How to Keep Your Family Fed
Just a reminder: the check is NOT in the mail, so plan accordingly
The $1200 (or whatever) might take up to 5(!) months to arrive (ridiculous, hopefully not that long), the unemployment might take weeks to be processed (the state governments are overwhelmed by the number of applications and the slow federal response), and the small business loans, which are start to start tonight, #1 are not even set up yet, #2 the banks don't want to do (so they won't), and #3 is only enough for about 30% of what is being requested -- so if it is first-come, first-served, then more likely than not, you're out of luck (update, only a tiny percent have actually happened as of 2020/4/7).
SO, that is why everyone has to plan on no money coming in, and start to spend accordingly, namely, focus on food for you and your family and loved ones, so that you have about 2-weeks of food on hand (that you will actually eat), and so that you have money to buy food two or three or four more times over the next two months
Do not feel bad about signing up for SNAP, in fact, everyone should (WIC as well for young mothers), that is why it is there in the first place. Also, the schools are providing free breakfasts and lunches to students, so take advantage of that. Local churches also often have food available, so look into that
SO, here is the list on what to pay, and the order to prioritize:
(1) your family's food needs, at least 2-weeks (if possible)
(2) support payments - keep your kids and ex fed
(3) care homes - keep your parents, grandparents, etc. fed
(4) medicine - life prolonging meds most especially
(5) association fees - trash removal, repairs, etc
(6) direct services - personal shopper, plumber, electrician, heating and cooling repair, doctor visits, etc
(7) gasoline for the car; repairs to keep the car running; propane for heat for the house
(8.) trash removal -- consider whether you can share a bin with a neighbor though, to cut the cost in half
All this should be paid on the credit card, rather than cash, if at all possible. Max out the cards first, because who knows when a check will come in
Get to know your neighbors -- knock on their door, step back 10 feet, and when they come to the door, introduce yourself and ask if they need anything, because that is your security, and your community
Plan on starting a garden, whether it is in a little cup in your home, or on a plot of land, that will both provide fresh nutritious food AND will reduce your need to buy
Be smart when buying groceries and focus on getting unprocessed food that has high calorie and nutrition content, namely: rice, beans, lentils, potatoes, plain oats, pasta, flour, peanut butter, canola oil, sugar
Now, what NOT to pay:
(1) Bills and payments for debt, including mortgages, car payments, student loan payments, credit card bills, personal loans, payday loans, home equity loans, etc DO NOT PAY BANKS -- they already have lines of infinite credit with the government, they do not need your money, YOU need your money; and, they are not allowed to foreclose during the national emergency -- the same goes for apartments, DO NOT PAY RENTS -- the landlords are not allowed to evict you either. If you are curious, many are already doing this in "rent strikes" and "mortgage strikes"
(2) Taxes -- DO NOT PAY TAXES -- again, you need to prioritize 1-7 at the top most especially food, and paying taxes now, hoping that you'll get a government check later, makes no sense
(3) Other Debt -- If you owe, DO NOT PAY unless that would impact your ability to get food, meds and the essentials to keep you and your family fed and health; so this means not paying any corporations for anything
(4) "Investments" -- stop that now, all that "investment" money will be gone, so no more IRA or 401(k) or 403(b) contributions -- in fact, look at knowing how to cash those out
(5) Insurances -- stop paying these OR call them up and ask for the bare bones minimum of what you absolutely have to have. For example, go from full car insurance on two vehicles down to minimal insurance on a single vehicle (the most reliable or largest one) but, consider whether you can drop insurance entirely on all, and then just have delivery and/or share a car with a family member, friend, or neighbor
(6) Phone bills and other utilities -- most companies by now are fine with you not paying, especially if you call up and say you have no income. Electric and water disconnections have been banned in many places.
Again, your number one goal is to plan for the worst case scenario for food for you family, so prioritize that, because "the check" is NOT in the mail
###
20200403023600 Aaron Wayne Aaron W. Wissner
https://www.vox.com/2015/12/17/10326668/9-rules-for-healthy-eating
Response to a comment:
By the way, the answer to the money crisis, which I think the president could get done in a couple tweets, is to insist that all the banks increase everyone's credit limit on their credit cards by $500 per week, each week, until the national emergency is over, and also to freeze all late fees and interest accumulation, or need to yet make any payments on those cards. Then, everyone could go and buy their groceries
Or, better yet, just send a SNAP EBT card to everyone (or allow everyone to sign up online)
Or, better yet, just allow people to show their ID before entering the grocery store of their choice, the greeter takes a photo of them with their ID card, and they are allowed to come into the store and buy $100 worth of food; and then they do the same thing at the checkout. The app genius's in the world can make a app that will read the card, look up that individual by ID number, and check to see what their balance is. On the way out at the register, it would simply reduce their account by whatever. Then, the government could just charge that up every week. And, everyone could be at a different time, so that the stores were not jam packed
Or better yet, the federal government could just, using the post office and other federal employees and national guard, deliver food boxes to every household every day (or every other day, or whatever). Then, we wouldn't have to go out and risk getting infected, or infecting someone else
It boggles the mind that these aren't the sorts of ideas that are being pushed for, by seemingly anyone, right now :-(
###
Note, an earlier version of this is here:
https://lifeishnowish.blogspot.com/2020/03/what-bills-do-i-have-to-pay.html
And an even earlier one is here:
https://lifeishnowish.blogspot.com/2020/03/bills-to-pay-and-bills-to-delay_18.html
###
20200403231700 Aaron Wayne Wissner
20200407141500 UTC Aaron Wayne Wissner -- slight touch up to first paragraph
The $1200 (or whatever) might take up to 5(!) months to arrive (ridiculous, hopefully not that long), the unemployment might take weeks to be processed (the state governments are overwhelmed by the number of applications and the slow federal response), and the small business loans, which are start to start tonight, #1 are not even set up yet, #2 the banks don't want to do (so they won't), and #3 is only enough for about 30% of what is being requested -- so if it is first-come, first-served, then more likely than not, you're out of luck (update, only a tiny percent have actually happened as of 2020/4/7).
