So Disappointed

[lecale]

I don't want to be rude, but if people have xboxes, TV's etc from before they ended up on welfare... why don't they sell them and use the money for their food, rent? Just curious.

Well around here anyone with a livingroomful of equipment rents it from Rentown or etc. So it may not be theirs to sell...though they would be paying one jacked up bill for it. Then the choice is, have an xbox, have to use the food bank, or don't have an xbox and don't have to use the food bank.

[ilovecoupons23]

I think that every person should be looked at differently. To say everyone on welfare abuses the system isn't true. Some people genuinely need the assistance to get back on their feet. We don't know their situation so who are we to judge?

But on the other hand, I go to work 40 hours a week so why should someone else get my tax money as a handout.

So i guess there's two sides.

[Darth Penguin]

I don't want to be rude, but if people have xboxes, TV's etc from before they ended up on welfare... why don't they sell them and use the money for their food, rent? Just curious.

maybe, just maybe they need to have something, some little comfort which is all thier own. Something any-one else has, something that keeps them in touch with the world.

And if some-one did sell their pc or xbox for that reason, they wouldn't be able to post here about it would they?
xboxs don't bring in that much money ( round here it's $100-$300) and it would only be a short term cash flow.

[DianneS]

I would also imagine it is hard enough when you are on Social Assistance to see your children go without many of the things the other kids at school take for granted. To have to take away one of the few of things they do have? That's asking a lot. Besides, how do we know that the Xbox wasn't a gift or a hand-me-down from a friend or relative and didn't even come from family income to begin with?

[matrix82]

Budget planning is taught to every British Columbia student in the "Planning" courses that are required for high school graduation. Just an FYI....

Wish that were the case across Canada, in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, there isn't a mandatory course that involves budgeting.

I graduated many years ago from High School, and wished that I had been able to take, and made to take a course on household budgeting. I learned the skills with time and thanks to smartcanucks, but I could have been at least a couple thousand less in student loan debt had I learned the skills before I left home.

[alicia]

^^^ in NS there is CLM-PAL (Career and Life Management Physically Active Lifestyle) which is required for High School students. CLM is where we learned to budget, write a resume, be relationship smart and sexually responsible. Problem is, it was a joke class that everyone got >97% independent of the take-home message.

[leavitts77]

Your a funny guy lol give it up

so...no independant studies...

[leavitts77]

some people just cant let things go . I am done on this thread as not worth my time anymore i have trading to do so i can help my family instead of reading people trying to control how people feel goodbye and thanks to everyone who was respectfull of how people feel on here

[daynabas]

I don't judge all of those on SA, just one..... my son's dad! He has been on welfare for the last 4 years and has managed to create 3 more children with another woman. I haven't ever received a single child support cheque from him (I have full-custody and he has supervised visitation. Long story short: he tried to kidnap our son and kill me.) and he actually "earns" more than I do working full-time. Fortunately, this will all be to my advantage when my hubby and I get married, because he's going to legally adopt him and I'm changing my son's last name ;-)

[Chantel]

IMO it only really upsets me when there are children involved. If you're using your assistance money to buy cigarettes while your kids go hungry or don't have proper clothing, screw you, you're a bad person. But that ALSO applies to people of ANY financial situation. If you make 200k a year and your children still don't have good food to eat or clothing or supplies for school because your alcohol and cigarettes and crap you don't need come first, you don't deserve those children.

I know a family that regularly has an empty fridge and pantry, and they have luxury items like two brand new vehicles, a big house, big tvs, new computers, brand name everything, etc. They make more than enough money to cover it ALL but are just dumb with their money.

I don't like my tax money going to fund people's habits or useless purchases, I'd rather it provide them with a warm jacket or nutrition, but whatever. That's their choice, and I can't really do much about it. What I can't handle is seeing helpless kids go without because of STUPID choices their parents make. If, like the person on page 1 who mentioned she has been diagnosed with cancer, the person is doing what they can to make ends meet and still needs assistance, fine! TAKE MY MONEY. I will gladly give it to you. I would be so happy to try and help a person like that, and make sure their kids have what they need, and the mother does as well.

I will not happily hand over my money to somebody who would rather have their children maybe get one meal a day or have to ask other people at school for food and stuff because there is none at home because their parent would rather spend their money (given via assistance/disability/unemployment etc or earned by working) on burner cellphones, $20 worth of gum, perfume or whatever other things that are far LESS important than the basics children need.

Kids should come first. No matter what. You don't need an iphone or mani more than your kid needs three squares a day, a roof over their heads and clothes appropriate for the season.

[benmackmom]

maybe, just maybe they need to have something, some little comfort which is all thier own. Something any-one else has, something that keeps them in touch with the world.

Could we equate a paying job and honest earning of a living to having something which is all their own...something anyone else has, something that keeps them in touch with the world?

An Xbox or Playstation doesn't keep them in touch with the world (unless they are playing online - and where are they getting the money for the internet connection?). Most working people I know don't own an Xbox or Playstation - but just about all the OW recipients I know have one system or BOTH and the internet connection to be able to play online.

Just sayin'

[AshleyRobertson]

Being from the states I will share my knowledge of the welfare system down there. FSA is ONLY for medical expenses like doctors visits, hospital visits, dental and optical visits, medications, etc.

The States forms of welfare are Food Stamps which is put on a EBT (Electronic Benefits Transaction) card, Temporary Assistance also put on the EBT card, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), Medicaid, Housing Assistance, Daycare Assistance, and Utilities Assistance.

If you qualify for Temporary Assistance you will only EVER be allowed on the system for 5 years. It can be 5 years on and off for the rest of your life but ONLY 5 years your WHOLE LIFE. The highest amount you can receive is $292 a month no matter how many children you have. This money can be used for anything. You use the card like a debit card. The money goes into a "savings" account. You can use it as a debit at WM or you can get the cash out at a bank.

