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Gwyneth Paltrow Will Live On A $29 weekly Food Stamp Budget

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CZroe said:
You can't pay for a Costco membership with EBT. 😛
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But Costco does accept EBT. So I'm conflicted. I could buy everything from Trader Joe's but their prices on quinoa suck. However it'll have more visual impact if I can show a receipt for $29 or less at Trader Joe's VS $29+ from Costco and explain that I only ate xx% because I had to buy in bulk and discount the money spent over the $29.

Right now I'm thinking if I can get one of my friends to do it with me, we'll pool our money and then go to Costco, but if I can't then I'll just do Trader Joe's or a local supermarket.
 
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she failed miserably btw

As I suspected, we only made it through about four days, when I personally broke and had some chicken and fresh vegetables (and in full transparency, half a bag of black licorice)
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Rice and Chicken. That's your best bang for the buck at that budget I'd think. Buy whole chicken and make it in the oven. 3 of them will last a week. Then get something for breakfast, some bread and toppings for lunch, and you can make it.

It's no fun but anyone who went to college knows how to survive on little money.
 
Food for thought though. Those who from CA at least. The poverty rate there is almost at 3rd world country levels. You can complain that they have flat screen TVs all you want but they have the same complaint in 3rd world countries since nobody expects the poor to just play hide and seek with their free time.

Although not as bad as the CA statistics 20% of our millennials, nationwide, live in poverty.

Everyone here should count their blessings that you aren't in that same boat.
 
doubledeluxe said:
Food for thought though. Those who from CA at least. The poverty rate there is almost at 3rd world country levels. You can complain that they have flat screen TVs all you want but they have the same complaint in 3rd world countries since nobody expects the poor to just play hide and seek with their free time.

Although not as bad as the CA statistics 20% of our millennials, nationwide, live in poverty.

Everyone here should count their blessings that you aren't in that same boat.
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What many people who cite those statistics don't understand is that a large portion of CA is made up of recent immigrants. I'm not saying it's justified they live in poverty, but remember, these are largely uneducated people coming here looking for basic manual labor and a place for their kids to be safe. It's not expected they're going to live the suburban dream right away.

So yes, poverty in CA is near 3rd world levels, but CA is a landing point for many many people from the 3rd world.
 
doubledeluxe said:
Food for thought though. Those who from CA at least. The poverty rate there is almost at 3rd world country levels. You can complain that they have flat screen TVs all you want but they have the same complaint in 3rd world countries since nobody expects the poor to just play hide and seek with their free time.

Although not as bad as the CA statistics 20% of our millennials, nationwide, live in poverty.

Everyone here should count their blessings that you aren't in that same boat.
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imo the dumbest thing we've done since outsourcing our jobs is cripple our students with debt. I have a lot of friends with $100k+ in loans. I also have a growing number of friends who have either dropped out of college or have made the decision not to go because they don't want to be strapped with a monthly payment for the next twenty years. It's horrible. We've sunk our nation deeply into debt to foreign countries, then sent all of our manufacturing overseas, and now we're shooting our future in the foot by castrating the younger generation's financial futures. How can you buy a house when you're paying back $1000+ a month in student loans in your first job out of college? The answer is, you move back in with your parents. Terrible to have to do that to kids. Not everyone can get a scholarship or have rich parents. It will be interesting to see how the next 10, 20, 30 years shape up for out country...
 
doubledeluxe said:
You can complain that they have flat screen TVs all you want
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You forgot:
- their drug use
- their tattoos
- their iPhones
- their abortions
- their cable TV

:colbert:

And, on this point:
but they have the same complaint in 3rd world countries since nobody expects the poor to just play hide and seek with their free time.
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,.. well, that is why we have prison in this country; we don't allow "them" out and we don't have to see "them"!!

Also, if we allowed hardworking private corporation to run these prisons with no government insight, regulations and prying public eyes (which will form 'opinions' and 'views') we can use "them" (the poor) to actually earn their keep in prison. But, totally not in society.
 
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JMapleton said:
What many people who cite those statistics don't understand is that a large portion of CA is made up of recent immigrants. I'm not saying it's justified they live in poverty, but remember, these are largely uneducated people coming here looking for basic manual labor and a place for their kids to be safe. It's not expected they're going to live the suburban dream right away.

So yes, poverty in CA is near 3rd world levels, but CA is a landing point for many many people from the 3rd world.
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The statistics are complicated. I'm from CA and one thing that's interesting about living overseas is perspective. I was struck by the amount of beggars I saw when I was home visiting a few months ago. Every strip and shopping mall had 1 or two at every parking lot entrance. It's a dramatic change over the last few years and most I talked to didn't notice. The beggars are invisible to those who live there. It looks like people with jobs are begging due to underemployment. From what I've read that's just the tip if the iceberg since so many children are poor.

Europe is suffering from the same thing but it's mostly immigrants at every metro station and along every shopping street. Very dramatic as well. So I'd say our global immigration and global economy is pretty messed up. I don't see it getting better either. If immigration is the problem then it needs to be curbed but nobody us handling that correctly anywhere.
 
