Quote:
Originally Posted by Background Noise
I live in a neighborhood where all stores are expensive. So, I was going to downtown, where there is this cheaper store to get all my food from. I needed to carry the bags for 5 blocks, and then a bus ride for 30 minutes. So, time-wise, I needed around 90-120 mins to shop and return home. One day, I was holding two heavy bags, and one of them tore up, and all the items were on the ground. I was in a long line waiting the bus. So, I had to give up my place to collect the items, and no one helped me  I usually like to come early to find a seat and sit down to put the bags in front of me. Because I gave up my place in the line, I had to stand up with a torn bag full of items. It was a mess, and I was embarrassed. From that day, I started to shop in nearby stores (within 10 mins walk distance), and pay more in exchange for convenience, although some items are 2 or even 3 times as expensive.
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If you can afford to pay more for convenience, than I say go for it, even if you must cut expenses elsewhere.
I am paying significantly more (as in an extra $100+ per month) to use Shipt because I am cutting my food stamps since you can't use food stamps with Shipt. Since I live off my financial aid and they don't calculate financial aid disbursements when applying for aid in my state, I was getting more food stamp money than I could use.
To compensate, I cut my smartphone plan way down by switching to a cheap prepaid plan, beings I'm on WiFi 90% of the time and I don't need unlimited data. I also cut my internet speed down from 100 Mbps to 15 Mbps since I live alone and don't need the extra speed. Latency is more important to gamers anyways and a 15 Mbps plan is going to have just as good latency as a 100 Mbps plan. Making these two changes alone saved me over $50 per month. Also, with using Shipt instead of going to the grocery store, I save between $20-40 per month on Uber rides. Not to mention, the positive impact on my mental health is priceless.
If I get to where I am ready to get a car before I get a better job or other better source of income than my crap pay student job, I will reapply for food stamps to balance out what I pay on car insurance, gas, and car payments. Until then, there is no way in hell I'm riding the bus or an Uber to get groceries on my own, only to have to haul them up stairs to get to my 2nd floor apartment.