Posted on 07/14/2018 10:18:44 AM PDT by spintreebob
I think so, too. If things were normal, which they aren’t for me these days, I would have gone for new for the extra money.
And the other girl had to pull her card out to cover that...
How big is your 19 year old set. I have seen new 32” sets for $99.
I liked HEB when I was in Texas. It’s about the only place I went (WM once in awhile).
Well, this was years ago. The TV made it from about 1992 to 2011. The GE made it from about 1994 to 1998 or maybe 2001. Been too long.
I have an LED now. Don’t know if any are left. I don’t use it much.
The repaired one is the LCD - it gets a lot of use.
A cheap 39 inch is around $139-$179 in my area.
I’d like to have a 32 for a monitor but don’t have the space at this desk. Maybe for another desk and the old laptop there.
JVC TV (old design) made it from 1992 to 2011. Yes, signal converter.
You remember the old Curtis Mathis sets???
“The Most Expensive Sets and Darn Well Worth It” was their ads...
We made those when I worked at Magnavox...They were actually exactly like the Magnavox sets...The only difference was the CM sets had a longer warranty...
We see things like this, especially in the summer. Last week at Walmart an obese older woman with her daughter in line in front of us. The old bat was on her phone (probably an Obama phone) talking about having all the items they needed for their party/BBQ. She was talking about getting her "shrimps" and other expensive items, which she then laid out on the conveyor.
Her total was over $300 for the stuff that could be paid with her SNAP card and it included a huge amount of shrimp and seafood. She and her daughter referenced the SNAP card as "free money." She then pulled out a $100 bill from her wallet (I noticed she had at least five or six $100 bills in there) and paid for the items that could not be bought through SNAP.
My wife and I were behind them as we, and they, approached the checkout and the old lady (remember she was in one of those electric carts) put a shawl over a 24 pack of Budweiser that was under her seat. While they were looking away while paying my wife and I signaled the cashier to look under the seat and he saw the beer and very politely mentioned it and rang it up.
When we got to the parking lot we saw them loading their stuff into one of those big, black, Lexus SUV's.
Except for the elderly poor, who get so little in food stamps as to be laughable, recipients with children are, at least in Illinois, well provided for. Years ago, when my husband was out of work for a few months, during Jimmy Carter’s financially ruinous administration, we were on food stamps for 3 months. We had 4 kids, one of whom was a nursing infant, and we received much more in food stamps, than our normal budget allowed.
As far as recipients spending most of their SNAP benefits right away, and excluding those who “trade” their benefits to others, my guess is that the benefits “burn a hole” in the pockets of some, and as a “treat”, spend indulgently, buying items that would not normally be included in their food budgets. Act in haste, repent at leisure.
The $6.54 was probably for items that are not authorized for purchase with SNAP/EBT. Most larger chain stores have their systems set up to ensure they don't allow disallowed items from purchase.
No matter how much fraud is going on with recipients the stores and companies are the ones that get strict monitoring of sales and compliance.
I didn’t pay any attention to what items they had...I really didn’t pay any attention until I heard the cashier say how much they owed...$236 seemed like a lot of groceries to me...
A variation of that is the person who works as a nanny or housekeeper "off the books", and does food shopping for her employer, paying with her benefits card, and then getting reimbursed with cash.
Meanwhile, getting their actual staples from multiple food banks.
“but I try to limit grocery shopping to once a month”
You don’t eat perishables? Fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy? I know many grow their own.
[ It seems to me that the study is looking at ability to budget and plan ahead. The very qualities it examines are very likely to be the same qualities that lead to dependence on these programs to begin with. ]
It is not how much you make, but how you spend it...
All you have to do is look at lotto winners who went broke mere years after winning millions of dollars...
I think Michelle Antoinette was wrong about that food desert thing-I think a rural area is food heaven-unless someone wants a bunch of convenience/fast food, soda, etc-too many SNAP/Lonestar card users don’t know how to cook at all-never mind cooking fresh, healthy meat and veggies-I see them every week at the grocery store-big ol’ heifers in leggings or shorts blocking the aisles, buying pre-cooked stuff and cake at the deli, loading their carts with sweets, frozen crap like french fries-and crab legs and shrimp-at the checkout, they swipe that Lonestar card and I’m always tempted to ask one if she knows how to cook...
I agree with you that kids who are not infants need more calcium from natural cheese, yogurt and fresh veggies than from milk-no better time to teach them to eat well-and no sugary cereal...
I grew up and live in a rural area- I grow as many of my own veggies and herbs in season as possible and I barter fresh herbs to my neighbor with chickens for free-range fresh eggs-for the rest, the nearest grocery-about 20 miles away-is part of a small chain of stores located in rural areas-they cater to people like me who are committed to a natural food, organic lifestyle-and that is just about every other person out here. The organic produce sold there is local/grown in Texas-even locally grown apples-as for the non-seasonal stuff, it is mostly from Cali-unless I have a craving for an avocado or an artichoke, I leave it alone. The in-house butcher shop sells Texas meat-grass fed, free range.
