Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
jturr, even if your concepts about predatory lending are true, that doesn't make it right for people to steal food out of the mouths of those who really need it.
True, the banking cartel doesn't do anything Except rake in all the profits of banking transactions. They do nothing whatsoever to earn it.
Nothing other than extend you capital, service your account, record keeping, put monies at risk and on and on. Maybe yoy simply don't understand how things work but your response exhibits a lack of understanding both of basic banking processes and how banks do nothing to play into a divorce to the decision made there in
We can afford to buy our family food and make minimum monthly payments on our debt. However, we would love to get out of debt. Over $200,000+ of student loans and debt my ex husband racked up and got stuck in my name. It won't be paid off for 25 years unless we do something drastic.
So... I was thinking about trying to buy nothing, quite literally. We've figured out a way to reduce our living expenses to almost nothing except utilities, rent, and food. We get every "thing" we need for free from a local group sort of like freecycle where neighbors share things with neighbors (buynothingproject.org). Now I've been looking at how to reduce our expenses even more, and I think food is next.
I would like to start using the local food bank to help offset the cost of food so that we can pay off our debt sooner. My husband makes $60,000/yr and we are a family of 4, so we sit comfortably above the barely scrapping by poverty line. But.. we stand to be in debt forever unless we start paying off these loans in huge amounts.
I just pause a bit, and wonder if it's right. Or if the food should go to people who truly have no other option. We have an option --- minimum debt payments and the grocery store.
Please no lectures about the amount of debt. I know, I know, I was young, dumb, and stupid. Now I'm not.
Thank you for your opinions.
If you qualify, you qualify. End of story.
I haven't read this thread, because I don't want to read any negative stuff. I am on SSI and am so good at budgeting that I could live without having to go to the local food bank. So, should I? Should the other senors in my building who spend their money on cigarettes and going to the local taverns and casinos be more "entitiled?" Just because they are worse at budgeting their money?
No.
If you qualify, you qualify. Go get your foodbank food and enjoy having a little more money in your bank account.
That said, the foodbank will give you a bunch of food you won't ever want or use. You can just give it back, for sure. But honestly, even though I qualify for the food bank, I rarely go, because I prefer to spend my measly income buying stuff I really want. The foodbank isn't going to provide you with fancy food you'd love to have.
But, if you're in dire straits, you'll be glad to get what they will give you.
But, if you decide you want to take what you can get at the local food bank, and you qualify, take it without guilt.
The median annual income for the state of TN is Less than $43k.....United States is $52k
[URL="http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/tennessee-median-annual-income"]Tennessee Median Annual Income[/URL]
.
The average income in my neighborhood is $113,600. ([url=http://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/WA/Issaquah/Issaquah-Highlands-Demographics.html]Issaquah Highlands Demographics & Statistics[/url])
TN sounds like a mighty fine place to retire (seriously, I love the Smoky Mts.!)
My advice, again, is to approach your BN group and see if you can knock out 2 birds with one stone: decrease food waste in your community and decrease your debt!
There is a win-win to this if you want there to be one.
Gentle, you can't bankrupt your way out of student loans. That's why they became the big predatory lending thing -- because you HAVE to pay them back regardless.
It's sad, but a lot of those loans are really fake, and not meant for students schooling at all, but to fund their lifestyles, and to schools that are now out of business.... and absolutely not dischargeable.
However -- Jane -- I have heard about some of the bad schools that went under, there might be help for those people who got those loans. I have no idea even where to start with that though.
It is those type of private student loans, from Sallie Mae. It's over $200,000 now. I got all the checks sent to me, $2,000-$40,000 a year. Not even to my school. Now looking back, it seems predatory.
We are really good at budgeting. So at $60,000, we aren't barely scraping by. But we buy nothing, literally, except the essentials we can't source for free. So, therefore we have no problem buying food. I'm trying to look at every cent we spend. Food is a huge expense because one of my kids eats a special diet.
Last edited by mysteriousjane; 09-11-2015 at 04:43 AM..
We can afford to buy our family food and make minimum monthly payments on our debt. However, we would love to get out of debt. Over $200,000+ of student loans and debt my ex husband racked up and got stuck in my name. It won't be paid off for 25 years unless we do something drastic.
So... I was thinking about trying to buy nothing, quite literally. We've figured out a way to reduce our living expenses to almost nothing except utilities, rent, and food. We get every "thing" we need for free from a local group sort of like freecycle where neighbors share things with neighbors (buynothingproject.org). Now I've been looking at how to reduce our expenses even more, and I think food is next.
I would like to start using the local food bank to help offset the cost of food so that we can pay off our debt sooner. My husband makes $60,000/yr and we are a family of 4, so we sit comfortably above the barely scrapping by poverty line. But.. we stand to be in debt forever unless we start paying off these loans in huge amounts.
I just pause a bit, and wonder if it's right. Or if the food should go to people who truly have no other option. We have an option --- minimum debt payments and the grocery store.
Please no lectures about the amount of debt. I know, I know, I was young, dumb, and stupid. Now I'm not.
Thank you for your opinions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mysteriousjane
Yeah, he quite literally would beat the crap out of me and threaten me with worse unless I took out private student loans and give him the money. I was stupid to stay for 4 years, but smart to leave. I've come to terms with the fact that the debt is mine and my responsibility to pay it off. And just trying to do so without burdening my new family with 25 years of debt. But please, let's not make *this* the issue. I really want to stick to the question at hand... is it WRONG for me to use the food bank??
You asked if the food at the food bank should go to people who truly have no other option, and then stated that you have an option. Your husband makes $60,000 a year and you say you are comfortably above the poverty line. So I think you know the answer but it sounds like you're trying to justify using the food bank anyway. Should someone else possibly go hungry so that you can pay off a debt sooner?
Instead of using the food bank, start selling blood plasma if you are able to. In some areas a person who sells blood plasma twice a week can earn $200.00 a month. If you and your husband both did that, that would be an extra $400.00 a month if that's the rate they pay in your area. Check into it and leave the food bank for the truly poor.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
