Parunts go hungry to feed their famblees

Quote
Starving parunts
At least once a week during dinner, Cathy Smith and her husband, Robert, are confronted with the same choice: Don't let the kids have seconds or forgo a meal themselves. “I have growing children, and I want to make sure they have enough portions to nourish themselves,” says Smith, 40, a mother of five who works at an Atlanta-area school district as a recruiter. “It’s to the point that we have stopped buying cereal because milk is so expensive.”

Starts off sounding bad. No one should have to starve. But questioning why there are seven mouths to feed in the first place. If you're hungry perhaps creating a soccer team isn't the best of ideas? Most of the families I know of have two or less kids and the few that have more tend to be wealthy. Anymore, a large family seems to be turning into a bit of a status symbol.

Quote
Starving parunts
Smith earns $67,000 a year. Her husband, who is pursuing a master’s degree and works part-time as an Uber driver, brings home about $20,000 to $30,000 a year
She says she "makes too much for assistance" but too little to get by.
“My kids want to meet friends and travel places, things that you would think someone with my income living in Georgia would not have a problem with,” Smith says. “All the prices are inflated, but my salary hasn’t gone up.”

So, low to medium cost of living and earning 87K-97K a year. I've been hungry and the ability to travel was the last thing on my mind. With this kind of income (and freaking five brats as tax deductions) the only way they are foregoing food is because of reckless spending. I've known childfree couples who travel but they are thrifty in other ways because they realize you can't have everything. I don't think this moo and duh realize this yet. They probably expect since they both went to callege that they can have as many brats as they want, take expensive vacations every year, pay for their brat's callege, live in an expensive house, drive expensive cars, etc. People who can afford to live like that are typically in the top 10% or higher.

Another one:

Quote
starving single mahm
Seawright says she used to be able to fill a grocery cart for $200, but now it’s more than $300 for the same amount of food. She has stopped dining out with her children and her mother.

Since when is eating at home the same as going hungry?

I blame the author for this one as none of these people are near starving. It is headline meant for clickbait so parunts can whine about how poor they are. The one couple earns almost double the median income and live in a LCOL area and is whinging. They may have both made decisions that make them more financially precarious than others but that was their choice. I'm beginning to think there is a huge part of the population that thinks that becoming a parunt means being given a license to whine and complain about money all the time.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/i-go-hungry-what-parents-are-sacrificing-amid-soaring-inflation-to-feed-their-families/ar-AAXE5Oy?li=BBnb7Kz

I would love to see their grocery list. Is it full of expensive convenience foods because the kids are all picky shits who won't eat this or that because of "sensory issues?" Are they buying generic and store brand instead of name brand? Do they cook at all? You'd be amazed what you can save by cooking your own food. I don't know if Atlanta has many farmers' markets, but that's also a fantastic place to get nice produce at a more affordable price if it's available.

Obviously the biggest issue with this family's inability to ensure everyone is adequately fed - adults and brats alike - is their family size. Sooo, what, did these morons think that they could add more mouths to feed to their brood and spend the same exact amount of money as before? The whole thing about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure applies here. Why do they have five kids? Nobody needs five kids. I'm guessing they were probably trying for a certain gender (most likely a male) and kept going until they either got it or Moo ran out of eggs for DNA omelets.

The reason these people go hungry to ensure their kids are fed is because they chose to have more kids instead of thinking about how more kids would impact their budget. All they had to do was not make more fucking kids. The biggest issues with breeders and their broods being unable to afford food is they often will buy expensive ready-made stuff because it's easier for bizzy mommies. I don't doubt it can be hard to work full time and then cook for seven people, but again, this is shit you need to think about BEFORE making more human beings.

I don't feel sorry for them. They made poor, financially irresponsible choices and now they have to deal with the consequences of those actions. Did they not learn that children are expensive after having a couple of them? I really want to know what they were expecting.