Food Stamps are based on how many dependents you have. You get $160.00 a month per person. It can ONLY be used on food. But it can't be used on fresh cooked food you would get in the deli at a grocery store or fresh deli meats or cheeses. It can be used on anything from Milk to chocolate bars. They DO NOT monitor what you buy with it. Many people will "sell" food stamps to get cash. The ratio to sell them is you get double in food stamps what you would give the person in cash. You can be on food stamps your WHOLE life if you need to. They will lower the amount depending on what you make at a job.

WIC is a program designed for women who are pregnant or mothers with children under 6 years of age. When your pregnant you receive "checks" to take into a store and purchase milk, cheese, certain types of cereal, and eggs. When you have an infant on formula you will still receive what you were receiving before but you will also receive formula and baby cereal. For children older then infants you will receive the same things as what you get when your pregnant.

Medicaid you can receive depending on your income..if you have no income you automatically get Medicaid. You can make up to $1600 BEFORE taxes a month for a family of 3 in order to receive Medicaid. You can stay on Medicaid indefinitely if your income stays the same or lowers. If you make more then the allotted amount you will stop receiving it. There is a HUGE downfall though for Medicaid. It does cover all your doctors visits/hospital stays/medications with very minimal OOP cost to the person receiving it. The downfall is you also have Dental and Vision coverage too. But to get into either a dentist or eye doctor that takes Medicaid can take YEARS. I had Medicaid when I was pregnant with my youngest child. I didn't make enough working full time to get insurance through my job and made so little that I qualified for Medicaid. I wanted to get a dental check up and the ONLY dentist in a 300 mile radius of my town had a 5 year waiting list to be seen.

Daycare assistance pays half of your daycare if the daycare will accept assistance as not all daycare's will. So if your daycare charges you $100 a week per child and you have 3 children it would cost you $600 a month. If your only making minimum wage which is $7.50x160 hrs a month= $1200 a month before taxes then your getting NO WHERE fast.

People can complain that there are people abusing the system. Its a fact of life..there will ALWAYS be people abusing the system whether it be the welfare system, healthcare system, etc. You can't clean them all up. Its just NOT possible. I don't like the fact that people abuse the systems..but I'm thankful they are there if/when I need them.

I also want to give my opinion about people who grew up in a "hard life". Just because you grew up and your life was rough doesn't mean you have to turn to drugs, alcohol, sexual addiction, etc. My insight is personal insight..My father left my mother before I was 1. He lived 5 minutes away from me my whole life..yet I didn't see him on my birthdays, holidays, high school graduation, wedding, births of my 2 sons, hospital stays, etc. He just wasn't there. And I accept that because that's the way he is. I cried over it when I was a child but then realized he just wasn't worth it. My mother is my mother..but she was never a good mother. Yes she tried her hardest to provide for me and my brother. But she wasn't a "loving" mother. We were just something she had to take care of and it didn't mean she had to like it/love it or us. More often then not I was pawned off on my brother who is 10 yrs older then me or a baby-sitter when she wasn't working.

Fast forward a few years to my mother meeting my step-father. He was her high school sweetheart and she reconnected with him when I was 10. They get married..everything is good for a year and a half then when I was 13 the abuse of me starts. My mother NEVER stepped in to help me..NOT ONCE. And to this day she acts like it was my fault. First it was just little things then it was fists to the face, punches where ever he decided, my head through the walls, padlocks on the doors, and the windows screwed shut in my room so I couldn't get out. There was also a few cops to the house when I called them after threatening my step-dad that I would report him. But just like my mother..the cops didn't do anything even after my step-dad dragged me through the house by my hair in front of them. His excuse to the cops was I was in need of discipline. And they left without bothering to talk to me. Then the final straw was locking me in the laundry room for 3 days with no food, water, bathroom, nothing. He put me in there and left me and screwed the door shut so I couldn't get out when him or my mother were gone. The 3rd day my brother came over to pick me up not knowing anything about what had been happening..because I hadn't told anyone..if the cops wouldn't even talk to me..who else would believe me?? My brother rescued me and I lived with him after that for a year.

Moral of the story is that its NOT a pity story but a story that says..you don't HAVE TO TURN TO addiction because you had a bad life. I never went to therapy, I've never done drugs, and I don't drink but once or twice a year. But I did realize early on that I WOULD NEVER play the victim and I would never turn to all the bad things in life because I AM BETTER then that and I know I can be better then that. My kids will never know the fear of abuse and I broke the cycle. If more people would try to break the cycle instead of succumbing to it..there would be a lot less drug addicts, alcoholics, abusers, etc.

it needs to be like the FSA (fleixable spending account )health accounts in the USA. that the cards only works at certain places like Loblaws etc. and the card will be denied if you try at the beer store. Or if you buy a chocolate bar with it, then you swipe the card and cause that code isn't on the card it will be denied. And the system once a month audits itself and anything that isn't approved you have to pay back or gets taken out from next cheque.

[SarahS83]

.....

"Put me in charge . . .

Put me in charge of food stamps. I'd get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.

starts off with racial and sexual slurs...guess it's going to be soooooo very balanced.

Sorry, but this is the funniest thing I've read all night in this thread (all 16 pages of it!!)
You do realize that Ding-Dongs and Ho-Hos are junk food (cakes) made by Hostess, right?

[Chantel]

Bahahaha ding dongs and ho hos. That's hilarious. I love your posts, Darth, but that was a "whoopsie" that will have me giggling for a while.

[snuffaluffagus]

I'm pretty sure it was no accident the author of that article chose those specific words .