Are the poor fat?
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The US actually does have a public health program for people who are lower-income.As for the poor, well - in america its VERY expensive to eat properly for alot of people they have to choose between health insurance and eating (i'm sure i'll get flamed for saying this) but seriously have you been for a drive around the old part of vegas on a Wednesday Night? Are you telling me these people have a choice - what struck me was just how many homeless people there are and people on the verge of it and how willing people are to turn a blind eye, or just say its their own faults .. i don't see any compassion in that
I think you should probably actually live here before making judgments like that.
You start your post telling people they don't know about London because they don't live there and end it by telling Americans about their own country -- where you don't live. And, no, visiting it not the same as living here.
We have compassion. But sometimes people do have to help themselves. Have you ever really gotten to know a true drug addict? You can hand them all the tools, but in the end, it's up to them. I know a man who got clean (with his family's help and support), started a business, was rolling in cash it was so successful, even bought himself a yacht.
And now, only five years later, he's back in the gutter. Not because no one will help him but because he went back to the drugs and has burned all his bridges along the way.
its sad to hear about your friend, but he is poor now, can he afford both healthcare and good nutricious food 3 times a day ? in my mind anyone who cant say yes to both is technically speaking "poor" -
And for those who don't qualify, most states have programs for the working poor where the premium is based on income (you might pay nothing or maybe $9 a month for it).
But you know, you have some friends here and you lived here for a little while, so you know it all.0 -
It's again about the choices you make concerning external factors, not the external factors themselves.
I live in a highly walkable, low-income neighbourhood. We chose this so we could own one car, my husband takes it to work because he works outside the city, and I walk or take the bus. Every day I walk one child to the bus stop and one child to school as well as picking them up. I walk to the library, the grocery store, the mall, the doctor, and to friend's houses. In my neighbourhood the furthest you have to walk to anything is 10 minutes.
And yet, I know people who pay other people to walk their children to school, who drive to the store that is literally across the street, who take the elevator to go up or down a few floors. Add this to poor food choices, and these are the people who are complaining that they are overweight and asking me how I manage to stay so thin.
We all have the same amount of money, the same resources, but we make different choices.
this is it
We make the choices and have to live within them. I made the choice a long time ago to live in the core of the city, I work in the core, I can cycle to work (if the weather co-operates) I can walk home (I take transit in usually) and though I own a car I don't use it a lot (I bought this one in august and it has 3900 km as of Sunday when I used it for a trip out of town (less than 600 km a month at this point - that's about 372 miles - most of it on trips out of town, or doing the food shopping. When I bought my house i sacrificed big lots and a big house but a need to drive almost everywhere for a small lot and small house and walk-ability and good transit and living close to work. I'll disagree on the money and resource thing though we definitely do not all have equality there and in fact it is worse the further south you go (it's like you don't deserve a livable wage for living in a warm climate)0 -
The US actually does have a public health program for people who are lower-income.As for the poor, well - in america its VERY expensive to eat properly for alot of people they have to choose between health insurance and eating (i'm sure i'll get flamed for saying this) but seriously have you been for a drive around the old part of vegas on a Wednesday Night? Are you telling me these people have a choice - what struck me was just how many homeless people there are and people on the verge of it and how willing people are to turn a blind eye, or just say its their own faults .. i don't see any compassion in that
I think you should probably actually live here before making judgments like that.
You start your post telling people they don't know about London because they don't live there and end it by telling Americans about their own country -- where you don't live. And, no, visiting it not the same as living here.
We have compassion. But sometimes people do have to help themselves. Have you ever really gotten to know a true drug addict? You can hand them all the tools, but in the end, it's up to them. I know a man who got clean (with his family's help and support), started a business, was rolling in cash it was so successful, even bought himself a yacht.
And now, only five years later, he's back in the gutter. Not because no one will help him but because he went back to the drugs and has burned all his bridges along the way.
its sad to hear about your friend, but he is poor now, can he afford both healthcare and good nutricious food 3 times a day ? in my mind anyone who cant say yes to both is technically speaking "poor" -
And for those who don't qualify, most states have programs for the working poor where the premium is based on income (you might pay nothing or maybe $9 a month for it).
