Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:09:11 -0500, Sabrina Kilian wrote:
 >> Let's say the family actually eat like most people I know, they can
>> stand the same food for a day or two, but a week of hamburgers would get
>> on their nerves. Where do they store 5lbs of beef? If they take
>> advantage of good prices, they need to store the groceries some place.
>> They need a freezer to store all of that in, and the small fridges they
>> probably had before kids just won't cut it for storing enough food for a
>> family of 4 or 5. The obvious cost of a new fridge or a separate deep
>> freeze, along with the electrical costs, outweigh the hidden savings of
>> fast food.
> 
> Most of the people I know who have struggled (myself included) at some 
> point in their lives have had a fridge.  Many live in apartments, and 
> appliances tend to be included as part of the rent.
> 

My fridge came with the apartment. The freezer part is just big enough
for a small roast and other frozen stuff like veggies and ice cream.

> For a really interesting look at this, check out Morgan Spurlock's "30 
> Days" - in the first season, he and his wife lived on minimum wage for a 
> month just to see how difficult it was.

I skipped that, wasn't it on Fox for a while? Living below minimum wage
myself, I know first hand what difference fast food makes on a budget. I
am not advocating fast food, just that I understand why some people
think it's a better option.

> 
> It was difficult, but not impossible - and as they looked at their 
> budget, eating out even at McDonald's was too expensive.
> 
Completely agree. But, they had the foresight to do that planning and
both the education and knowledge to look for all of that ahead of time.
Some others don't.

>> Add to
>> that the cost of a CostCo membership*, and freezer to store bulk food
>> in.
> 
> Yes, Costco membership is a $50 cost minimum; I used that as an example, 
> but you can get similar deals at the local grocery store (not as low of 
> prices, but sometimes close if you catch things at the right time).  Buy 
> in bulk with friends (I know some families who have done that in the 
> past).
> 

Right, if you catch it at the right time. That's why I made the point of
a larger freezer. Personal observation time. I only buy what I can carry
on a motorcycle or put in someone else's car when shopping with
friends/family. That means that normally, I never have the opportunity
to stock up the freezer with 25$ of what ever whole meat is on sale. My
mother, on the other hand, has a car and a deep freeze. She stocks up on
what ever is on sale, portions and labels it, and can keep it for a year
or so till she decides to fix something. When we were discussing recipes
one day she was amazed at the price I was willing to pay for something
simple, like ground beef, and asked why I didn't buy it on sale. I
showed her what was in the freezer, I had gone through the last batch of
beef since it last had a good price. Her grocery bill for meats is
substantially less then mine, just because of that.

When doing food budgets, I just can't rely on the sale price. I don't
think anyone else in this case could either.

CostCo or the like would be nice, but in this area there just isn't one.
There is a SamsClub an hour away, and a wallmart every couple of blocks
it seems.

> The cost "savings" received by eating the garbage at McDonald's (or any 
> fast food resturaunt) is offset by much larger medical expenses down the 
> road - sometimes sooner rather than later.
> 

To those below the welfare limit, sometimes someone else takes care of
the health problems so that worry might not even be thought of.

>> *guessing here. There isn't a CostCo around here. I've heard they are a
>> membership type store, like SamsClub. The local grocery store charges
>> more then 3$ lbs for decent beef, Wal-mart charges less but I've never
>> seen anything there that looked eatable.
> 
> I wouldn't shop at Wallmart if it was the last place on the planet to buy 
> stuff.  Or Sams Club, for that matter.  They're part of the problem, not 
> the solution - if anyone thinks different, try talking to some of the 
> underpaid employees sometime.
> 
> Jim

I had, for quite a while, refused to even enter a wallmart, just on
principle. I was convinced once to compare my grocery bill by shopping
there, someone was convinced that 'everything was cheaper, it'll help
you save a bit.' So I did. Normal grocery shopping, bread, milk, soda,
cereal and other sundris. Came out 10$ more expensive. Some stuff looks
cheaper, but they nickel and dime the little things like cheap bread and
milk. I'm back to refusing to shop there.

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