That's fucking great.
I started cooking my own food long ago to keep costs down, and it's just getting harder and harder.

this was a good article. it actually reported on something newsworthy, that's relevant to most americans, and this is a subject that's not really reported on that much.

It's like that stupid question, "Why is America so obese?" It's because junk food is cheaper than health food, and there are 50 million+ poor people to buy it.

Shopping at places like 7-11 for groceries seems a bit counterproductive to me. They usually jack the prices up a bit. Seems like you could have more money to spend on food if you shopped at the least expensive place rather than the most convenient.

I know I make roughly 25,000 a year and if I didn't live with three other people, I'd still be stuck living with my parents. I just can't afford the nessecities otherwise.

Yeah, groceries are really expensive there. I don't get that at all.

Yeah, there's no worst choice if you're having financial problems than walking into a 7-11.

I think it might be a matter of people's perceptions that drive them to convenience stores - i.e., it doesn't seem like you're shelling out a lot of money if you pay a dollar or two for a hot pocket or a hot dog, but if you do the math you're doing poorly in comparison to what you could buy at a regular grocery store for the exact same thing.

Another symptom of how this economy is fast going down the shitter. Inflation... just a myth right?

This is the snapshot of cash flow. You can save money buying at Costco, but poorer people can't afford the effect on their cash flow since they must also pay for utilities, transportation, etc.

Convenience stores offer a limited selection of specific higher margin products at a single transaction price that appears to help with cash flow; that is to say, less short term cash is required for the transaction..

I know i barely make it paycheck to paycheck.... its not just the rising cost of rent, food, and electricity but childcare and gas... its crazy. I make just under 30,000 and im a single parent of 2 kids. I usually have to get help from my boyfriend or my dad to make ends meet... and on top of that im a college graduate with my BA. Starting next month i have to start paying back my student loans... whoopee!

Maybe if i actually got child support i wouldnt be so stressed that ive been sick for the past 6 months.

sorry... bad day... had to vent.

I make around $30k a year and live on about 15 or 20% of my income. A good 80+% of things people spend money on are unnecessary. Healthy food is really not that expensive if you don't go nuts- a lot of the packaged and processed crap is far more pricey. I may be the cheapest person that lives, but it works for me- I eat healthy, I don't eat fast food, I don't drink soft drinks, I don't smoke, I don't use drugs, I drive a car that gets 40mpg, I don't spend money on status or frivolous crap... it's not hard to save money when you get over the whole status thing. If you need new clothes, don't go to the store that sells a friggin' t-shirt for $30, go to the Salvation Army and buy an entire wardrobe for ten bucks. If you want something expensive, save up and pay cash for it. This whole idiotic instant-gratification debt-society we have going here in America is a financial death wish.

That said, it sickens me how fast inflation is going up without any corresponding raise in American paychecks.

People are lazy and don't know how to manage their money. QUANDARY UNCOVERED. If you are shopping regularly for staples at a convenience store, you're pretty much retarded and it's not surprising you don't know how to live on 35 k a year. You are obviously not smart enough to know that you pay extra for the convenience store. If that were not the case, they would just call it a plain ol' store. Might I also suggest that people tend to think that having children is a god-given right, whether they can afford to take care of them or not. If you are somehow caught in between being shit poor (so the government will pitch in) and self-sufficient, you are exactly the person who needs to think hardest about where the money to take care of that kid is going to come from.

I've been living off pasta and homemade sauces from about three months now. I'm not in any particular hardship.

but then again,

I'm a single man who shares a house with 4 other people. Other than feeding my face and making sure I don't get sick - there really isn't much else to take care of.


It's the people with families that get the short end of the stick.

And by the way - it's one thing to chastise someone for having kids in an "inopportune" tax bracket.

it's another thing to actually try to help or educate them. I'm all for venting about the system. But those of us that have time to think, vote, influence, and volunteer to help such familes - should do so.

Honestly struggling parents KNOW that they are struggling - it's not as if they spend all their cash on dumb shit and wonder why the kids are out of diapers. Remember there are concrete systems in place in our country to keep poor people poor and wealthy people wealthy.

One example - Walmart did not become a multi-billion corporation by selling shit to wealthy Americans.

You do the math

meanwhile - i'm going to make sure I didn't forget any bills.

I'm seeing it everywhere, yet almost no elected official will talk about it, because they don't want to be accused of "class warfare." Personally, I'm rapidly coming to the point where I think we could use a little class warfare. The great bargain with the middle class has been broken, and the upper 1% are running away with 90% of the wealth growth. If this country's economy continues to decay, it won't be them left holding the bag, it will be the rest of us.

I should make bumper stickers that say "Let 'em eat cake"

AND

I should sell red hats and bandannas!