Local Mileage Reimbursement & Other Local Transportation Policy: Fill & Download for Free

I would cook for him with a budget set by my monthly food stamp budget…$144 for a family of three. That’s approximately $1.60 per day per person.Tonight we are having spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs were on sale during a local store’s coupon promotion and I had coupons, so the 14 oz. pkg of meatballs was 24 cents. I used three bags (.72). I also used 3 jars of spaghetti sauce that I paid very little for (again by using coupons), I think it was .55 per jar. So that would be $1.65. I used 2# of ground chuck ($6). I am not going to cost out the seasonings. Pasta was free with coupons. So, $8.37 for a big pot of sauce and pasta. That would make the cost about $2.75+ per person.Except that we will not eat all of the food I prepared in one meal. I make big batches and we have planned leftovers. So, in full disclosure mode, that aforementioned $8.37 probably is the equivalent of 10–12 meals. And I have a house full of big eaters.Of course, this does not take into account the cost of the newspaper (coupon source) and the time I spend clipping, sorting, filing, list making, coupon matching, or driving to the store and back. And of course, the time I spend actually preparing the meal.I really do find it amusing that people believe that food stamps is an entitlement and that people are living the high life on food stamps. Are there abuses? Sure. Human nature, I guess. I play it straight up.Also keep in mind that food stamps are not going to pay for the water for the pasta, the soap to wash the dishes and time to prepare the meal. Food stamps does not pay for the electricity to power the appliances I use to prepare the food or store and preserve the food. It doesn’t reimburse me the cost of the Sunday newspaper (I think it’s $3 now) which is my source for coupons. It doesn’t reimburse me for the time I spend making lists, or matching coupons; it does not provide a mileage reimbursement for my travel to and from the grocery.I should note that I am the daughter of a chef and have two brothers who are classically trained chefs. So I know how to make something out of nothing. I am not a chef…just a home cook.For those of you dear readers out there that think that people who receive food stamps are living the high life, you got another think coming…

Cars cost over $1/mile to operate, all costs in. Mileage reimbursement looks like profit, but not really when you consider wear and tear, and faster need to replace, and sooner maintenance.So when I need to drive for business, I often rent locally and bill back. People who lease new cars know these costs because of mileage penalty contract terms. Ain’t worth it to me.

There are many reasons people run for office.It is certainly true that some people run to gain a position or to acquire power or money, however many people also run for office, especially local office, to work for their community or to work for a cause.Contrary to popular imagination, the vast majority of elected positions pay very little, or even nothing at all. For example I serve on my local school board, and although my colleagues and I have been repeatedly accused of attempting to "line our own pockets" with every decision by some unhappy community members, we need to resist the urge to roll our eyes and smirk each time. This is because despite the the hours of work we put into this service each week, we receive zero monetary compensation. No pay check, no stipend, no mileage reimbursement, nothing but a box lunch once or twice month at our meetings, and a couple nights of hotel and food in Detroit or Lansing once every other year for state-wide training and conferences.As to why I ran? I ran for school board because I heard the teachers hadn't received a pay raised in 6 years, and I had two young kids entering the school system and I wanted them to have teachers that weren't distracted by bills sitting at home.I also want to point out that for local elections, scrutiny is very low. I received an email from my paper's local government reporter asking me to offer information about myself, my work history and family, etc, which they published verbatim. That was about it. Since being elected, I have been mentioned a few times for dissenting votes, or quotes I said during public meetings, and no one has dug into anything, or reported lies about me. It's really not that bad.