SO, that is why everyone has to plan on no money coming in, and start to spend accordingly, namely, focus on food for you and your family and loved ones, so that you have about 2-weeks of food on hand (that you will actually eat), and so that you have money to buy food two or three or four more times over the next two months
Do not feel bad about signing up for SNAP, in fact, everyone should (WIC as well for young mothers), that is why it is there in the first place. Also, the schools are providing free breakfasts and lunches to students, so take advantage of that. Local churches also often have food available, so look into that
SO, here is the list on what to pay, and the order to prioritize:
(1) your family's food needs, at least 2-weeks (if possible)
(2) support payments - keep your kids and ex fed
(3) care homes - keep your parents, grandparents, etc. fed
(4) medicine - life prolonging meds most especially
(5) association fees - trash removal, repairs, etc
(6) direct services - personal shopper, plumber, electrician, heating and cooling repair, doctor visits, etc
(7) gasoline for the car; repairs to keep the car running; propane for heat for the house
(8.) trash removal -- consider whether you can share a bin with a neighbor though, to cut the cost in half
All this should be paid on the credit card, rather than cash, if at all possible. Max out the cards first, because who knows when a check will come in
Get to know your neighbors -- knock on their door, step back 10 feet, and when they come to the door, introduce yourself and ask if they need anything, because that is your security, and your community
Plan on starting a garden, whether it is in a little cup in your home, or on a plot of land, that will both provide fresh nutritious food AND will reduce your need to buy
Be smart when buying groceries and focus on getting unprocessed food that has high calorie and nutrition content, namely: rice, beans, lentils, potatoes, plain oats, pasta, flour, peanut butter, canola oil, sugar
Now, what NOT to pay:
(1) Bills and payments for debt, including mortgages, car payments, student loan payments, credit card bills, personal loans, payday loans, home equity loans, etc DO NOT PAY BANKS -- they already have lines of infinite credit with the government, they do not need your money, YOU need your money; and, they are not allowed to foreclose during the national emergency -- the same goes for apartments, DO NOT PAY RENTS -- the landlords are not allowed to evict you either. If you are curious, many are already doing this in "rent strikes" and "mortgage strikes"
(2) Taxes -- DO NOT PAY TAXES -- again, you need to prioritize 1-7 at the top most especially food, and paying taxes now, hoping that you'll get a government check later, makes no sense
(3) Other Debt -- If you owe, DO NOT PAY unless that would impact your ability to get food, meds and the essentials to keep you and your family fed and health; so this means not paying any corporations for anything
(4) "Investments" -- stop that now, all that "investment" money will be gone, so no more IRA or 401(k) or 403(b) contributions -- in fact, look at knowing how to cash those out
(5) Insurances -- stop paying these OR call them up and ask for the bare bones minimum of what you absolutely have to have. For example, go from full car insurance on two vehicles down to minimal insurance on a single vehicle (the most reliable or largest one) but, consider whether you can drop insurance entirely on all, and then just have delivery and/or share a car with a family member, friend, or neighbor
(6) Phone bills and other utilities -- most companies by now are fine with you not paying, especially if you call up and say you have no income. Electric and water disconnections have been banned in many places.
Again, your number one goal is to plan for the worst case scenario for food for you family, so prioritize that, because "the check" is NOT in the mail
###
20200403023600 Aaron Wayne Aaron W. Wissner
https://www.vox.com/2015/12/17/10326668/9-rules-for-healthy-eating
Response to a comment:
By the way, the answer to the money crisis, which I think the president could get done in a couple tweets, is to insist that all the banks increase everyone's credit limit on their credit cards by $500 per week, each week, until the national emergency is over, and also to freeze all late fees and interest accumulation, or need to yet make any payments on those cards. Then, everyone could go and buy their groceries
Or, better yet, just send a SNAP EBT card to everyone (or allow everyone to sign up online)
Or, better yet, just allow people to show their ID before entering the grocery store of their choice, the greeter takes a photo of them with their ID card, and they are allowed to come into the store and buy $100 worth of food; and then they do the same thing at the checkout. The app genius's in the world can make a app that will read the card, look up that individual by ID number, and check to see what their balance is. On the way out at the register, it would simply reduce their account by whatever. Then, the government could just charge that up every week. And, everyone could be at a different time, so that the stores were not jam packed
Or better yet, the federal government could just, using the post office and other federal employees and national guard, deliver food boxes to every household every day (or every other day, or whatever). Then, we wouldn't have to go out and risk getting infected, or infecting someone else
It boggles the mind that these aren't the sorts of ideas that are being pushed for, by seemingly anyone, right now :-(
###
Note, an earlier version of this is here:
https://lifeishnowish.blogspot.com/2020/03/what-bills-do-i-have-to-pay.html
And an even earlier one is here:
https://lifeishnowish.blogspot.com/2020/03/bills-to-pay-and-bills-to-delay_18.html
###
20200403231700 Aaron Wayne Wissner
20200407141500 UTC Aaron Wayne Wissner -- slight touch up to first paragraph
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