As one who works at a food bank, I can say you are correct.
The idea of opening a pawn shop crosses my mind whenever I see the jewelry the clients wear.
As for me, I am a hard core couponer. I can feed a family of 4 for $150/mo but that takes work. An easier way would be the grocery game I hear.
I work with the homeless too and it really opens your eyes. I have compassion for them but when you work with them you realize that they aren’t what the press portrays—just like you and me but fallen on hard times. I know healthy homeless men who simply refuse to work and have an incredible sense of entitlement. I got one guy a job as a chef (he was a great cook) and within two months he quit because he didn’t want to take the bus to commute and wanted a job closer to the row house he was squatting in. I also knew one guy who was in tears about the fact that he couldn’t stop drinking. I helped him find AA meetings but he viewed taking the bus to the meeting as a “pain in the ass” so he didn’t go and, of course, kept drinking.
I also work in clothing banks a couple times a year and when I see who is showing up, I really question whether they need the assistance. I honestly think some people view it as a free rumage sale.
“The idea of opening a pawn shop crosses my mind whenever I see the jewelry the clients wear.”
We helped feed the homeless while in California. You’re right about the jewelry. The other thing I can’t get out of my mind is that just about all of them had better cell phones than we did and were chatting up a storm while waiting in line.
I just bought 3 turkeys at two different grocery stores.
They had limits of one and two birds per customer.
They were $.49/lb = $5- $7 for a small 10-12 lb turkey.
I put them in the freezer in the basement. We will get 2-4 meals out of each bird.
If you plan ahead and buy items on sale with a coupon you can save a lot of money. Most people are too busy or lazy to do it. How many people do you know that have a garden these days ? I know one.