The New Poor Are Straining Resources At Food Banks Around The Country
By Susie Madrak Friday Feb 20, 2009 4:00pmI had lunch the other day with a friend who'd gone from a three-paycheck household to one in four months - and her company's cutting back. Even though she has a well-paying job, dozens of jobs in her division have already been cut back to part-time, and she's worried she's next. I talked to her about going to a food bank, and she was surprised to hear she could qualify without being on welfare:
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Once a crutch for the most needy, food pantries have responded to the deepening recession by opening their doors to what Rosemary Gilmartin, who runs the Interfaith Food Pantry here, described as “the next layer of people” — a rapidly expanding roster of child-care workers, nurse’s aides, real estate agents and secretaries facing a financial crisis for the first time.
Demand at food banks across the country increased by 30 percent in 2008 from the previous year, according to a survey by Feeding America, which distributes more than two billion pounds of food every year. And instead of their usual drop in customers after the holidays, many pantries in upscale suburbs this year are seeing the opposite.
Here in Morris County, one of the wealthiest counties in the country, the Interfaith pantry opened for an extra night last week to accommodate the growing crowds. Among the first-time visitors were Cindy Dreeszen and her husband, who both have steady jobs — his at a movie theater and hers at a government office — with a combined annual income of about $55,000.
But with a 17-month-old son, another baby on the way, and, as Ms. Dreeszen put it, “the cost of everything going up and up,” the couple showed up in search of free groceries.
“I didn’t think we’d even be allowed to come here,” said Ms. Dreeszen, 41, glancing around at the shelves of fruit, whole-wheat pasta and baby food. “This is totally something that I never expected to happen, to have to resort to this.”
Now, I know some of you are going to say they make enough money to live and they're just trying to scrounge off the system. But that's unlikely: How many working people want to stand in line at a food bank? People are usually ashamed of needing help.
Things are so bad right now for so many of us. Try to have some compassion - it could be you.
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"Things are so bad right now for so many of us. Try to have some compassion - it could be you."
It IS me.
which all own each other are not going to stop until the people of our country are all in poverty.. except for the top 1 percent.
..but the attemp will prove self-defeating and suicidal.
they obviously have run out of things to do on earth to their disadvantage.
You're, of course, right. There is no end to the things that they will do to their disadvantage, if allowed to act in an environment devoid of externally imposed restraints. But the closer they get to the goal of controlling all wealth and resources, the sooner they run out of people who can afford the things that make them wealthy. If they end up running a slave state, it will end up like the soviet Union prior to it's collapse, people will pretend to work in turn for their pretend pay and pretend benefits. If they do this and turn things into a police state, the slaves will also do as did the slaves in the soviet union.. they will practice the only form of resistance they can get away with: creative incompetence. Things will coalesce towards stagnation at all levels of society, including at the elites' level.
Then again, they could also see their businesses and institutions burned to the ground and themselves dealt with in a brutal way. They may have the numbers, the guns and the cash, but they lack the crucial element...the numbers. When people have finally and irrevocably had their fill of the contumacious oppressor or the corrupt despot, there reaches a point where even timid perpetual victims find their courage. In the long term, none of these clowns ever last; their chosen way is not sustainable.
that'll make it easier to eat the rich.
it is how revolutions start. The French one started because of people not having food.
And they only had guillotines.
Don't you love the inference that only people who are financially secure have an opinion about this?
Let them eat credit default swaps!
$55K a year might sound like a lot and be a lot to some folks. It's what I earn and the ONLY ones living off me are those freakin' cats. I'm not strapped by any means. However if I had the added responsibility of a spouse, a toddler, and another baby on the way - I'd worry.
As it is - my sister lost her job last summer when schools merge after closing down some in our school district and has yet to get another job. She moved two weeks ago from a five-bedroom to a three-bedroom that's $200/month less. She was getting her utilities shut off periodically because she didn't even know you could make payment arrangements.
It is not a cheap place to live. I know that my dog and I could not afford my 800 sq foot condo on only $55,000 a year.
"But with a 17-month-old son, another baby on the way, and, as Ms. Dreeszen put it, “the cost of everything going up and up,” the couple showed up in search of free groceries."
i am going to paraphrase a line that Judge Judy quotes all the time,
if you can't afford the children you have, then don't bring more
into your family. she also used to say, what do you think happens
when you put a penis in a vagina?
there are some things that come into our lives we have no control
over, but having another child(ren) when you can't afford the
ones you have, is irresponsible.
You're the OCTOMOM!!
if that were the case, I WOULD be famous since
i am male.
but you have given another example of totally
irresponsible decisions made by a moron woman
and the doctor who implanted her. she is on
welfare and doesn't take proper care of her
first six children.
