tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post3136050056963968157..comments2023-11-24T02:53:38.343-06:00Comments on The Path to Frugality: My Eyes Have Been OpenedMarthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15943812281623696381noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-31821515668642836032014-10-07T11:51:28.935-05:002014-10-07T11:51:28.935-05:00I know this post is a bit older....but I really ad...I know this post is a bit older....but I really admire what you are doing. We live in a rural area of Ohio. Year ago I worked for the WIC program (Women, Infants and Children) So many people here are still having a hard time....I know the kids at our school- their families are struggling too. My best friend is a single working Mom with 1 child..they only receive 86$ for the whole month. Thats not enough for them. Remember the "S" in SNAP is "supplemental"....it isn't meant to cover your full food bill - maybe unemployed people get more but not the working folks. The ones who cheat will always be there....but dont lump the ones who truly need help in there. Martha, you seemed to have studied a lot about food. Did you do the challenge? When I was working for WIC there was talk of us coming up with a small pamphlet that had a basic week long menu and grocery list to help. With WIC a qualifying Mom got free milk, formula,beans, peanut butter, juice and cheese. They never got around to doing that while I was there. I wished they had. A lot of the girls confessed they never got the beans because they didn't know how to prepare or used dried beans. Bean soup,rice and beans, burritos with the free cheese, baked beans, hummus. A lot of families are clueless about how to make ends meet and where to start....it is still a crisis out there....monthly I still see homes going empty in my area. I wish SNAP would do this too...something simple for the folks.... Buy these 30 items = eat breakfast lunch and dinner for a week. I HATE thinking of children or any one for that matter not having enough to eat.<br />Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08959317480680118284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-24032621884713017992014-02-23T07:35:03.571-06:002014-02-23T07:35:03.571-06:00I admire your compassion, and share your concern...I admire your compassion, and share your concern. i think education would be better vs more giving. Teach them how to make wise choices, how to take advantage of coupons and sales. I saw a mom buying doughnuts at Casey's with food stamps and told her kids that was their dinner. that money could have been better spent at the grocery store.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-18984885130992302732014-02-02T07:09:25.115-06:002014-02-02T07:09:25.115-06:00@Paula: It is great to hear a story about how the...@Paula: It is great to hear a story about how the Affordable Health Care Act is helping someone. So many times the news reports all of the people that are saying that they are not benefiting from it. I'm so glad that you are getting health care insurance. Back in 2007 when our son got married, one of our gifts to them was paying for health care insurance for them through our State Farm Agency. They had no health care insurance when they were in grad school and we did not want them to go without. So, we got a plan with a high deductible so if the worst case scenario happened (cancer, car accident) they would be covered. Marthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15943812281623696381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-25619681281979791922014-01-29T21:33:53.180-06:002014-01-29T21:33:53.180-06:00Some of us are quite pleased about the health insu...Some of us are quite pleased about the health insurance. My husband worked for a large company for many years and we were used to excellent insurance. In 2010 he had to take early retirement because of Parkinson's Disease. I lost my insurance and had a pre existing condition. I couldn't get any insurance at a price I could possibly pay. <br /><br />I lived in fear of unavoidable hospitalization, which could have cost us our home, as we own it outright. If you've never been uninsured, you can't imagine the constant nagging worry.<br /><br />Thanks to the affordable care act, in just three days I will be insured again, at a price I can pay (not much more than my husband pays for Medicare). I am well pleased with the plan. It is a good stop gap until I can get Medicare and a supplement in three years.<br /><br />In all probability, the plan will make a profit off me, as I normally only see the doctor once a year for a check up and prescriptions, plus buy my meds. That's fine. I have the security of knowing that if I DO become seriously ill, there is no way it will cost more that we can lay hands on if we have to, and our home is no longer at risk.Paulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06625526746032032681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-34878759040452596832014-01-29T21:12:08.281-06:002014-01-29T21:12:08.281-06:00Things are about to get a lot worse once people r...Things are about to get a lot worse once people realize just how much they are expected to pay for health insurance, and as employers scale down the benefits for their workers. Target has just decided not to give part-timers health benefits, Home Depot too. With the huge deductibles on most of the health insurance policies now it's going to be a major struggle for people who were managing before just to keep up.<br /><br />I don't know how much fraud there is in SNAP, but if there is it's the adults who are responsible, the kids can't help it if they are hungry.<br /><br />It's a thankless task sometimes helping your neighbors- I put food on one family table for years and as soon as I got sick and could not help them any more they dropped me as a friend. You just have to think about the children, not irresponsible parents.<br /><br />Good luck!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-80143773755239289322014-01-29T19:20:39.444-06:002014-01-29T19:20:39.444-06:00Hi Martha,
