Member-only story
My Kids Had a Food Stamp Christmas One Year
There’s an Everclear song about poverty that goes, “They have never been poor, they have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas.”
That was the song playing in my head as I wrapped bags of Halo oranges and Goldfish crackers. We weren’t on welfare, but my kids had a food stamp Christmas one year.
Surprisingly, it was one of the best holidays we’ve ever had.
It was a rough year, which is why my EBT card funded the gifts under our tree. I was working 6 or 7 days a week as a writer, yet barely earning enough to support my family. This was before I had enough experience and confidence to request decent rates, so I wasn’t even averaging minimum wage.
If you remember oDesk and Elance, you probably get what I’m saying. If not, just know that you could work for pennies — yes, actual pennies — back then. There were times when I got paid $5 for articles that were 1,000 to 1,200 words. That $5 didn’t include processing fees or self-employment taxes, so technically, I was making even less.
In the meantime, life fell apart — at least from a financial standpoint.
The repo guy took my car, so I bought a clunker for $500 from a friend. It broke down a…
