Living it up on the tax payers dime a weeks worth of food stamps

Some of these comments are out of line, IMO.

So what if OP has a computer? Or internet access? Or buys 2 bucks worth of soda a week?

Since when are the disadvantaged not allowed to have anything extra?

Here is how I look at OP's situation:

They weren't always disabled.

Its not his/her fault they are disabled.

At one time he/she made four times what they make now and probably paid into these systems for years and years.

Given the choice, I am certain that OP would choose not to be disabled... but, unfortunately, that isn't something you get to choose.

Should any of that mean that anyone else gets to dictate their life or what they should or shouldn't have? Should that mean that we get to tell OP that he/she can't have a damn 2 liter bottle of soda? Or a pie? Seriously?

Just keep in mind that anyone of you could have an accident or illness that could render you disabled and it can happen in a flash. YOU could be walking in OP's shoes next week or next month.

Its fine to suggest healthier or more economic meal choices, but telling them that they can't have a computer, or internet access, or soda, or pie..... is rude and insensitive given the situation, especially given that the computer is a decade old and from before any of this happened.

OP, there is a thread somewhere on here that has many inexpensive recipes that you may be interested in trying out. I'll dig and see if I can find it for you.

What I won't do, is insist that you give up every last little thing in life and bash your for buying a 2 dollar pie because you are disabled and stuck in this situation that is beyond your control.

I do have to say that yes while the SNAP program is woefully lacking. You are also not making making very wise choices. Now the reasons that people do not make the best of shopping choices do vary, from having disabilities or lack adequate transportation among others. You could easily be getting chicken as your primary source of meat on this allotment. You do not have to get the boneless and skinless chicken that costs more. You could even be getting whole chickens or turkeys and those can provide meat for a few days. Go heavy on rice, beans, pastas and potatoes you know things that store well come in bulk sizes and are very filling. The complete pancake mixes (just add water) are another good choice for a couple of days worth of easy to prepare filling meals, get a cheap waffle iron and you can even change it up some. The thing to remember is that the less processed the items you are buying are the cheaper they will be and the more food you will be able to purchase.

Irish614
Instead of posting your life on a conspiracy website, why not research how to make the money that you do receive stretch a little further. I was on food stamps before, it was my last resort and it wasn't easy especially living in the highest taxed state in the nation. I didn't go on the internet complaining about how I can't eat steaks and the like. Instead I came up with dinner ideas that would last me for a month on a very limited budget. You can get HEAP and other programs that will pay for your utilities during times of hardship. I'm thankful that I have found a great job and got out of the funk I was in. Pick your head up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. Change your thinking and it will change you. Good luck.

I worked 2-3 jobs since I was 16 and supported 2 others and never took foodstamps so what? The Op has schizophrenia it only gets worse not better.

reply to post by SasquatchHunter


But we can all help with recipes and teaching some cooking skills so the grocery money in his house will go farther!

SasquatchHunter

Irish614
Instead of posting your life on a conspiracy website, why not research how to make the money that you do receive stretch a little further. I was on food stamps before, it was my last resort and it wasn't easy especially living in the highest taxed state in the nation. I didn't go on the internet complaining about how I can't eat steaks and the like. Instead I came up with dinner ideas that would last me for a month on a very limited budget. You can get HEAP and other programs that will pay for your utilities during times of hardship. I'm thankful that I have found a great job and got out of the funk I was in. Pick your head up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. Change your thinking and it will change you. Good luck.

I worked 2-3 jobs since I was 16 and supported 2 others and never took foodstamps so what? The Op has schizophrenia it only gets worse not better.

You seem like a great ball of positivity. Glad you never had to take food stamps.

reply to post by OpinionatedB


If you have bread, cheese, and soup, you can flatten the bread and roll the cheese inside it, bake briefly, and use the soup as dipping sauce. I love getting creative with my meals. There's nothing better than consuming the delectable results of creative problem solving. Except sex. And video games.

I'm not look for sympathy from anyone. I'm pist off that we as a nation can spend 2 trillion dollars on war and billions more in aid to other countries that hate us but we as a nation have a problem when it comes to helping our own citizens.

You have no clue what these medications do yet your real fast to pass judgement without having been in someone elses shoes.

