Living on Nothing but Food Stamps

[Thystle]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/us/03foodstamps.html

[~Demeter~]

That was me from Sept - Dec '09. It was very rough but I discovered the kindness of others, faith in humanity. I seemed to somehow come up with what we needed... Sept - Oct we had nothing, no income, no food stamps. My heart goes out to the others who have had to survive this way and I really hope things turn around soon.

[beansmama]

I lived off of food stamps and $200 child support for nearly a year post divorce.

[Peacemamalove]

living off Food stamps right now too and $280 a month for a family of 5!

[LeighB]

That's us, basically. It was us for sure in August. Before that it was just the food bank and a few hundred a month. I'm thankfully for the food assistance program everyday.

[GalateaDunkel]

We have in the past lived on food stamps, the landlady's saintliness in not evicting us, and proceeds from selling personal belongings at a loss.

In order to get cash assistance you basically have to put your kid in childcare of THEIR choice and take the first job you can get. What's a mom to do? Makes eBay, Craigslist etc look downright tantalizing. And only a fool would trouble to report the pittance you get by sacrificing your stuff or other desperate measures.

Thank you, Bill Clinton!

[Hannah32]

I read this article this morning and found it quite sad. If you're not in a resiliant mood, do NOT read the comments on the article. People tend to take pleasure in being absolutely cruel and judgemental.

Food stamps are pretty much THE safety net in the US. It doesn't have to be this way. Other industrialized countries have better solutions, IMO.

[zebra15]

Food stamps and unemployment, been this way for about a year now... I;m thankful for the little bit of sub-teaching I get called for.

[luv-my-boys]

Makes me sad and angry at the same time.

FYI: I wanted to mention Angel food ministries. They provide low cost (I believe you can use food stamps to purchase) food boxes through out the US. Thought it might help someone in case they didnt know about it.

[StormySar]

Originally Posted by luv-my-boys

Makes me sad and angry at the same time.

FYI: I wanted to mention Angel food ministries. They provide low cost (I believe you can use food stamps to purchase) food boxes through out the US. Thought it might help someone in case they didnt know about it.

Actually the cost of the food contained in those boxes aren't a great deal, unless you're not a savvy shopper or have access to stores that charge less. A blog post I read recently broke down everything you got, and how much she would have paid per individual item vs. what was charged in the box. I can't remember the whole numbers and all, but when I looked at buying from them, or buying individual cuts of meat on sale, brands of food i'd buy vs. what was supplied, if I could use coupons easily, etc. it wasn't a great deal for me, either.

of course I realize prices on food differ wildly across the country, and some people have more options concerning places to shop than others, and time to figure out best costs, etc. so it may very well be a good deal for some. JME.

[waiting2bemommy]

that was us for most of last year. Not because I didn't want to work; I kept finding work and then having to quit because I couldn't afford childcare.

The cash aid.....all I can say is that it is a joke as far as I'm concerned.

The book Flat Broke With Children talks about this whole problem....it is a huge epidemic and a really vicious cycle.

[Epiphany]

Originally Posted by GalateaDunkel

We have in the past lived on food stamps, the landlady's saintliness in not evicting us, and proceeds from selling personal belongings at a loss.

That's us right now.

I read that article today too. Sadly, that's my life since November. I am so very grateful for the food stamps and for what we do have. (like a warm house, a car that is still running, and my awesome family ) We're learning a lot about how to survive with a little and working hard to change things though. I know in as little as 2 weeks things will change for us. I'm hoping for a good job and DH is going back to school. So I know I won't have to rely on just food stamps for very much longer. I feel terrible for the people in the article that have had to make do this way for much longer than I have.

[Suzannah]

Originally Posted by beansmama

I lived off of food stamps and $200 child support for nearly a year post divorce.

How? Not putting you on the spot, but how did you make this work?