So if they can't afford to feed everyone, how is Duh affording college? I'm sure Uber doesn't do tuition reimbursement. I'm with you, these people are most likely being stupid with their money and that's why the parents are forced to go without.

Here are some questions related to Cambion's observation about how duh is paying for his master's.

What will his degree be in, something useful or typical stupid liberal-arts fluff? Survey says... something stupid, such as philosophy or English literature. Maybe even puppetry. One blogger, Captain Capitalism, had a field day discussing a guy who went six figures in debt for a master's in puppetry. Obviously employers are all clamoring for puppeteers. /sarc

How much student-loan debt do moo and duh have? That isn't mentioned. That's a little bit suspicious by its absence. I'd call it the big elephant in the room, and I'll bet duh in particular has lots of debt for that master's. Payments on that debt really mess up a budget, and you can't get rid of it in bankruptcy. That might be why they're in the fix they're in, aside from having too many sprogs.

Quote
Cambion
I would love to see their grocery list. Is it full of expensive convenience foods because the kids are all picky shits who won't eat this or that because of "sensory issues?" Are they buying generic and store brand instead of name brand? Do they cook at all? You'd be amazed what you can save by cooking your own food. I don't know if Atlanta has many farmers' markets, but that's also a fantastic place to get nice produce at a more affordable price if it's available.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out they spend almost as much as famblees that dine out all the time. Prepared food is much most costly than cooking for from ingredients.

Quote
Cambion
Obviously the biggest issue with this family's inability to ensure everyone is adequately fed - adults and brats alike - is their family size. Sooo, what, did these morons think that they could add more mouths to feed to their brood and spend the same exact amount of money as before? The whole thing about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure applies here. Why do they have five kids? Nobody needs five kids. I'm guessing they were probably trying for a certain gender (most likely a male) and kept going until they either got it or Moo ran out of eggs for DNA omelets.

Yes, family size is exactly why they are unlikely to ever have everything they seem to think they're entitled to.

Quote
Cambion
I don't feel sorry for them. They made poor, financially irresponsible choices and now they have to deal with the consequences of those actions. Did they not learn that children are expensive after having a couple of them? I really want to know what they were expecting.

So if they can't afford to feed everyone, how is Duh affording college? I'm sure Uber doesn't do tuition reimbursement. I'm with you, these people are most likely being stupid with their money and that's why the parents are forced to go without.

Most people figure it out after one, two or three brats. They seem to be a bit slow on the discovery that brats are expensive and brats times five are going to be crazy expensive.

Quote
kman
What will his degree be in, something useful or typical stupid liberal-arts fluff? Survey says... something stupid, such as philosophy or English literature. Maybe even puppetry. One blogger, Captain Capitalism, had a field day discussing a guy who went six figures in debt for a master's in puppetry. Obviously employers are all clamoring for puppeteers. /sarc

I'm curious about that too. What was his first degree in, what is he getting his master's in, and does the field he have in mind actually require a master's degree? I speak from experience: unless you absolutely 100 percent NEED a master's degree to work in a particular field, it will hurt your job prospects more than help them. An associate's or a bachelor's is pretty standard, but once you start getting degrees more advanced than those, you start wandering into overqualification territory. I have a second degree and the times I listed it on my resume, I would never even get so much as a fucking rejection email. The times I left it off, I got interviews and eventually got a job. Most employers don't want to pay a living wage anyway, they sure as fuck aren't going to hire you knowing full well they'll have to pay you MORE because of your education that may or may not be relevant.

If I had to guess, he's probably getting an MBA so he can open a business, in which case, it would likely be unnecessary because you don't need a college education to start a business! Or he's getting his teaching degree, which seems to be an increasingly bad idea between COVID and the distinct possibility of getting shot at work. I need to know more about these educational prospects of his because a master's degree is only a necessity for a few specific jobs. I think most of them are medical or educational in nature. Or he's going full retard and majoring in something stupid like Egyptology - which, mind you, is a fascinating subject, but it is NOT something you get a master's in when you're trying to feed five brats on an Uber driver's salary!

