 1998 with my mom. $20 bought a lot more than it does now, but it never would've gotten us a full cart like that. That was always still somewhere near the $90-$100 mark for us.

Yeah, I remember military commissary shopping back then, and even there, no way did my cart ever look like that for only $20. I'm guessing they're just trying to prove a point with this graphic. Especially considering that while $20 doesn't buy much these days, it still can buy more than what's in that 2013 cart if you keep an eye on the ads and combine sales with coupons. I can get milk, eggs, bread, salad stuff, a few bananas and apples, and maybe a package of chicken or ground beef for about $20 at Kroger if I buy what's on sale, use my coupons, and get Kroger brands as much as possible. Not everything I need in an average week, but certainly more than what's in that cart! :)

[Coco]

Yeah, I remember military commissary shopping back then, and even there, no way did my cart ever look like that for only $20. I'm guessing they're just trying to prove a point with this graphic. Especially considering that while $20 doesn't buy much these days, it still can buy more than what's in that 2013 cart if you keep an eye on the ads and combine sales with coupons. I can get milk, eggs, bread, salad stuff, a few bananas and apples, and maybe a package of chicken or ground beef for about $20 at Kroger if I buy what's on sale, use my coupons, and get Kroger brands as much as possible. Not everything I need in an average week, but certainly more than what's in that cart! :)

They should have labeled the full cart 1978. Still though, a full cart is about twice what it was in 1998 :evil:

[utter solitude]

i was in cuyahoga falls (i don't mind revealing :) ) and we were right in it, too. i don't remember how much their eggs were, but I think they were pretty comparable to the save-a-lot or walmart down the road. i just remember the milk was cheaper, which was a god send as it was across the street and not half a mile down the road. :P that also limited our grocery runs, too, as we didn't have a car, so we had to carry anything we bought. my arms and back got quite the workout.

I love Cuyahoga Falls! It's beautiful up there.

[Walking Cat Bed]

I resent showers too! Not so much the shower itself, but having to put on clothes and walk to the bathroom and having to deal with my hair and I'm always irrationally afraid someone will walk in on me... :?

I resent that my (male) roommate gets the en-suite bathroom and I have to walk down the hall to mine. It's still "private" but I have to get dressed before I open the door. Feh. It's just annoying.

[Stephanie66]

I had food stamps on and off until I got married. I was on them with one kid, and my food budget DID go down after I got a job. It seemed then like it was all or nothing, but I understand that is not the case. I went on them again when I got cancer and (probably because I lost my hair and it was obvious) no one gave me any shit. I had an attitude by that point and bought grocery store sushi and XXX Vitamin Water a few times. I didn't care...it was all I could keep down the days after chemo. I didn't eat much, so I could "afford" it, so to speak.

People on food stamps probably shouldn't buy gum and Red Bull, but neither should people not on food stamps. In my opinion? Life is too short to care about what anyone else is eating or doing with money that the government has deemed they are entitled to. Having gone through the hoops myself, I know the hoops are substantial (I received Medicaid as well) and my caseworker cut me off a few times just for fun. I don't think very many people choose it, and if they do, are they the kind of people you want as co-workers or employees anyway?

[Fun-Dee]

ita - Christmas 2012 hubby and i took the kids out for supper and to get an artificial tree and we had $150. It wasn't enough for fast food and a tree that didn't look like it came from the dollar store. So we opted for a real tree for around $40 iirc. (privileged rant, i admit, but we'd saved up for a dang fake tree that would be safer around our fireplace) Very disturbing.

Kind of an obvious suggestion, but if you haven't gotten your artificial tree yet, go right after Christmas.

Now for my WIC story. Many years ago I was pregnant with my second baby, and my son was a toddler. My husbands teenaged sister got pregnant and was thrown out by her fundie mother. We took her in. We could afford to feed her, but weren't exactly well off, so she applied for WIC and received it. I went grocery shopping with her one day, at the same grocery chain that my husband was an employee at, but not the same location where he worked. The clerk was really rude to us. Here we were, two pregnant young women with a toddler, but there was no excuse for the way we were treated. Back then I wasn't very good at sticking up for myself, so I let it slide. Now I would have gone straight to the manager. I do remember the coupons being a pain. We had to get something like 5 quarts of milk, which didn't make sense to me because quarts are so much more expensive.