This aint a sympathy rant I'm just saying what these meds do. Your passing accusations so I'm just countering them. Within 2 hours of taking my meds I can't keep my eyes open. The meds make me crave sugar I have to force myself from not eating it non stop. These meds have been known to cause diabetes. Theres been class action lawsuits over it.

When I wake up my mind feels like it's had an injection of novocain. My mind feels like it's numb. For the first 4 hours of my day I'm a zombie till the meds start wearing off. Then it's time to take a round of more meds. Then it's back to sleep. I take meds at night before bed and again in the middle of the day. This stuff is zombie inducing drooling on yourself type of stuff.

well right now at my safeway that tuna is 1.00 a can ($3.20/lb) where as whole foster farms chickens are .79 a pound, a pork picnic roast 1.29/lb, a shank ham 1.69/lb and beef back ribs 1.99/lb. All of those are bone in products and if you're rockin' a budget bones are your friends.

learn to make gravy from drippings and stock from bones

Actually cooking is always going to be cheaper

If you're uncomfortable cooking I might suggest getting a crock pot, you can usually get them at the salvation army pretty cheap and they have a very gentle learning curve. so you don't have to worry about ruining anything and wasting your food.

Irish614

SasquatchHunter

Irish614
Instead of posting your life on a conspiracy website, why not research how to make the money that you do receive stretch a little further. I was on food stamps before, it was my last resort and it wasn't easy especially living in the highest taxed state in the nation. I didn't go on the internet complaining about how I can't eat steaks and the like. Instead I came up with dinner ideas that would last me for a month on a very limited budget. You can get HEAP and other programs that will pay for your utilities during times of hardship. I'm thankful that I have found a great job and got out of the funk I was in. Pick your head up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. Change your thinking and it will change you. Good luck.

I worked 2-3 jobs since I was 16 and supported 2 others and never took foodstamps so what? The Op has schizophrenia it only gets worse not better.

You seem like a great ball of positivity. Glad you never had to take food stamps.

I didn't have to take food stamps because I worked my butt off and sacrificed a lot. I'm not holding anyone else to my standards. I'm not telling anyone else to stop feeling sorry for themselves.

reply to post by SasquatchHunter


And the Veiled Jab of the Week award goes to...

reply to post by OpinionatedB


And you can also finish school and become an RN it's only like another year of training the difference between the two and there's places you can literally sit 90% of the time and hand out meds like twice the entire shift (One place I worked that was the total of the job for the RN, Meanwhile she sat on her ass and got paid twice as much as me, you know the one who actually had to take care of the patients).

I never trusted any DR everytime I hear of someone going to a DR it's for something slightly uncomfortable and like within 6 months it becomes major with worse pain and more issues, I am totally convinced the drugs they give you cause worse scenarios then if you just went online and found herbal and holistic remedies and controlled the issue yourself. One person I know found out she had cancer. She was only mildly ill for a short period of time,Dr prescribed meds and she was dead in LESS THAN A MONTH, for cancer that went mastic seemingly overnight (The DR's prognosis was that she literally had many many years she could live) Chemotherapy is a hell of a thing!

OpinionatedB
reply to post by SasquatchHunter

 

But we can all help with recipes and teaching some cooking skills so the grocery money in his house will go farther!

We can't help the OP. They need a physical presence of someone's help. I watched this mental illness destroy a close friends older brother when I was growing up.

reply to post by daryllyn


Wow thank you someone with a heart. This post restored my faith in humanity. I'm done posting in this thread it's too hard to keep up with defending the attacks. Your post made my day.

reply to post by wantsome


Honestly, this country feels like going to war in a broken tank driven by bubonic victims.

Josephus
well right now at my safeway that tuna is 1.00 a can ($3.20/lb) where as whole foster farms chickens are .79 a pound, a pork picnic roast 1.29/lb, a shank ham 1.69/lb and beef back ribs 1.99/lb. All of those are bone in products and if you're rockin' a budget bones are your friends.

learn to make gravy from drippings and stock from bones

Actually cooking is always going to be cheaper

If you're uncomfortable cooking I might suggest getting a crock pot, you can usually get them at the salvation army pretty cheap and they have a very gentle learning curve. so you don't have to worry about ruining anything and wasting your food.

