Not too rational. If Annie gets $150/month food stamps, it costs the taxpayer $150/mo (plus administrative costs), whether Annie spends it on drink mix or gruel. If Ms. B. thinks that being able to afford drink mix proves $150/mo is a lavish food budget, that’s another (dumb) story.
That’s exactly what I do, and I’d say about 95% percent of the time it is in fact cheaper, but I’m referring specifically to 99¢ Only Stores, not “dollar stores” in general. What follows applies to this chain only. (And when the regular supermarket is cheaper, it’s always because the item is on sale.)
99¢ Only Stores has regularly stocked items, and then it has items which are the exact same products you buy at a “regular” supermarket. They get these particular items because of shipping diversions from regular distributors–not because the items are damaged, or inferior. So, while you can’t expect them to always be stocked, as long as it’s something that costs more than 99 cents at the “regular” stores then it’s obviously cheaper.
That said, I’ll agree that some of the regular items at 99¢ Only Stores occasionally are in fact cheaper at other places, such as Walmart, when they go on sale there.
ThelmaLou, I don’t know if you shop at just a generic “dollar store,” but at 99¢ Only Stores, it’s not just packaged food–they have good produce, too. Check out what this gourmet blogger gets at 99¢ Only Stores.
This is pushing the “being insulting” line, Steophan. Back off it. You’ve been here long enough, you should know where that line is.
Whenever people start proposing that what food stamp recipients spend their food stamps on should be more tightly regulated they almost always completely fail to consider that this would greatly inflate administrative costs. The current system is actually cheaper than their proposed “nanny state” regulation.
WIC benefits are limited to certain items; how exactly is that controlled at the register?
The store system has certain PLUs catagorized as WIC or SNAP items. It can be overridden by a manager. If you buy items that aren’t covered by WIC or SNAP, like toilet paper or prepared food, the receipt will generally print in two sections, or have little arrows or other markers to distinguish what went on your card and what you had to pay for in cash. It’s up to the store to be compliant and categorize their PLU’s correctly, with penalities if they don’t and are turned in.
(Had a go-round with a store manager once when I wanted to buy a huge rosemary plant, stocked in a big “BBQ With Fresh Herbs!” display, obviously labeled as food, and it was much much cheaper than the rosemary in the spice aisle. Food plants, including edible herbs, are allowed by SNAP, at the grocery store or at gardening centers that accept SNAP. His store had put the PLU under Floral, which is not covered. Eventually, they overrode it and fixed it in the system, but it took three trips to the store and escalating managers to take care of it. It was the principal of the thing that made it worth my time, not to mention $8 for a 28" living plant that gave me rosemary for three years instead of $11 for a little tiny bottle of dried rosemary.)
I don’t think it would be terribly burdensome for the PLU system to be used so that lobster is excluded but flour isn’t. That is essentially what WIC does.
But what would be a nightmare is getting a committee to agree on what “necessities” are and what “junk food” and “luxuries” are, and providing enough security at stores so that managers don’t get punched in the face by angry customers who think orange juice should be covered, even if soda pop isn’t.
That is *why *you send them to McDonalds.