But I think breeding is highly overrated....but I'm gay and don't want kids for various reasons. But there are those that breed irresponsibly.
n/t
technically, you're right, children are preventable. But that goes against the grain of how we've been told our economy is supposed to function. Be fruitful and multiply; Larry Kudlow regularly extols the benefits large families have on the economy. Have you ever seen the store "Buy-Buy Baby? The same people who lecture us about not having more children than we can afford are the same ones who are anti-choice, anti-family planning, anti-birth control, and resistant to having their "hard earned tax dollars" supporting any programs which provide reproductive health counseling. People who are child-free by choice (such as myself) get less tax breaks and are usually the first layoffs when times get tough. Until that attitude changes, it's hard to be critical of people in the situation described above. I live about 40 miles from Morristown, and the gentrification in Morris County has made it unaffordable for anyone making less than about 150K.
The food pantry came after the fact. She SAID:
"Among the first-time visitors were Cindy Dreeszen and her husband, who both have steady jobs — his at a movie theater and hers at a government office — with a combined annual income of about $55,000."
They COULD afford their children before they lost their jobs. So you're saying if you lose your job(s)you're being irresponsible because you have children. Or do you have so much money you think people earning $55,000 a year are irresponsible to have children and shouldn't have them. What fucking planet are YOU on?
Where does it say they lost their jobs?????????
I did see they live in one of the wealthiest counties in the country. Hard to do if you work at a cinema. That could be part of the problem.
NOTE: This article is confusing. At the beginning it says, "I had lunch the other day with a friend who'd gone from a three-paycheck household to one in four months..." but later on it says, "Cindy Dreeszen and her husband, who both have steady jobs — his at a movie theater and hers at a government office — with a combined annual income of about $55,000."
How many incomes do they have? Are the Dreeszens the friends that went from three incomes to one, or are there two families???
since Oct 2007.
The illusory nature of the "straight" world.
It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
If there is a bright side to hard times, though, it's that hard times make us need each other. Hard times have the power to bring us together, if we let them.
Yes. In our town we have a fuel bank as well as a food bank. Those who can donate to those who can't. Tomorrow it may be all of us can't but right now it is bringing people together if only by making people aware of the plight of others.
have good quality, organic food.
A lot of food today is toxic.
of America was certified "Organic".
Can you believe that?
"I want to turn the stuff on the floor into money".
waste and byproducts are big business.
if republicans were in charge of seeing to it that the plant was inspected, YES i believe it.
Why don't you fix your little problem Washington and light this candle?
Don't tell that fucking asshole Santelli at CNBC about this (or whatever that fucking prick's name is - I won't GOOGLE him, because I'm sure he'll stroke himself for each hit he gets a hit, and I don't want to contribute to the delinquency of a minor idiot).
He and his 6 to 7-figure a year cohort's on Chicago's floor will run around shrieking "loser" at all of the people in line for food. While, at the same time, seizing their bag's and taking them home, just like they did with the real estate debacle.
Greedy, short-sighted prick's.
I am sure they "think" they need to go to a food bank and are not scrounging off the system as mentioned. But I bet you they could live on that amount with a little more effort. I know many people who live on that income even before the recession. But you do have to hone your consumer skills, make a budget and stick to it.
If they're living in what's called "one of the wealthiest counties in the country", you can be sure consumer goods are as pricey as the salaries. I.e., $55,000 doesn't go as far there as $55,000 would in Alabama.
Before this housing market fall, I'll bet average tract houses there went for $750,000, with property taxes to match. (disgusting!)
SOME people who are so thrifty that they can "travel the globe twice a year", buy what they like, and have a decent amount saved in the bank, and no debt" might not bother mentioning that their last name is Hilton, or that they don't HAVE to own a car or a house (live in their parents' carriage house?), or are similarly fortunate.
If it's not a "silver spoon" or a transient lifestyle, perhaps such a fortunate thrifty person can come up with a summary of "the right things to do" for these needy-yet-propertied folks -- without suggesting, of course, that they divest themselves NOW of their property, when housing and used-car markets are subterranean.
Karen it's very simple. Cut up your credit cards (if you misuse them. If not, no need to.) You sit down at a table and calculate how much money you make each year. Then realistically make a monthly budget and live within it-- no exceptions. Realize that if you are going to buy a house how much it will cost you over 20 years and make sure you have enough (anticiapting possible disruptions in income by setting some money aside.) Same for kids. Do you have (or realistically will you have) $250,000 per kid to get them to age 18?
Stop shopping except for essentials. Do people realize that one Starbucks a day is $1,000 a year? Buy a thermos and make coffee, and pack a sandwicj for work or looking for work (not a restaurant.) Only buy things on sale, price compare, cut back, buy bulk, go to the right stores. Do I really need to explain these things to you? Are you 14?
which was 5 years before you said you figured that out.
Anyway, that's good stuff for staying alive, but it won't help you break out of it. My parents did all that throughout the Reagan years and made it, but they never improved their standing one inch until the Clinton miracle.