[dachshundqueen]

In seeing other people's posts (on various forums of this board) and the dollar figures in this article, many have significantly more money for groceries than I do. While I don't doubt that many are in dire straits, I have to wonder what people are buying. I understand that some people's only income is food stamps, which is intensely discouraging, but many times it seems we're discussing food stamps as a supplement to family income.

Liz

[Leta]

Originally Posted by dachshundqueen

I understand that some people's only income is food stamps, which is intensely discouraging, but many times it seems we're discussing food stamps as a supplement to family income.

Liz

I think it's important to understand that SNAP, unlike other public assistance programs, is a huge deal for agribusiness and food suppliers. Huge. Even after welfare reform, FS was expanded. GWB expanded it further and renamed it SNAP. I don't believe that this one done out of the milk of human kindness. I think ConAgra lobbyists had a heckuva lot more to do with it.

Thus, it is in the interest of agribusiness to keep the USDA "feeding a family" figures high.

[ArtsyMomma]

Originally Posted by Suzannah

How? Not putting you on the spot, but how did you make this work?

Not the OP - but I lived off of foodstamps and $370 a month (after rent was paid - that doesn't include ANY other expenses or bills) for about a year after a separation. Honestly, I went from being almost debt free to having 3000 in credit card debt, plus medical debt (my total debt load right now is around 24,000 - that includes the student loans I took out at the time to supplement my living expenses). I paid what had to be paid, then tried to catch up. I went to school full time, secured a grant to cover child care and I did my best to never spend $$ I didn't need to spend.

[SunshineJ]

Yep that's been us for about a month now. Still working on getting extended unemployment and thanking the gods that I have a small inheritance trickling in. Sucks that the only "cash dump" I'll ever see, modest though it was, is gone with the rest waiting to be spent on living expenses, but then again, where would we be if I hadn't had it? Job listings are way up the past few weeks here, so I'm hoping one of us gets something this month. But until then, I was damn glad the food stamps kicked back in today. DD's milk runs us $12 a gallon unless we buy from one place direct, then it's only $8 - but they don't take food stamps.

[meemee]

i have done it too. on v. little cash and fs. actually with fs i eat like a king and wish i could buy things like TP with it. anyways i lived on a friends property so it was rent free. and utilities free. so all i needed was sundries and transportation. i juggled but did it.

[lucifugous]

Originally Posted by dachshundqueen

In seeing other people's posts (on various forums of this board) and the dollar figures in this article, many have significantly more money for groceries than I do. While I don't doubt that many are in dire straits, I have to wonder what people are buying. I understand that some people's only income is food stamps, which is intensely discouraging, but many times it seems we're discussing food stamps as a supplement to family income.

Liz

I am currently in this boat (food stamps + ~$200 child support) and still spending more on food than seems right. One factor is that I live with my mom and brother so if I make something yummy, there will be four mouths to feed instead of just the two for whom the food stamp funds are designated. Another huge issue is that we live in a high cost of living area. I don't have transportation so usually I can't get to the store where produce is cheap. Sometimes my only option would be to pay a buck twenty five for one lemon, for example. I have put a countless amount of effort and number of hours into reducing our food bill and it still seems that we spend a lot more on food per person than most of the families represented on this board. So your question kind of spoke to me and I wanted to explain that the variance of prices in some areas could account for a lot of the discrepancy you notice.

For the person who asked how it is done (though their question was in response to another poster), I probably am not the best example, but at this point at least I am not buying anything on credit. I do have bills to pay that add up to around the amount of the child support. The answer is really twofold- one, you pare down more than you probably ever would if you didn't have to. and two, you don't. it's not sustainable. You eat up your savings and whatever other cushions, you ask for cash instead of birthday gifts, and as other people said you sell whatever you can, you rely on someone else to keep a roof over your head for a while- and for myself and many others, you go into debt before you even get "really desperate."

[cwat]

That was ME until Dec 09! I was laid off in September 09, and Eric (babydaddy) hasn't worked for a year! He FINALLY found a job this December so now I have money, but the only way I was getting Any money before that was to find and return cans.
Thank Claude for FS we would have been up a creek.