But you know, you have some friends here and you lived here for a little while, so you know it all.
I'm sure your a nice girl but i have to disagree 100% with what you've said for just about every reason under the sun going...
When you say a little - do you mean the 37 MILLION uninsured either because they are not 'viable'? or the 'paltry' 90million who are underinsured so would only get a partial payout in the event of something happening because they flat out can't afford it.
My guess is these same 90 million people cannot afford to eat a balanced diet week to week either ..
Out of 300million population, 90 is NOT a good number - thats almost a third ..
while, like it makes a difference whether it was 1 month or 2 years (More specifically in my case) -- When you say "don't qualify" what you mean is people paid slave labour wages by massive corporations right? Thats alot of people who have to choose between eating and getting healthcare - then you've got people railing against raising the minimum wage because it will cause economic hardship for a few billionaires! is this the same "small" amount your talking about??
Sorry your never going to win on this argument on the numbers alone, and need a better argument other than "You only lived her for a while"
are you saying things have changed since i left??0 -
The US actually does have a public health program for people who are lower-income.As for the poor, well - in america its VERY expensive to eat properly for alot of people they have to choose between health insurance and eating (i'm sure i'll get flamed for saying this) but seriously have you been for a drive around the old part of vegas on a Wednesday Night? Are you telling me these people have a choice - what struck me was just how many homeless people there are and people on the verge of it and how willing people are to turn a blind eye, or just say its their own faults .. i don't see any compassion in that
I think you should probably actually live here before making judgments like that.
You start your post telling people they don't know about London because they don't live there and end it by telling Americans about their own country -- where you don't live. And, no, visiting it not the same as living here.
We have compassion. But sometimes people do have to help themselves. Have you ever really gotten to know a true drug addict? You can hand them all the tools, but in the end, it's up to them. I know a man who got clean (with his family's help and support), started a business, was rolling in cash it was so successful, even bought himself a yacht.
And now, only five years later, he's back in the gutter. Not because no one will help him but because he went back to the drugs and has burned all his bridges along the way.
its sad to hear about your friend, but he is poor now, can he afford both healthcare and good nutricious food 3 times a day ? in my mind anyone who cant say yes to both is technically speaking "poor" -
And for those who don't qualify, most states have programs for the working poor where the premium is based on income (you might pay nothing or maybe $9 a month for it).
But you know, you have some friends here and you lived here for a little while, so you know it all.
I'm sure your a nice girl but i have to disagree 100% with what you've said for just about every reason under the sun going...
When you say a little - do you mean the 37 MILLION uninsured either because they are not 'viable'? or the 'paltry' 90million who are underinsured so would only get a partial payout in the event of something happening because they flat out can't afford it.
My guess is these same 90 million people cannot afford to eat a balanced diet week to week either ..
Out of 300million population, 90 is NOT a good number - thats almost a third ..
while, like it makes a difference whether it was 1 month or 2 years (More specifically in my case) -- When you say "don't qualify" what you mean is people paid slave labour wages by massive corporations right? Thats alot of people who have to choose between eating and getting healthcare - then you've got people railing against raising the minimum wage because it will cause economic hardship for a few billionaires! is this the same "small" amount your talking about??
Sorry your never going to win on this argument on the numbers alone, and need a better argument other than "You only lived her for a while"
are you saying things have changed since i left??
the numbers speak for themselves, the ability to ignore them OTOH is a strong force in the US (and no I don't live there, I do have a large number of friends who do though and I live just across the border. )0 -
The US actually does have a public health program for people who are lower-income.As for the poor, well - in america its VERY expensive to eat properly for alot of people they have to choose between health insurance and eating (i'm sure i'll get flamed for saying this) but seriously have you been for a drive around the old part of vegas on a Wednesday Night? Are you telling me these people have a choice - what struck me was just how many homeless people there are and people on the verge of it and how willing people are to turn a blind eye, or just say its their own faults .. i don't see any compassion in that
I think you should probably actually live here before making judgments like that.