I think it comes down to monthly fees. Every friggin' thing is a monthly fee these days. Eliminating one is worth a dozen shopping sprees.
I think they are living beyond their means, as many Americans are use to do.
I haven't made more than $25,000 a year for ages, but I still travel the globe twice a year, buy what I like (but I'm thrifty and selective and anti-materialistic), and have a decent amount saved in the bank, and no debt. Sure it's just me, but on $25,000. Think about it.
If I made $55,000 a year I'd feel filthy rich and have a HUGE bank account.
...number of bloggers who just cannot refrain from being judgmental.
How Christian.
.
.
.
NOT!
I'm not being judgemental. I'm stating something that appears quite obvious. Ask your granparents about when they greww up, or even your parents.
Yes, I do feel sorry for them, but...
I just came back from visiting third world countries. Now that's real poverty. No North American lives like that!!!!
...so you might be having trouble putting yourself in the shoes of someone who's 18 years OLDER than you...
Obviously my grandparents are dead; so are my parents. But I can remember our family of 5 living in a 35' trailer when I was 8 y/o, and before that in a rented oil company house in the early 50s, and my parents and 3 kids moving west in that trailer to where a good job waited. My grandparents were immigrants.
I own what I have now thanks to hard work, my husband and myself -- we spent well when we had it, but never went into unmanageable debt -- we started out with NOTHING when we married, but bought land, built on it, and turned several pieces over until we settled into our retirement house, which we share with relatives.
There are many ways to alleviate suffering due to this economic crisis, but unfortunately for some folks it's a little late to plan for it. Those are the folks who are going to the food banks.
Yes, agreed. Everyone thought the good times would last forever, and lived accordingly. Good times never last forever. I said I feel sorry for them, but it is their problem. Should it be mine? People that can';t live on $55,000 becomes, somehow, my responsibility?
PS my sister has been living on $15,000 a year for eons, but she manages. It ain't glamorous at all, but she supports herself. She found an apartment in Vancouver for $400 and has stayed for 20 years.
is one of the wealthiest counties in the country. 20 years ago, it was mostly rural and agricultural. Then, the Wall Street pricks who couldn't afford Connecticut anymore started to move in and build mega-McMansions, pricing out just about all of the locals. $55,000 might seem like a comfortable salary, but in NJ, you'll have a hard time finding anything even close to affordable. An average apartment in northern NJ is usually around $1,000 a month.
"There are many ways to alleviate suffering due to this economic crisis, but unfortunately for some folks it's a little late to plan for it."
There's the rub. Unfortunately, this is the case with most. I learned the hard way in my youth, always being broke becuase I wasted money stupidly. I was amazed how keeping a closer eye on my spending saved me a bundle!!! Sounds like you know how to budget yourself.
I am very generous and don't think badly of these people for needing a food bank. The good news is, in Canada and the USA we have food banks, period.
PS I'm not a Xian, and that has nothing to do with it.
If you haven't got money for kids then you shouldn't have them. I am so tired of paying for other people's lifestyles. I don't complain about it, but it is a fact that does not escape me.
I don't have money for a car so I've never owned one (I'm 48 years old). These are decisions we all have to make. I know I certainly could not afford children and wouldn't even think about having any unless I improved my pay rate substantially. And I'd have some savings before I even tried to have the kid.
My father always taught me you should have six months pay in the bank ready for a rainy day becuase they always come. Guess what, those days are here now.
My father always taught me that sometimes, shit happens, and when it does, umbrellas don't always keep the poo off of you.
Yes, very true. I've had poo all over me more times than I care to recall-- dirt poor, flat broke, hungry (collected empty bottles for cash), been evicted, had my utilities cut off more than once, collection agencies after me, defaulted on student loan (but paid it back eventually--all of it), etc., etc..
Guess what? I got tired of it and changed my ways.
All this "advice" you're giving here isn't really doing any good, realistically. I'm sure you're very proud of yourself for pulling yourself up by the bootstraps into better habits, and you should be proud for that. Many more people would benefit from doing the things that you did, there's no question.
But you can't wag your finger at those in need. If you've made these bad decisions in your past, it surprises me that you're not more sympathetic to those who are in that situation right now. These people need food, not a lecture.
I am not wagging a finger. If they go to the food bank or not is none of my business. My original point was simply, I think they have been living beyond their means. Yet, people didn't like that.
That's fine. It is a new age and everyone has to be prepared to adjust their lifestyles. I started before the collapse. I think now others will be forced to follow, but it CAN BE DONE.
If they need the foodbank -great. I'm glad there is one for them to go to. No judgement, it was a simple fact. Then I had to explain to some that it is not impossible.
This is a depression. Adjust your lifestyle, or... well, you'll see what happens.
you might want to change your tone, that's all I'm saying...you sound pretty judgmental to me, and I don't think I'm alone
Point taken.
