Waste - Buying Beer With Your Food Stamps

Is it wasteful for someone to buy beer or cigarettes with their food stamps?  Why?  People like to complain about things like this as some sort of example on government waste.  And then they go on and on about tax dollars being thrown out the window..... buying beer instead of bread..... blah blah blah.

From an economic perspective you should be jumping for joy. Welfare dollars go right into your local economy.  Last time I looked they had an economic impact of like a $1.06 for every dollar that is spent.  They give people who need them the ability to buy more and give more people jobs ringing up merchandise, stocking shelves, driving trucks to the stores, etc.  Also, last time I checked the things at the grocery store including the Miller High Life's and Marlboro cigarette are mostly American made.

So its really a question of what they should be allowed to spend money on.  And I understand the point of view that says it should only be allowed to be spent on health things.  But who gets to draw the line?  What about sugary breakfast cereal?  Or ho-ho's?

Then there's the people that want to give out drug tests before handing out welfare.  Which of course will cost money to perform.  So that's wasteful.  But it will be jobs for the people to administer.  People to make the pee cups.  Hand out the pee cups.  Test the pee in the cups.  Write up the reports.....  Of course it will be our tax dollars creating these jobs.

So to sum it up.  Does it really matter?  Is there such a thing as government waste?  Doesn't it really just translate to jobs?  So why fight about it?  You could argue for greater accountability or more open records.  But you really can't stop the cycle.

In honesty, none of this really upsets me.  But to some people it's an outlet.  They are mad about something in there lives and they are blaming it on others.  No one in particular, just these face-less, name-less others who must be gaming the system and wasting their hard earned tax dollars.  But in reality these are people that need help.  And if you can come up with a better system, I'm sure people would love to hear it.

Cool.  No worries.  It is what it is.

-G-

Thinking about money a different way - the latte factor

The latte factor. If you take what you spend on a latte every day ($5) and invest it over the course of a life time, then in 40 years you would be a millionaire (assuming a 10% annual return). Would you rather have a fancy cup of coffee or a million dollars? What little things in life can you do without in order to put more money into long term savings? Sounds simple right???

Here is my problem with that philosophy. It doesn't take into consideration the value of enjoying the coffee and it incorrectly treats having a daily latte or newspaper as if you are simply throwing money out the window. There are tangible benefits to these things, such as happiness or knowledge. What if a young Howard Schultz had saved a few bucks by not buying those Italian cappuccinos. He might be a millionaire by now, but instead he started a small coffee house chain called Starbucks and is a billionaire. Warren Buffet "wastes" $5 a day on 4 different newspapers subscriptions. He's worth 20 billion. Think he misses that extra million? I didn't think so. Who knows, maybe neither of these men would be where they are if it wasn't for their spending habits.

Its not that you should totally discount the theory, but you need to keep in mind that it isn't a waste. It's a trade. It's $5 that is exchanged for something you consume or for a piece of a company. The key is maximizing your decision. Go to the coffee shop, buy a paper, drink the latte slowly, read the business section, and make an informed decision for your investment. That way you can enjoy today and still be taking care of tomorrow.

Thanks for the read.

I've included some fun latte art below. Cheers.