You start your post telling people they don't know about London because they don't live there and end it by telling Americans about their own country -- where you don't live. And, no, visiting it not the same as living here.
We have compassion. But sometimes people do have to help themselves. Have you ever really gotten to know a true drug addict? You can hand them all the tools, but in the end, it's up to them. I know a man who got clean (with his family's help and support), started a business, was rolling in cash it was so successful, even bought himself a yacht.
And now, only five years later, he's back in the gutter. Not because no one will help him but because he went back to the drugs and has burned all his bridges along the way.
its sad to hear about your friend, but he is poor now, can he afford both healthcare and good nutricious food 3 times a day ? in my mind anyone who cant say yes to both is technically speaking "poor" -
And for those who don't qualify, most states have programs for the working poor where the premium is based on income (you might pay nothing or maybe $9 a month for it).
But you know, you have some friends here and you lived here for a little while, so you know it all.
I'm sure your a nice girl but i have to disagree 100% with what you've said for just about every reason under the sun going...
When you say a little - do you mean the 37 MILLION uninsured either because they are not 'viable'? or the 'paltry' 90million who are underinsured so would only get a partial payout in the event of something happening because they flat out can't afford it.
My guess is these same 90 million people cannot afford to eat a balanced diet week to week either ..
Out of 300million population, 90 is NOT a good number - thats almost a third ..
while, like it makes a difference whether it was 1 month or 2 years (More specifically in my case) -- When you say "don't qualify" what you mean is people paid slave labour wages by massive corporations right? Thats alot of people who have to choose between eating and getting healthcare - then you've got people railing against raising the minimum wage because it will cause economic hardship for a few billionaires! is this the same "small" amount your talking about??
Sorry your never going to win on this argument on the numbers alone, and need a better argument other than "You only lived her for a while"
are you saying things have changed since i left??
the numbers speak for themselves, the ability to ignore them OTOH is a strong force in the US (and no I don't live there, I do have a large number of friends who do though and I live just across the border. )
It's the same story with the property 'market' never underestimate a large crowd's ability to play fast and loose with the fundamentals - in order to make a quick buck..
if you give people a dream they can achieve greatness with no real prospect of success they will spend forever doing your bidding to get there ... its easy to brainwash a large number of people into believing - the cost of living comfortably will never be in reach for a massive section of society - and that includes being able to get healthcare, good food and shelter of a reasonable standard -0 -
I just came across this post on a thread, "Why is eating healthy so darn expensive?"
"This is why poor people are usually the fat ones. Takes discipline to cut down on unimportant living expenses and buy healthy food, which is much more expensive (MUCH, MUCH MORE - if the farmers weren't subsidized) to grow, produce. Also, the cost if you are determined to eat healthy (and exercise) is a very good reason to grow your own. Even if you only have a patio, I grew tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., in pots on my sundeck."
I agree in a lot of ways.
Thoughts?
The poor are overweight and malnourished...but it's a lot more complicated than "healthy food is expensive."
Also...healthy food isn't expensive.0 -
It's again about the choices you make concerning external factors, not the external factors themselves.
I live in a highly walkable, low-income neighbourhood. We chose this so we could own one car, my husband takes it to work because he works outside the city, and I walk or take the bus. Every day I walk one child to the bus stop and one child to school as well as picking them up. I walk to the library, the grocery store, the mall, the doctor, and to friend's houses. In my neighbourhood the furthest you have to walk to anything is 10 minutes.
And yet, I know people who pay other people to walk their children to school, who drive to the store that is literally across the street, who take the elevator to go up or down a few floors. Add this to poor food choices, and these are the people who are complaining that they are overweight and asking me how I manage to stay so thin.
