I am about to receive food stamps and I’ve been going around online trying to figure out exactly what you can and ca not buy with them. Most comments I’m reading are very critical and derogatory of people who are receiving, SNAP benefits, welfare, cash assistance, and such.

Everybody wants these people to get a job, buy only fruits vegetables and cheap cuts of meat with their stamps, and many complain that people are receiving the benefits for too long. These people have obviously never been TRULY poor.

I live in the country and I have to travel about 15 minutes to the nearest town to buy groceries, look for or go to work. The two closest towns are also small so there isn’t much employment opportunity. I’m married, pregnant, and have two 6 year olds. I have no job, but my husband is a full time Juvenile corrections officer.

We only have 1 car. Any job I find has to be specific hours so that I can use the car or during that time, or in which I know I’ll be able to get a ride. In my experience I spend more paying other people to take me to work than driving myself and others are not always reliable. I’ve lost 2 jobs because of that. Gas is expensive and when you are travel 15 to 35 miles for a job the amount of pay and hours has to be high enough to be worth it. 20 hours a week and 25 miles away leaves me with little or no take home money. It cost me more money to go to my last job and pay the sitter than I brought home. People don’t think about these things. I should pay money to work?!

I live where I live b/c the rent is cheap and all I could find that was affordable at the time. I live in a very small, very old 2 bdroom mobile home. My son and daughter are both 6 and have a bunk bed in their room which takes up their entire room. My bedroom is so small that 3 sides of my bed are against the wall. I have to crawl over my husband to get in and out of bed. There is about 13 inches of walkway along the open side of the bed. Its very cramped. Now I have a baby comimng with nowhere to put her. I’ll have to move and I’m not sure how I’ll ever afford it.

I have a propane tank thaat I have to fill to heat the house and use the stove. They will only come out and fill the tank if I’m putting in 70% or higher (about $900 worth of propane). I can’t get a budget b/c we rent. So, we heat our trailer with space heaters that aren’t very safe or effecient and I bought an electric skillet, microwave, and a small toaster oven to cook. I can’t even make a frozen pizza b/c it won’t fit in the toaster oven and I boil macaroni in the electric skillet (not easy). Most foods I buy are raw fruits and vegetables and frozen foods that can be put in the microwave or toaster oven.

When I inquired on another site about what types of frozen foods I could buy everybody started posting mean comments about how I shouldn’t be able to buy them. According to most people I shouldn’t be buying things like frozen lasagna or meatloaf b/c its cheaper to make and they consider it a luxury?! What? It isn’t cheaper to make first off, and I have limited cooking methods. I would love to be able to fit a caserole pan in my dinky toaster oven but it just doesn’t work. I realize I’m not eating as healthy or maybe even as effeciently as I could be but I don’t have a choice. I also have to buy drinking water b/c ours is so horrible.

I hate cooking how I do, I hate that my son and daughter have to share a room at 6 years old and have no space to play, I hate that I can’t find work, I hate that I have had to turn to government assitance, and I hate that our well water tastes like blood and is sometimes orange b/c of the high iron. But unfortunatley this is where I’m at right now.

It bothers me that people are so judgemental and critical. Everybody’s situation is unique. And just maybe that bag of doritos or liter of pepsi that everybody not on assitance thinks we shouldn’t be able to buy is the only litlle luxury people like me can have.
BTW …. I got pregnant on birth control. I haven’t been “breeding” as you so rudely stated. My children are both 6 and I didn’t intend to have more. And no… I didn’t miss a pill either.