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justaprogressive

(4,731 posts)
Sat Jun 28, 2025, 02:41 PM Jun 28

How many folks here have trouble putting food on the table?

...or run out of money before they run out of month?

In the old days I lived for weeks on canned Mackerel (55c/can),
potatoes and ketchup, so I know what it's like to need to stretch
impossibly your food dollar...

I might be able to help with options if this is a problem nowadays...
private message if you like...

4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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How many folks here have trouble putting food on the table? (Original Post) justaprogressive Jun 28 OP
Im so very fortunate to jave never been truly hungry Kali Jun 28 #1
In the 2008 Great Recession I turned to Clara. Tadpole Raisin Jun 28 #2
That's lovely Easterncedar Jun 28 #3
We're having problems every month now, it seems. slightlv Jun 28 #4

Kali

(56,330 posts)
1. Im so very fortunate to jave never been truly hungry
Sat Jun 28, 2025, 02:47 PM
Jun 28

But have had some slightly rough times beyond the typical student ramen days

Lots of white flour, rice, beans for a few periods.

Easterncedar

(4,733 posts)
3. That's lovely
Sat Jun 28, 2025, 03:13 PM
Jun 28

Thank you. I couldn’t get my mother to say much about the depression, but she and her sister carried hot baked potatoes in their pockets to school in winter. The potatoes kept their hands warm and then they had them for lunch.

slightlv

(6,138 posts)
4. We're having problems every month now, it seems.
Sat Jun 28, 2025, 04:49 PM
Jun 28

We were doing okay on the SS budget for the first couple of years, but then everything went sky high in prices. We only have one credit card (thank goodness!), and only have about $2k on that to pay it off... but there's no way to budget any extra to do it. Taxes and Insurance are eating us alive. I just get out of the mess of making payments on two cars for insurance, and the property tax on the house comes due. A month after that, the insurance on the house is due. I even opened up a second savings account to try to stick away some extra by force, but end up transferring it back into checking when I have to go to the grocery store. And gods, what used to be a $50 or $75 grocery store trip is now $200.

I've been here before, tho... when I was young and just starting out I made about $14k a year supporting a kid on it. One thing we did often was cabbage soup. To this day, my daughter won't even LOOK at cabbage, let alone eat it! (LOL) But between that and refried bean burritos, we made it. Now, a can of refried beans is out of this world, price-wise. Also, being so much younger, I had more energy to do extra for extra money when we needed it. Now, my 2 chronic diseases eat at my body everyday, making it a chore somedays to just get out of bed. There have been nights when I've just said "never mind eating" and just went to bed. It was a heck of a lot easier that way. I do worry about the trainwreck of a future we have coming towards us, and tho I don't have a death-wish, I hope I'm not around when it hits full-force.

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