I have said many times I am not judging them.
My points are, it is not impossible to live on $55,000. My comments are about the outrageously excessive North American lifestyle.
Equating having children with a lifestyle? WTF is wrong with you? If we live in a society where a family making 55,000 (probably well educated to boot) can't afford to have children, this society is doomed. There is no "minimum" income to have children in this country, but with judgemental pricks like you around, that day is quickly approaching. Lots of people in this country throughout history had kids without 2 nickels to rub together.
?
Have all the kids you want.
I'm talking more about this lifestyle. C'mon now, are we not all guilty of this???:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-blanchard...
a Condo for $1.4 million back in August 06 fully expecting to take home a $1 million profit in 12 months?
Me neither.
I am guessing it is not $15,000 a year. That is pretty much the minimum you will pay for a two bedroom place in Morris county - renting or owning.
debt slavery and airport cavity searches by direct orders from the Christian police court Yaweh, whose face is now the Department of Homeland Security.
Man we need to get on the ball we don't have to settle for this.
...an extra cavity search.
Don't thank me...
Should also have mentioned that the food banks would have a lot more food items if the restrictions on restaurants and grocery stores were less stringent. It is absolutely incredible how much food gets tossed out because of these (I am sure well meaning) rules and regulations.
...at least not from the restaurants and grocery stores in my town. I've assisted at a church-based "Sunday Supper" where many items from grocery stores and restaurants, perfectly good food, is donated for meals for the less fortunate in our town. This is in a West Coast state.
Maybe it's different -- and less generous -- in your town.
But restaurants need to get "certified" in some way before a food bank around here will accept anthing that is already prepared. We learned this recently after trying to donate the leftovers from our Super Bowl party. Nobody would take anything due to the possibility of it being tainted. There are probably differences in the restrictions related to the size of the area, the number of restaurants and familiarity with them, etc..
Our food supply is controlled by the wealthy elite of this Nation through a distribution system that is designed to deny access to the poorest among us.
If a shortage of food exists then the sheep will work harder for that bowl of rice.
need to start keeping an keep on expiration dates since stores are have a lot of back inventory they want to unload these days.
And like Dylan said it cost's more to store it then it does to give it away.
...that "the wealthy elite of this Nation" are also the Corporations and their CEOs that Bush graciously allowed to do business unregulated by those nasty agencies like the USDA, the SEC, etc., right?
Even right now. Unless your a banker, one of them "financial guys" or a politician toking off the taxpayer crack pipe your pretty much your on your own.
or some other accepted "personality".
If I remember, this was the repug talking crap from years ago..."cut social services and let the churches and social clubs and wealthy take care of the needy". Yeah....that's right.
We can depend on the wealthy to start to help out in a big way now. Such bull shit. Such a fantasy world they live in.
Because they were so good at it back at the dawn of the Industrial Age, when five-year-olds worked in factories and laundrywomen were scalded from having their arms in hot bleach all day. Yes, the ones with money will definitely take care of the majority of the population, all right.
What a fantasy the wingnuts live in.
It is not judgmental to relate facts. Edwin has lived on much less and seems to do quite well. As I mentioned, I know many people who make as much or less and do not feel hard done by. They are used to living within their means. Most Americans live beyond there means, many because they have not been taught any other way.
where I live, would barely cover your rent, much less be able to afford to eat.
the middle class up there also vote for their wealth to be redistributed to the upper .02% ?
Like you guys, we were given the choice of evil, evil, or evil. Well, who to vote for. It's sad. Haven't seen a political leader worth salt, since.....hmmm....ok, I give up.
Still, that is your responsibility. If you can't afford to live there you might consider moving. This isn't a time to maintain your old lifestyle and hope other people can kick in to help out. You could consider shared acoommodations. These are tough times, and the tough survive.
We group together like 3rd world nations, and watch diseases spread? No. I know alot of people do live above their means, but when rents start at 800/month for a bach pad, there aren't many alternatives, short of moving to Ethiopia or some place like that. Believe me, I have moved. Where rent is cheaper, food is higher.
Edwin. I think it's great you can do it, on your own. I, however have a wife and two kids to feed as well.
I'm just saying, my parents had nothing when they got married and raised 5 kids. It was called making a budget and sticking to it. My Dad is king at it. It took me 25 of adulthood years to learn (he's absolutely right), but I finally got with the programme in my 40's.
possible to enjoy the finer things in life without constantly engaging in hyper shopping ones ass off to keep up appearances.
Some of my favourite clothes came out of the bins (under $10). Yes, you have to pick through them, but there are gems. Make sure you buy expensive shoes though. Shoes make everything, and the good ones last for years (not months).
station today stated that food prices overall where I live, increased almost 9% from last year. THAT is just plain absurd. There are no increased costs to justify this increase.
