The Government Wants to Give Foodstamp Recipients a Box of Food, With a Catch!

The United States Government has decided that it's time to reform the SNAP Program. Known as "food stamps," the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program has long been under fire as being a form of "welfare," with many opponents of the program arguing that SNAP is just another over -budget program that is being exploited by those committing fraud to receive benefits.

So, there are some in government who have proposed giving recipients a box of of food each month while slicing monetary food purchase benefits by half of their current rates. They are suggesting this would be a cheaper option that would better help recipients than the ability to purchase their own food with their own and their family members' dietary requirements and desires in mind.
Many, who are unfamiliar with the program, current struggles in the low and middle income bracets, are arguing that this is just the boost that our government budget and national economy need to help force those who need assistance to get off their collective rear ends and stop being a leach on society and find gainful and profitable employment.
This entire idea and mindset needs to stop. Cutting SNAP benefits in half and giving people a box of food as a replacement won't help anything in the long run and it will just get worse.
 As with any program, there are people who abuse it out there... but those are really fewer and further between than what everyone thinks. And it's absolutely asinine to think this would help anything.  The cost of implementing this and maintaining it would cost more than the little bit of fraud that is actually currently committed.

And before anyone starts on the bandwagon of "Maybe people will get off their asses and get jobs" - most people who receive SNAP benefits actually DO work and STILL don't make enough to be able to feed themselves and their families without assistance.
Yes, even the ones who pay taxes and don't get tax refunds back. It's amazing to me that in today's society, even double minimum wage can barely be a liveable wage for anyone, even a single person,  let along families with children. And if you do happen to be one of the unfortunate ones who are disabled,  and find yourself living on disability,  you might be faced with living on one half to two thirds of the income that you would earn on MINIMUM wage.
Those who earn a "middle class" income can easily find themselves with no money for food, depending on the cost of living in their area, job benefits or lack thereof, such as insurance or medical care, a loss of income, a death of a partner, divorce, etc. Should they be penalized for not having enough for food less than those who live in true poverty?
Yes, our government welfare and social programs need to be changed and overhauled. But not at the expense of their own beneficiaries, especially those who need the assistance. And just because someone is poor, does not and should not mean that they deserve less quality food or less food than another person. Food is a basic human right and necessity. Taking food from people who need it, doesn't serve those who don't need it, except to take away their own humanity and compassion.

Grocery Shopping and Coupons

So, today I went to the grocery store and spent $98.92, after coupon savings. I bought milk, eggs, margarine, bread, snacks for the children, cereal, yogurt and various other things that we always seem to run out of between large shopping trips.

My total in coupon savings was $12.94, which means I saved roughly 12% on my total. I am not overly impressed with the total, but still, any savings is better than none at all.

A word about coupons, though. Using coupons can actually save you a great deal of money off of your grocery bill, but only in a few cases. Usually, coupons are for name-brand, higher priced items anyway. If you don't already purchase these brands, then you won't really save money.

If you don't already purchase these items anyway, wait for sales and know your prices. Sometimes, you can find a name brand item on sale, plus use a coupon and find that it works out to be cheaper than the store or generic brand.

Any time you are trying to save money when shopping, do your homework, know your prices and watch sales. Don't buy something simply because you have a coupon for it, that's not really saving you any money. It all goes back to paying attention to what you do with your money.

And be realistic. Often we see someone who has saved an almost obscene amount off of their grocery bill by using coupons (50-75%), but what you don't see is the fact that most shopping trips like that are planned carefully, for weeks in advance and that those kind of savings are not the average for that person.

Being realistic, saving when you can and living frugally can be difficult, but almost anyone can do it by simply paying attention.