We all have the same amount of money, the same resources, but we make different choices.
this is it
We make the choices and have to live within them. I made the choice a long time ago to live in the core of the city, I work in the core, I can cycle to work (if the weather co-operates) I can walk home (I take transit in usually) and though I own a car I don't use it a lot (I bought this one in august and it has 3900 km as of Sunday when I used it for a trip out of town (less than 600 km a month at this point - that's about 372 miles - most of it on trips out of town, or doing the food shopping. When I bought my house i sacrificed big lots and a big house but a need to drive almost everywhere for a small lot and small house and walk-ability and good transit and living close to work. I'll disagree on the money and resource thing though we definitely do not all have equality there and in fact it is worse the further south you go (it's like you don't deserve a livable wage for living in a warm climate)
The money/resource thing I mentioned was in terms of my neighbourhood. The majority of us living here (and the people I know personally) are all in the same boat financially, but we make different choices.0 -
I had my daughter when I was 17 years old and still in high school. Her father didn't bother to stick around or help out (no child support for the first eight years and he still isn't having to pay everythign he owes me). I graduated high school, went to college, worked part-time, minimum wage jobs and even after I graduated, it took a LONG time to build a career and get to a place where I was able to have a nice, comfortable life. My first "real" job after college paid $8 an hour.I'm sure your a nice girl but i have to disagree 100% with what you've said for just about every reason under the sun going...
When you say a little - do you mean the 37 MILLION uninsured either because they are not 'viable'? or the 'paltry' 90million who are underinsured so would only get a partial payout in the event of something happening because they flat out can't afford it.
My guess is these same 90 million people cannot afford to eat a balanced diet week to week either ..
Out of 300million population, 90 is NOT a good number - thats almost a third ..
while, like it makes a difference whether it was 1 month or 2 years (More specifically in my case) -- When you say "don't qualify" what you mean is people paid slave labour wages by massive corporations right? Thats alot of people who have to choose between eating and getting healthcare - then you've got people railing against raising the minimum wage because it will cause economic hardship for a few billionaires! is this the same "small" amount your talking about??
Sorry your never going to win on this argument on the numbers alone, and need a better argument other than "You only lived her for a while"
are you saying things have changed since i left??
So don't think I don't know what poor is or what programs are available to help people in a bad situation. Just because people choose not to take advantage of them doesn't mean they aren't available.
Are things perfect over here? Far from. but they're also not the dire straits people like you want to make them out to be.0 -
As for the poor, well - in america its VERY expensive to eat properly for alot of people
Not true. Anyone who thinks it's expensive to eat "properly" has a skewed definition of "proper" eating. My family of four has a healthy diet on about $80 a week. I simply buy things when they are on sale, and I don't buy any of the expensive, pre-prepared foods such as frozen dinners and pizza rolls, etc. I review the weekly ads and buy the loss leaders at three to four different stores. For someone not willing to plan, the food that I get might cost them nearly twice what I pay.0 -
In fairness, his (her?) view of America is Vegas and California ...
As for the poor, well - in america its VERY expensive to eat properly for alot of people
Not true. Anyone who thinks it's expensive to eat "properly" has a skewed definition of "proper" eating. My family of four has a healthy diet on about $80 a week. I simply buy things when they are on sale, and I don't buy any of the expensive, pre-prepared foods such as frozen dinners and pizza rolls, etc. I review the weekly ads and buy the loss leaders at three to four different stores. For someone not willing to plan, the food that I get might cost them nearly twice what I pay.0 -
yes, for a myriad of reasons. First, they are more likely to be uneducated. This is not always true of course (I'm pretty poor and I have a Bachelors degree)but overall. So they might not understand as much about nutrition, and may fall victim more often to the bogus claims on food packages. Secondly, they are going to buy what is cheap and fills you up. Ramen is super cheap! Its also caloric as hell. They are also more likely to have been raised on that kind of food, so its what they know and grew to like. If you grow up on hamburger helper and blue box mac n cheese, real homemade food and fresh vegetables taste weird and are so unfamiliar. Finally, they usually are pretty busy, working multiple jobs etc as well as having inadequate living space. So they dont have as much time to spend preparing food and planning meals,and they may not have great equipment to cook with or space for prepping food or storing food. I know a lot of people who only can go shopping every two weeks so they buy a lot of frozen and boxed food because it keeps.0
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dbl post0
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As for the poor, well - in america its VERY expensive to eat properly for alot of people
Not true. Anyone who thinks it's expensive to eat "properly" has a skewed definition of "proper" eating. My family of four has a healthy diet on about $80 a week. I simply buy things when they are on sale, and I don't buy any of the expensive, pre-prepared foods such as frozen dinners and pizza rolls, etc. I review the weekly ads and buy the loss leaders at three to four different stores. For someone not willing to plan, the food that I get might cost them nearly twice what I pay.