Veruca Sault wants another pony!
the most ridiculous price gouging I have ever seen in my lifetime. All this BS about supply/demand.. futures etc.. stock market looses 400 points, next day stock market gains 400 points. market manipulation at it's finest, and we the people keep paying the tab.
is 82 cents a liter. That's about $3.72/gallon. Almost 10 cents a liter higher than last summer. What was the world price last summer? Oh ya, that's right, higher than now. Damn scammers.
get down and get people motivated.
Forget trying to be friends with Republicans ain't going to happen.
is that those WITH the money depend upon those who don't have money to fight amongst themselves for what little there is.
Someone goes to a food bank, you attack them and judge their decisions: they shouldn't have children, they shouldn't have a car, blah, blah, fuckety blah.
who lived through the Great Depression always said that everyone should be poor just once in their life. It gives a whole new perspective for the rest of your life.
Because we were.
bet your ass!
We grew up poor. Very poor. I've been homeless too. Which is why I have an auto with a folddown back seat. ;-)
as the absolute only one here who lived thru the depresion of the 30s i can say you aint seen nothing yet!i would venture to say most of you aint going to make the cut!
My father is 89 and he was a child in the 1930s.
couldnt have been very young if hes 89 now
He was 8 (almost 9) when 'Black Tuesday' occurred he said; he was born in November. So he was 9 going on 10 in 1930; that's a child in my book.
Oh yeah, he's 88; sorry about that.
well i was born in 34 and the depresion never ended untill 42 when the war machine brought the depression to an end ,you dont have to have been a grown up at that time to remember the hard times ,the homeless ,the hobos on the trains , the hunger , the liveing from hand to mouth as my mom said,
However, more than likely you were taken care of by your parent(s), just like my dad - and mother, who was born in 1934 as well. In 1939, my father went into the military and got out in 1945.
I don't think that now it's as 'bad' as then - bad is a relative term though. I think and know there are people who are living pretty hand to mouth now.
Well I always thought sooner or later people who never experienced something like what is happening now will finally understand what the working poor and the lower middle class have been doing for years. Yes it is a struggle. Now you don't hear people say they are lazy welfare mothers who don't want to work. Believe me they aren't. Try getting a home and supporting a family on minimum wage. My son is a cook. He has never asked for a hand out even though he could qualify for it. I tell him sooner or later we are going to run out of money to help him and he is going to have to bite the bullet and ask for help. I tell him alot of good people are struggling now and he shouldn't be ashamed to ask for help. I know we will sooner or later.
Now have Americans and their country exactly where they want them...
They have been trying for over 40 years to destroy the unions and the American citizens from having a d... say in what is done in this country..
They are controlling our resources , laws , military , economy and any wish that American may have..
Bush's administration with Cheney secret meeting with corporations has destroy any power the American citizen may have to fight with..
They have even totally divided Americans into 2, 3 or more groups fighting each other while they walk off with our land , resources , wages , jobs , job safety , military and economy...
We no longer have a say in the policies which our government forces on us..
They have finally transferred everything American have to the Global (monopoly) corporate power....
They have even passed laws in which if the American citizens complain , demonstrate or join in organizations to get our democracy and power back to be classified as terrorist and they can do as they wish with us
This is so obvious that I am amazed at my own stupidity for not thinking about it. I got online and just made a donation to my local food share.
This is one thing the internet is very good at.
Thanks for the heads up!
The 'Food not Bombs' group in my town, that offers food to *anyone* who is hungry is often threatened by right wingers, who take offense at the sight of people helping other people.
Isn't this what their precious Jesus did-feed the hungry????
And while the demand is going up at food banks, grocery store corporations, and others deaiing with commodities, are no longer donating their unsold inventories to the banks, but selling them to the world's markets.
When Bush cut taxes in his first term, the loopholes that allowed write-offs for charitable contributions were largely eliminated. Charitable contributions have been taking a nose-dive ever since.
eh tyree, I guess I'm just a youngin' at near 60. Athough not of the depression era, I was brought up to be, shall we say, frugal. Always paid cash and didn't borrow for anything but a mortgage. If I didn't have the money I did without until I did. Now I am on a pension but still find money to give to many charities and even to orphaned children overseas where I lived for a while.
It is always a question of priorities. I am also in total agreement with you that if the shit really hits the fan, many, many people will not make the cut. It is not that I have no sympathy for the Dreezen's, just saying they could live within their means if they tried or someone taught them how.
exactly kilgore , they grew up with to much tv ,to many trips to the malls, buying crap just to be the hippest dude on the block , like you i dont do credit just cash, people think this depressions the same as in the 30s but it aint its going to be worse !
Yes, I'm cash only too. Empty wallet, keep walking-- don't need it. I use credit if necessary, but only if the money is there to pay it off that month. Interest payments are killing a lot of people. Doesn't anyone ever watch Suzie Orman on Larry King? She'll tell ya.
been there done that!
