November Woes

OK, I am a day late and a dollar short on posting for November.

So many things have happened this past month and it makes me so sad... angry... upset.

We have had some issues financially this month and it breaks my heart that when I asked for help from a particular organization so we could buy food so we could it, it was used against me that I coupon. Am I proud to coupon YES!!! Do I live in a state where you can literally extreme coupon and get ALL your groceries for near nothing... NO!!! So it was found out that I couponed and paid 1/4 of the original bill. Many of the items, as listed below, were not food items, nor were they complete meals that I could prepare and serve...

Here is what I bought in that shopping trip
     - Laundry Soap @ $1- each        (HELLO it was ALL laundry soap)

     - Batteries

     - Bleach

     - Gravy

     - Pringles (Snacks for the children)

     - Chili

     - Sunflower Seeds (for $.17)

     - Dishwasher Detergent @ $1.97 each

     - Canned Soup

     - Fabric Softener

     - Spaghetti @ $.48 each

     - Body Lotion (FREE)

     - Pecans (it is the holiday season)

     - Vanilla Extract (FREE)

     - Boxed Cake mix (which in total I spent $5- for 40 boxes... which is 12.5 cents each)

     - Makeup Supplies (FREE)

     - Pepsi/ Mt Dew (I bought 18 @ $1.55 - which they were originally $3.88- They are the 6 pack

                    20-oz bottles)

     - I am sure there are some other things... but NO dairy, produce, or meat products

 

So as you can see I did buy some food stuff... but nothing which I could solely use to buy food... AND nothing was bought that won't be used.

"I did use coupons that saved me $337- in groceries (which I am extremely proud of) of which they are things that actively get used in our home and show that I am cutting down on spending for groceries (unfortunately I can’t do this fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as meats (the demise of my grocery bills). Sadly, we cannot eat many of the things that we got by themselves, they need other components to actually make it work, nor can shampoo/ conditioner feed my children.

I think that was everything on the receipts... But as you can see it is hard to eat much of those things alone. But I should probably tell you I spent just about $25- on 28# of apples too... which were seriously on sale. And that my son eats 4 - 7 apples DAILY, and eats an entire bushel of bananas in one sitting when he eats them. I stock up for really low prices when I can, then I do not have to pay full price for them when I need them.

 

I am a bit hurt that someone would let you believe that I am able to do “normal” grocery shopping and save that much. Unfortunately, I am not that good... and have yet to figure out how to do that as of yet."

 

Their response:

"In your original e-mail, you say you have no money for food.  In your last e-mail you acknowledge (only 4 days ago) buying Pringles, sunflower seeds, pecans, cake mix and Pepsi/Mt Dew.  If you were so short on money for food, you should have purchased food items instead of these snack items."

 

Just so you know... with children snacks are a MUST. It breaks my heart... I responded with... "I understand what you are saying, I appreciate your consideration. Thank you!"

 

It is OK to say no. I ACCEPT that. I understand... but it hurts when I am condemned for couponing when I can.

And another thing... It makes me SO angry when people who don't even NEED help lie their way through life and take from those that REALLY need it. I'm not even saying that we REALLY need it. But there are things that our family DOES rate that we are so desperately in need of... Ugh it's that whole Caregiver Benefits thing again. I mean really... when is justice going to be served and when will we finally see a break in the system?

 

I will continue to fight... I will continue to survive and make do...I WILL do all this... After all I AM just the wife, just the mama.