They may also not have the time, the transportation, or the organizational skills to do so.0 -
I still do not understand the excuse of eating healthy costs more. I actually spend less now then I did when we were eating processed, packaged foods. We spend $50 a week and make everything from scratch. We only buy one snack item each week and every now and again we buy a frozen pizza for a quick meal.
Not having a lot of money does not mean you have to eat like crap. It comes down to planning and making proper choices.0 -
As for the poor, well - in america its VERY expensive to eat properly for alot of people
Not true. Anyone who thinks it's expensive to eat "properly" has a skewed definition of "proper" eating. My family of four has a healthy diet on about $80 a week. I simply buy things when they are on sale, and I don't buy any of the expensive, pre-prepared foods such as frozen dinners and pizza rolls, etc. I review the weekly ads and buy the loss leaders at three to four different stores. For someone not willing to plan, the food that I get might cost them nearly twice what I pay.
They may also not have the time, the transportation, or the organizational skills to do so.
Excuses that translate into: "I really don't think eating healthy is very important."0 -
I still do not understand the excuse of eating healthy costs more. I actually spend less now then I did when we were eating processed, packaged foods. We spend $50 a week and make everything from scratch. We only buy one snack item each week and every now and again we buy a frozen pizza for a quick meal.
Not having a lot of money does not mean you have to eat like crap. It comes down to planning and making proper choices.
Exactly! I used to have a million excuses to explain poor choices. Where there's a will, there's a way. It's just like people who say they can't exercise because they can't go to a gym. You will find a way if you truly want to.0 -
yes, for a myriad of reasons. First, they are more likely to be uneducated. This is not always true of course (I'm pretty poor and I have a Bachelors degree)but overall. So they might not understand as much about nutrition, and may fall victim more often to the bogus claims on food packages. Secondly, they are going to buy what is cheap and fills you up. Ramen is super cheap! Its also caloric as hell. They are also more likely to have been raised on that kind of food, so its what they know and grew to like. If you grow up on hamburger helper and blue box mac n cheese, real homemade food and fresh vegetables taste weird and are so unfamiliar. Finally, they usually are pretty busy, working multiple jobs etc as well as having inadequate living space. So they dont have as much time to spend preparing food and planning meals,and they may not have great equipment to cook with or space for prepping food or storing food. I know a lot of people who only can go shopping every two weeks so they buy a lot of frozen and boxed food because it keeps.
There is nothing inherently unhealthy about Ramen or mac n cheese. Both of these cheap items are regulars on my grocery list. This is part of what I meant by a skewed sense of "proper" or "healthy." One box of mac n cheese split between four people makes a great side dish for a well-balanced meal. One person eating the whole box for a meal...might not be so healthy.0 -
I had my daughter when I was 17 years old and still in high school. Her father didn't bother to stick around or help out (no child support for the first eight years and he still isn't having to pay everythign he owes me). I graduated high school, went to college, worked part-time, minimum wage jobs and even after I graduated, it took a LONG time to build a career and get to a place where I was able to have a nice, comfortable life. My first "real" job after college paid $8 an hour.I'm sure your a nice girl but i have to disagree 100% with what you've said for just about every reason under the sun going...
