The real pity is the lady in the article having the 1st world problem mindset of treating WIC like it's something she gets as punishment

I'm with you- as long as you make more than you spend and you can squirrel away 6 months of savings (to avoid situations where you need assistance), you're doing great.

But enjoyment does count for something, which is what I was getting at. On paper, vacations are a complete waste of money, there is no rationalizing them; they're purely for enjoyment and you have nothing tangible at the end.

The real mistake for these folks was not the $30k car purchase (that they paid off)... but the $200k of debt they introduced themselves to buy purchasing a house in a questionable market and being legally tied to it (unable to sell because it's underwater).