In my community there is a volunteer d...Hi Martha,<br /><br />In my community there is a volunteer delivery service for working people and the elderly who cannot get to the food bank during open hours. Also, after much encouragement from the City Council the food bank extended their hours to include one evening for working people.<br /><br />Thanks for caring - not all poor people are cheaters - some are actually just poor with hungry kids. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-6949878544997895602014-01-29T16:43:35.530-06:002014-01-29T16:43:35.530-06:00@Lee Ann - Yes, I have considered using a budget o...@Lee Ann - Yes, I have considered using a budget of $50 per week for our SNAP challenge. I plan to do this.Marthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15943812281623696381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-64372390126083474832014-01-29T16:41:05.021-06:002014-01-29T16:41:05.021-06:00In my comment on January 19th, I should have said ...In my comment on January 19th, I should have said that the SNAP benefits were $25 per person per week.<br />Marthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15943812281623696381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-37230720048538162472014-01-25T13:13:01.830-06:002014-01-25T13:13:01.830-06:00I too am concerned with the working poor. I have ...I too am concerned with the working poor. I have not heard of any family getting $265 per person. That seems way abnormally high. <br />Please continue to blog about this as I am too.Lee Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146224020825165005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-12169719767502935262014-01-23T16:43:31.337-06:002014-01-23T16:43:31.337-06:00I too would like to know where the poster got thei...I too would like to know where the poster got their information. Right now my sister, through no fault of her own, had had to rely on SNAP. The amount varies per person and per household depending on different factors. Trust me, she is not getting that much and what she does get, sometimes doesn't even cover the month, and that is buying the cheapest food and making as much from scratch as possible. She certainly can't afford to buy organic, and there are no opportunities here to buy from farmers, especially since it is doubtful they can accept SNAP. From everything too I have researched and seen first hand since her extremely hard times began, is that abuse is way over reported in regards to what actually occurs. That is one of those things that gets reported over and over without anyone bothering to actually fact check or update their information. My sister worked hard for close to 40 years and now is unable to afford anything. The only assistance she gets is SNAP and an eye appointment covered by the LIONS Club, and I am paying for her rent, lights, etc., and as a result is feeling a heavy financial pinch, and I have canceled everything not necessary including things like internet (I am doing this from someone else's computer), satellite, home phone, etc, and neither of us have any kind of credit debt. She is not able to afford any medical care, and she has diabetes and is in kidney failure. She has never drank, smoked, done drugs, or any of that stuff. She took care of my mom who has dementia (while still working) until our mom had to go into a nursing home. And now, she has to deal with the stigma of SNAP benefits, because everyone knows that only drug addicts and lazy people are on them, and they sell them to keep up their habit. I am so sick of hearing that from people who think they know so much<br />.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-86396846313020797872014-01-20T11:09:28.895-06:002014-01-20T11:09:28.895-06:00All I can say is I admire you for being proactive ...All I can say is I admire you for being proactive about hunger here in the U.S. I believe this topic has been terribly ignored and brushed under the rug as a society. We find it hard to believe the level of suffering in a nation where we are supposedly the wealthiest on the planet. After educating myself on how people live in other developed countries (like Denmark, Finland, etc…) and how well their governments take care of them throughout their lives makes me very disappointed in ours. Our leaders need to step up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-53124233313125424572014-01-20T10:51:26.610-06:002014-01-20T10:51:26.610-06:00The thought of a child being worried about the bus...The thought of a child being worried about the bus being late just broke my heart. I agree that no matter the choices of the parents, kids should not be judged for being poor. They do not have a say in how money is managed. We all need to do more. To whom much is given, much is required. <br /><br />Thanks for posting this. Theresahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00948148571415167380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-16346325230478771442014-01-20T08:11:39.897-06:002014-01-20T08:11:39.897-06:00My family was on SNAP about ten years ago. We reci...My family was on SNAP about ten years ago. We recieved about 500 dollars a month for five people. It was more than enough to get through a month, with the amounts that were not used, added into another months total. It is a nice program when it works effectively. Education is a must, learning to cook "real food" should be a required class, and look at all the other social economical factors that folks need help with. Debbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01605655205350411078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-45646867993332038172014-01-20T06:37:57.716-06:002014-01-20T06:37:57.716-06:00I live in NYS and the average SNAP benefit here is...I live in NYS and the average SNAP benefit here is $150/month per person. The maximum benefit is $189/month for 1 person. That amount goes down a bit for each addition.