When you say a little - do you mean the 37 MILLION uninsured either because they are not 'viable'? or the 'paltry' 90million who are underinsured so would only get a partial payout in the event of something happening because they flat out can't afford it.
My guess is these same 90 million people cannot afford to eat a balanced diet week to week either ..
Out of 300million population, 90 is NOT a good number - thats almost a third ..
while, like it makes a difference whether it was 1 month or 2 years (More specifically in my case) -- When you say "don't qualify" what you mean is people paid slave labour wages by massive corporations right? Thats alot of people who have to choose between eating and getting healthcare - then you've got people railing against raising the minimum wage because it will cause economic hardship for a few billionaires! is this the same "small" amount your talking about??
Sorry your never going to win on this argument on the numbers alone, and need a better argument other than "You only lived her for a while"
are you saying things have changed since i left??
So don't think I don't know what poor is or what programs are available to help people in a bad situation. Just because people choose not to take advantage of them doesn't mean they aren't available.
Are things perfect over here? Far from. but they're also not the dire straits people like you want to make them out to be.
And i've no doubt you are an excellent mum, and have worked your *kitten* off to provide the best for her, not taking anything away from that - i think its amazing! whilst 80 dollars to eat well sounds cheap to some people try telling that to someone who brings home 200dollars a week - when their rent is 100 dollars - bills might be 30 and .. oh you know what i mean?
The problems can be compounded further if you have some accident - maybe fall on ice and crack a bone, (Not wishing it on you) or some other misc out of your control thing happens, attacked in the street by somebody - or whatever causes some injury that requires a hospital visit .. imagine your insurance agrees to cover 80% of your bill, that sounds great until you realize the bill is 200k and you now need to stump up 40k cash on demand or face losing your home!
Your principal on healthy eating would change somewhat when faced with bankrupcy - its not nice but that is the reality for millions of people
You are merely treading water not far above jaws (or Gums if we're talking prequels:) withouout full coverage and even then they try not to pay out so you are never really sure.
Fair points though, NV and CA are higher cost of living than other states and presents quite a powerful argument the other direction which was more what i was looking for from a response, but from what i've been told the wages are comparitively slightly better but not enough to conpensate completely
I have my own business so don't really worry about that stuff, we quote them GBP which the USD has been taking a bit of a beating against the last while, so its hard to lose from my perspective,so whilst im not personally affected i still find it hard to ignore the glaring reality of the disparities between the haves and have nots
I Juice 2 meals a day and eat the middle one solid food, Juicing costs me about £70-£90 a week and eating lunch (I live in a very health conscious area) so its pretty easy to eat properly at lunch can run me £10 a day easily but im happy to spend money eating properly, but alot of people wouldn't be able to do that0 -
And i've no doubt you are an excellent mum, and have worked your *kitten* off to provide the best for her, not taking anything away from that - i think its amazing! whilst 80 dollars to eat well sounds cheap to some people try telling that to someone who brings home 200dollars a week - when their rent is 100 dollars - bills might be 30 and .. oh you know what i mean?
Do you have any CLUE how many social programs that person qualifies for?I Juice 2 meals a day and eat the middle one solid food, Juicing costs me about £70-£90 a week and eating lunch (I live in a very health conscious area) so its pretty easy to eat properly at lunch can run me £10 a day easily but im happy to spend money eating properly, but alot of people wouldn't be able to do that
You say that as though juicing is necessary and someone can't pack a lunch at home for way cheaper than $10 or 10 pounds or whatever ...0 -
And i've no doubt you are an excellent mum, and have worked your *kitten* off to provide the best for her, not taking anything away from that - i think its amazing! whilst 80 dollars to eat well sounds cheap to some people try telling that to someone who brings home 200dollars a week - when their rent is 100 dollars - bills might be 30 and .. oh you know what i mean?
Do you have any CLUE how many social programs that person qualifies for?
My budget is similar, and in my state, I qualify for none because I'm childless.