I swear her teeth are chrome. Can see her unhinging her jaw expanding her throat pulling a rat into her stomach.
I've noticed that the Repukes are the first to disregard Jesus' message, when it doesn't suit them. I really hate those mofos.
None of them give a crap about anything Jesus said. He's just a hood ornament on their holy roller bandwagon.
..but ignore his message
Mike Malloy saiud it best, if Jesus comes back, the first thing the right wing will do is to ship Jesus off to Guatanamo Bay to be waterboarded.
Most right wingers couldn't give a sh*t about the poor- "Let them starve" would be the most common solution the right wing would have for the hungry poor- Just ask these Bible thumpers 'would Jesus let people go hungry'?
I wonder how they would respond.
In the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the loaves had large amounts of chalk, and the fishes mercury.
And they told me in the Mormon church when he turned water into wine, he just added Welch's grape concentrate
Which I thought was odd since Welch was a Methodist.
Last summer, a friend on the internet was asking for money advice. Her hours were being cut back some, and she was worried. Among others making suggestions, I told her to start stockpiling food. Anything that wasn't perishable - boxed and canned. "You have money now," I told her, "so stock up for the future. You don't know where you'll be at the end of the summer."
She laughed. Why wouldn't she? An extreme idea, eh?
Not so much. Turns out she's out of a job now, and the prospects aren't good. I kinda wonder now whether she thinks she should have taken my advice. I've stockpiled food regularly for years, always making sure I have a couple of months' worth at least, and it's served me well to always have that cushion there. It won't save my life (probably), but it's one less worry in bad times.
I sold most of my possessions on Craigslist and Ebay to put $$ towards rent and a mountain of bills.
I live in a tiny Boston studio apt.
The $ from a bookcase I sold on Craiglist went towards food.
In the 1960s-80s, my parents had a big home and 2 cars- I'm wondering if i'll ever afford such things- and I'm 40.
I have $20 to last me till i'm paid on tuesday. Poverty sucks.
But all those with kids (I don't),know this is gonna cause family strains when kids think you're ruining their lives, because you can no longer afford to buy the designer names.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZlgDQbvo9I
...would think $55,000 is enough to live on.
esp in Northern Jersey.
...would think that it is impossible to live on $55,000.
But not in Jersey. Real estate is expensive there. When people transfer jobs to flyover states from the NY/DC corridor, they take huge pay cuts. That $55K translates to $30K around here, and I can't imagine trying to raise a family of four on $30K. Seriously.
I know many teachers, and very few oewn their own homes- most have apartments, and shop at the local Goodwill.
What the hell happened? My parents were teachers in the 1960s,and could afford a large house and 2 cars..
Tax rates on the top earners were so high that anyone suggesting those rates today would be laughed off the air or out of congress.
I've never had to go hungry for long, but I've had to eat pretty course food to be able to afford my books.
Capt. Underpants don't come cheap.
I take it back; I was skirting on homelessnes when I left the Air Force. Times were so bad that while I was trying to stay in California, business were putting out signs reading, "No we don't have any jobs, please don't ask."
The idea of returning to Texas made me sick, but I remember sleeping on a bench of an empty baseball park.
I still spit on the memory of ronnie ray gunn.
I was homless for a time in my mid 20s- It was so traumatic, I seem to have blocked out most of the memory of that time-
If someone on the street asks for money, and you don't have it to spare, just say that- but please don't ignore the person as if they are a ghost.
That's funny; mine's largely blocked out too.
If someone asked me for money I at least shake my head no, so they see I heard them.
Last Christmas a small time grifter took me for forty bucks. I pretty much knew I was being taken, but I had plans to give at least some money to Santa Cops or whatever. I hoped he spent it on his kids or grandkids.
Compassion, yes, absolutely. I donate what little I can to local food banks, but honestly I'd be more than a little put out if I heard that a couple making $55K/yr was getting food that I'm donating on $35K/yr. I'm not exactly living the high life myself, I rent an apartment, I drive a 23 year old car (rarely, since I prefer to walk), and I scrimp and save every month to get by...yet I still manage to donate to, and not receive, charity.
Food banks are an unfortunate necessity in our society - and they should be used by people who have no other choice...not people who need the money to make the monthly car payment. $55K/yr and they NEED to use the food bank? No, they don't. They're just taking food out of someone else's mouth while they pay the mortgage and pay off the car.
they didn't have it after one lost his job, hers threatened. So yeah they couldn't cover the cost of food.
It depends so much on where you live. A rental House in OK costs $400/mo.. Here in CO it'll cost ya $2,200/mo.
It'll do all of us good to get off the hamster wheel we're running like maniacs. But I've noticed even if you give up a lot you're still running to cover that broken leg w/o med insurance, cost of maintaining a car (when walking's not an option) taking the bus now $4 up and down a 1 mile strip, cell phones, credit credit credit, EVERYTHING costs to the point like being eaten alive in this society. And we are! We're caught in all kinds of unavoidable traps.
