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.
You can buy them in the store for that range. I got my son's phone from Kroger. I also got the $10 card from Kroger. They were on a special when I bought them. Phone was discounted from 19.99 to 4.99. They run this promotion often.
Family Dollar also has them.
Walmart has their own cheap plan.
The best deals are in the stores themselves and not accessed via a link. Poor people actually do shop at stores you know...
Again, I can tell you don't know about poverty and what poor people do in America and where they shop. FYI they also pay rent with money orders and use check cashing places to pay bills and those places also sell trac phones and card plans. They also get the free government phones they can use for internet. Many poor people sell those phones to other people when they need extra money.
I don't understand why poor people use those check cashing places that charge you $5 or so to cash a check when you can open a free checking account at most banks.
I don't understand why poor people use those check cashing places that charge you $5 or so to cash a check when you can open a free checking account at most banks.
IMO it is a combination of accessibility, habit, and ignorance. Also many of them have bad credit and you can't get a bank account with bad credit.
It was very frustrating for me working with the poverty stricken population. Most of them are good, hardworking, nice people but what I stated earlier is correct in that they do not know how to help themselves.
Many welfare systems will not allow a recipient to have a Bank account. They reason that if a person has enough money to have some savings or money in a checking account they have enough money to not need welfare. These rules and attitudes were set up in a society where most bills like rent were paid in cash. The rules were also designed to prevent people from obtaining welfare. Oh. Were and what jobs are available for the welfare recipients and how much do they pay? Does the work requirement apply to the elderly and disables? Or to women tending a bunch of children?
I'll also note that I have a good friend from high school who is a FB friend who moved to Maine. This person was never the brightest in the bunch of us and they dropped out of school but eventually got a GED.
Since moving to Maine due to having family there, they have had some hard times finding jobs. Car broke down so couldn't apply for jobs. They've had typical issues in the family with arguments and the family not going out of their way to help this person. This person also has a young child (under 10 years old). They lived out of a tent for about 3-4 months one spring/summer because their relatives didn't want them living with them. I suggested to this person via an IM that they should go to their county's housing authority and see about getting into public housing because they were complaining about all the rain destroying the child's things in the tent. Also they had been robbed when the friend went out for supplies to the store. The friend has a bike and bikes the kid around on a bike. The friend told me via IM that they don't want to live in public housing but that they are on some sort of alternative housing list (probably Section 8 IMO) because they don't want their kid around "bad elements."
IMO living out in the woods getting rained on and robbed and all your stuff destroyed is worse than living in the projects, but this person didn't think so. IMO this is evidence of the person not being too bright. The person eventually did get their "alternative" housing but still doesn't have a car and is saving up now that they have a job. But many times poor people go through stuff like this. FYI, the friend had a government phone for a smart phone and used that to post on FB and to apply for jobs. They lived in the woods and wasn't near any sort of shopping center but saw someone giving out the phones once when they were with a relative and they got one since they basically had no income and a dependent child.
Sounds crazy, the above, but I've seen/heard/experienced crazier stuff. IMO these people due to desperation and stress many times do not think straight and I agree with other posters that many of these adults who were dropped probably don't know what to do. I also believe they are probably mentally ill and just don't have a diagnosis. When I worked in housing, we had MANY residents with underlying, undiagnosed mental health problems. I think the friend does too from high school just based on past and current behavior/experiences/issues in their life. Many of our residents with these issues didn't get a diagnosis until they did something outrageous to where we were going to have to kick them out. Our resident services/social services wing, knew that there was suspected mental health issues and so convinced some of them to seek a diagnosis/treatment so they could stay in housing. I would worry about the ones who didn't because they probably ended up on the street. Many times people with mental health problems won't admit it and they end up doing stuff like not volunteering/working for their foodstamps and many homeless people also have foodstamps. My friend actually said they knew other people who lived out in the woods in tents in Maine because they didn't have a job and didn't have money for food and that is where they got the idea instead of seeking a homeless shelter or emergency housing via social services. They felt it would be better to camp out in the woods. They also were afraid of social services removing the child from them based on them being so poverty stricken and homeless.