That being said I think juicing is an expensive way to eat (drink?) and I in no way eat $10 lunches but manage to afford to eat healthfully...0 -
And i've no doubt you are an excellent mum, and have worked your *kitten* off to provide the best for her, not taking anything away from that - i think its amazing! whilst 80 dollars to eat well sounds cheap to some people try telling that to someone who brings home 200dollars a week - when their rent is 100 dollars - bills might be 30 and .. oh you know what i mean?
Do you have any CLUE how many social programs that person qualifies for?I Juice 2 meals a day and eat the middle one solid food, Juicing costs me about £70-£90 a week and eating lunch (I live in a very health conscious area) so its pretty easy to eat properly at lunch can run me £10 a day easily but im happy to spend money eating properly, but alot of people wouldn't be able to do that
You say that as though juicing is necessary and someone can't pack a lunch at home for way cheaper than $10 or 10 pounds or whatever ...
Yeah, if you only bring home $200 per week, then you qualify for all sorts of help, especially with food. I spend $80 because I make too much to qualify for assistance, but don't have much left after the bills are paid.0 -
My budget is similar, and in my state, I qualify for none because I'm childless.
That being said I think juicing is an expensive way to eat (drink?) and I in no way eat $10 lunches but manage to afford to eat healthfully...
I'm curious about that. I've never heard of being declined for food stamps because only adults live in the home.0 -
I think it is a combination of many factors with education being a very important key. Not just educating on making healthy choices, but learning how to prepare the foods. I used to work with pregnant teens and one of the exercises I would have them do is go to the grocery store with $10.00. It was an exercise to help teach healthy food choices on a limited budget. Most of my girls went for the pre-packaged foods. This is what was familiar to them. Their lack of education was knowing how to prepare a meal that didn't come out of a box or a bag.0
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Yeah ... having kids increases the household size, so you qualify with a larger income. But if you're only making $200 a month, even if you're a one-person household, you qualify. Food stamps (EBT) is a federal program and must abide by federal laws, mostly. States only have limited leeway.My budget is similar, and in my state, I qualify for none because I'm childless.
That being said I think juicing is an expensive way to eat (drink?) and I in no way eat $10 lunches but manage to afford to eat healthfully...
I'm curious about that. I've never heard of being declined for food stamps because only adults live in the home.0 -
Yeah ... having kids increases the household size, so you qualify with a larger income. But if you're only making $200 a month, even if you're a one-person household, you qualify. Food stamps (EBT) is a federal program and must abide by federal laws, mostly. States only have limited leeway.
I read $200 per week0 -
Yeah ... having kids increases the household size, so you qualify with a larger income. But if you're only making $200 a month, even if you're a one-person household, you qualify. Food stamps (EBT) is a federal program and must abide by federal laws, mostly. States only have limited leeway.
I read $200 per week
OK, yeah. The original scenario was $200/wk, but I think RML is right about qualifications. Some states might have more hurdles, but as far as income guidelines, that's federal and should go by total in the household that eats together. I was thinking that kids might be less money than adults even, but I can't remember. I haven't looked at it in quite some time.0 -
You're right. I misread.
Yeah ... having kids increases the household size, so you qualify with a larger income. But if you're only making $200 a month, even if you're a one-person household, you qualify. Food stamps (EBT) is a federal program and must abide by federal laws, mostly. States only have limited leeway.
I read $200 per week
Either way, $800 a month should still qualify. The standard is 150% or 200% above the FPL (depending on the program). At $10,400 a year, even a one-person household is well below that level. And if it's in a state with EIC, that person's income (with only one child) would end up being closer to $16,000 or $17,000 at the end of the year, plus benefits.
I'm not saying you're going to live high on the hog on that amount of money, but it's still more than I had working a full-time job when I started out after college.0 -
I've gone through moments, especially as a single mom, when money was so tight I had to get creative. It's not hard to spend $20 on enough food to get you through pay day, especially when you buy store-brand.
