Frugal all my life. No debt, not even mortgage or cars. Was ready to retire. BOOM! Got full custody of 4 and 5 year old grandkids because of parental addiction. I'm a nurse. I'm not rich. BUT... I know the current research on food and nutrition (which does NOT match governmental guidelines). I have no income as quit work the day I got the traumatized/neglected/HUNGRY kids and am scraping by until I reach 66 to get full SS.
I'm using the food bank. Good news: no one else seems to want the wild game (I'm in Montana. So there is always wild game), but I eat organic and pasture raised food. I can also tell which produce comes from the local farmers. It's not uniform and it's generally not the mass- produced stain of fruit or veggies. I pass on all low- fat items. It's not healthy by current standards and my kiddos are still gaining weight from being underfed. I can usually find donated local eggs. Again, they aren't packaged pretty, so most pass them by. Anyway, you get the idea.
I occasionally feel ungrateful or like a snob for not taking all the crap on the shelves, but I justify it by knowing I save the state close to 3K a month by keeping them out of the system.
Should I feel any remorse for not wanting the bulk of what they try to give me?
I make what I get go far. I use it well. A day old baguette from the local french bakery makes a huge pan of bread pudding - sweet, or meat and cheesy, or savory with seasonal veggies. Dessert with eggs, french bakery bread, fruit, milk is so much better than store- bought crap.
I'm single, figuring out this unexpected life change alone. Think it's okay if "beggars CAN be choosers"? Mind you, I worked as an ER nurse 40 years. I've paid into the system and worked incredibly hard.
Or do you think I should be grateful for velveeta, factory farmed meats an'd canned vegetables for these fragile children?
Sorry if this is an un-subtle plea for support, but this shit is hard when your "rest of your life" plans change and you have no spouse to bounce ideas off of. (The 2 men I was seeing disappeared after I got the kids, and I get it!) lol
BTW, since I got the kids, I use ideas from this sub all the time, and I am very grateful. :-)
April 13, 2018 at 12:09AM