<br /><br />This is the url of the federal site which shows the maximum benefit.<br /><br />http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/how-much-could-i-receive<br /><br />Also, SNAP benefits are used by the elderly and disabled they too can be below the poverty level in income.<br /><br />You are doing a beautiful thing because more and more middle class families are slipping below the poverty line.<br /><br /> Sherryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00944532662261333590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-9309561707593825382014-01-20T01:06:48.696-06:002014-01-20T01:06:48.696-06:00Martha, I believe your research is more accurate ...Martha, I believe your research is more accurate to the amounts. I know several families who I would consider "the working poor" They don't receive a lot for their SNAP benefits. I also work in a school cafeteria. I have not worked there long, a little over a year. We have a new boss this year who is trying to improve the food we serve. One of the biggest obstacles I see is the long time cafeteria workers. They don't like change or to have to change they way " things have always been done". Over 50% of the kids I serve are on the free or reduced lunch program.Melissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05262946804862534007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-28641059696268373802014-01-19T22:30:15.468-06:002014-01-19T22:30:15.468-06:00I look forward to reading about the progress of th...I look forward to reading about the progress of the people you profile on Snap.<br /><br />Also...have you considered using the same amount of the benefits your family would receive to have your own Snap challenge?Lee Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146224020825165005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-41013196462811328152014-01-19T22:15:52.976-06:002014-01-19T22:15:52.976-06:00The dollar amounts for SNAP that I hear from peopl...The dollar amounts for SNAP that I hear from people around here are much like what Martha was told.<br /><br />When we have a percentage of dishonesty and bad behavior in every walk of life--even clergy, police, and military-- it should be no surprise that a percentage of the poor are either dishonest, improvident, or both. That is no reason to punish all the others, anymore than we would decide to have no churches or police because of the misdeeds of a few.<br /><br />I have volunteered at both a food pantry and distributing commodities for about a year and a half. There are a few that we believe are dishonest. They are in the minority. The average number served at the pantry has doubled in that time. Many of these people have lost jobs, others are working, but are suffering financially because the price of labor is being driven down. Another problem is that many who are willing to work full time can only get 20 or 25 hours a week because of the callousness of corporations deciding to hire almost exclusively part time help to avoid their societal responsibility to their employees. What should be their overhead becomes a problem for taxpayers and society at large. One of the largest corporations in the world is located about a hundred miles from me, owned by a family of billionaires. Yet many of their employees qualify for public assistance of one kind or another. When they want to pay low wages AND avoid providing benefits, the poor working person is walking uphill in deep sand.<br /><br />Jesus told us to feed the hungry. He did not say to feed them only after all of them were faultless.Paulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06625526746032032681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-23140291295452807332014-01-19T22:11:32.597-06:002014-01-19T22:11:32.597-06:00I think 265 a person per month is really high. It...I think 265 a person per month is really high. It is not that way in North Carolina.<br />Yes there is fraud in Snap but there are loads of folks who lost their jobs, went through their savings, went through their 401k's and they need help. Yes maybe they spent above their means when life looked good and they had good jobs but that is not the case now. <br />Not all Snap folks sell for drugs and alcohol.<br />We never know when we may need help.<br />I applaud you on your research and the steps you and your friends are taking to help alleviate the problem.Lee Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146224020825165005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-61182926254566699912014-01-19T21:01:13.385-06:002014-01-19T21:01:13.385-06:00I asked a licensed counselor in our area and she t...I asked a licensed counselor in our area and she told me that the number of people that abuse the system is quite low. However, there is abuse and when those stories are published they get a lot of attention. As to the amount of SNAP benefits people get, it is according to income and what information I have received so far by doing some interviews is that the average amount of SNAP benefits in our area is around $25 per person with an average of $340 a month for the family. I'm not saying that what you read is wrong, I'm wondering what area of the country this came from. Marthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15943812281623696381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-617590846825685957.post-57544077745297176662014-01-19T20:34:29.522-06:002014-01-19T20:34:29.522-06:00People sell their SNAP cards for drugs and alcohol...People sell their SNAP cards for drugs and alcohol. They let their kids go hungry because they are irresponsible parents. This is reality.<br /><br />I read that SNAP benefits are $265 per person per month in the household - for my family of 5 that is $1325 per month. That is outrageous - and I hope that I am wrong on the amount. My family eats organic, shops farmers markets, CSA, (we also garden) and buy from local farmers and we don't spend nearly $1325/month.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com