Congressman Jim McGovern and Lisa McGovern's Food Stamp Challenge Safeway Receipt Click to enlarge
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In reading over the receipt, I see that they used their safeway card to save 14.00... This only leads me to ask: how many people can use this card, or have access to it at their local grocery stores. Not all grocery stores offer these kinds of discounts.
Most grocery stores offer a card at no expense so I doubt that this changed their bill at all.
As a social worker, I take some of my patients grocery shopping and in the stores that have those cards they use them. You do need to have some form of ID especcially if you want to write or cash a check.
My three children & I have lived on food stamps on and off. I have a spinal condition that causes extreme pain, and lack the education and educational oppurtunities to work as anything but a laborer. although thankful for the help, I also hate it as well. There's just not enough for food, and I hate the dependence aspect.
I appreciate your willingness to "walk a mile" in my shoes. However, imagine feeding your children on the same budget, & living with their pleas for more food; having to tell them to go to bed anyway, that when their food "settles" in a little while, then they won't be hungry anymore, and only hope that it's true, that their hunger stops before sleep comes to them.
Here are a few tips, I suppose better late than never:
We drink alot of koolaide at 5 packets (10 quarts) for a dollar, & sugar on sale for a dollar for eight pounds. Tea is cheap & contains caffiene. 2 litre bottles are cheaper than cans, & if you drink store brand soda, you can afford it easier.
For breakfast,I can buy store brand frozen waffles for a dollar a box. Peanut butter on toast is a regular, too.
Mac & cheese (store brand) mixed with a can of chili & a can if corn can feed a few people cheap. If you cook with powdered milk it will be much cheaper and barely noticable. I can purchase a "family size" tray of brand name frozen salisbury steaks w/ six peices of meat in it for $3.00, and the same company makes family sized side dishes for about the same price. A blue bag of frozen chimichungas is about 3.20, wich contains 10 and is great fried, with chili on top. Pre- breaded frozen chicken patties are about 13 in a pack for around $5.00. Cup o soups are very chaep at about .30 each. Store pizzas on sale are usually 2/5 or 6 bucks. Canned Tamales are also inexpensive. Spaghetti with chicken instead of beef is about the only way to afford meat in that dish, unless you buy frozen sausage on sale. Frozen, pre-formed beef patties are sometimes much cheaper by pound than fresh beef. A cheap snack, although wierd, is white rice, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon & sugar. We have eaten that when there was no other food to eat.
Surviving with Food Stamps requires the ability to shop ahead. To plan your menu, to transport most of your food from the store to your home at once. Even at that, affordable foods are high in fat and sodium. (my kids and I are all over weight. I am proportionatley heavier because I am not as mobile.)I have many neighbors who must walk to the local grocery store and carry back their food, wich cuts down on the cost effectiveness of the meals. I find my cost is much higher when I have bought on a meal by meal basis. Other neighbors are unable to walk that distance, so they shop at the corner gas station; needless to say that they recieve much less for their money.
May I make a suggestion? It would be very helpful if someone were able to teach Food Stamp recipients the art of frugal shopping. Many recipients come from backgrounds where "planning" is a dirty word. No one wants to be hungry, to have an empty pantry and refidgerator. I believe if sample menues and recipies were available, along with sample grocery lists, it would help. I would hope to be able to find these in enlish, also, since it seems everything is available in Spanish only.
I also think that a transportation program that would take recipients to the store once or twice a month would be a great help. Medicaid already has a system like that in place to help people see the doctor. I belive that while more food stamps are needed, That is not the only answer. We must also help recipients be able to use what they have more effeciently.
Just a quick note in closing: when I went to my local Government "We'll help fund your education and childcare so you can get a job" location, I was told that my children could not enter child care until I am employed. Well, do I take them with me to interviews, to work, do I set my 2 year old behind the food service counter of fast food resteraunt "X" until my childcare funding comes through? Yeah, right. It's a big catch 22 if you have no other support system. We are the people, the ones without a support system, that need help the most.
