Tuesday, 19 Jun 2012 8:40 PM <p>good trick, since food stamps are issued on debit cards.</p>

Tuesday, 19 Jun 2012 8:38 PM <p>Starchy food is cheap. Meat and veggies aren't.</p>

Wednesday, 07 Mar 2012 6:51 PM <p>I needed to get a job three years ago because my husband lost a good paying job. Guess what? I found one in one day. It did not pay as much as I would liked but it payed the bills. There are plenty of jobs out there for people who actually want to work.<br>I also have two children and never have received any kind of government help. So yes it can be done when someone has the will and pride to do it. </p>

Monday, 05 Mar 2012 5:37 AM <p>I have been on Food Stamps for the past year, since my husband lost his job. It has been a big help. However, since our income has been very low, we received much more than enough to pay for the food we need (more than we ever budgeted for food when my husband was well paid).<br>I must admit it is a strange situation to be in when you can buy steak for dinner, but cannot afford other essentials like toilet paper, clothes, or gas for the car.</p>

Sunday, 04 Mar 2012 10:32 PM <p>Food stamps are definitely a nice safety net for many people and most probably don't abuse the system. But when you see people on SNAP, also getting lifetime Section 8 housing, welfare benefits, free cell phones, free school lunches, etc, many live better than people who are out there working their tails off. Many of these people will continue to irresponsibly have kids they cannot afford and will always be parasites. <br>I watched a lady load about 20 steaks and 4 large bags of shrimp on the belt, use her SNAP card to pay, walk out to her Mercedes, leave the cart, and drive away. The cashier says she does it every month. Some people need a meteor to land on them...</p>

AgathaX Friday, 17 Feb 2012 3:00 AM <p>This is really not a huge hardship. Mostly its a lifestyle adjustment. The people best suited to making it work are fairly well educated people who know enough to avoid most meat and processed foods, bake their own bread, and shop wisely. Of course, fewer of these people end up on food stamps. For the most part, however, in this country, if people go hungry it is about life skills more than it is lack of resources. (Though, I suppose one could argue it takes more resources to compensate for lack of life skills.)</p><p> I know someone who has at times both received foodstamps and lived amongst others who do. The folks I met were not people who once earned reasonable wages and fell on hard times. These folks are the underclass. They buy meat and processed foods when the benefits arrive and ramen noodles when they are gone. If they buy vegetables at all they get canned. One of them recently told me with some surprise that frozen vegetables are cheaper than canned--and taste better. </p><p>Poor folks who grew up in the country do better than poor folks who grew up in the city or in semi-rural/ suburban trailer park type settings. They have experience with gardens, and even if they can't sustain a garden where they are, they know what to do with a 75 cent head of cabbage or bag of carrots. </p>

Wednesday, 15 Feb 2012 9:09 PM <p> Actually, as a family of 4..... she DOES mean $167 per week. Chart says 668/month for 4... divide by 4 weeks per month..... 167/week</p>

Wednesday, 15 Feb 2012 1:51 PM <p>I'm a mother of two teens and an infant, as well as a wife of a man who is disabled, yet still manages to try to work, though he does not make much. Our infant was an unexpected blessing (protection was used) and because I lost my job almost 4 years ago making great money, I am still fighting to find a job. I do receive SNAP and WIC, and I just want to tell you that it is barely just enough with all the prices of everything going up so drastically. I'm also very educated with a Masters degree and have struggled to find any kind of job over the last 3 1/2 years. You are only partially right about those free meals from the schools. Yes, they do provide them, but they are so disgusting that my children do not eat them. I thought they were crazy until I went to the school to have lunch with them. They were absolutely right! I also use coupons with my SNAP benefits. I hate being on them. It's degrading to me when I used to pull in great money on my own. But, we do what we need to do to feed our children. I'll never be rich, and I used to be quite judgemental about those in my situation, but until you are there you have no business judging anyone else!</p>

