SNAP benefits to end due to US govt shutdown

Trade said:
Lol! The average sport fisherman probably spends at least $100 for every pound of fish they catch. Some spend a lot more. Like my oldest son with his $36,000 Bass boat and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of rods, reels and artificial lures.
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Maybe true for you gentlemen fishermen, my brood doesn't fish for sport.
 

CallMeKate said:
I see you're calculating calories closely... do you have any concern about hypertension or high sodium intake? I used to like Dinty Moore stew, but a 20 oz. can has 2,475mg and I don't allow myself more than 1,800mg for a whole day, so haven't had it for years.
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I don't add salt to anything. We don't even have a salt shaker in the house. I have one of those one pound containers in the cabinet that I use to gargle with warm salt water if I get a sore throat. That happens maybe once a year. But you are right. Most food you buy in the grocery store has way more salt added to it and then you need. Especially canned goods.

I take medication for high blood pressure and I take my blood pressure every morning and keep a 10 day moving average which right now is 119/66. I'm not going to exclusively eat Dinty Moore. Maybe just a can or two a day till I get tired of it. I just ate one can for lunch. 500 calories. Quite frankly I could have easily eaten another one. But I practiced moderation. :)
 
Trade said:
I'm sure glad I'm not one of those lazy leaches that won't fend for themselves. I don't get anthing free from the government. :)

Well except for my social security that's direct deposited to my account every month.

And then there's my pension from the State of Florida that is also direct deposited every month.

And then the government pays the lions share of my medical expenses via Medicare.

And you know what this past November 1st was? It was the 18 year anniversary of my retirement. In that time I have not done one days work. :)

Boy, I'm sure glad I'm fending for myself. :)
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Well consider yourself blessed. People like us who get pensions and don't have to depend solely on SS are truly blessed. I saw a woman on the news who said she works three jobs and can barely make ends meet. She has two or three children to feed. She said without her SNAP benefit, she doesn't know how she'll be able to feed her family. Can you imagine working three jobs just to keep you head above water, plus having 3 children to care for?! That lazy leech! :LOL:
 
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OneEyedDiva said:
Well consider yourself blessed. People like us who get pensions and don't have to depend on SS alone are truly blessed. I saw a woman on the news who said she works three jobs and can barely make ends meet. She has two or three children to feed. She said without her SNAP benefit, she doesn't know how she'll be able to feed her family. Can you imagine working three jobs just to keep you head above water, plus having 3 children to care for?! That lazy leech! :LOL:
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My ex has had serious medical issues for the last three years. Thank goodness she has very good health insurance. She hasn't been able to work and doesn't qualify for disability benefits, not 62 yet so no social security benefits.

SNAP really helps her out. I moved back from New Mexico to Arizona to help her. I gave her our house which had no mortgage when we divorced, so it's free for me to stay here and help, no biggie ;)
 
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outlander said:
My ex has had serious medical issues for the last three years. Thank goodness she has very good health insurance. She hasn't been able to work and doesn't qualify for disability benefits, not 62 yet so no social security benefits.

SNAP really helps her out. I moved back from New Mexico to Arizona to help her. I gave her our house which had no mortgage when we divorced, so it's free for me to stay here and help, no biggie ;)
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Stories and circumstances like that of your ex are ones some people don't seem to consider. They site the slackers and fraudsters as models for why benefits should be cut or withheld. Bless you for your generous help. So many will indeed have to go hungry or face eviction or going with their medications (or all three) but have no one that can help them.
 
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Some people get SNAP benefits because when they did work they did not make a lot of money. Some like me, were stay at home moms (with a disabled child to care for). When I did go to work I worked a large variety of jobs and some jobs were hard physically. Which I believe may have contributed to my mobility issues now.

I paid taxes when I worked and when I worked as a CNA I worked a lot of overtime (that was after my child was grown up). I live in a building with people on SNAP and they too, had low paying jobs. Probably hard physical ones. And the ones that did are severely disabled. Or old. Or sick. Or something else affecting them from having a job. If they live here they cannot work.

By the way, the Nov. SNAP payment in NY state has been added to our cards. Mine is pending for tomorrow.
 
Muskrat said:
@katlupe …most waitresses, most maids, most fast food, most walmart…most divorced, most widowed, most with an incarcerated partner. You are in good company. I would be there also if I had not done extraordinary things in 2010. Never feel guilty…people like you make and made the world go around for those higher ip the food chain.
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Thank you for your response! I was preparing for an attack by saying what I did.
 