Whole wheat bread 99¢
Peanut butter $2
Brown rice in a bag 99¢
Banana 89¢ a bundle
Beans 99¢
Block of cheese $2
2 cans tuna $1
4 bag of frozen veggies $4
Bag of frozen boneless chicken breast $7
$20 grocery list.
ETA: I never see people on food stamps buy healthy food and the program doesn't really give them any reason to.. Indiana just reduced food stamps a bit and people were outraged... people who get between $400 and $700 a month in food stamps. HOW THE HELL do you spend that much on food a month? Even my family of 3, with big appetites, spends about $250 a MONTH on food and we budget loosely. For people who get WIC, it's not hard for them to follow a list of approved items such as bread, milk, beans and cheese.. Why can't the food stamps program ALSO have a list of approved items? Things like $6-7 frozen DiGiorno pizzas don't belong in a cart of someone on assistance when they are buying 5 at a time. That's money that could be well spent on many other meals.
I don't know where the heck you find those prices - whole wheat breat is at least $3 a loaf.....not sure where you get peanut butter for $2...block of cheese - is that real cheese or cheese food?0 -
You're right. I misread.
Yeah ... having kids increases the household size, so you qualify with a larger income. But if you're only making $200 a month, even if you're a one-person household, you qualify. Food stamps (EBT) is a federal program and must abide by federal laws, mostly. States only have limited leeway.
I read $200 per week
Either way, $800 a month should still qualify. The standard is 150% or 200% above the FPL (depending on the program). At $10,400 a year, even a one-person household is well below that level. And if it's in a state with EIC, that person's income (with only one child) would end up being closer to $16,000 or $17,000 at the end of the year, plus benefits.
I'm not saying you're going to live high on the hog on that amount of money, but it's still more than I had working a full-time job when I started out after college.
I dont know how old you are now or how long ago you went to college so only have my own experience to draw upon on this one - so forgive any disparities etc etc - when i went to work first i survived on £220 a week - the wages doing those kind of jobs have not changed even a tiny bit - but rent has inflated 400-900% depending on where you live in the last 12yrs, house prices have uncoupled themselves from reality - and are now running 1.1million and more - the average salary is 22k where as the average house price has just tipped 250k - so 10x salary in a normal area, in london this price increased somewhere in the high 8-900k whilst the average only jumps to 35k - so we are talking about 30x salary mortgages.. the only people buying are the assett rich, and crooks!
these crazy prices have been allowed by the elite and a corrupt government to run up who own them - which were bought for 80k a decade ago, peanuts basically!
Food prices easily go up 6-10% a year - EASILY! 5p here, 10p there - 5yrs ago £60 got me a decent trolley of food - one of the big ones! - now £60 barely gets you 2 bags of produce - a few steaks, some eggs some veg but it wouldn't last you a week.
Petrol prices have gone from 83p a litre or £3.20 a gallon ish - to £1.43 a litre or £6.43 a gallon - a rough translation is your looking at a 10 dollar gallon right now for gas in the UK.
Living on £220 a week here in the UK would put you out of commission pretty much, any notion of healthy eating would be the first thing to go when your rent swallows more than 60% of your paycheck .. the only release people have is to get help with their rent and go onto welfare schemes instead of making employers pay a decent working wage - we wouldn't want to have vodafone pay their tax bill in full now would we, that would be terrible!! whilst crooks like starbucks, vodafone, apple, and other corporations get away with paying no capital gains tax whatsoever on billions in UK profits ordinary peoples living costs are going through the roof and we are picking up the tab -
i liken it this way: we are basically being taken to the cash coverters by our paymasters and pawning ourselves in return for basic subsistence!0 -
Prisoners eat 3 terrible meals a day, many do not have access to weights. Many of these same people have incredible physiques. With poverty comes stress, with stress comes depression and poor choices. Whether these choices include overeating, over indulgence, addiction to intoxicants etc... Many "poor" people feel hopeless, and are therefore more likely to have less regard for their health and fitness. I cannot blame anyone for wanting to eat cake when their life is filled with worry. Poverty is the biggest crime in all of humanity, we are all to blame.0
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