Yes when I was at my worst the slow cooker saved me. The shear amount and varieties of meals you can make with it pure outstanding. I just want to be clear I am not bashing the OP, I do agree with him SNAP does need a bit of work. I am merely pointing out he can and should be doing better in his food choices as well.

wantsome
reply to post by daryllyn

 

Wow thank you someone with a heart. This post restored my faith in humanity. I'm done posting in this thread it's too hard to keep up with defending the attacks. Your post made my day.

edit on 17-11-2013 by wantsome because: (no reason given)

I have a disability, too, so I might be more understanding than others. If someone has not been there... they cannot know what its like. It is incredibly hard to not be able to do the things you used to be able to do with little trouble.

I hope you can find what little good advice there is (Like Mblah's whole chicken suggestion) buried in these insults and apply it in some way to help lessen the burden of a tight budget.

I'm sorry all these insensitive people have felt the need to attack/insult you. People are horrible sometimes.

Much love your way

reply to post by wantsome


What most, myself included here, are saying is that the money you are getting in food stamps will actually cover your food budget. The money they give for foodstamps is pretty good actually when you cook. The budget I showed you that feeds 4 to 5 costs less than what they give a family of that size or at least right at when you shop smart, and the smarter you shop and the more you learn to cook the better off you are!

And there is stuff you can cook quickly and cheaply, since time is often a consideration for someone who is disabled, and things that take more time but that you don't have to keep an eye on, like when you cook in a crock pot.

When they figured out how much to give in food stamps they did just what I did there, figured the cost of meals and give you the proper amount when you are careful, and only rich people in America are not careful when it comes to the food budget. When I had food stamps for that year I went back to college I ate better on food stamps than I did when I was working....and I made good money when I was working!

No one is criticizing you for being disabled, I have a physical disability and have been in some very rough times both physically and financially... to say the very least. But you work with what you have, and many here are willing to help you with that! Myself included!

When you are in hard times you have to cut costs, no matter what when you make less you cannot eat like you ate when you were making over 3 grand a month... but it is a very workable situation, and the government DOES give enough... you just haven't yet had to learn how to make it stretch!

reply to post by KeliOnyx


I think it should be totally done away with, you can't get prepared food at all so it requires you to be able to pay for gas or electric which most people probably won't have if they are on fixed incomes or displaced (Homeless). Soup kitchens provide cooked meals, we should have government run soup kitchens where you have to show lack of income or paystub that shows you make below a certain amount heck fill out for it just like EBT forms then you go to a servicing area close to you. They control what foods you will get (SAVING thousands of dollars) And they can also get wholesale food prices because they will have plenty of people to feed so they would need to buy in bulk. Give three meals at set times you miss a meal it's on you. Workers could be paid and still save thousands of dollars considering the elimination of fraud. And they could also just make those who use the system work in rotation for that food as volunteers or be eliminated from the program. There's a plethora of ways this idea could work.

reply to post by wantsome


I understand your situation, I know more than a few people in the same boat both friends and family. Most people would understand, but the levels of social engineering being done the last few years mostly by the far right media leave no room for understanding or empathy. Somehow being poor and disabled somehow disqualifies you to any what they would consider as a luxury.

Most of the responses on here are the product of Fox News and the right's war against the poor. They have been taught that food stamps equals wealth, and cheating the system is the norm. It goes back to Reagan and his myth welfare queens.

The SNAP program is one of the best run government programs here is a link if you wish to educate yourself, but warning this will go against what the Rights Corporate Media has taught you. SNAP[Food Stamps]: Facts...
As good as this government program is it only covers about 3 weeks of food for the month, when you have a significant portion of the populace being told its bad and filled with fraud its easy to see why its a favorite target for cuts and criticism.

At this point I'm resisting the the urge to bash the far right wing, instead I wish to try to help you.

Research aquaculture you can attempt to keep fish in a aquarium and use the water to grow plants inside your house or apartment there are many youtube videos for setting up inexpensive systems perhaps neighbors, friends or family could help you.

The other option are food banks or pantries in your area.

As for the negative posts in this thread, have no fear, everyone at some point will need to apply for food stamps, lets see if opinions change based on real life experience.

reply to post by OpinionatedB


Ramen is a major staple in my diet. And mushrooms. For about 8 bucks, you can make lunch and dinner from 4 ramens, cream of broccoli, ham/bologne and mushrooms thrown together in a casserole.

...I have weird tastes, I know.