I have had in some jobs young parents tell me they would feed their kids before themselves and that I, with no kids, would never make that sacrifice so I have to "give them a break" when I had to put up with their abuse at work. It's mostly meant as a guilt trip, as most of those people could have lost a few pounds.

The gist of the article is Breeders whining about not being able to feed their kids on a household income that is approaching $80k. It looks to be a function of having FIVE brats, which is totally a personal choice. Cry me a river.

They are living in a large city, (Atlanta) so there may be challenges in supporting these kids on that kind of salary. However, I suspect these people have a budgeting problem. They certainly have a grocery shopping problem, due to the whining in the article about how cartful of groceries that used to cost $200 now costs $300. I read that and thought, Holy crap, $200 will buy an absolute shitload of non-processed foods that could feed a lot of people for a long time. Granted, both these people are working, so they may be short on time, but they could bulk cook on the weekend and there are many labor saving devices to help: choppers, insta-pots, crock pots, grilling in the Summer. Not to mention involving the kids in food prep.

There was also a mention of this same family eating out. Sorry, if you are whining about not being able to feed your kids, eating out should be out of the question. ETA: My DH grew up in a large family with limited means. I grew up in a small family with limited means. We didn't eat out regularly as kids because our parents couldn't afford it. Nobody died. I remember as a kid when my parents would take us to a pizza joint. It was a treat and we thought it was great. Is that such a bad lesson to teach your kids, to appreciate the little things? I think not.

Before my family became homeless, the home cooked meal was a feature. My mother taught me the ins and outs of a crock pot and the one pot meal. I myself discovered the joy of home cooked soups. My stepfather made the meanest pot of spaghetti that would last a week. My father knew his way around the well spiced bean pot.

However, when your family is homeless, the home cooked meal becomes a thing of the past. Dinner is sometimes just a McDonald's cheeseburger because there is no place to cook anything, not even a hotplate. My parents were victims of Reaganomics and the delusion that all boats rise.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

Shopping cheap is a bit of an art form, but $300 can absolutely be used to feed a famblee of seven. Biggest thing they could do is reduce their meat intake. So many American families seem to think that every single goddamn meal has to contain meat. WRONG. Not saying they have to be devoted vegetarians or vegans or anything, but make meat a luxury, and stock up when it's on sale. Learn to cook cheap cuts, buy bone-in instead of boneless and skinless, and ground beef is your cheap, versatile culinary friend.

Things like dry rice and beans are cheap, they last forever, and only require a little more effort than buying prepared/canned versions. Buy store brands instead of name brands. Visit farmers' markets or farm stands. If space allows for it, plant a vegetable garden! Tomatoes and zucchini are stupid easy to grow. I found a beautiful tomato plant growing in the backyard that grew accidentally from some rotten tomatoes I tossed out the back door. Tons of blogs and cookbooks exist for bizzy famblees that contain easy and fast recipes. If anyone in the family knows how to catch and fillet fish, do that too! If the kids don't like any of it, they can have sleep for dinner.

I'm sure Moo and Duh don't wannnnnaaaaaa, but saving money takes work. Like you guys already mentioned, things like Instant Pots and crock pots/slow cookers are perfect for people who have no time to cook. Prep your ingredients, throw it all in the pot and it does the rest for you. I won't deny that prices have gone up and it's harder for everyone to feed themselves and their dependents, but for this specific family, a decent chunk of their financial troubles could have been prevented if they didn't have more kids than they could afford. Unless someone gets a better job or some of those kids die, these guys better start doing some intermittent fasting. You can only budget so much when the problem is too many mouths to feed.

Yeah, this infuriates me. Blaming inflation instead of looking at themselves and acknowledging they have too many kids and are bad at budgeting. I'm skeptical that their money problems just started recently as costs have gone up. As readers we have no idea what else they're spending their money on, whether they have significant consumer debt, and so on.

