BS: Entering Poverty

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: Alice
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 11:23 AM

Poverty? Join the club. In my experience, it means not having medical/dental/vision care, not being able to repair the roof (rain and snow melt comes through in spite of adding layers of tar over the leaking spot) wearing cheap shoes that hurt, shopping at thrift stores for second hand clothes, having windows that should be replaced but won't be for lack of funds, burning wood to keep warm because it is too expensive to use the natural gas furnace....
Hopefully, 2006 will turn the corner for me. Montana has a highly educated work force, high property taxes, and one of the lowest levels of earned income in the US. I will be starting a job in January that has the potential of digging me out of 15 years of poverty. Wish me luck.

Tips:
Because a loss of income is difficult to adjust to quickly, often it is hard to break spending habits. Don't go shopping "just to look". You may buy something you can't really afford. Take a list to the grocery store. Use coupons only if the item is something you need. Shop only once a week. Combine trips with the car doing errands to conserve gas. Stop using dry cleaners. Wear clothes that don't need to be dry cleaned. Avoid expenses like hair cuts, massages, restaurant or take out/delivery food, cable tv, magazine or newspaper subscriptions, donations, movies, concerts, workshops, or any hobby that has expenses involved. Get a free library card if you don't have one, stop buying books or music. Check it out from the library instead of buying, using inter-library loans if necessary.

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 01:20 PM

So, do we know where this "reduced circumstances" person is?? I mean, which side of any of the oceans?? It makes a bit of difference what's available to the family.
Sister, I've been there/done that/designed the T-shirt. Raised 3 kids on (most yrs.) less than 15thou $$ American. I could feed all 5 of us for most of a week with one chicken, some veggies, rice, a few eggs, and cereal (hot or cold, depending on weather). 5 or 6 days. They got a bit tired of chicken. I'm not a gourmet chef, but I can cook from scratch and stretch stuff til the rubberband breaks. The kids picked up on the idea of knowing how to do stuff like that, too. They had to help with it and developed some skills of their own. They helped with the (small) garden, prepping veggies, checking prices in the store, lugging stuff in and putting it away. One of them actually became, for a few years, morning manager of an independent bakery in Seattle. Went to work at 4am, mixed and baked all products in store and set up for the afternoon shift. That's too much like hard work, if you ask me, but she enjoyed it. Not only can you survive, you can thrive on this kind of adver...ummmmm....adventure. Keep us posted on the tricks you learn. Some of us may need them.            Tw

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: Peace
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 02:00 PM

kasha

The caretaker's mom makes it. She is gonna make some. Word was, "Oh. My mother makes that. I'll mention it to her. All she needs is someone to make it for." YAHOO. It's been over eight years.

Bobad, I am gonna have a good meal fit for a king real soon, and I will think of you when I do.

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: number 6
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 02:01 PM

Black pudding nothing like a great Celt fryup ... a favourite of mine.

The best I have ever experienced comes from Baird's Scottish Bakery and Butcher in Rexdale Ontario, the other is on the breakfast menu at the Great Southern Hotel in Galway Ireland. I was never impressed with the deep fried variety that can be bought from the vendors in the streets of Edinburgh,Aberdeen and such.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: number 6
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 02:03 PM

Bobad .... ever have a Kishka, served with gravy?

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: bobad
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 08:16 PM

Peace

There is a difference between kasha, which is buckwheat groats usually boiled up and served as an accompanyment to something like stew ( had some this week with Guiness beef stew ) and kashanka, which is blood sausage containing buckwheat (kasha).

sIx

I may have but under a different name, from googling recipes it sounds very much like the type of turkey stuffing that was staple in my family's cuisine which was sliced and eaten with gravy.

The maternal side of my family hailed from a part of the world that was home to a mix of Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish peoples and our cuisine was a reflection of this mixture with the concomitant variety of nomenclature resulting in several names for each dish so even if it wasn't known by one name it could very well be the equivalent or a close approximation.

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: Peace
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 08:25 PM

Thanks, bobad. She's gonna make the blood sausage one.