Tuesday, 14 Feb 2012 9:15 PM <p>Wow Bill, that is seriously austere. <br>I was on food stamps for about 6 months over 15 years ago with my husband. I recall them giving us just over $200 dollars because we had no income at the time (so we got the max) as we were looking for work but hadn't found anything yet. Honestly, I couldn't believe HOW MUCH they gave us in food stamps (when they were in a bill/stamp form, now they are a credit card and NO YOU CAN"T SELL THEM). When we got work, I went down to the office and gave my social worker the extra stamps I had left over - she was shocked. I was shocked that she apparently had never had this happen to her before.<br>I had been approached by quite a few people with food stamps at that time, wanting me to buy theirs for half their value but the entire encounter was shocking and dirty (and of course, they didn't know I was on food stamps and had a SURPLUS of them in my wallet - I didn't want anymore!)<br>I totally disagree with the "limiting" what foods you can buy when you are on food stamps. For the LOVE OF GOD PEOPLE, when you are on food stamps, you NEED to have some joy in your life, even if it is just a bottle A&W root beer....have some humanity for dog's sake. <br>MOST people do not qualify for the maximum because most people are either on unemployment or have managed to find part time work, so don't be too impressed with those numbers, a great majority of people on food stamps are getting far less. <br>A lot of good people are on food stamps now. All the folks that fell through the cracks when they were struck by unemployment and then after 99 weeks of some kind of payment, in which they slowly and painfully went broke, lost their homes, families fell apart and maybe, just maybe, someone is letting them sleep on their couch tonight and they might qualify for food stamps tomorrow. This has become the American story.</p>

Tuesday, 14 Feb 2012 2:27 AM <p>I manage on roughly $1500.00 a month, disability and a small pension. I've an extremely small SNAP benefit of about $15 a month, meat is a treat, this month it was a slice of ham cut into 4 pieces. I survive mostly on rice and pasta. I never miss the monthly meal at my fraternal lodge, $10. A pound of hot dogs will last me 10 days to 2 weeks. I manage on 2 meals a day.</p>

disqus_dIWEvcXLcL Tuesday, 14 Feb 2012 1:10 AM <p>Cant?? How the hell do they get so fat?</p>

Tuesday, 14 Feb 2012 12:23 AM <p>I don't think they should be allowed to buy candy, cokes or watery drinks, sugary juices, and a lot of other things that are not really needed for them. And to many of them are selling those food stamps instead of useing them because they give them so many we had someone yrs ago come to our house and ask if we wanted to buy some because they got 500+ a month and didn't need that many. We saidno its not right and we could use the food stamps ourselves but can't get them. we make to much a month with doctor bills and other bills we don't make enough sometimes to get a lot of food.<br></p>

disqus_oWz1SBQ6Xf Tuesday, 14 Feb 2012 12:18 AM <p>No I could</p>

Monday, 13 Feb 2012 9:37 PM <p>Well..my hubby and I have 7 children (expecting #8) and we've never used food stamps, even though we've always qualified. My husband brought home a whopping 39,000 gross income this year..the most he's ever made. My grocery budget for food is about 600/month (and we eat pretty well, imo) I have two teen boys (Yes, they can EAT) and we homeschool..so all their food comes from my budget..not free school lunches. Just saying..it can be done. We are blessed that hubby has a steady job.. I understand some people have no choice..but I think all too often, it's not left as a last-resort.</p>

Tuesday, 07 Feb 2012 11:25 AM <p>I eat like a king for 200 a month. A little wine would be nice with my meal though...</p>

Thursday, 02 Feb 2012 11:38 AM <p>sorry but that is $167 per MONTH, not weekly.</p>

Wednesday, 01 Feb 2012 5:03 PM <p>after the loss of my high paying job, i find my family needing snaps. it is insane yes insane to think a family of 5 can feed them selves on 376 a month. I worked non-stop for 20 years and am drawing the max in unemployment. So that means my family only gets 376 in benifits. I still have a house payment i still have health insurance to pay not to mention elctric gas water gas for the car ( thsank god is payed off)and clothes for the children and so on. you should be getting the picture by now. It is not enough. Do i pay the bills that are a need of do i feed my family? People who think only the poor are taking up these benifits are wrong. People are loosing there jobs! People still have to live! We as a nation have a whole new set of poor folk.</p>

Monday, 30 Jan 2012 6:01 PM <p>You are Mean! James Huffer</p>

disqus_Cnk1QieiRj Monday, 30 Jan 2012 2:13 PM <p>So you believe that the republicans who screwed you are the democrats you now hate today? You were way to stupid to have a job in the first place my friend.</p>