Food Stamps: My Take

I have been seeing lots of posts lately about Food Stamps.  I have seen ones that criticize people for what they buy( not that I think it is right to frivolously use this money), Or even to the point of saying that everyone on Food Stamps is lazy, and just needs to go get a job! I'm sure there are people out there that abuse the food stamp system but not everyone. So here is my story.

When we got married 7 years ago and then have had 4 kids. (making a long story shorter)  One year ago we had to move from where we were living which left my husband jobless, and we were basically homeless.  We lived with or in families property for around 6 months.  David couldn't find a job anywhere.  He applied numerous places and went for many many interviews.  I am a stay at home mom and we home school which is where we believe God wants me to be. David has a job now! Praise God but we still had to make  a tough decision to accept help from the government so our kids could eat ( Yep I said it we receive food stamps).

So the other day after seeing a few Facebook posts about food stamps I was getting a little depressed.  And I was telling David that I should just go get a job so that we didn't have to get help.  He says no way! If you got a job we would have to pay a daycare ti wouldn't be worth it.  I said well I could work evening and you could work Days. He again said NO!!  I don't want our marriage to be destroyed (this schedule may work for some people but it would be suicide for our marriage)  So I decided to e-mail a local Child Care provider just to see What daycare would cost us so here is the break down.
1 year old                                                  $125.00/week
2 year old (potty trained)                              $92.00/week
4 year old                                                     $92.00/week
6 year old(before and after school)                $45.00/week

Grand Total                        $354.00/week       $1,416.00/month


So If  I got a full time job making 10 per hour I would bring home less than 1600.00 per month.  So my entire check would pay daycare and we would still not be able to buy groceries, OR we could get government paid childcare.  Then either way YOU ARE STILL PAYING MY BILL RIGHT?  I only say that because I have seen many people say that.

Now What we get for food stamps is still difficult to budget but it is all we have to buy groceries with. So just like it was coming from my husbands pay check  I clip coupons, find sales, and we NEVER buy junk like pop and candy.  We may occasionally have a bag of chips maybe once a month that our whole family shares.  In order to budget well I plan a months worth of menus and a shopping list that we don't stray from. So all of that to say Not everyone is out to abuse the system.  Some people legitimately need help.


Sorry for the long post but I had to say it!!!