Food Stamps

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When I lived with my first husband, in far southern Louisiana, there was a scam he fell for, not once, but twice. Old buddies he had gone to school with took him out, got him drunk, and he signed onto an insurance policy that we couldn't afford. Unfortunately, once they had your signature, you could not cancel the insurance, and both companies garnished his wages $50 a month.
He brought home $400 a month, we had a trailer payment of $100, and our rental space in the trailer park was also $100 a month. So that left me $100 a month to pay my light bill (about $25), washing machine payment ($10). Our water was free. That left us $65 a month for food.
We managed, though. His grandpa was a farmer, and his aunt canned a lot of food, so they helped out as much as they could. My dad sent a check every month to pay for my little girl's juice and milk, and I thought we might be all right, until my ex bought that new Dodge Charger, and then there was nothing left for me and my little girl, so we left.
 
Luckily I've never had to apply for food stamps,
But I would hope that the amount varies from state to state. I can't imagine food prices being the same in NY as they would be in Miss.
 
We were on Food Stamps for awhile, too much of a hassle so we gave up and went to Catholic Charities instead.

Food Stamps: Every six months you have to re-apply, this involves sitting in a room waiting for six hours for your interview, then give them all the same info again, then weeks later you get your letter in the mail on what you get. We knew what we were supposed to get for a family of five with our income. They gave us $35 instead. We told our case worker we would appeal, suddenly it was raised to $135. We said we would appeal again, and suddenly it went to the $175, still not where it was supposed to be at. This would repeat every six months. After the third time we gave up.

Catholic Charities: You show up, tell them how many adults and how many kids in your family, they give you as much as they can. And a turkey for thanksgiving. And clothes for your kids if you need them. And Christmas gifts, and birthday gifts, and baby stuff, etc etc etc.

When things got better for us, we took a ton of canned food, clothes, and a large check down to their distribution center to thank them for their help. Yea, and they didn't care that we weren't Catholic.

So yea, they get something from us each and every holiday season. To heck with the governments food programs...
 
There's also Angel Food Ministries where you can buy a box of food for about half of what it costs in the grocery store and they accept food stamps. They started in Monroe, Georgia and have spread to 35 states. It's an excellent program and you don't have to go through a bunch of stuff to qualify, there are no restrictions, conditions or forms to fill out.
 
Thanks for the link, Mama. I have some friends who were helped by that organization, but I had forgotten about it. I sent the link to our son and DIL in Florida, who are having a tough time getting by.
 
Yes thanks for the link! I downloaded the menu and packaging and pricing from them. I thought this might be something I could use. I'm on food stamps myself. I've had 7 heart attacks in the last three years. If it weren't for the stamps I'd have starved a couple of years ago.

I checked the pricing from the Angel Food Ministries and decided to check and see if I could buy similar products for the same or less. They have a monthly meat package that went 7 lbs. for $21.00. I had $55.00 remaining in this months account so I looked to see if I could do the same. I ended up with 2 1/2 lbs. burger, 2 3/4 lbs sausage and 2 lbs bacon for $21.12. These were all quality name brand products. Not sure if I did good or not but it seems I can get exactly what I need without bothering the Ministry. I will keep and eye open each month on their packages.

I kept my eye on the register and unfortunately the way I laid the items out on the counter I ran out of money before I could get the White Lilly flour that I really went there for! I didn't have the nerve to ask her to add the flour and remove some other items. There were many folks behind me in quite a hurry (nothing new these days). Guess I'll get the White Lilly flour next month if the welfare system is still functioning next month. I've been trying to cut down on eating and stock up on essentials for when the government gives away all our money to wall street and cuts welfare. I eat a lot of biscuits and am getting pretty good at drop biscuits. I eat once sometimes twice a day and can hopefully get a pantry stocked before the food stamps dry up.
 
This thread is being put back in the open forums because it does contain some valuable information for someone who needs help. It is, however, closed from further postings.
 
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