Raising a son solo, and he's a reasonable guy.
The absence of Mall Brats I welcome.
as ronny raygun would say , are thier no workhouses! let them flop on cardboard over street steam grates! bleessed are the poor and run them out of town ! rayguns legacy!
I'm tired of defending my comments.
I think we need to start teaching home economics in school. Not the kind where you bake cakes, but the reality of monthly budgets so high school graduates are prepared to go out on their own and start a family-- with a good plan beforehand. It would have saved me having my utilities cut off and being evicted years ago. I just didn't know about money at all. I think many of us are the same: careless about spending. Why don't we teach our kids?
Go to college. Get out with 40,000 in debt.
Spend your 20s trying to pay it off.
Meet a woman, fall in love.
Save 20% down for a house. Save for 6 months income.
Pay the max into a 401k
So if everything is just so and the stars align just perfectly, maybe you'll be ready by 35 to 40 to have children.
Buy a home. Have a child. Hope they don't get rid of you for a young kid or outsource to India.
The standards in this country are impossibly high to even get to the bottom of middle class. The mortgages are failing because most people can't afford to save 20%. So they came up with these bullshit schemes to sell properties. Properties are way over priced, most people don't make enough money.
My dad got out of high school in 1969. Got married in 1970. Went to Vietnam for a year came home at 19, got a good job and bought a car and a house. All just out of high school. This bullshit way we have now where you need not only luck but a masters to have children and buy a home? And to do it responsibly you have to be fucking 40 years old? WTF happened to this country?
Yeah, I know. It was easier for our parents generation. Still, what are your options? This is the world we live in now. You have to do your best.
Home ownership is not always the best thing going. If you plan to stay for 30 years, OK. Sometimes renting is better.
Just flip on the TV and see the lifestyle pushed on you. That's what people think is normal. It ain't. That is high living.
Go to some other poorer countries and you'll see Americans are so blessed. You've just come to take it for granted. (Canadians too.)
As for "WTF happened to this country," it's Americans are not interested in their government as much as they are in what Paris Hilton is wearing. Asleep at the wheel, and the crooks took over (see 8 years of GOP).
The baby boomers and my generation bought Reagans snake oil hook, line, and sinker. Pathetic.
I hate everything about the 80s. Dinks, yuppies, BMW's, power lunches, young professionals, young Republicans, bad music, bad clothes, bad hair, and Ronnie "deficits don't matter" Raygun. Yup, the spending spree began back then and has not stopped. It has to stop. Not only for the economy, but for the planet.
See, if you're in North America and you don't have the whitest teeth and the best clothes, you're branded a loser, and no one wants that. It's so superficial. Now if you want to avoid that, you must have two good incomes. We did it ourselves, by overconsuming for so long we don't know how to stop.
Imagine that one of the biggest growth industries before the economy crashed was storage lockers for people's excess junk.
I dunno, I like a lot of 80's music: The Go-Go's, Kraftwerk, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nina Hagen, Bauhaus, the Eurhythmics, Einsturzende Neubauten, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Ministry, the Exploited, Dead Can Dance, Lita Lovich, the Ramones, Kate Bush, Clannad...
Of course there's always some good music, but in general... Guess I'm an old hippie?? I still like to crank up Jimi and Led Zeppelin now and then. I find music since the 80s is very here today gone tomorrow, whereas we used to buy a group's every album, and I still have my old Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones.
I'm a big fan of all of them but the Rollings Stones. I was crushed when Bryan Jones left.
I mean c'mon, Angie?
Daddy Don't Cry?
But give me Gompers, Carry the Lantern High, She's a Rainbow, 10,000 Light Years From Home and In Another Land any day.
I recall having a nightmare that Reagan won the nomination (beforehand).
Will spare you the details but it was a bad one.
is teach a kid a craft Edwin. Mentor a boy or girl to take care of themselves why don't you.
We had no idea people in other countries had it rougher, or that common fare in Haiti are mud cookies. Have you ever cried until beer came out your nose in shame?
REally tho Edwin, few of us think tv is related to anything normal. So far as Paris Hilton I know not one single person who gives a fuck.
Quit being so goddam condescending bro.
Fri, 02/20/2009 - 18:58 — Edwin
I'm tired of defending my comments.
I think many of us are the same: careless about spending. Why don't we teach our kids?
________________________________________________________________
You want to teach your kids to be careless with money?
Is there a bin at the food bank for accepting things like large screen TVs as these new poor enter the food bank? People with big screen TVs need not frequent food banks.
Yes, the things many people consider essentials, I consider luxury.
I wonder how many cars the Dreezsens own. I'm on the bus, but not complaining.
Sorry all you people who think I'm glib, but if you spend more than you make... (you do the math)
Stop! Ugh!
