I hope to never be in that situation again. I don't understand how people can live like that on purpose.
Many of those who play the system today see it as a game to get as much as they can for as long as they can. i.e., the less cash they have to spend for food, housing, WIC items or whatever = the more money they can spend on booze, drugs, cheap hookers or whatever is really important to them.
A vendor told me about a woman from near his home in Massachusetts who shut down a can recycling machine because she was too lazy to even drink the pop she had gotten with her food stamps. She wanted to turn the value of the cans into quick cash. Here in Pennsylvania, our slackards will at least drink it first.