A Canadian study gave $7,500 to homeless people. Here’s how they spent it
I was homeless and on the streets between 1997-2003, although not continuously. Early in that period, I mismanaged my funds such that I bounced several checks, my bank closed my checking account, and they filed a report with ChexSystems to ensure that no bank would ever give me an account again, or at least that&#x27;s what their letter told me.<p>So I endured several long years without hope of having a bank account. That&#x27;s surely one major issue for the homeless population. Nowadays you&#x27;ve got to wonder how they access any bank account they might have, with all the mandatory MFA and dwindling number of branches.<p>I was friends with a lot of people on the streets, and money was a big issue for sure. It was spent on cigarettes and liquor, and if you could save up enough to get a motel for a few days, you definitely went for it, so you&#x27;d have a shower and a good night&#x27;s sleep, but of course a motel is far more expensive than any other housing.<p>We were friends with a couple, G &amp; E, and E was confined to a wheelchair. He had been a skilled welder. G &amp; E usually had housing, but they also had a peculiar syndrome of being robbed quite often. People would somehow break into their home and steal their trading cards, jewelry, and other valuables. These thieves may even have the correct key to their door. There was apparently nothing the landlord or law enforcement could do, so G &amp; E had to keep purchasing stuff they wanted to replace what was stolen. G &amp; E were also SNAP recipients, but E refused to eat anything but beef, so he&#x27;d splurge on big steaks at the grocery store, to the detriment of everything else. They&#x27;d also beg a meal off my friend while we were downtown, so she&#x27;d get a burger or two for them. They were always begging and busking and panhandling; never enough money.<p>I know another fellow who has a home, and a car too, I think, and is on a few federal benefit programs, yet every time he&#x27;s at church, he hits us up for cash. He knows some of these folks are well-heeled and they&#x27;re good for a $20 bill or so. It seems that he asks at least once of every new friend he makes.<p>In my own personal experience, I had an adulthood full of mismanaging finances and bills. I made a ridiculous salary but I ate Burger King and lived in a slum, so I could make ends meet. But eventually that lifestyle caught up with me. Then, I learned how to get by with no money, no income at all. As I gradually gained back an income, I still had big urges to spend every penny and I ran out every month. But I made sure not to go into debt and not to be overdrawn. Eventually that discipline of running out to $0 every month became something like a budget, and I began to realize that if I were frugal, and didn&#x27;t splurge on luxuries, I really could make it through the month. Now that I am employed, I do manage to keep a positive balance in the bank, I pay off a small credit card, and I&#x27;m comfortable, but it took a lot of effort and a lot of pain for me to get here.