I don’t take prescription or drugs of any kind, so I don’t have any of that to fetch or pay for, fortunately.
Since I like produce as fresh as possible, I buy groceries by the week there, shopping the specials on produce and meat-I have spent the same amount of money per week for the last several years-$110-$125, including all grocery items, a few toiletries like toothpaste, body wash and some skin care items imported from Spain and Mexico that I like. I eat very well-paleo diet- and don’t skimp on what I like-I eat only real butter, and never buy processed foods-only frozen or canned if the item is not available fresh-and I only do that if my guy is going to be here and wants me to fix something for him that I don’t normally eat-he is not totally committed to paleo/unprocessed diet-yet...
The nearest WalMart and major chain grocery-HEB-are both in a town 24-25 miles away-and I’ve never gotten out of either one for less than $135-$150-with tastless feedlot beef, pale factory farmed chicken and not-so-fresh veggies and fruit. Even the organic brown rice and stone ground cornmeal costs more than it does at the local store-then there is the gas for my 4x4...
I think welfare-to-work needs to be brought back-including food stamps/EBT-put a limit on it-including making it only for fresh, healthy uncooked food, require people to go to work-and spend OUR tax money that is saved on herding all the EBT heifers into f’ing cooking and basic nutrition classes...
Hey, I’m sitting right next to you on the cheap end.
Best thing I ever did was to clear out a bunch of kitchen clutter to free up cabinet space for canned goods. We never have good sales since there’s just the one chain store and Walmart so I get all giddy over any .50 canned veggie and grab 12 or 18 at a time.
It’s probably been 20 years since the nearby grocery had pork and beans. They can go a couple of years between shipments of cauliflower. Want to throw a party? Don’t count on the cheese board having anything but cheddar. Their selection of olives are canned black olives and jarred green olives with the little pimentos in the hole. Don’t expect to find corn syrup for holiday baking. I’ve learned to keep the pantry and freezer stocked and cooking from scratch.
Doing the big all out shopping when I drive over to Walmart, even though their prices are higher, makes more sense since their produce is fresh and they have larger sizes. Walmart sometimes has reduced meats that find a home in the freezer. Sadly, they don’t reduce the price very much these days. It used to be 50% off. Today, you’re lucky if it’s 25% off.
Most baked goods are cheaper made at home but Walmart’s day old French loaves are cheaper than homemade. I can’t think of a single “prepared” food in the house. Ok, I’ll buy a small container of “prepared” yogurt and freeze it for starters. Cheap homemade yogurt can be substituted for sour cream, cream cheese in cheese cakes, etc. Homemade ricotta is a no brainer. No Stouffer’s lasagna. No prepared skillet meals. No pizza rolls. No corn dogs. No L’eggos. No sugary cereal. No frozen veggies in sauce. No mixed salads or cut fruit trays. Besides, we have to keep away from prepared stuff and watch the blood sugar.
Have you priced out potato chips? A bag of chips equals about one or two potatoes. Save $3+ and fry your own.
If you need a fast food fix, scroll down http://texascookin.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=20 . Haven’t tried his Taco Bell but if it’s as good as his Scholtsky’s recipe, it’s spot on. I can make about 5-6 of the Scholtsky sandwiches for what one costs at the drive thru window (without the genoa salami because it’s not sold here). Note - add 1/4 cup more flour to his recipe (no extra liquid) and it will make six 6” buns.
Here’s a Big Mac salad recipe that tastes all the world like a Big Mac without the bun - http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/big_mac_bowl.html . Note - I use her regular thousand island dressing at http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/thousand_island.html . Be careful, that dressing addictive.
Used to have a garden but can’t due to knee problems. Still have some peppers in the freezer and some home canned stuff but not for much longer. Down to mainly pear sauce and pear preserves from free drops. Finished off the last of the chutney last night. Will be needing to make more prickly pear jelly next summer since those are free. Have enough pecans from our trees in the freezer for baking and snacking. Geez, store bought pecans are $$$$$!
This is a remote area with many people are total hermits by choice-so both my parish church and the Methodist church out here have volunteers who take those who don’t drive or have a vehicle/are disabled to get groceries at either the nearest grocery or to the big box-their choice-on the weekends. In the 6-road area where I live, there are 10 of us who take turns taking our neighbors who are disabled or without a vehicle to buy groceries once per week-I take them with me on my grocery day, if they want to go-if they don’t/can’t go to the store, then one of us will take their list and get their stuff-either way, we carry in their groceries and help put them away if they want us to-we call it just looking out for each other...
Texan5, from what you described, you and your friends are providing the most significant charitable contribution there is for the people you describe. You’re providing time and companionship.
The urban bodegas run a scam on all benefit government programs. booze, gambling, cigarettes and drugs, the joke is on us tax payers
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