Food stamps are NOT the high-life.

To anyone who think it's "cool" to have a food stamps card/tells me they're "jealous" of mine:

What are you jealous of? Are you jealous of the fact that I'm so fucking poor I can't afford to feed myself? Why the fuck would you be jealous of that?

I don't get to go spend the "extra money" I'm not spending on food on new phones, designer handbags, awesome shoes, and all that other stuff you think I'm spending it on. Most of my clothes cost a dollar a Goodwill, my shoes are completely falling apart and desperately need to be replaced. My work pants are falling apart and hopefully I can replace those tomorrow. My phone was a birthday present and it cost about fifty dollars. My mom bought it. It's a basic simple flip phone. I spend 35 dollars a month for texting/talking. (Haven't been able to get new minutes on it for about a week, hopefully tomorrow.) I don't own a car.

You think it's really shitty that I'm buying "good" food instead of shitty food? No. I'm buying the food I know I will consume. All too often I buy things I think sound good, get them home, and don't eat them before they go bad. I'm an extremely picky eater with next to no cooking utensils, no microwave, and no toaster. I will buy what I will eat. I do not buy really expensive steaks, obscene amounts of soda, ridiculous amounts of candy, etc. I do buy soda, frozen shrimp, and candy once in awhile.

To those of you who think I'm somehow "cheating the system", you have no idea what you're talking about. I'm in danger of losing my food stamps because someone else didn't send a fax in. I have to call tomorrow to confirm the fax got sent to ensure I have enough money to eat next month, not enough money to fuck around with the government's program and have fun.

Approximately 75% of my less than 1,000 dollar a month income goes rent, electricity, and internet (my only "fun" expense). I've been told I should get rid of the internet. I won't for a few reasons. One, sometimes I can't afford to pay my cell phone bill and it's the only way I have of contacting someone in case of an emergency. Two, it's the only way to get Netflix so I don't have to watch the same 30 movies over and over. Three, I am sometimes home for up to 12 hours a day alone. I need contact with the outside world.

After that 75%, there's maybe 200 left over. Some of that goes to cell phone bill, some goes to things like toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, medicine, cleaning supplies. Some more of that goes to give gas to the people who give me rides while some of it goes to bus fare (which can add up to ten a week). After that, there's maybe 100 left. 100 dollars to last four weeks. Approximately 25 dollars a week for fun/emergency expenses. 25 dollars a week.

Yes, I am really living the high life on my food stamps.
August 30th, 2012 at 12:19am