Quote
I blame the author for this one as none of these people are near starving. It is headline meant for clickbait so parunts can whine about how poor they are.

I totally agree.

Quote
bell_flower
There was also a mention of this same family eating out. Sorry, if you are whining about not being able to feed your kids, eating out should be out of the question. ETA: My DH grew up in a large family with limited means. I grew up in a small family with limited means. We didn't eat out regularly as kids because our parents couldn't afford it. Nobody died. I remember as a kid when my parents would take us to a pizza joint. It was a treat and we thought it was great. Is that such a bad lesson to teach your kids, to appreciate the little things? I think not.

I came from an average family with above average means. We hardly ever dined out except on special occasions until I hit my late teens. Until I stopped growing I typically had one pair of school shoes, one pair of dress shoes and one pair of active shoes. All were purchased at 1/2 size bigger than my feet and I never felt embarrassed or inadequate because at that time most people didn't spoil their children. Clothing was enough to get me through one week without doing laundry and certain items were re worn. I likely had two-three dresses and maybe one or two for a special occasion. During summers my clothing was made to save money until I hit my teens (I hated being sized and trying on the clothing but loved both picking out the fabric and wearing the clothing).

Toys were contained to the bedroom I mostly shared with a sibling who was much younger. Other than if messy, there was plenty room to store toys without those extreme wall-size storage units or other craziness. We certainly didn't have toys in multiple rooms and kids older than toadlers were mostly expected to play with their toys in their rooms and not string them every where. Most of us could fit our toys in a toy box that was the size of a hope chest or smaller. I loved books but certainly didn't have a personal library.

Most of our vacations were to local states or amusement parks. About once every five year we traveled further. One time we went to Disney.

Birthdays were mostly at our house and when I was older there were slumber parties. One birthday was at Casa Bonita and another was at Chuck E. Cheese. Those were exceptions and were big deals.

Compare your consumption as a kid to the consumption of a supposedly low income kid of today. Guess who has way more of everything? Guess who eats out way more often? Guess who expects a birthday party in the high four figures or higher? And guess who has enough toys to fill multiple rooms?

Quote
freya
Compare your consumption as a kid to the consumption of a supposedly low income kid of today. Guess who has way more of everything? Guess who eats out way more often? Guess who expects a birthday party in the high four figures or higher? And guess who has enough toys to fill multiple rooms?

I had about as many toys, clothes, and restaurant meals as a supposedly low-income kid of today. I was middle class and we weren't part of any sob stories about struggling.

I didn't know they had parties that expensive every year. I'd imagine a quinceanera, a sweet 16, or even the 1st and 10th, but every year? Where do they get all this money and why are they still classified as low-income after that?

When I was about nine through to my mid-teens, we were considered impoverished by anyone's metric. For a fair while, we would have been considered homeless, or at least my mother was as she was surfing on friend's sofas and I had to live with my father who was a functional alcoholic and who's house was a constant source of lice. My older sister had a boyfriend and a domestic violence situation.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

I grew up solidly middle class and am grateful that I didn't have to worry about where my next meal was coming from. Part of this was because my parents didn't discuss finances in front of us...we knew that money didn't grow on trees and my parents taught us about planning, saving up, etc. but they also didn't discuss adult-type financial concerns with us.

Mom and Dad grew up working-class and learned to budget from their Depression-era parents. So we ate mostly at home, saved leftovers, got three dinners out of every chicken, made soup from scraps and bones, all that stuff. I wonder how many parents in the OP's situation can say the same. Eating out several times a week seems to be a norm for everyone these days, whether they can afford it or not.

Come to think of it, my folks were the same about our toys and clothes. Things were mended if they were worn or broken. We got hand-me-downs, and anything in good enough shape was handed down to either my cousins or to the younger kids of my parents' friends.