I lived in Toronto for 4 months, and really liked it-I might go back..
Are Canadians facing these same problems? I have a hunch most Canadians care about their fellow countrymen, wheras most Americans care only about themselves.
Interesting.
Yes, life in Canada is expensive. People have the same problems. We do have more social assistance than you do, and universal health insurance. We are way more socialist than the USA (more like Scandinavia), but we like it that way. We don't have as many millionaires as you, but our standard of living is higher.
Sorry I offended some of you.
I didn't realize that living on a budget was such a provocative topic. But I have offended you nonetheless, so I apologize.
She's a Rainbow.
I fly off the handle sometimes so I apologize also. WTF am I perfect? LOL hardly. I can probably say truthfully though, that this generation is worse off than priors. Its not a cliche anymore. Times are gonna get hard for us all. :)
Thanks.
You're judging people without understanding their circumstances.
They lost their JOBS for chrissake! You took that as an opportunity to tell us about your holier than thou use of the bus. How do you know they have even one car or how old it is?
Regardless, it's no one's business what they have or had or how they spend their money (when they had some).
You only have yourself to look after so don't judge people raising families and all that entails. Just shut up.
Live on your budget (and your free health care which drive americans into bankruptcy) and social programs which most don't have either.
A self-righteous sob is annoying no matter where in the world you're from.
I don't know if they lost their jobs. The article made me assume they didn't.
Look at the importance of fact relative to opinion. If the article made clear that they lost their jobs, every single comment in this thread would be different.
Look at how worthless every minute of cable news is. So opinion-oriented. Tweak one fact and a week, hell a year, of national broadcasts goes in the trash bin.
The thing I don't understand is WHY ARE PEOPLE HAVING KIDS WHEN THEY'RE NOT FINANCIALLY SECURE???????
The people in the article have a baby on the way. Well, the economy went to the shitter over 6 months ago, so unless he knocked her up 7 or 8 months ago, they are irresponsible parents.
People seem to think that they have some kind of divine right to procreate, without giving a second thought to what kind of life that child will live. Some people see it as a perverted badge of honor.
While I do feel for the people mentioned in the article, THE GUY WORKS AT A MOVIE THEATER!!!!! How much financial security is there in that???
I don't mean to sound callous, but give me a goddamn break. That being said, my wife and I regularly contribute canned goods to our local food bank, as our own finances allow. Unfortunately, it looks like that's going to be a little less often in the coming months, BUT WE'RE NOT DECIDING TO HAVE A GODDAMN BABY NOW EITHER!!!!!
News flash: No birth control method is 100% effective - except abstinence. Sometimes married couples find themselves pregnant when they didn't want to be, but because they're married, they decide to make the best of it and go ahead with the pregnancy.
If your wife found herself pregnant next week, how easy would it be to terminate the pregnancy? Show a little empathy, for heaven's sake!
Quote: "But with a 17-month-old son, another baby on the way, and, as Ms. Dreeszen put it, “the cost of everything going up and up,” the couple showed up in search of free groceries."
I know because I read it in the article.
With so many advances in birth control and mankind's virtual mastery of the reproductive process, it seems that almost anyone can avoid pregnancy if they want to, with a very rare exception of course.
Unfortunately, like I said, people think having children is a birthright. It isn't. A few decades ago they invented this miraculous little thing called "The Pill" that can aid in sex without children. It's too bad that some people don't chose to use it.
After all, a job in a movie theatre is virtually a cradle to grave type of employement opportunity, and I'm sure the wads of money were rolling into that household for YEARS before this crisis happened.
It's not like they live in Morris county, which is more expensive than others in NJ, right after Bergen and parts of Hudson.
Don't get me wrong. I do have sympathy, but even though I'm a "bleeding heart Liberal", a part of me can't help but have a little bit of disdain for people who've made really stupid decisions and then use the government to help absolve their blame.
I guess I'm still a little miffed about the housing thing. My wife and I rent, and we could have easily gotten a loan and bought a house anytime within the past few years, even though we couldn't have afforded it, and you know what we did??
We continued RENTING, and putting money aside every month for our eventual down payment.
But the people that got no doc loans and ARM's now suddenly find themselves recipients of Government Largesse, and thanks to their fucking stupidity, MY ability to get a loan now, when I have a sizeable amount saved and better credit, is severely hampered.
We have no choice but to help these people, because their demise would adversely affect us, unfortunately.
http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/1997/concept...
Also, please note: Many women are at risk for stroke if they take the pill - i.e. women who get migraines.
You're just looking for ways to justify your anger. What a way to live.
Why are you acting like a fucking jerk? Railing on a guy because he works in a movie theater? Having children is a birthright you fucking moron. We live in a country that equates having children like they are some kind of status symbol or a symbol of prosperity. Newsflash shit for brains, lots of Americans in the past had kids with no money. You are just another clueless asshole.
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