It Still Costs Someone Somewhere

My sister sent me this link to four short videos from The Anderson Cooper Show about drastic ways families saved money. They were interesting and made me want to be more frugal and aware of money and where it goes.

At the bottom of the article, it asked us to share any ideas we might have for living on less. Curious, and hoping I'd find some useful ideas, I began reading the comments.

I came across this:

also they could get on low income housing where they would only have to pay 30% of their income for housing and get on food stamps and energy assistance to pay their electric bill. There is also lifeline that will pay for their phone bill and internet and you can get his anywhere you go. I am currently on all these programs except I am on section 8 which is now closed for the waiting list.


What? I thought they had to be joking and poking fun at the entitlement society we live in. But by the time I finished reading the comment, I became pretty sure they were being serious.


Does this person not realize that nothing is free? If they're getting 30% of their housing paid, that means the government is paying it. And where do they think the government gets its money? Who's paying for the food stamps and the energy assistance? Who's covering the cost of the phone bill and the internet? Those companies aren't giving her power and phone and internet for free. They'd be out of business in a flash. Someone is paying for those things.


The families spotlighted were actually cutting costs, not transferring them to someone else. 


This is just one more example of the topsy-turvy, mixed-up, messed-up world we live in. If this is the way very many people think, how are we ever going to make it out of this mess? 

Comments

Mindy said…
I've met a lot of people who cut their own expenses at the expense of others. I have no admiration for them, or their "frugality". I'd rather spend more for something and pay my own way than expect someone else to suffer so I can be better off. I'm totally with you on this one.
Rebecca Adams said…
My thoughts exactly! It drives me crazy knowing that so many people out there do anything they can to get things for 'free' ... but really it's all being paid for by the government or our taxes or something. I think things can be more appreciated when people take responsibility for themselves and their own families rather than throwing everything on the government and making others pay for everything. It really is all about budgeting and knowing what things you can live without (and not try to keep up with the Joneses).
Stephanie said…
This is a pretty hot topic in our family. My husband has been very blessed in his employment (& he's married to a pretty frugal gal!), but not everybody in our extended family has been so lucky. We know someone who admittedly chose not to work because by the time he factored in the cost of gas, he could get more from "Obama money" than from holding a job. We got in a pretty heated discussion about it... He was completely unfazed by the fact that our hard earned money was paying for him to sit around (for 99 weeks!) doing NOTHING. When I shared with him my annual tax responsibility he merely grinned about it and said something to the affect of "well then you can afford to help out people like me." Ugh! The arrogance of some is frustrating. Doesn't he realize that we have to budget and sacrifice and make responsible decisions with our money so that we can afford to live on whats left after uncle Sam takes his share? Nothing in life is free! In the end, someone really does have to pay.
missy said…
Where was I when you posted this? I didn't see it until today and I absolutely agree with your words and those in the comments. We have a rental home and were asked a while back if we accept Section 8. Not knowing much about it, I looked up the website. I was appalled when one of the first things I saw, prominently displayed on their home page, was a quote that read something like, "Being on Section 8 has given us the freedom to buy the new car we've always wanted..." Seriously?? Um, NO. We do not accept Section 8.