Week #2 of "poor" month: School Shopping

We got out cash this month and put it into envelopes in hopes that it would help us to stick to the budgets and that the visual would help us (and the kids) see how much money we had left. I know that paper money is a metaphor, that it is a fiction that is convenient for us to cooperate on. Nonetheless, when scrimping, it's awful useful to see it as a jar of honey that's going empty.

So, yesterday was school shopping. We had $200. I think we usually spend more like twice that. Elementary school kids do fine with some crayons and paper, but high school kids are spendier. In lots of ways, actually. The kids complained when we presented this idea to them at the first of the month (notably, 14, who is very careful to make sure we know that EVERYTHING we do is wrong). But I must give them props for accepting the reality that we were making them do this and moving on.

On Sunday, the newspaper was looked over carefully. All of the kids were involved in finding the best deals and clipping coupons. Two very expensive items were on the list of things this month. One was a graphing calculator for 14. The other was a new bag/organizer for 15, who had one last year that she loved but sadly died due to being used too much. She looked on line for a replacement, found out that the on-line price was about $45. So the object of going to stores was to find something she liked as well, but at a lower price. The object for the calculator was to get it at something less than $125, which was the list price. And then we had to get the other various portfolios, notebooks, paper, pencils (and mechanical pencils, which my husband has introduced the kids to and addicted them to), and crayons for 9.

We started out last night at Walmart. Lots of other school shoppers there. I said out loud at one point, "Walmart is where poor people shop." 15 shushed me in embarrassment. "These people are really poor," she said. Well, we shop at Walmart plenty even when we're not doing poor month. I meant it facetiously. But there is some truth to it. Walmart is great for paper and cheap pencils and crayons. But once we'd gotten what we could there, we moved on to Office Max. We had a paper bag from them that we could fill and get 20% off everything. We also had a $10 off card in the mail.

Kids made sacrifices, some buying simple three-ring binders with added plastic portfolios to make their own cheaper organizers. They didn't scrimp on the mechanical pencils so much. Except that we got the discount from the bag. 15 found an organizer in faux leather for $45, which we used the $10 off card on. And we came in under budget enough that my husband showed off the $36 left in the envelope at the end so that we had something left in case the kids discovered an emergency item necessary after school starts.

I was really proud of the kids. For myself, I have been surprised at my range of feelings. Last week, I made a blueberry muffin cake and forgot to put in baking powder. This made the cake completely inedible, as you can guess. But I was upset because those are the last blueberries we're going to see this month. I also discovered that iceberg lettuce just doesn't cut it as a substitute for real mixed greens for me. So I went and bought some more of the expensive stuff. I now have $50 left in the food budget and this week I still have to get lunch bags, plastic sandwich bags (do they even have the foldover kind anywhere?) and lunch meat.

A good side effect of all this has been that I have started making more homemade breakfasts and treats because we can't afford cold cereal and milk. We've had several coffee cakes and I've made homemade cinnamon rolls that the kids have really liked. (I'm a better baker than a cook.)

On a side note, I spent some time this week with a family that is truly poor and on a form of assistance, from the LDS church rather than the government. A couple of things I learned from this: They could have all the food they wanted of the kinds available, but nothing of those that weren't. Also, they don't qualify for government assistance because on paper, they make too much money. But it all goes to medical bills. They don't qualify to have those covered, either, because they make too much. I suspect there is a certain population (I don't have numbers) who fall into this no-man's land. Sometimes it's women whose husbands control the money and won't give them enough to live on. Other times it's people who are "illegal" immigrants who are in hiding. And then the medical stuff which can also hurt people who have disabled children or relatives. Also, the working poor who prefer not to take government money and simply live on what they have. I'm sure there are more reasons.

What is good for me is to remember that my quick judgments are done from a place of wealth and privilege. Yeah, we work hard for what we have, but we also had parents who sacrificed to make sure that we got educations so we would eventually be able to have good lives. And we were born into full health. I am frustrated sometimes with food stamps because I have seen people buy things I consider luxuries that I couldn't afford. I have seen people living on welfare who have nicer TVs and couches than I did at the time. On the other hand, you don't always make good choices under stress. Poor people get fat because bad food is cheaper. White bread is cheaper than wheat. Fatty meat is cheaper than good cuts. Vegetables and fruits fresh are prohibitively expensive. School lunch, which is free for many of the poor, is crappy, unhealthy food. And even our budget of $200 for school supplies would realistically be impossible in most poor situations. There's just not any movement for the budget in seasonal situations.

Another thing I have learned: There is no way that a family of 7 (4 of them teens) could survive on $250 a month. Impossible, even on the cheapest food. We are using what we have on hand, but that's been accumulating for years. No wonder there are school lunch programs in the summer. I see why you'd send kids out to preserve the money for dinner. I can see why sometimes parents might hoard something special for themselves. And why treats are a necessity in some situations. You have to have something to look forward to.