2 gallons of milk
2 loaves of bread
2 boxes of cereal (used coupon $1 off 2)
2 bags of chips (on sale buy one, get one free)
4 bags of snack mix ($1 coupons, sale price $1 so FREE)
misc fillers (used a store coupon and would have had a negative balance)

My oop (out of pocket) total???

79 CENTS!

I had a coupon where I saved $10 when I purchased $30. What I did was buy 2 diabetic meters (some people get these just to make a great deal, but I am prediabetic and my husband’s sugar is high so we’re monitoring it) at $14.99 each, then used 2 free coupons (found in the Sunday paper). Then the $10 off part gave me my groceries for almost free. I did this twice. My first total was 70c and 2nd was 9c. The difference was I did not divide my order in half (the chips were BOGO so I had to buy together) and the “filler” I used on the first order cost about 40c more than the one I used for the second order.

I have my mom and my ex husband’s mom (LOL, imagine that) save me their coupons. I also go to a coupon clippers site and get some there. And, my area has a free paper on Saturdays that has coupons in it. I went from $250,000 annually from investments to nothing overnight! I’ve maxed out borrowing against my stocks. If I sell them, I owe capital gains (and that is considered income), if I don’t sell them I am worth too much. Either way, I don’t qualify for FS, but am dead broke. I got my degree in education, opted not to student teach, am not certified, enrolled in an alternative certification program last summer, and have been looking for a teaching position for 11 months. And, for the record, I was diagnosed with CHF 14 years ago at age 25. (CHF is Congestive Heart Failure for those who don’t know.)

To everyone reading…
My 12 YO daughter wanted Taco Bell the other day and my 14 YO son asked, “Do you know how much mac & cheese and peanuts mom could buy with that buck?” I had just gone shopping. Got 4 jars of nuts, 6 boxes of mac & cheese, and 1 bag of Ramen noodles for ONE PENNY!!! Sooooo, your kids DO learn from you! Think about what you want “passed down”.

This post was directed towards those who make a living off getting assistance from the government, not towards those who are on rough times. And Im sorry, but Ive been there, done that with having a mom who was on FS temporarily while she looked for a new job. I was a Case Manager for women who made it their LIFE’s WORK to be on government assistance, not because they didnt have the tools and resources to make a better life but because they just didnt want to do better for themselves.

Save the preachy I wont return, I am entitled to my own views and opinions which is what makes this blog-mine.

Thanks for stopping by!

@ Jen

Hold your horses Jen, READ everything before you pass your own judgments missy.

1. I have issues with people who rely on this as a TOTAL BUDGET for their food. Spare me the you’re so judgmental bit as my mom was on food stamps briefly when she lost her job and it certainly wasnt expected to be our whole food budget and it still isnt the case for many food stamp recipients.

2. I never mentioned anything about seniors you’re getting the posts mixed up, go back and read them then comment.

3. I look at the people who look at the government perennially for a handout with no desire or intention to get off and make a better life for themselves. I understand we all get on hard times but I do not respect the ideals of those who continually make crappy decisions, game the system, make the same mistakes over and over and do nothing to better themselves with resources all over the place and then you want me to have sympathy? No, I dont.

4. My issue with this articles lies in the fact that no where does it state that she is even TRYING to get off food stamps, just complaining that the SUPPLEMENT isnt enough. FIND A WAY, PLENTY of women have done it, including my own mother so please, again, spare me your I cant believe you’re so judgmental, Ive been there done that and where there is a will there is a way.

Please and thank you.

Ginger’s last blog post..Sallie Mae No Longer Consolidating Student Loans

For instance, my sister, a widowed mother of three, works full-time, minimum wage. At $6.15 an hour, at 40 hours a week, that’s $246 a week, pre-tax. That’s a monthly income of less than $1,000. Factored into that has to be the following: mortgage on her trailer and land, which she owns and receives no assistance in paying for ($500 a month), car payment and fuel, in order to get to work, day care for the one child not in public school yet (4 years old) and after school care for the two in school…

Apparently, your cold, elitist point of view is that she doesn’t work hard enough, because she absolutely has been pinched by the rising food prices. Perhaps if she didn’t have to work 40+ hours a week, raise three children on her own, care for her home by herself, and juggle the responsibilities that come with motherhood, she could spend hours pouring the web for frugal tips and blogging about how she saves so much money at the grocery store.

I guess then, she wouldn’t piss you off.

You’re offensive.

Put this post down on “Things that Piss me off”.