Kaido said:
imo the dumbest thing we've done since outsourcing our jobs is cripple our students with debt. I have a lot of friends with $100k+ in loans. I also have a growing number of friends who have either dropped out of college or have made the decision not to go because they don't want to be strapped with a monthly payment for the next twenty years. It's horrible. We've sunk our nation deeply into debt to foreign countries, then sent all of our manufacturing overseas, and now we're shooting our future in the foot by castrating the younger generation's financial futures. How can you buy a house when you're paying back $1000+ a month in student loans in your first job out of college? The answer is, you move back in with your parents. Terrible to have to do that to kids. Not everyone can get a scholarship or have rich parents. It will be interesting to see how the next 10, 20, 30 years shape up for out country...
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Sure but of those friends with $100k+ debt aren't they all doctors and lawyers? That's been my experience. I think the bigger issue is liberal arts schools charging $20k a semester with 30% graduation rates and abysmal job placement staying stayistics. So we're left with 70% of their students with $40k in debt for no degree. I hope the other 30% got full rides.
 
doubledeluxe said:
Sure but of those friends with $100k+ debt aren't they all doctors and lawyers? That's been my experience. I think the bigger issue is liberal arts schools charging $20k a semester with 30% graduation rates and abysmal job placement staying stayistics. So we're left with 70% of their students with $40k in debt for no degree. I hope the other 30% got full rides.
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The majority of the student debt problems come from the people who went to for profit schools and took out 100k loans.

Most people who went to semi decent schools can get a job easily.
 
doubledeluxe said:
Rice and Chicken. That's your best bang for the buck at that budget I'd think. Buy whole chicken and make it in the oven. 3 of them will last a week. Then get something for breakfast, some bread and toppings for lunch, and you can make it.

It's no fun but anyone who went to college knows how to survive on little money.
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Cooked chicken should be eaten within 3 days after refrigerated. Pizza, on the other hand, can be left out on the counter indefinitely. Same with bacon.

What seasonings do you put on cooked rice and chicken? You'll need a sauce or good mix of spices to make it palatable.
 
I always thought the SNAP benefits were just to supplement your ability to buy food instead of completely fulfilling it?

I have 2 friends who moved in together then had one lose their 10 dollar an hour job. They were able to get on foot stamps and receive 160ish a month.

They still chose to buy several containers of Ben and Jerry's along with lots of junk food. They would then go buy blu-rays at 20-25 a piece after eating out. facepalm
 
slag said:
Cooked chicken should be eaten within 3 days after refrigerated. Pizza, on the other hand, can be left out on the counter indefinitely. Same with bacon.

What seasonings do you put on cooked rice and chicken? You'll need a sauce or good mix of spices to make it palatable.
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Girlfriend found a good recipe online. Put an onion, apple, and lemon inside and baste oil, herbs, and spices on the outside. Only made 2 at a time and that was too much chicken for me but if I was poor I could live on it. Dinner is one chicken, lunch the next day is another.

Starches are easy. Chicken is cheap. You can probably get ground beef for spaghetti. It's doable if you don't blow your budget on soft drinks and fast food. Go to the bad part of town and buy fruits and vegetables for cheap.
 
slag said:
Cooked chicken should be eaten within 3 days after refrigerated. Pizza, on the other hand, can be left out on the counter indefinitely. Same with bacon.

What seasonings do you put on cooked rice and chicken? You'll need a sauce or good mix of spices to make it palatable.
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Meh. If you're asian the food is good until it either smells bad or starts looking a different color. 😎

My office caters lunch every Thursday and we always have left over. People here try to throw it away by end of day Friday. I tell them they're crazy and take it home and I have enough meals to cover me til Monday-Tuesday.
 
AznAnarchy99 said:
Meh. If you're asian the food is good until it either smells bad or starts looking a different color. 😎

My office caters lunch every Thursday and we always have left over. People here try to throw it away by end of day Friday. I tell them they're crazy and take it home and I have enough meals to cover me til Monday-Tuesday.
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you know how I know you're asian?





your screen name













and the fact that you pillage the office leftovers on friday (which are actually office leftovers from thursday) in order to have food for the following week
 
Ns1 said:
she failed miserably btw
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Everyone saw that coming. Her haul wasn't simply an example of someone who has never had to budget, but someone who doesn't know how to cook either. She has probably seen a few things on Food Network and went at it.
 
slag said:
Cooked chicken should be eaten within 3 days after refrigerated. Pizza, on the other hand, can be left out on the counter indefinitely. Same with bacon.

What seasonings do you put on cooked rice and chicken? You'll need a sauce or good mix of spices to make it palatable.
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Cooked chicken lasts fine a week plus. I've been doing it for over a year.

Salt/Pepper/Sriracha is all you need to make it taste good.
 
Poverty in the USA is something like 100x money of poverty in a 3rd world country, which is also highly subsidized by the USA.
 
Strk said:
Everyone saw that coming. Her haul wasn't simply an example of someone who has never had to budget, but someone who doesn't know how to cook either. She has probably seen a few things on Food Network and went at it.
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I think I read she lasted 4 days. It was more about yielding to temptation that necessity?
 
Unsurprising that her stupid and grotesque selection of food nobody on the fucking planet would want to live off didn't get her to stick to her plan.
 
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