Again, thanks for walking in my shoes. ~Rebecca
In reading over the receipt, I see that they used their safeway card to save 14.00... This only leads me to ask: how many people can use this card, or have access to it at their local grocery stores. Not all grocery stores offer these kinds of discounts.
Posted by: Just a guy | May 17, 2007 at 11:02 AM
Most grocery stores offer a card at no expense so I doubt that this changed their bill at all.
As a social worker, I take some of my patients grocery shopping and in the stores that have those cards they use them. You do need to have some form of ID especcially if you want to write or cash a check.
Posted by: Christine | May 18, 2007 at 05:23 PM
My three children & I have lived on food stamps on and off. I have a spinal condition that causes extreme pain, and lack the education and educational oppurtunities to work as anything but a laborer. although thankful for the help, I also hate it as well. There's just not enough for food, and I hate the dependence aspect.
I appreciate your willingness to "walk a mile" in my shoes. However, imagine feeding your children on the same budget, & living with their pleas for more food; having to tell them to go to bed anyway, that when their food "settles" in a little while, then they won't be hungry anymore, and only hope that it's true, that their hunger stops before sleep comes to them.
Here are a few tips, I suppose better late than never:
We drink alot of koolaide at 5 packets (10 quarts) for a dollar, & sugar on sale for a dollar for eight pounds. Tea is cheap & contains caffiene. 2 litre bottles are cheaper than cans, & if you drink store brand soda, you can afford it easier.
For breakfast,I can buy store brand frozen waffles for a dollar a box. Peanut butter on toast is a regular, too.
Mac & cheese (store brand) mixed with a can of chili & a can if corn can feed a few people cheap. If you cook with powdered milk it will be much cheaper and barely noticable. I can purchase a "family size" tray of brand name frozen salisbury steaks w/ six peices of meat in it for $3.00, and the same company makes family sized side dishes for about the same price. A blue bag of frozen chimichungas is about 3.20, wich contains 10 and is great fried, with chili on top. Pre- breaded frozen chicken patties are about 13 in a pack for around $5.00. Cup o soups are very chaep at about .30 each. Store pizzas on sale are usually 2/5 or 6 bucks. Canned Tamales are also inexpensive. Spaghetti with chicken instead of beef is about the only way to afford meat in that dish, unless you buy frozen sausage on sale. Frozen, pre-formed beef patties are sometimes much cheaper by pound than fresh beef. A cheap snack, although wierd, is white rice, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon & sugar. We have eaten that when there was no other food to eat.
Surviving with Food Stamps requires the ability to shop ahead. To plan your menu, to transport most of your food from the store to your home at once. Even at that, affordable foods are high in fat and sodium. (my kids and I are all over weight. I am proportionatley heavier because I am not as mobile.)I have many neighbors who must walk to the local grocery store and carry back their food, wich cuts down on the cost effectiveness of the meals. I find my cost is much higher when I have bought on a meal by meal basis. Other neighbors are unable to walk that distance, so they shop at the corner gas station; needless to say that they recieve much less for their money.
May I make a suggestion? It would be very helpful if someone were able to teach Food Stamp recipients the art of frugal shopping. Many recipients come from backgrounds where "planning" is a dirty word. No one wants to be hungry, to have an empty pantry and refidgerator. I believe if sample menues and recipies were available, along with sample grocery lists, it would help. I would hope to be able to find these in enlish, also, since it seems everything is available in Spanish only.
I also think that a transportation program that would take recipients to the store once or twice a month would be a great help. Medicaid already has a system like that in place to help people see the doctor. I belive that while more food stamps are needed, That is not the only answer. We must also help recipients be able to use what they have more effeciently.
Just a quick note in closing: when I went to my local Government "We'll help fund your education and childcare so you can get a job" location, I was told that my children could not enter child care until I am employed. Well, do I take them with me to interviews, to work, do I set my 2 year old behind the food service counter of fast food resteraunt "X" until my childcare funding comes through? Yeah, right. It's a big catch 22 if you have no other support system. We are the people, the ones without a support system, that need help the most.
Again, thanks for walking in my shoes. ~Rebecca
Posted by: Rebecca | May 19, 2007 at 09:35 AM