[whoviana]

The welfare system where I come from is somewhat different, my mother had to apply for it in every 6 months and she kept receiving welfare as long as she had at least 3 children under 25 who were studying. She told me that they humiliated her every single time. Like, the folks in the bureau paid our welfare from their own pockets or something, they talked down on her. Had she ever called the manager, it just would have turned worse. In that country, however, people spend the welfare - of any sort - on whatever they please. Good thing they never drank, smoked or gambled, because many people do. I don't care if they spend their welfare on soda and cheetos but I have a serious problem with people spending welfare money on booze, tobacco or gambling while their family are on the verge of starvation. It is a huge and very much existing problem in that country. They once tried to regulate the spendings in order to actually get food on the table for the underage ones for who's sake they applied for welfare in the first place, but a huge public outrage followed so they dropped the whole issue. (So again, where I come from you can spend your welfare on whatever you please, from food to gas, from booze to any personal purchases. Hope I didn't leave out any relevant info this time to confuse everyone.) I see nothing wrong with someone spending their welfare on items like sushi or vitamin water. Or anything. It is theirs, they are entitled to spend it on any form of food they desire. If it's whale grease, then it's whale grease. Or hakarl or Sicilian maggot cheese, who cares. I think people should get past being bothered by other people's spendings. *riffles

[utter solitude]

The welfare system where I come from is somewhat different, my mother had to apply for it in every 6 months and she kept receiving welfare as long as she had at least 3 children under 25 who were studying. She told me that they humiliated her every single time. Like, the folks in the bureau paid our welfare from their own pockets or something, they talked down on her. Had she ever called the manager, it just would have turned worse. In that country, however, people spend the welfare - of any sort - on whatever they please. Good thing they never drank, smoked or gambled, because many people do. I don't care if they spend their welfare on soda and cheetos but I have a serious problem with people spending welfare money on booze, tobacco or gambling while their family are on the verge of starvation. It is a huge and very much existing problem in that country. They once tried to regulate the spendings in order to actually get food on the table for the underage ones for who's sake they applied for welfare in the first place, but a huge public outrage followed so they dropped the whole issue. (So again, where I come from you can spend your welfare on whatever you please, from food to gas, from booze to any personal purchases. Hope I didn't leave out any relevant info this time to confuse everyone.) I see nothing wrong with someone spending their welfare on items like sushi or vitamin water. Or anything. It is theirs, they are entitled to spend it on any form of food they desire. If it's whale grease, then it's whale grease. Or hakarl or Sicilian maggot cheese, who cares. I think people should get past being bothered by other people's spendings. *riffles

Ugh, that sounds terrible. We have something similar to that in the US, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (or "cash assistance"). It's money that is direct deposited, given as a check, or loaded onto a benefit card (if, say, I had TANF, I could get the money loaded onto the same card my foodstamps are on. When I swipe it a a store I have to select "food" since the card does both benefits, even tho I don't have cash assistance) You must have a child that lives with you and meet income guidelines, and there is a 60 month maximum per person per lifetime in my state. You also have to work or complete other "job related" activities for a certain number of hours per month. I have to do the same for my foodstamps. You can spend the money on whatever you want.

I don't know about reporting changes or reapplying and shit with cash assistance, but with foodstamps, I have to submit an "interim report" every six months. I actually did one earlier this month - and reported no changes lol. I'm also required to report all changes in my situation, such as moving, changes in household, or if my income goes above a certain level.

[Rescinded and Mended]

I just wandered in to grump about the fact that meat went up again in my area.

I went to the store a couple of days ago to buy some veggies for a new chili recipe I want to try. I needed two pounds of ground beef, but wanted to make it healthier, so I thought I'd grab the turkey instead. $7.00 for two pounds! It's never been that high before. :(

I wound up settling for some frozen roasted chicken in my freezer, needed to use up some stuff anyway. Next time I'll hit Aldi's for the meat.