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: bobad
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 08:55 PM

sIx

I just checked out a Ukrainian cookbook we have at home which interestingly is written by the grandmother of jazz pianist John Stetch, whose real name is Stetchishin, and what they call kishka is the same as the blood sausage (kashanka in Polish) I was telling Peace about, so yes I've had it.

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 10:11 PM

ROBOMATIC -

"Pest Free"

My homesite is over-run with vermin; cock-roachs, rats, (no mice - perhaps, the rats keep them at bay) weavels, moths, mealy-bugs, and flies/maggots.

Basicaly, I have not a problem with them. Toss a "full container" out.

However, if there are only specks, and tracks, droppings....toss them out and boil for an extra two minutes.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

NEVER tell dinner company....some are of "weak dispositions" and may find even the mention of possible "rat fecis" in the "rice-pilaff" offence to their delicate tummys.

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: number 6
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 10:39 PM

Bobad ... "kashanka" ... that's what I thought .... great stuff it is !!

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: bobad
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 10:51 PM

We fry it up so that the casing gets crisp and eat it with ketchup.

Enjoy it on the rare occasion these days, as my cholesterol level is uncooperative, but that makes it more of a treat.

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: number 6
Date: 15 Nov 05 - 11:04 PM

I haven't had it in a long, long time.

I know what you mean about the cholesterol level ... that's why I'm mostly vegetarian these days.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: CarolC
Date: 16 Nov 05 - 12:20 AM

In the US, at least, a good place to get airtight containers for storing bulk dry foods is in the deli sections of grocery stores. They often have gallon jars (that used to contain pickles, mayonaise, mustard, etc.), that they will give away for free to anyone who asks. They work great.

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 16 Nov 05 - 04:51 AM

You are a reader, so I'd like to suggest Alan Watts book "The Wisdom Of Insecurity".

And an actual disability can offer financial help in the USA with your already paid into, and deserved, early Social Security--SSDI. After a few years that will lead to Medicare insurance coverage. Medicaid in your state too if you are that diminished financially.

All the best to you...

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 Nov 05 - 05:05 AM

Use an old Country trick of serving batter puddings with everything. They're filling and cheap (flour, eggs, milk, little salt) and if you fill up with them, you don't need so much 'main course'. Or make pies with extra thick pastry crusts, it works the same way and is even cheaper (flour, water, fat, little salt).

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: matai
Date: 16 Nov 05 - 05:48 AM

In my many years of poverty, between stuffing myself at art openings I ate rice, lentils and vegetables, the ones in season. My children were also raised on this diet with rarely anything sweet. Now they are slim, active grown-ups with excellent teeth.

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: GUEST,M.Ted
Date: 16 Nov 05 - 12:13 PM

In this day and age, even the most meager honors must be earned, and you have to meet the certain criteria, before you are allowed to live in poverty--Here are the official numbers--courtesy of your federal government. (if you live in the UK, they will be different, of course)--




2004 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the
                   District of Columbia
-------------------------------------------------
                                                                   Poverty
                   Size of family unit                   guideline
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.......................................................          $9,310
2.......................................................          12,490
3.......................................................          15,670
4.......................................................          18,850
5.......................................................          22,030
6.......................................................          25,210
7.......................................................          28,390
8.......................................................          31,570
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 17 Nov 05 - 12:15 AM

In the USA, do those numbers include Social Security payments?

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: vectis
Date: 17 Nov 05 - 10:19 AM

Several people I know eat road kill and never buy meat. As you live in the country it should be possible for you. Pick a stretch of likely road and walk it every morning. Take a shovel with you and clear all the old stuff away from the verges. If you do this twice a day you will KNOW the meat is fresh and safe to eat. Make up with veggies into hearty stews with plenty of lentils and beans as fillers. Roast hedgehog and curried rabbit are both delicious as is roast pheasant with one side more crushed than the other. Look upon it as recycling and consider unused road kill as a criminal waste of resources.
Get a paperback copy of The Paupers Cookbook by Jocasta Innes from a second hand store or via the web (Amazon used books is very good) my bible for many years.
Good luck
Mary

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: GUEST,Miss CF Coughnfarts
Date: 17 Nov 05 - 04:48 PM

I don't know about roadkill, that's a bit much. I suppose if we were truly going without, it would be an option. That gives me pause for thought, that things aren't so bad that I have to go looking for dead animals in the road. We might be down to bare basics but that isn't so bad. We had a stockpile of groceries before our adventure began and would urge anyone else to do the same. You never know what will happen next.