You can buy them in the store for that range. I got my son's phone from Kroger. I also got the $10 card from Kroger. They were on a special when I bought them. Phone was discounted from 19.99 to 4.99. They run this promotion often.
Family Dollar also has them.
Walmart has their own cheap plan.
The best deals are in the stores themselves and not accessed via a link. Poor people actually do shop at stores you know...
Again, I can tell you don't know about poverty and what poor people do in America and where they shop. FYI they also pay rent with money orders and use check cashing places to pay bills and those places also sell trac phones and card plans. They also get the free government phones they can use for internet. Many poor people sell those phones to other people when they need extra money.
So I found for 10$ 350MB of data only. IDK how long 350MB will last or if you can access internet without wifi. The argument then is people in rural areas are too poor to get a job because they have no money to get a car to get a job but they can get to walmart a buy a tracfone for 10$ so they can call, not call but get online to fill out an actual application for FS. If they actually need to talk to a person they need a minutes card for 29$.
I'll also note that I have a good friend from high school who is a FB friend who moved to Maine. This person was never the brightest in the bunch of us and they dropped out of school but eventually got a GED.
Since moving to Maine due to having family there, they have had some hard times finding jobs. Car broke down so couldn't apply for jobs. They've had typical issues in the family with arguments and the family not going out of their way to help this person. This person also has a young child (under 10 years old). They lived out of a tent for about 3-4 months one spring/summer because their relatives didn't want them living with them. I suggested to this person via an IM that they should go to their county's housing authority and see about getting into public housing because they were complaining about all the rain destroying the child's things in the tent. Also they had been robbed when the friend went out for supplies to the store. The friend has a bike and bikes the kid around on a bike. The friend told me via IM that they don't want to live in public housing but that they are on some sort of alternative housing list (probably Section 8 IMO) because they don't want their kid around "bad elements."
IMO living out in the woods getting rained on and robbed and all your stuff destroyed is worse than living in the projects, but this person didn't think so. IMO this is evidence of the person not being too bright. The person eventually did get their "alternative" housing but still doesn't have a car and is saving up now that they have a job. But many times poor people go through stuff like this. FYI, the friend had a government phone for a smart phone and used that to post on FB and to apply for jobs. They lived in the woods and wasn't near any sort of shopping center but saw someone giving out the phones once when they were with a relative and they got one since they basically had no income and a dependent child.
Sounds crazy, the above, but I've seen/heard/experienced crazier stuff. IMO these people due to desperation and stress many times do not think straight and I agree with other posters that many of these adults who were dropped probably don't know what to do. I also believe they are probably mentally ill and just don't have a diagnosis. When I worked in housing, we had MANY residents with underlying, undiagnosed mental health problems. I think the friend does too from high school just based on past and current behavior/experiences/issues in their life. Many of our residents with these issues didn't get a diagnosis until they did something outrageous to where we were going to have to kick them out. Our resident services/social services wing, knew that there was suspected mental health issues and so convinced some of them to seek a diagnosis/treatment so they could stay in housing. I would worry about the ones who didn't because they probably ended up on the street. Many times people with mental health problems won't admit it and they end up doing stuff like not volunteering/working for their foodstamps and many homeless people also have foodstamps. My friend actually said they knew other people who lived out in the woods in tents in Maine because they didn't have a job and didn't have money for food and that is where they got the idea instead of seeking a homeless shelter or emergency housing via social services. They felt it would be better to camp out in the woods. They also were afraid of social services removing the child from them based on them being so poverty stricken and homeless.
Their fear of social services removing the child from their custody is not unfounded.
Many, many homeless people have mental health issues. We started down this path when Reagan closed down the state psychiatric hospitals.
I don't understand why poor people use those check cashing places that charge you $5 or so to cash a check when you can open a free checking account at most banks.
Because it isn't free. example - My bank, Chase, charges ~$12/month if your average balance goes under ~1500 or if you no longer have direct deposit. I forgot the exact charge or bottom total.
I didn't get how the direct deposit helped the banks that much. Less need for a teller or they somehow profit off of the money getting to them earlier than a hand held deposit?
Seems like there are options to do volunteer work to be eligible. Some of these folks truly believe the Government is obligated to provide everything for them. I hope more states follow Maine's lead .
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.
I hope more states follow Maine's lead .