Trade said:
I have to admit there are times when I feel resentment welling up inside when I see people getting all or part of their groceries for free while I have to pay full freight but I try to repress those feelings. It's takes some effort to be a decent human being but it's worth it to be able to look yourself in the mirror.
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I appreciate your honesty and awareness.
 
Picked up a few things at Walmart this morning and noticed that the kind of Tuna I buy is now up to $2.14 a can. That's up 8% from the $1.98 that it was the last time I checked it just a couple of days ago.
 
Knight said:
I logged onto my credit card (only use one) to look at the feature -Spend Analyzer- It gave me the info for last year. I wish I could have copied & pasted the results that it shows for last year.

The category of interest is supermarkets. For the year the chart shows $2,618.87. That total divided by 12 = $218.24 a month to feed 2 people. $218.24 divided by 2 = $109.12

Calorie count per day of no interest to me. Taste & quantity to satisfy our appetites is all that matters. In other threads I've posted about how careful grocery shopping works for us. Grocery shopping for sale items like petite sirloin, 16 to 20 count shrimp, whole N Y strip roasts cut into individual N Y strip steaks or center cut pork chops on sale for $1.27 a lb. is something left over from the years we were poor & didn't know it.

Trade posted that the average benefit is $187.00 per person. Given our way of shopping I'm pretty sure that average $187.00 would provide enough money for those that don't shop carefully to eat well. It might be where I live that makes a difference because with 3 major food chains, a Sam's club a Cosco & 3 major Latin supermarkets all competing.
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Are you counting food purchases made online, at Costco, Sam's Club, restaurants and random (non-grocery) retailers?

If looking exclusively at grocery store credit card swipes, my monthly total for two people would be similar to yours, but it's a lot higher when everything is taken into consideration.

Either way, I agree that careful shopping and cooking from scratch will stretch that $187 much further than buying processed, convenience and junk foods.
 
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Trade said:
I have to admit there are times when I feel resentment welling up inside when I see people getting all or part of their groceries for free while I have to pay full freight but I try to repress those feelings. It's takes some effort to be a decent human being but it's worth it to be able to look yourself in the mirror.
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There's no question the system is being abused by a large number of people, and they're literally stealing from people who genuinely need the aid. They're why an unemployed (or under-employed) single mother of 3 young children only gets $230 a month for groceries instead of $550, or whatever.

But I don't resent the thieves as much as I resent the system. It works like the "Give a man a fish" part of that old saying, Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. And I resent our congress for letting that happen.
 
Marie5656 said:
Just looked again at my SNAP portal...and the benefits are GONE....apparently yesterday states were ordered to take them back....and they did it seems. Anyone else who got them, check your portal
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Unbelievably and deliberately cruel. And according to some (well maybe just one) they're just waiting around for a court order............cause they really want to do the right thing.
 
StarSong said:
Are you counting food purchases made online, at Costco, Sam's Club, restaurants and random (non-grocery) retailers?

If looking exclusively at grocery store credit card swipes, my monthly total for two people would be similar to yours, but it's a lot higher when everything is taken into consideration.

Either way, I agree that careful shopping and cooking from scratch will stretch that $187 much further than buying processed, convenience and junk foods.
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We don't buy food online. We have Sam's club & Cosco stores within 6 miles one way & incorporate going there with trips to other stores. I think our actual food cost is lower because of the other non food items purchased. It's the small stuff that adds up for those that don't prep from scratch. A simple thing like 5lb. bag of all purpose flour to make bread, pasta @$2.38 or 10lb. bag of potatoes on sale @ La Bonita Latin super market for $1.00 goes a long way.

One son lives here in Vegas so we split the cost of membership--to Sam's club another savings for us.
 
Marie5656 said:
Just looked again at my SNAP portal...and the benefits are GONE....apparently yesterday states were ordered to take them back....and they did it seems. Anyone else who got them, check your portal
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(according to a couple reports) Some states were ordered by the Supreme Court to remove SNAP benefits that were already issued after confusion caused those states to erroneously use the wrong funds/source.

Hopefully, they'll correct this error quickly.
 
Trade said:
I have to admit there are times when I feel resentment welling up inside when I see people getting all or part of their groceries for free while I have to pay full freight but I try to repress those feelings. It's takes some effort to be a decent human being but it's worth it to be able to look yourself in the mirror.
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It is a common human feeling to view advantages other people receive that we don't as unfair. I have been guilty of this very sentiment.

But I found it is more productive to dismiss these perceived unfair advantages and just concentrate on improving my own situation or helping to improve the situation of others.
 

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