I attended a gathering today where Thanksgiving was being celebrated. It was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings. People brought SO MUCH food that there were leftovers beyond belief. These same people also had no interest in taking any kind of leftover home with them. They were more than happy to have me pack up what was left, wished me well and they went on their merry way. I have squash, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, rolls, pie, turkey and sweet potatoes. I also was able to bring home the skin and bones of the turkey. They are simmering as I type and will make a large batch of broth for vegetable soup. YUM.

I realize that this story of my hitting the jackpot may cue some people as to who I really am. That's ok. I know you will keep it to yourself. Besides, I really have nothing to be ashamed of, it's just circumstances, hopefully to right it self within a month or two if we are lucky.

Miss CF Coughnfarts

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: GUEST,Ingrid Frances Stark
Date: 18 Nov 05 - 02:45 AM

Mac n' cheese with a couple hotdogs cut up into it, and some bbq sauce. Ramen noodles in a pot with assorted frozen veggies (the hotdog trick works here too).

Rice and beans: two cups rice, 4 cups water, two cans of beans, a chopped onion, a couple chopped carrots, salt, garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper. Any kind of canned beans will work; red, pinto, black, kidney, great northern, garbanzo. Mix the bean types together, and play with the seasonings to get some variety for the tongue.

Also, a grain plus a legume (thats any kind of bean, pea, or lentil) equals a complete protein. Rice and beans; barley and lentils; rice and lentils; couscous (made from wheat) and peas....you get the idea.

The same group of veggies can seem completely different if you cut them, or leave them whole, or use different spices.

Play with your food!

IFS

Subject: RE: BS: Entering Poverty
From: M.Ted
Date: 18 Nov 05 - 01:04 PM

It includes all income. Keep in mind that this is just the federal govt's definition of poverty, and it, in itself, doesn't make you eligible for anything--however, the numbers are often used as a baseline for eligibility for various govt programs--those may also have program specific inclusions and exclusions--

Below is information on how the guidlines are derived--which, i think, are pretty entertaining, but then, I am easily amused--

Poverty Thresholds

In 1963-1964, Molly Orshansky of the Social Security Administration developed poverty thresholds. Orshansky based her poverty thresholds on the "thrifty food plan," which was the cheapest of four food plans developed by the Department of Agriculture. The food plan was "designed for temporary or emergency use when funds are low," according to the USDA. Based on the 1955 Household Food Consumption Survey from the USDA (the latest available survey at the time), Orshansky knew that families of three or more persons spent about one third of their after-tax income on food. She then multiplied the cost of the USDA economy food plan by three to arrive at the minimal yearly income a family would need. Using 1963 as a base year, she calculated that a family of four, two adults and two children would spend $1,033 for food per year. Using her formula based on the 1955 survey, she arrived at $3,100 a year ($1,033 x3) as the poverty threshold for a family of four in 1963.

Orshansky differentiated her thresholds not only by family size, but also by farm/non-farm status, by the number of family members who were children, gender of the head of household, and by aged/non-aged status. The result was a detailed matrix of 124 poverty thresholds. Generally, the figures cited were weighted average thresholds for each family size.

In May 1965, one year after the Johnson Administration initiated the "War on Poverty," the Office of Economic Opportunity adopted Orshansky's poverty thresholds as a working definition of poverty. Soon after, Social Security Administration policymakers and analysts expressed concern about how to adjust the poverty thresholds for increases in the standard of living. In 1969, the Poverty Level Review Committee was designated to re-evaluate the poverty thresholds for the Bureau of the Budget. After doing so, the Committee decided to adjust the thresholds for price changes, and not for changes in the general standard of living. The thresholds would be indexed by the Consumer Price Index rather than the per capita cost of the thrifty food plan. The Bureau of the Budget—now the Office of Management and Budget -- designated the poverty thresholds, with their revisions, as the federal government's official statistical definition of poverty.