"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> On 7/17/2014 5:43 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>>
>> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On 7/16/2014 2:47 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
>>>>
>>>> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>>
>>>>> My point about Hamburger Helper is, it's not really that much of a
>>>>> time-saver.
>>>>
>>>> My mom loved it because she could make it in her electric skillet.
>>>
>>> According to the Mommy forum where the $200 a month thread was posted,
>>> that's about *all* they have. "We make 98% of our food from scratch
>>> (the best we can...we don't have an oven or a stove--just the
>>> microwave, a grill, and an electric skillet"). That might be half the
>>> problem right there.
>>
>> Yes! I always keep this in mind when I buy for the food bank. I can
>> remember a radio announcer making mention of this. They gave a woman in
>> Seattle a big basket of food. She began to cry and said that not only
>> did she have no way to prepare the food but no dishes. So the announcer
>> reminded us that if we were going to donate, to donate things that could
>> be eaten as is.
>>>
>>> IMHO it's pretty darn difficult to cook for one, much less a family,
>>> without having the proper equipment. Every apartment (or house) I
>>> *ever* rented came equipped with a stove/oven.
>>>
>> I looked at one place near Greenlake that was advertised as an
>> apartment. The kitchen had some counters and cupboards and a big utility
>> type sink. There was a really old stove but no fridge.
>
> Lots of places don't offer refrigerators.

Here you can not legally rent an apartment without one. A room? Yes.
>
> Also no place to
>> put a fridge as it was a very small place. To make matters worse, the
>> bedroom was so small that with a full sized bed in it, you had to climb
>> over the bed to get into the bathroom. I declined.
>>
>
> Good idea. I once looked at an attic-apartment where I'd have had to
> share a bathroom with the owners and "borrow" their kitchen. I also
> declined.
>
>> I had a friend who was renting a room in the Ballard area. It was a
>> nice slzed furnished room with a full sized fridge but no stove or
>> microwave. But this was long enough ago that many people still didn't
>> have microwaves.
>>
> Ah, long ago. As opposed to when the thing on the Mommy forum was
> written, in 2014. I never *ever* rented a house or apartment that came
> with a microwave. Sorry, some things you have to pay for yourself.

I haven't either but these days at least in this area, pretty much all of
the apartments come with. My mom bought my nephew a microwave when he was
going to get his first apartment. I begged her to hold off as I was sure it
would have one. It did. And all of the places he has rented since have.
>
>> My mom's current place has a small fridge. Smaller than full sized but
>> larger than those little hotel types.
>
> Your mom is in Assisted Living. Having a kitchenette is a totally
> different thing.

It's not assisted really. Although they do help with some things. It's
apartments for 55 and older.
>
>> She has two burners and a small
>> microwave. No oven. But... Meals are included in her rent so
>> techincally she doesn't need to cook.
>>
> Again, Assisted Living. You're comparing apples to oranges. Can't be
> done.

Not really. They have a dining room, take out the trash once a week and
wash linens once a week. They also provide some services like a beauty
salon and driving places for a fee. And they take planned outings. But it
isn't really assisted in that they don't help with bathing, meds, etc.
>
>> Also keep in mind that a lot of our county's poor are forced to live in
>> rooms or motels because they can't afford to save up enough to rent an
>> apartment.
>>
> Yeah, right. She's spending $850 a month to feed the family. I doubt
> she's crawling to the public library to post on the cafemom web forum. You
> really need to read the article before you mouth off about stuff.

I did read it.
>
>>> She also wrote "We do not go to restaurants more than 1-2 times a
>>> month (and that's usually only a $30-$50 bill...). So stop going out
>>> to eat and put that $30-50 a month towards a stove/oven. It doesn't
>>> have to be brand-spanking new. Eating out is a luxury, not a
>>> necessity. YMMV.
>>
>> If they are living in a room or motel, they probably can't put in a
>> stove.
>
> You're making HUGE assumptions again. Nowhere did she say she's living in
> a rented room (or a motel room) with a family of four. You're just
> positing a bunch of bullshit.

You're making huge assumptions too. Really nobody knows.